"Brother Fei had a dream that Yan Yan was crying, so he brought you two candies to cheer you up."
Gu Fei's voice was as magnetic and gentle as ever, but it was slightly distorted when transmitted through the phone's electrical current. However, this did not prevent Lin Qingyan from being moved by the man's words.
Lin Qingyan looked at the two preserved plum candies lying in his palm and couldn't help but tear up. It seemed that he could also receive unbridled favoritism from others, but Gu Fei's words made the gloom in his heart disappear immediately.
He gripped the candy in his hand, looked up at the white ceiling, and, fighting back tears, smiled and said, "You've been so kind to me, I don't know how to repay you."
Gu Fei said, "Yan Yan, I'm nice to you because I want you to be happy, not because I want you to repay me."
It was still late at night abroad. Gu Fei stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of the hotel, looking at the fading night view outside. His expression was calm and gentle, with a hint of tenderness in his eyes and brows.
He had just had a dream. He dreamt that a child was in complete darkness, covered in wounds, and was curled up in a corner crying, feeling lonely and helpless. He could only watch helplessly until he woke up.
He couldn't sleep and even had the urge to immediately take a flight back to China, so he called An Jing to ask about Lin Qingyan's condition. An Jing told him that Lin Qingyan was sick.
The boy on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm fine now, because of Brother Fei." His voice was soft and gentle, with a hoarse and weak tone due to illness, which sounded like a spoiled child to Gu Fei.
Although the child never tries to be affectionate with him, some of the things he says unintentionally always manage to touch his heart.
The man's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. His voice, as calm as ever, sounded deeper: "Then Yan Yan must take good care of herself and not get sick."
Hearing Gu Fei's words, Lin Qingyan suddenly felt a little guilty and said softly, "It's just a minor illness, I'm almost fully recovered now."
Gu Fei: "An Jing said you slept in the corridor all night."
Lin Qingyan's heart skipped a beat. He clearly felt that he hadn't done anything wrong, and the man's tone suggested that it was just a casual question, but he felt like he was being interrogated.
Just as he was hesitating, unsure of what excuse to use, the person on the other end said again, "Don't want to talk about it? I'll ask Lu Yuqi." Gu Fei had Lin Qingyan's thoughts completely under Gu Fei's control.
"..." Lin Qingyan sighed silently and honestly explained the matter. As for whether the door was locked intentionally or unintentionally, he didn't want to guess.
After hearing this, Gu Fei didn't ask any further questions. He simply told Lin Qingyan to rest well and then asked him to hand the phone to An Jing. An Jing stood by the window at the end of the corridor, holding the phone, looking at the scenery outside with narrowed eyes, and teased, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of your Yan Yan."
"I never thought our Master Gu would be so cliché when it comes to romance, even asking me to give him candy. Tsk...aren't you being a bit stingy with just two candies?"
Gu Fei: "Eating too much sugar is bad for you."
The man's tone returned to its usual indifferent and cold manner, and he reserved all his remaining tenderness for his Yan Yan, leaving none for anyone else.
An Jing grimaced as if he had a toothache, and the cloying sweetness of romance hit him directly. "You really worry like an old father. By the way, are you two together?"
Gu Fei responded with a calm and restrained "hmm".
An Jing couldn't help but detect a sense of pride and boastfulness in his friend's "hmm," feeling like a cold dose of dog food was slapping him in the face.
"..."
He asked Gu Fei, "Are you serious?"
Gu Fei retorted, "Otherwise what?"
An Jing felt he was humiliating himself. He recalled the boy clinging to his back, saying forlornly, "If only I had a brother like you." He also remembered the boy's fragile appearance lying in the hospital bed…
“Yan Yan is really good…” An Jing murmured softly, then said seriously to Gu Fei on the other end of the phone, “Gu Fei, since you are serious, treat her well. Don’t always put on that cold and indifferent face. Be gentle, considerate, and let the child feel your love.”
However, Master Gu remained unmoved and coldly remarked, "No matter how obedient she is, she's still mine."
"..." An Jing's lips twitched, she silently cursed, and gritted her teeth, saying, "That's going too far! I didn't fight you for him! What ownership declaration? Lin Qingyan is yours, he's yours for life, okay?"
Gu Fei said, "Oh."
An Jing gritted his teeth inwardly. Lu Yuqi and Gu Fei were indeed cousins; their comebacks were truly masterful. He said he didn't want to hear Gu Fei's aloof voice for the next few days. "If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now!"
"Something's up." Gu Fei got down to business: "Why was the dormitory door locked from the inside? And why Lin Qingyan of all people? I hope you can find the answer for me."
"What? You suspect that this was done on purpose?" An Jing frowned. There were only three people in the dormitory. Lu Yuqi couldn't be the one, so the remaining ones were Liu Yang and... his younger brother An Nanyi.
