RSDH CH65

Duan Xingye deliberately brought up the school matter. Wang Shixi knew he was doing it on purpose but wasn’t afraid of being exposed. Wang Suqian had said that as long as the money was there, getting a proof of enrollment wasn’t difficult. Wang Shixi had support and nothing to fear, playing along to see what Duan Xingye’s intentions were.

But Duan Xingye just casually mentioned it a couple of times and stopped talking. Wang Shixi couldn’t help but feel annoyed. Duan Xingye had triggered his wariness again and again, but it was all just feints, like a cat playing with a mouse, making him seem insignificant and powerless. This feeling was terrible; Wang Shixi wished Duan Xingye would just have it out with him openly.

However, Duan Xingye was always clear-headed. If he exposed Wang Shixi’s shameful act of stealing his life experiences in front of the camera, he would inevitably have to make public old stories. That would not only give the mother and son a chance to create hype using the Kan family, but defeating a bluffing fool would leave nothing but emptiness, no sense of accomplishment.

But if it were changed to slowly torturing Wang Shixi, he would be very willing.

So Duan Xingye came as a flying guest with the purpose of making Wang Shixi make a fool of himself on his variety show debut, puncturing the forced rich second-generation persona instantly, so he wouldn’t dare mention anything stolen from him again in the future.

When Wang Shixi talked about noble sports, people would only associate it with his wretched fall from the horse today. When Wang Shixi boasted that his violin was worth millions of dollars, people would suspect it could only produce a tone worth twenty thousand. As for the educational environment growing up, before Duan Xingye could induce him to reveal more details, Wang Shixi had already exposed himself. The moment he said admission was “just about having money,” Duan Xingye smiled, knowing there was no need to ask further.

Huist benefited from the elite class and also maintained and consolidated the elite class. This private school valued its reputation far more than Wang Shixi imagined.

Wang Shixi believed the violin had an international certification certificate, probably blindly trusting authority like his mother. Mansions, luxury cars, name brands were all their certificates. They wanted to collect more certificates to whitewash their past background, but they forgot that even with money, they would never become aristocrats in spirit. Thus, their cognition would always be limited, and the things they did would always be unclassy—this was the real class barrier, unbreachable by money.

Wang Shixi was just feeling stifled, but his fans empathized fiercely, more impulsive than their idol. All night, the bullet screen praised Duan Xingye and trampled Wang Shixi. They were annoyed enough, but their idol’s performance was lackluster, and they couldn’t stop people from talking.

Duan Xingye specially asked at the end, “You really are a student of Huist?” Surprisingly, people in the livestream room echoed this, thinking Wang Shixi didn’t look like a student from a noble school, his persona collapsing severely. Most fans became fans of Wang Shixi because of his rich second-generation background, so they exploded directly. At the same time, they finally caught a point to denounce Duan Xingye.

Don’t believe it? Fine, the official blog will slap your face.

A fan rushed to the front, cut a dozen seconds of the clip where Duan Xingye asked about Wang Shixi’s school background during the livestream, uploaded it to Weibo, tagged the school’s official blog, and wrote a righteous essay.

Forever Loving Xixi:

With today’s achievements, Wang Shixi still hasn’t forgotten his alma mater. When he is questioned, shouldn’t his alma mater also protect its student? Currently, netizens are misled by people with intentions to slander Wang Shixi for lying. Please @Huist Bilingual School respond directly to Wang Shixi’s identity. He is worth it.

[Video]

Huist was a nationally renowned noble school. The students who could get in were, without exception, from families with social influence, elites among elites. Under such a unified perception, fans urgently needed the endorsement of this school, not to prove Wang Shixi’s academic qualifications, but to stamp Wang Shixi as a rich young master.

The cut video also included real-time bullet comments.

“Duan Xingye’s tone makes me very uncomfortable. Wang Shixi isn’t from Huist, could he be?”

“Wang Shixi comes from a prestigious family; it pricked Duan Xingye’s sense of superiority.”

“Young master has a mansion worth tens of millions, a violin worth six million dollars. What’s the problem with attending Huist?”

“Tsk tsk, some people’s horizons are just placed there.”

“Heart aches for Wang Shixi. Being targeted just because he’s too dazzling.”

