PDGUT - 53

Though reluctant to part, Yu Tian eventually said goodbye to Yan Ming and returned to her studio. Her mother, who had been discharged from the hospital, was in good spirits and had even gone for a walk along the lakeside trail with a few friends that afternoon.

When Yu Tian returned, Ms. Song Chunxiang had only just arrived back home not long ago.

The eye surgery had been successful, but recovery would still take some time. Seeing her mother’s condition, Yu Tian felt both relief and heartache.

Her eyes welled up slightly as she gently rested her head on her mother’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around her.

Yu Tian had always thought it was too exhausting and difficult for her mother to raise her alone, and she had often hoped her mother could find a partner. But after going through these recent events, Yu Tian let go of this inner fixation.

Loneliness does come with old age, but companionship isn’t the only way to fill the void. Having diverse interests, many friends, loved ones nearby, and good health were the greatest treasures.

“Mom, no matter what, I’ll always support you.”

Ms. Song couldn’t help but smile. Both mother and daughter were usually busy, so this rare opportunity allowed them to have a heartfelt conversation. Yu Tian enthusiastically introduced her social media account’s development direction and past “glorious achievements,” sharing amusing anecdotes about filming videos.

However, while portraying an image of confidence about her entrepreneurial journey to her mother, Yu Tian’s mind was filled with doubt and confusion.

Due to Zhao Xinxin’s slanderous campaign, Yu Tian had faced countless unjust criticisms and insults. The backlash from exposing illegal cosmetic procedures had also drawn attacks from their hired trolls. Even her brief interaction with Dai Xin had led to abuse from his obsessive female fanbase, “Paid Leave.”

The internet brought people closer together, but sometimes it felt overly intrusive.

Although determined to clarify the truth and fight back legally—lawyers were already involved through the platform to collect evidence against the defamatory comments—legal actions took time and couldn’t yield immediate results. The statements Yu Tian issued, along with the lawyer’s letter sent by the platform, hadn’t stopped the tide of criticism.

Seeing the relentless flood of abusive private messages and comments, Yu Tian couldn’t help but feel disheartened.

For the first time in her life, she questioned the meaning of her current entrepreneurial endeavor.

Was creating science content on social media truly worthwhile?

No matter how much she didn’t want to admit it, Yu Tian’s venture into social media entrepreneurship had been an accidental and reluctant choice.

Deep down, what she truly wanted was to become an outstanding surgeon.

Her science communication work was more like a pragmatic alternative—a compromise forced by reality.

Though she kept telling herself that this type of science outreach was meaningful, and Yu Tian had indeed experienced moments of accomplishment, there was still an underlying sense of dissatisfaction and regret.

This dissatisfaction and regret grew uncontrollably at this moment.

Was the impact of her science content really significant?

Or was her so-called entrepreneurial effort merely a grain of sand in the vast ocean of trends, unable to make any ripples?

Regardless, being a doctor was universally respected and admired, easily earning respect and praise from society. But when it came to social media entrepreneurship, people immediately thought of influencers, with mixed opinions.

Watching Yan Ming and Qi Sihao thrive in their respective medical careers, Yu Tian felt envious yet simultaneously lost and insecure.

Doctors could practice for a lifetime, and seniority might even enhance their value. But could she continue as a social media creator forever? Would she still be able to keep up with the tastes of younger audiences as she aged?

Out of subconscious pride, Yu Tian hadn’t told Yan Ming about the troubles she faced online.

Even if he knew, there wasn’t much he could do.

He couldn’t control the internet, nor was he a lawyer. These online disputes were better left to professionals.

Fortunately, Yan Ming was always busy. She assumed he had no time to follow what was happening in the world of social media, so he seemed completely unaware.

As for the platform event, Yu Tian also chose not to mention it. That day, though Yan Ming didn’t have outpatient duties or surgeries, he did have an ophthalmology department meeting to attend.

Yu Tian didn’t consider the platform event particularly important. However, when the day arrived and she entered the venue wearing the evening gown recommended by the platform assistant, she couldn’t help but feel nervous.

