Huayu: Starting from retirement, sweeping across the domestic entertainment industry

Chapter 238 A broad mind, a small chest

When Li Ran came out of the shower, her hair was still dripping wet.

He sat on the edge of the bed, casually drying his hair with a towel in one hand, and glancing at the time on his phone with the other.

It's almost eleven o'clock.

The corridor was quiet. It was unclear whether Lu Yuxiao was still crying or had been calmed down by Zhou Ye.

As he was thinking this, the bedroom door was pushed open.

Zhou Ye walked in quietly. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, glancing at him.

She looked more relaxed than she had in the living room, but there was still a little redness in the corner of her eye, whether it was her own or from crying for Lu Yuxiao, it was hard to tell.

"Are you satisfied?" Li Ran stopped drying his hair, draping the towel over his head, looking somewhat comical.

Zhou Ye nodded, walked to the bedside and sat down, casually gathering the hair that was loose on his shoulders behind him, his movements carrying a lazy feeling of relaxation after exhaustion.

She thought for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts, before finally speaking: "It's just that I haven't figured it out yet."

Her voice wasn't loud, but there was a knowing quality in her tone, as if she were talking about Lu Yuxiao, or perhaps about her past self: "I didn't think things through from the beginning, and I liked you so much. With those two things mixed together, my mind was a complete mess, and I couldn't make sense of it no matter what I did."

She sighed softly and slowly said, "In the end, it's the same as what I used to think. I'm still a little girl at heart, always fantasizing about a sweet romance, the kind where it has to be one-sided—it can only be two people, no more than one."

She paused here, a slight smile playing on her lips, it was hard to tell whether she was laughing at her past self or at Lu Yuxiao's current state.

Li Ran did not press Lu Yuxiao further.

The fact that she brought it up meant that the conversation in the bedroom had come to a conclusion, whether temporary or final, at least no one would run out crying tonight.

He thought for a moment and then asked in return, "So how did you come to this conclusion in the first place?"

"Are you talking about me?" Zhou Ye pursed his lips, stood up and walked to his side, naturally reaching out to take the towel from his hand. "Come closer."

Li Ran obediently moved closer to her.

Zhou Ye placed a towel over his wet hair, and pressed his fingers through the towel onto the top of his head, rubbing it in circles. His movements were slow and steady, with just the right amount of pressure.

"Maybe it's just a habit," she said.

The towel paused on Li Ran's hair for a moment. She tilted her head, thought for a moment, then shook her head, contradicting herself: "You can't say that."

She continued wiping, her voice sounding somewhat ethereal amidst the soft rustling of the towel: "Maybe it's just... I can't live without you."

She didn't give Li Ran a chance to interrupt, and continued speaking, a little faster than before, as if she were explaining or trying to convince herself.

"After leaving you, who will I look for next? Who can guarantee that the next one will be devoted to me? If I look for someone outside the industry, we're not from the same world. He won't understand my work, and I won't fit into his life. In the long run, problems are bound to arise."

"Find someone in the industry—how many people in the industry are better than you? Besides, even if they look glamorous on the outside, aren't they all the same on the inside?" She laughed self-deprecatingly.

Her hands didn't stop moving, but her tone grew increasingly calm, as if she were stating a conclusion she had considered countless times: "Look at those veteran actresses. When they got married, it was a grand affair, with the whole internet sending their blessings, the spectacle like a fairy tale. But what happened? How many of them were truly happy? Some got divorced, some were in cold wars, and they all went their separate ways."

"On the contrary, single people like Sister Bing are much more carefree. They can act when they want and rest when they want. They don't have to worry about anyone else or have to care about anyone else."

The towel slid off his head and landed on her wrist.

"So after thinking it over, I feel that things are not so bad as they are now."

Li Ran didn't say anything, but reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her chest.

The position was a bit awkward because he was taller than her, so he had to bend over slightly and rest his head against her chest, like a large dog burying its head in its owner's arms.

Well, the coconut is great in every way, but this position just doesn't feel like anything.

