Li Ling felt like she might be hallucinating. Otherwise, why would a gigantic Jin Jingyao suddenly pop up on her video call interface? She weakly called out, "Director." Could it be that she didn't say "Director" but "Shut down"? Otherwise, why did the screen immediately go black, followed by a window that said, "This video call has ended." Li Ling couldn't understand what this line of text meant because every character had turned into a black question mark. Meanwhile, Li Ling herself had turned into an expressionless pink rabbit emoji, with small text above it: Not Responding. About ten minutes passed before the not-responding brain of the pink rabbit began to attempt a reboot. First attempt failed. Second attempt failed. Third attempt... She suddenly touched the mummy comic book placed by her bedside. Originally, Li Ling thought the mummy characters drawn by the director were cute and might amuse children. But for some reason, when she took them out earlier, the little genius had a lukewarm reaction and wasn't particularly happy. Now Li Ling knew why. Because they were drawn by the same person. Lines of very dirty curse words scrolled before Li Ling's eyes. She held back from actually saying them and pulled out the little genius's previous masterpieces she had saved. As she flipped through them one by one, the more she looked, the more she felt like an idiot. Even an idiot could see they were drawn by the same person. Why couldn't she see it? Why didn't she think that Director Jin Jingyao was 9787532754335? Who could have thought of that!!!!!!! Li Ling took a deep breath, telling herself to stay calm, stay calm, maybe there was some misunderstanding. She opened the chat window with 9787532754335, and after five minutes of deep thought, cautiously typed two words: "Director." She closed her eyes full of hope, then opened them again, hoping to see a reasonable explanation. A beautiful red refresh button appeared next to the chat window. [Due to the other party's settings, you cannot send messages] 9787532754335. Actually. Blocked her.??? Li Ling stared at this line in disbelief, as if realizing something, and opened Jin Jingyao's WeChat. Feeling that he must have blocked her too, Li Ling confidently typed: "I am your mom." And then the message was successfully sent. Li Ling: ????? Jin Jingyao quickly sent a question mark. He seemed very calm, as if nothing had happened. Half-believing, Li Ling typed: "Director, are you 9787532754335?" Jin Jingyao was silent for a moment and said, "No." "Who is 9787532754335?" he asked her. Li Ling: "Then why did I see your face in the video call with him just now?" Jin Jingyao: "You saw wrong." Li Ling: "..." She took a deep breath and pressed the voice button: "Jin Jingyao, do you really think I'm an idiot?" The other side was silent for a long time, and it was unclear if he had listened to the voice message. Li Ling, having a premonition, sent a "1." [Message sent but rejected by the recipient.] Hehehe, hehehe, Director Jin really blocked her. Li Ling: "....." She was so angry she laughed. The mummy character was still lying by her hand, tearfully poking its own chest with a fork. Li Ling sneered and called them bad kids born of bad fathers, throwing a row of bad mummy dolls into the cabinet for confinement, then made a call to Xiao Liu. As soon as the call connected, a wailing sound came from the other end: "Wuwuwu, don't jump off the building, ahhh..." Li Ling was stunned for a moment before realizing that Xiao Liu was watching her new drama. Her heart warmed, and just as she was about to comfort Xiao Liu and tell her not to cry, she heard someone excitedly say, "Who are you on the phone with? What the hell? Li Ling? Invite her to come drink with us!!" Li Ling: ? "...Brother, aren't you watching the drama?" she asked hesitantly. Xiao Liu, sniffling, said, "Yes, I'm watching it at the nightclub, I had them play it on the big screen on the third floor..." Li Ling: "..." Damn rich people. Thirty minutes later, Li Ling appeared at the nightclub that Young Master Liu frequented. She hadn't combed her hair or washed her face, wearing her favorite T-shirt of late, which had the words "Directors are idiots" printed in large letters. Logically, such a high-end nightclub would have a dress code and would never let Li Ling in. But the security guard at the door gave her a mysterious smile, and everyone she met on the way gave her a thumbs-up, praising her taste. Li Ling went up to the third floor and precisely located Xiao Liu. Young Master Liu, having left the film crew, had reverted to his hedonistic, trendy attire. But for some reason, Li Ling felt that his gaze towards her was different from before, seemingly filled with a deep paternal love. "You've worked hard," he said, patting her hand. "Just wait a bit longer, the takeout will be here soon." For most people, takeout means pizza, fried chicken, beer, and the like. But for Young Master Liu, takeout meant a group of eighteen-year-old fresh-faced male models. Five minutes later, the takeout arrived, surrounding Li Ling. Each one had a great physique, was very handsome, and had a sweet mouth, calling her "sister." Li Ling fell into a sea of alcohol and flesh, initially half-heartedly resisting, but soon couldn't withstand the capitalist sugar-coated