On September 21, Jiang Fuyue boarded a flight to NY, Country M, accompanied by Xie Dingyuan to attend the Lasker Awards ceremony.
“Want some water?” Xie Dingyuan asked.
Jiang Fuyue shook her head and couldn’t help yawning: “Not thirsty. I’ll sleep for a bit first.”
“Okay.” Xie Dingyuan took out a blanket, then flattened her seat for her. “Sleep.”
Jiang Fuyue looked at him with amusement: “So considerate and attentive? Even more virtuous than a little wife.”
Xie Dingyuan said helplessly: “I promised the old man. Of course I have to keep my word, otherwise I’m afraid I’ll get chopped when we return home.”
Originally, Han Qishan had planned to let Han Shen or Han Ke accompany Jiang Fuyue.
Because of this, the two even started arguing.
Han Shen: “I have time and energy, and I also have connections over there. Of course it’s more appropriate for me to accompany Yueyue.”
Han Ke: “Big brother has to manage the company and can’t be away for too long. I’m different, I have plenty of free time. After accompanying Yueyue to receive the award, we can even play in NY for a few days, treat it as a vacation.”
Han Shen: “I’ll go.”
Han Ke: “I should go instead.”
Han Shen: “Second brother isn’t careful enough and can’t take good care of Yueyue.”
Han Ke: “Big brother brings documents and a laptop and still has to rush to handle work along the way. He won’t take good care of her either.”
Han Shen: “Dad, you decide, who exactly should go?”
Han Ke: “You can’t be biased. Anyway, when we were little you liked big brother and third brother the most. I was stuck in the middle, just a little pitiful one, a little transparent one…”
The old man: “……”
Just then, Xie Dingyuan jumped out: “I’ll accompany Yueyue.”
That was his first visit to the Han family after the two officially announced their relationship.
The air fell silent for two seconds. The Han family’s Four Vajras quickly exchanged glances. Han Shen and Han Ke, who had been arguing over who would accompany Jiang Fuyue to NY, also turned their guns outward, unanimously forming a united front.
“No!”
“How can that be allowed?”
“Inappropriate!”
All three uncles disagreed. Even Little Mang couldn’t help barking twice.
But the old man didn’t state his position.
Xie Dingyuan’s gaze flickered, he felt there was hope!
He immediately made a promise: “I will definitely be considerate and attentive the whole time, meticulous in every detail.”
Han Qishan didn’t speak.
He thought for a moment, coughed lightly: “…Book two hotel rooms.”
Only then did the old man relent: “Alright, then you accompany Yueyue.”
Han Shen: “No, Dad, how can you…”
Han Ke also chased after him: “There’s no such logic…”
The voices of the three gradually faded into the distance.
Only Han Heng was still standing there, lifting his eyelids to look at Xie Dingyuan.
“Kid, you’re something else.”
Knowing what the old man was worried about, he took the initiative to state it himself.
Netizens say he has low EQ?
Is there some misunderstanding about what “low EQ” means?
Han Heng cleared his throat: “Remember, two rooms.”
After saying that, he patted Little Mang’s dog head. “Let’s go.”
Just like that, the matter of Xie Dingyuan accompanying her to the awards ceremony was settled.
Jiang Fuyue: “You’re really listening to the old man that much?”
Xie Dingyuan nodded: “Of course. He’ll be my grandpa-in-law in the future anyway.”
Jiang Fuyue: “……”
“I’m not talking to you anymore.” She pulled the blanket up, turned over, and faced away from the man. “So sleepy…”
A smile flashed in Xie Dingyuan’s eyes: “You… aren’t you getting shy?”
Jiang Fuyue ignored him, didn’t move at all, as if she’d fallen asleep.
He rubbed his nose and muttered softly: “I’m not wrong…”
He really is a future grandpa-in-law!
Jiang Fuyue: Can’t hear it, can’t hear it…
At the same time, a question flashed through her mind: Since when did this dog man become so smooth?
No wonder little uncle said he was “something else.”
……
The plane flew steadily.
Jiang Fuyue didn’t know when she fell asleep; when she woke up, it was already two hours later.
She turned her head and saw that Xie Dingyuan wasn’t there.
