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quickly said into the microphone, “Xiaoxiao, I’m hanging up now; something seems to have happened on Little Helper-kun’s side so I’ve got to go have a look.”

Before he hung up, Ning Xiaoxiao could be heard hurriedly shouting from the other end of the line, “Wait! Wait! Senior, it’s Sunday today, so if you and Little Helper-kun don’t have any arrangements for the evening, let’s meet for dinner.
I really want to meet this boyfriend-under-probation!”

Qi Jing was a little taken aback by her request.
Although Ning Xiaoxiao was a really solid friend he had known for a long time from his 3D life, she was the textbook definition of a stranger to Shen Yan.
Knowing that Shen Yan was not very good at interacting with new people, he wasn’t sure whether he should accept this invitation or not.

“I’ll ask him but we might not be able to set up a meeting today because he’s quite busy even on his off days.” To give himself a way out in the event that they weren’t able to meet, Qi Jing told a little white lie.

“Just ask him first, then text me when you’re done.” Ning Xiaoxiao had been watching the blank page on his relationship status like a hawk and now that a name finally managed to make its way onto that page, even if it was only under review, there was no way she was going to let this golden opportunity slip away.

“Alright, I’m hanging up,”

Qi Jing immediately strode over to the study after bidding her goodbye and throwing his phone to the side.

The door to the study was closed, just as it had been about an hour ago.
He knocked on the door a few times, but seeing no response from inside, he pushed the door open in a moment of haste and barged into the room, not caring about manners.

“Shen Yan?” Qi Jing called out, his brows furrowed.

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The curtains were drawn, blocking the natural light outside from entering, causing the room to appear rather gloomy.
A cold white glow from the computer screen reflected on part of Shen Yan’s face and also on the broken remains of a ceramic teacup.
Spilled tea slowly flowed on the ground through the ceramic shards, as if to dissolve the light reflected on it.

The cold light and the bitter tea—the two combined in the dead silence.

At this same moment, Shen Yan remained completely still.
He was still sitting on his seat; it was just that his body was bent, hunched over, like a man who received a massive blow and was unable to straighten up.
With his elbows on his thighs, Shen Yan silently rested his forehead against his intertwined fingers—it was the position one took when one was trying to regulate their emotions in moments of pain.

“Shen Yan?” From the start, Qi Jing had always had the feeling that something was off with the other party and now his hunch had been proven to be right as he anxiously called out a second time.

“Don’t come over.” The person on the chair seemed to finally have some form of reaction to his voice.
That man gave a curt response, but it was to stop Qi Jing from coming any closer.

The ten short seconds of waiting felt like a lifetime to Qi Jing.

Just when he couldn’t barely take it anymore and was about to bite the bullet and take a step forward no matter what, Shen Yan suddenly let out a sigh and opened his mouth slowly to explain, “Qi Jing, don’t come over… there are broken shards on the floor.
Let me clean it up first.”

And with that, he slowly lowered his perched arms and stood up with a slight stagger with the help of the table.

“Are you alright?” Shen Yan once greeted him with this phrase and now the situation was reversed.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Shen Yan seemed to have noticed that as well as he directed a smile at Qi Jing.
His face resembled that of a man who had been rescued from the depths of the ocean: a little pale, but there was still light in his eyes; it seems like he was ultimately able to stabilise himself.

Qi Jing agreed on the surface, but he was still internally very worried about Shen Yan.
He found a broom and dustpan and let Shen Yan clean up all the broken remains of the cup and wipe up the spilled tea and tea leaves with a rag.
In the meantime, while Shen Yan was busy, Qi Jing stood by the side and watched, trying to pick out the slightest changes in the former’s expression.

However, those changes were just too subtle and were even more so lost under the poor lighting.

Surprisingly, it was Shen Yan who spoke up first in a soft voice, “When I was reading the novel, I resonated with some parts and was ultimately unable to contain my emotions which was why it ended up like this.
But I’m fine now; I understand that this is all just a story; I just immersed myself too deeply into it.”

Qi Jing couldn’t help but interject at this moment, “You’re too serious.
I think you should go into this competition with a calm heart—nevermind the ranking or the score.”

