Chapter 44: A Difficult Choice

Hengdian World Studios, County Magistrate's Court.

The four main characters of Saving the Dust gathered together in the county court.

This was the final scene of this unit.

The villainous scoundrel was put on trial, and justice was finally served!

With a sharp strike of the magistrate's gavel, the villain was finally fitted with a wooden cangue and dragged out, awaiting execution in the autumn!

As Shen Xiaohai was dragged away, the director shouted, "Cut!"

The production assistant happily clapped the slate and shouted, "The first unit of Classic of Love, Saving the Dust, has wrapped!"

The set cheered briefly before falling quiet.

So what if Saving the Dust wrapped? There were still five more units to go!

The actors might have finished their parts, but the crew still had to keep working.

Ji Yu was quite happy. The task was completed, and the reward was secured.

The Memory Palace skill! Ten fragments directly leveled it up to intermediate.

Ji Yu went into the car and curled up, checking the system rewards to claim the skill fragments and upgrade his ability.

Fan Bingbing and Le Jiatong also got into the car.

Le Jiatong reached out from behind, ruffled Ji Yu's hair, and asked, "You big pervert, let's go out for a wrap party tonight."

"Uh-huh."

Ji Yu gave a perfunctory response while clicking on the skill upgrade button in the system panel.

As the skill activated successfully, a cool sensation washed over his brain.

It felt as though countless tiny hands were massaging his cerebral cortex.

It felt so good he almost cried out.

Ji Yu couldn't help letting out a soft moan, which instantly made the chatterbox Le Jiatong fall silent.

She quietly withdrew her hand from touching Ji Yu's head, feeling that he was getting increasingly bizarre.

Wasn't I touching the head on top?

Why does he feel so good?

Curious, Fan Bingbing also stretched her neck to look at Ji Yu's expression.

By now, Ji Yu had recovered, his face flushed with excitement, and he happened to meet Fan Bingbing's gaze.

"Huh? Why are you looking at me so strangely?"

Fan Bingbing couldn't help sighing and quietly sat back down.

Must have been pent up for too long; the guy's getting weird.

Le Jiatong thought the same thing; Ji Yu must have been driven a bit crazy from holding back.

It was hard on him, too, hanging around stunning beauties like them every day—going a little stir-crazy was totally normal!

Ji Yu was clueless about what they were thinking, but he was genuinely thrilled.

Many blurry memories from his past life were now becoming crystal clear.

Though it had only just reached the intermediate level, it wasn't quite like geniuses in movies who could remember absolutely everything.

Still, anything that had made a slightly deeper impression could now be recalled effortlessly.

Take Anhe Bridge, a song he had listened to countless times in his past life—he remembered every single note of it now.

Beyond that, many songs he used to know how to sing but couldn't quite recall on the spot also returned to him.

Movies he had watched two or three times in the past could also be clearly visualized scene by scene.

While he couldn't recall every single camera angle, it was more than enough for Ji Yu!

These were the greatest treasures of all!

Other skills enhanced his physical abilities, which was like hardware upgrades, while the Memory Palace acted like the driver program.

Recalling the songs in his mind, Ji Yu decided to pursue a dual career as a singer as well!

Singing made way more money than acting these days!

How much do you make from acting in a drama? But releasing a golden hit album could make you an absolute fortune!

The key was that singers were much easier to make famous! Actors had to grind for years and depend on luck, whereas singers had an easier path.

Of course, singing relied more heavily on natural talent!

Yet, the system's skills could compensate for any shortcomings Ji Yu had, making the difficulty negligible!

Ji Yu's eyes were currently filled with a longing for wealth!

However, it looked completely different in the eyes of Le Jiatong and Fan Bingbing.

Oh crap, he's genuinely losing it.

Le Jiatong and Fan Bingbing exchanged glances, then tacitly agreed: "No drinking tonight! Actually, no dinner either! You're not allowed to come find us tonight!"

Coming back to his senses, Ji Yu let out an "oh" and started the car, heading back to the hotel.

His mind was still sorting through memories of the past.

Seeing him stay silent the whole way, Le Jiatong and Fan Bingbing assumed he was angry.

The two huddled together and whispered.

"He looks mad."

"What should we do then? Who told you to keep teasing him and sleeping in the same room every day?"

"You didn't object either! You even let him touch your stomach!"

"Nonsense! I did not! You let him touch your leg too!"

"That was forced by him!"

"Ugh!"

The two women glared at each other in disdain before huddling together to whisper again.

Ji Yu glanced at them and didn't give it much thought, assuming they just had a lot to talk about since they were about to part ways.

Back at the hotel, Ji Yu didn't chat much with them and went straight to his room to organize his memories.

By the way, he wanted to practice Anhe Bridge to see how clearly he actually remembered it.

Ji Yu picked up the guitar and started to strum.

