Chapter 168 Exorcising Evil
Chen Ziyan parked the car at the entrance of Hongfu Residential Area and said to Lu Yanhe, "Take a good rest these two days, you don't need to come to the company. You should spend some time filling out your college application. Have you thought about it? Which school do you want to study?"
Lu Yanhe shook his head and said, "I haven't thought about it yet. The admissions teams from Zhenhua and Yuming have both called me and invited me to apply, but I haven't seriously considered it yet."
"That's true. Then think about it carefully these next few days. When you fill out your college application, remember to change your password. I've seen news reports every year for the past two years about people secretly altering other people's applications just to make things difficult for them. You may not have such a person around you, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
"Okay." Lu Yanhe nodded.
After getting out of the car, Lu Yanhe waved to Chen Ziyan and walked into the Hongfu residential area.
The road was dark, and the streetlights weren't very bright. Plus, he hadn't seen He Bangan for a long time, so when He Bangan and He Leming walked towards him, he didn't immediately recognize them.
"Yan He," He Bangan called out.
Lu Yanhe looked at them in confusion before recognizing them.
"Uncle?" He was taken aback.
I was thinking this person would show up yesterday, and today they actually did.
People really can't stand being nagged.
Lu Yanhe looked at them coldly, "Why are you here?"
"You silly child, what are you saying? Why can't we come?" He Bangan patted Lu Yanhe's shoulder affectionately. "I'm your uncle, can't I come and visit you?"
"Oh, it's just been a long time since we last met, so it's a bit of a surprise," Lu Yanhe said casually.
He Bangan stared blankly at Lu Yanhe's almost emotionless eyes, momentarily stunned. He remembered what this child looked like a few years ago—timid and hesitant, never daring to lift his head, utterly lacking in assertiveness. Now, he had truly changed a lot, from his skin to his bones. He was a stranger.
This made it difficult for He Bangan to say the things she had prepared at the beginning.
"Yan He, do you have a problem with your uncle? Oh, it's nothing, your uncle just doesn't want to bother you since you're here as an artist, afraid of affecting you." He Bangan said, scratching his head. "You know, your uncle runs a restaurant, he's usually quite busy, it's not easy for him."
"Um."
"Yanhe, you're not going to abandon your uncle, are you?" He Bangan looked at Lu Yanhe with a pitiful expression and asked.
Lu Yanhe glanced at him, then at He Leming, who stood timidly beside He Bangan, and sighed inwardly.
"Let things remain the same as before," Lu Yanhe said. "It has nothing to do with whether you want me or not. Did your uncle abandon me three years ago?"
"No, no!" He Bangan immediately denied. "Sigh, I got a scolding from your two teammates today. Your uncle realized that he has indeed not paid enough attention to you. Your uncle will definitely correct this in the future."
"My teammate?" Lu Yanhe frowned. "Who else did you go to see?"
“That guy named Li Zhibai, and Yan Liang.” He Bangan immediately named the two men. “They even tried to fight me and threatened me. It’s infuriating! Yan He, I’m your uncle!”
Lu Yanhe said, "They're just my teammates. Did you say something unpleasant to them, which is why they're angry?"
He Bangan: "What unpleasant things can I say? As soon as I walked in, those two gave me the cold shoulder and said something..."
He Bangan's words came to an abrupt halt halfway through.
Lu Yanhe looked at him and asked, "What else did you say?"
He Bangan was really too embarrassed to repeat those words in front of Lu Yanhe.
"Alright, let's not talk about those unpleasant things. Yan He, now that you've finished your college entrance exams, when are you coming to your uncle's house again? Your uncle will cook you something delicious." He Bangan smiled warmly, showing concern. "Look at you now, you're so thin. You must have worked too hard. You don't even know how to take care of yourself—"
“Because I can’t take care of myself, because I’m poor.” Lu Yanhe interrupted He Ganban’s performance, looking at him. “I pay my own tuition, go to school by myself, take care of my own food, drink and toilet needs, and carefully calculate every meal. I can’t think about how to eat the most nutritious food. Uncle, you should know all this, right? When you wanted to ask me for money before, didn’t you already see my bank statements? You calculated exactly how much I earn, how much I spend, and how much I can save each month, didn’t you?”
Lu Yanhe remained calm and unmoved.
The original owner's memories gradually resurfaced.
"Yan He, are you blaming me?" He Bangan looked at Lu Yanhe in disbelief and asked.
Lu Yanhe shook his head. "I don't blame you, nor do I hate you, but I don't want to get close to you either. Let's just keep this relationship from now on. Anyway, the relationship between uncle and nephew... was already dead in name only when you abandoned me here and ignored me."
