Ever since Yi Xing became a Hall of Fame contestant on "Who is the Last Man Standing," the fun has multiplied.
Even when he was at Cambridge University, as soon as there was a recording notice, he would book a flight overnight to return to China for the show. Compared to studying at school, he preferred the feeling of competing on stage with others.
Because he always dealt with his opponents cleanly and efficiently, the audience, who loved to watch the excitement, affectionately gave him a fitting nickname: "The Win Streak Terminator."
Every contestant who competed against him had advanced through a series of consecutive wins.
However, there were also people on this stage who could defeat him, but they could be counted on one hand. It was basically a fifty-fifty situation; perhaps Yi Xing won last time, and next time it might be the other way around.
The production team even arranged a team competition once, putting him and Liu Xuhui in the same group. The result of this was that a single episode ended up being less than half an hour long.
Ten minutes were spent introducing the contestants' information and chatting, which led to having to re-record the episode and instructing them to go a bit easy, so that other contestants could feel more involved.
It was precisely because of this collaboration between the two that their friendship deepened. They would chat on their phones every now and then, checking in on each other's recent situations.
Things like what they were busy with, how their graduation theses were coming along, when they would graduate, and so on. And now, Yi Xing was on his way back to China. After three years of study, he had officially graduated from school.
【Fun fact: Most undergraduate programs at Cambridge University are three years long.】
Yi Xing joyfully boarded the plane returning to his homeland. He could finally stay in China for good and didn't have to go abroad again.
He leaned back in his airplane seat, gazing at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window, and silently said in his heart: Goodbye, everything here. Oh no, it should be never again!
His family all knew about his graduation. Shen Wanqing, with a group of people, was waiting early at the arrival gate. She held a large bouquet of flowers, and the greeting card was filled with blessings.
Some were written by her, some by Butler Fu and the others, and the rest were done by the florist.
She stood at the very front of the crowd, eagerly craning her neck and staring intently at the exit, unwilling to look away for a moment. Her heart was full of excitement and anticipation, thinking that she would see her son soon, and an unconscious, brilliant smile bloomed on her face.
As time passed little by little, an announcement came over the broadcast that Yi Xing's flight had arrived, and the arrival area instantly became lively.
Most of the people there were parents, so it was not strange for Shen Wanqing to be standing there in such a manner. Butler Fu and the others behind her widened their eyes, eager to catch sight of their young master.
Yi Xing slowly walked out of the aisle, pulling his suitcase and wearing sunglasses. As for the things he bought in England, he didn't have enough hands to bring them all back, so he left them in his rented apartment, all as property for the next tenant.
As soon as he appeared, he heard someone excitedly shouting his name in the distance. Following the sound, he saw his mother standing at the front of the crowd, and behind her, that group of people jumping up and down.
His previously good mood instantly dissipated, because not only were there flowers, but also a banner that read: "The three-year period is up, welcome Young Master back to his rightful place;" with the horizontal inscription: "Welcome Home."
Which great genius came up with this plan? If he knew, he would have to think carefully about what reward could possibly match the creativity of this talent. Did they really think he was some urban Dragon King? Besides, he couldn't even smirk crookedly.
If Shen Wanqing hadn't been standing among those people, Yi Xing would have really wanted to pretend he didn't know them and just leave the airport to hail a taxi home. But there was no way, so he dragged his suitcase and walked over, biting the bullet.
"Son, welcome home!" Shen Wanqing placed the flowers in his hand, then turned and stood beside him, reaching out to signal Butler Fu to quickly take a photo, so she could have a new phone wallpaper.
"Mom, actually you don't need to..."
"Come on, Young Master, look at the camera, smile!"
Yi Xing's words were interrupted by Butler Fu before he could finish. He tugged at the corners of his mouth, forcing a stiff smile at the camera. With a "click," his smile dropped, and he continued what he was saying.
"Actually, you don't need to make such a big deal out of it. I don't want to be stared at like a monkey in a zoo, it's too embarrassing."
"So what? Let them look. You need to try and get used to this kind of attention. In the future, the number of people might be much, much more than at present," Shen Wanqing said, holding his hand with earnestness.
According to Yi Ming's plan, Yi Xing was to enter the company as soon as he graduated, trying to handle the company's business, from the initial stages to taking over completely. What did a little bit of unusual attention count for then?
"Alright."
The distance from the arrival gate to the parking lot was clearly very short, but for Yi Xing, it was an incredibly long distance. Every step he took required a great deal of determination.
Coupled with the banner held up beside him, this wasn't the road home; this was his road to social death.
"Mom, let me ask you something. Who came up with the words on the banner? They're truly talented, I'd like to meet them."
"Far away in the sky, yet close at hand."
"..."
"Why aren't you talking?"
"You're not kidding me, are you?" Yi Xing stopped, looking at Shen Wanqing with disbelief.
His memory of her was still stuck on the impression of her often going shopping with other wealthy ladies. Only half a year had passed, yet there had been a drastic change. Who on earth had led her astray?
"No, I've been following a web novel recently, and I thought this line was very well written, so I used it on the banner. How is it? Isn't it great?"
"It's really great. Maybe you can design one for my dad someday." He said sorry in his heart. He couldn't be the only victim, could he? No matter who it was, if he could drag one down, he would.
"Good idea, I'll have to think about it carefully."
The road home was silent. Yi Xing was thinking about how to refuse his father's arrangements for him when he got back. He didn't want to live a life where everything was already planned out; that would be meaningless.
If he absolutely had to go to the company and work step-by-step, he would rather develop in the entertainment industry, and the number of followers on his Wei Bo account was his bargaining chip.
Having participated in "Who is the Last Man Standing" so many times, it wasn't to say he had gained a lot of attention, but he did have about 200,000 followers.
Many people weren't drawn by his brilliant performance on the show, but by his face. How else could it be said that good looks plus any other talent would be a fatal combination?