The short conversation ended, and Wendy immediately recovered her calm expression.
“I shall go and see Amy now. I’ll visit you another day.”
Wendy and Emily walked past each other. Their every step and movement were elegant and perfect!
“So fake!”
When Sally knew that Wendy had plotted against Emily, she had lost respect for such a cunning person. Emily told them because she did not want the events in her past life to repeat themselves. She tried to prevent Wendy from harming Joe and Terry. She had to let them know about the real Wendy because she did not want them to head down any disastrous route. Fortunately, her friends never doubted her words. They believed her when she told them Wendy.
“What did she say to you just now?” Sally asked eagerly when they walked out of the asylum.
“Nothing much. She asked why I didn’t die out there?”
Emily did not want to say anymore. She never wanted her friends to be brought into the feud of the Mu family. She still had to consider the plausibility of Amy’s claim against Sarah, and she was not sure if Amy was mentally deranged or was only playing dumb.
However, if she was just playing dumb, there was no point for her to continue her act. Emily did not sue her, nor was she harmed. If Amy had feigned mental instability, then she would not be able to carry on her act much longer. Emily only needed to wait for the day she exposed herself.
“We have a class in the afternoon. Let’s go get ready for it.”
Emily had lost count of the number of classes that she had missed. Even though she had never been a committed student, she had also never acted on such capricious whim. It seemed like her rhythm of life was uprooted after she got engaged to Eldest Young Master Jackson.
She might have had easy courses at her university, it did not mean that she should take it lightly or play truant. They got to the university about 15 minutes before the class started at two in the afternoon.
“Look who’s back. It’s our campus queen!”
They never thought that Emily would survive, but she sure did! When they caught sight of her, some of them had taken an immediate sense of disgust. Some even threw malicious remarks her way.
“Isn’t she dead? Why did she have to come back to pollute the environment?”
“How could you…” Sally was furious and dashed forward as she got ready for a fight.
Luckily, Emily managed to keep a grip on her. As she shook her head in disapproval, Emily dragged Sally to a corner and told her to sit down. About 30 students from Ning University had been summoned to the police station due to the hotel incident with Terry. She knew that they would hold that grudge against her. However, they would not dare to do anything out of line as they feared Eldest Young Master Jackson.
“Emily.” Sally saw red. Should she allow those people to taunt Emily?
“Could you really control what they say?” Emily asked plainly.
“I was just going to give them a piece of my mind!” How could she leave the matter alone?
“There is only one of you. How could you fight against so many of them?”
Furthermore, it would bring Emily back into the spotlight. Her words and actions would always be magnified beyond their original meanings. It was better if she stayed low-profile.
“But…” Sally pouted with grievances written all over her face.
She felt that it was unfair for Emily to go through all that, but it did not seem to bother Emily at all. Indeed, the emperor was not pressured but the eunuch… No, yuck, who would want to be the eunuch?
“We were talking about recruitment earlier. How many illustrators have you recruited?” Emily quickly changed the subject as she did not want Sally to brood over that matter.
Fortunately, Sally was a scatterbrain. She would forget what was on her mind if someone changed the subject abruptly. Emily had managed to divert her attention.
“There were a few applicants, but I haven’t got time to interview them for the last two days as we were busy looking for you.”
“We have to hurry things along. We are running out of time.”
“What are we rushing for?” Sally blinked in confusion as she could not understand why Emily was in such a rush.
Emily was not sure how to explain to her friends. The comic industry would start to bloom in Bentson the next day, and it would last for about two years.
Many new comic publishers would mushroom overnight to cater to the exponential growth of the industry. It was a golden period for comic startups to pitch for funding. If they failed to grab the opportunity in time, talent and funds would be scarce as time went by. They would have to act fast if they wanted to seize the opportunity. Even though Sally did not understand it, she trusted Emily’s instinct.
“No problem. Next month, Ning University and Jiang University would jointly organize an Animation & Comic Exhibition. We would be able to meet many talented illustrators then.”
“Animation & Comic Exhibition?” Emily had not been involved in any of the campus activities lately. She did not know about that event at all.
“That’s right. Other than the Comic Associations from both universities, many other new associations from within the universities and outside could also participate in the competition.”
“You’re right, Emily. Shall we register as a new association and join the exhibition too?”
“We won’t be able to make it in time.” All new associations would have to get approval from the university’s registrar before they could set up shop in the university. The process for that might take too long. Emily had to think more about that. Sally knew that Emily was in deep thoughts. She wondered who said that Emily was a problematic girl? That person must not have spent time with her and, thus, did not understand her at all. Emily was a brilliant lady, especially when she managed to come up with amazing ideas for their new company.
“Our class…”
“Emily, you’re back!” someone cried from behind them, and with a hint of surprise in her voice.
It was their class monitor, Lois HawkinsLois. She could not hide her excitement when she saw her, and she quickly made her way toward Emily. She wanted to grab Emily’s hands, but she was too shy to do that. Eventually, she grabbed onto Emily’s shoulder instead. She was satisfied that she was the real Emily.
Lois sighed in relief and tapped lightly on her chest. “They said you fell into the sea and they could not find you for two days and two nights. I thought…”
Again, she breathed another long sigh of relief. “Luckily, you are safe.”
The class monitor had a dull appearance, but she was kind and diligent. Emily had been a problematic student in her past life, but her class monitor had always been helpful and patient with her, and she was always kind to her other classmates as well.
“I’m okay.” Emily smiled at her.
Suddenly, she seemed to have remembered something and asked, “Lois, would our class’ comic association join the Animation & Comic Exhibition?”
If she remembered correctly, the association was set up not too long ago, and that big event would only happen once or twice a year. If they missed it, they would have to wait for another half a year. All the associations would grab the golden opportunity to participate in that event. Lois grinned awkwardly and pushed her glasses up her nose.
“Err… Our association only… We only have three members.”
It was rather embarrassing that their class association was a failure when compared to the associations from the other classes.
Emily interrupted her and smiled politely. “Lois, may Sally and I join the association?”