Chapter 38

Zhang Chengyuan felt both pity and admiration in his heart. Zheng Xiuyan, at such a young age, was not afraid of hardship and had put in more effort than he, a man several years older, had. He almost entirely relied on the abilities he gained from his previous life to take shortcuts. If they were in the same conditions, he would probably be far inferior to Zheng Xiuyan.

Shaking his head, Zhang Chengyuan sighed and then gathered his spirit to carefully observe Zheng Xiuyan's dance moves. Compared to the others, Zheng Xiuyan, who had only been training for a few months, was still far behind, appearing very inexperienced. However, compared to a few months ago, she had made significant progress, showing that her level of effort and talent were both quite good. Unfortunately, they were only good, not outstanding enough to surpass everyone else. To pass the company's strict selection process and debut, she would likely need to work hard for many more years. One reason was her young age, just a little over 11; the other was the intense internal competition within the company, making it extremely difficult to survive and gain a chance to debut.

After about half an hour, it was probably time for lunch, and the trainees began to leave the practice room in twos and threes. They were slightly surprised by Zhang Chengyuan's tall and imposing figure but then walked past him indifferently. Soon, only a few people were left in the practice room, and Zheng Xiuyan was still practicing, with no one around her. At this moment, Zhang Chengyuan walked in and quietly approached Zheng Xiuyan, standing a few meters away, waiting for her to finish a set of moves and stop on her own.

After a few minutes, Zheng Xiuyan stopped to catch her breath and suddenly noticed Zhang Chengyuan's imposing figure, which no one could ignore, especially for the petite and sensitive Zheng Xiuyan. To her, Zhang Chengyuan was like a towering mountain peak standing in front of her, and his cold expression always made her feel pressured. This made it impossible for her to speak to Zhang Chengyuan as casually as Xiao Shuijing, and thus their relationship had not progressed much over the past few months.

Zhang Chengyuan was not intentionally trying to be stern; he just felt that as an older brother, he should be serious and authoritative. Even in front of Xiao Shuijing, he was almost the same, but Xiao Shuijing, being young and innocent, never found Zhang Chengyuan's expression scary. Zheng Xiuyan, on the other hand, was mature for her age, sensitive, and had reached the age where she began to understand the differences between men and women, naturally feeling some fear towards Zhang Chengyuan, making it difficult for her to get close to him. In Zhang Chengyuan's eyes, he thought their personalities were naturally incompatible. Moreover, to others, both of them seemed to have cold personalities, making it hard for them to get along.

Zheng Xiuyan's mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally let out a light breath and slowly said, "Oppa, why did you come?"

Zhang Chengyuan, with a blank expression, replied, "Nothing much, I just received a call from Shuijing yesterday and thought of coming to see you." His tone was unconsciously a bit softer than usual.

After hearing Zhang Chengyuan's words, a hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Zheng Xiuyan's eyes, and she remained silent, not knowing what to think.

Zhang Chengyuan said, "I bought some food for you on the street. Just make do with it." He handed the bag of food to Zheng Xiuyan, who thanked him and took it, lowering her head.

The two did not look for another place to sit and simply sat down where they were. The dance room was already quite clean, and before sitting down, Zhang Chengyuan secretly used his inner strength to clear a clean spot, so there was no worry about dirtying their clothes.

Watching Zheng Xiuyan eat slowly, Zhang Chengyuan sat upright and said nothing. Zheng Xiuyan had already gotten used to Zhang Chengyuan's demeanor and wanted to eat faster to send this ice-cold person away quickly, but she was afraid of being scolded for eating too fast like the previous times, so she had to endure it as if he didn't exist.

Time passed slowly, and after Zheng Xiuyan finished eating, she quickly tidied up. Zhang Chengyuan was still sitting cross-legged, silent, but he took out a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed it to Zheng Xiuyan to help her clean up better.

After everything was tidied up, Zheng Xiuyan thought Zhang Chengyuan would leave immediately like the previous times, but she heard him tell her to sit down and then asked, "Is your left ankle injured? Does it hurt?"

Zheng Xiuyan looked at him in surprise and said, "It's just a sprain, I can bear it."

Zhang Chengyuan extended his hand and said coldly, "Give me your foot, I'll help you treat it."

