There was still time before school would start up once again, so Xuemei decided that she should focus on the acting part of her plans. It was not like just because she said she wants to be an actress that it would automatically happen. Talent was a factor, as was connections. Actually, she was a little worried that she might not have any talent at acting and all the claims she made were pointless. Hard work was an integral part of success, but so was aptitude. Acting was the kind of occupation that would not succeed with just practice. At least, that was what Xuemei believed through her own shallow understanding. Determined to familiarize herself with the circle, she decided to enroll herself in acting classes.

The next morning, she went to eat breakfast with her family and asked her parents for help paying the fees. It was a little uncomfortable to be so dependent on them, but she could tell that they really enjoyed helping her out like this. Therefore, she swallowed her pride and asked them for money.

“Oh my, Meimei, of course we will! I am glad you are thinking this through and taking things seriously.” Her mother was completely ecstatic. In truth, the large changes to her daughter after the coma made it hard for Mother Tang to feel close to Xuemei. This familiar scene of her daughter asking for money strangely made her feel more comfortable than upset in her heart.

“You still have the cards we gave you right? Just use those to sign up for the classes.” Father Tang also dotingly patted her head and replied.

“Hmph, look at all of you. Keep spoiling her rotten like this and she will never change. Remember the proverb: parents who are afraid of putting their foot down usually have children who step on their toes. Acting? What if you run into those flower boys again and go crazy? Have you even done proper research into the classes? What would happen if you got scammed and wasted money?” Tang Xueliang broke the harmony with his harsh words.

‘This brat…’ Xuemei thought. ‘Cough, cough, well, he is older than me now…’

Forcing a smile onto her face, she replied politely, “brother, I have looked into everything. This teacher is a very well-known veteran actor and has a great reputation when it comes to teaching students. I’m not even sure I will be able to enter his eyes and become his student. I have a couple back-ups lined up in case I get rejected. Plus, with such a handsome brother next to me all the time, what do those flower boys amount to?” Silently puking a little at her own words, she persevered. Just this once…

Obviously pleased, the black lines on Xueliang’s forehead smoothed out.

“Isn’t he just a mere actor? How could he reject my sister? Look at how pretty you are, of course he will accept you!” Like at the mere flip of a switch, he stopped lecturing her and instead starting acting like the protective older brother he was.

Xuemei felt like she was going crazy.

“Yeah! Your brother’s right! If he gives you trouble just let your parents know. We will talk with him.” Father Tang joined in.

“My Meimei is so amazing and smart. He would never reject you.” Mother Tang echoed.

Looking at such a devoted cheer squad, Xuemei was finally starting to understand why the old her would be so stupid. Love sure was blind…

…

After getting permission, Xuemei quickly finished the rest of her breakfast and rushed out. Sporting her favorite grey sweat suit, she wore a nice clean pair of white walking shoes. Feeling lazy, she left her long black hair down and kept her face bare. Her mom kept lecturing her about touching up every now and then, but what did she know about makeup? Absolutely nothing. In the end, her efforts might just make her look uglier. In her objective opinion, she was still beautiful even without the makeup and that was something she should highlight. Definitely objective.

A rather inconspicuous black car rolled around to the front gate and stopped in front of her. Disgruntled, Xuemei wanted to tell the driver to just leave her be, but her parents made it clear that she would not be able to leave without someone around. Paranoia was common with them these days. She could only attribute it to the aftereffects of a huge scare like suicide and near-death. Feeling that they were too free with their parenting style before, they went to the opposite extreme of trying to suffocate her within strict boundaries. Xuemei honestly thought she could manage with the bus system or the subway. Sometimes, being born into money was not as lucky as he earlier believed. Innately snobby, they believed that public transportation was like the gathering place of criminals. They even spoke of the local market as a harvesting ground for bacteria and disease when she had suggested buying fresh groceries from there. Formerly of the middle class, Xuemei just rolled her eyes at such ridiculous assumptions. Rather than being driven around, she wanted to buy herself a motorcycle to get around like the old days. Horrified by even the suggestion, Father and Mother Tang vehemently opposed. Xuemei tried to compromise by asking for a scooter instead but was still met by the same hard opposition. Exasperated, she decided to just go with the flow for now before slowly getting her parents to open up to the idea.

Climbing into the car, she glanced up to meet eyes with the newly hired driver. All she knew was that her name was Tao Qiao. She was still on the younger side and looked to be about in her mid-20s. Since Xuemei was going to be travelling and going out more often, her parents saw it fit to hire a new driver and buy a new car.

“Ahem,” she cleared her throat, “it’s nice to meet you, I’m Tang Xuemei.”

“Yes, I am aware Ms. Tang. I look forward to working with you.” Nodding and keeping her answer succinct, Tao Qiao did not converse more than necessary. Starting up the engine, she made her way out of the driveway. “Where am I taking you, Miss?”

“The school is located in the H District of the city. I already looked up the address, so you can just put it into the GPS.”

Just like that and they were on their way.

