The finals of "Knowledge Q&A" trended on social media even before airing.
#Can't bear to watch "Knowledge Q&A"#
[I already know who the champion is without even watching this finale.]
[Hahahaha, I feel so sorry for the guests, having to go up against Professor Ye.]
[Why are you all so sure Ye Qiusuo will win? What if someone makes a comeback?]
[To the person above, a comeback requires Professor Ye not answering five questions correctly. Do you think that's possible? Unless Professor Ye isn't in the finals.]
[The guests are so pitiful, just running along this whole time, but why am I so excited? Wuwuwuwu, protecting the best Professor Ye in the world.]
When the broadcast time arrived, the show's ratings skyrocketed from the start, clearly everyone was anticipating the finals.
As soon as each guest appeared on stage, the barrage of comments began to multiply.
[Wow, ordinary people can actually look really good when dressed up. Is makeup some kind of dark art? That male guest next to her changed his hairstyle and instantly looks ten years younger.]
[Holy crap!]
[Holy crap! Holy crap!]
When the camera switched to Ye Qiusuo walking on stage, the screen was suddenly flooded with "holy crap".
[This... I knew Professor Ye was good-looking, but I didn't know she could be this stunning!]
[I'm in love, is this the feeling of a heart fluttering?]
[Ahhhhhhh! Professor, look at me! Look at me!!!]
[Wuwuwu, it's not enough that she's super smart, her looks have to crush everyone else too. Professor Ye is just too much, wuwuwuwu tvt]
After things calmed down, all the guests began waiting for the questions, and the audience grew tense too. With every question Ye Qiusuo answered correctly, the comments started counting, all the way to the fifth question, when the comments went completely wild, throwing virtual flowers everywhere.
[Grand Champion!!!]
[Ahhhhh, is this the power of knowledge?]
[Our Professor Ye is simply the strongest on the planet!]
The following result was obvious: Ye Qiusuo won the grand championship.
Then came the lengthy guest speeches, paired with moving background music, pushing the atmosphere to its peak.
When it was Ye Qiusuo's turn, the audience waited for her speech, wanting to know the professor's thoughts. Instead, she ended her thank-you speech with just one brief sentence.
[Hahahaha, the host's bewildered look. He probably hasn't encountered this situation before.]
[Normally, the champion should give a speech that moves everyone and themselves to tears to end the show. Our Professor Ye is truly not an ordinary person.]
[Sigh, I like Professor Ye so much. I wish she would open a Weibo account.]
While the comments were still feeling sentimental, Ye Qiusuo's words asking the director for the prize money were picked up by a nearby microphone. Some viewers who had their volume turned all the way up heard their conversation.
[I think I just heard what Professor Ye said to the director...]
[It wasn't my imagination? I heard it too.]
[What did she say?]
[I rewound it, turned up the volume, and listened two more times. Hahahahaha, Professor Ye asking for the prize money so seriously is so adorable!]
Viewers, not content to just finish the show, would always go find fellow fans to discuss it with. At this time, Weibo was a great place to go. Ye Qiusuo's conversation with the director was quickly clipped and, at an extremely fast speed, shot up the trending searches.
#What did Professor Ye say to the director?#
Many viewers don't like to watch with comments on, so naturally they didn't know about this extra clip. Curious, they clicked in and saw the short clip of what Professor Ye said to the director.
[Shocked, why didn't I hear this part?]
[Dying of laughter, is it really okay for Professor Ye to be this direct?]
[The director even stuttered a bit when he spoke, clearly not expecting someone to ask him for the prize money right on stage.]
[The director isn't great either, insisting on having a prize money segment at the end but only giving out a glass trophy.]
[Did Professor Ye only come to this show for the prize money to utterly dominate?]
[The epitome of bluntness? Professor Ye.]
[Being so direct that people can't play mind games is actually pretty good too.]
[Hahahahaha, Professor Ye is really so straightforward. She remained unmoved even by our Xi Xi's beauty. I suspect only that little temptress Academia can capture her attention.]
"Brother Xi, Professor Ye said a few more words to the director afterward." Zhang Dong said while looking at the trending searches.
They had just finished watching the "Knowledge Q&A" finals together. Xie Xi didn't like seeing the comments, so he had turned them off on the projected TV. Zhang Dong only found out about the extra segment when he browsed Weibo and immediately shared it.
"Play it and let me see." Xie Xi sat on the sofa, a homework book still resting on his lap, with just one page left before finishing this one.
Zhang Dong immediately projected the video from his phone onto the TV in front of him: "Brother Xi, look."
Xie Xi looked up at the specially clipped segment on the TV, the audio amplified, and thought to himself: "...The teacher seems to be short on money."
"Haha, Professor Ye is really interesting."
Xie Xi frowned and turned his head, looking at his assistant staring at the person on TV with a silly grin: "Do you like her?"
Zhang Dong, still unaware, chuckled: "Who doesn't like Professor Ye? She's amazing." The only feeling from following this show was pure satisfaction.
Xie Xi got up and turned off the TV: "I need to do my homework, don't disturb me."
"Okay, Brother Xi." Zhang Dong finished and added, "Brother Xi, Professor Ye will come here tomorrow, right?"
Xie Xi: "...I need to concentrate on my homework. Leave the living room."
Zhang Dong: "Oh." What's up with his Brother Xi today, actually doing homework seriously.
