Chapter 20: Arriving in Jinling (2)

The hotel was four-star. It likely had a contract rate with the television station, and Little Sun checked them in directly under the show's name without either of them paying a cent.

"Do you need to rest for a bit?"

Once they were inside the room, Little Sun asked.

"Yes, I need to do some massage work on Qinghe. Why don't you head down to the lobby for a while, and I'll come find you when we're ready?"

Ye Dali nodded. Ye Qinghe had been sitting in the car for so long that he definitely needed some tending to — and the massage couldn't be skipped either.

Little Sun was perceptive enough to take the hint. He gave a nod and stepped out.

By the time all of that was done and Ye Dali and Ye Qinghe appeared in the lobby downstairs, half an hour had passed.

"Sorry about that — it takes a bit longer because of his condition," Ye Qinghe said, offering Little Sun an apology of his own.

Little Sun smiled. "Completely understandable. Shall we grab something to eat first and then head to the station?"

"Sounds good!"

Little Sun didn't take them anywhere outside — they ate at the hotel restaurant. Since Ye Dali had to feed Ye Qinghe first, the meal moved at a slower pace, but Little Sun remained patient throughout, sitting quietly to the side and waiting.

Once they finished eating, he brought Ye Dali and Ye Qinghe over to the television station.

It was the first time either of them had ever set foot in a place like this, and they found themselves glancing around curiously at everything inside. Little Sun was happy to point things out and explain as they went.

Along the way, they ran into two celebrities — not exactly household names, but faces both of them had seen on TV before.

A small crowd had gathered around for autographs and photos. Little Sun asked Ye Qinghe if he wanted to go over. Ye Qinghe shook his head.

He didn't have any particular favourite among celebrities. He recognised these two and had seen their work, but autographs and photos weren't something he cared about.

"Welcome, welcome! You must be tired from the journey!"

Producer Zhao Qingyang was in his office when he heard the knock. The moment he saw Ye Qinghe being wheeled in, he jumped to his feet with a wide smile and strode over, reaching out to shake Ye Qinghe's hand.

"I'm sorry — I'm not able to shake your hand."

Only after Ye Qinghe said this did Zhao Qingyang catch himself. He slapped his forehead, apologised with an embarrassed laugh, and then turned to shake hands with Ye Dali instead.

"My apologies — my brain just didn't make the connection in time. But welcome all the same. Welcome to our station, welcome to our production team. We've been looking forward to having you here!"

After shaking Ye Dali's hand, he gestured for everyone to come further in. Once they were all seated, Zhao Qingyang turned to Ye Qinghe.

"You're too kind."

Ye Qinghe smiled faintly.

"No, no — what I'm about to say isn't meant as any offence, but it is the honest truth. Given your physical condition, Qinghe, your appearance on a variety show like ours is bound to be a massive talking point. So after your registration went through, we made you the central focus of our promotional push for this episode.

According to our data, a very large number of viewers are genuinely curious about you appearing on a show like this — many have already said they're looking forward to seeing you this episode.

So as far as we're concerned, you are our ratings guarantee for this episode."

Zhao Qingyang first offered Ye Qinghe an apology, then laid out exactly what was on his mind. He was the straightforward type — not one to dance around things.

Ye Qinghe took no offence at any of it. From the moment he had agreed to appear on this episode, this outcome was inevitable. The reason the production team was willing to bring him on — covering his round-trip travel and accommodation — was precisely because of his physical condition.

"I'm honoured, truly.

I've watched quite a few episodes of your show before, and I genuinely enjoy it — that's why I wanted to give it a try."

Ye Qinghe kept his tone modest. Even though he was aiming to defend the podium for six episodes, he couldn't very well lead with that.

"As for your participation, Qinghe, here's what we have in mind — we'd like to run a quick knowledge assessment first, just to get a sense of where your strengths lie."

In truth, before Ye Qinghe's arrival, the production team had discussed the matter. They felt that a contestant with as much natural appeal as Ye Qinghe deserved a little behind-the-scenes consideration — a slight advantage to help him stay on for at least one more episode.

That would be good for the show, and they believed the contestant himself wouldn't object. After all, appearing for two episodes meant far greater exposure, which was something most people would welcome.

Still, Zhao Qingyang didn't feel it was necessary to say any of this out loud.

His plan was simple: assess Ye Qinghe's abilities first. Then, when the show began, they could subtly steer the questions toward areas where Ye Qinghe excelled — enough to carry him through to the next episode.

There was no need to put it on the table.

After all, the show had always publicly maintained that there were no behind-the-scenes dealings — that everything depended solely on the contestants' genuine ability.

"No problem at all."

Ye Qinghe had absolutely no objection to that.

"Qinghe, what are your strongest subjects?"

They brought Ye Qinghe into the broadcast studio and positioned him at the contestant's spot. While waiting for the screen to start displaying questions, Zhao Qingyang asked casually.

"Pretty much everything, really — history, humanities, natural sciences. I've touched on all of it."

Ye Qinghe's answer made Zhao Qingyang feel that the young man was perhaps being a little boastful. Human energy was finite — how could anyone be strong across every field?

"It's mainly because I have a lot of time and can't do much else, so every day I just read all sorts of things. That's led to me picking up a pretty wide range of knowledge and remembering quite a lot of it."

But then Ye Qinghe followed up with that, and combined with the frail, delicate impression he had given from the moment he walked in, Zhao Qingyang felt genuinely ashamed of the thought he'd just had.

What a good kid. Already suffering enough being this ill — how could he have thought of him that way?

Perhaps the others on the directing team had been right all along. Maybe they should give this kid a little extra help. He deserved more exposure — so that more kind-hearted people might offer him some goodwill.

And it wasn't just Zhao Qingyang. Whether it was Little Sun or the other staff members present, every single one of them felt something soft inside them tighten the moment they laid eyes on Ye Qinghe.

Poor guy.

So young, so handsome — how did he end up paralysed?

"How many people in history were granted the title of Champion Marquis?"

"A: One"

"B: Two"

"C: Three"

"D: Four"

"I'll go with D — four."

That was the final question. Thirty in total had been presented, and Ye Qinghe had answered every single one without a moment's hesitation.

That left Zhao Qingyang and everyone else genuinely surprised.

This Ye Qinghe actually had some real ability!