It was late at night.

The practice room was quiet. All the other contestants in his group had gone back to their dormitories to rest. Only Lu Yuqi was practicing his dance alone in front of the wall mirror, his clothes soaked with sweat.

An Jing, who was passing by in the corridor, stopped and stood by the window watching the boy's sweaty back.

It has to be said that this figure looks somewhat lonely. This guy has always been a loner, and with his arrogant and stinky temper, he doesn't have many friends. He used to have Yan Yan with him, but now he's all alone.

The man's image appeared in the mirror in front of him.

A strange glint flashed in Lu Yuqi's eyes. He then stopped making a sound, casually sat down on the floor, picked up a towel to wipe the sweat from his face, and said, "Is there something you need, Teacher An?"

"Why aren't you going back to rest? You jumped really well." An Jing walked in, picked up a bottle of mineral water from the side, opened it, bent down and handed it to Lu Yuqi. "Hmm?"

Thanks.

He watched as the boy tilted his head back and drank half a bottle of water, his prominent Adam's apple bobbing, and large beads of sweat slowly sliding down his Adam's apple and eventually disappearing into the collar of his T-shirt.

An Jing calmly withdrew his gaze, thinking that Lu Yuqi would not answer his question, but then he heard the arrogant voice of the young man in his ear: "What I want to do, I will do to the best of my ability."

Upon hearing this, An Jing couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile. As expected of the arrogant king. (Original URL)

"Teacher An, how is your brother?" Lu Yuqi asked again, a hint of amusement in his handsome eyes. Although he called her "teacher," his words were anything but polite.

An Jing smiled helplessly, "Which younger brother are you asking about? An Yu or Yan Yan?"

Lu Yuqi subtly curled his lips, a hint of mischief in his expression, "Your most beloved younger brother."

He clearly meant Annam.

An Jing's lips twitched slightly. "You little brat, stop making fun of me."

A triumphant smile flashed in Lu Yuqi's eyes.

"Speaking of which, I do have a question for you." With that, An Jing sat down opposite the boy, looked into his eyes, clicked his tongue, and asked, "Lu Yuqi, why do you hate me?"

The An family members are all good-looking. Lin Qingyan's appearance is like his mother's, with softer and more beautiful features, while An Jing's looks are like his father's, with a strong, handsome, and mature appearance. It's no wonder that so many fans like him.

In the past, Lu Yuqi had only ever seen this man through a screen.

He awkwardly looked away, avoiding the face. He hadn't expected the other person to ask such a question, and after a moment of silence, he replied, "...I don't dislike you."

His reaction sounded like he was embarrassed. An Jing looked at him with interest. "Then why do I feel like you hate me? Could it be that you're playing hard to get to attract my attention?"

The boy opposite him instantly turned fierce and glared at him.

Like an enraged little wolf cub.

An Jing raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I was just kidding." He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Fine, if you don't dislike me, then you don't dislike me. It's best if you don't dislike me."

Lu Yuqi didn't speak. He lowered his eyes to hide the strange emotion that flashed across them, and when he looked up again, he had already changed the subject: "How is Lin Qingyan?"

"It's good. The head injury is almost healed, but the fracture in my right hand will take time to recover." As if remembering something, his tone suddenly became a little sour. "Gu Fei is taking care of me, so there's no need to worry."

"I have to go back and see him tomorrow." An Jing gritted his teeth inwardly, lest his younger brother, whom he had finally managed to reunite with, forget about him as his older brother once he got a boyfriend!

"Yes." Lu Yuqi: "You know about them?"

An Jing sighed almost inaudibly and nodded.

He wasn't surprised that Lu Yuqi also knew about this.

Then, he heard Lu Yuqi's somewhat arrogant tone:

"I was the one who brought them together in the first place, so, shouldn't you thank me, Teacher An?"

An Jing: "..." I'll fucking kill you!

And they've become arrogant!

——

Today is Saturday, and Lin Qingyan plans to go back to the Lin family home to pack up all his belongings. If they haven't been thrown away, there's nothing really important, but some things still have sentimental value, as he's a sentimental person.

Gu Fei is off today, so I'll go with him.

Song Shuman texts or calls her youngest son every day to strengthen their bond. Lin Qingyan casually mentioned this to her, and to her surprise, everyone in the An family found out and wanted to go with her.

They just wanted to see what Lin Qingyan's former life was like, the life they hadn't been a part of for the past nineteen years.

Lin Qingyan couldn't refuse, so she went along with them.

An Jing returned today, so the group of six headed to the Lin family's house. The car gradually transformed from a bustling metropolis with towering buildings into a dilapidated old town, where the once wide and clean roads became much narrower.

