"Do you have any other questions?" After Ye Qiusuo finished speaking, she asked Xie Xi.
Questions? I couldn't even understand what she was saying, where would I get questions from.
"No questions." Xie Xi nodded, pretending to be profound. "You explained it very well."
Professor Ye, who was being complimented, remained unmoved. She looked at Xie Xi: "Does your manager know you came here?"
"...No." Xie Xi felt a little guilty.
"You don't need to report when you go out?" His manager was still around. With the previous scandal completely reversed, Ye Qiusuo didn't know what Xie Xi's future career path would be.
But one thing was certain: no matter what happened, the storyline between the male and female leads would always persist; what was supposed to happen would still happen. For example, last time when Wan Yurou and Lu Mingzhe were dining together, the waiter almost spilled water on Wan Yurou.
"It seems to have grown a bit." Xie Xi suddenly said, looking at the small cactus on the desk.
"It grew one centimeter." Professor Ye measured it daily with a soft ruler.
Xie Xi stood on the ball of one foot and started jiggling his leg. He was nervous.
When he gets nervous, he wants to sing.
"Do you want to hear me sing?" he asked her.
Ye Qiusuo wasn't even surprised by his state; perhaps people with dyslexia always had jumping thoughts.
So, Professor Ye refused: "No."
Xie Xi: "..."
The big star Xie left in a huff.
Such a childish temper.
Professor Ye wasn't the least bit surprised.
With Xie Xi not coming, their lives indeed began to proceed without interfering with each other. Ye Qiusuo lived a very regular life every day: working on projects, guiding students, writing papers.
This month, several of her project results began to convert into profits, and she had considerably more money on hand.
"Qiusuo, how is the smart medical watch project going?" Zhang Chengjue asked at the monthly review meeting. "The company's funds are tight recently. Your project has been going on for almost two years now."
"Still in the debugging phase." Ye Qiusuo said calmly.
"I still hope you can speed it up." Zhang Chengjue's gaze fell on another person. "Professor Ye, I believe you and Qiusuo are in the same professional field. Perhaps you could find time to go and help."
The review meeting wasn't small; all project representatives from the entire company had to attend. Today, there were nearly a hundred people in the conference room.
"President Zhang, non-project personnel cannot be arbitrarily added." A researcher objected, and there were murmurs of discussion below.
Zhang Chengjue's words were practically an insult to the project leader. Any serious researcher, putting themselves in that position, would be unhappy upon hearing such a statement.
Although he regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth, Zhang Chengjue was still very displeased with the researchers whispering below. He was used to being the top decision-maker and had begun to find it hard to accept others questioning him.
Fortunately, this situation wouldn't last much longer. Once the new batch of researchers was recruited, these people would become expendable.
The world doesn't stop turning without anyone, and given Tianqiu's current standing, the researchers they recruited now would only be more capable than the previous ones.
During the meeting, Ye Qiusuo basically didn't express her stance. To outsiders, she seemed very passive. After all, when it came down to it, she was just a researcher. No matter how many shares she held, what did she really understand?
Now, signs of division were already appearing at Tianqiu Tech. New researchers and old researchers formed two factions, looking down on each other.
Some of the old researchers, because of today's incident, were even disappointed in Ye Qiusuo, believing she was powerless to resist and that it was better to find a way out for themselves early.
The day after this meeting, someone sought out Ye Qiusuo.
"Dr. Xu?"
"I came to tell you something."
"Please, come in first."
"No need." Dr. Xu stood at the doorway, not moving. "Just a few sentences. I have an experiment to do later."
"Please go ahead." Ye Qiusuo didn't insist.
"Yesterday, all of us discussed it. If you need it, the combined two percent of shares in our hands will all be given to you." Dr. Xu said seriously to Ye Qiusuo. "This matter was passed unanimously. The shares were originally a gift from you to us."
Ye Qiusuo was taken aback: "I only distributed one percent. The other one percent came from the shares in Zhang Chengjue's hands."
Dr. Xu applied a double standard: "Since he distributed them to us, we are free to handle them."
A person who doesn't understand research leading a group of researchers is fine if the leadership is good, but to say something like that in a meeting makes it hard to believe the researchers' lives would be good after Tianqiu was completely under Zhang Chengjue's control.
"You can have them whenever you want. I should go now." True to his word, Dr. Xu left after just a few sentences.
Ye Qiusuo held the doorknob, and after a long while, suddenly laughed softly.
She naturally wouldn't let Zhang Chengjue take the company so easily. Ye Qiusuo was waiting, waiting for an opportunity to completely take the company into her own hands.
...
Xie Xi had recently started recording a reality show. It was much freer than sitting in the mentor's chair before. The production team didn't provide a script; they simply had the guests visit each other's homes.
The first episode was edited from footage of three guests visiting each other's homes.
For the reality show, the production team needed a sense of authenticity. Since the recording dates weren't specified, one day the team brought the other two guests to raid Xie Xi's residence.
The doorbell rang.
Xie Xi, curled up on the sofa playing a game: "Zhang Dong, go get the door. I'm in the middle of a game."
"Bro Xi, isn't that a single-player game? I'm also in a game; I can't abandon my teammates." Zhang Dong said, eyes fixed on his phone screen.
Xie Xi: "...I order you to go, little assistant."
Little assistant Zhang Dong had no choice but to get up and slowly shuffle towards the door, opening it while still staring at his screen.