Hearing him talk about points, a smile formed on Shen Yan’s lips.
“Yeah, I don’t care about the score.
I already have your 12 points.”

Shen Yan’s response slightly dumbfounded Qi Jing and his ears subconsciously started burning.
He glared at the other party for a long time, but was utterly at a loss for words—how could that person drop a bomb on him so nonchalantly when he’s talking about serious matters… He was really too weak against Shen Yan.

“Marquess Shunyang,” Shen Yan suddenly uttered those two words.

Qi Jing raised his eyes to look at him instinctively; that man’s eyes seemed to land on something, yet appeared unfocussed at the same time, but there was a strong sense of determination behind them.

“Marquess Shunyang.” Shen Yan repeated that name again before continuing, “Without fail, I will definitely voice this character.”

“If you’ve already made up your mind then just go with it.” Qi Jing plastered a smile on his face as he walked over to hold Shen Yan’s hands.
Just as he had expected, the other party’s hands were completely cold, quite different from the usual warmth they held.

At times like this, he’d have to be the one to share some of his warmth with Shen Yan such that the latter would be able to recover as soon as possible, so he firmly held Shen Yan’s hands in his own.

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“Besides that, I will also be voicing that Grandpa character which you said was tailor-made for me.” Shen Yan was referring to the Master of the first male lead, “Old Man Xiao Shan”.
“I didn’t choose it just because I’m good at it, but rather… after reading the novel, I felt that he was a bit similar to my grandfather and I really respect such a person.”

“Mhm.” Qi Jing’s nod this time came from the bottom of his heart.

If he participated in the competition with a Grandpa voice, then at least one of the three characters would be guaranteed to advance.

However, the next name that came out of Shen Yan’s mouth gave Qi Jing a surprise.
“The last one is Bai Ke.”

Bai Ke, a key antagonist.
This person was both cowardly and ruthless, a lowlife who bit the hand that fed him—simply put, this character was completely antithetical to Shen Yan himself.

“How did you arrive at this decision?” If he had read the novel then shouldn’t he feel utter disdain for this character? Qi Jing was really taken aback by Shen Yan’s decision and could not help but laugh in his surprise.
“I doubt this character falls under the type you respect.”

Shen Yan did not directly answer his question but instead responded with a question, “The last character you chose is ‘Fang Yisheng’, right?”

That was indeed the case.

When Shen Yan mentioned that name, Qi Jing suddenly remembered the relationship between Fang Yisheng and Bai Ke and in an instant, he seemed to understand something.
“Oh, I can more or less guess what you mean.
Bai Ke is the one who would poison Fang Yisheng.
Not only was he not grateful, he even betrayed Fang Yisheng… There should be quite a substantial amount of scenes between these two characters.”

In other words… In that case, if both of them get to the finals, the chances of them being matched together as a group would be higher?

Shen Yan gave a soft “mhm”.

“I’ve finished reading the novel; not only do these two people have a lot of scenes where they play against each other, they were mostly scenes that greatly tested one’s acting but they’re also the easiest to showcase your talents.” He glanced at Qi Jing, as if the person standing before him was Fang Yisheng himself and not anyone else.
“More importantly… this character is actually depicted in more detail in the novel and is more fleshed out there.
It made me feel that the character information provided did not fully show his personality and I want to express that in the competition.”

Bai Ke did not bite the hand that fed him from the start.

Initially, he did feel gratitude towards Fang Yisheng; however, he later became more and more twisted due to personality disorders caused by his turbulent life.
When the seed of suspicion and jealousy was planted after listening to the rumours, it eventually set him on a path of no return.

If no one led him out many years ago, he would not have been able to walk out.

If no one dragged him out of that dead silence and darkness, he might have become someone like Bai Ke.

Then, even if he met Qi Jing, he would have always be doomed to lose him.

But he didn’t want to let go; he wanted to keep the other party by his side.

As his words trailed off, Shen Yan gently moved the hand that was holding his and placed it over his heart, as if that action could directly touch that heavily beating thing inside.

“You are also my benefactor, perhaps you haven’t realised it.” The smile on Shen Yan’s face was very calm, yet very sincere.
“I chose to go with this role to warn myself never to become like him.”