Qi Le An walked to the tracks where he would be supervised to run 10 kilometers, there was only one street lamp at the entrance, it looked somewhat horrifying.

A security guy in uniform walked to Qi Le An and asked provokingly, “You are Qi Le An, correct? Mr. Li just called me, I know what you have done.”

Qi Le An almost gasped on seeing the security guy, for he was such a great brawny brute of a man, Qi Le An thought he could be lifted by the man single-handed.

Qi Le An didn’t say a word, he just nodded at the security guy in silence.

“Ten kilometers, which is twenty-five laps on the track, don’t even try to shirk!”

Qi Le An turned around in silence, he was ready to get this over this.

Qi Le An had been working out since he and Wei Chang Feng jogged together that night, running was never his strong suit, but the workout had helped him in this.

With that being said, Qi Le An started to pant for breath after the sixth lap, his throat felt completely dry and he started to slow down.

The security guy shook his head disapprovingly, “Is that the best you can do? This is just your seventh lap!” his voice dripped sarcasm.

Qi Le An gnashed his teeth and started to speed up, he only had one thought in his mind that he wouldn’t be looked down on by the security guy and the force he represented for.

Moreover, Mr. Li would make a big fuss about his performance and come up with more excuses to torture him if he couldn’t complete the twenty-five laps.

Qi Le An refused to be beaten down, he was drenched in sweat and he couldn’t feel his limbs anymore, but he didn’t stop. He started to run like a robot and he didn’t even have the energy to keep track of how many laps he was on.

The security guy was impressed by the young man, he started to see Qi Le An differently, no trace of scorn could be seen in his eyes. He was told that the boy was punished due to disobedience, but he started to question the truth of the story.

The weakness in Qi Le An’s legs made him stumble when he finished the twentieth lap, with that he lost his balance and fell on the ground. The security guy sprang to his feet and checked Qi Le An’s heartbeat, he heaved a sigh when he was sure Qi Le An just fainted due to overexercise. He carried the young man on his back to send him to the doctor’s office, he was so surprised to find how light this young man was, it felt like he were just skin and bones.

Fainted trainees was nothing new to the doctors and the nurses in Glory, a nurse took them in and administered an IV drip of saline to Qi Le An, no one even bothered to ask the security what happened.

The security guy left Qi Le An after the nurses told him he was good to go, he wrote down ‘Completed’ on the sheet that recorded the details of Qi Le An’s punishment.

Slowly Qi Le An came to himself, he had no recollection of the part where the security guy carried him on the back and sent him to the doctor’s office. He asked in surprise when he opened his eyes, “Where am I?”

“You are awake, how are you feeling?” asked the nurse.

“I’m much better now.”

“All right, you are good to go then.” the nurse checked Qi Le An’s heartbeat and smiled.

Qi Le An checked the time, it was 4 a.m. already.

“Thank you so much for your care.” Qi Le An bowed to the nurse.

The nurse chuckled, “You are a polite boy, aren’t you?”

“Can I pleases stay here for the rest of the night, it’s past curfew time now.”

The nurse shrugged and binned the medical waste, “Sure, I’m the only one here now, I don’t mind.”

“Thank you so much.” Qi Le An sat up and smiled at the nurse.

The room was quite small, there were about three hospital beds with curtains separating each other. And the nurse was watching TV at her desk.

It was To Perish Demons that she was watching.

The nurse noticed Qi Le An was looking at her and the TV, “You are a good actor, why were you punished?”

Qi Le An permitted himself a wry smile, and he didn’t say anything.

Hearing the familiar theme music on the TV, Qi Le An felt safe and relaxed, slowly he started to doze off.

The nurse turned down the volume as she saw Qi Le An had fallen asleep.

Qi Le An didn’t wake up until 7 o’clock when the nurse was about to get off her shift, the nurse told Qi Le An that he could get a massage if he felt sore.

Qi Le An nodded his hand and thanked the nurse again, he didn’t mention as much as he would love to get a massage but he didn’t have any money.

Qi Le An walked back to the dormitory building, but something unexpected when he tried to swipe his access card.

All trainees and faculty in Glory needed to swipe their access cards to ensure safety, but now Qi Le An’s card was denied. The building manager ignored Qi Le An who was waving his hand at him and asking for help. It was still early and no one else could be seen around the building, it was impossible to use someone else’s card.

‘It must be Mr. Li!’ thought Qi Le An.

Mr. Li was the headteacher of all the trainees, he wield absolute power when it came to administration matters. Qi Le An just realized Mr. Li was forcing him to talk to him and bend to him by doing this.

Qi Le An closed his eyes and he swore he wouldn’t knuckle under to Mr. Li, the pushover Qi Le An had died from his cowardice in the last life already.

Qi Le An told himself all he needed to do was endure this for a few more days, he would have more say in his life once he was booked in Director Chen’s movie.

Qi Le An waited by the door patiently, someone opened the door around 8 o’clock, he took the chance and got into the building.

Qi Le An managed to hold his head high and ignored what other trainees were saying as he walked into his room. He packed a few important items, he knew he should find a safe place to store these things if he couldn’t carry them around.

Qi Le An didn’t have much stuff, the most valuable thing to him in both his lives were the family photos that he had hidden in his drawer. He unlocked the drawer and put the family photos, Wei Chang Feng’s autographed photo, Wei Chang Feng’s ear stud in a bag. Then he counted all the cash he had hidden in the drawer as well, he had eight hundred yuan in total, he shook his head with a dry smile.

He had a bank card that Glory gave him when he signed the contract, and he had been working hard for all kinds of activities that Glory had booked for him, but the thing was there was not much left for him after Glory took the cut.

It had been so long since he had finished shooting To Perish Demons, but he still hadn’t got his remuneration due to the ‘administration procedure’, which meant the eight hundred yuan in his bag now was all Qi Le An had... ...

Qi Le An charged his phone which had died since last night, his eyes sparkled as he heard the text notifications.

Wei Chang Feng: Are you all right?

Wei Chang Feng: Good night, I will contact you tomorrow.

Qi Le An’s heart melts as he read the texts, Wei Chang Feng’s car had washed away all the pain. Two simple texts they were, but they were abundant for a boy who thought he had got nothing but himself in the world.

Mr. Li had been quiet the whole morning even though Qi Le An was pretty sure some trainees had already sought credit in front of him by telling him that Qi Le An was back in the dormitory already.

Qi Le An went to the canteen for lunch, he didn’t care what Mr. Li was up to at this point. But all of a sudden, he got a phone call from Mrs. Wang, the deputy headmaster.

Mrs. Wang always wore a kind and pleasant countenance, but deep down she didn’t care for the trainees at all.

Qi Le An hesitated a bit when he saw it was Mrs. Wang who was calling him, but he picked up the phone in the end.

“Hello, how are you doing, Le An? This is Mrs. Wang, can I see you in my office for a few minutes? I need to talk to you about something.” Mrs. Wang sounded so friendly.

“I’m just in the canteen, I will be over in just a minute.”

“Sounds good.”

Qi Le An was overwhelmed with anxiety after he hung up the phone, it baffled him that why would Mrs. Wang be this nice to him when she was fully aware of how Mr. Li saw him as a thorn in the flesh.

Qi Le An thought for a while, all of a sudden his eyes sparkled and then he grabbed his bag and rushed to Mrs. Wang’s office.