63. Returning To School

Wei Chang Feng came round at the exact moment when the New Year bell rang. His first reaction after he opened his eyes was to look for Qi Le An.

Seeing Wei Chang Feng wake up, Sheng Chang’an quickly walked out of the room and asked the bodyguards to call for the doctor. The quiet corridor suddenly became noisy.

Qi Le An looked at Wei Chang Feng and smiled, “Wei Sama, you’re finally awake.”

Wei Chang Feng gave a faint smile, and he quickly closed his eyes again.

It was a great sign that Wei Chang Feng had finally came round. The doctor on duty did a check-up on him and confirmed that Wei Chang Feng had passed the dangerous period. However, due to the sequelae of concussion, the patient should rest more and talk less.

Hearing that, Sheng Chang’an finally let out a sigh of relief.

Wei Chang Feng fell asleep again around 3 a.m. Qi Le An felt exhausted after he spent hours in the system, and he fell asleep on the sofa in the room.

When he woke up the next morning, he saw Wei Xin’an feeding Wei Chang Feng some porridge.

Wei Chang Feng, who had been lying in bed for so long, finally was able to sit up leaning back on a pillow.  He looked a bit shy when his sister fed him with a spoon, but Wei Xin’an insisted.

Wei Xin’an now put the spoon back in the bowl, it looked like she was trying to persuade Wei Chang Feng to eat more, but Wei Chang Feng shook his head, indicating that he was really full.

Wei Xin’an gave up.

She turned around and prepared to put the porridge away, then she saw Qi Le An who was looking at them.

“Morning, An, did you sleep well?” Wei Xin’an smiled as she walked to the sofa, she was still immersed in the joy of Wei Chang Feng coming round.

Wei Chang Feng also averted his gaze to Qi Le An. Qi Le An blushed when Wei Chang Feng looked at them. He quickly sat up and said, “Morning, I slept well, how are you guys? ”

Wei Xin’an nodded and pointed to the thermal box on the table. “We’ve prepared some breakfast for you. Please have some, you have been so busy these past few days, I’m sure you are not eating properly.”

Then, she turned around and said to Wei Chang Feng, “Your friend has been here for the past few days. The time he spent with you is longer than me and your Sheng Ge combined.”

Qi Le An cast a glimpse at Wei Chang Feng again and coincidentally Wei Chang Feng was staring at him too. There was tenderness in Wei Chang Feng’s eyes, but there was something that Qi Le An hadn’t seen before.

Finally, Wei Chang Feng averted his gaze and said, “Go have some breakfast, An.”

Qi Le An’s mouth felt completely so dry that he couldn’t utter a word. He couldn’t help but wonder whether he had gone too far.

In the afternoon, Wei Chang Feng said to Qi Le An, “An, you have been here with me for the past few days. Have you contacted Chen Shan? He must be anxious.”

Wei Xin’an was peeling apples when she heard this. “Who is Chen Shan?”

Wei Chang Feng leaned against the bed and said, ” An’s manager.”

Wei Xin’an nodded and she looked a little worried. “An seems to have never contacted anyone in the past few days. I’m sure your manager is worried about you.”

Qi Le An who was helping Wei Xin’an cut the apples casually replied, “He called me a few times, I’ve texted him already.”

Qi Le An then added in his heart, ‘And then I turned off my phone.’

“Gary is going back to Hai City today. You should go back with him, I’m sure Chen Shan would love to see you back,” Wei Chang Feng said calmly with a gentle tone, which made it hard to tell he was actually showing Qi Le An the door.

Qi Le An was stunned when he heard that, knowing that that dream had made Wei Chang Feng reconsider the boundary in their relationship.

Qi Le An didn’t say anything, but Wei Xin’an chimed in with curiosity, “We haven’t thanked An properly. Why are you asking him to go back already?”

Wei Xin’an then realized she shouldn’t say that, so she lowered her head to hide the embarrassment. She had only heard of the name Qi Le An from Wei Chang Feng, she actually had no idea how close they were. She was grateful to Qi Le An for taking such good care of her brother, but as a matter of fact, she had no idea how close they were, she just took it for granted that a friend who was willing to take care of you 24/7 without rest must be a good friend

The more Wei Xin’an thought about it, the more she found it odd. Her eyes kept traveling back and forth between Wei Chang Feng and Qi Le An.

“What Wei Sama said is that he knows my manager protects me like a mama bear, I should really back before he goes crazy.”

Qi Le An did not look upset after he heard that, it looked like he didn’t get Wei Chang Feng’s undertone, he was even still smiling at them.

Wei Chang Feng felt so guilty when he saw that smile. However, thinking of the dream, Wei Chang Feng knew that he had to take a step back and think about it. But with Qi Le An by his side, he couldn’t even calm down.

