Chapter 83

When Xie Xi woke up, Ye Qiusuo had fallen asleep leaning against the back of the sofa, the book in her hand nearly slipping to the floor.

He reached out to take the book, then stood up and gazed at her profile for a long time. Only then did he pick up his phone and casually open Weibo. He hadn't expected that someone would actually spot Ye Qiusuo buying a sofa.

Xie Xi finished reading those few comments: "..."

Something was wrong with these fans. Things had already reached this point, yet no one had linked him to Professor Ye?

They were appearing on a show together and shared a teacher-student relationship—did they not know the phrase "love grows over time"?

Big Star Xie had originally intended to show off secretly without letting netizens catch on, but at this moment, he felt like exposing himself.

"What’s wrong?" Ye Qiusuo had just opened her eyes when she saw Xie Xi pursing his lips and staring at his phone, looking rather unhappy.

"You're awake." Hearing Ye Qiusuo's voice, a smile instantly broke out on Xie Xi's face.

"Mm."

Xie Xi let the words roll around on the tip of his tongue before finally moving closer to her. "If we went public..."

"Do you want to go public?" Ye Qiusuo asked.

Xie Xi had a feeling that if he said yes, she would absolutely agree.

"Let's wait a bit longer," Xie Xi took the initiative to say. He wanted to wait until she didn't look so busy and could find the time to deal with the fallout before they went public.

"Alright." Ye Qiusuo went along with whatever he wanted.

Xie Xi leaned directly against Ye Qiusuo's shoulder as if he had lost all his strength, nuzzling affectionately against the crook of her neck. "Once we go public, you have to attend my concert and be my leading lady."

Hearing the words "leading lady," Ye Qiusuo suddenly thought of Wan Yurou. Aside from seeing her on the show, she hadn't heard any news about her for a long time. Wan Yurou didn't seem to be making any waves in the industry; her career remained lukewarm despite participating in the show with Xie Xi and You Feibai.

Ye Qiusuo looked down at Xie Xi, who was still doing well as an artist in the industry, and asked, "What reason would make you quit the industry and stop singing?"

With his status, he could easily find another powerful manager. It wasn't like what was written in the book—that once Wei Qi died, he would lose all his support.

Of course, the lack of logic in the original author's writing extended far beyond just that point.

"I'd quit if it stopped being interesting," Xie Xi said casually. "I can sing anywhere."

Ye Qiusuo looked thoughtful, then said, "I have to go to the company tomorrow. I'll see you at the next recording."

Xie Xi suddenly looked up and smiled. "That will be our third time meeting this week."

"Mm."

Wait until Ye Qiusuo got up to pour some water, Xie Xi switched to his alt account.

Even if they weren't going public for now, he still had to set the pace; otherwise, his alt account would be useless.

My Professor Ye: [The sofa in Xie Xi's house on the reality show isn't this one. He must have gone to Professor Ye's house for a nap.]

[Eh, now that Hao-hao mentions it, it's true. Zai Zai's sofa isn't this low-key Nordic style color. It's more likely that You Feibai has one like this.]

Xie Xi looked down at the sofa he was sitting on, and his mood suddenly turned sour.

In the future, they would definitely choose a bright color for the sofa in their new home.

[You guys don't understand. Does Zai Zai look like someone who only has one place to live? Maybe he has other houses, and it's possible one of them is in the Nordic style.]

[Sigh, if there was a photo of Professor Ye sitting on this sofa, I could come up with a sofa CP theory in minutes.]

Big Star Xie: ...Believe it or not, one of these days he would find an excuse to make this sofa appear on the teacher's Weibo!

The comments below were flying off in all directions except the one Xie Xi wanted, so he could only come out to set the pace once more.

My Professor Ye: [They are recording the same show and have a teacher-student relationship. It's not impossible for him to go to Professor Ye's house to hang out.]

Big Star Xie: Another clever attempt at setting the pace.

However, the netizens just wouldn't bite. Even if they seemed to ship the "Xie-Ye" CP with total sincerity usually, when it came down to it, they were faster than anyone at debunking rumors.

