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

The next morning.

Li Ran opened his eyes, and his arms were empty.

Hu Lianxin returned to her room at some point, leaving only a faint fragrance on her pillow.

Li Ran lay on the bed in a daze for a while, then got up to wash up.

Today is the day for all the residents of Taohuawu to go on a spring outing.

Including him as a guest, there were a total of sixteen people who were going to ride bicycles to the lake a few kilometers away for a picnic.

The production team specially arranged a retro theme, and everyone had to change into Hong Kong style outfits.

When Li Ran came out after changing his clothes, it was already bustling outside.

He wore a short, dark brown bomber jacket, paired with khaki wide-leg pants and white sneakers.

I looked at myself in the mirror and was quite satisfied. I did have a bit of the look of a Hong Kong star from the 1980s.

Ta Xue circled around his feet, her little tail wagging like a tiny motor, warmly welcoming his new look.

Li Ran bent down, picked it up, and followed the group towards the village entrance.

The bicycles were provided by the production team; they were old-fashioned 28-inch bikes with a wire basket in the front, giving them a strong retro feel.

Li Ran pushed his bicycle out and put Ta Xue into the basket.

The little guy got excited as soon as he got into the basket. He put his front paws on the edge of the basket, looked around with his little head, and his whiskers twitched in the wind, looking just like a little leader who came out to inspect his territory.

"Stay still and don't move around." Li Ran tapped its nose.

Ta Xue barked once to indicate that it had received the message.

Zhang Han wore a black leather jacket and his hair was styled in a side part, which was indeed the style of "Murong Yunhai" from back then.

Lai Kuan-lin, on the other hand, wore a loose-fitting printed shirt with jeans and a fake gold chain around his neck, looking like a small-time gangster from a Hong Kong movie.

The girls' styling was more elaborate.

Zhou Ye wore a blue and black plaid top, paired with a light blue long skirt and a white headband, looking both retro and playful.

As soon as she appeared, Guo Qilin whistled, "Wow, which female celebrity stepped out of a magazine?"

Zhou Ye glared at him, but couldn't help but smile.

Hu Lianxin wore an elegant floral dress, her hair loose with only a small hair clip behind her ear, looking as gentle as a heroine from an old movie.

Meng Ziyi wore a bright yellow fitted knit sweater with jeans, making her look like a moving little sun, visible from afar.

Guo Qilin sidled up to Li Ran, looked him up and down, and said sourly, "Tsk, it's good to be handsome, you'd look good even in a burlap sack."

Li Ran glanced at him: "You look pretty good today too, you seem like the real deal."

Guo Qilin puffed out his chest smugly: "That's right, I call this..."

"I'm talking about extras in Hong Kong movies," Li Ran added.

Guo Qilin: "..."

Wang Sulong was laughing so hard he was slapping his thigh.

Once most people had arrived, the production team called everyone to prepare to depart.

Li Ran pushed his bicycle into the middle of the crowd, standing tall and proud in the basket, enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention.

Li Ran glanced at the girls and asked with a smile, "Who's getting in my car?"

The words had barely left her lips when Meng Ziyi was about to take a step forward…

A red figure rushed up to Li Ran.

"Me! Me! Me!"

Zhou Ye held Li Ran's bicycle back seat with one hand and his shoulder with the other.

Her face beamed with barely suppressed joy, her eyes sparkling. "I'll get in your car!"

Seeing her expression, as if she were afraid of having it taken away, Li Ran couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, come on up."

Zhou Ye immediately sat sideways in the back seat, his hands naturally wrapping around his waist, a movement as practiced as if he had done it countless times.

Meng Ziyi stood still, her foot hovering in mid-air before she silently pulled it back.

One step slow leads to another...

Hu Lianxin stood to the side, watching Zhou Ye's back as he sat on the back of Li Ran's seat, her face expressionless.

Lai Kuanlin approached her at some point and cautiously asked, "Xiao Hu, how about... I show you around?"

Hu Lianxin didn't even lift her eyelids.

Her gaze swept across the crowd before finally locking onto a target.

"Brother Long." She walked up to Wang Sulong and said naturally, "I'll ride in your car."

Wang Sulong was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, then laughed: "Oh, my little sister is giving me face?"

