CEFYMA: Chapter 75

Biological parents?

You Mian lowered his eyes and fell into thought. The sunlight shone on the side of his face, blurring the bridge of his nose and his cold white jaw into a gentle arc.

“Hello, please sign here and leave your phone number.” The voice of the staff member of the express delivery station suddenly brought You Mian’s wandering thoughts back to reality.

You Mian stood in front of the counter with his bag on his back and a pen in his hand. He blinked when he heard this and smiled. “Okay.”

In his dazed and hesitant state, he forgot how he answered Pei Huaiji last night. It seemed that he hadn’t said anything at all.

You Mian lowered his head to sign while thinking that he might not be able to find his parents.

He couldn’t remember anything before he was four or five years old, so he always thought he was the biological child of the You family, let alone the older memories from before he entered the welfare home.

He knew nothing about his biological parents and had no memory.

It was like a needle dropping into the sea. There were no ripples.

After writing the last digit of his phone number, the staff member said, “Student, are you from the sculpture department? If this package is valuable, you need to check this form.”

You Mian was at the express delivery station in the school. There was a constant flow of people coming and going. The chatter and laughter around him was lively and cheerful.

“Okay.” You Mian took the form and saw the number that needed to be filled in on the official website of the Star Cup.

He took out his phone and clicked on the official website of the Star Cup. What he didn’t expect was to see a notice of the judges’ adjustment.

[Due to certain supervisory and personal reasons, the Star Cup has decided to temporarily remove Professor Qin Lan’s from the position of judge for the general category of the Star Cup…]

You Mian’s pupils shrank as he held the phone. His fingertips turned a bit white with force.

What happened? What was Qin Lan removed? Was it influenced by him?

This announcement that occupied the homepage of the official website of the Star Cup was nearly a thousand words. You Mian quickly read over it and noticed the last line of the notice.

[Prof Qin Lan’s position as the chief judge will be temporarily taken over by Professor Jaeger Hillman, the dean and vice president of the Academy of Fine Arts of Clios College. Professor Hillman will attend the second round of the Star Cup as the chief judge…]

Clios College was a top foreign art college. Jaeger Hillman was also a famous ceiling-level figure who had been written into the official sculpture textbooks.

You Mian wasn’t a stranger to this name, but he had no time to think about the Star Cup being able to invite Hillman. He was anxious about Qin Lan’s removal.

Thus, You Mian quickly filled out the form and ran to Qin Lan’s house.

He pedaled his bicycle very quickly, passing the old but clean employee apartment building of College A. He passed a row of open-air balconies and brightly colored wall graffiti. Finally, he stopped in front of a two-storey, single-family villa.

Qin Lan had a high professional title in College A, so he was assigned to this small villa many years ago. Now he and his wife lived here. The front yard was neatly decorated. There were garlic seedlings and lilies planted on the open-air balcony. It could be called refined and elegant.

The moment You Mian stopped the bicycle, Qin Lin straightened up from where he was lying on the lounge chair under the vines of the front yard.

“Zhifeng, can you see if Xiao Man is here?” Qin Lan called out as he stood up.

Quan Zhifeng was a gray-haired but fiery person like Qin Lan. She had just retired from teaching at the city’s No. 1 High School this year.

She was sitting at a stone table and reading the newspaper. Once she heard this, she immediately put on the glasses hanging from the bridge of her nose. She put down her pen and got up to open the door.

You Mian was just about to knock on the door but hadn’t expected Quan Zhifeng to be one step later. A kind smile appeared on the other person’s face when she opened the door. “Xiao Mian is really here. Come in quickly.”

At this time, Qin Lan finally stood up from the recliner and put on his shoes.

Qin Lan could guess the reason why You Mian came here, but he hadn’t expected You Mian to know about it so quickly.

Quan Zhifeng smiled. “I’m going to cut some fruit. The peaches I grew at home are fresh.”

You Mian politely and softly thanked Quan Zhifeng. Quan Zhifeng waved her hand and walked back into the house in a hurry.

With You Mian’s help, Qin Lan stood up and walked to the stone table to sit down. On the table was the daily newspaper that Quan Zhifeng had just read.

It wasn’t difficult to see that the old couple was living a leisurely and comfortable life now.

You Mian lowered his eyes and pursed his lips. Before he could speak, Qin Lan preemptively said, “You ran over to me in such a hurry. Why don’t you dare to say a word now?”

