The Academic God Becomes an Internet Sensation After Joining a Dating Show - Chapter 96 - Secrets Unveiled (Part 2)

The crisis of an exposed identity loomed again as the year drew to a close.

Their honeymoon trip was delayed due to Qing Lin’s studies, but neither of them was in a hurry. They decided to plan where to enjoy honeymoon during the winter break.

The Orphic matter settled down afterward. Qing Lin followed Shen Xuzhi’s advice and continued to use the account to draw. Shen Xuzhi refused the invitation to join the operations team, pretending nothing had happened, and used his free time to post a few more fan fiction stories, continuing to contribute to the ShenLin Immersive community.

Unexpectedly, these posts immediately brought him great fame. Top tier-Gong fan fiction was already scarce, and ones written with such genuine emotion were even rarer. The “Qing Lin is my Wife” writer instantly became the top Gong fan fiction writer.

Shen Xuzhi had actually planned to tell Qing Lin everything, but now—after how things had unfolded—he had no idea how to start that conversation.

Outside of their shared life, one continued drawing his own brand of spicy fan art, while the other occasionally updated his fan fiction. Since no one online knew their real identities, peace had been miraculously maintained.

Until Qing Lin received two invitations for the Bilibili Year-End Comic Convention.

He stared at the notification on his phone, a dull ache forming behind his temples. It had been a long time since he’d faced a situation this absurd.

On one side:

[BiliBili Official UP Main Invitation Letter:

@Lin, Congratulations!

Your performance on Bilibili this year has been extraordinary. Your Graduate Entrance Exam Math Review series was rated as one of the must-watch videos of the year, and your vlog series, especially the wedding vlog, has surpassed eight million views!

We are honored to invite you to attend the Bilibili Year-End Comic Convention Gala!]

On the other side:

[BiliBili Official Exhibition Invitation Letter:

@Orphic, Ta, hello!

This year’s Bilibili Comic Convention Gala will feature a ShenLin Immersive Fan Art Section. We’re deeply grateful for your authorized free merchandise and sincerely invite you to attend as a guest artist, signing and giving out fan items at the ShenLin Immersive booth!]

Qing Lin: “…………”

It should have been easy—just refuse one of them.

But the problem was, Qing Lin had recently promised his fans during a livestream that if he ever got invited to a comic convention, he’d definitely go—and he wasn’t one to break his word.

To make matters worse, Huai Si had just asked Orphic for a favor, saying she couldn’t attend an event and hoped he could take her place.

[@Is Huai Si: Wuwuwuwu dear, please, please, you have to promise me, wuwuwuwu!!]

[@Is Huai Si: Don’t worry—you won’t need to show your face! I’ll prepare a No-Face God cosplay outfit for you! I guarantee no one will recognize you!]

[@Is Huai Si: Please, wuwuwuwu, if I can’t find an influential artist to fill in, I’ll be breaching the contract, QAQ!!]

Huai Si had helped Qing Lin countless times before. They often exchanged art tips online, and she had taught him techniques with genuine enthusiasm, supporting him ever since.

[Orphic: What kind of event is it?]

[@Is Huai Si: !!! Dear, you agreed!]

[@Is Huai Si: Ahhh! Ahhh! I don’t even know the exact event yet! I’ll send the details later! Ahhh! Ahhh! I need to tell them right now that Ou-ta’s coming!!]

…Who knew it would also be a Bilibili Comic Convention?

Qing Lin glanced at the date on his phone. The convention was today, and he had already flown to the location. The event was about to start.

[Qing Laoshi, we heard you’ve arrived! When do you plan to head to the venue?]

[Ou-ta! Our signing starts at ten—around what time will you be coming by?]

Fortunately, the meet-and-greet times for the UP-host and Ou-ta didn’t overlap. Qing Lin decided to tough it out—sign quickly, then hurry to the next event. To keep Shen Xuzhi from worrying, he only mentioned the UP-host signing and said nothing about Ou-ta.

Bilibili Comic Convention.

The Bilibili Comic Convention was an absolute spectacle, packed to the brim both inside and out. This year’s event drew unprecedented crowds, largely because the organizers had announced Qing Lin’s appearance.

The ShenLin Immersive CP fan section was overflowing with people. Disguised in a No-Face cosplay from Spirited Away, Qing Lin made sure no one could recognize him before heading to the signing area.

“Aaaah, Ou-ta!!”

“Ou-ta, Ou-ta!!”

The fans’ enthusiasm was overwhelming. The line looped around several times, everyone eager to get a signature. This time, the event had a cap on attendees—first come, first served—with a two-and-a-half-hour signing session and a half-hour break in between.

Qing Lin was on edge the whole time, terrified of being recognized. He didn’t utter a single word throughout the signing. Thankfully, the No-Face costume wasn’t too stifling in winter, and his movements were quick and courteous, making him impressively efficient.

