The Third Year After The Breakup, He Knelt and Begged to Get Back Together - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: You Will One Day Regret the Choice You Made Today…

That was after He Xian had forced him to give up the opportunity to collaborate with Zhou Zhiqi.

Qi Mingfeng had been unwilling to let the chance slip away, but He Xian—his big boss at the time—simply suspended all his professional assignments, telling him to take a “rest” and only come back to work once he had “thought things through.”

The company played dead, and others in the industry received the message; no one dared offend He Xian. Only Zhou Zhiqi had stepped up to speak for him, even contacting media outlets that were He Xian’s rivals to give Qi Mingfeng a chance to explain himself.

But this only further enraged He Xian, who directly confiscated his social media accounts.

Looking at the current trend of the bullet comments, did the company eventually step forward to clarify things for him?

Calculating the dates, he was busy working as a delivery rider back then and had no time to go online.

Seeing the argument in the bullet comments intensify, Qi Mingfeng pushed all distracting thoughts from his mind. He handled a batch of accounts and said, “This stream is only for teaching singing and taking composition commissions—though my composition skills are average. Aside from that, I hope everyone avoids irrelevant topics. If it continues, I will mute or ban users.”

After the morning session ended, Qi Mingfeng calculated his earnings.

For the first three days, the voice-connect lessons were free, so he only had gift income. As a newcomer, most viewers were just there for the novelty or to listen to songs. The gifts were pitifully few, and after the platform took its fifty percent cut and taxes were deducted, he was left with very little.

He hoped things would improve once he accumulated more fans.

He Xian returned home for lunch, spoke a few words, and then hurried back to the company.

Qi Mingfeng didn’t have a habit of napping. Since few people were online at this hour, he sat in the studio using the computer, trying again to see if he could find news about Zhou Zhiqi’s “trouble.”

The phone he used two years ago had been destroyed in an accident. Even if it hadn’t, it wouldn’t have contained Zhou Zhiqi’s contact information—He Xian hadn’t allowed it.

He could try to ask He Xian for his Weibo account back; if he used his own account to contact Zhou Zhiqi, the other would likely reply.

But looking at Zhou Zhiqi’s Weibo, he hadn’t logged in for three months.

Surely he wasn’t being targeted by a scumbag like himself, right?

Unlikely; Zhou Zhiqi had their Teacher to protect him.

Right, the Teacher. If he started from the Teacher… but he didn’t have the Teacher’s contact info either. As for the Teacher’s friends, he hadn’t heard of any—wait!

A flash of inspiration hit Qi Mingfeng as he remembered something.

During university, Professor Emerson from QM Academy had come to C City for an academic exchange. His Teacher had taken him privately to meet Professor Emerson, wanting him to go abroad for further studies.

For He Xian’s sake, he had chosen to stay and develop his career domestically. However, Professor Emerson had still generously invited him into an online classroom called “XB,” letting him experience it before making a final choice.

XB Classroom was co-founded by Professor Emerson and other professors to recruit outstanding students from all over the world and cultivate talent for the music industry. It ran once a year for six months. If a student achieved an “Excellent” grade in the final exam, they could enter QM Academy without an entrance exam, with the spot reserved for three years.

The experience of the classroom was great; just two lessons had been enough to captivate him.

But thinking of He Xian, Qi Mingfeng had painfully refused Professor Emerson and never logged in again.

Could the Teacher have arranged a similar path for Zhou Zhiqi? After all, the school where Professor Emerson taught was also famous for its composition courses.

Qi Mingfeng returned to his room and rummaged for a long time before finding a yellowed notebook with the address of the XB Classroom written inside.

He wasn’t sure how the site was built, but Qi Mingfeng was able to log in smoothly from within the country.

He remembered that XB Classroom published the names of students for each term—mainly to announce their grades.

After logging in, Qi Mingfeng went straight to the grade announcement interface but didn’t find Zhou Zhiqi’s name.

Just as he was feeling disappointed, a red dot appeared on the mail icon in the top right corner.

Someone had sent him an email?

Qi Mingfeng clicked in curiously. To his surprise, it was from Professor Emerson.

The website was originally all in English. When Qi Mingfeng entered, the browser had automatically translated it into Chinese, but the content of Professor Emerson’s email remained untranslated.

Fortunately, Qi Mingfeng’s English had been good in school, and he had studied it intensely later for the sake of going abroad, so he could still understand it.

Professor Emerson: Qi, long time no see.

There was a seven-hour time difference between E Country and him. It was 1:30 PM here, so it was roughly 5:30 AM in E Country.

Qi Mingfeng was puzzled, but then he noticed Professor Emerson’s location was in an Asian country, likely for some event.

Qi Mingfeng: Professor Emerson, long time no see. How have you been?

Professor Emerson: Everything is well. This morning, while humming the tune you sang when we met, I remembered you. I didn’t expect you to log into the classroom this afternoon. What a wonderful coincidence.

Qi Mingfeng’s heart was filled with mixed emotions, and he didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

He had chosen He Xian over studying abroad with Professor Emerson, thinking he could have both a career and love. Instead, he ended up so poor he worked odd jobs and considered selling a kidney—not to mention his love life. Yet Professor Emerson still remembered him.

