After the wedding, the research institute granted Tang Xiao and Jun Tesi a vacation, treating it as a honeymoon. The two of them traveled the world together, revisiting the route they had taken when they eloped. With different experiences and emotions this time, they eventually returned to the villa near the Third Eye Base.
Perhaps because they had been busy for too long, suddenly having free time left Tang Xiao feeling a bit restless. In the end, he found himself turning back to gaming.
Speaking of games, he naturally thought of his gaming account. Ever since he impulsively agreed to livestream on XX station that one time, he hadn’t logged in again. He also hadn’t paid any attention to the news that had blown up during the Nobel Prize banquet. At the time, they were busy with the wedding, and afterward, the whole matter was completely forgotten.
Now, he finally remembered his XX station account and, after some hesitation, logged in.
As soon as he started the live stream, only a handful of viewers browsing XX station wandered in.
[Missing person returns!]
[The Nobel Prize winner is here! We thought you wouldn’t come back!]
“Why would I…” Tang Xiao chuckled awkwardly. Looking more closely, he realized his follower count had skyrocketed from tens of thousands to over a million, likely due to the Nobel Prize livestream.
For the record, Tang Xiao had disabled the donation feature a long time ago.
[Will the streamer continue streaming?]
[Streamer, streamer, are you really the Nobel Prize winner?]
[Who was that man?! Why were you kissing?!]
[How can I be as amazing as Dr. Tang? Oh my god, a Nobel Prize winner in his twenties… Am I just an NPC in this world…]
The chat was flooded with all sorts of questions. Truthfully, Tang Xiao hadn’t planned anything specific for this stream, but seeing the barrage of messages, he got an idea. “Well… since I have nothing better to do, I’ll pick a few questions to answer. But before that, let’s wait for more people to join. In the meantime, let’s check out what games are trending.”
[Yes! A gaming stream!]
[Wow, an actual game stream in the gaming section.]
[Unbelievable, a Nobel Prize winner plays video games.]
[To be fair, the combination of a Nobel Prize and gaming is already pure entertainment.]
[Why are people acting like he’s not human? Hahaha, he’s just a guy in his twenties. What’s wrong with playing games?]
Tang Xiao watched the chat bicker and casually checked the game rankings. To his surprise, everything had changed—he didn’t recognize a single cover.
He randomly opened the top-ranked shooting game and started playing while waiting for more questions to come in.
After streaming for a while, the viewer count suddenly surged at a certain point—most of them had just discovered that Tang Xiao was live and rushed in.
[Missing person returns!]
[Is this real? The actual person? Or is someone else using his account?]
Tang Xiao glanced at the chat, thought for a moment, and turned on part of his webcam. “It’s really me.”
The chat instantly exploded.
[The real Nobel Prize winner is streaming for us (mind blown)]
[And playing video games? You really live long enough to see everything.]
[Dr. Tang is always right!]
[Dr. Tang! There are enough people here now—can you answer our questions? Is he really your lover?]
After the Nobel Prize livestream, the internet was abuzz with discussions about Tang Xiao and his mysterious partner. Not just in one country—his name was trending worldwide, even making it into foreign newspapers. Yet strangely, no one could dig up any information on Jun Tesi’s true identity.
Some people speculated that Tang Xiao’s lover might be from another world, which would explain why he had been so determined to save it.
These kinds of gossip topics were always a favorite among netizens. While most people didn’t understand Tang Xiao’s research or contributions, they were more than happy to consume celebrity romance drama.
And a love story about saving the world for someone? That was inherently romantic.
Now, one of the main subjects of the gossip finally revealed the truth.
“Yes, the person I kissed at the Nobel Prize banquet is my lover,” Tang Xiao said, lips curving into a smile. “Who else could it possibly be?”
[I’m swooning.]
[Mom, my CP got married while I wasn’t looking!]
[So the rumors were true?! Is he really from another world? Was your research all for saving your lover’s world?]
[But even that world’s netizens said they couldn’t find anything about him.]
