Chapter 6

The first call wasn’t answered, but the second one was picked up quickly.

A familiar female voice sounded on the other end, with clear concern and nervousness: “An An, you’re calling me suddenly. Did you run into some trouble?”

Xie An’s eyes immediately turned red.

It had been two years since he left home. Although he had kept in secret contact with his sister and stayed updated on the family situation, he hadn’t seen his parents in person for two full years.

Both sides had stubborn temperaments, and with his parents’ status, they frequented high-end places and had personal protection, so he couldn’t even see them from afar.

This was the first time he’d heard his mother’s voice in two years, and it instantly made him feel like he’d been a real jerk.

Thinking about it, if his parents truly didn’t care about his wishes, how could he have stayed safely at school for two years?

The program was still live. He sniffed, adjusted his emotions, and tried to make his voice sound normal: “No, mom. I’m recording a show, just thought of you guys suddenly. How are you and dad today?”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

It seemed that his usually stubborn son actually softening up to seek peace had caught his mother off guard, and she choked up for a moment.

“Your dad and I are fine, we’re watching your show.”

Then Xie’s father’s voice could be heard: “You still remember you have parents! Two years away and not a word, now you call, what for!”

Xie’s mother scolded him a bit, but then her tone softened again: “An An, when you’re done with the show, mom will come pick you up. Dad and I have to go on a business trip, we’re heading to the airport now. Be good, if you run into any trouble, contact your sister, and ask her to help you.”

Xie An nodded. After a moment, remembering they couldn’t see him, he muffled an “mm” sound.

After chatting a bit more about both sides’ situations, the call reluctantly ended.

It took Xie An quite a while to calm down, but he felt much more at ease.

Ke Xingzhou was, after all, just a liar spouting nonsense!

He felt completely rejuvenated and was about to jump up to find Ke Xingzhou and tell him that his parents were fine, but at that moment, the staff called his name.

Since the pre-recording was important, he had to put aside his grudge with Ke Xingzhou for now and adjust his mood before heading in for the recording.

Because it was a live broadcast, the program's schedule was packed, with the pre-recording followed closely by the first rehearsal for the group performance.

Xie An wasn’t a complete newbie. He was signed to a company and came with the other artists, so naturally, his performance would be with them.

His teammates were the same two people who had earlier gone to confront Ke Xingzhou.Although it had already been confirmed that Ke Xingzhou was a little liar, once he entered the studio, the feeling of unease swept over him once again.

To be honest, although his family's situation wasn’t exactly a secret, it was certainly not something an average person could easily inquire about.

Ke Xingzhou had gone to great lengths to gather so much information, was it just to scam him out of ten yuan?

What kind of performance art was this?

When they arrived at the rehearsal location, the sense of unease in Xie An grew even stronger.

He looked up at the large lights overhead. Though they were the same as the ones on previous stages, now they seemed like huge stones suspended above him, making him feel like he couldn’t breathe.

This feeling didn’t go away even when it was time for them to go on stage. Xie An couldn’t help but hesitate as he approached: “I’m not feeling well. I have this bad feeling like something might go wrong. Should we wait a bit before going on?”

As soon as he said this, his two teammates immediately protested in unison.

“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been with Ke Xingzhou for a while, now you want to create a ‘mystical’ persona too?”

“There are so many people waiting behind us, and the live broadcast cameras are on. What a great opportunity to be on camera! If you don’t go on, then you stay behind, but don’t blame us if the stage effect turns out bad.”

In the entertainment industry, these things were common, and their concerns weren’t baseless.

The three of them were performing a song and dance that required a lot of coordination. If Xie An didn’t perform, it would affect the quality of the show.

Xie An hesitated for a moment but gritted his teeth and followed along.

The stage was his dream place, and this program was his only path to realizing that dream. He had been working towards this for over ten years, and now that he was about to step onto the stage he’d always dreamed of, he couldn’t give up so easily just because of some vague words from others.

However, he still signaled the staff to check everything, just in case there were any oversights.

As they went on stage, Xie An still felt uneasy, constantly on alert for any potential issues, but by the time their rehearsal was almost finished, nothing had gone wrong.

Xie An let out a sigh of relief, and the tension in his chest finally eased.

It seemed like Ke Xingzhou really was a complete fraud!

But just as he thought this, a horrible “creaking” sound suddenly came from above.

Xie An’s heart tightened, and alarm bells went off in his mind. Without thinking, he yelled at the two teammates: “Run!!”

Before the words even left his mouth, a massive shadow fell from above, crashing down right in front of him with a “bang.”

In an instant, his two teammates collapsed to the ground.

Xie An’s mind went blank, and his blood seemed to freeze. He raised his hand to touch his cheek, and the glaring red appeared in his vision.

His temples throbbed with the pulsing veins, and every sound seemed to fade into the distance.

After a brief moment of shock, the crowd erupted into piercing screams, and everyone rushed onto the stage. Some were calling for an ambulance, others trying to provide first aid, pushing Xie An out of the crowd.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but when he became aware of someone waving their hand in front of him, the scene had already turned into chaos.

The ambulance had just arrived, and the stretcher carried away his two teammates, their bodies mangled beyond recognition. By his ear, he could hear staff members comforting everyone: “…The doctor said that they’re not in immediate danger, but one has a broken bone, and the other is in a coma. They probably won’t be able to participate in the competition.”

Xie An’s eyes moved, and he suddenly grabbed the staff member: “Are they still alive?”"They’re alive, don’t worry. The production team has already called the police, and they will definitely catch the culprit," the staff member said, pausing for a moment before adding, "Luckily, you reminded them to move aside instinctively, or else… the consequences would have been unimaginable."

