52. A Favourable Turn

That phone call was like a straw that appeared when Qi Le An was about to die. Qi Le An didn’t have the time or energy to think if it could save his life, he just grasped at it.

After hanging up, Chen Shan looked at Qi Le An and asked, “Are you out of your mind? You promised him you would do nothing about this!”

Qi Le An looked at Chen Shan and said calmly, “There is no better way.”

Chen Shan said anxiously, “I’m contacting people!”

Qi Le An shook his head and smiled bitterly. “Chen Ge, who would hate me the most for getting the part in Better Days?”

Chen Shan was stunned by this question.

Director Chen revealed that he was interested in casting an important role in Glory, the management knew that Director Chen wanted Qi Le An but others didn’t know that.

Could it be someone in Glory was determined to get the role, but Qi Le An, a starlet suddenly marched into the audition room and stole his role, and that somebody hated Qi Le An because of that?

Qi Le An immediately thought of Li Zhe Yu who participated in the audition with him, Li Zhe Yu was from Glory as well. Only three people were casting for the role of Cheng back then. Wu Ge, an artist from a small company, was a good loser. Only this Li Zhe Yu appeared as a big-headed poser from the beginning. It was not impossible that he had been nursing hatred against Qi Le An for losing the role.

For a poser like Li Zhe Yu, it was rare for him to wait this long to get back at Qi Le An…

‘Oh wait for a second, why were my birthday fan meeting’s tickets so pricy? Is Li Zhe Yu behind that?

Although Li Zhe Yu was just a poser himself, he was good at fawning upon the management. Furthermore, with his fan base, he could cause trouble.

Chen Shan’s face darkened and he said, “If it is Li Zhe Yu, then…”

Qi Le An hesitated. It didn’t matter whether it was Li Zhe Yu or not. What mattered was what Wei Chang Feng said to him.

His birthday wish was freedom, so…Wei Chang Feng had a plan already?

However, Qi Le An couldn’t tell Chen Shan what Wei Chang Feng said about his birthday wish. He felt like he needed to keep it a secret between him and Wei Chang Feng.

“So, Chen Ge, don’t make any moves yet. We can just wait and see.” Qi Le An said.

Chen Shan said with some irritation, “Wait and see? Do you know how terrible the power of paid posters can be? Aren’t you afraid of ruining yourself and your career?”

This was all about how you played the game. Even if Qi Le An now was losing online, he should quickly hold a press conference and explain clearly about his Uncle. But if Qi Le An didn’t do anything, people would think he had tacitly approved those posts.

Chen Shan was ready to call the media, but his plan was ruined by Wei Chang Feng. He was so annoyed to see the way Qi Le An obeyed Wei Chang Feng.

“Chen Ge,” Qi Le An said softly, “Wei Sama has always treated me well. He took care of me since my debut. I choose to believe him.”

Chen Shan’s heart sank to the bottom as he heard that. He sneered and said, “Then you just don’t believe me? Good! Very good! Remember what you said today! Don’t cry in front of me in the future!”

With that Chen Shan turned around and left Qi Le An’s room!

It was almost evening when the hotel staff drove away from the paparazzi and the reporters. However, Chen Shan’s storming out had caused some attention.

Why did Qi Le An’s manager storm out like that? Was what the newspaper said true? Was Chen Shan disappointed in his artist?

After Chen Shan left, Qi Le An was the only one left in the room.

Wei Chang Feng used to live next door. After the incident, Wei Chang Feng had already changed the room under the arrangement of the crew. The crew was forced to stop work for a day due to the disturbance of the reporters, and they would return to work the next morning. Director Chen had given Qi Le An three days off to deal with this issue.

Qi Le An couldn’t help but smile bitterly on thinking about that.

It was just the first day and it was already so difficult.

‘What should I do in the next few days?’

Qi Le An kept tossing and turning in bed that night, he didn’t fall asleep until dawn. He could vaguely hear some noise in the hallway in his sleep. He wondered if that was Wei Chang Feng, but he didn’t get up and check. He slept in a daze until noon.

Qi Le An didn’t want to get up he just kept loafing in bed, as if only sleeping could allow him to escape from everything outside.

