26 Moving Forward

Finding out Jiang Cheng's identity the three teased Jiang Cheng and they had banter over it.

Later, Jiang Cheng signed Yuan Hong's copy of [Stories About The Ming Dynasty], and Hu Ge and Sun Xiao wanting to join in the excitement had Jiang Cheng sign things for them.

In the words of Hu Ge: "Since he was a celebrity! Maybe in the the future, it would become worth millions and he could sell it and live off the money!"

Hearing that Jiang Cheng was speechless, the irony of hearing that from Hu Ge of all people was strong.

After the four of them unpacked and set up, Sun Xiao proposed that they go out to eat and celebrate. In this regard, Jiang Cheng and the other two had no objections.

So they headed out together.

Walking around the campus, although it was already close to noon, there were still students milling about heading to report in for admission. There were a few students who were accompanied by their parents and looking at them, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but think of his parents from his previous life.

Jiang Cheng had always believed that in his previous life he had been very unfilial.

In his previous life, his family was very poor, and his mother was always weak and sick. So the burden of supporting the family was always on his father. But he never complained, he worked hard to support Jiang Cheng and his wife. The money that Jiang Cheng went to university on, was borrowed by his father through any means. Jiang Cheng still remembered the moment he had entered university, the smile on his parents' faces were so brilliant, so full of pride.

Unfortunately, that was the last happy memory of the whole family in his memory.

A few months after heading to university, his mother's illness had relapsed worse than ever, and after several days at the hospital, she passed away. So with just his father left, Jiang Cheng became determined and studied hard so that after graduation, he could find a job as soon as possible to repay his father.

But life was cruel. When Jiang Cheng was in his senior year, his father suffered from cirrhosis due to long-term overwork and years of malnutrition. He fell ill and died in only a month.

Jiang Cheng, had lost all his loved ones in the span of three years. So with just his dreams and nothing left binding him to China he headed to the United States hoping to realize his dreams.

Only to suffer the final tragedy of passing away, right before he could achieve his dreams.

In fact part of the reason why Jiang Cheng didn't let Jiang Dejun and Gao Linlan come to send him off was because he was afraid of encountering such a scene and recalling the bad memories of his previous life. But in the end, here he was.....

"Jiang Cheng, what's wrong, are you okay?!" Hu Ge said, seeing Jiang Cheng's expression looked a little sad.

"Ahhh, I'm fine, just being sentimental!" Jiang Cheng replied, reeling back his mind. Yesterday was gone and the past was unrecoverable, he had to relax and enjoy the joys of life now! He knew his parents would want to see him happy.

Picking up his mood, Jiang Cheng suddenly smiled and said to the three of them: "Today I'll cover the meal, just say what you want to eat!"

Although Jiang Cheng's bank account couldn't compare to those ultra rich folks, Hu Ge and the others could only be said to be middle class. So compared to them in terms of pocket money Jiang Cheng was balling.

However, they had only just met today, so they were slightly embarrassed to let Jiang Cheng treat them. But Jiang Cheng shut them up with just one sentence: "You guys can treat next time, when you write a critically acclaimed book and sell millions of copies and become a best-selling author!"

…...

Soon they came to a small restaurant and entered. The owner of the restaurant was a warm and humorous middle-aged man.

When he saw Jiang Cheng and the other three enter, he asked, "You guys new students from Shanghai Drama!"

"Yeah, how did you know, Boss?!" Hu Ge said.

"Hahaha, the four of you are so handsome and the Academy is just down the road. But I've never seen you guys before, so you must be new students!" the boss said with a smile, "What would you like to order!"

"We don't mind but the more expensive, the better!" Hu Ge smiled and pointed at Jiang Cheng, "We have big money here today, so don't worry about us!"

Jiang Cheng smiled then gave a laugh, it seemed they were out to kill his wallet.

"You can order whatever, but remember, you guys owe me a treat when you get rich and famous later!" Jiang Cheng replied.

But in the end Hu Ge, Yuan Hong and Sun Xiao tried to back out of ordering the most expensive dishes but Jiang Cheng didn't let them.

"Jiang Cheng, you're really living the life." Yuan Hong said jokingly.

"Yeah, I remember the interview you had on TV about [Stories About The Ming Dynasty], you've got exposure already before you've even graduated." Hu Ge added.

"It's nothing, I'm sure you guys will blow up and become even more famous than me." Jiang Cheng replied.

And his words weren't nonsense. Although he had no impression of Sun Xiao, Hu Ge and Yuan Hong would both enter the entertainment circle to become famous actors and actors overshadowed writers even directors in every way.

But Jiang Cheng's words actually sent the other three into silence.

They were lost in thought about how few people in the entertainment world in actuality gained success. Most would quit silently after a few years of hard work in the entertainment industry. Even as students of Shanghai Drama Academy, nothing was guaranteed for them, if luck wasn't on their side they could just as easily end up in obscurity like any other film/drama major.

Most people only saw the bright and beautiful appearance of the entertainment circle, but didn't see the fierce competition under the surface!

Seeing the atmosphere seemed to have dropped a little, Hu Ge spoke up and began to chatter away, changing the topic and reviving the conversation.

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