DownloadAfter returning home with Gong Yue, Ye Shanshan headed straight to the dining table. As expected, he saw two porcelain plates on the table, each holding a slice of cranberry cake – the loyal position of xiaolongbao was almost in jeopardy!
Ye Shanshan had decided earlier to be a bit nicer to Gong Yue, so xiaolongbao would also get half a share. He asked Gong Yue, “Brother, do you want to share? One slice for each of us!”
Gong Yue casually ruffled his hair. “You eat it yourself.”
Unexpectedly, a sudden head-pat attack, and Ye Shanshan, in a daze, thought that Gong Yue’s skill had upgraded again. It felt so comfortable. So, he leaned his head towards Gong Yue, saying, “Brother, pat me again.”
Gong Yue hesitated for a moment after a slight pause, but eventually, he placed his hand on Ye Shanshan’s head and gently rubbed.
Satisfied after taking a bite of the cake, Ye Shanshan suddenly remembered that he hadn’t updated his blog for a few days. Driven by the sense of duty as an artist, he took out his phone and earnestly took a picture of the cake. “Sharing this, super delicious! Do you guys like it?”
Within half a minute, the comment section exploded like an earthquake.
—”OP, do you still remember the lord of Daming Lake? It’s been so long since you updated or livestreamed. Where is your conscience?”
—”Truly the midnight cultivation sect’s benefit, caught the OP! Love, love it so much. But, can you post a selfie? Feels like it’s been thousands of years since we last saw the OP, sniff, sniff.”
—”OP, the main palace is xiaolongbao, the concubine is mixed sauce noodles, and this cake is from which beauty in the harem?”
Reading the comments joyfully, Ye Shanshan suddenly heard Gong Yue’s voice.
“Is your hand feeling better?”
The fingers that were busy scrolling the screen instantly froze, and Ye Shanshan silently drew a big cross in his heart—went out of character too quickly, completely forgetting the character’s plot of having weak and powerless hands. It was so unprofessional!
But now, it was obviously too late to remedy the situation. Ye Shanshan blinked. “Brother, actually, I still don’t have much strength, but my willpower is strong enough to support my tired body.”
Said it as if it were true.
Gong Yue didn’t intend to expose him and just said, “Is that so.”
Oh, this tone… Ye Shanshan started to hesitate, wondering whether to now drop the small spoon in his hand onto the table, then express that, due to a decline in willpower below the critical value, his hands suddenly became weak again.
No, it felt silly; better not!
However, every problem had a solution.
Ye Shanshan picked the most visually appealing piece of cake, carefully scooped a full spoonful, and handed it to Gong Yue’s mouth.
“Brother, do you want to have a bit? It’s super delicious!”
Gong Yue’s gaze fell on the small spoon in his hand. After a few seconds, he tilted his head slightly, opened his mouth, and took the cake, spoon and all, into his mouth. The sweet cream spread between his lips and teeth, but until he swallowed it all, he didn’t pay attention to what flavor it was.
However, it’s delicious.
After finishing the dessert, Ye Shanshan took a couple of sips of juice, propped up his chin, and remembered the teacher he had forgotten in the golden hall, feeling a bit guilty. “Brother, do you think if the teacher finds out that I ran away right after the curtain call, he might angrily try to bring me back to Austria?”
“No, he can’t take you away.”
“Oh, right!”
Ye Shanshan instantly felt that what Gong Yue said was absolutely right. With the big demon king in hand, he had everything under control!
“Then I should still send the teacher a good night message, so he won’t be so mad at me.” Maybe…?
Half-asleep, he sent a text message to his teacher, wishing him good night. Ye Shanshan rubbed his eyes and yawned, tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at Gong Yue.
“I feel like there might be some aphrodisiac in the cake we just ate. Um, I feel so sleepy.”
Gong Yue, looking at him yawning several times, walked over, grabbed Ye Shanshan’s hand, and said, “Let’s go, go to sleep in the bedroom.”
Ye Shanshan nodded, and in a daze, he was led by Gong Yue to the bedroom, not even paying attention to where he was walking.