It wasn’t until now did Qi Le An realize that even if he had a system, he might not be able to solve everything.

His stomach started to rumble, but Qi Le An couldn’t be bothered to get up and feed himself. His entire body seemed to shut down, he didn’t want to move or think.

There was a knock on the door, but Qi Le An didn’t want to get up and check, ‘what if it’s a reporter?’

After a while, the knock on the door faded.

Ten minutes later or so, there came another knock. And with that, someone had opened the door using the room key.

“Are you planning on starving yourself to death if I don’t feed you?”

Chen Shan came in, swollen with anger, he scolded Qi Le An.

Qi Le An didn’t expect to see Chen Shan He was a little at a loss, “I’m just a little sleepy.”

Chen Shan dragged Qi Le An up from the bed, he forced Qi Le An to go under the shower, and then he turned on the shower, “Pull yourself together, trust me, this is nothing!”

Qi Le An shivered when he was splashed by the cold water. The worry in Chen Shan’s eyes was not fake. Qi Le An immediately said, “Chen Ge, I’m really fine! I’m not afraid of death, let alone a small matter like this!”

Qi Le An was telling the truth, no way a small matter like this could knock him down. It was just that he had been so happy after meeting Wei Chang Feng, he was a bit frustrated by this farce.

Chen Shan sneered, “Is that the case? Why are you starving yourself to death?!”

Qi Le An was amused by Chen Shan. ‘God knows I tend to be like this whenever I’m frustrated.’

Seeing Qi Le An was awake and perky now, Chen Shan snorted and walked out of the bathroom. Qi Le An had to take a shower since he was already wet.

When he came out, he found that there were four dishes and a soup on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Although they were all packed in plastic lunch boxes, they were still hot.

Chen Shan looked at Qi Le An and said, “The entire crew has moved to a new hotel. The paparazzi thought you had left with them.”

Qi Le An was stunned.

“Don’t think too much about it. Director Chen specifically asked me to tell you to take care.” Chen Shan added.

At that moment, Qi Le An felt a warm current had traveled all over his body. The entire crew had moved because of him, they were protecting him in such a considerate way. No wonder Qi Le An had not seen anyone from the crew since the farce, he was so grateful that Director Chen protected him and said such warm words to him.

“Although I still can’t fathom why you decide to just sit back and watch for three days, I don’t think Wei Chang Feng will hurt you. If you don’t mind, please give me an explanation. If otherwise, we can just forget it.

When Chen Shan said this, he was lowering his head to help Qi Le An open the lids of the plastic lunch boxes. Qi Le An couldn’t see Chen Shan’s expression, but he could hear how downcast Chen Shan was from his voice.

“Chen Ge,” Qi Le An bit his lower lip and said gently.

Chen Shan raised his head as if nothing had happened. “Why are you standing there like a fool? Come and eat your lunch”

“I don’t want to stay in Glory anymore.”

The short sentence stunned both of them.

Qi Le An was surprised he just blurted it out like that. He became so fidgety after saying that.

To be fair, Chen Shan was his manager from Glory and Chen Shan’s father was one of the main shareholders of Glory. But now Qi Le An, an artist that Chen Shan had been working so closely with was telling him that he wanted to run away. Although it was not the end of the world, it was quite surprising to hear.

Chen Shan did not expect that Qi Le An would not want to stay in Glory anymore. He was so taken aback. He had already told his friends that he would make Qi Le An one of the A-list actors, but to his surprise, Qi Le An didn’t even want to stay in Glory.

However, Chen Shan began to understand why Qi Le An was a bit reserved the day before.

“My days in Glory are not good,” Qi Le An smiled bitterly and said, “Chen Ge, you know I was bullied by so many people before I met you.”

“I said no to Mr. Li for the first time in my life and I was slapped by him in public. It’s shameful to say I want to give up… But I’m tired of this life…”

“I just want to be free. I love acting, and I long for auditioning for dramas and films that I love.”

“I don’t want to do those commercial activities, and I don’t want to endorse those questionable brands and products. I want to celebrate my birthday peacefully with my fans instead of selling pricy tickets under the name of celebrating my birthday.

As he said this, Qi Le An was choked and he was unable to continue.