Just as she was about to ask the flight attendant to pour her a cup of hot water, she saw, over by the service cabin, Xie Dingyuan surrounded by several pretty flight attendants, talking about something.
Because his back was facing her, Jiang Fuyue couldn’t see his expression.
But the flight attendants’ eyes were bright with excitement, their expressions animated.
“Really? That’s great!”
“Professor Xie, we’ll leave it to you then!”
“Be sure to, eh? Sister Yue is awake?”
Xie Dingyuan turned his head to look, meeting Jiang Fuyue’s half-smiling gaze, and hurried back to his seat: “Awake?”
Jiang Fuyue nodded: “Aren’t you sleepy?”
“Not really.”
“Is it because chatting with beautiful women is especially refreshing?”
That way of putting it…
The man savored it for a moment, somewhat pleasantly surprised: “Yueyue, are you jealous?”
Jiang Fuyue: I’m not, I didn’t, I refuse!
Xie Dingyuan wore an expression of “just admit it, I saw through everything long ago.”
At this moment, that group of pretty flight attendants walked over, their expressions hesitant, their eyes full of unspoken words.
Xie Dingyuan: “She’s awake. You should tell her yourselves.”
Jiang Fuyue looked completely puzzled.
The flight attendant in the purser’s uniform smiled and spoke up. Although she tried her best to remain calm, excitement still leaked into her tone: “Sister Yue! I’m your fan!”
The other crew members: “We are too!”
“Can you give us your autograph?”
After Jiang Fuyue nodded, she was immediately surrounded by the pretty ladies.
Fortunately, the entire business cabin had only her and Xie Dingyuan as passengers, so it didn’t disturb anyone else.
Signing autographs one by one and taking photos, Jiang Fuyue cooperated with a smile throughout.
One, two, three.
Click!
Finally, the ladies returned to their posts, continuing their work.
As professional as could be.
But once the curtain was drawn, the scene inside the service cabin was like this:
“Ahhh! Sister Yue’s handwritten autograph, I’m taking it home to enshrine it!”
“So Sister Yue is this beautiful in person, bare-faced and she completely slays all of us, okay? Waa!”
“Professor Xie is so considerate, I saw him cover Sister Yue with a blanket and even adjust the air vent.”
“And after he knew we wanted to ask Sister Yue for autographs, in order not to disturb her rest, he took the initiative and came over to explain and told us to wait until she woke up.”
“My god! Is this really the Professor Xie rumored to be aloof from women, uninterested in romance, with not even a female mosquito able to get close?”
“How can they be the same? How can my Sister Yue be mentioned in the same breath as a female mosquito? No way!”
“Who said professors don’t understand love? Come out, I guarantee I won’t beat him to death.”
“This trip was worth it!”
“I’ve been thoroughly sweetened!”
“I’m going to treasure this group photo as a family heirloom for a lifetime, sob sob…”
……
At 11 a.m. local NY time, the plane landed smoothly.
Two hours later, Jiang Fuyue and Xie Dingyuan checked into The Pierre Hotel on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
Tomorrow’s awards ceremony would be held here.
The organizers had reserved rooms for the two of them, the best floor, the best view.
Jiang Fuyue looked at the other room key card in Xie Dingyuan’s hand, puzzled: “Why do you have one too?”
Accompanying personnel needed to arrange their own food and lodging, this had been specially communicated by the organizers via phone before departure.
So Xie Dingyuan’s room should have been booked by himself.
The man pondered for a moment: “Maybe… I’m a bit special?”
Jiang Fuyue: “What’s special about you?”
“Good-looking.”
“……”
Their rooms were next to each other.
After each put away their luggage, Jiang Fuyue even took a shower, changed into clean clothes, then went next door to find Xie Dingyuan.
The man had also just finished showering; his hair was still wet.
Jiang Fuyue walked past him and swaggered into the room, first looking around, then walking to the floor-to-ceiling window. “Why do I feel like your room has a better view?”
“Does it?” Xie Dingyuan looked puzzled and walked up to stand beside her, gazing out the window. “Same floor, and two adjacent rooms, it should be about the same, right?”
Jiang Fuyue shook her head, her tone firm: “Not the same.”
“So?”
She lifted the corner of her eyes and suddenly leaned in close. A rich citrus fragrance rushed toward him, mixed with a hint of shower gel.
