Chapter 3434: Like a Thorn in the Back

Ye Chen had no idea he had already been exposed.

He didn't have time to wait for Tawana's performance to end, so after greeting her manager, he left early with Gu Qiuyi.

On the way to the airport by car, Ye Chen told Gu Qiuyi: "Nannan, you finally got a chance to rest for a while, and these past few days you've been running around with Tawana for four shows. For the coming days, don't go running around—just stay home and keep good company with Uncle Gu and Aunt Lin."

Gu Qiuyi asked him with a smile: "Ye Chen gege, I see you're afraid I'll run to another of Tawana's shows and be her guest again, right?"

Tawana has a total of twenty shows in Huaxia, and so far she's only completed eight, with twelve left.

Since Ye Chen has already taken on the so-called title of Feng Shui Supervisor, he certainly has to take full responsibility for all these shows from start to finish.

Gu Qiuyi naturally wants to collaborate with Tawana again.

The next stop is Hu Cheng, and I can fly over there to be her guest dongdang, and also spend a few more days with Ye Chen.

I never expected Ye Chen to tell me to stay home and keep my parents company—this seems to mean he doesn't want me to be with him anymore.

Seeing his thoughts exposed, Ye Chen felt a little embarrassed.

But he only explained: "I'm not afraid you'll come along—I'm afraid that if you do, Tawana will want to do some collaboration again, and she'll suddenly start hugging and kissing on stage—who could stand that?"

Gu Qiuyi's eyes crinkled with laughter—clearly, Tawana's enthusiastic throwing herself into his arms doesn't appeal to Ye Chen.

Come to think of it, in terms of looks, Tawana certainly isn't a top-tier Western beauty; compared to the Northern European Queen Helena, she falls far short.

Gu Qiuyi knows the Northern European Queen has long harbored feelings for Ye Chen too, and she has always kept herself pure, with no dating history or scandals—so if even she can't move Ye Chen's heart, what chance does Tawana, a woman who's long been immersed in the entertainment industry, have?

When Ye Chen arrived at the airport, Chen Zekai was already there.

He had arranged a helicopter from the aviation company, and after Ye Chen left, he would send Gu Qiuyi back.

Seeing Ye Chen, Chen Zekai said somewhat sheepishly: "Young Master, you notified us too late—there are no first-class tickets left on this flight. Would you like me to coordinate with the crew to prepare for takeoff, and use the Ye family's plane to send you back?"

"No need," Ye Chen waved his hand: "I'm alone, and the two-hour journey will pass quickly—economy class is perfectly fine."

After saying that, Ye Chen instructed Chen Zekai: "Make sure Nannan gets home safely."

"Young Master, rest assured," Chen Zekai said: "The helicopter is ready, the flight route has been approved, and we'll fly directly to the Jin Di Building near Miss Gu's home—we have a car to take Miss Gu home."

Ye Chen nodded, then said goodbye to Gu Qiuyi: "Nannan, I'm going in first—when you arrive, send me a message."

Gu Qiuyi felt a bit reluctant, but since Chen Zekai was here, she didn't want to be too intimate, so she took his hand and said: "Ye Chen gege, when will you come back to Yanjing to see me?"

Ye Chen said: "I already promised you—I'll come to Yanjing to see your final concert."

Gu Qiuyi coquettishly said: "That'll be a long wait—still over a month after the New Year."

Ye Chen smiled: "In the meantime, we'll just see how things go—I can't promise you anything right now."

Gu Qiuyi sighed helplessly and could only nod: "Then I'll wait for your news."

……

Ye Chen bade farewell to the two, chose a window seat during check-in, then went through security and headed straight to the boarding gate.

Because time was tight, by the time he reached the boarding gate, the flight had already begun boarding.

Ye Chen followed the crowd onto the plane, sat down, then pulled out his phone and sent a WeChat to Xiao Churan: "Wife, I've already boarded—the plane will take off in twenty minutes."

Xiao Churan replied: "Want me to drive to the airport to pick you up? You won't land until the early hours."

Ye Chen laughed: "No problem, no need to trouble yourself—I'll just take a taxi back."

After sending that, he added: "By the way, wife, you don't need to wait for me—get some rest early."

Xiao Churan said: "Knowing you're coming back, how could I possibly sleep? I'll be waiting for you at home."

Ye Chen felt moved and said: "Then as soon as I get off the plane, I'll hurry back!"

The plane soon finished its preparations and began to push back.

The night airport wasn't that busy—the plane even took off five minutes earlier than scheduled.

On the plane, Ye Chen was bored, his phone had no signal, so he idly fiddled with it in his hands.

It was then he noticed he had a missed call from Xiao Churan.

And the call came in just a few minutes before that previous call was connected.

Ye Chen mentally replayed the timeline and suddenly realized: when Xiao Churan made that first call, he should have been on stage dancing with Gu Qiuyi and Tawana.

Only when he was on stage did he not have his phone—otherwise, he wouldn't have missed her call.

Thinking this, Ye Chen didn't think much of it.

But at the exact moment he locked his phone screen, he caught a glimpse: the girl beside him was using her phone to browse a pre-cached short-video site.

She must have cached many videos while there was still signal before takeoff, to pass the time on the flight, so she kept scrolling nonstop.

Coincidentally, she scrolled to a video of Tawana's live performance, filmed by an audience member.

The video was playing the very song Ye Chen had danced to on stage—"The Assassin."

At that moment, the big screen beside the stage happened to give a close-up of Ye Chen dancing with his sword—every movement, every detail on his body, was magnified and displayed with crystal clarity to the audience.

Ye Chen suddenly realized a serious problem.

Although he never showed his face the whole time, if someone who knew him well saw him, even with his face covered, they would surely recognize him by his build and habits.

So...

Could Xiao Churan possibly recognize me too?!

Combining the timing of Xiao Churan's first call to him, Ye Chen suddenly felt a cold sweat break out.

Xiao Churan really likes Tawana, so normally, during Tawana's performances, if she's not busy, she'll definitely watch the audience's live stream on her phone.

And since she's watching the live stream, it's unlikely she'd be distracted enough to call me during the show.

But if she recognized me from the performance video—or even suspected it was me—

then this call came at exactly the right moment.

Even if I had great abilities, I couldn't be in two places at once.

If I were on stage performing, the call would inevitably not go through.

Xiao Churan calling at this moment—her intention absolutely wasn't to find me; it was definitely to test whether the call could actually get through!

Ye Chen instantly felt a chill run down his spine.

If it were just a simple dance with Tawana and Gu Qiuyi, even if Xiao Churan knew, it wouldn't matter, after all, she knows I have some skill.

The problem is, Tawana has had close contact with me in four consecutive performances, and even made it to the hot search list.

If Xiao Churan asks, how should I answer?