At this moment, Lu Yanhe almost detached himself from the original owner's perspective. He was merely standing from a third-party viewpoint, watching the relationship between the original owner and He Bangan, the uncle and niece, and felt an indescribable disgust, even speaking these words with a lack of enthusiasm. He didn't have the original owner's familial feelings for He Bangan; his only emotion towards He Bangan was repulsion, and he hoped to stay away from such a person in the future, the farther the better.
He came from an ordinary but happy family with ordinary but harmonious kinship ties. Therefore, Lu Yanhe could not accept He Bangan's actions of bringing him out of the countryside and then abandoning him. Because he couldn't accept this, he could understand whatever she said, but he still couldn't accept it.
He Bangan mumbled something, as if she wanted to say something more.
Suddenly, He Leming, who had been silent all along, roared at Lu Yanhe: "If my dad hadn't brought you out of the countryside and sent you to participate in the competition, how could you be in this state now?!"
Lu Yanhe looked at the chubby boy with some surprise.
Because of his loud shout, some passersby looked over.
Fortunately, no one came over just to watch the spectacle.
Lu Yanhe looked at He Leming with a playful smile, then looked at He Bangan.
"Uncle, doesn't Leming know why you brought me out of the countryside?"
He Bangan was taken aback.
“Oh, maybe you think I don’t know either?” Lu Yanhe said. “Grandma called you and said she wasn’t feeling well and asked you to take care of me and take me out. You refused at first, saying you didn’t want to take a burden, right?”
He Bangan looked at Lu Yanhe in disbelief.
Lu Yanhe said, "Later, Grandma took out all her savings and gave them to you, begging you to take care of me. Only then did you reluctantly take the money and bring me out. At first, you had me help out at a restaurant. Later, when you saw there was a talent show that provided food and lodging, you signed me up. Later, I inexplicably debuted and signed a contract. You thought I was going to become a big star and wanted to interfere with my work. I was scolded by Zhou Ping'an and then wanted to take money from the company. During that time, I was scolded by Zhou Ping'an every day. You never cared about my situation at the company or whether I was scolded by Zhou Ping'an. After you finally realized that I really couldn't make money, you never appeared again. Do you think you have the right to make me grateful to you for bringing me out and bringing me to Yuming?"
He Bangan clenched her fists.
He Leming looked at He Bangan in shock: "Dad, did Grandma give you money before you brought him here? Where is the money?"
He Bangan growled at He Leming, "Shut up!"
He Leming was startled and dared not speak.
Lu Yanhe: "You've said enough. You can leave now, and don't come back again."
He lifted his leg and walked forward.
"Lu Yanhe!" He Bangan suddenly raised his voice and shouted.
Lu Yanhe turned his head to look.
The uncle who had previously seemed somewhat timid and affectionate now wore a defiant and threatening expression. For some reason, Lu Yanhe felt that this current look was more fitting for him.
"Now that you've finally started to see some progress, do you want others to know that you're a heartless person who abandons your relatives after you've made your fortune?"
Lu Yanhe pondered for a moment and said, "That's good too. If others know about my relationship with you, those petty people will know they can't get anything out of me, so they won't bother with me. It's a good way to ward off evil."
He seemed completely unconcerned, casually curling the corners of his mouth and ignoring He Bangan's distorted features as he walked forward.
"Dad, is he calling us villains?"
"Shut up!"
...
The summer night breeze never feels gentle.
It was sultry, like ocean waves, with a salty, damp smell, as if it were covered in sand and dust.
Lu Yanhe went upstairs, but hesitated before entering the room.
The door suddenly opened.
"Hey—" Yan Liang was carrying a bag of trash, seemingly on his way out to throw it away, when he bumped into Lu Yanhe standing at the door.
Lu Yanhe: "Throwing out the trash?"
"Mm." Yan Liang nodded.
"Give it to me, I'll throw it away." Lu Yanhe took the trash bag from Yan Liang and turned to go to the trash can in the stairwell.
Yan Liang looked at Lu Yanhe's back with some confusion.
Having spent so much time together, Yan Liang had come to know Lu Yanhe very well.
He keenly sensed that Lu Yanhe was acting strangely today.
What's wrong?
Yan Liang turned to Li Zhibai and said, "Lu Yanhe is acting strangely today."
Li Zhibai: "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, he looks a bit unwell."
"You must be tired," Li Zhibai said. "Teaching every day is tiring."
Yan Liang: "It doesn't seem like he's tired from teaching."
