Chapter 85: I Am Anjia’s Real Son
The time returned to last night.
The night was soft and hazy. Cool moonlight filtered through the glass window, illuminating the quiet ward. The lights were dim, only a single orange bedside lamp was on.
The soft light fell on the bed, casting a delicate glaze over the pale, exquisite face of the young man.
His long eyelashes fluttered gently. Moments later, he opened his eyes, filled with confusion. He was lying on his side, and the first thing he saw was the man sitting by the bed.
Gu Fei had been sitting there, watching over the person on the bed. So, when Lin Qingyan opened his eyes, he immediately noticed. “YanYan, how are you feeling?”
The man’s voice was a little hoarse, tinged with tension. The dim light couldn’t hide the weariness on his face, nor the deep concern and heartache in his brows.
Lin Qingyan naturally felt no pain, but he was dizzy and very uncomfortable, with a nauseous feeling. His mind was muddled, and he finally remembered accidentally falling down the stairs.
Soon, he noticed the bandage on his head and the cast on his arm. He panicked and tried to get up, but Gu Fei pressed down on his shoulder. “Don’t move, you fell down the stairs and injured your head and arm.”
Then, he adjusted the bed to a higher position.
“How could I be so badly injured…” Lin Qingyan spoke, only to discover his voice was terribly dry, revealing his weakness and panic. “Ge Fei, what time is it?”
“Late last night.” Gu Fei poured a cup of warm water to Lin Qingyan’s lips and personally fed him a few sips. He asked softly, “Are you hungry? Is anything uncomfortable? Does your head still hurt?”
Lin Qingyan didn’t want to worry about these things. His brows were filled with anxiety and panic. “Ge Fei, the performance is tomorrow, I can’t stay here, I have to go back!”
He struggled to get out of bed.
Gu Fei quickly held him down, afraid of disturbing his wounds, so he directly embraced him, saying the cruel words to Lin Qingyan: “YanYan, you can’t participate in tomorrow’s performance. Your injuries won’t allow it.”
“It’s okay, I don’t hurt at all, I really don’t hurt…”
Gu Fei’s eyes were slightly red. He looked down at the restless person in his arms, speaking almost cautiously: “YanYan, your arm is fractured. The doctor said it will take at least two months to heal.”
Therefore, not only would he miss tomorrow’s performance, but he couldn’t continue the subsequent recordings either. Two months… the show would be over by then.
“Why…” Lin Qingyan gave up struggling, using his uninjured left hand to hug the man’s waist tightly.
His eyes gradually reddened, his eyes wet, his choked voice revealing pessimism and despair. “Is there really no possibility? Why did I have to get injured at this time…”
He had worked so hard, practicing day and night, so eager to win first place. He was so close to his goal, but now all his efforts and expectations had turned to nothing.
“YanYan, we’ll have many more opportunities in the future,” Gu Fei gently stroked the slightly trembling back of the young man, wishing he could take the injury for him.
“It was An Nanyi. He had someone push you down the stairs.”
Gu Fei said, “There’s something I haven’t had a chance to tell you. Actually… An Nanyi knew the truth a long time ago. He knows you’re the An family’s real younger son.”
Lin Qingyan’s face immediately showed a shocked expression. “How could this be… How could he do this?”
“I know your concerns. You’re afraid your biological parents would prefer An Nanyi to you, but do you really want to watch someone like him continue to stay in the An family?”
The man gently wiped away the tears on the young man’s face with his fingertip. His deep gaze was as soft as moonlight. “Some things, you only know the result after taking action. You can’t solve problems just by overthinking. I believe you understand that too.”
“No matter the outcome, we’ll face it together, okay?”
Lin Qingyan was silent, finally humming in agreement.
“No matter what the outcome is, I still have you, right?”
“Right,” Gu Fei said, “Baby.”
——
The stage lights were dazzling, all eyes were focused here.
“Because I don’t want someone like you to take my parents and two brothers for granted.”
Under the gaze of everyone present, Lin Qingyan calmly and confidently spoke into the microphone. He stared at An Nanyi opposite him without changing his expression, his beautiful peach blossom eyes cold as if immersed in snow water.
Others weren’t so calm.
“What? What does that mean?”
“What does it mean that An Nanyi is taking my parents and brothers? Whoa, so much information!!”
“Whoa, there’s an unexpected harvest! It seems we came to the right place!!”
…
The audience was like eager onlookers, sensing a shocking revelation. In an instant, the audience was boiling, and An Nanyi’s fans were stunned, with a faint feeling of their idol’s image crumbling.