bullets, feeling as if she were floating, like Aunt Maggie blown up into a balloon. Amidst the adoring gazes of the young models, she proactively offered to perform some talents. The nightclub waiter brought a plate of darts and a freshly printed photo of Jin Jingyao. Li Ling stuck the photo on the dartboard, aimed at that handsome, arrogant face, and threw the first dart. Her gaze was cold, her posture standard, looking very professional. The young models enthusiastically applauded. The dart flew ten meters away, not even touching a hair on Jin Jingyao's head. The applause and cheers sensibly quieted down. Li Ling: "..." In the somewhat awkward silence, she bravely said, "Again." Then she threw the entire plate of darts, but Director Jin's face remained unscathed. Li the Warrior's hand, however, was a bit sore. Model No. 1 obsequiously came over to massage her hand, asking, "Sister, why are you throwing darts at this person's face?" "Don't call me sister," Li Ling sternly corrected him. "Anyone who calls me sister is a bad person." "Huh? How bad?" No. 2 widened his eyes. Li Ling said, "Really bad, a big liar." Thinking carefully, everyone who had called her sister so far, whether it was Luo Mingqing or the fake son 9787532754335, none of them were good. Especially 9787532754335. Deceived her feelings, deceived her sympathy. "Shameless," she cursed, "pretending to be a primary school student!" No. 3 said decisively, "He must like you!"Li Ling was clearly drunk, yet she still showed a frightened expression, even letting out a hiccup in her fear. "Impossible," she said weakly. "If he doesn't like you, why would he go to such lengths to get close to you?" Number Three's eyes sparkled with wisdom. Li Ling murmured, "Yeah, why indeed." "Tell me, why do you think your cousin does that?" She turned to ask Xiao Liu beside her. Xiao Liu replied decisively, "If you ask, you drink." Li Ling: "Makes sense." The two of them went back and forth, and soon they were both thoroughly drunk, drinking until the takeout service ended and the nightclub was about to close. A waiter came over to clean up the mess, and Xiao Liu, reeking of alcohol, asked Li Ling, "What were you saying just now? Who did what and why?" Li Ling, her eyes unfocused, said, "Yeah, who did what and why?" Xiao Liu: "Haha, you forgot!" The drunken Li Ling said in distress, "I really forgot." With a thud, the two of them collapsed simultaneously, like two roly-polies bumping into each other. - On the plane, after adding Li Ling to his blacklist, Jin Jingyao felt extremely good for about ten minutes. Extremely good, extremely calm. Then, this calm turned into a massive whirlpool. He felt like a little black cat that had accidentally entered a washing machine, being tossed around mercilessly. After calming down, Jin Jingyao realized he had made another fatal mistake. A normal person would explain and clarify at this point, not avoid the problem and blacklist the person they liked. But he wasn't normal. He had no way to explain. To say that he had always had a crush on her, so he secretly followed her with a small account, and then pretended to be a middle-aged father and his elementary school son. That sounded like a pervert. To say that because he had a crush on her, he wrote a script for her, and the content of the script was all about high school students' lewd fantasies, neither pure love nor harmonious and prosperous. That sounded even more like a pervert. He felt a sense of giving up and decided to delete the account 9787532754335 and vowed never to bother Li Ling again, to stay away from her life. Ten minutes later, he changed his mind and called his big brother Jin Jingping, asking how he proposed to his wife back then. Jin Jingping, completely confused, said, "I didn't propose; she proposed to me." Jin Jingyao: "Oh." He coldly hung up the phone. Two minutes later, the other party called back, and Jin Jingyao reluctantly answered. "Don't listen to your big brother; your sister-in-law is currently divorcing him!" said the person on the other end of the line. Jin Jingyao responded with another "Oh." The person on the phone paused, hesitated, and then called out, "Baby." He resisted the urge to hang up and replied, "Mom." His mom seemed to be laughing but gently sniffed. There was a period of silence, then he heard his mom say softly, "Your brother has told us about your recent situation." Jin Jingyao unconsciously pressed his earphones. He didn't know how his brother had explained it to them, but he remembered the disapproving tone when his brother mentioned "lingerie model." Worried that he might hear another high-pitched scream through the earphones, he turned the volume down a bit. However, his mom's tone didn't change; she still spoke gently, "As long as it's someone you like, your dad and I will support you." Jin Jingyao paused, not saying a word. He seemed to hear Jin Jingping grumbling in the background, "What do you mean? Only you guys support him, and I don't?" "First, get your wife back; otherwise, you don't get to speak.""Mom said reproachfully. She continued speaking to Jin Jingyao, her tone becoming cautious again: 'Baby, why did you suddenly ask your brother about marriage? Do you have any plans?' Jin Jingyao said, 'No plans.' 