“Fans don’t whitewash anymore. What ‘casual asking’? This is questioning. Someone has already tagged the school official on Weibo. Duan Xingye, wait to apologize.”

In the eyes of Duan Xingye’s fans, Wang Shixi’s fans were purely picking a fight (touching porcelain). They were equally angry, so the argument in the livestream room was intense.

The Public Relations Department of Huist Bilingual School in Yu City checked dozens of messages tagging the school and quickly understood the cause and effect. To prevent the matter from fermenting, the PR department didn’t hesitate and immediately drafted a statement to respond.

Five minutes later.

The official blog gave a complete statement, with a screenshot from the variety show video of several guests around the long table.

CIBA Huist Bilingual V:

Wang Shixi is not a student of our school. Our school has always adhered to the philosophy of elite cultivation. There is a strict system for selecting students, not looking towards “money.” Outsiders please do not spread rumors.

Thank you to netizens for providing videos in time, ensuring our school obtains the right to know at the first moment. There are indeed two honorary alumni of our school at the program site. Netizens please stop verbal abuse and personal attacks. Huist Bilingual School will firmly stand on the side of our alumni.

The reversal came so suddenly that not only the fans charging for Wang Shixi but even Duan Xingye’s fans were stunned.

Once the official blog posted, one, two, three comments popped up in the comment section, and then suddenly, the number grew geometrically.

“Two honorary alumni on site? Holy crap! Must be Duan Xingye and Cheng Duzhou!”

“Wang Shixi is a habitual liar. Denies plagiarizing songs to the death, and even openly forges academic qualifications.”

“No wonder Teacher Duan asked again after hearing the school name. He definitely never saw this person at school!”

“I knew it! Teacher Duan’s nobility is natural; Wang Shixi can’t even imitate it.”

“The real young master didn’t say a word, the fake young master jumps up and down. The direction of things is starting to get interesting.”

…

Meanwhile, in front of the wooden house, steam rose from the dining table, maintaining a slow-paced life rhythm of quiet years. The statement from Huist’s official website hadn’t reached the livestream room in time.

After chatting, Jiang Dong urged the two guests to eat more and said, “Little Duan is from Yu City, right? Usually so busy with work, and Shanghai isn’t close to Yu City. Have you gone home to visit this year?”

Duan Xingye said, “No time.”

“Being an artist is like this,” Jiang Dong sighed with emotion. “They must miss you a lot.”

Duan Xingye lowered his lashes and said, “Currently, there is only a grandfather at home. He usually watches me on program livestreams.”

Wang Shixi snatched the conversation, blurting out without thinking, “You don’t have parents?”

Bang—

The teacup by Cheng Duzhou’s hand was accidentally knocked over onto the floor, causing a small confusion on the table. Jiang Dong quickly handed over tissues.

In the livestream room, many viewers felt suffocated hearing this.

“???”

“Is that polite?”

“Directly asking someone if they don’t have parents?”

“Wang Shixi’s EQ, my fist is hard.”

Cheng Duzhou wiped the water stains on his hand with a tissue and raised his deep, bottomless black eyes to look at Wang Shixi. “What did you say?”

“…………”

Instantly, the dinner table fell into silence.

Wang Shixi unconsciously straightened his back, the smile on his face frozen.

Cheng Duzhou was a taciturn person. After arriving, he did more than he spoke. When answering Jiang Dong’s questions, he used few words; mostly Duan Xingye answered for him. Now he suddenly spoke, asking in a low, flat tone, making people’s hearts shudder. A sense of oppression loomed over, and everyone at the table couldn’t breathe for a moment.

Looking again at Cheng Duzhou wearing a black shirt, sitting next to the slender Duan Xingye, casting a heavy gaze over, Wang Shixi associated him with certain tall and mighty dog breeds whose natural duty seemed to be guarding Duan Xingye every step of the way.

Wang Shixi didn’t doubt for a second that the current Cheng Duzhou could tear him to shreds.

He swallowed and scooted back a bit towards the pillar behind him. “Sorry, I spoke too fast and didn’t express my meaning accurately. Just heard Teacher Duan mention family but not parents, so I was a bit curious.”

Duan Xingye lowered his eyelashes, slowly finished the last bite of food, put down his chopsticks, pressed the corner of his mouth with a tissue, and patted Cheng Duzhou’s hand beside him.

