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

Tian Xiwei was indifferent to the conversation in front of her. She glanced up at Li Ran, then continued to scroll through her phone, as if it had nothing to do with her.

Hu Lianxin sat on the sofa with her hands folded on her knees, her head down, not saying a word. She would occasionally glance at Li Ran, then quickly look away.

Liu Haocun stood up abruptly, looked at Li Ran, and said, "It's my turn! Let's go!"

Li Ran was stunned for a moment. Why was he so eager to do this?

Liu Haocun didn't say much, but walked over, took his hand, and led him to the second bedroom.

The door to the second bedroom was closed.

Liu Haocun turned around, his expression now completely different.

She looked at Li Ran with a smile, and there was no trace of the tears she had just shed in her doe-like eyes.

Very clean.

Looking at that face, Li Ran suddenly realized that Cunzi's acting skills were indeed much better than the others.

"I don't know why you're so angry today."

Liu Haocun slowly began to speak: "But I don't think I'm wrong."

Li Ran frowned: "I'm not angry, just a little annoyed."

He paused, then countered, "You weren't wrong to fight?"

Liu Haocun pouted and looked at him: "That's right, you're the one in the wrong, not me!"

She took a step forward: "If you find it annoying, just break up with them."

She looked at him, her tone calm: "Isn't this all your own doing?"

Li Ran fell silent, leaving him speechless; she was right.

He brought all of this upon himself, but it's absolutely impossible for him to break up with anyone else.

He just looked at her without saying a word...

Actually, there was something else on his mind that he couldn't understand: why would Liu Haocun choose to stay with him after knowing his situation?

Zhou Ye and Zhang Jingyi need no introduction, and Tian Xiwei has been following him since the competition.

The relationship between him and Wang Churan was more like that of kindred spirits attracting each other; they seemed to share a similar sense of eccentricity.

Xiao Hu had a specific purpose from the beginning, and he knew that.

But Liu Haocun...

During our first meeting at the audition, she just chatted normally without being overly enthusiastic.

Later, she took the initiative to send him messages, came to his house for meals, and gradually got closer to him...

He couldn't see through it.

Li Ran calmly said, "I have nothing to explain, and I've already told you that, but breaking up is impossible for me."

If they leave on their own initiative, Li Ran won't try to stop them. Just like when Zhou Ye proposed breaking up, he readily agreed without any hesitation.

This might also be why Zhou Ye has never taken the initiative to break up with someone...

Liu Haocun looked at him: "Can you stand Zhou Ye crying and whining like that?"

Li Ran said, "You don't know what happened between her and me, and it's none of your business."

He paused, still wanting to get to the bottom of things today: "Cunzi, I think we should be open about it, let's talk about the two of us..."

Liu Haocun nodded.

"I've already taken Jingyi home to meet my parents."

Li Ran said, "Although I told you it was a coincidence, that's just an excuse."

"I know," Liu Haocun said calmly.

Li Ran continued, "After a while, I will go with Coconut to meet her parents."

Liu Haocun frowned slightly.

She hadn't expected Li Ran to defend Zhou Ye so much, but she just nodded slightly and didn't say anything.

Li Ran continued, "As for Xiaotian, I will take her back to my hometown for the Chinese New Year."

Liu Haocun looked up: "What about the other two?"

She paused, then lowered her voice: "I..."

Instead of asking that question, she changed the subject: "So you want to treat everyone equally?"

Li Ran shook his head: "Xiao Hu and Chu Ran don't have that idea yet. At least for now, they haven't asked for anything."

He looked at Liu Haocun and said, "If you want, I can go with you to meet my parents, or I can take you to meet my parents."

Liu Haocun shook his head.

silence.

A long silence followed.

Then she slowly began to speak: "Li Ran, I..."

She hesitated.

Li Ran walked over and gently hugged her: "You can tell me anything you want to say."

His voice was very soft: "Now that I'm with you, you're no different from the others."

Liu Haocun leaned against him.

After a few minutes of silence, her shoulders suddenly began to shrug slightly.

This time she really cried.

"Li Ran...I'm sorry..."

Her voice choked with emotion, "I shouldn't have lied to you..."

Li Ran's heart skipped a beat: "It's nothing. What did you lie to me about?"

Liu Haocun looked up at him, her eyes red and tears welling up.

"I really have no other choice, Li Ran..."

Her voice was soft and trembling, "I..."

Li Ran looked at her.

He was now certain that Liu Haocun had an ulterior motive for approaching him.

And she encountered some kind of trouble.

"fine."

His voice softened further, "What is it? Tell me, okay?"

Liu Haocun remained silent for a few seconds.

She lowered her head, and her emotions gradually calmed down.

Then she began, "Li Ran, I still need to apologize to you first."

She paused, then said, "But I really have no other choice."

"My parents are just an ordinary family in Northeast China. Although they run a dance training class, they aren't exactly poor..."

Her voice was very soft, as if she were telling a story from a very long time ago.

"In 2012, a girl in the training class got injured."

Li Ran actually knew about this, after all, Liu Haocun was exposed after becoming famous in her previous life, but this was clearly not the kind of trouble she encountered...

"At first, my family cooperated actively. The best fantasy novel in the Cola Novel Readers' Vote, 'Hua Yu: Starting from Retirement, Sweeping Across the Domestic Entertainment Industry' ranked at the top! The medical expenses totaled 120,000 yuan."