That dream was shameful, Wei Chang Feng blamed himself for having that dream and what was even more terrifying was that there was a sense of pleasure in these complicated feelings. Wei Chang Feng could not believe that deep down he was actually looking forward to doing such a thing. Qi Le An was only seventeen this year.

At that thought, his head started to ache again.

Seeing that Wei Chang Feng was not feeling well, Wei Xin’an became nervous. She couldn’t be bothered to think about the relationship between Qi Le An and Wei Chang Feng, she just ran towards the bed and asked her brother to lie flat.

Qi Le An had already rushed out to ask the bodyguards to call for doctors. The bodyguards were able to read Qi Le An’s facial expressions at this point, they ran towards the doctor’s office before Qi Le An had said a thing.

In the blink of an eye, Wei Xin’an realized that Qi Le An had rushed out already, she glanced at Wei Chang Feng and said, “An is a good kid, he cares about you so much that he has forgotten we can just press the button to call the doctor.”

Wei Chang Feng nodded and smiled.

The doctor entered the ward in a few seconds, followed by Qi Le An and a bodyguard. After asking carefully, the doctor breathed a sigh of relief and said, “I thought something had happened… It’s okay, it’s normal to have a headache. The patient has to rest more and please don’t get too emotional.”

The person who lived in this ward was Wei Chang Feng, the management had already told them to do their best to take care of him, of course, they had been nothing but cautious and conscientious in the treatment.

Wei Xin’an nodded, and the doctor checked Wei Chang Feng’s body temperature again. Then he helped Wei Chang Feng adjust the speed of the drip, he made a minute record before he left the ward.

Gary came to the ward at night.  Qi Le An hadn’t seen Gary since Wei Chang Feng’s operation. Gary was Sheng Chang’an’s assistant before Sheng Chang’an asked him to work for Wei Chang Feng.

Even though Wei Chang Feng’s assistant in name, he was actually a manager in China Entertainment. It must be Sheng Chang’an who had assigned Gary some task for the past few days.

Gary was relieved to see Wei Chang Feng. The two of them talked a lot in a low voice. Qi Le An had overheard something when he was in the ward, but it was all about work, he found that quite boring so he walked out of the ward for some air.

There were two bodyguards outside the door. Qi Le An greeted them and walked to the window.

He wanted to turn on his phone to call Chen Shan, but he silently put the phone down on thinking about how angry Chen Shan must be.

Wei Xin’an walked towards Qi Le An.

Qi Le An felt a bit nervous on seeing Wei Xin’an. Wei Xin’an smiled softly and said to Qi Le An, ” Hey, An, I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to talk to you properly.”

There were few people in the VIP Inpatient Department. They were the only two who were in the hallway.

Qi Le An opened the window for some fresh air, it was snowing outside, the two admired the snow by the window for a little while.

“An, are you planning to pursue a career in the entertainment industry?”

Qi Le An nodded and he placed his fingers on the windowsill beside him to poke at the snow piled on it.

“I’m going to return to high school after the winter holiday, I will still shoot some drams and films when I’m at school, and I will go to uni and pursue my career in the industry.”

Wei Xin’an was amused by how Qi Le An poked at the snow, she appreciated Qi Le An’s future prospects. She nodded and said, “Sounds great, education is the way! I suggested Chang Feng going abroad to heal himself and get a degree when he lost his best friend. By the way, do you mind me asking how do you and Chang Feng know each other?”

Qi Le An tilted his head and recalled the first time he met Wei Chang Feng in his last life. At that time, Wei Chang Feng was a mentor in a reality show that Qi Le An had participated in. Wei Chang Feng had already won a few Best Actor Awards back then, Qi Le An didn’t really have the opportunity to introduce himself properly to him, he could only admire him from afar. Then he recalled how Wei Chang Feng took his jacket off and covered it on his body in the hallway of the hospital.

Finally, Qi Le An said, “I’m a fan of Wei Sama. I first met him in a reality show, I was sitting among the audience though, I’m sure he didn’t remember that.”

A trace of astonishment appeared on Wei Xin’an’s face. “I thought you guys knew each other on set.”

Qi Le An smiled, “Knowing each other, hmm, I guess you are right, I first introduced myself to him when we shot To Perish Demons, that was when he knew me. I knew him from TV I guess.”

Wei Xin’an burst into laughter when she heard “I knew him from TV”. She sighed with emotion, “Please come to our home and have dinner with us one day.”

“Thank you so much for the invitation.”

Gary walked out from Wei Chang Feng’s ward and walked towards Wei Xin’an and Qi Le An.

