Ye Qiusuo turned her head to look at him and said lightly, "The judge pointed out the killer, so the good guys won."
"Oh," Xie Xi replied on the surface, but one glance was enough to tell he still hadn't understood.
[Don't tell me the game is over and Xie Xi still doesn't know the rules? No way, no way.]
[Is this what they call coasting to victory?]
[I seriously suspect Professor Ye was going easy on him.]
[Suddenly worried about Baby Xi's future episodes. If he draws the killer card, will his first move be to expose himself?]
[So this is the charm of a sweet and innocent fool, I'm loving it.]
The game ended much faster than the production team had anticipated, so they included a lot of footage from the meal. After watching for a while, the audience saw Lu Mingzhe saying he wanted to ask Xie Xi for advice, which was the exact short, highly controversial conversation previously released by the official Weibo account.
[??? Forgive me, but I actually think Xie Xi is right. What can he teach? The art of coasting to victory as a salted fish? Hahahaha!]
[Dying of laughter. Shouldn't he be asking Professor Ye for advice? No matter who he asks, it shouldn't be Xie Xi.]
[After all, Xie Xi and You Feibai are big stars, while Professor Ye isn't in the entertainment industry.]
[After reading the previous comments, I feel like Lu Mingzhe's words sounded a bit weird.]
[Don't you guys feel like none of them even mentioned Professor Ye? This circle is a bit snobbish.]
[Heh, your Professor Ye was buried in her phone. How were the others supposed to talk to her?]
The production team didn't blur the phone in Ye Qiusuo's hands. When the camera occasionally zoomed in, if netizens slowed down the playback speed and had sharp eyes, they could vaguely see a bit of the screen interface.
[Professor Ye seems to be replying to emails.]
[It's probably an academic matter. I usually contact my advisor via email too. Advisors don't really use other apps; email is very convenient for them.]
[Actually, I can't quite figure out why Professor Ye came to participate in this show. Shouldn't she be focusing on her academic research?]
[Probably short on money, hahahaha.]
[What is Baby Xi doing?]
Originally, those few people were chatting about industry matters, some scandals and rumors, which was a good opportunity to explain things while they had the spotlight. However, many people ended up being captivated by Xie Xi's nimble braiding skills.
Wan Yurou and the others were still talking, while Xie Xi leaned halfway back in his chair, tugging at the tassels of the tablecloth underneath the table, having the time of his life.
[Hahahaha, Xixi has great skills! It's actually a four-strand braid, I'm a girl and even I don't know how to do that.]
[Even Professor Ye beside him was intrigued.]
[Holy crap, it's true! Professor Ye has been staring at Baby Xi for a long time.]
[Everyone, I suddenly feel like I'm shipping something.]
[If I edit a video right now, is there still a reward? Will Hao Hao still give out money?]
...
After the first episode of Lost in the Game aired, the previous smear campaigns against Xie Xi were naturally overturned.
Professor Ye suffers a crushing defeat at the hands of Salted Fish Xie; Someone please carefully explain the game rules to Xie Xi; Professor Ye is strong
Clicking into these trending topics, they were filled with sheer amusement. Netizens were shocked by Xie Xi's effortless, salted-fish-style victory, but at the same time, they couldn't help but put themselves in his shoes and feel a sense of satisfaction.
After all, most people didn't possess astonishing analytical skills. Who could possibly outplay Professor Ye?
It had to be said, sometimes working diligently to record a show wasn't as effective at drawing fans as someone else just being a salted fish. This was probably what they called audience appeal.
Half of the trending topics for the first episode were taken up by Xie Xi.
The braids Xie Xi made
[Am I the only one who thinks Xie Xi's braiding is pretty good? With such skilled techniques, he must have practiced a lot at home.]
[Right? Even Professor Ye was captivated by his exquisite craftsmanship, staring intently without blinking.]
[Here comes the question: how did he hone this skill?]
[I want Xie Xi to braid my hair.]
[The person above can keep dreaming, Baby Xi is already braiding my hair in bed.]