Xie Xi had scheduled a housekeeping company today to tidy up the place, so his real lifestyle wouldn't be too exposed.
Zhang Dong glanced at a bunch of feet out of the corner of his eye, thinking it was the housekeeping staff.
"Come in, remember to close the door."
The production team and the two guests looked at each other and, in perfect tacit understanding, fell silent. The cameras started recording frantically.
They had made countless assumptions on the way over, never expecting that the person opening the door wasn't Xie Xi, that the person opening the door wouldn't even look at them before going back inside, and certainly not expecting Xie Xi's home to look like this.
It looked... extremely sleep-friendly.
The entire first floor seemed to have places to sleep everywhere: what looked like soft, squishy carpets, various beanbag chairs, all in a riot of colorful, vibrant hues.
Was this really the legendary home of Xie Xi?
Everyone present was doubtful.
But the camera had already captured Xie Xi's back; he was sitting over on the sofa.
Xie Xi sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding a game controller, staring at the screen. He got angry: "What a crappy game, always making me die right here."
Once angry, he picked up the duck beside him and made it squeak.
It made him feel much better.
Squeezing the duck always helped relieve stress.
Of course, this was better done at home. He couldn't let people see this. That reality show thing... after the housekeeping company came today to pack everything away, they'd have no chance of filming his real life.
Xie Xi thought to himself. He'd switch to Nordic-style furniture later, choose grey wallpaper, be a bit aloof, and he'd be the handsome, unruly big star again.
The production team: "..." It seemed they had really captured something extraordinary.
There was always a feeling of being watched from behind. Xie Xi thought it was Zhang Dong standing behind him and couldn't help turning around. "Zhang Dong, step back a bit..."
Seeing the several cameras pointed at him, the duck in Xie Xi's hand started quacking again.
"Brother Xi, what's wrong?" Zhang Dong had just finished a round of gaming. He turned his head and, seeing these people, was startled. "Aren't they... from the housekeeping company?"
He was guilty.
Xie Xi: "..." He wondered if Professor Ye could invent a time machine; he would definitely be the first to try it.
"Xiao Xie, long time no see. The last time we met was when I invited you to sing the theme song for my movie." Director Xu Qingwei stepped forward with a smile, taking the opportunity to introduce, "This is You Feibai. I don't know if you've met before."
You Feibai, the newly crowned film emperor, tall with long legs, handsome features, arguably the most popular actor in the film and television industry at the moment.
"Hello, I'm You Feibai." You Feibai was more composed and calm than the others, his face not showing an obvious smile as he introduced himself perfunctorily.
With a reality show crew at his door, Xie Xi still mustered his professional spirit, first shaking hands with You Feibai, then reluctantly leading them on a tour of his house.
"This is the music room." Xie Xi pushed open a room on the second floor, filled with various professional equipment and instruments.
"Do you usually write songs and compose music here?" Xu Qingwei took on the role of asking questions.
"...Mhm." What Xie Xi loved most was actually wandering around, with various musical scores scattered all over the floor.
Clothes and shoes each occupied their own room, accessories like ties and such also had a dedicated room, and there was even a specialized thermostat for maintaining temperature. None of this was considered excessive in the eyes of industry insiders.
"This room is specifically for displaying albums." Xie Xi led everyone inside. The walls were hung with various posters from his concerts, all framed.
Several glass walls stood in the middle, with various CD albums hanging on them.
"I have these albums in my collection at home too." Xu Qingwei said with a laugh, looking at a few albums on the wall.
You Feibai's gaze swept over the walls. "Some are missing."
If You Feibai hadn't mentioned it, everyone would have thought the glass walls were originally like that, with some albums missing. Looking more carefully, they realized the albums hanging on the walls followed a certain pattern.
"Gave them away." Xie Xi explained casually.
After looking around, Xu Qingwei asked, "Are your trophies in another room? Take us to see them."
Xie Xi opened the wooden cabinet beneath the glass wall. "They're here."
A pile of trophies were heaped together, looking messy.
Mainly because the space below was too cramped, there were too many trophies, all squeezed together, making them look far less impressive than the albums on the glass walls.
Xu Qingwei couldn't help but laugh. "This is too much, piling the trophies up like this. You really should clear out another room for them."
Xie Xi's eyes shifted evasively. The last room on his second floor was already used to store the things he liked.
"There's one more room. What's over there?" You Feibai asked.
Xie Xi: "..."
"Nothing much."
"Xiao Xie, what are you hiding? Hurry up and take us to see." Xu Qingwei dutifully fulfilled the task given by the production team.
The first floor had been completely seen, and seeing the second floor wouldn't be much more of a loss anyway. His dignity had long been lost.
Xie Xi led the group to the room he liked to spend time in the most.
As soon as the door was pushed open, everyone was stunned.
Inside were all sorts of animal toys with a strong plastic feel, looking cheap and childish.
Xu Qingwei picked up a squeaky chicken and squeezed it, immediately producing a piercing sound. She then tried another frog, which also made a noise.
The production crew: "..."
Is this for real?
Xie Xi had already entered a state of resignation. "My screaming room. Everything in here can make a sound."
Feeling good? Come in and squeeze something. Feeling bad? Come in and squeeze something. In short, whenever his emotions were unstable, he would come in and squeeze.
The little yellow duck keychain he had given to Ye Qiusuo last time was picked out from this very room.
