Chapter 20

Ye Qiusuo planned to invite five students to her home for a meal today. Early in the morning, she went to buy ingredients. However, upon entering the supermarket, someone suddenly shouted, "Professor Ye!"

She turned and nodded at the person—perhaps a student, she didn't think much of it.

Yet the next second, the person rushed over: "Are you Professor Ye? Can... can we take a photo?"

Professor Ye: "?"

"I'm your fan!"

The concept of "fans" felt too distant for Ye Qiusuo. Before she could react, a crowd gathered around her, directly taking photos with their phones.

Ye Qiusuo could only hurriedly leave the supermarket, without even having time to buy the groceries.

"Quiz Showdown" now consistently ranks in the top three for viewership ratings, and Ye Qiusuo is the most dazzling guest on the show. Unable to find her Weibo, netizens created a super topic for her, where fan activity is extremely high.

"Professor, can we come over now to help?"

Sitting in her car, Ye Qiusuo tapped open a voice message from Lin Lu.

"...Could you trouble yourselves to buy the groceries and bring them over? I can't get out right now." Ye Qiusuo sent Lin Lu the menu she had written the night before.

"Sure thing!" Lin Lu agreed immediately.

"How is it?" Ding Hong asked, standing beside him.

"The professor asked us to buy the groceries." Lin Lu promptly forwarded the menu to the five-person group chat.

The group huddled together, divided up the shopping list, and prepared to split up to make the purchases.

Observing their barely concealed excitement, Ding Hong felt a wave of emotion.

In his previous research group, people also competed to do things for their professor, especially personal errands, as it helped them gain visibility and build a good relationship. When the professor was in a good mood, they might give you a leg up.

This was an unspoken rule tacitly acknowledged among many students.

A senior from Ding Hong's past had mentioned this to him, and even on certain forums, similar sentiments were often expressed below posts.

Therefore, he had previously accepted this mode as the default, considering such maneuvering and scheming entirely normal.

But in fact, not all professors are like that.

Their current team was probably the dream environment for all STEM students. There was no sense of a hierarchical struggle with the professor; each student had their own projects, and everyone helped each other out.

Ding Hong even began to feel grateful for Meng Weiren's departure back then.

"Let's go, we'll buy the drinks." Lin Lu called for Ding Hong to go with him.

...

The students arrived with the ingredients, helped wash and chop the vegetables, and some even helped with the cooking. In the end, Ye Qiusuo was ushered into the living room to rest.

Ye Qiusuo: "..."

Since morning, things had developed beyond Professor Ye's expectations.

The cooking task fell to Ding Hong and Lin Lu, who claimed to be experts. The others, after washing and prepping the ingredients, came out and sat with their professor to watch TV.

The idea of inviting her students for a meal was actually suggested by a colleague, who said she should at least treat them once a year to help them relax a bit.

"No need to be too formal." Professor Ye wanted her students to relax. "We're all around the same age."

The students: "..." They felt even more flustered and somewhat ashamed.

They were all around the same age, yet Professor Ye was already supervising graduate students, while they still felt they knew nothing.

"What would you like to watch?" Ye Qiusuo tried to hand the remote control to a student.

"Professor, we'll watch whatever you're watching." The students sat upright on the sofa, each as restrained as a timid new bride.

She'll definitely watch the news or a science/technology documentary channel. A high-achieving young professor like her would never waste any time to absorb knowledge.

The students communicated this with their eyes.

Professor Ye pressed the remote a few times and switched to Galaxy TV Channel 2, which was replaying the mentor performance episode of "Star of Tomorrow." She put the remote down.

Students: "?!" What about the science channel?

On TV, the stage was dazzling, and the musical intro began to play.

"Ahhh! XiXi!" one student suddenly screamed.

"What are they watching?" Lin Lu curiously peeked out from the kitchen.

Xie Xi stood on the performance stage, a black and gold robe draped over him, holding a microphone as if incarnating a demon king. His originally clear, bright voice had also taken on a deeper, more alluring quality.

