The black Maybach stopped at the entrance of the Kaley Hotel, the double M emblem on the front shining coldly. Chris quickly got out of the car and helped Gong Yue open the rear door.
Gong Yue was wearing a dark gray cashmere coat, the hem reaching to his knees, his face expressionless, appearing very stern. The hotel manager waiting at the entrance hurriedly greeted them as they arrived.
Without stopping, Gong Yue held his phone and walked directly towards the elevator, his voice very gentle, “Shanshan, I’m about to enter the elevator now.”
“So fast?” Shanshan on the other end of the phone sounded surprised. “I’ve only counted to one thousand three hundred and sixty-five.” His voice carried a laugh. “Brother, don’t worry, I’m not afraid.”
The call hadn’t been disconnected all this time, and Gong Yue had been talking to him all the way, obviously trying to distract his attention, fearing he might get scared.
Gong Yue led a group of people to the door of room 11010, where several people were already waiting.
Director Zhang was originally discussing work matters with the producer. When he saw Yan Ke returning, he asked, “Where’s Shanshan? Did he go back first again?”
Unexpectedly, Yan Ke was puzzled because he never had stomach pain. Earlier, there was just some family matter, and he had spent some time on the terrace making a phone call.
At that moment, Director Zhang knew something was probably wrong. If it wasn’t Yan Ke, then who was the “Yan Ke” Shanshan went to find?
Yan Ke quickly realized as well, his face turning pale. After all, in this circle, there were always dirty things like drugging incidents, and Shanshan’s appearance was particularly eye-catching.
So the two of them found an excuse to leave the dining area and went straight to the eleventh floor—before leaving, Shanshan had greeted Director Zhang and mentioned he was going to room 010 on the eleventh floor.
They met Xu Tian in the elevator and the three of them finally arrived at the door of room 010 together. But after knocking on the door, there was no response from inside. Just as Director Zhang was about to find a hotel staff member to get the key, a group of people came from the end of the corridor. The man at the forefront was in a hurry, with a powerful aura.
Seeing the newcomers, Xu Tian instinctively moved to the shadowy corner.
Gong Yue stopped directly at the door, raising his left hand to knock, “Shanshan, it’s me.”
In less than two seconds, the door, which had been tightly closed, opened from the inside.
When Shanshan saw Gong Yue, his eyes lit up. “Brother!” After shouting, he threw himself at Gong Yue, hanging onto him like a little animal and rubbing against him.
Holding the person tightly in his arms, Gong Yue couldn’t help but kiss his hair. In this moment, he let go of half of his hanging heart and lowered his voice, “Sorry, I’m late.”
Shanshan hugged Gong Yue’s neck tightly, shaking his head and rubbing against him again, “You’re not late at all.”
He had originally wanted to say a few words to Gong Yue, but then he inadvertently glanced behind Gong Yue and noticed many pairs of eyes were looking at him. Feeling a bit embarrassed for no reason, Shanshan got off Gong Yue, but still held onto his wrist.
“The person is inside, I feel like there should be surveillance inside.”
“Yeah,” Gong Yue glanced at Chris, who nodded, and immediately sent three people to check.
Five minutes later, Gong Yue turned on the lights and led Shanshan into the bedroom of the suite. Just as they reached the door of the bedroom, Gong Yue’s eyes suddenly darkened, like a thunderstorm cloud, an anger that couldn’t be suppressed.
Shanshan nervously glanced at Gong Yue, realizing that his “mood thermometer” had reached the stormy stage.
Following Gong Yue’s gaze, she saw on the hotel’s large bed, two sets of brand-new handcuffs and leg irons. On the metal rack hanging above the bed, various types of whips, strong liquor, and even recording equipment were neatly arranged.
Shanshan recognized these things but didn’t quite understand their purpose, so she decided to go back and ask Gong Yue.
Pulling Shanshan behind him out of curiosity, Gong Yue stared at the middle-aged man curled up in the corner, his voice low, “Is it him?”
“Yeah,” Shanshan nodded, peeking out from behind Gong Yue.
He had originally been holding onto Gong Yue’s wrist, but he didn’t know how the other party moved, and it turned into the interlocking of their fingers. Feeling his palms heating up, Shanshan tried hard to shift his focus away from Gong Yue’s palm.