You Mian raised his head. “Teacher, what’s going on with your body?”

You Mian noticed Qin Lan’s excessively slow movements and thought of the words ‘due to physical reasons’ written on the notice.

Qin Lan narrowed his serious and old-fashioned eyebrows before saying with a smile, “It’s nothing. I just have a small stomach problem. It just so happens that those judges wanted me to step down. I was tired of those struggles, so I found an excuse to retreat.”

You Mian knew that Qin Lan’s words were half true and half false. Based on the old man’s strong personality, it was impossible for him to back down due to these overt and covert conflicts.

AS long as it was about sculpture and art, Qin Lan would always put it first.

Sure enough, after a few seconds, You Mian heard Quan Zhifeng coming out and saying, “Yes, faction struggles are the same everywhere. However, there was something reported recently, and the organizers put a lot of pressure on him.”

You Mian frowned. “Report?”

Qin Lan coughed fiercely. “What are you talking about?”

Quan Zhifeng placed the plate of cut peaches closer to You Mian with a snap. “You just want to protect him, but I think You Mian is better than you. In the end, I don’t know who is protecting whom.”

Qin Lan had never been able to speak back against Quan Zhifeng. Hearing this, his eyes lowered, and he hissed.

Quan Zhifeng smiled and asked You Mian to eat the peaches before saying, “But Xiao Mian, don’t worry too much. It is just because of the internal referral he gave you at the beginning.”

“The Star Cup has rules for internal referrals. No one said that direct teachers can’t recommend their own students,” Quan Zhifeng said logically. She glanced at Qin Lan before continuing, “That Chao Tao who always goes against you, didn’t he also recommend his own student who was about to graduate?”

You Mian understood from these few words. It seemed that the internal referral quota that Qin Lan gave to him was reported for ‘unfair’ reasons. The number of reports must be quite large, or it would be impossible to alert the organizers to adjust the number of judges so seriously.

Quan Zhifeng looked at You Mian and said earnestly, “Xiao Mian, there were too many people reporting it. The organizers were worried they couldn’t stop people from talking, so they found an excuse to let the old man step down. After this, you will have to be more careful not to be dragged down by villains.”

Quan Zhifeng had been in the workplace for many years. She naturally knew that people’s words were terrifying.

You Mian asked calmly, “Are the people who reported it real?”

Qin Lan shook his head. “No, the other party came with a lot of force. I went to the venue the next day and found that the backstage inbox of the Star Cup was flooded. There were thousands of people with no names or addresses. Even if I want to come forward to explain, I don’t know who to explain it to.”

Quan Zhifeng picked out a piece of peach with a toothpick and handed it to Qin Lan. Her voice had softened a lot. “How do you explain when standing in front of dense locusts? How do you explain when standing in front of a swarm of bed bugs?”

You Mian could immediately guess who did these things.

Qin Lan didn’t seem to want to continue this topic, so he immediately asked, “Xiao Mian, today is the deadline. Have you submitted your work?”

Just as You Mian nodded, he heard Qin Lan say, “There is a person in the jury that I have a hard time dealing with. Make sure your work doesn’t go off topic, and don’t give this person room to make trouble. I’m worried that Chai Tao will deliberately block your work.”

Quan Zhifeng clicked her tongue. “This person is currently blinded by profit.”

You Mian understood what Qin Lan meant. The work couldn’t diverge from the theme of maternal love. A bit of irony or contrast might cause his sculpture to become an off-topic work and be eliminated.

The sunlight passed through the lush vines and fell on his long, drooping eyelashes. Under the soft halo, You Mian smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Teacher. I will never go off-topic.”

You Mian finished lunch at Qin Lan’s house. He played chess with his teacher and his wife all afternoon. Then he slowly and leisurely rode his bicycle back to his apartment.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened the door after stepping out of the elevator, he received a call from Hong Sheng before he could even take off his coat.

“Director Hong.”

“Xiao Mian?” Hong Sheng said with high spirits and enthusiasm. “Today is the day when the second episode of Matching Heartbeat is aired. Once the show is aired in the evening, the platform wants the guests who can attend to do an online episode before the show.”

“Do you have time?” Hong Sheng asked.

You Mian thought of the live interaction in the labyrinth in the first episode, which was quite interesting.

You Mian put on his plush slippers and walked to the sofa in the living room. “I have time. Who else will participate?”

Hong Sheng’s eyes lit up the moment he heard that You Mian had time.