After his rebirth, he has been working hard to live for his goal. Although it was difficult, he had never vented his grievances to anyone. He told Wei Chang Feng that he wanted to be free, but he didn’t say why, he didn’t see the point of opening his wounds to Wei Chang Feng. But now, he exposed the scars to Chen Shan.

Chen Shan was shocked to the core, he didn’t expect this happy boy would have so many tales of woe in his heart.

To be honest, he didn’t like Qi Le An when he first met him. Because he felt that Qi Le An was scheming something under that fake smile, he found the fake smile on Qi Le An’s face rather off-putting.

But it wasn’t until now did he realize that the fake smile was a self-protection mechanism.

“Come, have your lunch before it gets cold,” Chen Shan averted his gaze and broke the silence.

Qi Le An sat down and ate his lunch together with Chen Shan. However, silence reigned the room when they were eating, neither of them said a word.

Chen Shan left the room with the leftovers after they had eaten. Qi Le An couldn’t help but smile bitterly, he felt he was about to lose this friend.

Yes, in his heart, he had regarded Chen Shan as a close friend since his rebirth, if not the closest.

Chen Shan was not someone he had known in his previous life. They were two parallel lines, but they were intertwined because of his rebirth. Qi Le An thought that Chen Shan’s appearance might represent the beginning of his new life.

Since Qi Le An did not explain online and he did not hold any press conference to explain, the people around him also kept silent about the fake posts, so everyone could not help but take Uncle’s side. Qi Le An’s Uncle’s house was crowded with visitors, some relatives would make a scene in front of the camera accusing Qi Le An of being unfilial. Even some crew members began to gossip about Qi Le An.

On the set, Wei Chang Feng had just finished a scene when he heard someone talking about Qi Le An.

“An has been silent for days now, can it be true?” a prop assistant said.

“But I don’t think An is that kind of person. Besides, the Uncle’s family is trying to get attention! How much could An, a starlet in Glory, earn? Moreover, I have heard that Glory is… ” a customer defended Qi Le An.

“Yes, Glory is famous for being harsh on trainees” A makeup artist echoed.

“I feel sorry for An. It has been a few days since the posts went viral, and Glory has been silent, not a word to protect An. Probably they are going to abandon An,”  the Production Supervisor sighed, “Let’s go back to work now. I hope An will return to the set soon. ”

Wei Chang Feng returned to his RV after he heard everything.

Gary was on the phone when Wei Chang Feng got in the car, he quickly wrapped it up on the phone with a few words, then he said to Wei Chang Feng, “It’s about time now.”

Wei Chang Feng nodded and said, “An’s manager though…”

“He is just a rich kid, not a force to be reckoned with.” Gary said to Wei Chang Feng, “He stormed out from An’s room yesterday, and he bought lunch for An today and went to An’s room.”

Wei Chang Feng nodded, he looked like he was lost in thought.

“But Wei Ge, are you not going to contact Qi Le An? He doesn’t know anything about this.”

Wei Chang Feng smiled and said, “That’s a fair point, he deserves to know, I will let him know by tonight.”

Hearing that, there was a question mark lurking in Gary’s heart. He knew Wei Chang Feng liked Qi Le An, and he had been treating him so well. However, Wei Chang Feng was not someone who liked to meddle in other people’s business.

Wei Chang Feng did not know that his assistant had a concern like this. He did not realize that he often could not help but help Qi Le An out… His first thought on seeing those fake posts online was that this was an opportunity!

However, he could make the best out of it due to Qi Le An’s trust.

Wei Chang Feng’s heart softened on thinking of that. He couldn’t wait to go back to the hotel and see the little guy.

Qi Le An hadn’t stepped out of the hotel for a few days. Although Chen Shan said it was safe now, he still dared not open the curtains. After all, telescopes were super powerful.

He searched himself online again and found that his name had appeared on the front page of Tianya BSB again. But after browsing a few pages he suddenly found a different voice.

Some people started to question whether those posts were true, there should be an official statement no matter what. But all the posts and comments were talking Qi Le An down out of nowhere, did that make sense?

Qi Le An was stunned when he saw the post questioning whether other posts were true. Then he suddenly knew what Wei Chang Feng was doing.