"I know, those summers~ are like youth, gone and never returning~~

Replacing dreams~ can only be making do~~~"

Ji Yu sang with deep emotion, though he wasn't entirely satisfied with his own vocals.

His timbre was great, and his pitch was accurate, but compared to professional singers, it still fell quite short.

His emotional delivery lacked a certain depth as well.

Outside the room, Le Jiatong and Fan Bingbing were feeling a bit uneasy and wanted to check on him.

As they stood by the door, they heard him singing.

"Leaving me trapped in the city, to commemorate you~~~

I know those summers~ are like you, gone and never returning~~

I no longer hold high expectations for anyone~~ I know, this world has too many regrets every day~~

So~ hello, goodbye~~"

Standing outside the door, Le Jiatong and Fan Bingbing looked at each other in bewilderment. Why was he singing such a sorrowful song?

Wasn't this that unfinished song from the other day?

He finished writing it today?

Listening to that short snippet back then, it hadn't sounded this heartbreaking.

Is he really this devastated just because they turned down his invitation to dinner tonight? Did inspiration strike that hard?

Fan Bingbing whispered, "There! Look what happened! You drove him crazy."

Le Jiatong hadn't expected this either.

After thinking for a moment, she suggested, "Then should we ask him out for a drink?"

"And then?"

"And then... you sacrifice yourself for the greater good!"

"Why don't you sacrifice yourself?"

"Well... it's not entirely out of the question," Le Jiatong said coyly.

Fan Bingbing let out a huff and made a face. She was dreaming!

What the two women said to each other was just playful banter about teasing Ji Yu, but in reality, they each had their own little agendas.

Fan Bingbing raised her hand, knocked on the door, and called out, "Ji Yu! Open up, it's Bingbing, let's go get some food."

Having her thunder stolen, Le Jiatong chimed in as well.

"Big sister is here, hurry up and open the door~"

Interrupted in his singing, Ji Yu threw the guitar onto the bed and rushed over to open the door.

Before he knew it, he was grabbed by the hands of the two suddenly enthusiastic girls, who insisted he go out to eat with them.

Why are they suddenly being so proactive? Is something going to happen tonight?

Ji Yu was baffled, but holding the hands of two beauties at once felt pretty great!

At that moment, Shen Xiaohai, who had packed his things and was preparing to leave the hotel, saw the three of them walking away hand-in-hand and couldn't help spitting on the ground.

Those three scumbags!

They scammed him out of several thousand bucks!

He was never collaborating with them again!

Especially Ji Yu!

That night, after returning to the hotel following dinner, the two women tried to follow him into his room, only for him to push them back out and lock the door in their faces.

They wouldn't even drink alcohol during dinner!

There was definitely nothing going on tonight, so why let them in?

Blocking the doorway, Ji Yu said, "Sorry, I have things to do tonight."

"What things?"

"Some thoughts I haven't quite figured out, I need to clear my head."

Ji Yu couldn't very well tell them he hadn't finished organizing his memories.

Le Jiatong and Fan Bingbing assumed he was heartbroken and upset.

What could he possibly be trying to figure out?

Choosing between the two of them?

With a loud *bang*, Ji Yu shut the bedroom door and began meticulously sorting through his memories.

The two women outside wouldn't give him anything anyway, so why let them in?

Too many cooks spoil the broth—that saying was totally right!

Better take care of business first before worrying about those issues.

Ji Yu focused primarily on recalling things related to the entertainment industry.

As those scattered, fragmented memories slowly surfaced, Ji Yu increasingly realized how deep the waters of the showbiz world were.

Gossip and scandals he had read about in the past without paying attention slowly drifted back to him.

He even recalled a piece of gossip related to Teacher Li.

Her good friend!

Though he didn't know if the rumor was true, the timing was still early, and he had plenty of time to deal with that toxic friend of hers!

The incident where Xie La backstabbed Teacher Li probably wouldn't happen until around 2005.

While feeling a bit nervous, Ji Yu also let out a sigh of relief.

Teacher Li wasn't extremely famous, and in his past life, Ji Yu hadn't really known much about her.

Recalling it now, he finally understood why she hadn't made it big.

Teacher Li was truly a pitiful soul, having made friends with such a backstabbing pest!

Still, Ji Yu felt Teacher Li was a good person.

Though he hadn't gotten all the way with her yet, she was at least willing to use her hands.

If it hadn't been for that interruption last time, he would have scored already.

Time to write songs, write songs!

Make money, buy a house in the capital, and live together with Teacher Li.

He also needed a foundation in string arrangements; otherwise, even with the memories, writing songs would be tough.

Holding a pen, Ji Yu pondered whether he should rip off JJ Lin or Jay Chou.

It was such a difficult choice!

The two women outside the door were also facing a difficult choice: should they soften their stance and just give in to him...