※※※
After Ye Shanshan fell asleep, Gong Yue left only a small night light and went to the study.
Chris was already waiting there, and when he saw Gong Yue come in, he stood up.
If Ye Shanshan were present, he would definitely imagine a ten-thousand-word drama of “In the dead of night, His Majesty and the captain of the guard conspiring in secret.” However, at this moment, the atmosphere in the study was somewhat heavy.
“How is it?” Gong Yue sat down, his face a bit cold, and a hint of weariness in his brows and eyes, looking sharp and lacking the gentleness he showed in front of Ye Shanshan.
“Sir, according to your instructions, we conducted a detailed investigation into your condition from the time you were admitted to the hospital until your discharge. In the end, we found that the only anomaly during this period was that when your attending physician issued a prescription, it required a total of twelve samples of your blood. However, through surveillance footage, we discovered that the doctor in the laboratory took a total of thirteen samples during the blood collection.”
“And the person?”
“That doctor left the hospital before you woke up and has since gone missing.” Chris glanced at Gong Yue, who showed no emotion, and lowered his eyes. “Along with his disappearance, there is also an unrecorded blood sample.”
“What’s the condition of that doctor?” Gong Yue lightly tapped the desk with his fingers, making a dull “thud” sound.
“The person’s name is Li Meng, but according to our judgment, his identity is a fake. We cannot currently determine his real identity. Since his resume and files were meticulously forged, the hospital did not notice anything unusual.”
Seeing Gong Yue remain silent, Chris continued his report.
“We found that this person started working here six months ago and performed exceptionally well during this period, gaining much attention. When you were admitted, the deputy director of the laboratory, Dr. Zhang, happened to be on leave. Therefore, Li Meng participated in your blood test along with the director. The reason for the deputy director’s leave was that his son had an accident at school.”
After he finished speaking, the study fell completely silent.
Gong Yue, looking at the report Chris had compiled, fixed his gaze on the words “blood samples.” Suddenly, he said, “Continue investigating. Remember, don’t let anyone know.” He stared at Chris, emphasizing his words, “Anyone.”
It was both a request and a warning.
Chris nodded. “Yes.”
After everyone left, Gong Yue flipped through the report of over twenty pages several times.
He suddenly remembered the last call Gong Yuli made to him. When she was about to hang up, she said abruptly, “Yue Yue, if something happens in the future, remember, you’re not alone.”
At that time, he thought it was just his mother comforting him. But now, looking back, perhaps it wasn’t that simple.
His mother might be hiding something from him.
Sitting in the study for nearly half an hour, Gong Yue finally got up and returned to the bedroom.
Ye Shanshan was sound asleep, the gentle sound of his breathing calming Gong Yue’s somewhat uncontrollable emotions. Standing quietly by the bed, Gong Yue gazed at Ye Shanshan’s sleeping face, and finally, he bent down, carefully tucking the covers around him.
※※※
Early in the morning, Ye Shanshan discovered that he had woken up unusually early, way earlier than usual.
Glancing at the time, he realized it was six o’clock, just ten minutes shy of it. Feeling that getting out of bed at this hour was against his life plan, he decided to go to the bathroom and then catch a bit more sleep.
As he moved, he suddenly noticed that the skin on his cheek was damp.
Turning his head slightly, it took him half a second to realize what had happened—he had bitten a large portion of Gong Yue’s clothes, leaving faint teeth marks. Did he do something bizarre in his dreams last night? Was he hungry in the dream?
Ye Shanshan couldn’t believe he had done such a thing. He lay motionless for half a minute, finally deciding to destroy the evidence.
Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing, and he wouldn’t be able to lift his head in front of the big demon king for a long time!
After making up his mind, Ye Shanshan carefully turned to the side, facing Gong Yue. Then, he reached out and very gently grabbed hold of Gong Yue’s robe.
The first step went smoothly.
Noticing that Gong Yue showed no signs of waking up, Ye Shanshan, feeling confident, proceeded with the plan. Eventually, when Gong Yue turned over, Ye Shanshan successfully removed the entire robe, revealing Gong Yue’s well-defined chest and abdominal muscles hidden beneath the fabric.