All he wanted was to get through it and hurry to the next event.

The break arrived sooner than expected. Qing Lin didn’t dare drag the bulky No-Face costume around, so he stayed put to rest his feet. The UP-host meet-and-greet was supposed to take place right after his session—if everything went according to plan, and no unexpected surprises came up.

“Ding-a-ling-ling—”

His phone buzzed—it was a call from someone at Bilibili. “Qing Laoshi, you should already be at the convention, right? We’re about to start the first part of the meet-and-greet.”

Qing Lin was puzzled. “Wasn’t it supposed to start at three?”

“The main event is at 3:00, but there’s a quick video call connection beforehand. You should be near the Shen Lin Immersive booth. There are seats and a camera there~”

Qing Lin was startled. He had assumed the video segment had nothing to do with him.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be quick,” the staff member said cheerfully. “Just ten minutes~”

Qing Lin checked the time, a bead of sweat sliding down his temple. He should still make it, he told himself. Quickly pulling off the No-Face costume, he hurried out to the area outside the signing booth.

“Aaaah, aaaaaah, Linlin!!”

“Qing Lin!!”

“Hello, my wifey, aaaaaah!”

The moment he appeared, a wave of screams and cheers erupted. Fans called out to him with unrestrained excitement. Following the staff’s guidance, Qing Lin made his way to the designated seat—then froze.

The seat was right next to the Orphic signing booth.

He wasn’t even supposed to be part of this segment, yet now he couldn’t just walk away. Qing Lin could only sit there, waiting, heart pounding in quiet panic. The minutes ticked by, and the second half of his own signing session was about to start—but he still couldn’t leave.

Meanwhile, in the audience, an unusually tall cosplayer stood out from the crowd—a No-Face wearing a crossbody bag and holding a stack of merchandise while waiting in line for Ou-ta’s signing. He was wrapped up tightly from head to toe, but his height made him conspicuous among the rows of excited young fans.

Everyone assumed he was just another dedicated cosplayer and eagerly lined up to take photos with him.

“Thank you!” a girl said cheerfully after snapping a picture—then paused when she noticed the small booklet in the No-Face man’s hand. “Hey… this booklet…”

The young girl’s eyes went wide as she shouted excitedly, “Y-you—you’re ‘Qing Lin Is My Wife’!”

No-Face Man: “!?”

“You’re the one, aren’t you! I designed the cover for this fanbook. I talked to the event host and arranged for this one-of-a-kind copy to be given to the author. Since you’re holding it, you must be the author, right?”

Qing Lin also heard the commotion and looked over. The person below was also surrounded. Ah, so that’s the bigshot who writes great gong fan fiction. He’s also wearing a No-Face costume, just like me.

Hahaha, why does that crossbody bag he’s wearing look so much like the one with the printed pattern Qing Lin designed for Shen Xuzhi not long ago…

……….

………

Qing Lin: “…………!!”

Qing Lin snapped to attention. He couldn’t possibly be mistaken about the item he gave Shen Xuzhi. It was unique; there wouldn’t be another backpack in the world with that pattern.

Wait a minute.

Is “Qing Lin is My Wife” actually Shen Laoshi?!

Shen Xuzhi was truly being wronged.

He hadn’t wanted to come initially, but he happened to be in the area verifying a song list. His fan club leader insisted on giving him a limited-edition merchandise item, and he happened to finish his work early today. After picking up the merchandise, he saw that Orphic was present and decided to queue up on impulse.

He had no idea this would happen.

“Ou-ta?” The small moderator for the fan community discovered Ou-ta was missing and started panicking.

“Oh my god, break time’s over! Where did Ou-ta go?”

“Quickly, get people to search for Ta!”

A small team was quickly dispatched, searching the entire convention hall for Orphic.

“Qing Lin is My Wife, could you sign this for me! I love your works!”

“Bigshot, Bigshot, you’re also No-Face today! Are you and Ou-ta a couple, hahahaha!”

The area below the stage became chaotic. The noise buzzed in Qing Lin’s ears.

“Qing Lin is My Wife!”

“Aaaah, I actually get to see Qing Lin is My Wife!”

“Qing Lin is My Wife! Your bag is so cool! That pattern…? It looks familiar?”

“Ou-ta! Ou-ta, where are you!”

“Ta! Time is up! We about to start now!”

“Is Ou-ta missing? Ou-ta!”

“Ou-ta!”

Qing Lin: “…………………”

This group of people was really overreacting. Ou-ta had only been gone for a short while—why were they shouting like he’d vanished off the face of the earth?

The crowd below was dense, shoulder to shoulder. The cosplay mask wasn’t all that secure, and if Shen Xuzhi’s mask slipped off, it would be a disaster. How was he supposed to explain that in the entertainment industry later?

