My crush wants to be my sugar daddy.

Chapter 214 IF Path - I'm Chasing Chi Yuan

Chi Yuan slowly lowered his hand, trying to naturally grasp Jiang Haochen's hand, but after just one attempt, he knew it was impossible.

He grabbed his brother's forearm, not his wrist. Trying to naturally pretend to slip his hand and hold his brother's hand would be too deliberate.

A hint of regret flashed in Chi Yuan's eyes.

Next time, I must make sure I get it right next time.

Thinking this, Chi Yuan was about to let go and wait for the next opportunity, but as soon as he let go, his hand was suddenly grabbed again.

His brother took his hand.

Chi Yuan's heart skipped a beat. He looked at his hand, which was being held tightly, and then at his brother.

How could his brother...?

"You're holding me so tightly, it's hard for me to walk." Jiang Haochen held his brother's hand, squeezed it quietly for a moment, and then quickly let go.

"Oh." Chi Yuan was stunned for a moment before realizing that he had been too nervous and had actually used his right hand to pull his brother's right hand, causing his brother to be pulled away backwards. "I...I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Although I was pulled a few steps, I managed to hold hands with him.

"The convenience store is over there." Although it was a little awkward, they had finally held hands.

The two brothers went to the convenience store with great satisfaction. Since it was just for sunshade, Chi Yuan didn't pick much and just grabbed a black baseball cap to pay for.

"Boss, check please."

Just then, an elderly man with gray hair walked in from outside the convenience store. He happened to hear Chi Yuan's voice and thought it sounded familiar, so he casually glanced at Chi Yuan.

"Ike-kun?"

Hearing someone call his name, Chi Yuan turned around, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes: "Professor Xue!"

Professor Xue was initially hesitant to recognize him, but upon seeing that it was indeed Chi Yuan, his face lit up with surprise and delight: "Chi Yuan, it really is you! Perfect timing, I have something to ask you."

Professor Xue, who was overjoyed just a moment ago, suddenly stopped smiling and asked somewhat angrily, "I just heard a few days ago that you turned down the guaranteed admission offer from Tsinghua and Peking Universities? What happened? You're not planning to study physics anymore?"

Jiang Haochen, who had been standing to the side watching, looked at Chi Yuan with surprise upon hearing this.

Chi Yuan: "No."

Professor Xue: "Then why did you refuse the guaranteed admission? If you weren't planning to study physics, did you want to go to another school? Which school do you want to go to, abroad? I'm not trying to be mean, but while foreign countries are very advanced in some areas, many laboratories don't allow Chinese people in..."

Chi Yuan and Professor Xue met at a physics winter camp, a program organized by prestigious universities for physics competition students, open only to top physics students from across the country. Professor Xue was one of the camp's instructors, specializing in quantum physics.

Chi Yuan listened to Professor Xue's rambling, both amused and exasperated, before quickly explaining, "No, you misunderstood. I didn't plan to go abroad; I just wanted to get in through the entrance exam."

Professor Xue looked at him suspiciously: "I've already guaranteed your admission, why are you still taking the exam?"

Chi Yuan: "I want to experience the college entrance examination."

Professor Xue: "Even if you accept the guaranteed admission, you can still take the college entrance examination."

Chi Yuan: "That's different."

Schools that offer guaranteed admission do not provide bonuses.

But such worldly desires should not be brought up to offend the old professor's ears.

Professor Xue didn't press the matter further. With Chi Yuan's grades, as long as he didn't underperform, he would be able to get in. But the old professor was still worried: "Are you sure you want to apply to the Physics Department of Tsinghua or Peking University?"

The difference between the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) and direct admission lies here. If he were directly admitted, Chi Yuan would only be a student in the physics department of Tsinghua or Peking University. If he were admitted through the Gaokao, Chi Yuan could choose freely.

Professor Xue was worried, thinking about the scenes of top universities vying for students after the college entrance examination scores are released every year.

In particular, Chi Yuan kept stammering and wouldn't give him a definite answer.

"Come on, come on, I'll show you around the lab." With that, Professor Xue forgot why he had come to the convenience store in the first place and grabbed Chi Yuan, trying to pull him out.

Chi Yuan wanted to struggle, but was afraid of hitting the old professor with too much force, so he could only ask his brother for help.

Jiang Haochen didn't stop him, he just nodded.

"Do you still want the hat?" The shop assistant was a student working part-time at the school. He hadn't dared to interrupt Professor Xue and Chi Yuan's conversation, afraid of hindering Professor Xue's recruitment efforts. Now that they were about to leave, he remembered his job.

Professor Xue didn't hear him at all and dragged Chi Yuan out the door.

"At your age, you're still quite strong." Just as the student was about to put the hat back, a pleasant voice suddenly rang out above him.

"How much is the hat?"

The student looked up, then froze: "Jiang...Jiang, the movie star?"

Jiang Haochen smiled and asked again, "How much is the hat?"

Student: "Fifty-nine."

