CH 56

Chapter 56: This Magical World

Following Xie You and Yu Nian, they arrived at the parking lot, leaving Meng Yuan completely puzzled.

He watched as Xie You carefully helped Yu Nian put on a mask, and then held Yu Nian’s wrist before turning around to leave. Meng Yuan couldn’t help but feel like he had taken the wrong script and ended up on the wrong set!

So, why did Xie You come? It seemed like he was…protecting Yu Nian?

This miraculous turn of events reminded him of the melodramatic idol dramas he had seen before, where one person despised the other yet pretended to be kind, only to make them fall in love, become dependent, and then inflict immense pain and suffering on them.

Looking at Xie You, who exuded a cold aura as he walked ahead, Meng Yuan couldn’t help but think that it might not be impossible…

Qu XiaoRan got out of the car and immediately started complaining when he saw Yu Nian, “A certain person really thinks his blood is always at 100%, putting on clothes and running out of the hospital just like that. Does he want to experience another concussion, or does he think he didn’t bleed enough last time? It’s really worrying me!”

Xie You remained silent—after bringing Yu Nian out, he didn’t let go of his hand, but he also didn’t dare to look at him.

Yu Nian’s gaze passed over their entwined hands, concealed by their sleeves, and he smiled at Qu Xiaoran, “Did President Qu drive this car?”

“Yes, otherwise, should I let Xie Xiaoyou drive himself?” Qu Xiaoran’s eyes widened for a second. “Wait a minute, are you implying that I’m an accomplice? That I had a part in his successful escape? That’s infuriating! I was only doing it out of the bond we had when we used to climb trees together as kids! But… it does seem to be the case?”

Yu Nian tilted their head, holding back a laugh.

Noticing that Yu Nian was siding with Xie You, Qu Xiaoran became even more frustrated. He looked at the time and urged them, “Let’s go, I have to make sure to take you back. You still need to have another examination tonight, and you haven’t taken your medication yet! It’s driving me crazy!”

Yu Nian heard him and also smiled at Xie You, “Well, I’m fine. You go back first, and I’ll come see you tomorrow.” Seeing that Xie You was looking at him without saying anything, he reassured him, “Don’t worry, now that my fever has subsided, I’ll be fine. I’ll remember to take my medication. I’ll see you tomorrow when you come for the examination.”

Only then did Xie You let go of his hand. “Okay, then I’ll go. You don’t have to worry about anything else; I’ll take care of it.”

Yu Nian understood that he was referring to the situation with Lin Shunya. He nodded in understanding. “Alright, please go back quickly and get some rest. Don’t work too late.”

Xie You glanced at Yu Nian once again before following Qu Xiaoran back into the car.

After Qu Xiaoran’s car drove away, Yu Nian and Meng Yuan got into the same car they came in. Seeing Meng Yuan’s hesitant expression, Yu Nian took the initiative to speak, “Brother Meng, if you have any questions, just ask.”

Meng Yuan hesitated, “After organizing my thoughts, is this… that I can’t let anyone else bully the person I hate except for myself! And in order to make the person I hate suffer and experience immense pain, I must first be exceptionally good to them, make them infatuated with me, dependent on me, and deeply in love with me, and then ruthlessly abandon them?”

Yu Nian couldn’t help but laugh, “Brother Meng, where did you come up with these amazing ideas?”

“These are from the scripts I’ve collected before. In nine out of ten scripts, they all have this melodramatic element of deeply tortured love. If you want, I can come up with a hundred and eighty different versions for you.”

Meng Yuan wasn’t foolish; he gradually realized what was going on. “Tell me, what exactly is the relationship between you and President Xie? From President Qu’s demeanor, it appears that he is complaining to you about President Xie?”

The point was, Xie You was still standing there, allowing Qu Xiaoran to complain. Later, he simply let him go back. It felt as if he had been possessed by some obedient little puppy spirit!

Spooky!

Yu Nian didn’t say much, just said, “I and Xie You have always had a good relationship.” Worried that Meng Yuan wouldn’t believe him, he gave a few examples. “The outfit I wore on the red carpet, he bought it for me. In the Xu Xuan incident, he was the one who made the rich second-generation guy upload his medical records. And that person named ‘Nian Nian You Yu’ on the Qinghai livestream, who smashes 990,000 yuan each time, that’s him too.”

