Why did Gary seem to hold her in high esteem?

How would she respond?

The director approached Maria and in a low voice, he whispered in her ear, "Mr. Newman simply hopes your youthful generation will study hard and make Lead on a brighter future. You ought to thank him!"

Vivian and the show's cast all felt relief upon hearing this. Especially Vivian. She feared there was a big secret about Maria that she didn't know.

Now, she found the director's reasoning quite acceptable.

This was just a case of the older generation encouraging the young. The staff member held up the microphone to Maria. Maria took it casually, standing up.

Maria really didn't want to make a speech on this occasion.

So she just thanked Gary as the director told her to.

Chaz couldn't hold his tongue any longer.

He knew Gary wasn't just being nice. There must have been more to the story.

Chaz said, "Mr. Newman, could you kindly introduce this lady to us? I am curious about her true identity."

Chaz couldn't understand what the problem was. His assistant had told him that several stars in the entertainment circle would join them during the meeting.

He had only granted their entry because he hoped to inspire young people to be more interested in scientific areas of study.

What he wanted to address most was how this modern extravagant lifestyle was corrupting the youth to waste their talents.

The audience's ear perked up at the mention of ‘true identity’.

Vivian meanwhile sneered. Maria had only ever got as far as high school education. She used to work in a shop that sold digital products and recently her engagement had been cancelled by the Wilson family. Now, she was a newcomer in the entertainment circle. Surely there was absolutely nothing special about Maria!

As Vivian thought all this, she saw Gary pick up the microphone with a smile.

“Okay, I'll give you a brief introduction. Her name is Maria Jenkins. She is a researcher at our No.1 Research Institute, but she doesn't really work for us. She's just on loan, meaning she's only temporarily with us to help us out.”

You could almost hear the collective audience take a deep breath.

Chaz was also surprised.

The stars were totally confused. Darren was not among those confused though.

“Mr. Newman, did you just say that... she is a researcher? Not an assistant researcher? Or something Like that?"

Gary replied succinctly, "Yes, she is a researcher.”

Vivian started to feel a prickly nervous feeling down her spine.