He didn’t look at Wang Shixi but at the camera directly in front of him. Before speaking, he seemed to think for a moment.

He had never spoken about his parents in public. He couldn’t say clearly if he didn’t want to before or for what reason he couldn’t say it. But now he didn’t have that feeling at all. Since returning from Travel Together last week, he felt very relaxed. Those past events sunk at the bottom of his heart floated lightly to the surface. Even provocations from Wang Shixi became irrelevant.

Those obsessions carried for a long time might have been put down unknowingly.

Duan Xingye said calmly, “My parents divorced when I was in high school.”

As soon as he said it, everyone fell quiet.

Wang Shixi frowned, thinking Duan Xingye would be secretive and ashamed to speak, but he appeared frank and composed.

Jiang Dong leaned forward close to the table, propping his chin with one hand, staring at Duan Xingye, revealing an expression of listening seriously.

Cheng Duzhou lowered his eyes to look at Duan Xingye’s fine white hand, lingered for a moment, and reached out to hold it.

Duan Xingye let the person beside him hold his hand, tilted his head, wound a strand of highlighted hair with his other hand, and recalled carelessly, “They used to love me very much. In the 2000s, they took me to all the Disney parks around the world. But later their relationship broke down, and neither wanted custody of me, so I was awarded to my grandfather. Now I haven’t been in contact with them for almost seven or eight years, so when mentioning family, I habitually ignore the existence of parents.”

Song Song pulled two tissues with extremely fast hand speed, turned her face away, and hid behind another male guest to wipe her eyes.

The livestream room was even more exaggerated; they had already broken down in tears.

“Wuwuwu, I always thought Teacher Duan grew up in a warm family. After all, he is so confident and strong, and so warm to President Cheng.”

“Parents divorced in high school? Can’t hold it back. That’s when teenage personality is forming, right? If it were me, I’d become autistic.”

“Heavens, however much they doted before is how much it hurts after. Do parents not consider the child’s feelings?”

“What trash parents, no responsibility at all.”

“A very cruel fact: some parents’ love for their children depends entirely on their love for their partner. When one day there is no love, they won’t even want the child. Hug Teacher Duan.”

“Teacher Duan, jiayou! Now you have President Cheng to love you!”

At the same time, watching the program were not only domestic viewers. In Portugal on the other side of the earth, it was early morning. Kan Yu sat in the spacious living room of her home, also staring at the TV screen.

Kan Yu had a beautiful face, her skin whiter than average. She held a slender cigarette in her hand, took a drag, her lips trembling slightly, her hand shaking too.

A little boy with curly hair wearing thermal underwear stuck out his belly, walked into the living room carrying a plush toy, and rubbed his eyes: “Mame, porque estás a chorar?” (Mom, why are you crying?)

Kan Yu didn’t see him immediately. She hurriedly stubbed out the cigarette, waved the air in front of her, and pulled the boy onto her lap: “Só porque a areia caiu em meus olhos.” (Just got sand in my eyes.)

In the farm, the evening breeze blew under the eaves. Duan Xingye felt the warm breath of spring. He lifted the hand held by Cheng Duzhou, supported it on the table, rested his face lightly on the back of Cheng Duzhou’s hand, pondered for a moment, and said, “But the matters between parents actually can’t affect me. Grandfather treats me very well.”

Doing variety shows didn’t require being too emotional; stopping at the right point was enough.

Jiang Dong sighed deeply, raised his cup, and said, “Come, let me toast you. Being able to walk out of pain and still willing to believe in love is very brave.”

Duan Xingye raised an eyebrow easily, picked up the tea cup on the table, and clinked it with Jiang Dong.

Even at this time, Wang Shixi’s fans still had cheap mouths: So he was raised by his grandfather. No wonder he has low self-esteem and is sensitive, jealous of rich young masters.

Just then, a large batch of bullet comments poured in.

“Wang Shixi faked his resume; he’s not a student of Huist at all!”

“Cheng Duzhou and Duan Xingye are the honorary alumni certified by Huist! Travel at Night, Write Feelings are the real wealthy family!”

“Wang Shixi’s slaves and maids come out and apologize!”

But the guests were in the middle of recording and couldn’t see the online dispute.