She initially thought her black floor-length gown was overly formal, but upon arriving, she realized her outfit was relatively low-key compared to others.

The platform hosted a large number of attractive content creators, including singers, dancers, beauty influencers, and fashionistas. These popular streamers were impeccably dressed, seemingly armed from head to toe. The venue glittered with high-end gowns and jewelry, resembling a star-studded entertainment industry press conference.

Everyone looked dazzling and perfect, making Yu Tian, who wore only light makeup, feel tense and awkward.

Still, many people approached her to chat.

“You look familiar. Are you one of the rising beauty influencers? Let me think of your username…”

“I’m ‘Song-Xi-Xi-Xi’ from the lifestyle section. If it’s convenient, can we exchange WeChat?”

Almost all the male content creators present mistook Yu Tian for a beauty influencer. Though she politely declined a few, their enthusiasm persisted.

A few who approached her were also science communicators. After clarifying that she was a lesser-known science content creator, Yu Tian exchanged contact information with some of them who seemed reliable, fostering professional connections.

In addition to top-tier and emerging content creators, the platform had selected 100 users based on their activity duration, comment counts, and donation amounts, granting them internal fan participation slots.

As the platform assistant coordinating with Yu Tian had mentioned, the event also included mid-to-high-level management and key executives from major partner companies.

Thus, the first half-hour cocktail reception provided ample time for networking among attendees.

The platform’s management controlled traffic and ad resources. The invited fans were mostly big spenders or die-hard supporters, and the platform’s partners were wealthy investors.

During this half-hour cocktail session, beyond casual exchanges between content creators, those with ambition and future plans turned the gathering into something of a battlefield.

Realizing this, Yu Tian finally understood why most creators dressed so extravagantly—it was like a competition among blooming flowers.

But Yu Tian wasn’t interested in this. Such superficial socializing felt burdensome to her.

And the more men who approached her, the more she found herself missing Yan Ming.

They were all great—charismatic, influential, or humorous—but none of them were Yan Ming.

It was Yu Tian herself who hadn’t told Yan Ming about these events, yet she secretly hoped he’d be there by her side.

Humans are truly contradictory creatures.

Regardless, Yu Tian didn’t want to exhaust herself with these interactions. So she found a quiet corner seat with a traditional Chinese landscape painting as a screen, picked up a non-alcoholic cocktail, and sipped quietly.

But just as she sought peace, others clearly had the same idea.

Not long after, several girls walked in front of the screen. They appeared to be familiar content creators.

“Wow, did you see that? ‘Adorable Little Linlin’ is such a photoshopped fraud. Can you imagine how strong her live-stream filters must be? When I got close to her face earlier, it was all bumpy—I thought I was looking at the moon’s surface.”

“That’s hilarious. And ‘Painter Flower Flower’—clearly from some small city. Look at the dress she picked; so tacky. I thought we were at a charity livestream, bringing in girls from chicken farms.”

Some creators on the platform formed alliances to strengthen their positions, collectively attacking competitors while sharing traffic and followers. Yu Tian had heard about this from Dai Xin but hadn’t expected to witness it firsthand.

She recognized the accounts being attacked—they were all beauty influencers. Clearly, this group viciously mocking their rivals consisted of beauty influencers themselves.

What surprised Yu Tian was that even she, a non-beauty creator, became collateral damage—

“Did you see ‘Xiao Yu Loves Candy’? She dresses provocatively, claims to be a science communicator, but isn’t she just here to sell her looks? She’s trying too hard with that simple black gown, aiming for elegance. You should’ve seen how many men approached her for contact info earlier—and she rejected them all, acting super coy.”

“Men eat that up, don’t they? Didn’t you notice several big influencers unconsciously staring at her?”

“I heard that in real life, she’s a homewrecker. There was a huge scandal where she allegedly cheated with a doctor whose fiancée was pregnant…”

“Not didn’t she issue a statement to refute the rumors? She even sent out a lawyer’s letter, claiming she’d fight back legally.”

