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

After the audition, Li Ran did not leave immediately.

He walked up to Sun Zhonghuai and said sincerely, "Uncle, let's talk about the new film collaboration again tomorrow."

Sun Zhonghuai smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "I know, you go and take care of your own business first."

He paused, a hint of concern in his eyes: "Should I put in a word with Xu Jinglei?"

Li Ran shook his head: "It's okay, I can handle it myself. I'll ask again if I need your help."

Sun Zhonghuai looked at him and nodded.

"Tell me if you need anything."

……

When Li Ran arrived at the lounge, there were only six people left inside.

Zhou Ye and Hu Lianxin sat together, one looking down at his fingers and the other looking up at the ceiling, neither of them speaking.

Tian Xiwei leaned back on the sofa scrolling through her phone, while Wang Churan sat next to her, listlessly turning his phone around.

Zhang Jingyi and Zhang Ruonan sat in the corner, as quiet as two quails.

Li Ran's gaze first fell on Zhang Ruonan.

"Zhang Ruonan," he said calmly, "we can talk about our business tomorrow. You and Jingyi should go back first."

Zhang Ruonan was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly.

Zhang Jingyi stood up and looked at him: "Brother Li Ran, shall we go now?"

Li Ran nodded.

The two left quickly, closing the door to the lounge behind them.

The air grew quiet.

Li Ran didn't speak. He just stood there, looking calmly at Hu Lianxin and Zhou Ye.

The two looked up at him, one stubborn and the other guilty, but neither looked away.

Tian Xiwei stood up, breaking the silence: "Alright, let's go back first and talk about it later."

Li Ran didn't say anything, turned around and walked out.

The four women exchanged a glance and quickly followed.

Li Ran walked very quickly. He got into his car, started the engine, and drove away.

Tian Xiwei stood by the roadside, watching the car drive away, and sighed helplessly.

She turned to Xiao Chen beside her: "Take us back."

Xiao Chen nodded and opened the door of the van.

The four people squeezed into the back seat, the car door closed, and the car slowly drove out of the parking lot.

The car was quiet; no one spoke.

After a long while, Zhou Ye spoke softly, his tone slightly guilty: "Xiao Hu, did you really cause trouble this time? Li Ran seems genuinely angry."

Hu Lianxin pouted: "What are you afraid of? Coconut, you're in the right. It was clearly that the little punk who started it."

Wang Churan rolled her eyes beside her: "Little fox, don't try to fool this little idiot. The tablet's fine, but do you think you can escape?"

She looked at Hu Lianxin: "Didn't you provoke them first?"

Hu Lianxin glared at her: "What's it to you!"

Zhou Ye listened to their conversation and suddenly realized what was going on.

Yeah, I'm the victim here, Xiao Hu is the one who started it all!

She glanced at Hu Lianxin and silently began to make plans in her mind.

Why not just push it onto Xiao Hu later? She's not afraid of Li Ran hitting her anyway...

The car was parked downstairs at Li Ran's apartment building.

Zhou Ye and Hu Lianxin went straight upstairs; after all, it was their business today, and they couldn't avoid it.

Tian Xiwei thought for a moment and then walked towards her building.

Wang Churan grabbed her arm: "Where are you going?"

"Come home for dinner!" Tian Xiwei said matter-of-factly. "Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten all day."

Wang Churan pulled her arm and walked upstairs: "No rush to eat, we'll order takeout later. Let's go upstairs and watch the show first."

Recalling the crying scene from last time, Tian Xiwei pursed her lips and said, "What's so interesting about that?"

Wang Churan smiled meaningfully: "Why not? I love watching the drama unfold. I'll be eating takeout later and watching Li Ran teach those two a lesson. Just thinking about it makes my meal more enjoyable."

……

When Zhou Ye and Hu Lianxin opened the door, Li Ran was sitting on the sofa, looking down at his phone.

He heard the noise but didn't even look up, continuing to scroll through the screen, occasionally swiping his finger, seemingly texting someone.

The two exchanged a glance, then obediently sat down on the sofa, not daring to say a word.

Not long after, Wang Churan and Tian Xiwei also came in.

Tian Xiwei walked into the bedroom nonchalantly, too lazy to join in the fun.

Wang Churan sat down next to Li Ran, wrapped her arms around his neck, and peered at his phone screen.

"Who is this?" she asked, her tone tinged with a gossipy curiosity.

"Li Gengxi." Li Ran didn't hide it from her, his voice calm.

Zhou Ye looked up, puzzled, and asked, "Why did you add her on WeChat?"

Li Ran finally looked up and glanced at her: "What do you mean, 'what'? You don't know what you two did?"

Zhou Ye felt a little guilty under that gaze.

She looked at Hu Lianxin, gestured with her lips, indicating that she should speak.

Hu Lianxin retorted, "She hit the coconut first. We were just retaliating normally; that's called self-defense."

Li Ran ignored her and continued sending messages.

He was indeed asking Li Gengxi about what had happened.

Although they didn't pursue the matter out of consideration for him, he still needed to find out the whole story.

After sending the message, he put his phone aside and reached out to remove Wang Churan's arm: "Order some takeout, from the same place as last time."

Wang Churan nodded: "What do you want to eat?"

"Beef brisket rice".

Wang Churan looked at Zhou Ye and Hu Lianxin: "Where are you two?"