He glanced at Lai Guanlin, whose expression was subtle, and knew exactly what was going on, but he remained expressionless. Instead, he patted the back of his bicycle and said, "Get on, hold on tight, I can ride really fast."

Hu Lianxin nodded, sat down sideways, and gently held onto the edge of the back seat with both hands, showing no intention of hugging.

Wang Sulong glanced back at her, then looked at Li Ran, who was already riding slowly forward with Zhou Ye on his back not far away, and sighed silently in his heart.

This generation of young people has really complicated relationships.

Lai Kuan-lin stood there, watching Hu Lian-xin get into Wang Su-long's car, his expression a mix of disappointment and embarrassment.

Watching this scene unfold, Li Xueqin couldn't help but whisper to Lamu Yangzi, "This setup is really interesting."

Spicy Yangzi nodded frantically: "I feel like today's spring outing is more exciting than a TV drama."

Guo Qilin pushed his bicycle over, glanced at the cars in front of him, and clicked his tongue twice: "My brother's life is really..."

At the head of the convoy were Li Ran and Zhou Ye.

Zhou Ye sat in the back seat, his arms wrapped around Li Ran's waist, his cheek pressed against his back.

The wind blew her hair up and gently brushed against Li Ran's neck, making it a little itchy.

"Are you cold?" Li Ran asked.

"It's not cold," Zhou Ye said in a muffled voice, tinged with amusement. "This is just right."

Ta Xue was in the front basket, its whiskers flying wildly in the wind, but it didn't care at all. Instead, it barked excitedly, as if it were leading the whole convoy.

The destination was an open meadow, right next to the lake, with rolling green hills in the distance.

The production team has already set up a huge pergola on the grass, with a white canvas roof and light gauze hanging around it.

Several long tables were set up in the shed, with fruit, snacks and drinks on them, and a few bunches of wildflowers dotting the scene, which did indeed look quite pleasant for a spring outing.

The sixteen people took their seats one after another, but the atmosphere was a little awkward.

On both sides of the long table, everyone automatically split into several small groups based on how familiar they were with each other...

The young people clustered at one end, while the older ones sat at the other, with a few empty seats in the middle, like an invisible dividing line.

As soon as Li Ran sat down, he sensed that the atmosphere was a bit off.

He glanced around and found that most people were looking down at their phones or whispering to each other, and no one took the initiative to break the silence.

This was not quite the scene of "a joyful group spring outing" that he had envisioned.

Just then, Song Dandan suddenly spoke up.

She sat in the main seat, smiling as she looked at Li Ran: "Come, let's welcome Li Ran! Our special guest from Peach Blossom Village!"

The crowd clapped sparsely, which livened up the atmosphere a little.

Li Ran quickly stood up, smiling and waving her hand, "Sister Dandan, you're too kind. Um... do I need to introduce myself?"

He had heard Zhou Ye and the others talk about the memorable scenes from the first day of recording... Song Dandan asked everyone to introduce themselves and talk about their representative works.

Upon hearing this, Song Dandan quickly waved her hand and said, "Please don't! All those championships of yours give me a headache just listening to them. World champions, Asian Games champions, if you keep talking about them, I'll feel like I've wasted my life."

Everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere finally eased a bit.

But as soon as the laughter subsided, silence fell again.

Li Ran observed for a moment and found the silence quite interesting... The young people didn't know what to talk about with their elders, and the elders didn't know what to talk about with their young people.

If everyone talks separately, it seems like there's no unity; if we force them to talk together, it's awkward.

Song Dandan frowned slightly as she looked at the situation.

As the head of the family, she felt it was her responsibility to break the awkward silence.

She cleared her throat and raised her voice: "It's so boring just sitting here like this, let's play a game!"

Wang Sulong immediately chimed in, "Great! We'll do whatever Sister Dan says!"

Song Dandan nodded in satisfaction, then looked at him and said, "Longlong, think of a game."

Wang Sulong's smile froze.

"No, Sister Dan," he said innocently, "how would I know what games to play? I'm a complete noob when it comes to games!"

Li Xueqin, standing nearby, gloated: "You were supposed to be the straight man, and now you've messed things up, haven't you?"