Professor Emerson: Qi, have you changed your mind? Do you want to come to QM Academy to study? God has always favored your teacher, giving him unique talent and letting him find such a good seedling. I truly envy him.

Qi Mingfeng wanted to answer “Yes” without even thinking.

He regretted it.

He had always believed that a person must take responsibility for every step they take, even if it brings bad consequences—it’s still an experience. Except for meeting He Xian.

Qi Mingfeng wanted to go to QM to study immediately, but he couldn’t leave right now.

Qi Mingfeng: I have always wanted to learn from you at QM Academy, but I currently have some matters to handle. If things go smoothly, I should be free next year. I hope there will still be an opportunity then.

Professor Emerson: My classroom will always have a place for you. If you have time, you can join this term’s XB Classroom. Only two lessons have passed so far. I believe that with your talent, you can definitely catch up and achieve an ‘Excellent’ grade.

Seeing Professor Emerson’s words, Qi Mingfeng’s fingers trembled with excitement.

He loved music and naturally hoped to go further on this path. He hadn’t expected the opportunity he missed years ago to be placed before him again.

But he quickly calmed down.

Qi Mingfeng: Thank you very much, I would love to, but I currently cannot afford the tuition for the XB Classroom.

Professor Emerson: You don’t need to worry about the tuition. Your teacher paid for you long ago. Even if he hadn’t, I would be willing to lend it to you.

Qi Mingfeng was stunned: My teacher paid for me?

Professor Emerson: Yes. He said you would one day regret the choice you made today.

When Qi Mingfeng was young, he had fled with Qi Huan from his scumbag stepfather. During his most difficult time, he met the Teacher.

He was unwilling to speak negatively of the Teacher, but objectively speaking, while the Teacher’s help wasn’t as sordid as He Xian suggested, it wasn’t pure charity either.

The Teacher was a singer himself, famous since his youth, and now had immense international influence.

When he was thirteen, the Teacher found him, saying he had heard his performance at a school festival and thought he was exceptionally talented. He offered to sponsor him and Qi Huan to continue their education. In exchange, he had to pursue music, and the Teacher would personally instruct him—but he could not tell anyone the Teacher’s name.

He agreed.

He had no source of income after leaving his stepfather, and he truly did love singing.

The Teacher taught him for six years. During those years, he and Qi Huan lived in one of the Teacher’s houses; the Teacher never stayed there, only coming by occasionally to give Qi Huan lessons.

At first, he thought he had met a kind soul, but later he found the Teacher’s attitude toward him a bit strange.

The Teacher didn’t care about his grades or his personality development; as long as his musical skill was progressing, it was enough.

The Teacher treated him like his own creation.

He studied under the Teacher for six years and chose the most famous music conservatory in the country for university.

In his sophomore year, the Teacher likely felt he had taught him almost everything he could. Additionally, having discovered his relationship with He Xian and believing that dating would hinder his development, the Teacher proposed he go abroad.

But he chose to stay in the country.

After hearing his choice, the Teacher was silent for a moment. There was no disappointment—or rather, no emotion at all. He only reminded him, as before, not to tell anyone he had been his teacher.

In the past, he wasn’t allowed to say who the Teacher was because his skill wasn’t high enough, and the Teacher feared he would ruin his reputation.

Now, he wasn’t allowed to say who the Teacher was because, in the Teacher’s eyes, he was no longer perfect and would never be perfect again. The Teacher had given up on him and turned to find a new raw gem—Zhou Zhiqi.

Perhaps out of a final shred of sentiment, before leaving, the Teacher gave him a rare piece of advice regarding things outside of music: “Of the children in the He family, He Xian has the most potential. Doing business with him is fine; if you want to date him, just playing around is also fine.”

The Teacher didn’t think highly of He Xian and had given up on Qi Mingfeng decisively.

Yet, he had still left him one escape route after another.

Qi Mingfeng hesitated for a moment: Do you have any recent news of the Teacher? Is he well?

Professor Emerson: I’m not sure. He hasn’t replied to the emails I sent him for three months.

No reply for three months—Qi Mingfeng instinctively judged that something had happened to the Teacher.

So, was Zhou Zhiqi’s abnormality related to the Teacher?

Unfortunately, the Teacher’s movements were even harder to track than Zhou Zhiqi’s. Qi Mingfeng could only keep the matter in mind. After saying goodbye to Professor Emerson, he started his afternoon live stream.

The viewers from the morning were still curious, and the number of online viewers in the afternoon was decent. Qi Mingfeng was busy for almost the entire session.

After ending the stream, he logged back into the XB Classroom without a second thought. Only two lessons had been held this term; if he reviewed the previous lessons, he could definitely catch up. The total course was six months long. By then, Qi Huan’s illness would be mostly cured, and he could start preparing to go abroad, just in time for the new semester at QM Academy.

Even if he couldn’t make the next semester, he still had a three-year window.

But he faced a very serious problem.

The classes were scheduled according to E Country time. Two classes a week, two hours each. Converting the time difference, it was 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM domestic time.

And at that time, He Xian was usually at home.

He would have to convince He Xian.