Chapter 10: Anyone who has a dream is amazing, and with courage comes miracles.

Nan HuaiLin was a bit incredulous. “Are you sure you want to eat this?”

Fei Cheng nodded, “This is what I wanted to eat the most when I was in America.”

It was an open-air barbecue stand, and business was brisk, with a full house. There were rows of meat skewers on the grill, smoking, and the rich aroma was particularly appetizing.

Nan HuaiLin laughed, “I thought…”

He thought that rich people like Fei Cheng would not eat such roadside stalls.

Fei Cheng asked, “What did you think?”

“Nothing.” Nan HuaiLin was afraid that Fei Cheng would laugh at him for not being knowledgeable.

Fei Cheng didn’t ask any more questions and looked at the menu and asked Nan HuaiLin halfway through the order, “You’re a patient, is it a good idea to have skewers?”

Nan HuaiLin said, “It’s okay, I haven’t eaten for a long time, you can just order whatever.”

Fei Cheng then pointed to the menu and said to the waiter, “Then let’s have a double portion of this page.”

Nan HuaiLin, “…Are you a gourmand?”

“No, I’m a rat,” Fei Cheng answered seriously, and asked seriously, “What do you belong to?”

Since he was a child, Nan HuaiLin hated being asked about his Chinese zodiac sign.

“…Boar.” He answered reluctantly.

A boar’s heart is bitter.

On second thought, a rat does not seem to be much better than a boar, and his heart was a bit more balanced.

“So you’re a year older than me,” Fei Cheng said, “but you look much younger than me, is it because you’re smaller?”

Nan HuaiLin, “…”

I want to hit him.

Fei Cheng flipped through the drink list, “Don’t drink the wine.” He looked up and said to the waiter, “Two cans of Lulu, hot.” 1

The waiter left and Nan HuaiLin asked, “Don’t you have something to say to me? What is it?”

Fei Cheng looked at him, “Do you know who I am?”

“…You’re Fei Cheng.” What an inexplicable question.

Fei Cheng smiled and said, “I was asking about my identity.”

Nan HuaiLin deliberated for a moment and said, “You are the brother of Ming Xi Media’s president.”

“No,” Fei Cheng said, “I’m Ming Xi’s talent director.”

“Huh?” Nan HuaiLin was slightly surprised. He remembered that Ming Xi’s talent director’s last name was Cai, when did it become Fei Cheng?

“I fired your agent today.” Fei Cheng said again.

“Fired?” Nan HuaiLin was a bit confused. “Why?”

“Because he doesn’t do anything for people,” Fei Cheng said simply and clearly.

Nan HuaiLin was a little bit happy.

One of the worst things he did was to sign with He DingHong. He thought he would be his uncle, but he didn’t expect him to be a fire pit.

“The artists under He DingHong’s hand I will share equally with other agents, including you.” Fei Cheng said. “But I heard that you want to cancel your contract with Ming Xi?”

Nan HuaiLin nodded hesitantly, “Yes.”

The reason he wanted to cancel his contract was because he had offended He DingHong and there was no way he could stay with Ming Xi, but now that He DingHong had been kicked out by Fei Cheng, there seemed to be no need for him to cancel his contract.

The waiter put the hot Lulu on the table, one can for each person.

Fei Cheng pulled the tab and handed it to Nan HuaiLin. “It’s all yours, I’m not drinking it. If I give you a drama to shoot, will you still terminate your contract?”

Nan HuaiLin did not answer.

He took a sip of Lulu, the almond-flavor was a little sweet.

Fei Cheng continued, “I looked at all of the artists signed with Ming Xi yesterday, and roughly counted: three first-tier, eight second-tier, six third-tier, and the rest are all 18th-tier with no fame or resources, like you. I’m going to do a big cleanup of these 18-line artists, the best and the worst. The really strong ones will stay, and all the other ones will be eliminated. We will completely reshape the artist chain of Ming Xi. Are you confident that you can stay?”

Nan HuaiLin asked instead of answering, “What if I stay?”

Fei Cheng said, “If you can stay, I will provide you with the resources to get you a movie. However, I can’t guarantee that you will become a star because it depends not only on your strength, but also on your luck.”

Nan HuaiLin was moved.

He didn’t want to be popular, he just wanted to have a movie to shoot.

“How are you going to clean them up?” Nan HuaiLin asked.

“A test,” Fei Cheng said, “is the simplest and most brutal way to screen talent from ancient times to the present.”

Nan HuaiLin said, “I’m confident I can stay.”

Fei Cheng hooked his lips and smiled. “So confident?”

Nan HuaiLin nodded vigorously. “Yes!”

His eyes were shining with anticipation, as if they were filled with stars.

Fei Cheng suddenly wanted to do this well, he hadn’t had the urge to do something particularly well for a long time.

“I have not yet thought about the way and time of the examination. I will inform you when I have decided, but you can rest assured that you will not have to wait too long.” Fei Cheng paused and added, “By the way, which agent do you want to follow? I can let you go there.”