[Think, you idiot! That world’s population records were only just restored—it’s still a mess. There’s no way they could track people as precisely as we can.]
The moment Tang Xiao admitted it, the chat exploded, flooded with countless questions—mostly about Jun Tesi’s identity and their love story.
“Indeed, he is from another world. My research… well, yes, it played a part, but the main reason was still a sense of responsibility and mission,” Tang Xiao said with a slight smile. “As for his specific identity, I won’t be answering that. He’s not in our professional circle, and he doesn’t really want to be disturbed.”
[Alright, alright, it really was research for love. Never thought those marketing accounts would actually get something right one day.]
[No, he literally just said it was about responsibility and mission.]
[LMAO, I bet the marketing accounts will clip just the last part. I can already predict what I'll see trending tomorrow.]
[The most touching love story of the 21st century—A 24-year-old Nobel Prize winner did all this for his beloved!]
[Laughing but also kinda moved. So Dr. Tang focused on that world because his lover was there.]
[It all connects now! No wonder Dr. Tang’s research spanned two worlds, and he even spent more time in that one. Turns out, it was all for love!]
Emmmmm… Tang Xiao looked at the chat and found himself unable to refute it. Honestly? If he really thought about it, they weren’t entirely wrong.
After all, from start to finish, his research focus had always revolved around Jun Tesi.
[Forget love—what I want to know is, will Dr. Tang continue streaming in the future?]
“I won’t be streaming often, maybe just occasionally. Like right now, since I’m on vacation, I might do some casual gaming streams to relax.”
[Knew it…]
[Yeah, that’s understandable. Dr. Tang’s work is far more important and meaningful.]
[What about paper reviews? Will you do those? Please, Dr. Tang!]
[Yeah, yeah! Do we have the honor?]
“I’ll pass on that,” Tang Xiao said after thinking for a moment. He didn’t mind reviewing papers, but considering his current influence, even an offhand comment about disliking a certain direction in biology or endorsing a specific research paper could cause waves, even affecting the judgments of university professors.
“But I can pick a few research-related questions to answer while playing games—of course, only the ones I can reasonably respond to. You can send them via private message or post them in the chat.”
[Ahhhhh, this is already amazing! A Nobel Prize winner personally answering my questions! QwQ]
[I can’t wait! When will you finish the game?!]
[Bruh, what are you guys even here for?!]
[To learn! (serious face, notebook open)]
Tang Xiao wasn’t sure what they were here for either.
He continued playing. The shooting game he had picked was one of the few competitive FPS games that had remained popular for a long time, despite not being fully immersive. The secret to its success lay in its highly realistic physics engine. After taking a few shots to get used to it, Tang Xiao quickly entered god mode—slaughtering everything in sight.
At first, there were just casual viewers who had stopped by out of curiosity to see a Nobel Prize winner play games. However, after witnessing Tang Xiao’s professional-level skills, many decided to stay.
[Wait… this feels familiar. Suddenly, I remember why I followed this streamer in the first place.]
[Your old friend, the strongest gamer in the research community, is back online.]
[Almost forgot—Dr. Tang nearly became a pro game streamer back in the day.]
[This is exactly the vibe—cracked gaming skills while casually answering chat questions. Absolute king behavior. Feels so satisfying.]
[No one’s talking about this, but… so everything he said before was actually true? He really did join a major project.]
[Yeah, I bet the people who doubted him back then are dead silent now.]
It made for great entertainment value. But soon, Tang Xiao noticed something odd—his chat had become flooded with an increasing number of research-related questions. At first, they were standard undergraduate or graduate-level queries, but before he knew it, the chat was filled with bizarrely advanced commercial inquiries about the future of gene editing, its applications, and even questions so technical that Tang Xiao could immediately tell they came from industry professionals.
He was supposed to be on vacation, not hosting an online academic conference!
While Tang Xiao was feeling helpless, the chat erupted in laughter at the sheer number of official-looking accounts spamming his stream.
[What’s going on? So many corporate accounts using their official handles here, lmao.]