“After I entered the room, I found out that the person inside wasn’t Yan Ke. When I felt he was coming towards me, I instinctively kicked him.” Pausing, Shanshan sounded uncertain, “Uh, it seems like he might have a broken bone, maybe two ribs…?”
Rubbing Shanshan’s hand soothingly, Gong Yue praised, “Yeah, you kicked well.”
As he spoke, Gong Yue took a few steps forward with Shanshan and stood in front of the middle-aged man.
Tu Yuantai’s mouth was stained with splatters of blood he had coughed up. When he looked up and saw a young man standing in front of him, it took him a moment to recognize who it was. The expression on his face instantly became urgent, “I didn’t—”
Gong Yue’s patience was never good. Thinking about what might have happened to Shanshan, he directly stepped on Tu Yuantai’s hand, his voice as cold as ice with grit, “Who are those things prepared for?”
With that, he exerted a bit more force under his foot, slowly grinding back and forth.
Tu Yuantai made a gasping sound from his throat, struggling to retract his hand, but he found that he couldn’t move an inch.
“You’re here, waiting for who?” Gong Yue articulated each word clearly.
Tu Yuantai still couldn’t understand it. He and Xu Tian had both been harmed by someone. All that talk about being despised, about having no one behind you, it was all fake! All fake!
“It’s Jiang Wen! It’s him!” he said, coughing again, the pain in his chest worsening. Tu Yuantai tried to explain, “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me, it was Jiang Wen—”
Afraid of scaring Gong Yue, he closed his eyes. Gong Yue then spoke again, his voice slow and light, yet it sent shivers down one’s spine, “No?”
As he spoke, he withdrew his foot from Tu Yuantai’s hand.
Just when Tu Yuantai thought Gong Yue believed him and was willing to hear the truth, he saw Gong Yue raise his foot again.
The next moment, a sharp pain shot through his lower abdomen, causing him to black out for a while due to the intense pain.
Gong Yue stared at Tu Yuantai, who was covered in cold sweat, and said each word distinctly, “He’s not who you think he is.”
The corridor echoed with the miserable screams from the room, causing Zhang Dao and Yan Ke, blocked by the white bodyguards at the door, to exchange anxious glances.
Meanwhile, Xu Tian, who was deliberately keeping a low profile, found the sound quite pleasing.
In the past, whenever Tu Yuantai tormented him, he didn’t dare to make a sound because it would displease the other party. But now, the more miserable Tu Yuantai sounded, the happier he felt!
Just then, the sound of footsteps on the floor gradually approached. Everyone at the door turned to look, only to see Gong Yue walking out with Ye Shanshan. He said to Chris, “Go in and handle it.”
After Chris went in, Gong Yue looked at Zhang Dao and the others who were blocked by the bodyguards and quickly identified the three of them, “Hello.”
Ye Shanshan was dazed behind Gong Yue, not sure what she was thinking. She kept smiling on her face. When she heard Gong Yue’s voice, she peeked out and widened her eyes slightly, “Zhang Dao? Why are you here?”
Then she realized that something was wrong and came over to find him.
She scratched her head, “There was something wrong before, but it’s all right now. Sorry for worrying you.” She pointed to the person beside her, “This is Gong Yue.” Then she said to Gong Yue, “This is Zhang Dao, this is Yan Ke, and this is Xu Tian.”
Gong Yue nodded, “Shanshan has been taken care of on the set.”
Zhang Dao immediately recognized who “Gong Yue” was.
Although he hadn’t met him, he had heard of the young leader of the Gong family and knew better than to offend him.
He didn’t know why the other party was here, but anyone with eyes could see that the relationship between the other party and Ye Shanshan was extraordinary, so he put on a polite smile, “Shanshan is very talented. I’m glad to be able to cooperate.”
Just then, Chris brought two men and dragged Tu Yuantai out of the room. Tu Yuantai’s collar was stained with blood, and the back of his right hand was even more bloody, causing him to hunch over in pain.
Zhang Dao recognized that the person being taken away was Tu Yuantai and, thinking about his bad reputation in the circle, had a rough idea of what had happened. He glanced inadvertently at Xu Tian, who looked shocked on the side, and furrowed his brow.