It had to be known that after the show finished airing the first Heartbeat House, the most popular person on the platform was You Mian.

Unexpectedly, these few negative hot searches didn’t reduce his ability to attract fans. It actually allowed him to surpass Yun Guanqing in terms of popularity.

Hong Sheng flipped through his notebook. “Guan Tong, Huo Yanzhi, Yun Guanqing… oh, and Pei Huaiji.”

“Plus you, there are five people.”

Shen Nanxiao had gone on a cello concert tour in Italy. Bai Lin hadn’t been heard from since he quit midway through the last recording. He didn’t answer the phone just now. Yan Tingxuan answered the phone, but the other person was busy and immediately refused.

You Mian nodded. He asked about the time and live stream method before hanging up.

He spent a leisurely afternoon at Qin Lan’s house. Now it was getting up. He had to tidy up a bit before the live stream.

You Mian had just taken a shower and was blow-drying his hair when the live stream reminder rang.

The moment the live stream platform was opened, countless viewers immediately poured in.

The first person who appeared was Guan Tong, who was holding a facial mask. The young man’s pink hair was wrapped in a towel, and only his eyes were exposed. He was smiling and greeting everyone.

[Ahhh, Guan Tong is so cute! Is today also a melon-eating day?]

[Hahaha, why are you covering your face?]

“Hello…”

However, Guan Tong didn’t say a few words before it was stuck in the PPT, causing the barrage to burst out laughing.

Yun Guanqing and Huo Yanzhi came in one after another.

Yun Guanqing’s background was obviously the rest room of the studio. The makeup artist stood behind his chair to touch up his makeup. The long-haired man’s brow bone was painted with realistic scars and bloodstains. It looked like he had just finished a fierce chase and fight scene.

[Brother Yun, thank you for your hard work. You are still working so late.]

[I originally thought that Brother Yun was still filming and might not be able to attend the live stream. I didn’t expect he would be on the official website. So happy!]

[Brother Yun, pay attention to your body and rest well.]

Huo Yanzhi seemed to have placed his live streaming phone under the guardrail of the boxing ring. The camera screen flickered. Occasionally, the coach’s roar could be heard. “Left side. Pay attention!”

A few seconds later, Pei Huaiji appeared in front of everyone. The man was sitting in the office. There was a row of bookcases filled with documents and contracts behind him. The clean lines in gray tones matched his work appearance in a straight suit at night. In an instant, his cold aura was no longer so scary. The barrage was lively.

[I have to say that the chair brother’s superior brow bones and handsome appearance are amazing.]

[The skyrocketing JL stock price is due to the chair brother’s appearance (no)?]

[Ahhh, kiss quickly! Kiss Mianmian quickly!]

[Insiders have revealed that You Mian has been in JL these days. I wonder if he went to Chairman Pei to play, hehe.]

[Play? Tell me carefully.]

[Tell me carefully (kneel down).]

[Go to the base for cultivating cotton!]

[Where is Mianmian? Where has Mianmian gone? I am crying to death. I miss him so much!]

Just as the word ‘Mianmian’ appeared in the barrage, You Mian finally dried his hair and came out.

You Mian placed his phone on the dining table, with the living room as the background.

The moment the young man’s live stream appeared, the entire barrage frantically filled the screen.

Damp chestnut curly hair fell over his eyebrows. The collar of his off-white pajamas revealed his thin collarbone. His slender neck looked even colder and whiter under the lights of the dining room.

Pei Huaiji instinctively tightened his grip on the pen in his hand and frowned.

The amber eyes curved up in a smile on the screen. You Mian waved politely to the audience in the live stream room and said, “Good evening, everyone.”

In the midst of a bunch of comments, Pei Huaiji suddenly spoke up. He asked as if the two of them had known each other for a long time, “It is past 6 o’clock. Have you eaten dinner?”

You Mian, who was asked, didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with the question. Instead, he nodded seriously and answered softly, “I have eaten. I ate at the teacher’s house.”

[???]

[What is the situation?]

[There is an incomparably harmonious aura. They are asking and answering questions like an old couple. What happened to them?]

[Tell the truth? Did you kiss each other? Woo woo woo.]

[I want to see it. Hehehe.]

[Chair brother, secretly @ me.]

In the midst of the crazy barrage, Qian Li followed the trend and clicked on her phone screen several times to send a line of barrage.

[I raise both hands to agree to this marriage.]