[It’s not personal use—this is legitimate business. Do you know how rare it is to get a chance to ask Dr. Tang questions for free? (serious face)]
[Exactly! And it’s not like money can buy his time anyway. Mainly, Dr. Tang doesn’t care about us at all qwq]
[Dr. Tang! Dr. Tang! Please check your DMs!]
[Dr. Tang, are you interested in a technology consultant position with stock dividends?]
Without even looking, Tang Xiao knew his inbox was already overflowing.
He had underestimated his current influence. As one of the hottest figures in the biology field, his words had become an industry barometer—one comment from him could tank a biotech company’s stock or send gene-editing stocks skyrocketing.
He hadn’t realized it before since he had always been working within the joint research institute, where no one dared disturb him.
He had also never made his personal contact information public. But now that he was streaming, they had swarmed in like vultures.
A few unsuspecting viewers, unaware of the situation, were dumbfounded when they saw all the verified corporate accounts in the chat.
[What the hell is happening? Do biotech companies advertise in gaming streams now?]
[Uh… look at the streamer’s name?]
[Holy sh*t, this is Dr. Tang Xiao’s stream? Oh, never mind then.]
[This is what you call status, folks. (leans back tactically) CEOs, why don’t you throw out some job offers while you’re here?]
[Guys, chill! You’re spamming too much—Dr. Tang doesn’t even know how to respond.]
Indeed, Tang Xiao regretted his offhand comment about answering questions. Serious academic questions were fine, but large-scale or commercial inquiries were a bit too sensitive. Just as he was contemplating how to handle it, a flood of unfamiliar accounts suddenly joined his stream, pushing all the technical questions away—and replacing them with a barrage of romance-related topics.
[When did Dr. Tang first fall for that person?]
[When was the first time Dr. Tang's heart was moved?]
[What do you like about him?]
[Is there anything you dislike about him? There probably isn't, right? I mean, you two seem so in love.]
[What was your first impression of him?]
[What's going on? Bots? Why are there suddenly so many brand-new accounts?]
[Seriously, this isn't a romance channel. Why are there so many romance-obsessed people?]
Tang Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly curled his lips into a smile. “Oh, there are things I dislike.”
[??]
“I hate that he's…” Tang Xiao deliberately dragged out his words. “Too possessive, too clingy, too sensitive and paranoid…”
[??? QAQ]
“But what can I do? I love him,” Tang Xiao said with a soft smile, his eyes curving. “Even these little flaws become adorable in love.”
“After all, the clingy one is him, the one who loves deeper is him, the possessive one is him, the one who cares about me so much is him, the one who's sensitive and paranoid is him... And the one who holds back and tries his best to trust me is also him.”
“I just love him the way he is.”
For a brief moment, the chat was completely silent. Then, it was instantly flooded with question marks and an explosion of heart emojis.
At that moment, Jun Tesi, who had been silently hacking into the internet cables from outside, could no longer suppress the fire in his heart. He rushed into the room and wrapped Tang Xiao in a tight hug. “Wuuu, Xiaoxiao!”
“Wait, wait, wait! Let me finish streaming first!” Tang Xiao struggled frantically, pushing Jun Tesi’s face away to stop him from kissing him right then and there. He didn't even have time to say goodbye to the audience before he quickly hit the exit button. The livestream screen instantly went black. But even so, the sharp-eyed viewers still managed to catch a glimpse of the matching silver rings on both of their hands before the screen went dark.
[???]
[Is there something we're not allowed to see?!]
[Wait, hold on—I think I saw a ring on Dr. Tang’s ring finger? Did I see that wrong?]
[No, I saw it too.]
[Ah? I think I saw it too, but on the other guy’s hand. He was wearing a matching ring.]
[Couple rings?]
[No, no, they wouldn’t be unaware of what it means to wear a ring on that finger, right?]
The livestream chat fell into stunned silence for a few seconds.
[Are they... married??]
The next day, the gossip surrounding the Nobel Prize winner, which had just started to die down, shot back to the top of the trending list—this time with an added #Married tag.
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