"What are you doing? Your hair isn't dry yet," Zhou Ye grumbled, but didn't push him away.

She simply placed the towel back over his head and continued wiping him, her movements even gentler than before.

Li Ran's muffled voice came from her arms: "Coconut, what will happen to our child in the future? — Will another mother have to feed him? —"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Ye exploded.

"Li Ran!" She shoved the towel over his head, held down both ends of the towel with her hands, wrapped his entire face in the towel, and began to rub it vigorously, her movements so fierce it was as if she wanted to use his head as a washboard.

"Go to hell!"

"Stop messing around—uh—I can't breathe—" Li Ran's voice came out muffledly from under the towel, mixed with laughter, while his hand cooperated by randomly scratching her waist a couple of times.

Zhou Ye couldn't help but laugh as Li Ran tickled him. He loosened his grip and pulled the towel off, tossing it aside. Li Ran's hair was all messed up and sticking out like a cat that had just been petted.

The two laughed and joked, their center of gravity gradually shifting as they pushed and shoved each other, and before long, he had pushed her onto the bed.

The warm light from the bedside lamp shone down from behind him, casting a large shadow on his face, while she was shrouded in shadow, with only her eyes shining.

He straddled her, staring into her eyes, his breathing still rippling from their earlier playful fight, his chest rising and falling slightly.

He looked at her for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke, his voice much more serious than when he was making a scene earlier.

"Seriously, what are your thoughts on the question I just asked?"

Zhou Ye was pinned down by him, his hair scattered on the pillow, the smile still lingering on his face. Hearing his question, a hint of wariness appeared in his expression.

He was filled with righteous indignation: "What are you thinking? Drinking milk powder."

"I could never agree to my child drinking someone else's beverage."

Li Ran was stunned for a moment, then laughed helplessly, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

He rested his forehead on her shoulder, chuckled for a while, and then looked up at her with a mixture of exasperation and amusement: "What are you thinking? That's not what I meant."

He reached out and brushed the stray hairs from her forehead behind her ear, his fingertips brushing against her earlobe, his voice very low, so low that only the two of them could hear it.

"I was talking about our marriage, and about not wanting to act anymore."

Zhou Ye's cheeks flushed crimson at a visible speed, burning from his cheekbones all the way to his ears.

She turned her head away from him, staring at the lamp on the bedside table, her voice suddenly becoming a little stuttering: "Who knew you'd ask about this—get up first—"

Li Ran released her, turned over and sat on the edge of the bed, then crossed his legs like a meditating monk.

Zhou Ye also got up, combed his messy hair a few times with his fingers, casually gathered it into a loose low ponytail, and then sat down cross-legged like him.

The two people faced each other, knees almost touching, the light from the bedside lamp shining from the side, dividing their faces into half light and half shadow.

"Why did you suddenly decide to quit acting?" Zhou Ye spoke first, his tone filled with genuine doubt, not casualness.

The question was met with a perfunctory reply: "You haven't played professionally for two years, have you?"

"It's true that I haven't played a match for two years." Li Ran shrugged helplessly, his expression as if he were defending himself. "But not playing matches doesn't mean I've become bad, right? I've been playing ranked matches all the time, and my skills are still there."

He suddenly realized something was off after he finished speaking, tilted his head to look at her, and said with a hint of dissatisfaction and confusion in his tone, "Also, shouldn't you have asked me about us first? Why are you more concerned about my professional gaming career?"

Zhou Ye remained silent for a while.

It's not the kind of silence you feel when you're stumped by a question, but rather the kind of silence where you have a thousand words in your heart but don't know which one to start with.

She lowered her eyes, her eyelashes casting two small fan-shaped shadows under the light. Her fingers unconsciously tugged at the edge of the blanket, pulling it up and smoothing it out, smoothing it out and pulling it up again.

After a long while, she slowly shook her head.

"Regarding marriage," her voice was soft, "I'm very happy—but I can't give you an answer right now."

