Parents

Ying Huai first met Liang Shining in his previous life at a crossover-singer variety show.

He was serving as a mentor on the show at the time. The Production Team required each mentor to lead a team, with the final groupings determined through mutual selection.

Ying Huai was only twenty years old then, the youngest mentor on the show, barely two or three years older than the contestants themselves.

Added to that, his personality had always been lazy and easygoing, with no pretensions, so after a while he got along with everyone.

Almost every contestant wanted to join his team.

— Except for Liang Shining, that closed gourd.

But for some reason, Ying Huai had set his sights on Liang Shining and persistently followed him around, 'harassing' him.

'Mr. Liang, your voice is really beautiful,' Ying Huai leaned against the recording studio doorway, smiling as he spoke. 'Elegant and serene, just like you yourself, Mr. Liang.'

'You'd be a perfect fit for my team — we'd complement each other nicely.'

The moment his words fell, he saw the person inside the recording studio take off his headphones and walk out without looking back.

Ying Huai: ?

'Mr. Liang, your emotions are so full, so immersive.' In the rehearsal room, Ying Huai leaned against the speaker, speaking lazily. 'As expected of an actor.'

'My team happens to be missing a pro like Mr. Liang.'

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a shadow fall over him.

He looked up and met Liang Shining's downcast gaze.

After 'harassing' Liang Shining for so long, this was the first time Ying Huai got a direct response from him.

He looked up, somewhat flattered: 'You agreed?'

'No,' Liang Shining said quietly. 'You're blocking the speaker buttons.'

Ying Huai: ??

Liang Shining: 'Please move aside.'

Ying Huai: ......

Ying Huai once suspected Liang Shining might dislike him.

'Do you think he likes you, shifu?' Le Xi, who had already joined his team, asked quietly.

Ying Huai glanced up at Le Xi. Le Xi stuck out his tongue and quickly rephrased: 'I mean — he's not your type, shifu. Pick someone else.'

'What do you know? The melon you force off the vine is the sweetest.' Ying Huai said lazily.

He watched Le Xi's suddenly panicked expression beside him and couldn't resist the urge to tease again.

'Let me tell you, teasing this kind of closed gourd is the most fun.'

But Le Xi's eyes kept darting toward the door as he tried to interrupt in a small voice: 'Shifu, wait a second—'

But Ying Huai was in full flow, his peach-blossom eyes curving: 'The best part is when you tease him ten times and he finally says something back. That means you're on the right track — the closed gourd is starting to open up.'

Le Xi's eyes were darting so much they were nearly going cross-eyed.

After teasing Le Xi enough, Ying Huai finally slowly prepared to say something serious: 'But none of that is the key point. The most important thing is—'

Before he could finish, Le Xi beside him finally couldn't hold back and shouted: 'Shifu!'

Ying Huai was startled.

'Shifu,' Le Xi took a deep breath and said quietly, 'Maybe you should turn around first.'

'Turn around? Once I've decided on something, I never turn back...' Ying Huai turned his head in bewilderment and met Liang Shining's slightly cold expression at the door.

Ying Huai: ??!

Liang Shining turned and walked straight out. Ying Huai no longer cared about anything and instantly scrambled up from the recliner.

— Le Xi swore he'd never seen his lazy shifu move that fast.

'Mr. Liang, Teacher Liang—'

'Liang Shining!'

The person ahead suddenly stopped walking.

Ying Huai clutched his chest, panting a few times, coughing as he quickly stepped in front of Liang Shining: 'Why are you running so fast? Have some consideration for a sickly invalid like me.'

He'd expected Liang Shining to mock him a few times, but instead the person before him frowned, stared at him for a few seconds, and suddenly asked: 'You're sick?'

Ying Huai was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed: 'Is that the point right now, Mr. Liang?'

'I'm not sick — no, no, I just have always been in poor health.' Ying Huai instinctively denied it out of habit, only to notice Liang Shining's expression cooling again.

He hurriedly corrected himself: 'I'm not lying to you. I was just joking earlier — the part I didn't finish saying is the key—'

'I imagine Teacher Ying can make this kind of joke with anyone,' Liang Shining suddenly said. 'I'm probably not the only one.'

Ying Huai's expression froze slightly: 'What?'

Liang Shining said nothing. He lowered his eyes and lifted his foot to leave again.

But he'd only taken one step when he suddenly heard the person before him blurt out: 'I really do like you.'

Liang Shining's body instantly went rigid.

Ying Huai didn't notice this.

He really couldn't walk anymore. He leaned sideways against the wall nearby and said softly: 'Your voice is really excellent — deep, mellow, and even without formal training, it's remarkably natural and smooth. I really do like that kind of voice.'

Liang Shining was stunned for a moment, and his tense body suddenly relaxed.

He listened as a hint of helplessness crept into Ying Huai's clear voice: 'That's just my personality — out of ten sentences, it's rare to get one that's true.'

'But everything I just said was true.'

Liang Shining's expression froze slightly.