“What do you know? It’s like in the entertainment industry. If there’s nothing to hide, why bother denying it so much? Maybe they refuted it today, but tomorrow it’ll be confirmed. If she still wants to develop her career in social media, of course she has to deny it. Plus, after the storm passes, no one pays attention anymore. Right now, she’s acting tough and saying she’ll pursue legal action, but who knows what will happen later? No one’s going to follow up on this just for fun. It’s all about saving face—sending out a lawyer’s letter doesn’t mean much. Anyone can do it.”

“Who knows? Maybe after attending this platform event, she’ll lose interest in that doctor. Look around—you can pick anyone here who’s either wealthy, influential, or incredibly good-looking. Earlier, I met a few executives from the platform—they were all handsome and young!”

Before long, the conversation shifted. The girls lowered their voices and began discussing the male guests at the venue.

“I think the platform’s deputy operations manager is super handsome. I heard from an employee in the operations team that he’s single—he just broke up recently.”

“No wonder so many women are surrounding him...”

“Deputy operations manager? You haven’t seen the guy from the platform’s partner company, right?”

“Which one?”

“Do you know Jiuyou Interactive, the game company behind Conquer Challenge ? They’re signing an exclusive deal with the platform for esports livestreaming rights. Their representative is here, and let me tell you, he’s unbelievably handsome—like ‘instant ovulation’ levels of hot. I guarantee his looks crush any other man here, and he seems really young too.”

“I... I think I saw that guy. Are you talking about the one in the black suit? He’s at least 185 cm tall, but he’s so cold and hard to approach. A few top female beauty influencers tried flirting with him earlier, but they all failed. He was very direct—said he had a girlfriend who would get angry if he entertained them, and rejected them outright without giving them any leeway.”

“He’s undeniably stunning, but I heard he’s not the boss of Jiuyou Interactive—just representing the boss. The actual boss is older, busy, and uninterested in these kinds of platform events, so he sent this guy instead. Maybe he’s the boss’s assistant?”

“Don’t be sour grapes. Did you see the suit he’s wearing? It’s Kiton, an Italian luxury brand. Each piece is handmade with incredible craftsmanship, taking hundreds of hours to produce. The average suit costs over ten thousand dollars, and the one he’s wearing probably costs at least thirty thousand. So even if he’s just an assistant, he’s an assistant whose wealth dwarfs most men here...”

The group quickly moved on to another topic, chattering away before eventually leaving the area behind the screen.

Yu Tian finally exhaled in relief and stepped out from behind the screen.

Regardless, the cocktail reception was nearing its end, and she wouldn’t have to endure any more meaningless socializing.

Though she eagerly anticipated the live interactive session on personal reputation infringement, the platform had organized some icebreaker games beforehand. These were meant to help content creators get to know each other for future collaborations and to warm up the atmosphere for the live audience.

The platform had prepared several fun icebreaker games, but participation was voluntary, so Yu Tian chose to stay on the sidelines and observe.

The female creators in their evening gowns and the male creators in suits were caught up in hilarious situations, flustered and scrambling, completely shedding their previously polished images. The atmosphere became lively and chaotic.

Eventually, the creators were seated according to their respective categories. To build anticipation for the upcoming live program, Yu Tian’s seat was placed near the science communication and legal section. Seated beside her was the male lawyer who would later join her in the live discussion about personal reputation infringement. He was also the lawyer assigned by the platform to handle Zhao Xinxin’s defamation case.

He hadn’t signed up to participate in the icebreaker games either, so he struck up a conversation with Yu Tian while they watched from the sidelines.

This lawyer, Zhang Xing, was a partner but looked only a few years older than Yu Tian. He was gentle, polite, and explained personal reputation infringement knowledge professionally and warmly. He briefly outlined the approach for handling Yu Tian’s case, and as they talked, it turned out his younger sister was an alumna of Yu Tian’s school. Yu Tian immediately added him on WeChat to facilitate follow-ups on the case later.