As for Qing Lin, it was too awkward to leave now. If he went in as Qing Lin and came out as Orphic, how was he ever going to explain that?

“……I guess there’s no other way.”

In the next second, under the gaze of the entire audience, Qing Lin slowly, despairingly, stood up from the UP-host’s seat. He walked to the adjacent Orphic booth, sat down silently, and put on his No-Face signing costume.

The entire crowd: “?”

The entire crowd: “!!!!”

“Wait, wait, wait, what does this mean!!”

“Linlin! Ou-ta! Aaaah, what?!”

“I’m a little confused right now! What is going on?!”

Linlin didn’t even bother with the mask; he just gave up and continued the signing.

Shen Xuzhi was saved, and Linlin glanced at him, his eyes signaling: Hurry up and leave, otherwise you’ll be in trouble. We’ll talk at home.

Shen Xuzhi was shocked. His wife had chosen to reveal his own secret identity to protect his husband’s own secret identity. Overcome by Qing Lin’s love, Shen Xuzhi was deeply moved and bowed to him.

Then.

Clatter.

The mask fell off.

Shen Xuzhi: “……………”

Linlin: “……………”

I can tell you; no comic convention had ever been so quiet.

The two unmasked No-Face cosplayers were surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. The atmosphere was indescribable.

Haha.

It really was over.

____________________________________________________________________________________

That night, Shen Xuzhi and Qing Lin finally made it home—utterly exhausted and with great difficulty.

The trending topics had gone completely wild:

#ShenLinImmersiveBilibiliComicCon

#OrphicTurnsOutToBeQingLin

#ShenXuzhiFanFiction

 #FourthWallShattered

#MasterOfAlternateAccounts

It turned out—Orphic was Qing Lin. Weibo completely exploded.

No one could have ever imagined that the artist behind those stunning illustrations—whose style was breathtaking, whose output was lightning-fast, and whose content was, at times, blatantly risqué—was actually Qing Lin himself.

And Shen Xuzhi’s fanfiction and the pen name “Qing Lin is My Wife” were also trending. The studio initially tried to delete some of the fanfiction, but it was too late.

[Aaaaaah, I’m going crazy! Identity reveal at a comic con! This is too dramatic, hahahahaha!]

[Aaaaaah, what is wrong with this couple!! One draws the fan art, and the other writes the fanfic! Absolute legends!!!]

[Gods descending to Earth, thank you for your service!! I’ve never seen a couple who create their own sweet moments and their own fan content! Aaaaaah, people who don’t ship Shen Lin Immersive are truly missing out!!]

[Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap—Ou-ta is Linlin, Ou-ta is Linlin!!! I’m losing my mind!! No wonder every steamy drawing felt so real—it was all firsthand experience! Absolute perfection!!!]

[“‘Qing Lin Is My Wife’” author is actually Shen Laoshi! I’m on my knees. I haven’t read fanfiction this good in forever!! They’re unstoppable!!]

Linlin now didn’t care much about the identity reveal. What he couldn’t believe was that Shen Xuzhi had the free time to write fanfiction, published it on Weibo, and never told him.

Shen Xuzhi was speechless. He had missed the best time to confess. Anything he said now would be too late.

So he got caught right at home—kneeling in front of Qing Lin while his wife went through his phone. He uncovered everything: “Linlin Baby Support Club (ο=·ω＜=)ρ),” “LoveQing Chat Group,” “ShenLin Immersive Global Fan Club Group No. 7,” “7070520 Group (/≧▽≦)/~,” and several others—eight small fan groups in total, along with over a dozen gong-lover fanfics he’d personally written and posted.

Qing Lin looked at his husband’s rather rich leisure life and said, “Superstar Shen, tell me, don’t you think you’ve gone a bit overboard?”

Shen Xuzhi actively admitted his mistake.

It was too late to delete anything, and all the relevant topics had already trended. Linlin handed the phone back to Shen Xuzhi. “Here.”

Shen Xuzhi took the phone and saw that the screen was open to one of his own fanfiction stories.

Qing Lin looked down at him. “Read it out loud.”

Shen Xuzhi fell silent. Reading his own fanfiction about his own relationship, with himself as the protagonist, out loud was indeed humiliating.

Qing Lin raised an eyebrow. “Shen Laoshi, you had the nerve to write it, but not the courage to read it?”

Shen Xuzhi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He looked the story, hesitated for a moment, and began to read:

“That day, I came home quite late. Even the stars seemed sparse. The house wasn’t lit up as usual. I couldn’t find Qing Lin, so I fumbled my way into the bedroom and saw…”

Shen Xuzhi stopped abruptly. He was silent for a while, looking up at Qing Lin, only to be coldly commanded by the beautiful man, “Keep reading.”