Meng Yuan’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, the world is truly magical…”

When they arrived home, Meng Yuan was still somewhat dazed. He thought for a moment and took out his phone to log into Weibo, scrolling through Xie You’s posts. Suddenly, he realized that, when viewed from a different perspective, Xie You’s Weibo was filled with serious and cold financial knowledge, with the exception of Yu Nian.

So, in the world of wealthy people, they were two-faced? Openly accumulating strength to attack you, but secretly wishing to give you the stars and the moon?

He scrolled down further and found that there were no negative comments in the comments section of Xie You’s recent Weibo post, which was about criticizing Yu Nian. To his surprise, he even found a few rare CP fans.

[Who can understand my feelings! I created a new account just to leave negative comments about Yu Nian on President Xie’s Weibo, but in the blink of an eye, I was banned, blocked, and reported! If this isn’t love!]

[What a stunning plot! Yu Nian is the only vibrant element on President Xie’s otherwise icy Weibo! I ship this CP! Once you enter, you can never leave! From a different perspective, it’s all sugar! Pure sweetness! Let me indulge, don’t wake me up!]

[Once I accept this premise, I laugh like a fool at my phone every day!]

Meng Yuan marveled once again—tsk, what a magical world!

The next morning, Meng Yuan received news that there had been a change in the expert panel of the review committee, and Lin Shunya had been removed and replaced by someone else.

Hearing that several colleagues were delighted to see Lin Shunya finally toppled, Meng Yuan’s emotions were complicated, and he muttered to himself, “This is probably what they call the power of the changing times, right?”

Shi Rou stood by, confused. “Brother Meng, what do you mean by the power of the changing times?”

“It’s nothing. I just thought that with Lin Shunya out of the picture, there shouldn’t be any more issues with the review process for Nian Nian’s EP. That’s a good thing.” Meng Yuan couldn’t help but ask again, “By the way, Rou Rou, what’s your impression of Xie You?”

“Xie You?” Shi Rou pondered for a moment. “He’s President Qu’s childhood friend, very cold and intimidating. People are afraid to look him in the eye, but he’s really good-looking. He always unreasonably criticizes Nian Nian and is his biggest hater.”

Still a hater? Did you not see how he protected Yu Nian like he was protecting a treasure yesterday?

But Meng Yuan felt relieved—apparently, he was not the only one who couldn’t see clearly.

He put aside his thoughts. “Never mind, here, give me a pen and paper. I need to think about the album promotion.”

After Lin Shunya was removed from his position, the results of the album review came out quickly, without any further issues.

When Yu Nian received the news that the album had been approved, he was at the Ningcheng Museum filming a promotional short film. Director Gan Zhou came over briefly to make sure everything was fine before leaving again.

Coming out of the dressing room, Yu Nian took off his battle armor and changed into a snow-colored outfit—a loose robe with wide sleeves. He wore a hairpiece intricately carved with cloud patterns and looked exceptionally refined.

The director was testing the lighting, and Yu Nian stood by, waiting. Shi Rou approached him with excitement. “Just now, Director Gan was praising you, saying that the promotion is going really well. Since the official announcement, there have been more visitors to the museum to see the exhibits and attend lectures. When the promotional film is released, the effect will definitely double!”

Yu Nian curved his lips. “Did he really say that?”

“Why would I lie to you?” Shi Rou was in a good mood. “But seriously, if this short film is released, it will definitely go viral! Whether it’s a priest, a general, a scholar, or a musician, you look like the real deal! When you were wearing the white robe used for ceremonies, with your hair down and heavy eye makeup, you looked incredibly beautiful! And when you wore the white robe with red patterns, held the ancient qin, took step by step up the stairs, sat on the floor, and played the qin in the palace, it was absolutely stunning!”

Yu Nian smiled, “Sister Rou Rou, you’re just flattering me. What if I become conceited later on?”

Shi Rou was about to reply when she noticed the costume assistant rushing over with a phone in hand.

After seeing the words on the phone screen, Shi Rou instantly exploded. “I’m going to curse, how shameless can Ji Chaode be?”

