After chatting with Gu Fei for a few minutes, Lin Qingyan couldn't help but yawn. She had been busy practicing the theme song these past two days and had only slept for a few hours. She was still energetic after being stimulated earlier, but now that she had taken a shower and was lying in a comfortable bed, her mind and body quickly became tired.

"Tired?"

"I'm alright, not too sleepy." Lin Qingyan's voice was softer than usual, with a hint of laziness and weariness.

Gu Fei imagined the child lying lazily in bed, and even softened his voice as he spoke, afraid of disturbing him. "Be good, go to sleep first."

Lin Qingyan wanted to say a few more words to the man, but she was so sleepy that she couldn't keep her eyes open, and her mind was foggy, so she could only compromise, "Um... I'll hang up now, goodnight."

"good evening."

Gu Fei put down his phone and glanced at the neon lights outside the car window. His sharp and handsome eyes were deep and calm, reflecting the glow of the neon lights and blending into the vast night.

He knew that Lin Qingyan's participation in this talent show was not easy. The kid was a hard-working person, and the practice would be very tough. Seeing Lin Qingyan looking even thinner than before, Gu Fei felt sorry for him, but this was the path the kid had chosen, and he wouldn't interfere too much.

Lin Qingyan has his own freedom and ideals. He will fly higher and farther in the future and stand on a bigger and more dazzling stage. Gu Fei will not bind him to his side, but he will not let him leave his control either.

Like a kite flyer, the kite may fly higher and farther with the wind, but as long as there is a kite string, it can always return to the flyer no matter where it flies.

What Gu Fei can do is make this road smoother and easier to travel. (Remember this website: https://m.)

——

In the dead of night, some contestants were still practicing in the dance studio, or had returned to their dormitories, chatting and laughing as they prepared to wash up and go to sleep. Meanwhile, in the other four-person dormitory, it was pitch black and so quiet that you could hear the gentle breathing of the other students.

Exhausted, Lin Qingyan and Lu Yuqi were fast asleep when suddenly, chaotic footsteps came from outside. Then, the dormitory door was pushed open, and the previously dim room was suddenly illuminated by a bright incandescent light.

Lin Qingyan, still asleep, frowned uncomfortably. Then someone shook his body violently without any restraint. Thinking he was dreaming, he opened his eyes groggily and saw Liu Yang's face in front of him.

"You two seem to be sleeping soundly. Tell me, did Nan Nan go back to the dorm tonight?"

Lin Qingyan frowned in displeasure at being suddenly awakened from a deep sleep. He then saw An Jing and several election officials standing in the room, which made him a little more awake.

What kind of trouble is Annan Yi causing in the middle of the night with all this commotion?

"He hasn't come back. What happened?"

"Nan Nan is missing. I don't know where he went." An Jing's tone was filled with worry. He felt that it must be because he had scolded his younger brother during the day that his brother had disappeared.

"Sorry for waking you up, Yan Yan, go back to sleep."

"Oh, I see..." Lin Qingyan was still in a dazed state, scratching his messy hair. He nodded calmly, then... pulled up the covers and fell asleep.

What does Annan's disappearance have to do with him? Sleeping is more important than that.

"..."

In this situation, everyone present was at a loss for how to react. Their roommate had gone missing, so why wasn't anyone reacting? Even if they didn't care, they should at least pretend to.

After all, An Nanyi's brother, An Jing, is still here.

Looking at Lu Yuqi on the opposite bed, he was sleeping even more soundly, showing no signs of waking up.

Liu Yang chuckled coldly, his tone sarcastic: "Wow, that's impressive. Even though no one from Nannan is around, someone can still sleep so soundly without a care in the world." He was practically naming names.

However, Lin Qingyan did not react at all. He was sleeping on his side. An Jing looked at the back of his head, which was not moving, and did not delve into the reason behind it. After all, finding the person was the priority.

He said, "Liu Yang, you should rest first. My staff and I will go find someone."

Liu Yang shook his head, "It's okay, I'll look for her with you. I'm also very worried about Nan Nan's disappearance."

There was another series of hurried footsteps. The people who had just come in had all left. An Jing stopped at the door, glanced back at the people in the room, and casually pressed the switch next to him to turn off the light.

After checking the surveillance footage, An Jing found An Nanyi in a storage room. An Nanyi was sitting in the corner with her legs drawn up, her eyes red from crying. When she saw An Jing come in, she became even more heartbroken and started sobbing again.

"Nan Nan, why did you hide here? Do you know how worried your brother was about you!"

An Nanyi raised her head, grabbed An Jing's arm, and sobbed, "Big brother, I really know I was wrong. I'll never do it again. Can you forgive me?"

"Big brother isn't angry anymore, come back with me first."

"Big brother, could you please not cancel my assessment score? Please, everyone knows I'm in the center position. If my score is suddenly canceled, everyone will know I cheated and they'll look down on me."

An Jing remained silent for two seconds.