The most shocked were the other three members of the An family: An Lingkang, Song Shuman, and An Jing. For a moment, their brains couldn’t process it. “This… what’s going on?”
Only An Nanyi knew what was going on. A storm raged in his heart. His happy and satisfied mood instantly vanished, replaced by panic and dismay.
When did Lin Qingyan find out the truth?!
Impossible, how could he know!
An Nanyi nervously swallowed, barely maintaining a facade of composure, but the smile on his face was stiff and unnatural. “YanYan, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“It’s recording time now. Can we talk about this privately?”
He walked towards Lin Qingyan. “I’ll push you back.”
As An Nanyi reached out, Lu Yuqi pushed the wheelchair away, a sneer at the corner of his lips. He clicked his tongue lightly. “What are you nervous about? It’s more interesting to do it in front of everyone.”
Lin Qingyan said: “An Nanyi, let’s clarify this in front of everyone today.”
An Nanyi’s hand froze in mid-air. He looked back at the audience behind him, including his parents, then at An Jing on the judges’ seats, then gritted his teeth angrily.
“YanYan, you wouldn’t be trying to sabotage things because you can’t perform, would you?” An Nanyi raised his voice, shouting towards the staff, “Where’s the staff? Hurry up and take them away! They’re disrupting the recording!”
However, nobody came.
Not only the staff, but even the director stood nervously in place, stealing glances at the cold-faced man beside him, quickly withdrawing his gaze, nervously swallowing, and using his walkie-talkie to say:
“I’ll say it again, everyone… everyone ignore this, stay at your work stations, don’t act rashly.” Just enjoy the gossip!
Damn it! The show’s popularity just went up!
“Gu Ye, everything’s been taken care of as you instructed,” the director said with a smile, his eyes almost closing into slits. In all his years in the industry, this was the first time he had encountered such a dramatic scene during a recording.
Gu Fei gave a cold hum, his gaze fixed on the stage.
An Nanyi’s increasingly panicked expression was clearly seen by Lin Qingyan. He curled his lips, smiling at An Nanyi, “I have a recording here. Want to hear it?”
Lin Qingyan’s hands were inconvenient, so he handed the phone to Lu Yuqi behind him. The latter took the phone, opened the recording, and placed the microphone against the phone’s speaker.
Through the microphone’s amplification, the recording on the phone clearly rang out in the large studio, reaching everyone’s ears. Everyone fell silent.
“I’m Li Chuan. I deliberately bumped into Lin Qingyan, causing him to fall down the stairs.
However, this was all orchestrated by An Nanyi. An Nanyi asked me to find a way to cause Lin Qingyan to have an accident before the third public performance, preventing him from performing…”
“My parents work for An Corporation, and An Nanyi is the heir apparent. I had to do what he said.”
The less-than-a-minute recording clearly detailed An Nanyi’s actions, causing another uproar in the venue.
“My God, that really is Li Chuan’s voice! No wonder An Nanyi is such a person!”
“This person is terrible, Lin Qingyan is so pitiful.”
“I knew something was fishy. It really was An Nanyi! Why would he treat YanYan like that?”
“How could Nannan do such a thing? It’s just a recording; what does it prove?!”
…
“I didn’t, I’ve never done such a thing!” An Nanyi looked at everyone’s reaction, his mind blank. He glared at Lin Qingyan, his voice trembling:
“Why are you framing me? I never asked Li Chuan to do this! Why are you all ganging up on me? I have no grievance with you, why would I do this to you!”
Lu Yuqi scoffed. “Guilty conscience.”
“I should be asking you that, An Nanyi,” Lin Qingyan curled his lips, but there was no smile in his eyes. “I’ve always been curious. I have no grievance with you, why have you targeted and framed me again and again?”
“Now I know. Because you’re jealous of me. In school, you were jealous that my grades were better than yours. Now in this competition, you’re still jealous of me, jealous that I’m better-looking than you, that I sing and dance better than you, that my ranking is higher than yours, that I have more fans than you.”
“And what makes you even more jealous is my identity.”
The scene was deathly quiet. Some people even held their breath, not daring to breathe a single breath. Only the young man’s clear and cold voice echoed in everyone’s ears:
“You’re jealous that I’m the An family’s real son, and you’re just an imposter. Your biological mother is a selfish human trafficker, and your biological father is a good-for-nothing gambler.” Lin Qingyan said, “Right, An Nanyi?”
“Oh, right, you should thank your biological mother. Nineteen years ago, she bribed a hospital nurse to switch our identities, allowing you to enjoy the carefree life of a wealthy young master all these years, didn’t she?”