What no one had expected was that Ji Zhaoxi really had gone on to pursue a PhD.
She had said she wanted to take the path of becoming a highly educated influencer.
Ji Zhaoxi’s fans were the happiest of all. Having “A University PhD” on their side gave them the upper hand whenever they got into arguments with fans of other celebrities.
Lu Huainan had originally wanted to pursue a PhD too. He had hoped to follow his former advisor, but the advisor had refused him.
As the advisor put it:
“You’re not suited for a PhD. Your heart isn’t in research at all.”
Instead, all he did was obsess over romance and relationships!
Wen Shuning went straight to work for a major company. Her days were fulfilling, and with a salary of her own, her life was far better than it had been during graduate school. She had even adopted a cat.
The senior student dropped out halfway through his program. He had only been admitted to A University on his second attempt, and he was no longer young. People his age were already earning money, while he himself had never been fully committed to his studies.
The truth was, he still quite liked doing research.
It was just that life could not always go as one wished.
Ji Zhaoxi now had junior students of her own. Every day in the laboratory, she heard things like:
“Senior, how do I do this?”
“Senior, I think I’ve caused trouble…”
“Help, Senior!”
By now, Ji Zhaoxi had developed a reflexive reaction whenever she heard the word “senior.”
She missed her Senior Wen. Back then, she had tormented her senior in exactly the same way.
But her senior had had a much better temper than she did, always responding with patience and kindness.
After giving up on pursuing a PhD, Lu Huainan went straight to work at the Lu Corporation. Every day, he arrived exactly on time and left earlier than anyone else.
At that moment, Ji Zhaoxi was rummaging around the house. She had discovered that Lu Huainan had saved a great many old photos of her—photos she had never even seen before.
When Lu Huainan returned home, he found Ji Zhaoxi lying on the rug, studying the photo album with complete concentration.
The moment Lu Huainan saw what she was holding, his ears flushed briefly. Looking uncomfortable, he pulled her into his arms and looked through the album with her.
“Why are there photos from the sports meet?” Ji Zhaoxi asked, staring at the fully equipped version of herself in one picture, her face full of disbelief.
Back then, her family had taken her participation in the sports meet very seriously. They had bought her the most expensive clothes and shoes, but her results had been so terrible they were almost impossible to look at. She had cried because she was embarrassed, and her mother had bought her a whole pile of gifts to cheer her up.
Lu Huainan said seriously, “I cut this one out of the school newspaper from back then.”
She had been famous at the time, so her name often appeared in the paper.
The newspaper had been put together by students themselves, and the school had shut it down soon afterward. Lu Huainan had regretted that for a long time.
Ji Zhaoxi stared silently at her wilted-looking younger self, who had clearly been roasted by the sun.
Lu Huainan glanced at her cautiously and kissed her cheek. “You were cute.”
He thought she looked even cuter now.
Ji Zhaoxi gave a huff and continued flipping through the album. Suddenly, she cried out in shock, “Why do you even have my essay?!”
Lu Huainan explained quietly, “It was posted on the school bulletin board. A lot of people printed out copies.”
He had printed one too.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at the essay she had written in high school and nodded with satisfaction. “It’s actually pretty good.”
Lu Huainan’s eyes curved with a smile. “I even tried to imitate it, but mine wasn’t as good as yours.”
Ji Zhaoxi said proudly, “You should have come to me for advice back then.”
She would have taught him!
Ji Zhaoxi wanted to keep looking, but Lu Huainan’s ears were getting redder and redder. He did not want her to continue, so he said softly, “Can we stop looking?”
Ji Zhaoxi refused.
Lu Huainan pulled her into his arms and kissed the delicate skin behind her ear. Ji Zhaoxi’s face turned red in an instant. She raised a hand to block him, but his soft, scattered kisses landed on her hand instead.
With a slap, the photo album fell to the floor.
His burning lips pressed against the back of her neck. He buried his face in the hollow of her throat, every breath brushing against her skin and sending a tremor through her.
“Xixi…”
Their breathing grew heavier and heavier. Soon, the room held nothing but the rustle of clothing. Their restraint gradually dissolved amid their ragged breaths, and the air filled with a hazy, intimate warmth.
Whenever Lu Huainan encountered a question he did not know how to answer, he kissed her ear. He had discovered by accident that the trick worked every time.
Ji Zhaoxi herself had yet to realize it.
The company gradually began adjusting to Ji Zhaoxi’s transformation as well. During the first half of the year, the company had even used Ji Zhaoxi’s name to recruit a number of high-quality employees. They had all come with the goal of becoming the next Ji Zhaoxi.
Ji Zhaoxi rarely livestreamed anymore. For one thing, she really was in the process of reinventing herself; for another, pursuing a PhD kept her so busy that she barely had time to livestream.
These days, she mainly posted photos and vlogs.
[Urgent! My other half sent this to me. Everyone, take a look and see if there’s a mistress. [Screenshot from the vlog attached]]
[You people are unbelievable. Are you really zooming in frame by frame? [crying with laughter]]
[PhD Kitty Xixi: Her PhD studies have worn our little kitty down until she’s all wilted. Good girl, go traveling and take a proper rest every now and then. [patting head]]
[Does anyone know what her husband looks like? How has she hidden him so well? He can’t be too ugly to show, can he? Surely she doesn’t have a thing for ugly men? [stroking chin]]
[My little sister, who’s still in elementary school, saw him once and said her brother-in-law was hideously ugly—so scary that he could frighten people to death. I don’t know whether to trust an elementary schooler’s judgment. [blank stare]]
[Former schoolmate here: They’re a perfect match!]
[Qinqin: Her videos are so sophisticated now. She’s no longer the Ji Zhaoxi who could only use special effects. [crying with laughter]]
[I miss that enormous dog at her house…]
At that very moment, Ji Xinxin suddenly sneezed on the lawn.
It stared blankly at the grass, then sneezed again.
It stood there on four short little legs, dazed for a while, before continuing to tear at its toy.
A butterfly suddenly fluttered over. Ji Xinxin barked excitedly several times and hurried after it.
“Ji Xinxin, be careful! Don’t step on my flowers…”
Mother Ji’s voice came from not far away. Ji Xinxin stared blankly at the flower beneath its paw, and its tail drooped.
Oh no.
As the sound of approaching footsteps grew closer, it hurriedly hid itself. But while hiding, it could not resist falling asleep.
Night fell. The cicadas called without pause, while the sound of the two people talking drifted through the house.
“Why hasn’t Ji Xinxin come home for dinner yet?”
“It stepped on the flowers and is too scared to come back. It’ll sneak in later to eat.”
The heat of the day gradually faded. A breeze slipped through the half-open window, and the moon hung in the sky, shining through the gaps between the branches.
Ji Zhaoxi had fallen into a deep sleep with her head resting on the desk. All around her, gifts she had prepared to send to her fans were piled across the floor, leaving almost nowhere to step.
The study door opened quietly. Lu Huainan moved with great care as he looked at Ji Zhaoxi’s faintly shadowed eyes, and his heart softened completely. Unable to resist, he bent down and kissed her forehead several times.
He sat down in the middle of the floor, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and skillfully began packing the rest of the gifts. He checked each one against the recipient’s ID and the gift list.
No one knew how much time passed. By the time he finished, every gift on the floor had been wrapped, arranged in neat rows beside him.
When everything was done, Lu Huainan leaned forward and lifted her securely into his arms. Ji Zhaoxi nestled against his chest and rubbed her cheek against him.
Amid the cicadas’ chorus on a summer night, the study door closed. The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, and his low murmur drifted through the air.
“Big-time influencer slacking off.”
“So what if I am…?”