Staring at it for a while, Ye Shanshan suddenly felt quite defeated. After all, he hadn’t seen his own abs for a long time.
But now wasn’t the time to think about such things. Dismissing these thoughts, holding his breath, Ye Shanshan continued with his plan. Later, when Gong Yue happened to turn over, Ye Shanshan successfully removed the robe completely.
Crumpling the robe into a ball and holding it in his hands, Ye Shanshan took a few steps and couldn’t resist turning around to look at Gong Yue. Confirming that he was still asleep, Ye Shanshan, feeling audacious, reached out with his sinful hand and touched Gong Yue’s abs.
“Ah, the feel is amazing! I want abs like these too!”
Lost in fantasies about having abs like Gong Yue’s, Ye Shanshan completely failed to notice that when he turned around to leave, the seemingly asleep Gong Yue had opened his eyes and was staring at his back with a complex expression.
After Ye Shanshan left the bedroom, Gong Yue covered his eyes with his hand, took a deep breath, suppressing the rising anger, and closed his eyes again.
Tossing Gong Yue’s robe into the laundry room, Ye Shanshan first went to the kitchen to eat a piece of toast. Unexpectedly, when he came out, he ran into Butler Hawk. Seeing the surprise on the butler’s face, Ye Shanshan made a “shh” gesture and whispered,
“Uncle, pretend you didn’t see me, don’t tell Gong Yue!”
After getting a nod from Butler Hawk, Ye Shanshan returned to the bedroom. He planned to lie back down in bed quietly but, unfortunately, when he climbed into bed, his foot accidentally bumped into the pointed corner of the bedside table. The pain almost brought tears to his eyes.
However, he had to cover his mouth. If he woke Gong Yue up, all his efforts would be in vain—it was too hard!
Finally, after squeezing himself back into Gong Yue’s arms, Ye Shanshan relaxed. In no time, he fell asleep again, leaving Gong Yue to hold him with no sleepiness left.
※※※
The Haijiao Forum is lively every day, so when the post “Newcomers nowadays are really cunning, exposing the tactics of YSS” came out, it didn’t stir up any waves at first. After all, although Ye Shanshan was popular, he was still some distance away from becoming a big star.
However, it didn’t take long for this post to accumulate a thousand layers in a short time, catching the attention of the onlookers—how intense must the dispute be for it to stack up so quickly? Upon entering the post, it indeed lived up to its “expose” theme. The post’s author analyzed Ye Shanshan’s previous live videos, concluding that his piano playing was fake; the piano was real, but the sound was dubbed. The post suggested that Ye Shanshan’s biggest mistake was choosing technically challenging pieces for his “fake piano playing,” making it seem too artificial.
Naturally, people started tearing into it. Technophiles from various backgrounds engaged in a “real evidence” war, debunking each other’s claims. Fans of Jiang Wen, who came to see what the fuss was about, also found some flaws and began mocking. However, the atmosphere remained relatively normal.
The turning point came after three hundred-plus comments.
—”Impossible to be fake! Last night, I attended the concert in the Golden Hall hosted by Master Alfred Hess, and the OP was the opening act for that concert! Moreover, Master Hess mentioned that the OP is his student. I don’t understand classical music much, but the piano played by the OP was really, really amazing. Unfortunately, photos weren’t allowed.”
—”Are you making up stories or telling jokes? Make me laugh three times!”
—”Is this a fan or a hater of the OP? If you’re a fan, I can understand. After all, in my heart, the OP is perfect. But your bragging is too much. Show us where to find information on Master Hess in the encyclopedia.”
—”Hater confirmed.”
—”I’m not bragging. I did see the OP at the concert, and the performance was excellent! Moreover, the OP plays the piano very well in the live broadcasts too. Why don’t you believe it?”
—”A few days ago, she showed off playing the piano, and it turned out to be fake. Now, he claims to have performed at the concert of a world-class piano master, even opening the show? Besides his face, there’s nothing else worth looking at with YSS. He just keeps seeking attention. It would be better for an 18th-tier actor to focus on honing his acting skills instead of trying to gain popularity every day.”