Shen Xuzhi hesitated again. But since his esteemed wife had given the order, he had no choice but to continue: “…I saw a young man lying on the bed, dressed in a maid outfit.”

Qing Lin’s breath hitched, his voice trembling slightly as he asked, “W-Wearing what?”

Shen Xuzhi repeated earnestly, “A young man wearing a maid outfit.”

Qing Lin: “………………”

A throw pillow flew straight at Shen Xuzhi. The person on the sofa, face flushed red, shouted, “What on earth do you think about all day?!”

Shen Xuzhi caught Qing Lin’s flailing foot, brought it to his lips, pressed a kiss against the ankle, and calmly continued reading:

“I hadn’t expected such a sight. Caught off guard, the person on the bed looked at me with amber eyes. He slowly crawled toward me, wrapping his arms around my neck.”

“I realized Qing Lin’s eyes looked even more beautiful than usual—almost translucent—and when he looked at me, his pupils were fine and narrow. Just a few seconds of eye contact, and he gave me a soft kiss.”

“His kiss felt different from before. A warm tongue traced my lips, gently pecking at my mouth. His back arched, the kiss completely unruly. When I steadied his waist and reached downward, I discovered… a cat tail.” “…”

Maid outfit. Cat tail.

The essential elements were all there.

Qing Lin was at a loss for words. It was Shen Xuzhi reading his own fanfic, yet somehow, he was the one feeling mortified.

“I was a bit lost at first,” Shen Xuzhi read aloud, voice calm but teasing. “Qing Lin’s cheeks were flushed, and his maid skirt was hiked up halfway. He said that Miss Moon had punished the boy for neglecting his health by turning him into a kitten and that only his lover’s affection could turn him back.”

At that moment, Qing Lin fully grasped what kind of story it was. His face grew even redder. In a flustered whisper, he said, “That’s enough. Stop reading.”

Shen Xuzhi pretended not to hear. His low, magnetic voice blurred at Qing Lin’s ear as he continued to read:

“I generally don’t think I have any fetishes, but when my hand reached into the half-drawn black silk pulled up to his thigh, I admit there was an urge to rip it apart. The warmth of Qing Lin’s neck hollow, mixed with the faint scent of his body after a shower, made me somewhat delirious. As his lover, I would, of course, try my best to help him through his punishment…”

“The cat was more sensitive than usual, and I couldn’t bring myself to remove his maid outfit. Every time my hand brushed over his slender waist, he would shy away on unsteady legs, a soft hum escaping his lips, before his hands found my back, clawing at it with trembling fingers.”

“…With every surge, the cat tail would wag wildly, a silver thread glimmering between his fingers and lips in the dark. I turned Qing Lin’s face toward me—he seemed to be crying again, his choker loosened and sliding down to his chest, revealing the pale skin beneath…”

Qing Lin was flushed with embarrassment by this shameless fan fiction. He repeated, “Shen Xuzhi, stop reading…”

“You don’t want to hear it anymore?” Shen Xuzhi put down his phone and looked at him unhurriedly, “But it hasn’t reached the climax yet.”

Qing Lin couldn’t help but bite his lip, but Shen Xuzhi gently pried it open.

Warm fingertips rubbed against the soft lip. Qing Lin suddenly remembered the words in the fan fiction. He opened his previously closed mouth and took Shen Xuzhi’s fingertip into his mouth, his warmth wrapped around the moist joint.

Shen Xuzhi looked at his flushed, snow-white face and chuckled, “What is this?”

Qing Lin no longer had the mind to listen to erotic stories. He asked vaguely, “What’s the ending of the story?”

“The ending, huh…” Shen Xuzhi suddenly used a bit of force, and the person in front of him let out a soft cry. “The kitten’s punishment was lifted. Miss Moon told Shen Xuzhi to take good care of Qing Lin’s daily life, to eat well, sleep well, not to be too competitive or overworked, and to love himself well.”

In the quiet night, Shen Xuzhi looked up at him. The galaxy seemed to have fallen into his eyes.

Qing Lin felt a surge of emotion and crooked his finger at him. Shen Xuzhi instinctively leaned in and kissed him.

With his eyes closed, he could feel the movements described in the text come to life—an exact reflection of the scenes he had once drawn himself.

Shen Xuzhi’s body heat, like his writing, was gentle yet scorching.

Just as Qing Lin would later, in secret, read through the entire piece he had written, the last few paragraphs made him suddenly understand how easily reason could vanish without a trace—

[I never thought I could love someone this much. Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night and see the sleeping face of my lover resting in my arms. The breath of the night brushes against his skin, and I feel as though I’m dreaming again.]

[Summer should have no final words. In the fleeting weave of green, I caught the voiceless wind people speak of.

The little cat must be happy too. Miss Moon will not trouble those who live sincerely.

Even if tomorrow were the end of the world, I would still miss you today.
I think I love you more and more with each passing day.]