Zhang was also helpful, sharing ways to protect her reputation and offering advice on subsequent steps. He explained important timelines in the legal process.

As they were chatting, the icebreaker games were nearing their conclusion.

But before wrapping up, the platform host clearly wanted to create one last big moment—

“The final segment is the Kiss Cam! Our cameras and big screens are ready. Now, any two creators caught in the frame together, please give each other a kiss!”

The host added with a smile, “Of course, if you’re close enough to kiss on the cheek, go for it. Otherwise, gentlemen, you can politely kiss the hand of the person next to you.”

Sure enough, with these words, the atmosphere instantly heated up. Only then did everyone realize how calculated the seating arrangements were. Besides couples already in relationships, some creators who were rumored by fans to have chemistry were seated next to each other. Even some rivals were deliberately placed together.

The event featured two large screens. One displayed the expressions and reactions of the creators in real-time, synced with the Kiss Cam activity. The other showed the live chatroom comments, scrolling rapidly with exclamations—

“I knew the platform wasn’t being so kind-hearted—it’s stirring things up!”

“Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Ugh, ugh, ugh, fight! Fight!”

“I noticed those two big male creators from the military section—they always trash-talk each other online, and now they’re sitting together. When the camera panned over earlier, their faces turned dark—they were terrified of being selected. Hahahaha! Forced to kiss your enemy series—this is hilarious.”

Sure enough, as the camera captured pairs of people in the frame, bursts of laughter and applause erupted throughout the venue.

Those two male creators from the military section got exactly what they feared—caught in the same frame. One reluctantly kissed the other’s hand, then frantically wiped his mouth while the other scrubbed his hand.

Even more exciting were the interactions between male and female beauty creators. Handsome men and beautiful women who were already familiar online now met offline, and sparks flew for some. Compared to the reserved hand-kissing in other sections, the beauty creators went straight for cheek kisses, pushing the atmosphere to its peak. Cheers erupted again and again.

Yu Tian smiled as she watched the big screen, but suddenly, she froze.

She thought she saw Yan Ming.

He sat sternly among the platform executives and partner representatives.

However, the camera’s lens flashed past, and Lawyer Zhang beside her asked another question. By the time Yu Tian answered and looked back at the screen, scanning the rows of executives and partners, Yan Ming was nowhere to be found.

Yu Tian couldn’t help but chuckle.

Could it be that she missed Yan Ming so much?

Yan Ming should have been at the hospital and definitely wouldn’t attend such an event.

She composed herself, but just as she looked back at the Kiss Cam screen, she saw her own slightly bewildered face flash across the screen. Beside her was Lawyer Zhang.

Yu Tian froze, turning her head stiffly toward Lawyer Zhang.

Zhang looked somewhat apologetic but remained gentlemanly. “Sorry for the intrusion.”

As he spoke, he took Yu Tian’s hand, clearly intending to complete the Kiss Cam task with a hand-kiss.

But just as Zhang’s lips were about to touch Yu Tian’s hand, a faintly cold, deep voice interrupted the playful atmosphere around them—

“Excuse me, may I interrupt?”

Yu Tian snapped back to reality amidst the noise. She raised her head slightly and met a pair of dark, intense eyes. The man standing there had sharp, chiseled features, an air of quiet authority, and an upright posture. His handsome brows carried an unspoken sternness, and his beautifully shaped lips were pressed into a flat line, revealing displeasure. The deep black suit accentuated his elegant and noble demeanor.

It was Yan Ming.

A Yan Ming Yu Tian had never seen before.

Unlike the professional, aloof, and trustworthy image he projected in his white coat, Yan Ming in a suit exuded the aura of someone in a position of power. His deep eyes were fixed on Yu Tian.

He glanced at her, then turned to Lawyer Zhang sitting beside her. “I need to borrow her.”

As he spoke, Yan Ming firmly and without hesitation pulled Yu Tian’s hand away from Zhang’s grasp.