As a result, the previous trending topics from Ye Shanshan’s live broadcasts became the focal points of discussion.
Until another post was bumped up.
“Can someone tell me if I’m hallucinating early in the morning? What’s going on with this morning news?”
Under a simple sentence was a video and several screenshots.
—”Damn! I thought my eyes were deceiving me! Get downstairs!”
—”Same here! Get downstairs!”
—”Since the previous one passed the heavy responsibility to me, I’ll spill the beans. Answering you with 5.0 vision, this is the little newcomer with the surname Ye who was previously blacked out! My goodness, this is the morning news on Central TV? Golden Hall? Master Hess’s world tour? Are you kidding me?”
—”Fire tongs Liu Ming! Silently pointing to the fierce post before . So, is this Ye really Master Hess’s student? Damn it, I just posted in the next room. I regret it!”
—”Who is Master Hess? I know YSS; my bestie really likes him.”
—”Use the encyclopedia upstairs! Come back, and we’ll continue the chat!”
This post didn’t stay under the radar for long before the tone completely changed.
—”Piano learners, come and pay respects! Liszt’s ‘Will-o’-the-Wisp’! The ‘Will-o’-the-Wisp’ that I dare not play even in my dreams! And it’s live! The pianist’s hands are so fast they’re like afterimages. Kneel for a year! As for those who said it was fake playing, hehe!”
—”As a die-hard fan of the OP, a fan of her looks, talent, hands, and voice, I just want to say, haters, come at me! Didn’t you say that my OP couldn’t do it without this skill? Didn’t you say my OP had plastic surgery to rise to fame? Why don’t you try playing the piano at the Golden Hall?”
—”Where are those who said the OP’s fake playing was technically advanced? Come out and listen. Let me tell you, it is indeed real, technical, and advanced!”
—”As a transparent fan among OP’s fans, I’m the only one worried. Will OP skip being a seventeenth-tier actor and go straight to the classical music world without turning back? Mentioning @Zheng Dong, quickly get endorsements, advertising deals, and roles for OP! Keep him!!”
—”Keep him plus one. It’s so despairing, feeling like I’ve become a fan of an artist with a unique style, one who might disappear at any moment! So, OP, you clearly have the looks; why rely on talent!!!”
So, in the next wave, both Ye Shanshan and Zheng Dong’s Weibo accounts exploded.
But Ye Shanshan, who hadn’t gotten out of bed yet, was still unaware of what was happening online. He rolled around in bed for two or three minutes, then half-opened his eyes and got out of bed. He put on a loose T-shirt with a cute white sheep drawing, making his waist look particularly slim.
After freshening up, yawning, Ye Shanshan went downstairs. Suddenly, he noticed something odd everywhere.
Standing by the dining table, Ye Shanshan touched the corner guards on the table’s sharp edges and found it strange. “Uncle, why did you put these corner guards here?”
Thinking back for a moment, he realized that all the furniture corners in the house, including the wall corners, had corner guards and edge protectors attached. What was the meaning of this?
The butler was arranging tableware and answered, “This was personally supervised by Young Master before he left, showing great care.”
Meeting the meaningful gaze of the butler, Ye Shanshan belatedly realized that this was installed by Gong Yue specifically for him. But I’m not a child learning to walk, why install these corner guards—
Wait a minute!
Ye Shanshan suddenly recalled that when he completed the task of moving the sleep robe this morning and was about to climb into bed to sleep again, his foot seemed to have hit the sharp corner of the bed cabinet.
Lowering his head slowly, looking at his feet in bunny slippers, Ye Shanshan suddenly felt that something was off.
—If Gong Yue knew that he had bumped his foot on the corner, did it also mean that he had a high probability of knowing that he took off his clothes?
If the above holds true, does that mean Gong Yue likely knows that he bit his clothes wet?
Thinking about the little actions he did, Gong Yue clearly saw them from start to finish,
—Ah, I really want to run away from home!
1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ❤️”
