As netizens chatted, their thoughts began to wander wildly. Xiao He, realizing his secret identity was on the verge of being exposed, carefully scrolled to the very bottom of the comments linking him to "Teacher Xiao Hei," burying them beneath the general comments from the public.

After confirming that no one else was discussing it, Xiao He breathed a long sigh of relief.

He just couldn't think of a name, so he casually picked a generic name like "Xiao Bai."

How could this even be linked together?

There is no way around it; are this generation of netizens really this sharp?

Xiao He certainly didn't want his cover blown at this moment.

That would really just be adding chaos to his already busy schedule.

However, despite that, Xiao He still had a headache facing the netizens' wandering focus.

He really, really just did it to disgust others!

He really didn't expect it to turn out like this.

And for those saying to send it to competitions for awards, are you serious?

"Huh, it seems like there really is an AI special category this year! Brother Xiao!"

Meanwhile, Xiao Chen had already proactively helped Xiao He investigate the corresponding information.

"Cannes has this kind of award this year, but it isn't considered an official award; it only has quotas and titles. It looks like they are still in the testing phase."

If he could catch their first edition of award winners, wouldn't that mean going down in history?

Xiao He shook his head directly: "Forget it, forget it, I have no intention of using it to enter the competition."

Moreover, the main purpose of this animation was to satirize the Yun Family and expose some bad practices of the past. It had already sparked a great deal of argument and discussion domestically; if it were taken to a global competition, he feared it would only let more people see and watch the internal crusade within China.

Xiao He felt there was absolutely no need for that.

To put it bluntly, if he really won an award in the AI field and let the film "echoing others" remain in history books, wouldn't that be helping the Yun Family gain fame overseas as well?

Xiao He did not want that to happen.

Such a scandal, such a family, should be drowned by the people's spit and then completely disappear into the vast sea of stories.

Liu Rulan was also interested in the possibility of winning an award, but she knew it probably wouldn't work this time: "There is no time left; they are about to give out the awards. Sending the work over now would only mean waiting until next year."

"Hey, hey, don't skip over me to discuss this topic!" Xiao He reiterated, "I really don't plan to enter it for an award."

"Alright, we know."

Liu Rulan helplessly glared at Xiao He, and just then, Song Yuanqi's call came through.

She signaled for Xiao He to turn down the volume of the projection TV and walked to the other side to answer the phone.

Xiao He guessed that Song Yuanqi was looking for Liu Rulan to discuss future plans, but he didn't expect that shortly after Liu Rulan walked to the side, she suddenly exclaimed: "Several people from the Yun Family were taken away?"

"When did this happen?"

This sentence instantly piqued everyone's interest. In the blink of an eye, Xiao He and Xiao Chen had already moved to Liu Rulan's side, pricking up their ears to listen.

It turned out that Song Yuanqi had come this time mainly to share good news.

Because of the viral success of "echoing others," many netizens' attention had focused here, and subsequently, those hidden matters were gradually dug up.

So, taking advantage of this opportunity, the Police logically invited the Yun Family members to go have tea.

Actually, in this situation, as long as one is upright and has nothing to hide, the Police wouldn't arrest people just because of this level of public opinion. Otherwise, if any random news were exposed and the public made a fuss, wouldn't everything be in chaos?

But it just so happened that the people the Police were investigating were the Yun Family.

And even more coincidentally, the Yun Family already had problems and couldn't stand up to investigation.

How could this not be considered a perfect "encounter" for both sides?

Anyway, the ones crying wouldn't be them. When Song Yuanqi learned about this, he was {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} all smiles.

"That's great. We need to speed up. I'm going to find Director Qiu. Have you arrived in Shanghai? Come to the XX Hotel immediately, let's meet."

"Okay, okay."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Rulan couldn't be bothered to talk to Xiao He and the others about the work entering the competition. Instead, she briskly packed up her files, ready to leave. "I have to go. I've been too busy lately, and I don't have time to arrange your upcoming work. You'll have to figure it out yourself—"

Then, without waiting for Xiao He's reply, she dashed out in a rush.

Xiao He:...

Xiao He sighed and held his forehead: "What do you mean I should figure it out myself—"

Originally, the entire months of April and May were for filming "the imperial cause." Now that he was forced to clock out, what else did he have to do? 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

This was truly a huge disrespect to a competitive king.

But the "the imperial cause" Film Crew had already ground to a halt; where else could he find work to do?

"Sigh—"

Just as Xiao He was sighing, he suddenly received another call from Elder Qian.

"Hello, Xiao Xiao! This time, it really is all thanks to you!"

As soon as the call connected, Elder Qian's voice came through, filled with irrepressible joy: "The Restoration Center has the investigation results, and Qian Wenhao's suspicions have been completely cleared!"

Xiao He was stunned for only a second before immediately reacting: "Qian Wenhao has already come out? That's great! About when? I'll go with you to pick him up!"

"Good, good, good."

Elder Qian seemed to be calling everyone one by one to share the good news. After happily agreeing to Xiao He's words, he hung up after just a few sentences.

Xiao He couldn't help but smile.

It seemed that everything was developing in a positive direction.

In fact, Qian Wenhao being detained by the Police was, in a way, a form of protection for him.

And now that the protection was withdrawn, it proved that Qian Wenhao was no longer in danger.

How could this not make the Qian family happy?

Xiao He didn't hesitate either; he packed his things and set off immediately.

...

As expected of a major family in Beijing, there were many people on the scene to pick up Qian Wenhao, though most of them were Qian family members themselves. Xiao He also saw Qian Wenhao's parents, while he, an outsider with almost zero presence, stood at the outermost position, watching inside along with the others.

Qian Wenhao's parents looked like high-level intellectuals. He heard that during this investigation of Qian Wenhao, besides Elder Qian pulling strings, his father had also been helping by making connections, asking people to take care of Qian Wenhao a little so that this kid wouldn't suffer too much.

But even so, when Qian Wenhao came out, it still gave Xiao He a big shock.

Even though Qian Wenhao had only stayed inside for a few days, when he came out, it was as if all his energy and spirit had been drained away. His originally upright figure was noticeably thinner, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, sunken cheeks, and a complexion so pale it was almost transparent. His lips were dry and chapped, lacking even a fraction of his usual vitality.

What was even more worrying was that his eyes had become dull and lifeless, carrying a lingering exhaustion and listlessness, as if that resilience and stubbornness belonging to a young man had completely disappeared without anyone knowing. He was like a different person from the hot-blooded youth who could argue with Elder Qian at the Art Center; his former liveliness was gone, leaving only an undisguisable, desolate shell.

Xiao He couldn't believe it.

It hasn't been long since they last met, right? How did he become like this?!