Hearing Ji Chaode’s name, Yu Nian’s smile faded slightly. “Is it related to me?”

Shi Rou thanked the costume assistant and took out her own phone to show Yu Nian. She muttered indignantly, “He deliberately made things difficult for you, making you wear such thin clothes for over two hours, you even got a high fever of forty degrees, and he still has the audacity to criticize you on Weibo! Look at these posts by marketing accounts. They’re saying that a renowned photographer is blasting Yu Nian, accusing him of having no professional integrity, acting like a diva, lacking basic manners, having zero knowledge of traditional Chinese culture, and being unworthy of being the ambassador for the Ningcheng Museum’s promotion. Ha, he thinks he’s so important? On par with the moon?”

She clicked into Ji Chaode’s original Weibo post and found that the comments had already exceeded five figures.

“Nowadays, if stars are uneducated, is it really that hard to admit it? They think they’re gods just because they’ve written a few popular songs. Instead of doing that, why don’t they spend more time reading books?”

[I believe this exposé. Mr. Ji’s knowledge and character can vouch for it. Besides, in the entertainment industry, being able to recite the multiplication table up to 9×9 is considered being a top student? Mr. Ji, don’t let these trivial matters bother you. We won’t argue with these superficial haters!]

[Nowadays, these young idols and actors, each one of them has been ruined by their fans and the brands. They think they’re the center of the world. On the other hand, senior artists like Mr. Ji still have to consider their faces and endure grievances. They even get attacked by fans. It’s truly pitiful for this era!]

[They’re just praising how good-looking Yu Nian is in the promotional photos, and Ningcheng Museum, a serious museum, how desperate are they to hire a popular singer as their ambassador? Have they lost their minds?]

[The ones saying that Yu Nian is uneducated, have they not heard the songs he has written? Are they blind to how talented he is? Please point out where Yu Nian is unworthy of being the ambassador for Ningcheng Museum!]

Soon, the topic “Ji Chaode blasts Yu Nian” gained rapid popularity, and even sparked a heated debate about whether an artist’s cultural level was important or not. News related to it filled the screen.

However, Yu Nian hadn’t made any moves yet. A Weibo account, certified as a professor in the History Department of Ningcheng University, an archaeology expert, and a doctoral supervisor, quickly refuted Ji Chaode’s claims.

[Excavating Sand and Soil Zeng Hongying: It is extremely irresponsible to claim that Yu Nian has zero knowledge of Chinese studies. Firstly, Yu Nian graduated from the Department of History at Ningcheng University, which ranks among the top three in the country. Throughout their four years of university, they consistently ranked first in their class, and I personally awarded them the title of Outstanding Graduate during their graduation.

Secondly, I am Zeng Hongying, who is Yu Nian’s teacher. As for who I am, please make good use of search engines.

Thirdly, at the age of twenty, Yu Nian went to archaeological sites with a small shovel, published academic papers in top-tier journals, and presented reports at academic conferences. If you dare to claim that their knowledge of Chinese studies is zero, then are the experts and scholars who read their papers and listened to their reports all illiterate?

Lastly, @JiChaode, please explain three simple historical terms: Zhong Biao Bu, Fang Guo Hu, and Tian Li Bu Yu, to prove your own knowledge of traditional Chinese culture and justify your accusations against Yu Nian and your qualifications to take photos for Ningcheng Museum.]

“This clapback feels unexpectedly satisfying!” Shi Rou patted her chest and curiously asked, “But Nian Nian, is this Professor Zeng your teacher?”

A smile played on Yu Nian’s lips. “Yes, my teacher originally wanted to take me as a closed-door disciple. But when I graduated and decided to pursue singing, he became quite stubborn. Until now, he still refuses to acknowledge me.”

“Is he still mad at you?”

“Yes, he claims to respect my choices, but he was deeply hurt. He couldn’t sleep at night, lost his appetite, and couldn’t swallow food. He’s still angry with me.”

Yu Nian casually refreshed the page and saw that Zeng Hongying had posted another Weibo update. [@YuNian, why don’t you answer this: if you dare to forget what you’ve learned, go copy ‘The Twenty-Four Histories’ and hand it in!]