An Jing stood by the window, his sharp eyes slightly narrowed. He looked thoughtfully at the scenery outside, his emotions deep.
A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door, and then someone opened it and came in. An Nanyi walked over to An Jing and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Big brother, why did you suddenly come to see me alone? Is there something you need?"
Upon hearing this, An Jing turned around and stared silently at his younger brother for a few seconds. His gaze seemed almost tangible, making the younger brother feel uneasy. An Nanyi touched his face curiously, "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
An Jing suddenly spoke up, "Big brother just wants to ask you a question."
Annan: "What's the problem?"
An Jing looked directly into his eyes calmly, her tone gentle yet carrying a subtle meaning: "Now that you've secured the center position for the theme song, is there anything you'd like to tell your older brother?"
An Nanyi wasn't stupid; he quickly realized that his elder brother's words weren't taken literally. His expression was one of confusion and doubt. "Brother, what do you mean by that?"
An Jing stopped beating around the bush and asked An Nanyi directly, "Nan Nan, your older brother knows your strengths very well. How did you learn this not-so-simple theme song in such a short time?"
The meaning behind his words was already quite clear. An Nanyi's heart skipped a beat, and a fleeting look of panic crossed his eyes, which An Jing happened to catch.
An Nanyi's face showed disbelief, anger, and disappointment. "Big brother, do you suspect me of cheating? I learned the theme song through my own hard work and practice! How can you doubt me like that? Is that the kind of person you think I am?"
An Jing was even more disappointed. If he could, he absolutely refused to believe it. In his mind, his younger brother had always been sensible and obedient, unlike An Yu, who was always a worry.
An Nanyi's current reaction further confirmed his suspicions. He had asked the staff and the B-class contestants who practiced with An Nanyi before, and they all said that An Nanyi went back to rest at midnight last night and did not return to the dance studio to practice until almost nine o'clock this morning.
The practice time was too short.
Moreover, he had just watched the surveillance footage from the dance studio, and An Nanyi was learning the theme song incredibly fast, even faster than Lu Yuqi. Furthermore... when he first started practicing, his movements looked very fluid and smooth, as if he had learned it before.
An Jing couldn't help but suspect that An Nanyi was his younger brother. He knew An Nanyi's skill level best here, and it was impossible for him to learn such a complex dance in such a short time.
“Annanyi.” An Jing’s expression and tone became serious, his gaze as sharp as a sword staring directly into Ananyi’s eyes. “I’ll give you three minutes. I hope you will think it over carefully and tell me your answer honestly.”
An Nanyi had never seen An Jing so serious and focused. Feeling a little guilty, he looked away and kept his head down without saying a word. An Jing also remained silent, just watching him quietly, making it hard for him to breathe.
An Nanyi panicked immediately and eventually told the truth: half a month before the show started recording, the production team had sent An Jing an email containing the theme song video.
Annan accidentally saw it, so he secretly copied the video and practiced it secretly. Half a month was enough time for him to become familiar with the dance.
"Big brother, I really didn't mean it, I'm sorry..." An Nanyi's eyes reddened, and she looked at An Jing with a wronged and pitiful expression, whispering, "I just wanted to get the center position, I didn't want to embarrass you..."
An Jing was so angry at his words that his head throbbed. He could no longer contain his rage and retorted angrily:
"Don't want to embarrass me? So you're going to cheat to get the center position? I really don't understand why you would participate in this show in the first place. Since you're participating, you should work hard and prove yourself with your own abilities, instead of resorting to these crooked methods, do you understand?"
"Nan Nan, your brother is really disappointed in you."
"Big brother, I really know I was wrong, please don't be angry..." An Nanyi's tears kept falling. He grabbed An Jing's arm and sobbed aggrievedly, "Big brother, I will never dare to do it again, I'm sorry."
An Jing looked at him helplessly, "Nan Nan, I don't understand why you have such a strong competitive spirit. You've been like this since you were little, always wanting to be number one in everything. I don't know who you inherited this from, but you're different from everyone else in our family."
An Nanyi was slightly taken aback, then heard An Jing continue, "As I said before, I treat every contestant fairly and justly, and I will not treat you differently just because you are my brother."
"Since you cheated, your exam results will be cancelled."
These words struck like a bolt from the blue. An Nan looked at An Jingyi in disbelief, feeling wronged and flustered. "Big brother, how could you do this to me? I'm your younger brother! Aren't you the one who loves me the most?"
An Jing did not waver in his decision. He was a man of principle. "These are two different things. I just hope you can learn from this lesson and go back to reflect on it."
"Big brother..."
