Qi Le An was walking on the street, listlessly.
It was August in Hai City, it was a scorching day, but there was no trace of sweat on Qi Le An’s face, he felt chilled to the bone instead.
Three days ago he went into raptures as he heard he got the male lead part in a drama, but just moments ago he was told that he had lost that part. And on top of that his contract with his company was terminated, the scenes where his manager lashed out at him, wishing to squeeze a million default fine from him, leaped to his eyes, .
To make it worse, wagging of tongues awaited him as he walked out of the company.
“Look! That is Qi Le An!”
“Shhh!”
“What? I’ve always thought Qi Le An must be gorgeous looking, I can’t believe he managed to seduce his boss and frame up his colleagues with a plain face like that!”
“Well, we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes... ...”
“... ...”
The sun was still scorching intensely, the sunlight was so strong that it hurt, but Qi Le An couldn’t feel the slightest warmth.
Qi Le An stood on the street blankly, he swept around the crowd, he felt like someone had recognized him, then he felt otherwise in a split second.
His phone rang, he answered the call.
“Qi Le An! What’s the matter with you? Where’s my money?” it was Qi Le An’s Uncle, he raved at Qi Le An on the phone, “Transfer me the money! Now! Mind you that I raised you in spite of all the hardships! Qi Le An!”
With that Uncle hang up.
Qi Le An stood under a tree, devoid of any facial expression.
Qi Le An’s parents passed away when he was twelve years old, Uncle took care of him for a month after that. Then Uncle sent him to Glory Entertainment to become a trainee on the pretext of ‘it’s gonna be such a waste if such a good-looking boy can’t become an actor.’
Qi Le An had never seen his parents’ pension since they had passed away, and his Uncle would press him for a monthly remittance like he was in debt. Uncle would make a scene if Qi Le An dared to transfer him the money.
Poor Qi Le An just debuted, he didn’t earn much, he was squeezed dry by Uncle.
The traffic light had turned green, Qi Le An took a deep breath and walked across the street.
‘Who is behind this? Is it someone who is on bad terms with me? Why would they frame me up like this?’ Qi Le An was preoccupied by questions like these as he walked across the street.
All of a sudden Qi Le An lost his balance, the sky and earth were spinning round right in front of him, then throbbing pain came from his lower back. Qi Le An’s eyes were wide open as he felt that pain, what met his eyes was someone dashed off from a car with a touch of complacency in the eye, but feigned panic was written all over his face.
As an actor, Qi Le An was good at reading people’s expressions, he could tell that man hit him on purpose immediately. But he fell to the ground in a faint the next second.
Qi Le An just felt like his body was getting heavier and heavier, a sense of weightlessness made him come to for a few seconds.
“To treat him? How much money is that going to cost? I don’t think so!”
Qi Le An heard Uncle’s voice vaguely, then Aunt echoed, “All these years’ caring and loving, we’ve done everything called for by humanity and duty! A family like ours can’t afford to have a vegetative patient, he is better off reuniting with his late parents!”
Qi Le An wished to differ after he heard what they said. But Uncle and Aunt’s voice became more and more vague, Qi Le An lost his consciousness again.
Qi Le An felt so much better a while later, he felt light. Literally. He floated in the air and looked at himself lying in the bed.
Medical instruments were attached to his body, but the numeric values looked rather ominous. There was no one else in the small ward but himself.
Two nurses pushed the door open and one of them said, “Such a poor boy, I heard he was a starlet, but no one even is here to say goodbye to him.”
“Shhh, he is still kind of breathing!”
“Just a matter of time, isn’t it? His family refused to spend a penny on him, it’s his fans who have raised him some money.”
“Poor boy... ...”
The door was pushed open before the nurse could finish her sentence, the two nurses blushed as they saw who the visitor was.
It was Chu Cheng Yuan, Qi Le An’s best friend. Chu Cheng Yuan was more famous than Qi Le An, but Chu Cheng Yuan didn’t care about fame.
Seeing Chu Cheng Yuan, Qi Le An thought probably his friend was here to save him.
Chu Cheng Yuan asked the nurses to leave, then he walked to Qi Le An’s bedside.
To Qi Le An’s surprise, his friend showed a cold smile and said, “Why are you still breathing?”
Qi Le An was dumbstruck in the air.
Chu Cheng Yuan said viciously, “Do you know I got the male lead part of Legend of Immortals?”
Legend of Immortals was supposed to be Qi Le An’s new drama!
Chu Cheng Yuan’s expression turned vicious, he gave Qi Le An a ferocious stare, “This is what you get for trying to compete with me!”
Chu Cheng Yuan’s betrayal was even more painful than the car accident. Chu Cheng Yuan glared at Qi Le An before he put on his cap and mask and left.
The medical instruments started to beep seconds after Chu Cheng Yuan left.
Several doctors and nurses swarmed into Qi Le An’s ward, a doctor checked Qi Le An and shook his head, the nurses nodded and went to inform Qi Le An’s family.
Qi Le An witnessed that in a trance, ‘Am I really dead?’
Uncle arrived at Qi Le An’s ward two hours later, he didn’t even shed a tear on seeing Qi Le An’s body. Uncle arranged several people to carry Qi Le An’s body to the hallway.
“You heartless monster! It’s you! It’s you who has killed my boy!”