It was only at that moment that Xie An finally felt like he had come back to life. His blood seemed to flow once more, and his heart beat faster, cold sweat soaking his back.

After calming him down, the staff member left. The situation had been so severe that the live broadcast had been interrupted, and they had to give the audience, as well as the contestants' families and companies, a satisfactory explanation.

Everyone became busy.

Xie An stayed in the corner for a while, slowly regaining his composure, but then he remembered the words Ke Xingzhou had said to him.

— "Your parents might be facing a major crisis, with ominous signs of bloodshed."

He suddenly felt a chill and quickly pulled out his phone to call his parents. However, the phone that had been working fine before he went on stage now refused to connect no matter how hard he tried.

Xie An even borrowed someone else's phone and dialed both numbers, but all he heard was either a busy signal or a message saying the line was already in use.

The numbers and notes on the screen kept flashing, and between the black screen moments, his pale face was reflected.

At the same time, a low-profile red flag car was driving toward the airport.

Xie Zhwen was on a video conference call, and just as they were discussing the most crucial matter, the person on the other side suddenly stopped moving and speaking.

Mrs. Xie, who had been talking to her daughter on the phone, sharing the good news that her son had finally dropped his stubborn attitude and was in contact with the family, also suddenly couldn’t hear anything on the line. She called out a few confused "hello"s.

When she looked at her phone, the signal had dropped to just one bar and was intermittently disappearing.

"Why is the signal so bad here?" Mrs. Xie complained.

She had been about to remind her daughter to check on her son’s situation, to make sure he wasn't being bullied.

The driver ahead promptly reminded them, "I saw a sign on the roadside saying that the signal tower in this area is malfunctioning. It should be fine once we pass through."

The couple nodded and finally felt relieved.

With no signal and nothing to do, Xie Zhwen could offline process some company documents, while Mrs. Xie, who was carsick, couldn’t look at the screen and turned her head to look out the window.

The pace of life in the capital was fast, and even though the airport was located in a more remote area, the road was still filled with cars, and the car soon slowed down.

It seemed that the people in the nearby cars also had no signal, as they were all rolling down their windows to look outside. Mrs. Xie, at just the right angle, happened to see a chubby little toddler sitting in a baby seat in the back of the car next to them.

Her expression softened a little, and after a moment, she sighed, "Everyone at home is so troublesome. When will I be able to hold my grandkids?"

Her son was rebellious, but her daughter was very capable and a good manager for the company. She didn’t have to worry too much about the company’s future since her daughter would eventually take over. However, whether it was her son or daughter, they both inherited her husband's workaholic nature and threw themselves into their careers. Despite being good-looking, neither of them had even had a boyfriend or girlfriend.

It really made her heart ache.

Xie Zhwen knew his wife had always been a worrier. Although he didn’t think their children were at the right age for marriage and children yet, he didn’t argue with her. Instead, he changed the subject. "I think the signal might have improved a bit. Why don’t you check?"

Mrs. Xie looked down, and sure enough, the signal had fully restored.

Just then, as if by some kind of telepathic connection, her phone received a call from their daughter.Mrs. Xie picked up the phone, just about to continue the conversation, when she heard her daughter’s urgent voice on the other end, repeatedly asking where they were and if they could immediately find a safe place to stay.

It was rare for her daughter to sound so unsettled, and Mrs. Xie couldn't help but be affected by her emotions, feeling uneasy herself.

Although she found it strange that her daughter was making such an unreasonable request, she still trusted her child. Upon hearing the words, she immediately instructed the driver to pull over and told her husband they needed to get out of the car.

The driver was momentarily confused, looking ahead.

In front was an intersection where cars heading to different places were splitting off, and the traffic outside began to loosen up. The car in front of them started moving, and the next one was theirs.

"Ma'am, the airport is just ahead. We can only turn back here..."

"Do as she says," Xie Zhwen responded.

Although the driver didn’t understand what was happening, he could only turn the car around and pull to the side on the other road.

The couple quickly got out of the car, and Mrs. Xie had just enough time to ask her daughter on the phone, “What’s going on? Why are you so anxious?”

Before the eldest daughter could speak, a screeching sound of metal scraping and honking suddenly came from not far away, followed by a series of deafening crashes, which stunned the Xie family for a moment.

Instinctively, they all looked up in the direction of the sound, and saw, just ahead at the intersection, a cargo van that had lost control and crashed straight across the guardrail into the opposite lane!

The cargo van was massive, and in a sea of mostly private cars, it seemed like a giant beast.

Under the immense impact, the steel bodies of those cars crumpled like paper, easily collapsing without resistance.

Mrs. Xie’s face drained of all color as she saw the car carrying the baby.

Just before the van crashed, she could almost hear the baby’s frightened cries. But in the blink of an eye, that sound vanished.

With a loud "bang," the out-of-control van hit several private cars, causing them to flip over. The car carrying the baby was instantly crushed into a thin metal sheet, blood spilling from around the wreckage.

Mrs. Xie’s legs went weak, and her face turned pale as she collapsed against her husband, unable to say a word due to the horrifying scene.

The cars behind them, caught off guard by the sudden chaos, were thrown into confusion, with screeching brakes heard everywhere. Some cars even drove up onto the sidewalk.

Several vehicles came barreling toward them, and Xie Zhwen was shocked. Instinctively, he held his wife tightly, shielding her with his body and closing his eyes in terror.