Qi Le An had a tight schedule the next day, Wei Chang Feng did the responsible thing and called an early night, he put the coin basket by a machine as a surprise for someone who found it later.

Qi Le An slept like a baby that night, he awoke feeling rested and refreshed the next morning.

Chen Shan noticed that when he packed some breakfast and delivered to Qi Le An’s room, “Someone is in a good mood today.”

“I had such a goodnight’s sleep last night”, Qi Le An buttoned his shirt and pointed to the breakfast on the table, “And I’m about to enjoy a nice breakfast thanks to my Chen Ge.”

Chen Shan didn’t buy that answer, he just hurried Qi Le An, “All right, An, just eat your food.”

The two arrived at the set pretty early while Sang Jia Yi certainly took her time getting there, but no one had said anything, because she wasn’t exactly late.

The art director had set up the studio for Qi Le An and Sang Jia Yi’s scenes that night before. The first scene was Cheng who was supposed to do his homework by the desk kept peeking at Susan who lived across the hall.

Then Cheng’s sister, Hua, noticed that when she served Cheng some fruits, Hua stopped Cheng from doing that and gave him a lecture about proper behaviors.

Cheng refused to be lectured, he took some fruits from the plate and ran away.

It wasn’t a particular complicated scene, and Sang Jia Yi got to get her makeup done while Qi Le An was shooting the scene of peeking and running away.

Sang Jia Yi entered the studio when Qi Le An’s part was done, Director Chen elaborated on how Sang Jia Yi should do her blocking and speak her lines.

Sang Jia Yi listened attentively and nodded along from time to time, however, Qi Le An had immediately noticed that Sang Jia Yi was still Sang Jia Yi in front of the camera, she was no Hua!

Flow was so important in film shooting, Qi Le An’s rhythm was completely disrupted by his opposite actor, neither of them had really delivered. Director Chen got so upset, “What’s going on with you two? Cut!”

Sang Jia Yi looked like she was trying, but she was doing a shitty job on purpose to affect Qi Le An’s performance.

“Neither of you can deliver without Wei Chang Feng? Shall I call him right now and ask him to spoon feed you two?” Director Chen flared up.

This was the first time that Director Chen had lost his temper in the past week, he looked so mad.

“Sang Jia Yi, this is enough, you can start packing now if you carry on like this!”

Of course Director Chen could tell Sang Jia Yi was playing her petty little tricks, Sang Jia Yi turned pale with fear when she was called out.

Sang Jia Yi started to take it seriously on the second take, but still it took them about four hours to finish the simple scene. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when Director Chen said ‘okay, next scene’.

Chen Shan pulled Qi Le An aside when they got ready for the next scene, “What happened? Is she giving you a hard time?”

“I’m not sure”, Qi Le An shrugged, “Director Chen has scolded her as well.”

Chen Shan frowned.

Seeing that, Qi Le An changed the subject, “Chen Ge, I’m starving now, please get me a big lunch later.”

Chen Shan nodded.

Qi Le An walked back to the studio after he got changed, he looked around and walked to Sang Jia Yi, “Jia Yi Jie.”

Qi Le An could feel all the crew members holding breaths when he walked to Sang Jia Yi, they peeked at Qi Le An and Sang Jia Yi with the corner of their eyes, clearly they were waiting for some drama. Even Sang Jia Yi herself was surprised when Qi Le An walked towards her.

“Jia Yi Jie, I’m so sorry, I’ve wasted your time, it’s all my fault.” said Qi Le An in an apologetic tone.

Everyone else looked at each other in disbelief, they couldn’t believe Qi Le An was apologizing to Sang Jia Yi.

It took Sang Jia Yi a solid second to put on a dry smile, “That’s... that’s all right, you are still new.”

And everyone else shook their heads in silence, ‘Sang Jia Yi, don’t act like you don’t know it’s your fault!’

With that Sang Jia Yi rose to her feet, Sang Jia Yi was very tall, even a bit taller than Qi Le An, Qi Le An lowered his head and said, “Jia Yi Jie, can you please forgive me?”

Everyone else’s heart melted on seeing Qi Le An apologizing to Sang Jia Yi like a cute puppy, they started to blame Sang Jia Yi even more.

“It’s lunch time now, let’s have lunch together, Jia Yi jie.” Qi Le An beamed at Sang Jia Yi.

Sang Jia Yi panicked, she was about to come up with an excuse to turn Qi Le An down when her assistant walking towards her with her jacket in hand.