He instinctively raised his eyes and saw that the young man before him had somehow straightened up, standing in front of him with a smile full of warmth.

A faint light glimmered in his peach-blossom eyes: 'I'm really looking forward to what melodies you'll sing in the future, whether or not you join my team.'

'But I also hope Teacher Liang will consider me.'

The corridor was silent. Finally, Ying Huai heard the young man before him say in a slightly deep voice: 'Okay.'

Ying Huai's peach-blossom eyes curved instantly.

That very evening, Ying Huai quickly confirmed the team lineup with the Production Team. Three days later, he personally took charge and swiftly wrote out their first battle song.

Their team's first battle made them famous overnight, and they cut through the competition all the way to the finals.

Everyone believed that year's championship would be claimed by either Le Xi or Liang Shining.

More people leaned toward Liang Shining taking first place.

But everything that happened later was beyond everyone's expectations.

Le Xi was suddenly secretly harmed and hospitalized before the finals. All the clues pointed to Liang Shining, and the Production Team was forced to suspend operations for investigation.

But a week later, Ying Huai suddenly announced his withdrawal from the show, while Liang Shining unilaterally terminated his master-disciple relationship with Ying Huai.

The final investigation was also dropped due to insufficient evidence.

It wasn't until later, when Ying Huai was subjected to a massive online backlash, that rumors suddenly began circulating online that Ying Huai had drugged Le Xi so that Liang Shining could win the championship.

Of the three, only Liang Shining had ever issued a statement denying it; the other two never responded.

·

In the room, Ying Huai sat leaning against the headboard, his expression dazed.

Memories of his previous life gradually overwhelmed him. Ying Huai's body trembled slightly, and he suddenly said softly: 'You shouldn't have responded...'

Liang Shining, half-kneeling before the bed, frowned: 'What?'

Ying Huai seemed not to hear.

His pupils lost focus as he murmured softly: 'The public opinion was clearly pointing at me. I'm your shifu — I should have borne it for you. You shouldn't have responded...'

Liang Shining realized something was wrong with Ying Huai's state. He quickly stood up and pressed on Ying Huai's philtrum: 'Ying Huai!'

Ying Huai felt the pain and suddenly came back to himself.

He stared at the person before him, his expression gradually paling. He suddenly reached out and pushed the person away: 'I'm not your shifu.'

Liang Shining stumbled a step. Ying Huai finally realized where he was now.

The wisps of hair on his forehead were soaked with cold sweat. He closed his eyes briefly and said softly: 'I'm fine.'

'I'm not your shifu,' Ying Huai lowered his head, pinching the bridge of his nose, and managed a smile. 'Trust is too precious — I can't afford to give it.'

— He had already experienced the cost of bearing it in his previous life; in this life, he had no intention of dying again.

Liang Shining seemed about to say something more when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Ying Huai let out a breath of relief and resumed his usual smiling appearance: 'That should be Mr. Liang's manager, right? You'd better head out, Mr. Liang.'

Liang Shining's gaze fell on the still-trembling fingers of the person on the bed, and he finally turned and walked out.

He heard Ying Huai's calm voice come from behind him one last time: 'Mr. Liang's affairs are no longer any of my concern.'

'Take care on your way out, Mr. Liang. I won't see you off.'

·

At the door, Liang Shining's manager Li Xiang was squatting at the entrance, wisps of smoke seemingly rising from his head.

'Teacher Liang, you've finally come out.' Li Xiang looked at the person at the door, instantly sprang up, and lunged straight at him.

Liang Shining dodged the 180-pound body rushing at him, and Li Xiang, accustomed to this, nimbly pivoted and followed behind Liang Shining.

'Whose house is this? What are you doing here? If you've got a boyfriend outside, you have to tell me — I can secretly drive you around—'

'Ying Huai's house,' Liang Shining interrupted him. 'I got drunk, and he brought me back.'

Li Xiang's attention was entirely focused on the second half of Liang Shining's sentence. He said disdainfully: 'You, drunk? Who's fooling who? Saying you can hold a thousand cups without getting drunk is an understatement for your tolerance — and you got so drunk you had to be carried home—'

He suddenly realized something as he spoke, his torrent of words cutting off abruptly: 'Whose house did you just say this is?'

His expression instantly turned horrified: 'Your boyfriend is Ying Huai?'

Liang Shining: ......

His brow twitched. He took a deep breath: 'What I mean is—'

Before he could finish, a gentle voice suddenly came from not far away: 'Excuse me, did you just say you're Xiao Huai's boyfriend?'

Li Xiang had already run through eight hundred PR plans in his head, and now everyone looked like a paparazzo to him.

He stepped forward, blocking Liang Shining, and asked warily: 'What we say is none of your business — and who are you?'

The gentle-faced man before him smiled. He was just about to speak when the sound of a door opening suddenly came from nearby.

Immediately after, Ying Huai's surprised voice came from behind them: 'Ge?'

Liang Shining's expression instantly froze.