Liang Ru, Liang Chen's younger brother, was increasingly drawn to Mei Lin's quiet intensity in the busy common areas of Shanghai University, where students were gathered over textbooks and talking animatedly about campus gossip. Liang Ru had a real, down-to-earth personality that valued real connections, even though his family was very rich and he was just starting out as an idol trainee at Graceful Productions. He had seen how smart Mei Lin was in their shared classes and how fiercely independent she was. During quick lunches and coffee breaks, they became friends based on their shared love of their work and respect for each other.
One afternoon, during a very hard computer science class, most of the students couldn't figure out a hard programming problem. Mei Lin, as usual, had a humble demeanor and quietly suggested a clever, unique solution that avoided the usual problems. Liang Ru, who was sitting nearby, watched with growing admiration as she explained the logic. Her eyes were bright with interest, which he found fascinating. He might not have understood every technical detail, but he could see that pure, intuitive genius was at work, a talent that was far beyond the norm.
Liang Ru told his close friend Gu Zimo, who was also a trainee at Graceful Productions, about the incident with great excitement later that week when they were going over choreography. Liang Ru said, "You should have seen her, Zimo," with wide eyes of admiration. "Everyone was stuck, and then Mei Lin just saw it." Like she can see through the code. "She's really smart; she's probably the smartest person in our class." Gu Zimo, who was known for being very smart and interested in all kinds of excellence, listened closely, with a look of interest on his face.
Gu Zimo's interest was sparked right away. He believed Liang Ru's judgment, and the way she described Mei Lin made her sound like a very smart person. Gu Zimo didn't know that Mei Lin was secretly living as "Shadow Strike" or that Liang Ru's family was very rich and had a lot of power struggles. Still, he started to respect this unknown talent. Liang Ru's innocent admiration and Gu Zimo's open mind were, without either of them knowing it, creating a subtle but important alliance that quietly brought Mei Lin into Liang Chen's world through unexpected connections.