Seeing this situation, Yan Ke also breathed a sigh of relief, “Shanshan, I just came out of the bathroom, and there was something urgent at home, so I went to the terrace to make a call.”
He just didn’t expect someone to take advantage of this opportunity and impersonate him, leading Ye Shanshan to Tu Yuantai. If something really happened, “Sorry, I—”
Ye Shanshan shook her head, unfolding a big smile, “I’m fine now. It’s not your fault, no need to apologize.”
At this moment, Chris, who was standing aside, pressed the communicator hanging on his ear, “Young Master, Jiang Wen has been found.”
Xu Tian’s hand in his pocket clenched instantly, his nails digging into his palm, causing pain. He controlled his emotions and facial expressions, constantly trying to calm himself down.
As he thought, he couldn’t help but glance at the man standing next to Ye Shanshan, with an extremely strong presence. He lowered his eyes, hiding his inner jealousy.
—Why could Ye Shanshan find such a backer, while he could only climb up to someone as twisted as Tu Yuantai?
Chris observed the expressions of several people on the side, with a smile on his lips. There were always some people who, despite being incredibly foolish, still arrogantly believed they had all the answers and controlled the situation.
Two minutes later, Jiang Wen was also brought into the room.
Seeing that Gong Yue had no intention of speaking, Chris stepped forward, “Speak up, what’s going on?”
After returning to the dining area with Zhang Dao and Yan Ke, Xu Tian found a corner to sit down, took a sip of wine, and finally suppressed his pounding heart.
As he had imagined, everyone’s attention was focused on the mysterious person mentioned by Jiang Wen. So even if Tu Yuantai later claimed that he was the one who facilitated everything, no one would believe him, because a simple investigation would reveal that he didn’t even know Jiang Wen, let alone obtain any information from him to tell Tu Yuantai.
Since Jiang Wen and Ye Shanshan had a previous feud, the most likely scenario was that Jiang Wen teamed up with Tu Yuantai to scheme against Ye Shanshan.
Thinking of this, Xu Tian felt relieved. After checking the time and feeling that it was almost time, he greeted the producer and left first.
Chris stood in the monitoring room, watching Xu Tian go down to the parking lot and drive away, feeling somewhat bored. He asked Qin Xuan, “How could there be such stupid people?”
He just felt that his intelligence was being lowered. Without waiting for the other person to answer, Chris spoke into the communicator, “Keep an eye on him, see if he contacts anyone these days.”
The incident with East before had made him more cautious about such matters. Although this person named Xu Tian was already arrogant to the point of stupidity.
※※※
After returning home with Gong Yue and eating two pieces of raspberry cake, Ye Shanshan almost forgot about what happened at the hotel.
After devouring a bowl of mixed sauce noodles, he followed Gong Yue energetically, chattering away, “Did you take your medicine? Were you still working before picking me up? Did you have dinner? Does your wound hurt today? Do you have a lot of things to deal with—”
Although Gong Yue didn’t speak much, he answered every question seriously.
Following him all the way to the study, Ye Shanshan noticed that Gong Yue’s mood was still not good. He sat down next to him and asked, “Bro, what are you thinking about?”
Gong Yue reached out to tidy up Ye Shanshan’s messy hair and hesitated before speaking, “I’m very worried about you.”
This time, the opponent had underestimated Ye Shanshan, leaving loopholes everywhere. But if— he didn’t dare to think about it.
Understanding Gong Yue’s thoughts, Ye Shanshan raised his chin and blinked, “Bro, look, I’m super fierce.” he even made a fierce expression.
Gong Yue reached out to touch Ye Shanshan’s raised chin, “Hmm, I know.”
※※※
On the morning of the tenth, Ye Shanshan woke up before dawn, put on his pajamas, and almost ran to the cloakroom. He quickly put on the clothes Gong Yue had picked out for him the day before, then hurried downstairs for breakfast.
After finishing breakfast, he dashed upstairs again and found Gong Yue shaving.
“Bro, I’m leaving now. Mr. Burton is already waiting for me outside.”
After speaking, he rushed up to hug Gong Yue from behind and recited three times, “May the Great Demon King grant me strength!”
After saying that, he held the pose for three seconds, then turned and ran off.