Liu Haocun's voice was calm, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, "But that girl still suffered a lifelong disability. They want our family to pay more than a million yuan in compensation."

She looked up at him and said, "My family simply can't afford that much money."

Li Ran didn't say anything; he wasn't surprised.

Liu Haocun continued, "Later, I participated in the audition for Director Zhang's 'One Second'. I tried my best, and in the end, I was lucky enough to succeed."

A faint smile curved her lips, but there was no joy in it: "The first thing I did after receiving my payment was to compensate that girl."

Just when I thought everything was getting better...

She stopped, and Li Ran looked at her, quietly waiting for what she would say next.

"I see. It turns out that I was able to get a role in 'One Second' not only because Director Zhang noticed me, but also because I was noticed by a big shot in the industry."

Li Ran frowned.

He didn't know these things in his previous life.

Li Ran asked, "Does Director Zhang know?"

Liu Haocun nodded: "I know. But although Director Zhang is a big director, that person has complicated connections. Director Zhang has spoken about it, but it's been useless."

She paused, then continued, "Besides, this kind of thing is commonplace in the entertainment industry. There's nothing my family can do..."

"Later I participated in 'Little Red Flower'."

She looked up at him. "The solution Mr. Guo came up with for me is..."

Li Ran chimed in: "Should we confirm our relationship?"

Liu Haocun nodded.

"In the end, regardless of who participates, this is Mr. Guo's meaning."

She continued, "You're the heir to Wajijiwa Entertainment, backed by Tencent. Yi Yangqianxi is a top star now, and his background is also very powerful..."

"This will at least make that person a little more wary."

Li Ran looked at her: "So you're willing?"

Liu Haocun shook his head: "At least it's better than being an old man's concubine."

She looked at him, and tears finally fell from her eyes: "Li Ran, when I started getting close to you, I did have ulterior motives."

"But now I realize I'm in love, and I've really fallen for you."

She raised her hand and wiped away her tears: "Li Ran, if you think this will cause you trouble, you don't have to worry about it. We can just break up."

She paused for a moment: "At worst, I'll just retire from the industry. Being a normal person is fine. If it weren't for that incident, I actually just wanted to dance quietly..."

Li Ran looked at her.

The girl, who was usually all smiles, a little teasing, and spoke in a soft, gentle voice, had tears streaming down her face.

He reached out and gently wiped away the tears on her face.

"It's not a problem, you don't need to worry."

Liu Haocun paused for a moment: "But that person didn't even give Director Zhang face. Li Ran, this will affect you..."

Li Ran smiled.

"You have no idea what your boss Guo Tingting's true intentions are."

However, he didn't explain much. Some things didn't need to be known now, and explaining them would be troublesome. Li Ran didn't have the time for that today.

Wajiji's heir? Top influencer? World champion? Asian Games champion?

These titles probably wouldn't make that person wary.

But Li Ran himself has a solution.

His good father, his family background, and his still-living grandfather—these are his true sources of confidence.

Guo Tingting clearly knew something.

She couldn't possibly be unaware that Li Ran had already been chosen for the audition, and that was precisely her purpose in having Liu Haocun approach him.

However, this girl was unaware of the intricacies involved.

He thought for a moment and then said, "Could you help me make an appointment with your boss the day after tomorrow?"

Liu Haocun looked at him.

His eyes were calm and composed.

She nodded slightly.

Li Ran looked at her and suddenly changed the subject: "Now tell me about the fight you got into today."

Liu Haocun was stunned for a moment.

Then she pouted and said, "Li Ran, even if you help me solve my problem, I won't think I did anything wrong."

Li Ran looked at her without saying anything.

Liu Haocun felt a little uneasy under his gaze, and she whispered, "If you think I'm wrong... then you can beat me up."

Li Ran smiled and asked, "Where?"

Liu Haocun hesitated for a moment.

She turned slightly to the side and looked back at what was behind her.

Then she bit her lip and pointed: "Hit...this way."

Li Ran reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Two minutes later, the door to the second bedroom opened.

Liu Haocun followed Li Ran out.

Her steps were somewhat unnatural, and her walking posture was extremely awkward.

She kept her head down, but her doe-like eyes were secretly staring at Li Ran's back.

I told you to hit him, and you actually did?

And he hit so hard...

In the living room, Tian Xiwei looked up and glanced at Liu Haocun's walking posture, a meaningful smile slowly curving her lips.

Hu Lianxin also raised her head, glanced at it, and then quickly lowered her head, pretending that she hadn't seen anything.

Liu Haocun felt those two gazes and his face flushed red.

She quickened her pace, walked to the sofa, and plopped down on it.

Li Ran walked over and sat down next to her, his expression calm, as if nothing had happened.

Ta Xue ran over, jumped onto his lap, and found a comfortable position to lie down.

The living room was quiet for a few seconds.

Tian Xiwei spoke slowly, "Um... wasn't there a sound just now?"

Liu Haocun's face turned even redder.

Li Ran glanced at Tian Xiwei.

Xiaotian immediately lowered her head and continued scrolling through her phone, but the smile on her lips was impossible to hide.

Li Ran ignored her and turned to look at Xiao Hu.

"Xiao Hu, are you going to say this here, or go into the bedroom...?"