The scene caused much attention, security came to evacuate the onlookers, Qi Le An’s body was trampled on as they pushed and shoved, but no one seemed to have noticed that.
“We request compensation, otherwise we won’t leave!” Uncle made a scene in front of the doctor’s office, Qi Le An just found it absurd!
His best friend wished him death, and Uncle, his only family, gave up on saving him, but was prepared to go to any lengths to get compensation from the hospital.
Hatred battered recklessly in his heart.
Nobody seemed to care that his body was being trampled on.
The leadership asked Uncle for a private talk in the office, and neither party paid any attention to the body on the ground, to make it worse, the body was scantily clad .
Hatred battered even more recklessly in Qi Le An’s heart as he noticed the onlookers funny looks on their faces.
Qi Le An now heard a slight sigh, and a man with a mask on his face took off his jacket and covered Qi Le An’s body.
It was a regular sunscreen jacket in summer, but it helped Qi Le An from getting all those looks.
Qi Le An who was now floating in the air took a look at the man, it was Wei Chang Feng, the Film Emperor Wei Chang Feng!
It was a pure coincidence that Wei Chang Feng showed up in the hospital, his assistant dragged him away after he put his jacket on Qi Le An’s body.
Qi Le An was deeply touched.
Uncle now walked out from the office, beaming, the guys he brought with him also looked rather satisfied.
Uncle cast a glimpse at Qi Le An’s body then he told the nurse, “He died in your hospital, you should cover the following expenses and all!”
With that Uncle left the building without looking back.
Qi Le An wished he could become a ferocious ghost and haunt Uncle.
Half between sleeping and waking, somewhere between floating and sinking, Qi Le An heard someone asked him “Do you hate him?”
“I do!”
With that Qi Le An lost his consciousness.
... ...
“An, what did the teacher say to you after class?”
Qi Le An opened his eyes as he heard this voice, he stared at what was in front of him with disbelief.
A wood desk with a second-handed computer and some personal belongings on it and a pile of books. Qi Le An averted his gaze and he saw a familiar green curtain.
Qi Le An took a look at the calendar on the desk, 6th, June, 2011. Five years ago!
“An?” the person asked again, Qi Le An raised his head.
It was a younger version of Yan Lang. Yan Lang pouted as Qi Le An ignored his questions, “Are you keeping it a secret... ...”
“No,” Qi Le An replied, “The teacher told me a crew would do a casting in our company the day after tomorrow.”
Qi Le An noticed he still hadn’t undergone voice change period.
Yan Lang’s eyes sparkled, “Really? Which crew?”
Qi Le An shook his head, “No idea, the teacher just said he would tell us more details in the class.”
Yan Lang smiled, “Ah~ I’m going to grab some food, wanna join me?”
Qi Le An shook his head and Yan Lang said goodbye, Yan Lang missed the panic in Qi Le An’s eyes as he left so soon.
Qi Le An withdrew his diary from his drawer after Yan Lang had left, he closed his diary after he read for five minutes, then he grabbed a mirror to look at himself.
Qi Le An now was sure he had reincarnated five years ago.
He was fifteen this year, one of the trainees in Glory Entertainment. 6th of June, three days until he lost his first part in his last life.
‘Is this my second chance to get everything belongs to me?’
Qi Le An looked at his own reflection in the mirror and burst into laughter, the laughter turned into a hysterical one in no time with tears in his eyes.
‘That’s it! This is my second chance! God have mercy!’
‘Great! Time to settle score! All of you!’
Qi Le An soon adjusted his facial expressions looking at his reflection, he was looking for a meek smile.
Trainees in Glory Entertainment surely were good-looking, so was Qi Le An. Qi Le An was still a growing boy at this point, he was a bit short and slim for a boy of his age.
That casting crew he just told Yan Lang was casting for To Perish Demons, he remembered the casting director thought him a fit for a part of the drama for his figure, but that part was stolen by Yan Lang.
The show became a hit and Yan Lang became more and more popular, he moved out of the dormitory soon after that.
And himself had spent another three years waiting for an opportunity, he didn’t get much fame from the small part he finally got.
Qi Le An wouldn’t allow it to happen again!
Yan Lang didn’t came back to the dormitory like Qi Le An had remembered. Qi Le An also remembered that Yan Lang greeted him in the classroom the next morning, and the teacher announced the great news about the casting. The casting director took a shine to Qi Le An immediately and asked him to join dinner with the crew that night.
However, Qi Le An had diarrhea on the audition day, he didn’t make it to the audition, and somehow Yan Lang got the part. The teacher was disappointed by him and stopped to favor him.
Yan Lang gave him a bottle of questionable lemonade on the night before the audition day!
In his last life, Qi Le An always asked himself what if....
Would he be the one who soared to fame if he hadn’t drank the lemonade. Would his life be more smooth if he were blessed with a good start?
It was getting dark, but Qi Le An couldn’t fall asleep. So many scenes kept flashing right in front of his eyes, things happened in his last life, things happened in this life... ...
Qi Le An swore to himself that he wouldn’t allow himself to be trampled upon ever again.
Qi Le An’s eyelids were getting heavy as it was getting late, however, he felt like he was wide awake as he was about to fall asleep.
Qi Le An opened his eyes to find he wasn’t on his bed, and it was pitch dark.
Qi Le An panicked, ‘Am I dead now? No more second chance?’
A voice rang when he was at a loss, “Welcome to the Nightmare System.”