Opening the car door and getting in, Ye Shanshan took a deep breath and cleared her throat, “Teacher, long time no see! Good morning.”
Professor Burton put down the book in his hand, glanced at Ye Shanshan, and remained silent.
Ye Shanshan was already used to it, “Are you sleeping well in Huaguo? Are you used to the food? Are you going back to England after the meeting?”
Meeting Ye Shanshan’s gaze, Professor Burton nodded and gave the same answer to all the questions, “Yes.”
Then he stared at Ye Shanshan for a while before finally saying, “Are you doing well?”
The fact that the teacher started chatting with me so quickly! Ye Shanshan blinked, feeling a bit surprised and unable to react for a moment. After all, he had prepared herself to talk to herself all the way.
The entire physics community knew that Mark Burton was an extremely proud scientist who disdained meaningless interactions. But in reality, Ye Shanshan had discovered long ago that his teacher only had some obstacles in this regard and often didn’t know how to express himself. He also had a mild social anxiety and didn’t like talking to strangers.
“I’ve been doing well lately. How about you, Professor?”
After nodding, Professor Burton remained silent for half a minute before saying the next sentence, “Are you ready?”
“I’m ready,” Ye Shanshan said, feeling a bit worried about this, “But is it really okay for me to go up? Although I’ve participated in discussions about your research this time, it’s not in-depth enough. I don’t think I’m qualified to give the presentation.”
Burton shook his head, “I’m not feeling well. You’re my only student. It’s a precedent for you to give the basic part of the presentation on my behalf, so don’t worry.” He originally wanted to comfort Ye Shanshan a bit more, but after opening his mouth, he didn’t know what to say, so he remained silent.
※※※
The International Conference on Space Physics is one of the most prestigious physics conferences internationally, and it is also an important occasion for scientists to present the latest research developments in various fields of space physics. It is held once a year, and on the last day of this year’s conference, the location for the next year’s conference will be decided. And this year’s venue is in City B.
Although academic conferences are usually too distant from the general public to attract media attention, as the organizer of this conference, the official still planned a special feature for coverage.
So, early in the morning, a post on the front page of Haijiao Forum stood out.
“I just want to ask, is this for real?”
The poster was clearly in a state of shock, with a series of exclamation marks as if they were free,
“My parents are both physics teachers, so I pay close attention to the trends in the physics community—that’s not the point! Then that space physics annual meeting wasn’t supposed to start at 8 a.m. this morning? The science and education channel even provided a live broadcast. The poster was dragged out of bed early in the morning by their parents to watch scientists meeting, and they kept dozing off—okay, that’s not the point either. The point is, when I saw this person, I was instantly wide awake from being scared asleep! [Image] Can someone tell me, is this really Ye Shanshan?”
Recently, due to the issue of academic qualifications falsification, many fans were accustomed to browsing the Haijiao Forum daily. So, after seeing this post, they quickly clicked on the link provided by the poster to watch the live broadcast, then returned to the forum only to find that the thread had already reached the front page.
“—Just exposed for falsifying qualifications, and they’ve already hired water army to whitewash? But can’t they have a bit of intelligence? Just because they see a big conference happening, they start pulling strings. I suggest checking the facts before speaking, okay? It’s just hilarious, my goodness, so rigid, yet daring to stir things up.”
“—Physics students here, you really think you can just waltz into this conference as you please? My supervisor ran his legs off and still didn’t get an invitation letter XD.”
“—It’s not shameful to not have attended high school, but to not admit it and even fabricate it, that’s just shameless. Hehe, so is this a deliberate attempt to stir up attention? Aren’t they afraid of stirring up too much and making a mess?”
Posts that are both critical and controversial always catch fire very quickly. In no time, several pages were flipped, and the trend was mostly one-sided, reaching new levels of ridicule. But soon, the tide of the thread suddenly changed.
“—@Everyone above, pure passers-by, those who don’t even eat melons, take a moment to click on the link and I believe you’ll have a new understanding of this world.”