Zheng Xiuyan's expression became even colder, and she glared at Zhang Chengyuan, resisting, "No! I can handle it myself."

Zhang Chengyuan did not speak further, moved forward a meter, and directly grabbed Zheng Xiuyan's left calf. Without waiting for her to react, he quickly removed her left shoe and sock, revealing her small feet with a few new calluses.

Zheng Xiuyan struggled to free herself from Zhang Chengyuan's grip but did not scream, seemingly cautious about the few remaining trainees in the dance room, fearing any unnecessary gossip.

Zhang Chengyuan gave her a cold look and said, "Don't think too much." Zheng Xiuyan immediately stopped struggling in fear.

Zhang Chengyuan's inner strength entered Zheng Xiuyan's body and carefully examined her ankle, finding that it was indeed just a minor injury as she had said. He sighed in relief and said, "Fortunately, there's no damage to the bones or ligaments. I'll help you unblock your blood vessels and meridians. You'll be fine after resting for a night."

Zhang Chengyuan pressed a few points on Zheng Xiuyan's ankle and then rotated her foot clockwise and counterclockwise a few times, using a simple technique as a cover. The key was to slowly input his inner strength to remove the accumulated blood in the vessels and reconnect the blocked meridians, allowing the blood and qi to flow smoothly. This easily healed the minor injury.

Zheng Xiuyan was still immersed in the embarrassment of Zhang Chengyuan touching her feet, her head almost touching her chest, feeling dazed and unsure what to do. She felt warm and comfortable where Zhang Chengyuan touched her, as if it reached her heart. After an unknown amount of time, she felt Zhang Chengyuan lightly pat her head and heard him say, "It's done. Put your shoes and socks back on. Don't practice dancing today, do something else. Oh, by the way, what have you learned here over the past few months? When Shuijing asked about your situation yesterday, I didn't know anything and was scolded by her."

Mentioning Shuijing, Zhang Chengyuan's handsome face became more lively, but Zheng Xiuyan, after glancing at him, felt inexplicably depressed and casually replied, "Mainly dance and vocal training, and occasionally some acting classes." In fact, there was much more to learn, but Zheng Xiuyan was too lazy to list them all for Zhang Chengyuan, as he wasn't really concerned about these things.

Zhang Chengyuan did not comment, but he was not completely indifferent. He just didn't know much about what singers needed to learn and didn't know what to ask, so he said, "Hmm, you should study hard in the future." After a pause, he continued, "How are the company's mentors treating you? Are they very strict?"

"Um!" Zheng Xiuyan's mood was somewhat low.

Zhang Chengyuan's expression remained unchanged, and he asked, "Can your body handle it?"

"Still okay."

Zhang Chengyuan looked at her and said, "How is your schoolwork?"

"Still okay."

Zhang Chengyuan frowned and asked, "Have you made any new friends in the company?"

"Yes."

Zhang Chengyuan's lips curled up and said, "Make more friends. It will help you establish yourself in the company and prevent you from being isolated and unsupported."

"Um."

Zhang Chengyuan felt somewhat frustrated and sighed, "Has anyone bullied you?"

"No!" Even if there were, Zheng Xiuyan had no intention of telling Zhang Chengyuan.

Zhang Chengyuan said, "If there are, if it's just some minor issues, there's no need to take them seriously. But if they go too far, tell me, and I'll help you solve it."

"I can handle it." Zheng Xiuyan looked at Zhang Chengyuan doubtfully, thinking, "If girls bully me, what can you do, beat them up?"

Zhang Chengyuan sighed and said, "If you have any difficult issues, try to call me. You don't need to treat me as an outsider. After all, I am your sister's older brother."

"Um."

Zhang Chengyuan stood up and said, "I'll go back first. I'll come to see you when I have time!" Just as he turned around, he heard Zheng Xiuyan say, "Don't come if you don't have time."

Zhang Chengyuan shook his head and left, feeling somewhat dejected. It was the first time he had encountered such an unfriendly girl, thinking, "This girl's mind is really unpredictable!"

Meanwhile, Zheng Xiuyan thought, "He takes care of me just because of Shuijing, not because he really cares about me."