Just then, Lu Yanhe came over after throwing away the trash.
Yan Liang said nothing more.
He left the door slightly ajar, walked into the living room, and whispered to Li Zhibai, "Should we tell him that his uncle came by?"
"Tell him, why would we hide it?" Li Zhibai said. "But we have to talk to him properly and make sure he doesn't soften his heart."
Yan Liang nodded.
At this moment, Lu Yanhe entered.
"Old Lu!" Li Zhibai shouted.
Lu Yanhe walked over and saw that Li Zhibai and Yan Liang both looked like they wanted to say something but hesitated, guessing what they wanted to say.
"I ran into my uncle downstairs. He was just here, right?"
Lu Yanhe took the initiative to tell the story.
"He's still downstairs?" Li Zhibai jumped up immediately upon hearing this. "Is this bastard never going to stop?"
"He's gone now," Lu Yanhe said. "Thank you all for helping me get rid of him."
"What are you thanking me for? You know I hate this kind of person the most," Li Zhibai said. "They disappear when they need something, but they're quick to take advantage of others."
Lu Yanhe smiled.
"Sigh, actually I'm not that unhappy, but I feel suffocated inside."
“That’s pretty normal.” Yan Liang patted his shoulder and said, “Anyone would feel uncomfortable if they encountered relatives like that. But we’ve helped you get back at them.”
“I’ve made myself clear and I don’t want to play games with them,” Lu Yanhe said. “It’s just that seeing him today reminded me of some things.”
Some memories that existed in my memory before, but I rarely thought of them.
For the past year, Lu Yanhe has been thinking about what he should do and how he can live a good life in the future.
But people not only have a present and a future, but also a past.
An unhappy past is a debt that must be repaid, albeit reluctantly, but it cannot be simply refused.
Lu Yanhe said, "I'm not afraid of them making this a public spectacle. I don't think I did anything wrong, but I don't want this matter to keep haunting me, to be unable to get rid of it, and to be hindered by it in everything I do."
"Then let's cut the Gordian knot," Li Zhibai said. "At worst, we'll just sever ties."
"You make it sound so simple." Yan Liang rolled his eyes at Li Zhibai. "Family ties are always the most troublesome. If Lao Lu doesn't handle it well, some people will really think he's an ingrate and cold-blooded."
Li Zhibai: "Those who meddle so much can't possibly be liked by everyone."
“But his career, which he has finally managed to recover from, may not be able to withstand this kind of turmoil,” Yan Liang said. “You still need to talk to Sister Ziyan and ask her to help you deal with it. Seriously, this kind of thing is the most annoying. One of my cousins had to change jobs several times because he had a father who was a gambler and womanizer. A burden is a burden, even if it’s not your fault, but if the trouble is caused by you, then others will think you are a burden.”
Yan Liang's pessimistic words made Lu Yanhe's heart skip a beat, and also silenced Li Zhibai.
-
Lu Yanhe figured it out in one night and decided to talk to Chen Ziyan face to face the next day.
Let's see how to resolve this.
After listening, Chen Ziyan looked relaxed: "It's okay. Let him make a fuss if he dares. You don't need to worry. We are the ones who deal with the media often. You are a self-reliant young man who is not held back by your family background or origin. Your story is even more inspiring. Don't forget, you are only nineteen years old. You have no ability to repay them. Exposing this matter at this time is actually better for you."
Lu Yanhe breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what Chen Ziyan had to say.
Without realizing it, he had become dependent on Chen Ziyan.
He would breathe a sigh of relief whenever Chen Ziyan said she was fine.
"That's good. I was worried that this matter would have a big impact."
“The impact can be big or small, Yan He. You need to understand one thing: for an artist, even if you are surrounded by a mess and plagued by negative news, it's not a bad thing. As long as you are always seen, you will always have a chance to turn things around. The most terrible thing for an artist is to be unseen,” Chen Ziyan said. “Ten years ago, an artist’s complicated family background would make people think that their image was imperfect and would damage their star aura. Now times have changed. The star aura no longer requires perfection. This is your flaw, and I will magnify this flaw so that everyone knows how difficult it has been for you. If an artist can gain people’s sympathy, it is never a bad thing.”
Lu Yanhe nodded.
"Alright, stop worrying about this. Take a few days to rest. This should be the time when you're at your most triumphant," Chen Ziyan said. "Many media outlets have already wanted to interview you, but I've refused them all. Publicity is fine, but if you appear on camera and give too many interviews, people will think you're too proud of yourself, even if you don't mean it that way. That's how people are. People admire your achievements, but if you keep repeating your achievements, people will get annoyed. Apart from the biggest media outlets, I don't plan to let you discuss your college entrance exam scores and the university you're going to attend."