Qi Le An took Sang Jia Yi’s jacket from her assistant and said, “Ha, please allow me to take your jacket for you.”

Sang Jia Yi permitted herself a wry smile.

Qi Le An’s smile got brighter, he took a piece of hair on Sang Jia Yi’s coat and put it to his pocket on the sly.

Chen Shan was so displeased when Qi Le An told him that Sang Jia Yi and her assistant were joining them for dinner, he kept on complaining about it on the way back to the hotel at night.

“An, what were you thinking? Why did you apologize to her?”

Qi Le An was well aware that he was in the wrong, and he couldn’t explain the reason, so he just listened to Chen Shan’s complaint the whole time without any reply.

“All right, you do you, Qi Le An, bye!” Chen Shan left Qi Le An in a huff when they arrived at the hotel.

Qi Le An stood transfixed in the lobby and he reflected on his doings recently, he seemed to have taken this ‘young master’ for granted.

Qi Le An abandoned Chen Shan several times to have dinner with Wei Chang Feng in the past few days while Chen Shan would just show up at his call, be it 6 o’clock in the morning or midnight. And no one knew who Chen Shan really was, a lot of people were not taking him seriously.

Qi Le An sighed and called Chen Shan.

No one answered the phone.

Qi Le An kept on calling and calling, finally Chen Shan picked up the phone.

“What!”

“Chen Ge”, Qi Le An chuckled, “Are you still mad at me?”

“No”, Chen Shan replied with indifference, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Qi Le An knew Chen Shan well enough to know Chen Shan wasn’t actually mad, so he said, “Chen Ge, I need you to stand by my side and tell me what’s the right thing to do! Please don’t stay mad.”

“I’m not mad to begin with!”

“When are you coming back then? I want to practise some lines with you.” Qi Le An showed a cheeky smile.

Chen Shan meant to say “I’m not coming back tonight”, but he changed his mind on thinking about Qi Le An’s little innocent face, “All right, I’ll be back in like half an hour.”

“Thank you so much, Chen Ge, I’ll be waiting for you in my room. See you soon.” with that Qi Le An hang up the phone promptly in case Chen Shan changed his mind.

Chen Shan pressed his forehead in the taxi after he promised Qi Le An that he would be back soon.

“Sir, can we please go back to the hotel.” Chen Shan told the taxi driver.

Chen Shan had a golden heart, he couldn’t stay mad at Qi Le An.

Qi Le An practised a few lines with Chen Shan after he went back, then Qi Le An told Chen Shan that he was actually quite close to Wei Chang Feng.

“Wei Ge has been so caring to me since To Perish Demons, we became close and had a few dinners, he has even recommended me to Director Chen for this movie.” Qi Le An decided to open his heart to Chen Shan.

Chen Shan didn’t look surprised, “An, I appreciate your honesty, but you don’t have to tell me your privacy if it’s making you uncomfortable.”

Qi Le An shook his head, “But you are my manager, Chen Ge, I shouldn’t keep any secret from you, I’ve never had any manager in my life... ...”

Qi Le An lied about that, he had a manager in his last life.

But Chen Shan’s heart softened on hearing that, “This is my first time of being someone’s manager, An, it’s all right, we can learn together.”

The two exchanged a look and grinned simultaneously, “Chen Ge, to be perfectly honest with you, I want to become a star! But you know... you know my situation very well, I wouldn’t have got my pay by now if not for you.”

Qi Le An’s voice got soft, “I enjoy acting, I love being an actor, not exactly just to get fans and their love, it’s just I enjoy the opportunity of being someone else and telling the audience different stories... acting has enabled me, it has empowered me in a lot of ways.”

Qi Le An now got a bit emotional, “I... I’ve shut my heart ever since my uncle sold me to Glory, I don’t know how to be friends with people or even to trust people, I’m just scared... I... ...”

With that Qi Le An lowered his head, Chen Shan reached out his hand and he stroked Qi Le An’s hair gently.

All of a sudden, Chen Shan withdrew his hand and said, “An, stop, you almost made me cry! You know what, I promise you that I will be there for you and you won’t be alone on the journey to become a Film Emperor!”

Tears brimmed in Qi Le An’s eyes, he raised his head and nodded, “Thank you, Chen Ge.”

What the two didn’t was Chen Shan had actually suited the action to the word, he indeed had accompanied Qi Le An for the following years and they became a legend together in show business.

And several years later, Qi Le An’s fans were grateful to Wei Chang Feng and Chen Shan for playing such important parts in Qi Le An’s life.