“Hey, An, are you ready? Our flight is taking off soon.”

Qi Le An nodded and said to Wei Xin’an, “Jiejie, I’m leaving with Gary first. See you next time.”

Qi Le An didn’t bring anything with him except his wallet and keys when he left Hai City, even the clothes he was wearing now were prepared by Sheng Chang’an.

Gary had directly driven Qi Le An home right after they landed.

To Qi Le An’s surprise, he didn’t even turn off the lights in his living room when he left. The desk in his bedroom was still covered with test papers that he had finished on that night. Qi Le An turned on his phone and texted Chen Shan that he was back in Hai City.

In the past few days, he had been ignoring Chen Shan. He would text Chen Shan from now and then and he refused to take Chen Shan’s call. Chen Shan had immediately called him back right after he got the text.

“Qi Le An, are you out of your mind?”

” I wouldn’t have told you anything about Wei Chang Feng’s accident! God, I should know better!”

“How are you going to explain yourself if you are photographed by some reporter?”

Chen Shan roared at Qi Le An for a solid minute, Qi Le An knew he was in the wrong, so he didn’t say anything back.

“How is Wei Chang Feng now? Is he stable now?” Chen Shan finally sounded mollified.

“Yes, he has come round,” Qi Le An replied while he was organizing the papers on the desk. “Chen Ge, thank you for telling me about Wei Chang Feng’s car accident.”

Chen Shan was quiet for a solid second when he heard that, then he said coldly, “Qi Le An, something will happen to you sooner or later if you carry on like this.”

Qi Le An closed his eyes. He was fully aware of that as well, he just didn’t want to face the reality.

For a moment, they both went silent. In the end, Chen Shan broke the silence and said to Qi Le An, “The school is starting on the 15th of the month. You have to take the exam two days before that, understood? ”

Qi Le An was so glad that Chen Shan had changed the subject. “Don’t worry, I got this.”

In the following few days, Qi Le An studied like crazy. He had already mastered almost all the key points on the textbooks, all he needed to do was to apply the knowledge to the exams. He read through the exercise books that Chen Shan bought him, and he felt confident about himself.

Qi Le An was a person who suited the action to the word. He would spend all day studying in his bedroom.

He would occasionally think of Wei Chang Feng, he would wonder whether Wei Chang Feng was feeling better that day, whether he was discharged from the hospital… However, he would only allow those thoughts to flash across his mind for he knew that Wei Chang Feng would get the best care and he should focus on the study.

He wanted to go back to school so bad, he told himself he had to focus on his study and he did it.

‘Maybe as time goes by, Wei Chang Feng will feel less embarrassed? And I can talk to him freely by them? Maybe that dream was too much?’

Qi Le An spent a whole week reading the exercise books, and the tutoring classes resumed since the 7th of the first month of the lunar year. The tutor was impressed by Qi Le An’s progress. He praised Qi Le An, “I think you can be admitted to the best high school in the entire city, I mean it.”

Qi Le An showed a warm smiled. Then he asked the tutor the questions he had accumulated over the past few days.

On the 13th of the first month of the lunar year, the international department at the high school resumed its administrative work. Chen Shan had and returned to Hai City from an overseas trip.

Chen Shan knocked on Qi Le An’s door and brought him a lot of souvenirs. To Qi Le An’s surprise, Chen Shan gave him a big red packet.

“Hey, you are just seventeen, you should have one.”

Qi Le An didn’t even remember the last time he got a red packet. He just vaguely recalled his grandfather would give him one when his parents took him to visit his grandfather on the Lunar New Year’s Day.

“Just take it,” Chen Shan hurried him, “My mother said you must have one, otherwise you will have nothing but bad luck in the following year.”

Qi Le An took the red packet from Chen Shan, he said emotionally, “Thank you so much Chen Ge, I don’t even know what to say… …”

Chen Shan had sent red packets to the younger kids at his family but never had he got so emotional. He looked Qi Le An up and down, somehow he felt this boy had grown taller, even his clothes looked ill-fitting now.

Chen Shan took a deep breath and said casually, “Come on, let’s go to the exam first. After the exam, I’ll take you shopping.”

His tone was so casual as if the entrance examination were just a walk in the park.

The two arrived at the school on time. The principal had already prepared a few examination papers and he smiled at Qi Le An, “Good luck, Qi Le An.”

Qi Le An glanced over the papers, they were so easy! There were only Multiple Choices and Completion. He had almost regretted studying so hard.

Chen Shan smiled too when he browsed the papers. He patted Qi Le An’s shoulder and said, “Good luck, I’ll wait for you outside.”

With that Chen Shan bent his arm round the principal’s shoulder, and together they left the office.