"Same.

'

"Thank you, please add a soft-boiled egg."

Wang Churan nodded, got up and went to the bedroom to ask Tian Xiwei what she wanted to eat.

Li Ran had finished reading Li Gengxi's reply. He looked up at Zhou Ye: "Coconut, is it true what Xiao Hu said?"

Li Ran had finished reading Li Gengxi's reply. He looked up at Zhou Ye: "Coconut, is it true what Xiao Hu said?"

Zhou Ye felt a chill run down his spine when he saw the ambiguous smile on his face.

She immediately moved closer to him and hugged his arm: "It was indeed that little punk who started it. But she was going to hit Xiao Hu, and Xiao Hu dodged it, hitting my arm instead, so I fought back."

Li Ran smiled and said, "She hit you, couldn't you have told me? Why did you just resort to violence? I had you train in physical exercises so you could fight!"

Zhou Ye shook his head, his voice soft: "I won't fight next time. I'll apologize to her. Don't be angry."

Hu Lianxin was completely dumbfounded.

No, sisters?

Is this the same Zhou Ye you're doing?

You've absolved yourself of all responsibility; what am I supposed to do?

She looked at Zhou Ye in disbelief, but Zhou Ye ignored her and his eyes were glued to Li Ran.

Li Ran looked at Hu Lianxin: "Is Zhou Ye right?"

Hu Lianxin nodded; what Zhou Ye said was indeed true.

Why did Li Gengxi hit you?

Hu Lianxin pursed her lips; she knew Li Ran all too well!

Since he asked that question, he must already know the answer.

"You already know, don't you!"

She said matter-of-factly, "Why are you asking me? If you want to fight, then fight! I'm not afraid!"

Li Ran was amused by her nonchalant attitude.

"You didn't know Li Gengxi before, why did you go up and provoke her?" he said after thinking for a moment.

"I just can't stand the sight of her."

Hu Lianxin added, "He acts all high and mighty."

Li Ran smiled and stood up.

"Let's go then."

He turned and walked towards the second bedroom.

Hu Lianxin's eyes lit up, and she quickly followed.

Zhou Ye watched Hu Lianxin's retreating figure, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Why does she seem...not scared at all? She even seems...secretly pleased?

The two had just gone inside when Wang Churan came out of the master bedroom.

She saw Zhou Ye sitting alone in the living room and asked, "Where are Li Ran and Little Fox?"

Zhou Ye gestured towards the second bedroom with his lip.

Three minutes later.

A faint scream came from the second bedroom.

Zhou Ye was stunned.

You should know that Li Ran's house has top-notch soundproofing; no matter how much they shout, no one outside can hear them.

It's easy to imagine how loud Hu Lianxin screamed.

The screams came intermittently. Zhou Ye sat in the living room, listening to the sounds, his heart pounding with anxiety.

Half an hour later, the door to the second bedroom opened.

Li Ran came out.

Wang Churan noticed that his left hand was completely wet, and a large area of ​​his clothes on the left side was also wet.

Li Ran didn't say anything and went straight into the master bedroom to change clothes.

When Zhou Ye saw him enter the master bedroom, he immediately jumped up and ran to the second bedroom.

She needs to go see her best friend!

Will Li Ran ruin it for me?

Pushing open the door, she saw Hu Lianxin changing clothes, wearing her own clothes, which were spares in the second bedroom.

Zhou Ye sized her up.

It seems... nothing really happened?

She asked, puzzled, "Xiao Hu, why are you wearing my clothes?"

Hu Lianxin's face flushed slightly as she looked at the pile of clothes on the ground.

Zhou Ye followed her gaze and then froze.

……

The takeout has arrived.

Several people sat around the dining table, the atmosphere subtle.

Hu Lianxin ate with her head down, not saying a word. Zhou Ye glanced at her every now and then, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

Wang Churan ate with relish, a meaningful smile on his face.

Tian Xiwei remained expressionless, eating and drinking as usual.

After finishing her meal, Tian Xiwei put down her chopsticks and looked at Li Ran: "I'll sleep in your room tonight. I have something to ask you."

Li Ran nodded, offering no objection.

Zhou Ye immediately became agitated: "Why should I? I also have something to say to Li Ran!"

Tian Xiwei sneered: "Shall I tell you how you got into trouble today?"

Li Ran glanced at Zhou Ye and said calmly, "Coconut, if you and Xiao Hu want to stay, you can sleep in the second bedroom. If not, go home."

He paused, then looked at Hu Lianxin: "I'll show you an apartment in the neighborhood in a few days."

Hu Lianxin nodded without saying a word; she had become much more docile now…

Try to minimize your presence; I was really embarrassed just now...

Wang Churan's eyes lit up: "What about me?"

"The apartment downstairs in Xiaotian's building is yours."

Li Ran added, "Let's settle your contract issue in the next couple of days."

Zhou Ye looked at him with a pitiful expression: "Li Ran, what about me? When am I moving in?"

Looking at her expression, Li Ran sighed helplessly, "You're not Waji's child, why would I care about your room allocation?"

Zhou Ye snorted: "You're the one who wouldn't let me come. If you don't care, I'll rent it myself."

Li Ran looked at her with a hint of doting in his eyes: "Alright, I'll find you and Xiao Hu two sets next to each other later."

Zhou Ye then smiled with satisfaction.

……