“Looking at it this way, I’m still very lucky.” Wang Shixi took the opportunity of talking about family to take over the topic, saying, “My mom treats me very well, basically satisfying all my requests. Since childhood, whatever I wanted, she bought for me.”

Next, Wang Shixi talked big about how good his parents were to him and how many luxury goods they bought him. Little did he know that at this moment, keywords about him were already hanging high on the hot search list. His subsequent detailed listing of those name brands and descriptions of the life of a rich kid all became jokes in the eyes of netizens, who wished they could fast forward to when he went off-air and saw the hot searches on his phone.

In the real-time square of #Huist Responds to Wang Shixi’s Identity#, everyone was discussing enthusiastically, holding a mocking attitude towards Wang Shixi and his fans, calling this the fastest face-slapping scene in history.

Suddenly, an out-of-place video refreshed in the real-time position. Some onlookers clicked in.

They saw in the video a girl wearing a mask holding up her ID card, her eyes gloomy and determined as she faced the camera and said:

“I am Zhang Li. I want to report Wang Suqian, who is Wang Shixi’s mother and also the chairman of Meiyang Plastic Surgery Hospital, under my real name for illegal business operations…”

The two-and-a-half-hour livestream ended. Led by Jiang Dong, everyone waved goodbye to the camera.

After the cameras were turned off, the guests stood up from under the eaves and said “hard work” to each other.

But the atmosphere among the circle of staff in the courtyard was slightly strange.

When Wang Shixi went out to find his assistant, he always felt everyone was looking at him along the way. He felt slightly odd in his heart but didn’t pay it close attention.

Duan Xingye went to borrow the bathroom in the house. He washed his hands with lowered eyelashes. After washing clean, he turned off the faucet, shook his hands, but still lowered his eyes, standing in front of the mirror without moving.

Duan Xingye spaced out, not knowing what he was thinking. He stood alone like this for a while, maybe a full minute, before turning to go out.

But he saw Cheng Duzhou leaning against the door frame.

Duan Xingye stopped.

Cheng Duzhou lightly licked his lower lip, seeming unsure how to start. He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Duan Xingye’s bright dark pupils looked at Cheng Duzhou, pursing his lips slightly, appearing somewhat stubborn.

Cheng Duzhou looked down at him and whispered, “Shall I stay with you for a while?”

Duan Xingye’s gaze moved elsewhere, then returned. He gave a muffled “Mn” in his nasal cavity, his voice a bit damp.

Cheng Duzhou took a step closer.

Duan Xingye hesitated no more, leaned in, and buried his face in his chest.

After a while, Cheng Duzhou felt a patch of his shirt getting wet. It was warm, yet transmitted a chill to his heart. He reached out and hugged Duan Xingye’s slightly trembling back.

Duan Xingye stomped his foot and made a thin, soft sound. When he raised his head, he bit Cheng Duzhou’s shirt collar, revealing a pair of misty, pitch-black pupils from behind the man’s broad shoulder.

He was extremely angry, extremely unwilling, and extremely aggrieved.

Duan Xingye always said he was fine, but those unheeded requests and unattended emotions had been hidden at the bottom of his heart since his teenage years, rotting and decaying. They wouldn’t disappear, only aching often because they weren’t healed.

Today Duan Xingye finally faced those requests and emotions directly. Cheng Duzhou’s heart ached terribly, hugging him with all his strength yet without hurting him.

Then after crying this time, don’t look back again, and don’t shed tears for this kind of thing anymore.

…

“…Using cooperation with entertainment companies as an excuse, she recruited young people who wanted to enter the entertainment industry, claiming they must get plastic surgery to be recommended to corresponding companies, charging high commissions based on this. As a result, the plastic surgery hospital passed off shoddy work as quality, arranging unlicensed doctors to operate on everyone, ruining many people’s faces. We united to pursue compensation, but the plastic surgery hospital delayed and did not respond. Currently, there are as many as ten victims. Everyone please help repost; we need your help.”

In the video, after the girl finished speaking, she took off her mask, revealing a shocking lower half of her face.

Duan Xingye had already gotten into the car.

Cheng Duzhou was still standing outside.

After watching the video, he returned the phone to Manager Duo Ge beside him. “Give it a push, don’t let the heat go down.”

_-