"Do other people's opinions really matter that much? Did you get first place for others to see?" He looked at his younger brother helplessly, feeling a sense of powerlessness and disappointment. "Why do you have to make things so difficult for yourself and for me? You should accept the punishment for your mistakes."

"Big brother..."

"Come back with me, we'll talk about other things later."

An Jing's face turned cold, and he pulled An Nanyi outside.

——

Lin Qingyan slept soundly and woke up to find it was already daylight. Bright, warm sunlight streamed in through the window. He stretched and felt refreshed.

Looking around the small dormitory room, Lin Qingyan saw that Liu Yang had returned, but An Nanyi was still not there. He wondered if they had found her. He didn't know what had happened to An Nanyi or why she had suddenly disappeared, and he wasn't interested in knowing.

Lu Yuqi was still asleep on the opposite bed. He went over and shook him awake, "Yuqi, get up, it's getting late."

Young Master Lu likes to sleep in late and has a bad temper when he wakes up, so no one dares to provoke him. These days, Lin Qingyan has been the one to wake him up. Lu Yuqi has not yet recovered from yesterday's blow and reluctantly got out of bed.

After washing up, the two went downstairs to the cafeteria for breakfast. Lin Qingyan had a good appetite today, and it was obvious to everyone that he was in a good mood. Only Lu Yuqi knew why.

He pursed his lips and asked, "You and Gu Fei are together?"

Lin Qingyan was drinking soy milk when he heard this. He paused for a moment, then nodded slightly, a blush creeping up his ears. He said shyly, "Thank you for last night."

Lu Yuqi: "..."

These words were like a knife to Young Master Lu's chest.

"By the way, he seemed to have kicked you yesterday, are you alright?"

Lu Yuqi's lips twitched slightly as he recalled the eight yuan and eighty-eight cents from last night. He squeezed the meat bun in his hand tightly and said with great resentment, "Lin Qingyan, Gu Fei is not a good person. I advise you to think carefully."

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

Lu Yuqi: "He is stingy, hypocritical, heartless, ungrateful and treacherous."

Lin Qingyan: "Yu Qi, he is your cousin. How can you say such bad things about him? This is spreading rumors."

Lu Yuqi: "..."

He brought this humiliation upon himself.

After breakfast, the two went to the dance studio to practice. Most of the contestants in Class A had passed the theme song assessment. As soon as Lin Qingyan and Lu Yuqi walked in, they heard other people talking.

"I heard that Annan went missing last night, and Teacher An and the staff have been looking for her all night."

"No way? What happened?"

"Has the person been found yet? Why did they suddenly disappear?"

"The person has been found, but I don't know the specific reason. I just heard it from the election officials."

Lu Yuqi didn't wake up last night and only found out about this now. He looked at Lin Qingyan with a puzzled look, and Lin Qingyan told him what happened in the middle of the night.

Lu Yuqi scoffed, "He's probably feeling guilty. Who knows how he got first place?"

He always dared to say anything in front of the camera, and his voice was quite loud. Just then, An Nanyi, the protagonist of the conversation, passed by outside the door. Lin Qingyan gently tugged at Lu Yuqi's sleeve, telling him to stop talking.

Lu Yuqi then remained silent.

An Nanyi acted as if he hadn't heard anything, his face still bearing a friendly smile, though his delicate makeup couldn't hide his slightly red and swollen eyes. His tone was normal: "Yan Yan, Yu Qi, did you sleep well last night?"

"Very good." Lin Qingyan pursed her lips slightly and smiled at him, equally kind and friendly, and asked with concern, "But, you don't seem to be feeling well?"

Annan said, "I'm fine. I won't keep you from practicing any longer. I'll be going now."

Lin Qingyan: "Yeah, you should practice hard too, good luck."

An Nanyi gave him a strange look, seemingly not expecting him to say such a thing, given his previous cold and indifferent attitude. An Nanyi hesitated, but ultimately said nothing and turned to leave.

Lin Qingyan smiled at Lu Yuqi again, "Let's practice too."

Lu Yuqi looked at him strangely, "Are you alright?"

Lin Qingyan smiled, her eyes crinkling slightly. "It's nothing, I'm just in a good mood."

Lu Yuqi: "..."

Although he didn't say anything, he still felt like he'd been force-fed a mouthful of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection). Why was he in such a good mood? Wasn't it all because of Gu Fei? Damn it, he remembered that 8.88 yuan again; he couldn't get over this hurdle!

After the deadline for the theme song assessment, the program team announced the results of all the contestants' assessments, and most of them passed.

First place: Lu Yuqi

Second place: Zhong Wangfei

Third place: Lin Qingyan

...

Only three people failed the assessment: Liu Gui, Zuo Yutao, and... An Nanyi.

This result surprised everyone.

"What happened? Wasn't Nan Nan in first place? Why didn't he pass the test?"

"Is there a mistake on the list?"