Everyone laughed again, and the atmosphere relaxed a little.

Meng Ziyi sat there, her little head turning around, her eyes glancing at Li Ran, and then she suddenly stood up.

"I have a suggestion!" she raised her hand, her voice loud.

Everyone looked at her.

Meng Ziyi cleared her throat, her face serious: "Let's play the super popular 'No Heartbeat Challenge'! It's basically two people staring at each other, and whoever laughs first loses. It's super simple and super fun!"

Guo Qilin immediately chimed in with a mischievous grin: "Alright, then Sister Meng, you set an example first."

Meng Ziyi puffed out his chest: "I'll do it!"

She paused, then turned her gaze to Li Ran: "Li Ran, let's demonstrate for them together."

As soon as he finished speaking, several pairs of eyes shot over at him.

Zhou Ye paused, his hand still stroking the snow, and looked up at Meng Ziyi with an indescribable look in his eyes.

Hu Lianxin's hand holding the water glass stopped in mid-air, and her gaze swept over Meng Ziyi's face.

Meng Ziyi was completely unaware, looking at Li Ran with anticipation.

The others started making a fuss...

"Great! Sister Meng is awesome!"

"Brother Ran, go for it! Don't be a coward!"

"Let's fight! Let's fight!"

Guo Qilin laughed the loudest, clapping his hands and winking at Li Ran: "Brother, your time to be tested has come!"

Li Ran sat there, feeling the gazes coming from both sides, and then looked at Meng Ziyi's face across from him, which was full of "come quickly" written all over it, and couldn't help but laugh.

He stood up and nodded: "Okay."

Meng Ziyi's eyes lit up, and she immediately got out of her seat and stood in the open space in the center of the pavilion.

Li Ran walked over and stood opposite her.

The two were facing each other, less than half a meter apart.

"What are the rules?" Li Ran asked.

"Let's make eye contact, whoever laughs first loses." Meng Ziyi looked up at him, her eyes wide open.

Everyone formed a circle and held up their phones.

Guo Qilin automatically took on the role of commentator: "Alright viewers, what you are watching now is the first Peach Blossom Village 'No Heartbeat Challenge,' with Ms. Meng Ziyi facing off against Mr. Li Ran! Can Ms. Meng withstand Mr. Li's overwhelming good looks? Can Mr. Li remain calm under Ms. Meng's gaze? Let's wait and see!"

Li Xueqin laughed so hard she slapped her thigh.

In the center of the arena, Li Ran and Meng Ziyi began to look at each other.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

Meng Ziyi's eyes were wide open like copper bells, her pupils unblinking, her cheeks puffed out, and her expression was perfectly controlled.

Li Ran seemed quite relaxed, with a faint smile playing on his lips, as he quietly watched her.

Five seconds.

ten seconds.

Meng Ziyi's expression began to show subtle changes... Her lips twitched slightly, and her eyelids started to sting, but she was still trying to hold on.

Li Ran remained calm and composed.

Fifteen seconds.

Meng Ziyi's cheeks began to tremble, a sign that she was trying to suppress her laughter to the limit.

Li Ran suddenly blinked, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Just this little bit.

Meng Ziyi's defenses collapsed instantly...

"Pfft... Hahahaha!"

She covered her mouth and squatted down, laughing so hard her shoulders shook and her face turned red.

"No, no!" She stood up, pointing at Li Ran and accusingly saying, "He...he...he just smiled! He smiled first!"

"He was flirting with me..."

Li Ran looked completely innocent: "I didn't."

"You have it!" Meng Ziyi glared at him. "I saw it!"

Guo Qilin immediately raised his hand as referee: "I'll testify, Xiao Ranzi didn't smile, only the corner of her mouth moved, that doesn't count as a smile."

Li Xueqin nodded: "Yes, yes, that's called micro-expression, it's not against the rules."

Meng Ziyi's eyes widened in disbelief that she had been surrounded and attacked.

"You! You've all ganged up on me!"

Wang Sulong slowly said, "Sister Meng, admit it, you really lost."

Meng Ziyi looked at Li Ran, who was looking at her innocently, but with a smile in her eyes.

She stomped her foot and angrily returned to her seat.

As soon as I sat down, I felt two pairs of eyes on me.