Lu thought he misheard.
"Teach acting?"
He was stunned for a while before he remembered to invite the guests into the house.
By now, Natsume Soseki had finished tidying up the room and brought over two chairs.
Felice and the middle-aged man took their seats.
"Meow~" The cat meowed cutely at Felice's feet.
Felice looked surprised, lowering her head and instinctively saying, "What a beautiful little creature."
She bent down.
Without any hesitation, the cat jumped into Felice's arms.
Then, it let out a big yawn, moved around a bit, and finally settled down in a lazy position, comfortably falling asleep.
Felice's eyes were full of joy as she smiled foolishly.
"Little kitty~ little kitty~"
The cat responded by brushing Felice's cheek with its tail.
Felice laughed even more foolishly.
"Hehehe..."
This girl clearly had the potential to be a cat lover.
With a new playmate, both Lu and Natsume Soseki were quite pleased.
Lu poured tea for the two visitors.
The middle-aged man began introducing himself to Lu.
His name was Dwight Dell, Felice's father, and he worked at the courthouse as a clerk.
He reiterated the purpose of their visit, "Professor Lu, I want to ask you to be Felice's acting teacher. Please, you must agree. Really, please, please agree."
Repeating himself several times, he expressed his sincerity.
Lu was even more bewildered.
"Um... Mr. Dell, do you know that I am just a playwright, novelist, poet, and historian?"
"Only."
With so many identities, using "only" seemed absurd.
Felice glared at Lu.
Apparently, she thought Lu was showing off.
Dell noticed his daughter's expression and scolded her in a low voice, "Felice!"
Helplessly, the girl lowered her head and continued to play with the cat.
The cat meowed in response to being petted.
Meanwhile, Natsume Soseki watched from the side, feeling quite unbalanced.
When he played with the cat, it would occasionally show its claws. Now that a girl had replaced him, the cat's attitude had completely changed?
The little fellow must be a male cat!
Or a flirtatious one!
On the other hand, Lu said to Dell, "Mr. Dell, it seems that Felice Miss is not willing to let me be her teacher. So I think you should respect her wishes."
Felice couldn't help but feel a bit depressed.
She couldn't believe that Lu, a "righteous gentleman," would actually report on her like this, and to her face.
Dell frowned and glanced back at his daughter, saying, "Felice, have you forgotten what I told you before I left? If you want to continue performing, you must constantly hone your acting skills and seek guidance from various famous teachers."
With that, Dell nodded slightly in Lu's direction.
"Now, a famous teacher is right in front of you. How can you easily let this opportunity slip away?"
Because of the special nature of drama, playwrights are often excellent directors.
Moreover, being able to direct often means being able to act.
Coupled with the brilliance of the Truthful Mouth in the past, Dell had already assumed that Lu was a great teacher.
Felice was helpless.
"Father, there are already many people at the Royal Opera House willing to guide me. I am not worried about improving my acting skills. Instead, my sister, she has always wanted to perform on the big stage. You might as well bring her here and let Professor Lu be her teacher. Wouldn't that be more suitable?"
Felice's sister was named Zena.
In history, Zena Dell's career was comparable to her sister's.
When she was still a little girl, she had performed in pantomimes in Scotland and even played Cinderella at the Shakespeare Theater in Liverpool.
Dell was diverted by Felice and looked confused.
For a few seconds, he really considered bringing Zena to study under Lu.
But soon he shook his head.
"No, today's business has nothing to do with your sister. Let's settle your matter first."
With that, Felice instantly lost her spirit.
She glanced at Lu secretly, thinking that it was all the bad guy's fault. It was bad enough that he scared her during the rehearsal by letting Mr. Linden arrange for the male lead to frighten her. Now he wanted her to be his student.
However, the girl still had a little longing.
The bad guy could write "Roman Holiday." He must be a romantic person.
Learning acting from him might not be a bad experience.
For a moment, Felice couldn't figure out her own mind. She just felt that Lu was a bit annoying and a bit intriguing.
Dell turned to Lu after his daughter fell silent.
"Professor Lu, what do you think..."
Suddenly, there was another knock on the door from outside.
Thump, thump, thump—
Natsume Soseki looked surprised and silently asked Lu with his lips, "Is it for you?"
Lu, of course, didn't know.
He was just thinking about how to refuse Dell and his daughter.
This time, he stood up, said "Excuse me" to Dell, and went to open the door.
Outside stood an old gentleman.
He was dressed very elegantly, wearing a top hat and deer leather gloves.
This outfit was definitely not cheap.
Lu asked, "May I help you?"
The old gentleman bowed to Lu and asked, "Mr. Lu?"
Others now called him "Professor Lu," so Lu was a bit uncomfortable hearing "Mr. Lu" for the first time.
After half a second of reaction, he nodded.
"Yes, I am Lu Shi."
The old gentleman smiled.
"Mr. Lu, hello, I am Cyril West of Oxford University. This visit is because I heard that you came to London to study, but you have not yet found a school or college to settle in. So... do you need a degree?"