Of the three, the one who had a grudge against Lin Qingyan was An Nanyi. An Jing didn't want to suspect his brother, so he forced a smile and said, "I think this was just an accident. There are cameras in the dormitory. Who would dare to do such a thing?"
He watched his younger brother grow up. He was well-behaved and sensible from a young age, with no other faults except for being a little competitive... But, An Jing couldn't help but think back to the theme song assessment and felt that he had never really understood his younger brother.
“If you don’t investigate, I’ll have someone else investigate.” Gu Fei’s tone grew increasingly cold, his deep, hard voice reaching An Jing’s ears through the microphone. “I will not allow anyone to hurt him.”
An Jing was stunned for a moment, then reluctantly compromised, "Fine, I'll give you an explanation."
After hanging up the phone, An Jing turned and went back to the ward, only to find that the boy had already gotten up, dressed neatly, and was standing by the window looking out at something. The morning sunlight shone on his profile, which was pale and had cold lines, revealing an unspeakable sense of vulnerability.
An Jing stopped in her tracks, her gaze fixed on him, just as she met the eyes of the boy who had turned around to listen and understand.
Lin Qingyan pursed her lips and smiled politely, "Teacher An, I'm almost fully recovered now. I don't want to delay training. Can I go back now?"
“Okay, but if you feel unwell, you must tell me.” An Jing suddenly had an urge to pat the boy’s head, but he stopped himself and smiled gently. “Let’s go.”
"Um."
——
The hospital was near the recording location, and it only took about ten minutes to drive back. When An Jing got back, she learned that something had happened again. Lu Yuqi and Liu Yang had gotten into a fight. If the selection committee hadn't been alerted and intervened, Liu Yang would be the one lying in the hospital now.
Young Master Lu is truly ruthless; he doesn't hold back at all when fighting, and he even uses underhanded tactics. From the outside, Liu Yang looks perfectly fine, but he's in so much pain that he's wincing in pain.
An Jing felt a headache coming on. He coldly reprimanded the trainees who were watching the commotion outside, and only after everyone had left did he close the dormitory door, looking at the four people standing in front of him:
Lu Yuqi leaned leisurely against the wall with his arms crossed, talking to Lin Qingyan. Liu Yang stared at Lu Yuqi with resentment, but was frightened by the other's gaze and lowered his head. An Nanyi lowered her head, looking pitiful and still in shock.
An Jing said coldly, "Stand still."
"Yan Yan, you don't need to stand, sit down."
After some questioning, the situation was pretty much as expected, and Lu Yuqi suspected that An Nanyi had deliberately locked the door.
An Nanyi said that when he got up to use the bathroom last night, he found that the door was not closed, so he closed it casually. He was half asleep at the time and had no idea that Lin Qingyan had not returned.
Lu Yuqi, of course, did not believe it.
Liu Yang was also unconvinced, and after a few words, the two started fighting. They were both young people in their teens and twenties, and they were prone to acting impulsively. Fighting was the best way for them to solve problems.
"Brother, it's all my fault. Blame me. Liu Yang did this to help me." An Nanyi said softly, her eyes red and downcast.
Lu Yuqi glanced at him sideways and chuckled, "You do have some self-awareness."
An Jing looked at Lu Yuqi and said with a straight face, "Isn't cleaning the practice room enough punishment? Do you want to clean the toilets too?"
Young Master Lu pursed his lips and didn't say anything.
No matter how big the conflict between these people was, it couldn't delay the training. If they were not happy, they should keep it to themselves. After giving them a few words of advice, An Jing told them to go to the practice room to continue practicing.
After sending the person away, An Jing sighed silently and went to find the staff to monitor the situation. The situation was similar to what An Nanyi had described, but also slightly different.
Around 2 a.m., Lin Qingyan still hadn't returned. An Nanyi got up to go to the bathroom. When she came out, she seemed to glance at Lin Qingyan's bed unintentionally before locking the door behind her.
However, the room was very dark, so it was impossible to determine whether Annanyi had discovered that no one was in bed. But the door was closed at the time, so why did he specifically lock the door from the inside?
This contradicts what Annan said earlier. Annan said that he saw the door was not closed, so he went to close it and locked it from the inside.
An Jing stared intently at the surveillance video, his heart sinking deeper and deeper. He didn't know what to do. Emotionally, he shouldn't doubt his younger brother, but rationally, Nan Nan was the most suspicious person.
He had promised Gu Fei, and he had to give him an explanation.
The image of that child's vulnerable and helpless appearance when he was sick involuntarily surfaced in her mind... After hesitating for a moment, An Jing finally decided to call An Nanyi over.
He showed the surveillance footage to An Nanyi and carefully observed his brother's micro-expressions. An Jing had won the Best Actor award and was skilled at acting; no disguise could escape his eyes.
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