After the person left, Xie Xi looked down at the homework book, flipped back a few pages. On several pages, words had been specifically circled by Ye Qiusuo, with graphic marks made next to them. He didn't know what they meant. But looking at their handwriting intertwined on the page, he just felt...
Thump—
Xie Xi closed the homework book, then lay down on the sofa, pulling a nearby blanket over his head.
His heart was broken.
Otherwise, why would it be beating so fast?
...
"I've already negotiated with these two hospitals. The data they have on dyslexia will be sent over later. Sun Jiajia will be responsible for the statistics and records then." Once Ye Qiusuo decided on something, she would solve it with maximum efficiency. She had only decided to start this project last week, and now everything was almost ready, only lacking investment.
"Professor, what should we do?" Lin Lu asked.
"Not needed for now. We'll start once the investment arrives." Ye Qiusuo looked at her five students. "Don't worry about other things for the time being, focus on your own projects first."
She spent the morning at the university, and at 1 PM, Ye Qiusuo drove to Xie Xi's place.
She stood at the door and rang the bell. After a while, someone came to open it.
"Teacher, please come in." Xie Xi stepped aside to let Ye Qiusuo enter.
The living room on the first floor was extremely spacious, with a fireplace that even had a real fire burning inside. The decor was cozy, with wool rugs spread everywhere; stepping on them, your feet would sink softly. The TV in front of the sofa was huge, not hard to imagine that watching movies from there would be an enjoyable experience. Many photos of Xie Xi himself, of varying sizes, hung on the walls.
Ye Qiusuo didn't pay attention to any of these things. She scanned the room upon entering and said: "There's no table here."
There was only a dining table, with place settings at each seat, and the chairs came with their own cushions.
The entire first floor showed no trace of a formal, hard-lined office area. The feeling upon entering was one of comfort, a place where you could lie down and rest at any time.
"Where do you usually do your homework?"
Xie Xi pointed at the sofa.
Ye Qiusuo was clearly not the type to curl up on a sofa to work. She preferred to stay alert and clear-headed, believing it led to higher efficiency.
"There's a study on the second floor with a desk. We could go there." Xie Xi said this somewhat insincerely; he didn't like the study at all and had hardly ever been inside.
"Not necessary yet." Ye Qiusuo asked him for his homework notebook. "You should have finished it."
"Do I need a new notebook again?" Xie Xi asked, holding the second notebook he had filled.
"Not today." Ye Qiusuo took it and began flipping through, standing right there for a good ten minutes. Just as Xie Xi's anxiety was growing, she finally spoke. "Do you have money?"
Xie Xi was taken aback. "...Yes."
"Would you be willing to become my investor?" Ye Qiusuo asked seriously.
"Okay." The answer almost leaped from Xie Xi's lips.
Professor Ye, however, looked puzzled. "I haven't even said what the investment is for."
Xie Xi's eyes darted away for a moment. "Anyway, I have plenty of money. I don't mind."
"It's for a project related to dyslexia. Although symptoms vary from person to person, there are patterns..." Ye Qiusuo held up Xie Xi's homework notebook. "You all perceive things according to certain rules."
Xie Xi didn't understand these things, but he had money.
"I can invest right now."
Before Ye Qiusuo could even finish outlining the project's general content, or get a chance to pull the USB drive from her pocket, she had successfully secured the investment.
"Since I'm investing, can I skip the homework?" Xie Xi attempted to bargain.
"Sure." Ye Qiusuo agreed immediately.
Before Xie Xi could react, she added, "You've already finished it."
The living room fell quiet for a moment before Ye Qiusuo spoke again. "You need to come with me to the hospital for some tests."
Xie Xi was quite cooperative, immediately gathering his things to go with her.
At the doorway, Ye Qiusuo looked at her car and turned to ask Xie Xi, "Where's your assistant?"
She had originally assumed the assistant would drive Xie Xi, allowing them to go their separate ways after the tests.
"He's busy." Xie Xi wasn't about to say he had sent Zhang Dong away himself.
In the end, Xie Xi got into Ye Qiusuo's car to go to the hospital.
The hospital they went to wasn't an ordinary one, but a specialized training hospital.
Because Xie Xi was a celebrity and couldn't be seen easily in public, Ye Qiusuo took him in through a special entrance.
"Qiusuo, I've prepared the room for you." A man in his thirties stood at the entrance. He came forward as soon as he saw them. "I have a few children to attend to later, so I won't disturb you."
"Thank you." Ye Qiusuo took the key.
"No problem. When you're ready to leave, just give the key to the nurse at the front desk."
"Alright."
"The director of this hospital is a friend of mine." Ye Qiusuo added an explanation as she led Xie Xi inside.
"Hmm."
Pushing the door open, they entered a very dark room. In the center was a single chair, with an instrument in front of it.
"Is this a psychiatric treatment room?" Xie Xi felt the place resembled those movie sets where patients are taken for experiments.
"It's just for testing." Ye Qiusuo turned on the room's lights. It instantly transformed into a playful space. The walls were painted in bright colors and covered with various cartoon characters, very appealing to children. All sorts of small toys were scattered in the corner.
Ye Qiusuo stood in the middle adjusting the instrument. Xie Xi wandered over to the corner, squatted down, and poked a finger at the toys. Suddenly, he spotted a bright yellow duck.
He couldn't resist giving it a squeeze. The room was instantly filled with a long, drawn-out 'QUACK'—