Once the Kiss Cam locked onto two people in the frame, it zoomed in to show only them. With Yan Ming’s sudden appearance, Zhang was completely pushed out of the shot.

The impeccably tailored, visibly expensive suit hugged Yan Ming’s broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs, highlighting his excellent physique. His disciplined, ascetic aura was amplified perfectly by the suit.

Though she had seen this man countless times before, Yu Tian couldn’t help but blush and feel her heart race.

Knowing full well that the Kiss Cam broadcast would display this moment in perfect detail on the big screen and to the live audience, Yu Tian still couldn’t resist stealing glances.

Without his white coat and clad in a suit, Yan Ming still looked impossibly handsome and perfect, almost otherworldly.

There was a touch of coldness, nobility, and dominance.

He didn’t look like a doctor who saved lives—he looked like someone who could take them.

Yu Tian’s heart started pounding uncontrollably again.

She steadied herself and looked up into Yan Ming’s deep, beautiful eyes. “What are you doing here?”

But Yan Ming didn’t answer her question. Instead, he turned to the big screen, his voice low but tinged with amusement. “Now it’s just you and me.”

Yu Tian blinked, following his gaze to the screen and realizing that the Kiss Cam now framed only her and Yan Ming.

Before she could react—or before Lawyer Zhang and the audience watching the Kiss Cam could process what was happening—Yan Ming lifted Yu Tian’s neck with one hand, leaned down, and kissed her, completing the Kiss Cam task.

At the moment Yan Ming’s lips touched Yu Tian’s, the previously rowdy crowd fell silent. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the unfolding scene.

Yet Yan Ming acted as if no one else existed. He leaned down and kissed Yu Tian confidently and possessively, then calmly strode back to his seat with long, measured steps.

The Kiss Cam operator seemed entranced, following Yan Ming with the lens as he walked. Yu Tian, almost unconsciously, found her gaze trailing after him. She watched as this tall, striking man made his way to the seating area for platform executives and partner representatives, then sat down behind the placard labeled “Jiuyou Interactive – Yan Ming.”

Only then did Yu Tian remember the casual chatter among the beauty creators earlier.

She had half-heartedly dismissed it at the time, but now that she realized they were talking about Yan Ming, a tinge of jealousy crept into her heart.

That’s right. No wonder the name Conquer Challenge sounded familiar. Upon reflection, Yu Tian recalled that when rumors about Yan Ming’s family background spread on campus forums, someone had pointed out that Yan Ming’s family’s company had invested in that game.

So the representative from Jiuyou Interactive was none other than Yan Ming…

The Kiss Cam soon moved on to other pairs, and the venue returned to its previous state of laughter, applause, and cheers. The quiet, subtle moment between Yu Tian and Yan Ming seemed folded into time and quietly sealed away.

But silence didn’t mean everyone had forgotten.

The Kiss Cam segment ended amid laughter and cheers, marking the conclusion of the icebreaker activities.

Next came the platform’s much-anticipated strategic partnership signing ceremony.

Representatives from various partners took the stage to sign agreements. The platform arranged for interviews after the signings, selecting questions from the live chatroom to engage the audience, since the majority of the platform’s users were Gen Z youth.

Most of the questions directed at the representatives were standard—how they envisioned future cooperation with the platform or requests to introduce their projects. But when it was Yan Ming’s turn, the tone shifted.

After briefly mentioning Jiuyou Interactive’s Conquer Challenge esports livestreaming rights, the host changed gears—

“Mr. Yan, our user friends have a burning question for you personally. If you’re uncomfortable answering, feel free to decline. However, given the sheer volume of comments and the enthusiasm of our users, I’ve decided to risk asking.”

The host laughed nervously and plunged ahead: “We want to know—was that creator you kissed just now someone you fell in love with at first sight?”

Yu Tian’s seat was a fair distance from Yan Ming’s, but the live screen left nothing hidden. She stared at Yan Ming’s magnified, handsome face.

Watching him blink his deep, glass-like eyes, he calmly and matter-of-factly replied—

“She’s my girlfriend.”