She looked up at him, her eyes showing no evasion, but rather an unusual calmness: "Let's talk about your desire to play in the competition first."

Li Ran was stunned.

His expression went from incomprehension to confusion, and then from confusion to a blank stare.

He opened his mouth, his voice brimming with obvious surprise: "Why?"

He didn't understand. He really didn't understand.

He had thought about this matter over and over in his mind for so long, and he was prepared to face everyone's opposition, but he was not prepared to face her hesitation.

This is not right. According to his deduction, Zhou Ye should have jumped for joy after hearing the news, rushed over to hug him with shining eyes, and cried while laughing, saying, "You finally agreed."

She was the one who used to insist on going public with their relationship, and she was the one who demanded that he give her a formal title. She was also the one who had countless arguments with him over these things.

Now that he's offered himself up to her, why is she still hesitating?

Zhou Ye looked at his confused and almost aggrieved expression and suddenly laughed.

She didn't answer him verbally, but instead leaned forward, stretched out her legs to wrap around Li Ran's waist, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hung herself on him.

Li Ran was jolted backward by the sudden movement and instinctively reached out to brace himself on the mattress. The two of them ended up embracing each other like an unstable roly-poly toy, swaying a couple of times before barely managing to maintain their balance.

She rested her chin on his shoulder, her cheek close to his ear, and her warm breath as she spoke touched the skin behind his ear. Her voice was soft, but it was exceptionally clear because of their close proximity.

"I am indeed very happy." She spoke slowly, each word deliberate, as if she were organizing her thoughts as she spoke. "But when I saw Xiaoxiao's reaction—her crying like that, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably—my heart suddenly felt heavy."

She tightened her arms around him, holding him even closer, but her voice became even softer: "I know I can't be so selfish."

"This is a choice for you, a blessing for me, but for them—it's just loss. That's so unfair to them."

"Although you won't truly abandon anyone—"

Li Ran placed his hand on her back, feeling the slight vibration of her chest as she spoke, and also feeling the warmth emanating from her body beneath his palm.

He was silent for a few seconds, then spoke, his voice much lower than before: "That's what I thought at first too."

He paused after speaking, as if he was thinking about something.

His mind flashed to his grandfather's all-knowing eyes in the rattan chair in the study, to the ticking of the old clock, and to the multiple-choice question placed before him.

"But my grandfather said something to me," he continued, his tone carrying an added layer, as if he had borrowed a bit of the old man's voice, "He said there is no such thing as absolute fairness in this world."

He looked down at Zhou Ye's crown of hair, his fingers unconsciously tracing circles on her back: "Besides, although I've always felt I haven't favored anyone, I ask myself honestly, have I truly been absolutely fair to all of you?"

He knew the answer, and she knew it too.

"What kind of fairness is that?"

Li Ran tugged at the corners of his mouth, but the curve wasn't really a smile; it was more like a resigned self-mockery. "Actually, I've wronged all of you from the very beginning. This whole thing is inherently unfair—"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Ye pressed the top of his head against his chin.

A gentle, yet firm touch, perfectly choked him to the point of choking off the rest of his words.

Her hair brushed against his jawline, and the strands smelled of shampoo—the white tea shampoo from the bottle in the bathroom, a little different from what she usually used; she probably used his today.

"Li Ran." She called his name softly, her tone a gentle yet firm interruption, "I know what you want to say."

She looked up, adjusted her posture, and faced him.

The distance was too close; close enough that he could see the faint light of the bedside lamp reflected in her eyes, close enough that their breaths mingled and they couldn't tell each other apart, close enough that he could even feel the faint tickle as her eyelashes brushed against his cheek.

He could hear her heartbeat, unsure if it was his own or hers, thumping rapidly yet steadily, like two hearts conversing through two layers of skin and a few ribs.

"Li Ran, thank you." Her voice was calm, so calm that it sounded solemn. "I think it must have been very difficult for you to make this decision. You must have thought about it over and over for a long time, you must have considered everyone's reactions, and you must have known that everyone would be in an uproar as soon as you said this decision."