While the man was momentarily distracted, he saw the girl’s red lips part slightly, her words soft and fragrant: “How about… I move over and stay with you?”
That short sentence was like placing a small hook in the man’s heart.
“Y-you… what did you say?” Xie Dingyuan’s eyes were unfocused, his tone halting.
“I said,” Jiang Fuyue enunciated word by word, “move over and stay in the same room with you.”
“No!” The man suddenly stepped back, swallowing hard with difficulty.
“Why not?” She took a step forward, her beautiful peach-blossom eyes staring straight at him, seductive and teasing.
Xie Dingyuan turned his head away. “I promised the old man… two rooms.”
Even though he couldn’t see it, the scent lingered, impossible to dispel.
The man’s heart pounded like thunder, thump thump, as if a little deer were crashing wildly inside.
But Jiang Fuyue said, “We did book two rooms. You didn’t break your promise.”
Booking two rooms didn’t mean having to stay in two rooms.
Xie Dingyuan’s Adam’s apple rolled lightly. “…Still not okay.”
“What? You don’t want me to stay with you? Is it that I’m not fragrant enough, or not soft enough? Hm?”
With every question, Jiang Fuyue pressed one step closer, and the scent grew stronger by a degree.
That final “hm,” the pitch rising, alluring without her even realizing it.
“Say something.”
Xie Dingyuan: “…I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you want me to stay with you.”
The man’s jaw stiffened; he just wouldn’t speak.
Jiang Fuyue had no intention of letting him off. She drew closer and closer, until the two of them were practically pressed together.
She could feel the man’s scorching breath and the rise and fall of his chest.
So he wasn’t that unmoved after all…
Then why wouldn’t he relent?
“Xie Dingyuan, turn your head and look at me.” A near-commanding tone.
The man stiffened his neck and refused to move.
Jiang Fuyue simply reached out, gripped his jaw, and forcibly turned his face toward her.
Their eyes met. She smiled with a hint of seduction, while he avoided it in panic.
As if a second later, he would be devoured whole by a man-eating demon.
“Xie Dingyuan, you really look like a little wife like this. Then what am I? A big rogue? An old bully?”
As she said this, Jiang Fuyue amused herself and laughed.
A hibiscus face, dimples like flowers, spring bloomed in an instant. No matter how he avoided or dodged, he was still ensnared by such beauty, his soul hooked away.
Seizing the moment when the man lost focus, Jiang Fuyue simply looped her arms around his neck, pulled him down, then tilted her head up and kissed him.
This kiss was entirely led by Jiang Fuyue.
Xie Dingyuan passively accepted it.
She was like a patient old hunter, calmly circling with her prey.
She cast the bait, hooked him, yet didn’t fully give him what he wanted.
Teasingly dangling it just out of reach, advancing by retreating, luring him on.
The man didn’t react in time and actually let himself be led by the nose.
When it ended, Jiang Fuyue smacked her lips, like a dashing libertine: “Now let’s see how you dodge.”
Meanwhile, Xie Dingyuan’s cheeks were burning red, his expression dazed.
“Did the kiss make you stupid?” Jiang Fuyue extended one finger and tapped the bridge of his nose.
Light and soft, like a feather brushing past.
The man’s whole body felt as if electricity had surged through it, stiff, trembling.
She smiled gently and asked him, “So, do you agree to let me move over now?”
Xie Dingyuan couldn’t speak at all.
“Fine. If you don’t agree, then I’ll keep kissing you!”
The man jolted in fright and suddenly snapped back to his senses. “Mmm!” The “okay” that was about to come out was blocked, disappearing between their lips and teeth.
She’d already said she would keep kissing him, how could he not believe it?
Xie Dingyuan’s mind went blank, as if he’d fallen into a boundless beautiful dream.
No one knew how long passed before Jiang Fuyue finally pulled away, narrowing her peach-blossom eyes at him and asking, “What about now?”
Xie Dingyuan seized the chance to break free, retreating as if avoiding something dangerous.
Jiang Fuyue: “?”
“C-can’t stay in the same room. I promised the old man.” Back and forth, it was still the same line.