“—I’m the physics student from earlier, adhering to the pragmatic spirit of scientific research, I clicked on the link, and I’ll be damned, it’s actually real! That face is simply unforgettable! I feel like I need some time alone to process this, my world is a bit off…”
“—Although I’m a fan of Shanshan, after opening the link, I still feel a bit off. I just want to ask, is Shanshan part of triplets at home? One enters the entertainment industry and explodes with acting skills, one enters classical music and plays the piano superbly. And then there’s one delving into space physics, preparing to ascend to the heavens.”
“—Watching the live broadcast now, Shanshan is on stage giving a presentation for her teacher. She explained that the current session is the Q&A session, and then, hehe, switching between three foreign languages at random! Fluent throughout the whole process! Although she’s only on stage for five minutes, it’s so impressive! The point is, I searched for Shanshan’s teacher, and suddenly I don’t want to say anything else, I just feel like, I’m still too young!”
The conference hadn’t ended yet, but major news outlets were already sensitively releasing news articles.
“‘Examiner’ Supporting Actor Appears at Space Physics Annual Meeting, Shocking Netizens with Cross-Domain Presence!”
“Academic Qualifications Fiasco May Become a Joke, Newcomer with Surname Ye Appears at Physics Conference”
When Zhang Dao saw the news, he immediately hit the share button, “Can you guys understand the kind of despair and helplessness I felt when the actor came over to request a leave of absence, saying he couldn’t come to film tomorrow because he had to attend a space physics conference?”
Ye Shanshan’s fan support group’s official Weibo also quickly reposted this tweet, and the comments section exploded within minutes.
“—Seeing this news, I suddenly feel very sad. What if Shanshan really becomes a scientist? What should I do?”
“—Although this is a very serious matter, I can’t help but want to laugh! The style of the Dew Fairy is so unique. And what about playing the piano? I’ve already made plans for a trip to Austria…”
“—Haha, such thick skin!”
“—Those haters above don’t understand my heartache, after all, you guys definitely don’t have such troubles and worries. [Smile]”
“—Although Ye, the poster, doesn’t have advertisements, endorsements, or variety shows, they still occasionally play minor roles. If Ye really becomes a scientist, then I can only watch programs like ‘World Without Power’ and buy magazines like ‘Physics Research Core Journals’. [Sigh]”
At this moment, in an apartment in the city center, Xu Tian was browsing the internet.
After returning from the Kalle Hotel, he had been restless. Finally, he stayed at another small apartment under his name, which made him feel a little more at ease. Since his drama had already finished shooting yesterday, he decided not to go out today and instead looked for variety shows he had participated in to watch online.
It wasn’t until he saw the news headline pushed by the browser that his attention was caught.
With trembling hands sliding the mouse, Xu Tian’s eyes slowly widened, his face full of disbelief. He watched as Ye Shanshan, dressed in dark formal attire, stood on the stage speaking about professional content he couldn’t understand at all. Watching Ye Shanshan conclude the five-minute presentation and then field questions from scholars in attendance, speaking languages he couldn’t comprehend, he suddenly felt panic, followed by rage.
Xu Tian stood up abruptly, reaching out and flipping the table directly. With a loud “bang,” everything on the table crashed to the ground.
The laptop was somewhat damaged but still continued playing the voice of the commentator.
“From the information provided by the organizers, Ye Shanshan’s teacher, Professor Mark Burton, was recently awarded a knighthood by the Queen of England in recognition of his great contributions to space physics. It is understood that Ye Shanshan is the only student publicly acknowledged by Professor Mark Burton In this conference, due to the professor’s illness, Ye Shanshan, as both a student and assistant, will replace the teacher and present the basic part of the report and answer questions…”
Xu Tian stared intently at the computer screen, his eyes bloodshot and his mind flashing with various scenes. Finally, he gritted his teeth. “I have to leave now, I must—”
“Bang, bang,” came the knocking at the door. Suddenly, Xu Tian realized what was happening. His whole body went limp, and he sat down on the floor, holding his head in his hands, feeling utterly ridiculous.
Those people outside must be laughing at his self-righteousness, right? Ha, self-righteous…
No wonder these past few days, Sister He had been looking at him with hesitation. No wonder all his appointments were inexplicably canceled, and even the endorsements he had signed contracts for were canceled with hefty compensation fees, no wonder…
So, he was just a clown, what’s the difference between him and Zhao Yaozu?
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 and Enjoy reading ❤️”