She looked at him, her eyes bright, the corners of her mouth curving up even wider than before, a smile spreading from the corners of her eyes across her entire face: "Thank you for choosing me in the end."

Looking at her smiling face, Li Ran felt a strange, indescribable feeling churning in his chest.

It wasn't an impulse, nor was it being moved; rather, it was something deeper, almost like heartache.

He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his knuckles brushing against her cheek, his voice a little hoarse: "No, Coconut, I should be thanking you—"

He briefly repeated to Zhou Ye what the old man had told him in the study: the attitude of the elders in the family, the need to make a public statement, the ownership of the eldest son and grandson's status, and the power struggle between three generations surrounding his marriage.

"So now it's not a question of whether I want to or not," he concluded, his tone revealing a sense of helplessness at being pushed to this point. "It's my family that demands a decision from me. Grandpa has already made it very clear; I can't delay any longer."

After listening, Zhou Ye fell into deep thought.

Suddenly she blinked, and her expression changed.

The thoughtful, serious look vanished with a blink, replaced by a mischievous smile, like a little girl who had solved a puzzle: "So I'm the most special one to you, huh?"

She smiled happily, not with the joy of hearing good news, but with the smugness of confirming a guess she had long wanted to know but had never dared to ask.

She reached up and touched the area between her collarbones; through the fabric of her pajamas, the outline of the longevity lock was faintly visible. "So that's why you gave me your longevity lock?"

Li Ran didn't deny it, but just smiled at her, which was taken as an admission.

But after she finished laughing, she shook her head.

"Li Ran," her tone turned serious again, not heavy, but steady, "but this isn't good for anyone, is it? Xiaoxiao cried so much today, what about the others? And have you thought about how to bring it up with Tian Dabing? It's alright if Cunzi and Chu Ran have a child, but what about the others?"

She removed her hands from his neck, placed them on her knees, and sat up a little straighter, as if announcing a well-considered conclusion: "Isn't this fine as it is? I don't need that title to prove anything."

"When you gave me the longevity lock, you didn't say that I needed to attach a marriage certificate."

She reached out and patted his knee, her tone like she was comforting a stubborn child: "Let me think about this some more. And Mu Yi, you should ask other people for their opinions, not just me. Just because you chose me doesn't mean you're only responsible to me."

Li Ran stared at her for a long time.

The light softened her features. The woman sitting cross-legged opposite him had messy hair, no makeup, and her eyes were slightly red from crying for Lu Yuxiao. Yet, each sentence she uttered was clearer than the last.

He had known her for so many years, and he had seen her act coquettishly, jealously, crying, and laughing and joking, but he seemed to have never seen her like this before. She had everything she wanted, but she chose to put it down first, to look at the expressions of the people around her, and to ask if it was good for others to do so.

"Coconut," he said, his voice low, as if afraid of disturbing something.

"Um?"

He leaned in and gently kissed her forehead.

When their lips met, her eyelashes trembled, like butterfly wings being blown by the wind.

After his lips left her forehead, his voice carried a hint of emotion, a tenderness he himself was unaware of: "I discovered..."

You've changed.

Zhou Ye blinked, raised his hand to touch the forehead where he had just been kissed, and couldn't help but smile: "Do I look better?"

"No." Li Ran shook his head seriously, his expression as earnest as if he were announcing a major discovery. "I've always looked good. It's just that my heart has broadened."

She was just about to feel smug when he added, "Although her chest is small."

Zhou Ye's expression shifted from smugness to rage in half a second.

She opened her mouth and bit his shoulder, her teeth making a mark through the fabric with just the right amount of force—enough to make him hiss but not so hard as to actually cry out in pain.

"Li Ran! You bastard!" Her curses were mixed with his muffled laughter as she rolled around on the messy sheets.

The bedside lamp remained quietly lit, casting the shadows of the two playfully wrestling on the wall, swaying precariously like a roly-poly toy that had finally found its balance.