"good."
“You’ve always been a very humble person, but you should be happy when you’re happy,” Chen Ziyan said. “Okay, I have something to do later, you can go back first.”
"Okay." Lu Yanhe stood up and said goodbye to Chen Ziyan.
Chen Ziyan saw Lu Yanhe off at the door.
"Learn from Li Zhibai." Chen Ziyan said as she saw Lu Yanhe to the door, "Don't take things so seriously. Nothing is really a big deal."
Chen Ziyan had thought before that Lu Yanhe's uncle would be a problem, but she never expected that the problem would erupt so quickly.
Chen Ziyan was always worried that Lu Yanhe, a self-disciplined, diligent, and hardworking young man with a shadowy past, might have a problem with his mentality.
The so-called inner demons.
Therefore, Chen Ziyan would occasionally instill this idea in Lu Yanhe, hoping that he would comfort himself and not get caught up in emotional turmoil.
After seeing Lu Yanhe off, Chen Ziyan sighed.
She hopes that Lu Yanhe will one day be able to truly overcome this hurdle.
-
In the rehearsal room, MX were practicing dance together, but their progress stalled because Ma Zhiyuan just couldn't learn one of the moves.
Ma Zhiyuan himself was also annoyed and complained, "What kind of lousy moves are these?"
Qu Yousong went to get the water bottle, took a sip of water, and said, "Don't rush, have a sip of water first. The more you rush, the less you'll learn."
Ma Zhiyuan went to the corner and opened his bag.
Seeing that they had all broken away from the group, Chen Jing went to the other side to get a drink of water.
This move is indeed a bit difficult, but it's surprising that Ma Zhiyuan hasn't been able to learn it for so long.
After all, he had received several years of professional training.
Chen Jing thought that it was probably because Lu Yanhe's college entrance examination results had made Ma Zhiyuan unable to concentrate these past two days.
In fact, Chen Jing didn't understand why Ma Zhiyuan cared so much about Lu Yanhe.
Judging from the current situation, Lu Yanhe is no match for Ma Zhiyuan at all. To surpass Ma Zhiyuan, it will take at least one or two years. Why treat Lu Yanhe as a thorn in your side now?
Not to mention, Lu Yanhe doesn't seem to plan on pursuing the idol artist route anymore; he wants to act in dramas, which is a completely different path.
Chen Jing curled his lip.
"Chen Jing, why are you pouting?" Qu Yousong suddenly shouted.
Everyone else looked at Chen Jing.
Chen Jing was stunned and looked at them helplessly.
"ah?"
Qu Yousong said somewhat irritably, "I know you learn to dance quickly, but there's no need to ridicule Lao Ma, is there?"
Chen Jing looked bewildered and said, "What sarcasm? I didn't mean that at all!"
He looked at Ma Zhiyuan with some panic.
The latter looked at him with a gloomy expression and displeasure.
Chen Jing's heart skipped a beat.
Now... he's inexplicably offended Ma Zhiyuan again.
He quickly explained, "Zhiyuan, I didn't mean that. Qu Yousong was just talking nonsense!"
"It's fine. Whether he's making things up or not, it's normal for you to mock me. Anyway, none of us dance as well as you, that's a fact." Ma Zhiyuan said while sneering, "With your skills, you shouldn't be in MX. Why don't you debut as a solo artist?"
Chen Jing's palms were sweaty.
"Oh, we're all in the same group, let it go." Jiang Bai, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "Qu Yousong, you're so petty. You can interpret so much from someone just pouting. It's just that your former fan club president praised Chen Jing for dancing better than you, right? You're so narrow-minded. We're not dancers, and we're only comparing who dances better. Ma Zhiyuan is undoubtedly the most popular guy, and he's also the captain. He's our core. Can't the others have their own specialties?"
After Jiang Bai said those words, Qu Yousong immediately exploded.
"You're talking nonsense, I—"
"Alright." Ma Zhiyuan interrupted Qu Yousong. "Wei Zhuoran has stopped working, so it's just the few of us left. Are we going to start some internal strife? Keep practicing dancing."
Qu Yousong glared at Jiang Bai with displeasure.
Jiang Bai didn't take it to heart at all.
Chen Jing gave him a grateful look, but Jiang Bai didn't return the glance.
He's always been like this in MX: aloof, not part of any cliques, and not very talkative, seemingly detached from everything. It's rare for him to be so talkative today.
At that moment, Lin Suyang suddenly arrived.
