After John Foster left, the pharmacy owner discovered that the clipper was no longer working while cleaning it. He swore that he had only exaggerated earlier!

"It's just for shaving a dog's fur, and it really broke?" The pharmacy owner was dumbfounded. He checked it over and over, confirming that it really couldn't be used.

"Good thing I only bought a cheap one. I’ll never shave a dog’s fur again..." the pharmacy owner muttered.

On his way back, John Foster passed by James York's shop and went in to buy some more food to take home.

When he returned to the small rented room on the second floor, at this hour, only residents above the eightieth floor of the high-rise could still enjoy some sunlight. Those living on the lower floors couldn’t see the sun at all, let alone John Foster on the second floor—it was even darker. Without turning on the lights, it was dimmer inside than when he had just woken up.

After tidying up the room a bit, John Foster glanced at the display on his wristband, which showed that seventeen calls had been blocked.

Of those seventeen calls, three were from the agent in charge of interns at the company, four were from Grace Warren, and ten were from Brian Clark.

Grace Warren and Brian Clark were the original host’s other two childhood friends. However, unlike David Foster, although these two didn’t spend as much time with the original host as David Foster did, they were genuinely sincere toward him. It was just that the original host, influenced by David Foster's instigation, gradually drifted apart from them after college, and after starting the internship at Silver Wing, contact became even more rare.

Less than two minutes after turning off the call block, Brian Clark called.

John Foster pressed the connect button on his wristband, and a light screen popped up, showing Brian Clark's anxious face.

"Da Zhao, are you okay?" Brian Clark let out a big sigh of relief when he saw John Foster. Seeing that John Foster seemed fairly calm, he wanted to say something, but the words caught in his throat. He carefully observed John Foster's expression. "I was worried you might do something foolish."

The foolish thing had already been done, John Foster thought to himself.

Seeing that the worry on Brian Clark's face was genuine, John Foster said, "I'm fine."

"That's good, as long as you’re okay. Xiao Hong..." Brian Clark was about to mention Xihong, but then realized that since John Foster had just broken up, it wouldn’t be appropriate to bring up his ex-girlfriend. He changed the subject, indignantly saying, "David Foster is so smug right now! Da Zhao, do you want to sue him? Those three songs—others might not know, but don’t we? Those are clearly your works! With David Foster's ability, there’s no way he could have written them!"

"Not for now," John Foster replied.

"If you’re worried about money, Grace Warren and I still have some savings."

"Really, there’s no need. I don’t have time to argue with him right now," John Foster said. "The rookie competition has already started, I need to make the most of my time."

Brian Clark was stunned. He hadn’t expected that at a time like this, John Foster would still want to give it a shot. This season’s rookie competition had already been going for two months, with only the last month left. Entering in June was still possible, but John Foster currently didn’t have any presentable works.

Although Brian Clark wasn’t optimistic, since John Foster had pulled himself together, he didn’t want to discourage him. As long as John Foster could get through this toughest period, that was enough.

"Then... do your best. If you need anything, you must let us know. Do you still have money?" As soon as he asked, Brian Clark worried he might hurt John Foster's pride, since John Foster usually hated people mentioning his financial difficulties.

But before Brian Clark could explain, John Foster said, "I still have some money. It’s no problem to last another month."

"Ah... oh, that’s good. If you run into trouble, you must let us know."

"Mm, I’m going to start a creative retreat today."

"Creative retreat" is slang used by many creators, meaning they’re going to bury themselves in their work and refuse outside interruptions.

Brian Clark understood. John Foster meant he was going to prepare a new song, and unless it was urgent, not to disturb him. John Foster had done this before, but in the past, when he said this, there was a clear sense of rejection. Now, there wasn’t—he was just informing them.

After experiencing David Foster's betrayal, instead of becoming more distant, John Foster's attitude had actually improved, which made Brian Clark very happy. They had all grown up together and gone through hardships. Brian Clark was the oldest among them, and ever since their families had all run into trouble, he felt he should look after the others like an older brother. Unfortunately, as they grew up, the five of them gradually drifted apart.

Still, when something happened, Brian Clark was very worried. Unfortunately, John Foster wasn’t at school, hadn’t told them where he lived, and couldn’t be reached by phone. Both Brian Clark and Grace Warren were anxious but could do nothing. Now that he was sure John Foster was okay, Brian Clark was finally relieved.

After ending the call with Brian Clark, John Foster found the number for his agent, Alan Duke, and dialed.

As soon as the call connected, Alan Duke appeared on the screen, face full of irritation, and shouted, "John Foster, what on earth is going on with you?! Do you still want to become a full employee?! Have you given up on entering the rookie competition?! Do you know what time it is now, huh?! It’s almost June, June! Do you know what June means? This season’s rookie competition is already in the heat of battle. Out of the company’s ten interns, six have already entered. Of the four who haven’t, the other three have already submitted their works, and the company has arranged for them to be recorded. They’ll be able to enter tomorrow. Only you! John Foster, where’s yours?!"