"Stop talking, let's go out."
An Nanyi was still crying, but An Jing's attitude remained firm and uncompromising. The cancellation of his assessment results meant that he not only lost his center position, but also the qualification to participate in the stage recording.
He had been clinging to a sliver of hope that even if his older brother found out, he wouldn't do anything to him, since his brother usually doted on him so much. But... the outcome was completely different from what he expected.
He clenched his fists and reluctantly turned and left.
An Jing watched the direction he left in, let out a barely audible sigh, and after calming down for a few minutes, he went out and wandered aimlessly in the corridor. When he passed the D class trainees, he stopped by the window.
Inside, the D-class athletes were all practicing diligently. Their training uniforms were all gray, so the figure in the sky-blue training uniform who was moving among the athletes stood out conspicuously.
"Bend your right leg a little more, don't look down at your feet, look straight ahead."
"Yes, that's it."
"Everyone, let's do it again. I'll demonstrate from the front. Watch carefully the details of my leg movements."
An Jing's gaze lingered on the boy, watching his cool yet gentle profile as he patiently corrected the others' movements with a serious expression, his tone and demeanor calm and gentle.
Looking at the boy's face, An Jing felt somewhat dazed.
One of the contestants spotted An Jing standing outside and excitedly shouted. Immediately, everyone stopped what they were doing and greeted him, including Lin Qingyan.
An Jing nodded to them and walked in with a smile, "It seems everyone has been practicing hard. Good job, keep it up!"
Zhou Chen glanced at Lin Qingyan and said gratefully, "Thanks to Yan Yan and Yu Qi for teaching us, otherwise we would still be worried. Everyone was worried that they would not pass the test."
"Yes, especially Yan Yan helped us a lot!"
"Ms. Kobayashi is awesome!"
Faced with everyone's praise, Lin Qingyan touched the back of her head a little shyly, her fair and rounded ear tips slightly red, and smiled with her lips slightly pursed, saying, "Don't be like that, everyone, it's all what I should do. Seeing you all make progress makes me feel very accomplished."
This was a simple matter for him. Seeing their anxious, distressed, and helpless expressions, he thought of his past self and wanted to help them.
The warmth and sincerity in the boy's eyes couldn't be faked. An Jing seemed to be infected by him, and his mood gradually improved. He gently patted Lin Qingyan's shoulder and said with a smile, "Yan Yan, you did a great job. Keep it up."
Lin Qingyan smiled, her eyes crinkling slightly. "Yes, I will."
——
In the evening, after working overtime for a week, Gu Fei left work early again. His subordinates were used to it and had been guessing for a long time, but they still didn't know why Master Gu was leaving get off work early.
The journey was quite long, so Gu Fei had the driver drive while he sat in the back and worked on his laptop. After finishing his work, he closed his eyes to rest, thinking about the people he was going to see later, which made him feel much more relaxed.
On the other side, after dinner, Lin Qingyan and Lu Yuqi returned to their dormitory to take a shower. They hadn't showered the night before and were sweating a lot, so you could smell a sour odor coming from their bodies.
I despise myself.
There was no one in the dormitory. An Nanyi and Liu Yang didn't seem to have returned yet. Lin Qingyan told Lu Shengqi to take a shower first. While waiting, he picked up a book to read. As he read, his thoughts drifted away.
He remembered the video call he had made that morning.
Thinking of Gu Fei, and the words he had said to Gu Fei, "I miss you so much," and the things Gu Fei had said and done to him, his ears couldn't help but burn slightly.
What are you thinking about?
Lu Yuqi, who had just come out of the bathroom, stared at him strangely.
Lin Qingyan was startled and quickly denied it, "Um...no, nothing." After a pause, he hesitated and said, "Yuqi, I want to ask you a question."
"What?"
He was still hesitant, but finally lowered his voice and asked softly, "If someone likes you, what are their signs? How can you tell if they like you?"
Lu Yuqi raised an eyebrow with interest. "You want to know if Gu Fei likes you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Qingyan's face turned red, and he shook his head hurriedly in denial. Lu Yuqi nodded knowingly and clicked his tongue, saying, "It seems I guessed right."
Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Yuqi saw a figure appear at the doorway and chuckled, "Why don't you try and see?"
Lin Qingyan: "Huh?"
Just then, Lu Yuqi suddenly leaned over, raised his hand and pressed the back of Lin Qingyan's head, and quickly leaned down to kiss Lin Qingyan's lips.
The man standing at the door suddenly sharpened his gaze, and a huge wave of emotion surged in his calm eyes, filled with unprecedented anger and coldness.
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