It felt completely different from when he sang in the elevator.

Ye Qiusuo watched the person on screen. She liked his singing; there was always a special power in it.

As the song ended, the student who had screamed excitedly was already moved to tears: "Our XiXi is amazing, sob sob, Mommy loves you so much!"

Professor Ye, hearing her student's words: "..."

What is this 'Mommy' thing?

This was Professor Ye's first encounter with a 'mom fan,' having never followed celebrities before.

Thanks to this student's outburst, the others relaxed considerably and started speaking more freely.

"Xie Xi really sings well."

"Of course! Our XiXi is absolutely phenomenal, especially live. It's so much better than these recorded versions."

"You've been to a live show?"

"I managed to get a ticket for a concert last year. Unfortunately, I was too far away to see our XiXi's face clearly."

Listening to her students' chatter, Ye Qiusuo recalled the song Xie Xi sang in the elevator. It was truly pleasant to listen to. She even felt that if the accompaniment and production weren't done well, it could easily detract from his voice.

"Ah, I remember now!" Sun Jiajia's eyes lit up as she looked at Ye Qiusuo. "Professor, you were at the 'Star of Tomorrow' live recording before, right? Did you see XiXi?!"

"Wasn't the professor recording for 'Quiz Showdown'?" Lin Lu asked casually, bringing out a dish.

"During the 'Star of Tomorrow' challenge round, I saw the professor in the audience. I think all the 'Quiz Showdown' guests went that time," said a student who followed both shows.

"I did go," Ye Qiusuo answered patiently. "Xie Xi's singing is indeed very good."

"Sob sob sob!" Sun Jiajia suddenly became teary-eyed. "I have no regrets now!"

Professor Ye frowned, finding her student rather peculiar.

What she didn't know was that this student was shipping them as a couple.

"Star of Tomorrow" and "Quiz Showdown" aired on the same day during different time slots. Some netizens, watching one after the other, developed rather peculiar ideas.

Xie Xi, needless to say, was a top figure on a certain video site. Statistics showed his clips accounted for half of all 'shipping' edit videos.

Ye Qiusuo, as the dark horse guest on "Quiz Showdown," attracted a group of netizens with her excellent looks and incredibly precise answering style.

She wasn't a celebrity, and there was very little video material of her online. Thirsty netizens could only work with the footage from "Quiz Showdown."

A small group of netizens started editing videos pairing Ye Qiusuo with Xie Xi.

Sun Jiajia was one of them. She enjoyed watching Xie Xi paired with others in fan edits; as long as they looked good together, she could 'ship' it. When study pressure was high, she'd ship for relief; when feeling down, she'd ship for a pick-me-up.

One day, Sun Jiajia suddenly came across a fan edit pairing her own professor with Xie Xi, and from then on, she fell deep into the ship, unable to extricate herself.

Now, hearing her professor personally say that XiXi sang well—this was clearly sugar!

Even if it was imaginary sugar, a sugar-seeking girl could still immerse herself in her own fabricated happiness.

Who else could get close to one of the actual people involved? Who else!

If the professor weren't right there, Sun Jiajia would be 'squealing with delight' right now.

The dishes in the kitchen were almost ready. Several students got up to help bring out the food, insisting the professor stay seated and rest.

Ye Qiusuo casually picked up her phone and noticed Xie Xi had sent a voice message. She tapped to play it.

Xie Xi’s deliberately drawn-out voice instantly came through: "Teacher—"

Ye Qiusuo replied, "Xie Xi, speak properly."

"We’re recording the music video on Sunday afternoon and might not make it in time. Can we reschedule the lesson?" Xie Xi’s voice immediately returned to normal.

Sun Jiajia, who was just bringing out the dishes: "..." She was so immersed in her fangirling that every voice started to sound like her idol Xie Xi.