The trip was rather uneventful for most of the way. Just busy and congested roads with not much to see in the surroundings. Taking longer than expected, Xuemei was lulled to sleep in the silence. All the thoughts in her mind and slight jitters kept her up most of last night. Anything to do with the military, she could be extremely confident. But acting? Even the celebrity world was still a mystery to her. For a while, she has been trying her best to catch up by reading news articles and magazines online. She downloaded Weibo to try to keep track of all the latest trends. In honesty, though, it was extremely exhausting. Sometimes, those “hot” gossip stories put him right to sleep. What does he care if such and such is dating so and so?

Her nap did not last too long before she was awoken by the car jerking from a slight impact. Thankfully, Xuemei brought over her habit of always putting her seatbelt on from her past life. The air slightly knocked out of her from the impact of her seatbelt, Xuemei opened her eyes in confusion. A car accident on the first day of the job? It was not like she was the unreasonable type, but this was a pretty disappointing performance.

“I’m so sorry, Miss! I don’t know what happened. The car beside us suddenly cut over to our lane without any signal or space, so I did not have the time to brake.” Contrasting her cool façade from earlier, Tao Qiao was clearly panicking. Xuemei assumed it was out of fear of losing her job so quickly.

“If it is as you say, then it’s not your fault. I can’t blame you for someone else’s reckless driving. It’s not as if you are clairvoyant and can magically avoid cars.” Instead of freaking out, Xuemei calmed herself and comforted her driver. She did not believe in jumping to hasty conclusions based off of words. At this point, she neither believed nor disbelieved Tao Qiao. After saying these words, Xuemei opened the car door and stepped out. As a decently busy road, the loud honks proved the surrounding cars’ evident anger towards the hold-up. Glancing around, she could see the car in question that had collided with her own car. Just through looking at the angles and seeming force that the two cars hit each other at, her first instinct was to trust Tao Qiao. It really did seem as if the car had suddenly tried to switch lanes. In the midst of her investigating, Xuemei started to hear a fight occurring on the other side of the car.

“Elder, ah, if you want to die, go die by yourself without trying to drag others down with you! Others are still young and successful with things to do with their life!”

Rounding around, she found herself faced with a scene of a middle-aged man violently shaking an old man by the collar. From their position on the ground just a foot or so away from the crosswalk, Xuemei could take a couple guesses about what happened in the end.

“How are you going to compensate for the damage?! It’s not just my car, but the other car that hit me as well. You aren’t thinking about trying to get out of it by claiming that your penniless or sick, right? Just because you’re old, don’t think I will let this issue go like this!” Not letting go, the middle-aged man continued to rage. Her eyebrows furrowing, Xuemei’s mouth turned to frown.

“Excuse me, sir. It’s not that I cannot understand your position, but you could let this grandfather go and speak peacefully. You are not even allowing this man to respond.” Unable to hold back, Xuemei walked over and grabbed the man’s wrist.

“And who are you?” Roughly throwing the hand off himself, the man glared over at Xuemei.

“The car that hit you when you dangerously tried to switch lanes.”

“Oh, well, it was not my fault! This old man suddenly fell into the street in front of my car. I tried to avoid him and that was when your car hit me since it was not prepared for the sudden swerve. If anything, I was just trying to save a life. If he wants to commit suicide, he should do it himself instead of making others into criminals!” Getting in Xuemei’s face, the man shouted so much that spit was flying everywhere.

Feeling disgusted, Xuemei quickly backed up while grimacing. Clenching her fist tightly, she inhaled deeply while trying to control her temper.

“I’m not here to blame the accident on you. We can’t keep blocking traffic like this, so what do you want to do? Shall we call the police or will we settle this without insurance.”

“Call the police! I feel like if we just let this man go, he will never pay us back.”

Eyebrow twitching slightly, Xuemei really did not feel like she had time for this. Shifting her eyes to the old man still sitting on the ground, her eyes widened in surprise. Looking closely, the old man seemed confused and out of focus. Heart softening, Xuemei walked over to the elder.

“Sir, are you alright? Why did you suddenly walk out into the street?” Stronger than she looks, Xuemei was able to help the grandfather up from the ground. However, the old man did not seem capable of putting weight on his right side.

“I…” Seemingly trying to talk, the words came out slightly slurred and were not making coherent sense.

Oh no! Xuemei carefully placed the old man on the ground before whipping out her phone. Calling 119, she told them to come quickly. If her assumptions were correct, this old man was having a stroke currently. Shuffling around the old man’s pockets, she could not find a phone or wallet which was disconcerting. When the ambulance finally arrived, Xuemei felt she could not leave the elder alone like this. Informing Tao Qiao to get the middle-aged man’s contact information, Xuemei decided to get in the back of the ambulance.

“Wait! Young Miss! You can’t just…” Tao Qiao was taken by surprise and could not stop her in time. “What will I say to Master and Madam?” Messing her hair up in frustration, Tao Qiao felt her first day could not have gone any worse.