[Going over to play isn't impossible, but taking a nap there is a bit much. It's not very likely.]

[Exactly. We ship the CP for fun, but we still have to distinguish it from reality. It's clearly impossible for Professor Ye and Zai Zai to be together.]

Xie Xi: Why is it impossible?

...

Two days before the broadcast of "The Game Within a Maze," the guests had already moved to another city to film the next episode at a large amusement park.

The production crew arranged a hotel for everyone. Ye Qiusuo and Wan Yurou lived on the same floor, while the others were on a different floor.

Ye Qiusuo arrived in a car provided by the production crew from the airport and happened to run into Wan Yurou, who was heading out. The other woman glanced at her, curled her lip, and turned her head the other way.

Ye Qiusuo didn't care. She walked to her room and swiped her card to enter.

On the contrary, Wan Yurou stood in the elevator with a face full of jealousy and hatred.

She had gained absolutely no traction from recording this show.

She didn't know what was wrong with Zheng Longju. Aside from the initial teaser having a hint of over-editing, the subsequent episodes were actually quite normal, with no scenes of infighting being edited in at all.

All the show's talking points were centered on Xie Xi and Ye Qiusuo, with You Feibai added in at most.

When Wan Yurou's company integrated the data, they found that even You Feibai's numbers were average, and he couldn't even compare to Ye Qiusuo's data.

Ye Qiusuo and Xie Xi were like a virus; anyone who got stuck with them would have no good outcome.

In the future, if there were shows with those two, she might as well not bother with the hype.

Wan Yurou felt indignant.

Unlike others, she always felt that the world should belong to her, that the whole world should revolve around her, rather than this feeling of powerlessness she had now.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, her assistant stepped out. Wan Yurou held down the elevator button and, as the doors were about to close, said to the assistant outside, "I'm not going out anymore."

Leaving the assistant on the first floor, she returned to her room.

...

Xie Xi arrived earlier than Ye Qiusuo. Calculating the time from her flight landing to her arrival at the hotel, he began sending her messages.

Xie Xi: [Teacher, have you arrived?]

Seeing the message, Ye Qiusuo didn't reply but called him directly. "I'm here."

Xie Xi stood by the balcony window, looking at the moonlight outside, and said softly, "I... miss you."

"Do you want to come up and see me, or should we video call?"

Xie Xi hesitated for a moment. "Can I come see you?"

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

After hanging up, Xie Xi immediately prepared to go find Ye Qiusuo. Before leaving his room, he specifically put on a hat and a mask.

He took the elevator up. As soon as the doors opened, he turned right and started walking. At the same time, the adjacent elevator opened, and someone stepped out.

Xie Xi didn't notice. He counted the room numbers and stopped at Ye Qiusuo's room, pressing the doorbell.

Ye Qiusuo came out very quickly. Before he could press it a second time, she had already opened the door to let him in.

Only after the door closed did someone emerge from the corner.

It was Wan Yurou's assistant.

After seeing Xie Xi go in, she even pretended to pass by that room to confirm the room number once more before going back to knock on Wan Yurou's door.

After a long wait, Wan Yurou opened the door and said crossly, "What is it?"

The assistant felt she had discovered a huge secret and didn't care about Wan Yurou's tone at all. She squeezed inside and whispered excitedly, "Sister Yurou, guess who I just saw?"

“Who did you see?” Wan Yurou asked, already changed into her silk bathrobe. She sat before the vanity mirror, carefully removing her makeup.

“I just saw Xie Xi knocking on Professor Ye’s door!”

Wan Yurou’s hand froze. “Has the production crew started filming already?”

The assistant stared at her, speechless.

“No, that’s not it,” the assistant insisted. “There is definitely... something going on between them!”

With a sharp clatter, Wan Yurou slammed her bottle of makeup remover onto the table. She whipped around to glare at her assistant. “And your point is? Do you expect me to go out and handle their PR for them?”