Jiang Haochen paid, took the hat, and turned to leave the convenience store.

The student exclaimed in surprise, excitedly took out his phone to log in to the school's intranet, and was about to post when Jiang Haochen suddenly came back.

"Excuse me, I wanted to ask..."

The student was so startled that he dropped his phone on the counter. Jiang Haochen looked down and saw a message that was still unfinished: "Holy crap, I saw Jiang Haochen..."

The student awkwardly flipped his phone over and gave Jiang Haochen a guilty smile.

Jiang Haochen wasn't angry, but continued to ask, "I'd like to ask, where might that professor have taken my child?"

In the short time it took to pay the bill, he was a beat late in going out and couldn't see his brother and Professor Xue anymore.

The student quickly replied, "Professor Xue's laboratory is on the sixth floor of the building behind."

Jiang Haochen: "Okay, thank you."

Jiang Haochen thanked him and left again.

After waiting a while and confirming that Jiang Haochen wouldn't be returning, the student picked up their phone again and continued editing the post:

[Holy crap, I saw Jiang Haochen! He was visiting the school with his kid. His kid seems pretty capable; he was just taken away by one of our school's senior professors and is currently in one of the teaching buildings—I won't reveal which one. Whether you run into him depends on your luck.]

Jiang Haochen came out of the convenience store, had a clear address, turned the corner, and sure enough, saw a path leading to the teaching building. After walking for a while, he saw a small door.

Jiang Haochen went up to the sixth floor and heard Chi Yuan's voice.

"Professor Xue, I came here with my brother today..."

As she spoke, she looked towards the access control and saw Jiang Haochen coming out of the elevator through the door.

"Brother," Chi Yuan called out.

Professor Xue was a master at dealing with parents. He glanced at Jiang Haochen and thought, "Hmm, I don't know him."

He opened the door and let Jiang Haochen in: "Are you his brother?"

Jiang Haochen nodded: "Hello, Professor."

Professor Xue: "I'd like to show Chi around the lab. Could you wait outside for a bit?"

Jiang Haochen naturally had no objection: "Okay."

Since Jiang Haochen had agreed, Chi Yuan naturally had no objections and followed Professor Xue into the laboratory.

Jiang Haochen watched Chi Yuan through the window.

At first, Chi Yuan would occasionally look out the window to make sure his brother was there, but gradually, he became completely absorbed in physics experiments.

Looking at Chi Yuan like this, Jiang Haochen realized for the first time how outstanding his brother was.

He had always known that Chi Yuan had excellent grades, but he didn't know that Chi Yuan's grades were so good that even physics professors from Tsinghua and Peking Universities would personally try to recruit him. He had overheard the conversation in the convenience store earlier; Professor Xue was clearly worried that Chi Yuan would change his mind and not come to Tsinghua or Peking University.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Jiang Haochen's phone suddenly rang. It was Xu Mo. Afraid of disturbing the people inside doing their experiments, he hung up and sent a WeChat message instead.

Jiang Haochen: {I'm not available to answer the phone. Can we talk on WeChat?}

Xu Mo: {Are you at Tsinghua or Peking University?}

Jiang Haochen was about to ask how you knew, but then he remembered the half-finished post in the convenience store and understood: {Yes.}

Xu Mo: {I originally wanted to ask if you were surrounded, but since you can still send WeChat messages, the situation seems relatively optimistic. Should I come pick you up?}

Jiang Haochen glanced at the locked access control: {No need.}

Xu Mo: {That's good. But why did you go to Tsinghua and Peking University with Chi Yuan? Shouldn't you be chasing someone right now?}

Jiang Haochen stared at the WeChat message for a while, then glanced at Chi Yuan in the laboratory.

He replied: {He's pursuing someone.}

Xu Mo: {Are you pursuing someone? Xie Lingzhou is there too? But the leaked photos only show you and Chi Yuan.}

After it was confirmed that Jiang Haochen was at Tsinghua and Peking Universities, photos of them passing through various corners of the campus suddenly resurfaced and were now circulating wildly on social media. If Xie Lingzhou had been there too, the trending topic would have been "Jiang Haochen suspected of dating" instead of "Jiang Haochen accompanying his family to visit Tsinghua and Peking Universities."

Jiang Haochen: {Xie Lingzhou is not here.}

Xu Mo: {Xie Lingzhou isn't here, so who are you going to chase?}

Jiang Haochen stared at WeChat without replying, and sure enough, a series of messages came in a moment later.

{No way?}

Are you crazy?!

{You...you...are you a beast?}

{You don't actually like Chi Yuan, do you?}

How old is he?!

Jiang Haochen only replied with the second-to-last sentence: {I like it.}

Xu Mo: {!!}

Xu Mo: {Are you serious?}

Jiang Haochen: {Hmm.}

Xu Mo: {Think about it again.}

Jiang Haochen: {I've thought about this for a long time. Xu Mo, I like Chi Yuan, and only him.}

Xu Mo: {……}

Xu Mo: {I'll go and make a contingency plan.}