“Anyway, they don’t know. I promise no one will say anything, ”
The man still shook his head, stubbornly adorable. “It’s not about whether people say it or not. If you’ve promised something, you should do it.”
Jiang Fuyue’s eyes narrowed slightly as she stepped closer. “You really dislike me that much?”
“Of course not!” He cherished her too much, how could he possibly dislike her?
“Then why won’t you let me move over?”
“…I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold back.” He didn’t dare look at Jiang Fuyue, and his voice was very small.
The girl’s smile widened. She darted forward two steps and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Because the momentum was too strong, Xie Dingyuan lost his balance and staggered back two steps, falling onto the bed.
Jiang Fuyue followed him down, but she landed sprawled across his chest.
Their gazes met, and time seemed to stop flowing.
Ambiguity quietly fermented, giving off a trace of sticky sweetness.
Jiang Fuyue lowered her head to his ear. “Then don’t hold back.”
It was teasing, it was instigation, and even more so, a fatal temptation.
Xie Dingyuan’s breathing shifted several times, from rapid, to forcibly calm, to barely controllable, before finally returning to steadiness.
What kind of struggle and torment he went through inside during that time, probably only he himself knew.
“Y-you…” His Adam’s apple rolled lightly, his voice rough and hoarse. “Get up first.”
“Don’t want to.”
“Yueyue…” He forced himself to endure, yet had no way to deal with her.
“Then first agree to let me stay with you.”
The man gave a bitter smile. “You know perfectly well I won’t.”
“I don’t know!”
“Yueyue…”
Every time he called her like this, Jiang Fuyue couldn’t help but feel her heartstrings tremble.
“Dummy!”
In the end, she still couldn’t persuade this block of wood. With resignation, she climbed up, casually smoothing her hair.
Xie Dingyuan also sat up and helped her straighten her collar and cuffs.
“Stop fooling around. Tomorrow’s the award ceremony. Get a good rest and store up your energy, guarantee you’ll stun the whole audience.”
“I don’t need to stun the whole audience. It’s enough to stun you.”
“Beautiful people and things can’t be kept to oneself. Only by sharing and appreciating them together does such beauty become more meaningful.”
“Is that so?” Jiang Fuyue turned her head and kissed him once. “This has to be shared too?”
The man’s face instantly darkened. “That’s not necessary.”
“What about sharing and appreciating together, then?”
“Ahem…” He played dumb, tilting his head up to stare at the ceiling. Anyone who didn’t know better would think flowers were growing up there.
Xie Dingyuan got up and walked her to the door.
Jiang Fuyue clung to the doorframe and asked one last time: “Really not staying together?”
He shook his head in refusal.
The two lingered for a bit longer. In the end, Jiang Fuyue still didn’t get her way.
No matter how she kissed him, Xie Dingyuan just wouldn’t relent.
That was some airtight defense!
“Forget it,” Jiang Fuyue drooped her face. “As if I care that much… I’m going back to my room.”
Little did she know, the moment she turned around, the man smacked his lips, a flash of regret quickly passing through his eyes.
Why did she give up?
She should’ve persisted a bit longer…
On September 23, the Lasker Awards ceremony officially began.
There were 150 invited guests attending the ceremony, including more than 40 Nobel laureates and Lasker Award recipients, as well as world-renowned experts and scholars in the international medical community.
This year’s Clinical Medical Award was given to a retired professor from the multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, Dr. John Baird Glen, for his achievements in genetics and anesthetic drug development.
The Public Service Award was bestowed upon Doctors Without Borders.
The Special Contribution Award was won by five research scholars from Rockefeller University, for their team’s tremendous achievements in repairing misfolded protein cellular systems, deep brain stimulation targeting Parkinson’s disease, and breast cancer genes.
Aside from Doctors Without Borders, the large organization mentioned above, all the other award recipients were citizens of Country M!
Originally, the Lasker Award was a medical prize of Country M, and judging from past selections, it was clearly more inclined to be awarded to Country M nationals.
This was also an important reason why people from Huaxia rarely won this award.
But next, convention was destined to be broken,
When the three Chinese characters “Jiang Fuyue” appeared on the screen, “Qiming University” followed in parentheses, and behind her was a bright Huaxia national flag.
“Congratulations to Jiang Fuyue from Huaxia!”
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