They belong to the same city, yet they are two different worlds.

Finally, the car stopped in front of an old, dilapidated building. It was a dozen stories high with no elevator, very narrow stairwells, and peeling plaster on the walls.

Standing at the entrance of the building, apart from Lin Qingyan and Gu Fei, the other four were somewhat surprised, and their surprise was accompanied by heartache and guilt.

Before they arrived, they had imagined how bad Lin Qingyan's previous living place must have been, but the shock of seeing it in person was the greatest.

This place is so dilapidated, how can anyone live here? Yet Yan Yan has lived here for nineteen years. This kind of life should never have belonged to him.

“This building is quite old, but it’s still habitable.” Lin Qingyan was a little flustered. He raised his hand to touch the back of his neck, embarrassed to speak: “My family… I used to live on the second floor.”

"It's alright." Song Shuman held her youngest son's hand, looking at him with loving and gentle eyes, her tone as gentle as ever. "Yan Yan, take us upstairs."

The other people had the same expression.

"good."

Lin Qingyan didn't actually want his family to know how bad his past life had been. It was all in the past, and even if they knew, it wouldn't change anything; it would only cause them more worry.

He's doing well now, and that's enough.

When Lin Qingyan arrived at her door, the door was tightly closed. She gripped the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it was locked and no one was home.

He bent down and lifted the floor mat with the words "Safe Passage" printed on it. The mat was originally red, but now it was filthy black. He skillfully found a key underneath and successfully unlocked the door.

As soon as the door was opened halfway, a sour, rancid smell wafted out, mixed with an unpleasant odor of alcohol. Lin Qingyan frowned and walked inside.

The others followed them inside.

An Yu covered her nose in disgust. "What's that smell? It's awful."

Gu Fei's expressionless face twitched slightly. The scene inside the room was a direct hit to the germaphobe Gu Ye, making it impossible for him to look directly at it.

The cramped living room was a mess, with clothes and socks scattered on the sofa, empty takeout containers lying haphazardly on the coffee table, and empty wine bottles scattered everywhere.

The sour smell was coming from here, and flies and mosquitoes were swarming around it. A large cockroach slowly crawled out of the garbage heap, swaggering and looking down on these timid humans.

"..."

"Ah!! Xiaoqiang!!!" The second young master An, who had never seen much of the world, immediately screamed in alarm, while quickly hiding behind his older brother. "Big brother, this room is messier than your room!"

An Jing: "..." Don't drag me down.

The calmest person in the room was Lin Qingyan. He raised his foot and, with clean and swift movements, stomped the cockroach that had been so arrogant just moments before.

"..."

He looked at An Yu, who was hiding behind An Jing and acting like a good-for-nothing.

"Second brother, it's alright now."

"Cough... Second Brother was just caught off guard, not scared." An Yu glanced at the cockroach corpse on the ground, then looked away with disgust, quickly trying to justify himself, and chuckled dismissively, "What's so scary about this little thing?"

An Jing: "I can't bear to expose you, you coward."

Lin Qingyan couldn't help but chuckle, then said to everyone, "The room is dirty and messy, why don't you all go out first?" He remembered that Gu Fei was a germaphobe and definitely wouldn't be able to stand it.

It's no surprise that all this garbage is Lin Jianxiang's doing. He's lazy and good-for-nothing, and he and Zhou Yuelan usually clean the house. Now that Zhou Yuelan is in detention, no one is cleaning the house.

But no one went out, and An's parents never showed any disgust on their faces.

An Yu then blatantly lied, "Actually, it's fine, it's okay."

An Jing asked, "Yan Yan, can we see your room?"

Gu Fei's expression was calm and composed, but his tightly pursed lips betrayed his disgust and discomfort. He found it hard to imagine that Lin Qingyan had lived in such a home before.

Compared to the luxurious villas they were used to living in, this house was pitifully small, with three bedrooms and a living room, and each room was very small, the smallest being Lin Qingyan's bedroom.

There weren't even any windows inside. There was just a single bed and a desk. There was no wardrobe, and several cardboard boxes against the wall, filled with books, clothes, and some miscellaneous trinkets.

The room remained untouched, small but neatly arranged, a stark contrast to the messy living room outside.

There was another bedroom opposite, much larger than Lin Qingyan's, fully furnished with all kinds of furniture, including a computer on the desk, and with a window and a small balcony.

"Yan Yan, that room used to belong to your younger brother?"

Lin Qingyan nodded. "Mm."

In that instant, everyone fell silent. Just by looking at the two people's room, one could see how biased the Lin family was; their Yan Yan had lived in this small room for so many years.