'Okay.' She sounded somewhat disappointed. They chatted a bit more, and Mom hinted that she had recently learned some new recipes and would be very happy if he brought someone home to taste them, emphasizing the words 'bring someone.' Jin Jingping, on the side, poured cold water on the idea, saying his brother shouldn't believe it, as the family dog had accidentally licked some food last time and ended up in the hospital for a week. He then urged Mom to return his phone, in case someone needed to reach him. Mom said, 'Your sister-in-law hasn't called you.' Jin Jingping fell silent. Jin Jingyao lowered his head and smiled. He hadn't been home for years and hadn't had such a pleasant family conversation in a long time. Although his brother had always told him that Mom had not only been seeing a psychologist but had also earned a master's degree in psychology, it wasn't until now that he realized she had indeed changed a lot. A strange and unfamiliar emotion briefly passed through his body. Perhaps because this emotion was so unfamiliar, he wasn't sure how to face it. He gently told her that long flights were tiring and he planned to rest. Mom sounded reluctant but still forced herself to say goodnight. Before hanging up, he heard her say softly, 'I'm sorry, baby. Mom misunderstood you back then. I apologize.' He didn't know how to respond, so he simply hung up the phone. Moments later, he received a message from Jin Jingping, saying, 'Hey, Mom cried again.' Then he complained, 'You could at least have said "oh" to her. Why did you just hang up?' Jin Jingyao replied, 'Would saying "oh" stop her from crying?' Jin Jingping seemed speechless and sent a bunch of ellipses. Jin Jingyao felt that his brother's words were probably not very valuable, considering he was about to get divorced, and promptly added him to the blacklist. During the remaining flight time, he closed his eyes and engaged in some self-reflection. For many years, Jin Jingyao had always harbored a distrust of language. This might trace back to his childhood when Mom would say she loved him but actually blamed him. Or it could be because, during his early days in England, his English wasn't good, and he was constantly ridiculed by his classmates. In those years of traveling back and forth between China and England, he felt like a sandwich person, belonging to neither language nor any group. This sense of alienation and division had permeated his life. Perhaps he had long been accustomed to splitting himself in two, which is why he repeatedly wore masks in front of Li Ling. The flattering 9787532754335 was his mask, and the tough-talking Director Jin was also his mask. The former had a low posture, the latter a high one. They were the two ends of a scale, and together, they made up Jin Jingyao. But he didn't know how to maintain a better balance. Jin Jingyao recalled the last time he tried to apologize to Li Ling. In fact, he hadn't said a single word. Through the door, he wrote his feelings on paper, which seemed to be the limit of what he could do at the time. He still wasn't honest enough. Could he take another step forward? Could he take off the mask and be a more honest person? Before getting off the plane, Jin Jingyao had already made up his mind to take the first step towards honesty. He looked out at the sky through the window. The sky was very blue; it looked like a good day, a brand new beginning. Just as he left the jet bridge and was walking out, he suddenly received a call from his aunt." The other party cried and said, "Your cousin has really gone astray! How could he start messing around with a minor celebrity!" Aunt repeatedly urged him to make sure to discipline Xiao Liu harshly and not to show any mercy. Although he didn't understand what the other party was talking about, Jin Jingyao still agreed out of politeness. Later, his brother Jin Jingping also called him, gently expressing condolences and saying that it's normal for someone you like not to like you back, and that their cousin is the only son of the Liu family, so don't do anything illegal. "..." Jin Jingyao felt that he was talking nonsense. Before passing through customs, he needed to take the shuttle train. On the train, he habitually opened Weibo, only to remember that he had already deactivated his account 9787532754335. Just as he was about to log out, he saw Li Ling on the trending topics. The incident had happened just a few hours earlier. She had gotten drunk and was photographed hugging Xiao Liu intimately. You could vaguely see the large words on the black T-shirt she was wearing, "Directors are all idiots." He stared at those words for a long time, finally comforting himself with the thought that he wasn't called a director, he was called Jin Jingyao. The shuttle train arrived at the station, and passengers began to disembark. Jin Jingyao, like a zombie whose brain had been eaten, followed the crowd mindlessly. Because he was so careless, he almost bumped into people several times. He said "sorry" many times, passed through customs in a daze, and almost left his passport behind. After much deliberation, he removed Li Ling from his blacklist and cautiously sent her a message: "Are you there?" Before these two words, a glaring red exclamation mark immediately appeared. Below it was a system prompt: [Message sent but rejected by the recipient.]]