Chapter 21 You fucking think I wanted this?

"I just made a simple adaptation of the dance tutorial provided by the program team, and that's basically it." Wen Lian stood in the middle of the practice room and sweat beaded on his forehead after demonstrating it just once. "Then we may need to discuss and decide on the formation and how to move around."

The other members sat on the ground, staring at him blankly.

"What's wrong?"

Fang Xiaoke said, "It's so difficult."

Wen Lian scratched his head and replied, "Actually, I think it's okay, it's just that jumping might be a bit tiring."

Originally, "Soaring" was a very gentle piece of music. The dance tutorial provided by the program team only included some positioning and dance moves. However, the team members felt in a meeting yesterday that the stage design was obviously not eye-catching enough, so they unanimously decided to rearrange the piece.

The improved version by Wen Lian makes each movement seem casual, but it is actually very strenuous and requires a high degree of control over the body.

"But since we've already made the changes, let's give it our all!" Fang Xiaoke jumped up, stretching her arms and legs. "I can't even imagine how amazing the final stage presentation will be!"

"...You asked me to investigate Mr. Jin He's hospital records before. I searched all the major hospitals in Haicheng, but I couldn't find any trace of him." An Yi stood in front of the window of the lounge, looking at the fallen leaves outside, and listened quietly to the report on the other end of the phone. "But there are his prescription records. Three years ago, he prescribed some stomach medicine and anti-inflammatory drugs one after another."

Jin He had a bad stomach and didn't like to eat when she was in the group. An Yi knew this.

"There aren't even his medical examination records?" An Yi asked.

"No," came the reply from the other end of the phone. "But we can't rule out the possibility that Jin He is receiving treatment outside the province or abroad."

If we were to actually start checking medical records abroad, that would be a real hassle. With so many countries and so many hospitals, finding a single patient would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Instead of going to each clinic for checkups, if you're really worried about him, bring him to the hospital for a checkup."

"I see."

An Yi was out on a music variety show schedule today. When he returned to the base, it was already evening. The sky was already ablaze with red. As soon as he got out of the car, he was dazzled by the fiery sunset. Standing here, he could also hear bursts of music coming from the practice room.

He pushed open the cafeteria door. It wasn't lunchtime yet, so it should have been empty. But in the otherwise empty cafeteria, only one table was crowded with people, who were sitting in a small circle, asking each other, "Are you alright? Are you alright?"

"Why did you suddenly fall down? What should I do? What should I do?"

"How about we find the director? Find the director?"

"Should we call an ambulance?"

Wen Lian's angry voice suddenly rang out: "Stop arguing! Go tell the production team to call a car right now. Fang Xiaoke, go get some candy from the senior's cabinet. He can't swallow anything right now. You guys should go practice, don't crowd around here."

"Okay, I'll do it now... Teacher An."

"What's going on?" An Yi walked over, and the crowd made way for him. Only then did he realize that the figure slumped over the table looked familiar, and his pupils suddenly contracted: "Jin He?!"

"What's going on?!"

“Xiao He… probably has low blood sugar,” Fang Xiaoke said. “He didn’t bring any sugar today, and drinking yogurt didn’t help. He couldn’t eat anything in the cafeteria.”

An Yi listened silently, then took out a red date candy from his pocket, lifted Jin He's sweaty forehead, put it in his mouth, and gently supported Jin He's head.

"You guys go back to training first, I'll take care of things here," An Yi said, turning back to them. "Thank you for your help today."

The students dispersed, and Wen Lian kept looking back at them. An Yi ignored them and sat down next to Jin He, letting Jin He lean against him. He supported Jin He's back with one hand and tried to touch the back of his knee with the other, attempting to lift him up, but found that his chest was gently pushed.

Cold sweat dampened Jin He's eyelashes. He struggled to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw was An Yi's big face. He pushed An Yi away again, sat up straight, but felt dizzy and slumped back onto the table.

"Why are you being so stubborn?" An Yi gritted his teeth. "Jin He, you're really something to starve yourself to the point of hypoglycemia."

Jin He pretended not to hear, squinting at his fitness tracker. The tracker didn't alarm, so it seemed that the reason for fainting was indeed low blood sugar. He glanced at An Yi, who was jumping up and down, then buried his head in his arms, leaving only the back of his head visible, looking like he refused to communicate.

"Why aren't you eating? I've looked at the menu, and it's all your favorite dishes. Why aren't you eating?"

“I ate it, the camera recorded it, I ate a whole big bowl of it.”

"Yes, three bites a bowl of rice. If it upsets your stomach, go to the bathroom to vomit, or eat it grain by grain. Jinhe, how old are you? Do you need to be coaxed to eat properly?"

"Anyway, I didn't ask you to coax me," Jin He said in a muffled voice.

"Yes, I didn't mean to coax you. What does it have to do with me if you just let yourself go hungry and get low blood sugar?" An Yi stood up abruptly, leaving without even taking off the coat draped over Jin He.

Jin He kept her head down, burying her face in her arms. When she heard the footsteps of the person leaving, she quietly scoffed.

But not long after, he heard a soft thud from the table next to him. He turned his head and saw An Yi with a dark face placing a bowl of clear beef noodle soup in front of him.

"Come on, I'll watch you eat all of this."

Jin He frowned, looking very annoyed: "We can't finish it."

"A tiny bowl, no bigger than the palm of your hand, won't fill you up!" An Yi knew exactly how much this person could eat, and glared at him fiercely, saying, "Come on, I'll just watch you eat. If you can't finish it, then..."

Jin He's face was deathly pale, glistening with sweat, making her look almost translucent, like a porcelain doll.

The porcelain doll stared at him expressionlessly.

"You just..."

"You're finished!"

Jin He responded to An Yi with the same fierce expression, snatched the chopsticks from his hand, and stabbed them hard on the table twice. This was very inconsistent with Jin He's dining etiquette, but it seemed that she had no other way to express her anger.

It wasn't that he was genuinely afraid of An Yi's funny but harsh words, but rather that he really needed to eat something, as he had training that evening.

but……

An Yi stared intently at Jin He, watching as he picked up one or two noodles with his chopsticks, ate a bite of vegetables, then pushed the bowl forward, wiped his mouth, and prepared to leave.

"Are you just going to eat it between your teeth?"

Jin He ignored him. He had just eaten a piece of red date candy, which had restored some of his strength. He wanted to go back to his dormitory to take some medicine and prepare some candy so that he could get through the night. So he walked on by himself.

An Yi roared in a fit of impotence and rage from behind: "You come back here, Jin He!"

Jin He wouldn't listen.

"If you don't listen to me today, I'll lock you in the cafeteria. Nobody can come in, and you can't leave. You can leave whenever you finish eating!"

Jin He stopped abruptly, turned around abruptly, and strode closer. An Yi was a little scared and reached out to hug the small bowl to his chest: "You, you, you have to eat it one bite at a time."

Jin He stared at him, her eyes beginning to redden. She took a few deep breaths, and her eyes welled up with tears.

An Yi looked even more guilty and stammered, "You, you, you..."

"If I had even a shred of appetite, if I could eat even a little bit, I wouldn't have starved myself into this state." Jin He couldn't help but swear. "Do you think I wanted to? Do you think I wanted to debase myself like this?!"