[Excuse me, sister, step aside, Xixi is in my arms.]
...
Xie Xi scrolled through these comments, feeling very disappointed in these people's professional capabilities.
An hour-and-a-half-long episode had already finished airing two or three hours ago, yet no one had started editing footage of them together.
It would be one thing if videos took a long time to make, but why hadn't anyone even posted many screenshots?
After waiting a bit longer, Xie Xi only managed to refresh and find one or two screenshots posted on Weibo.
Finally, the great superstar Xie decided to take matters into his own hands.
He personally took screenshots of all the scenes in the show where the two of them were close to each other, sometimes standing together and talking, and then posted them using his alt account: [Lost in the Game is pretty good. Image.jpg]
His short sentence looked exactly like a fan recommendation, but the more than thirty photos that followed didn't look like a normal recommendation at all.
The comments below instantly filled with Hahahaha.
[Hao Hao, there's no need, there's really no need.]
[Hao Hao, I made a GIF.]
It was a GIF of Ye Qiusuo watching Xie Xi braid the tassels. There were only the two of them in it; the others had been cropped out.
Although his intentions had already been seen through by them, Xie Xi's alt account post attracted a lot of photos and GIFs. He kept an eye on the comments, saving any pictures he liked.
Over here, while he was still enthusiastically saving photos, Professor Ye suddenly called, startling Xie Xi.
He hurriedly answered the phone in a flurry: "Teacher?"
"Mhm, the dividends were just transferred to your card. Also, the extra portion is to pay you back." Ye Qiusuo recently had funds returned from a project, which she conveniently used to repay him.
Because it was the first time, she specially called to let him know.
"Do you... have enough money?" Xie Xi asked hesitantly.
Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of her office, looking at the heavy traffic below, Ye Qiusuo suddenly let out a silent chuckle: "It's enough."
"Oh, then I'll hang up." Xie Xi wanted to talk to her a bit more, but remembering how busy she was, to the point of reading messages even while sitting in a car, he decided not to disturb her too much.
After hanging up the phone, Xie Xi checked his text messages. Sure enough, there was a bank notification about a change in his balance. He had been so focused on saving photos earlier that he hadn't noticed.
...
"President Ye, about tonight's dinner... are you still going?" Zhao Guiyin knocked on the door and came in to ask.
"I'm going." Ye Qiusuo retracted the faint smile in her eyes, turning back into her usual calm self.
Lu Minglang had invited her to dinner a few days ago. Ye Qiusuo hadn't refused, nor had she agreed.
The Lu Group and Celestial Sphere Technology had completely torn off all pretenses. After all, several important researchers from Celestial Sphere had been poached by them, and coupled with the personnel changes in the Lu Group recently, it was obvious they were moving into this field.
Quite a few people were watching to see a good show.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, Lu Minglang stood up and pulled out a chair for her: "I thought President Ye wouldn't come."
Ye Qiusuo: "What do you want to talk about?"
"You're always so direct," Lu Minglang said with some distress after sitting down.
He was handsome, and making such an expression actually made him look more lively and humane.
"I heard that Professor Ye has already found a suitable person to take over the project. I hope things go smoothly for both of us." Lu Minglang poured two glasses of red wine, raising his to clink glasses with Ye Qiusuo.
Ye Qiusuo wasn't surprised at all that Lu Minglang knew Celestial Sphere had found a suitable person. She twirled the stem of her glass, then raised it to lightly tap against his: "Thank you for your kind words, President Lu."
A hint of surprise flashed through Lu Minglang's eyes: "...President Ye seems a bit different."
"Technological advancement benefits all of humanity. As for who develops it first, that is not so important." Ye Qiusuo gave a faint smile, delivering the same diplomatic platitudes.
Lu Minglang, however, felt a sudden jolt of apprehension. He suddenly found himself unable to read her.
...
With the recent massive popularity of the drama Enigma, Ye Qiusuo had once again been thrust into the spotlight. While they were having dinner together, paparazzi snapped photos of the two sharing a smile as they clinked their glasses.