As soon as he appeared, everyone except Ma Zhiyuan went over and called him Brother Su Yang.
Lin Suyang greeted them with a smile and asked, "How's your dance practice going?"
He caught a glimpse of Ma Zhiyuan sitting in the corner of the wall, not getting up. He felt a little annoyed, but didn't show it on his face.
"That's about it," Qu Yousong said first, then glanced at Chen Jing and Jiang Bai, giving them a warning look not to expose him.
Lin Suyang nodded: "Practice hard. The performance the day after tomorrow is very important. It's a national TV program with a large audience."
"good."
Lin Suyang looked at them, nodded, and said, "Okay, you guys practice slowly. We'll have lunch together later."
"Is Brother Su Yang treating us?" Qu Yousong asked immediately.
Lin Suyang smiled and pointed at them with his finger, saying, "You always try to take advantage of me, even though you earn more than me."
Qu Yousong said, "No way, we've all heard about it. Brother Su Yang, you bought a huge mansion of over 400 square meters."
Lin Suyang: "You all heard about this."
"Hehe, what secrets are there in this company?"
"Okay, then it's my treat," Lin Suyang said with a smile.
The others immediately cheered.
Lin Suyang walked to the door, then suddenly seemed to remember something, turned around and said to Ma Zhiyuan, "Chen Biqiu just contacted me. He said that Lu Yanhe has been cast in 'The Days of Youth,' and asked me to apologize to you."
After Lin Suyang finished speaking, the rehearsal room fell completely silent.
Everyone fell silent.
Everyone knows that Ma Zhiyuan went to steal "The Days of Youth" to get revenge on Lu Yanhe and to disgust him.
In fact, no one thought Ma Zhiyuan would fail.
Even though Lu Yanhe has been very popular these past two days, constantly trending on social media, there is still an insurmountable distance between him and Ma Zhiyuan.
Why was Lu Yanhe chosen for "The Days of Youth" instead of Ma Zhiyuan?
This question arose in everyone's mind.
Everyone looked at Ma Zhiyuan, whose face was so dark it looked like it could drip water.
It wasn't until this point that everyone belatedly realized why Lin Suyang had said this to Ma Zhiyuan in front of everyone.
Was this a deliberate attempt to embarrass Ma Zhiyuan in front of everyone?
Lin Suyang glanced at Ma Zhiyuan and walked out of the rehearsal room.
-
At noon, Lu Yanhe, Li Zhibai, and Yan Liang went to have lunch together outside the residential area.
He was still a little worried that He Bangan was still waiting for him.
Lu Yanhe searched his name several times throughout the morning, hoping to see if He Bangan had made any so-called "exposure" online, but he didn't find anything.
"Did you sign a contract with 'The Days of Youth'?" Li Zhibai asked.
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Sister Ziyan said it has already been signed."
"That's good. This time it was pretty satisfying. We got rid of Ma Zhiyuan." Li Zhibai chuckled smugly. "He's furious."
Knowing that Ma Zhiyuan would be angry, Li Zhibai was overjoyed.
Yan Liang nodded and said, "He'll probably be angry. I heard he already told others that he's already spoken to Chen Biqiu and that he'll kick you off the show."
“You have an inflated ego,” Li Zhi said dismissively.
"It seems he and his agent, Lin Suyang, had a fight about this," Yan Liang said.
Why are you arguing?
“Ma Zhiyuan went to see Chen Biqiu without telling Lin Suyang.”
"Behind his agent's back?" Lu Yanhe asked, puzzled. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know, but I heard that he and Lin Suyang have argued several times in the past six months." Yan Liang shook his head. "Maybe it's because he's become famous, so he doesn't want to listen to his manager's arrangements anymore. He even told others that Lin Suyang was lucky to become their manager, and that they would become famous no matter which manager they were under."
"Does he really say things like that outside? Lin Suyang would be furious if he heard that." Li Zhibai clicked his tongue. "What's wrong with this guy's brain? How can he be so blindly arrogant?"
The waiter came to serve the food.
The three of them stopped discussing and each started scrolling through their phones.
"Huh?!" Yan Liang suddenly exclaimed in shock.
"What's wrong?" Lu Yanhe and Li Zhibai looked at him.
Yan Liang looked surprised. "What a coincidence! We were just talking about... that Ma Zhiyuan and Lin Suyang got into a fight at the company."
Lu Yanhe and Li Zhibai both showed expressions of shock.
Did the artist and their manager get into a fight?
"Who made the first move?" Lu Yanhe asked.
One more chapter to go! Just a moment!
(End of this chapter)
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