Ye Qiusuo didn’t notice her student. She held down the voice message button: "I’m free Friday morning or Saturday evening. See which one works for you."

A few minutes later, Xie Xi replied choosing Saturday evening.

"Professor, try this sweet and sour pork ribs—Ding Hong made them." Lin Lu, bolder than the other students, directly picked up a piece of freshly cooked ribs with her chopsticks, offering to feed Ye Qiusuo.

Ye Qiusuo instinctively leaned back and took hold of the chopsticks. "I’ll help myself. Everyone, sit down and eat."

The students gathered around, and naturally, the most enjoyable topic was gossip. Lin Lu, influenced by her sisters at home, could always keep up with Sun Jiajia’s chatter, and the others listened with great interest.

"Over the past two years, if we’re talking about the most striking-looking male actor, it has to be Xia Zhoubing," Sun Jiajia said enthusiastically. "He’s bound to get famous sooner or later."

"Isn’t Xia Zhoubing the one who challenged our professor on that show?" Lin Lu narrowed her eyes. "His character doesn’t seem great."

"Really?" Sun Jiajia didn’t know about this. She had only watched fan-edited clips and hadn’t actually seen "Knowledge Q&A," as all her time was spent following her idol, Xie Xi.

Also, she and Lin Lu weren’t on the same project and hadn’t watched the show together.

Lin Lu promptly explained, "He once accused the professor of having a question bank, but was proven wrong on the spot."

"I didn’t know about that..." Sun Jiajia whispered, sneakily glancing at Ye Qiusuo across the table.

Ye Qiusuo, holding her chopsticks, looked at her student. "It’s fine that you like him. Don’t worry about me."

In the original story, Xia Zhoubing would indeed become popular. Once Xie Xi’s album was released, it set new records. As the male lead of the music video, Xia Zhoubing naturally received immense attention. Moreover, Xia Zhoubing had landed a role in a drama that would also become a huge hit.

Although the plan for him to appear in the music video had suddenly fallen through.

The students had come to a consensus through their interactions: their professor never lied.

Sun Jiajia felt half-relieved, but her fondness for Xia Zhoubing suddenly diminished significantly.

...

After the students left, Ye Qiusuo stood in the living room for a moment, then took her phone, intending to search for Xia Zhoubing.

Calculating the timeline, today should be the day the drama officially announced Xia Zhoubing as the male lead.

However, before Ye Qiusuo could search, as soon as she opened Weibo, Xia Zhoubing’s name was prominently featured on the hot search list.

His name was linked with that new drama, becoming a trending topic.

"Xia Zhoubing to Star in 'The Wanderer'"

Ye Qiusuo clicked in and saw that he had already finished shooting his official character posters.

This drama was a double male lead production. The other male lead was a veteran actor, and with a competent director and solid script, the entire cast was generally skilled. Regardless of Xia Zhoubing’s own performance, under such conditions, once it became a hit, even a dog passing by in the series would be praised by the audience for its great acting.

Professor Ye felt somewhat conflicted. In the original text, the author described Xia Zhoubing as someone who always repaid grievances. Anyone who offended him or Wan Yourou would face retaliation.

It was hard to imagine that Xia Zhoubing wouldn’t hold a grudge over Xie Xi rejecting him for the music video male lead role.

Especially that day, when Xie Xi’s agent mentioned the matter, his expression was odd, seemingly also puzzled about why Xia Zhoubing wasn’t chosen.

When it came to offending people, probably no one could surpass Xie Xi.

But Professor Ye felt that Xie Xi shouldn’t be forced out of the industry by scandal. Perhaps if he acted a little more restrained, offended fewer people, then if trouble arose later, there wouldn’t be so many ready to kick him when he was down.

Ye Qiusuo sat down at her computer, found an audio file of the "Heart Sutra," forwarded it to Xie Xi, and added a note: ["Cultivate your mind and character. Remember to listen to this often."]

Xie Xi, who opened it directly: "???"