Nan HuaiLin had only been to the company a handful of times in the past six months, so he didn’t know much about the people in the company. He said, “I can go anywhere. You just make the arrangements.”

Fei Cheng nodded, “OK.”

Their skewers finally came up, and they smelled delicious.

Nan HuaiLin picked up a lamb skewer and handed it to Fei Cheng, “Here you go.”

Fei Cheng took it, took a bite, smiled and said, “This is what it tastes like. It’s delicious.”

Nan HuaiLin ate in silence for a while and suddenly asked, “Why are you so nice to me?”

Fei Cheng thought about it and said seriously, “Because I’m a good person.” Then he added in his heart, ‘Because you are cute.’

Nan HuaiLin sincerely said, “Thank you, Fei Cheng.”

Fei Cheng raised his chin, “Hurry up and eat, it won’t be good if it gets cold.”

Nan HuaiLin soon couldn’t eat any more, but Fei Cheng showed an amazing appetite.

Nan HuaiLin watched him eat while drinking Lulu, thinking he might really be a gourmand.

Fei Cheng finished the last skewer and took the Lulu in front of Nan HuaiLin with one long hand, “Give me a sip, I’m choking.”

“Hey-” Nan HuaiLin wanted to say that it was his drink, but Fei Cheng had already filled his mouth, “…”

Fei Cheng’s Adam’s apple was very obvious, it rolled up and down when drinking something, inexplicably transmitting a… sexy vibe.

Nan HuaiLin moved his eyes away, and got up to pay the bill.

Although it was just the two of them, this meal was a little over four hundred yuan.

Nan HuaiLin’s abdominal muscles twitched and he felt sick. Fei Cheng was born in a rich family so he wouldn’t really understand how much this cost, but Nan HuaiLin was born in a poor family and he couldn’t afford this.

Nan HuaiLin silently calculated that his total assets did not exceed two hundred.

If he were to start acting again, he would not be able to do domestic work. There was also no drama to act in at the moment, so he had to find an odd job to earn money to support himself.

Even in this difficult situation, he was still full of joy, because the road to his dream had opened up again, and nothing made him happier than that.

“Come on,” Fei Cheng said, “I’ll buy you a drink.”

“No,” Nan HuaiLin said, “I have to go home.”

Fei Cheng looked at his watch, “It’s only eight o’clock, what’s the hurry?”

“I’m in a hurry to go home to my boyfriend,” the single person lied.

Fei Cheng raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Okay.”

Nan HuaiLin waved his hand. “Bye.”

Fei Cheng said, “Wait for my call.”

“Okay.” Nan HuaiLin gave a nice smile.

The two walked in opposite directions.

Nan HuaiLin took out his cell phone, deliberated for a while, and called Ruan Xin.

“Assistant Ruan,” Nan HuaiLin said. “Is it convenient to talk now?”

“Yes,” Ruan Xin said, “Has your fever gone down?”

“Yes.” Nan HuaiLin gave a slight pause. “Assistant Ruan, I’m calling to talk to you about something.”

“What is it?” Ruan Xin asked.

“I told you before that I don’t have a drama to act in, but now there is a sudden turnaround and I have a chance to act again, so I may not have time to do the housekeeping job.” Nan HuaiLin apologized. “I’m really sorry for the trouble I caused you when you were kind enough to give me a job.”

Ruan Xin smiled and said, “Don’t be sorry, it’s a good thing. I’ll just recruit more people, it’s no trouble.”

Nan HuaiLin said, “I’ll do it until you get someone.”

“Okay.” Ruan Xin said. “Is there anything else?”

“No,” Nan HuaiLin said. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s really okay,” Ruan Xin said. “Then that’s all for now, bye.”

“Bye.”

After hanging up the phone, Nan HuaiLin let out a long breath.

He felt both sorry for and grateful to Ruan Xin, but he couldn’t think of any way to make up for it for now, so he had to take it to heart and find a way to pay him back later.

After taking the subway to Shuangqiao and leaving the station, Nan HuaiLin went straight in the direction of the gym.

He had been feverish for the past two days and hadn’t exercised at all. Not to mention that tonight he had eaten something so high in calories as barbecue, so if he didn’t run for an hour to burn off some steam he might be too sick to sleep.

He kept his shorts and tank top in his backpack, changed into them when he got to the gym and went straight to the treadmill.

Nan HuaiLin ran for a full hour and a half, drenched in sweat from head to toe, feeling tired and cool.

He took a quick shower, changed into clean clothes and went home.

After arriving home and taking a proper shower, he went to bed refreshed and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Since the breakup with Shi Yan he had been feeling so low, but today was the happiest he’d felt in a while.

Although he lost love, he still has a dream to fight for, which was good.

Anyone with a dream was amazing, and with the courage to dream comes miracles.

So he was also an amazing person, and Fei Cheng…was his miracle, right?

The author has something to say: 

Cheng Cheng: What do you belong to?

Nan Nan: …Boar.

Cheng Cheng: No, you belong to me.

— “One Hundred Cheesy Pick-Up Lines.”