"This skateboard was picked out by my little nephew. If he comes over tomorrow and sees it still here, he might cry." Xie Xi added another reason.
When Ye Qiusuo met Xie Xi's eyes, all she could see was a clear, transparent gaze. She instinctively believed his words.
Just for doing one page of problems, Professor Ye couldn't accept a child's gift with a clear conscience.
Not having anticipated this situation beforehand, Ye Qiusuo naturally hadn't brought any return gift. She carefully searched her mind for anything of decent value she had on her, and finally turned to go back to her car to retrieve the limited-edition model car that decorated her dashboard.
Ye Qiusuo propped the skateboard beside the sofa and turned to leave. Xie Xi thought she had discovered his ulterior motive and that's why she suddenly departed.
Fortunately, Ye Qiusuo returned quickly, handing the model car in her hand to Xie Xi: "Please give this to your nephew for me."
"Alright." Xie Xi took the palm-sized model car, verbally agreeing while casually slipping it into his pocket.
This was his now!
With the gift exchange concluded, Ye Qiusuo had Xie Xi take a cognitive test.
This wasn't a simple task for Xie Xi. He often had trouble concentrating, his mind wandering as he looked things over, though he possessed wildly imaginative creativity in art and music.
A test originally scheduled to take one hour ended up taking two.
Ye Qiusuo silently adjusted her plans. She collected the cards: "Next week I'll bring another set of test cards. After that, the lessons won't be necessary anymore."
Xie Xi: "No more lessons?"
Ye Qiusuo looked at Xie Xi with surprise, noticing he didn't seem happy. Based on his past behavior, he should have been delighted to hear this.
She explained: "It was originally set to end next week, but we didn't finish one set of tests today, so I'll come over next week."
A feeling of frustration welled up in Xie Xi's heart. He had just started...
"I'll head back now. I wish you a smooth recording for the show." Ye Qiusuo said earnestly.
This final episode of "Tomorrow's Star" would select the champion. In the original book, Lu Mingzhe took first place, but Xie Xi had said his singing wasn't as strong as the second and third place winners. Later, when the episode aired, netizens widely believed Xie Xi thought Lu Mingzhe was stronger than his younger self, hence the criticism.
It was a serious public opinion incident, but in the book, Xie Xi just let it develop.
Because... because of what?
Sitting in her car, Ye Qiusuo suddenly couldn't remember the reason.
She remembered something very important happened, leading to Xie Xi's reputation worsening later on.
Professor Ye drove all the way back, still unable to recall what had occurred.
Indeed, memories of this book seemed to fade over time. It also couldn't be ruled out that changes in the male and female leads' experiences were causing her memory of the story to disappear.
Ye Qiusuo sat in the living room thinking for a long time, finally finding a blank notebook. She wrote down all the plot points she currently remembered, using a character-decomposition cipher she had devised, incomprehensible to normal people.
After writing, she went over the original book's plot again, but still couldn't remember what happened that caused Xie Xi's career to decline later, eventually making him a stepping stone for Lu Mingzhe.
Thinking of Lu Mingzhe, Ye Qiusuo naturally thought of Wan Yurou. Since the program recording ended, she hadn't heard any news about Wan Yurou, nor had she appeared much on hot searches.
She didn't know what she was doing. Wan Yurou's trajectory seemed completely deviated from the original book.
Ye Qiusuo closed the notebook. She inexplicably hoped Xie Xi could also deviate from his path in the original book, staying at the pinnacle of the music scene all along.
...
The next morning, Ye Qiusuo obtained the visit passes for her students to Tianqiu Tech and took them there in the afternoon.
As before, Lin Lu drove their project group over; she brought two students.
"Zai Zai went to shoot a magazine spread, wuwu, when will he show a little skin." Sun Jiajia whimpered in the back seat, clutching her phone. The greater her stress, the more she liked to browse Xie Xi's Weibo super-topic.
"Show a little of what?" Ding Hong didn't quite understand.
Sun Jiajia instantly stopped whimpering, a meaningful smile appearing on her face. She gestured to her upper body, pausing pointedly at the abdomen: "Here."
Ding Hong: "..."
Sun Jiajia loved dragging Ding Hong into these discussions. She shook her head and sighed: "His manager seems to have always rejected all magazine covers and endorsements that involve showing skin. I don't know if it's Zai Zai's own preference."
Hearing Sun Jiajia's words from the back seat, Ye Qiusuo glanced at the car's display screen showing the time. Something suddenly flashed in her mind. She hit the brakes: "Ding Hong, Sun Jiajia, take a taxi to Tianqiu Tech. I'll call later and have a teacher from the lab meet you to take you in."
"Professor, what about you?" Sun Jiajia got out of the car, confused.
"I have important business to handle. You go ahead." Ye Qiusuo picked up her phone, transferring a hundred yuan to Ding Hong via WeChat. "Take Sun Jiajia by taxi to the company."
Ding Hong nodded: "Professor, you go ahead."
Ye Qiusuo stepped on the accelerator and drove straight towards Huayun Entertainment Company. On the way, she contacted a friend at the wind tunnel lab today, asking him to come out and take the five students in for the visit.
"Sun Jiajia, Lin Lu... Ding Hong, these are my students' names. Verify their ID cards against their visit passes before letting them in." Ye Qiusuo instructed.
After the other party hung up, Ye Qiusuo tried calling Sister Wei, but it kept showing no answer.
Ye Qiusuo frowned at the time on the display. If it followed the book, there should still be time.
She didn't stop dialing, calling continuously all the way. By the time she reached the entrance of Huayun Culture and Entertainment Company, Sister Wei's phone was still not going through.
The front desk receptionist on the first floor saw a stranger enter and immediately stepped forward to stop her, looking up and feeling she seemed somewhat familiar.
"Are you Professor Ye?"
Ye Qiusuo glanced at her, then stared at the elevator not far away. She said politely: "Yes, I'm here to discuss contract matters with Sister Wei."
The receptionist looked at Professor Ye up close, feeling a bit dazzled, but a trace of reason remained in her eyes.
Professor Ye moved a bit closer to the receptionist and said softly: "We might be colleagues in the future." With that, she gave her a polite smile.
The receptionist blushed, avoiding Ye Qiusuo's gaze, looking down at the smooth floor. When she looked up again, Professor Ye had already entered the elevator.
She felt a twinge of regret. If they were going to be colleagues, why didn't she stay and chat a bit longer?
