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

Li Ran looked at Meng Ziyi in her arms and smiled helplessly, "Sister Meng, do you really like this?"

Meng Ziyi buried her face in Li Ran's chest, her voice muffled, tinged with a hint of defiance and a resolute sense of desperation: "I don't care, I'll get you first."

"You can take your time. You're not Tang Sanzang, I don't believe you'll be completely empty-eyed."

As she spoke, her hands began to wander, reaching out to tug at the hem of Li Ran's shirt.

Li Ran held her hand down, preventing her from continuing.

He looked down at the reckless woman in his arms, sighed, and said seriously, "Meng Ziyi, are you sure? I'm serious. I can't treat you the way I treated Zhou Ye and the others."

Meng Ziyi remained silent.

She raised her head, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him directly. The fierceness of a Northeastern woman was fully displayed at this moment... The kiss was fierce and urgent, as if she wanted to suck something out of Li Ran's mouth, with a reckless and ruthless force.

When they finally parted, a thin silver thread still connected them, shimmering under the light.

She was panting as she looked at Li Ran, a smug smile playing on her lips: "Li Ran, has anyone ever told you you talk too much? At a time like this, why say so much? Just get to work!"

Li Ran looked at her and suddenly smiled. He bent down and picked her up in his arms.

Given all this, what's there to hesitate about?

……

As Xiao Chen turned the corner in the corridor carrying the pharmacy bag, he saw Hu Lianxin standing near the door of Meng Ziyi's room.

She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, lost in thought.

"Teacher Hu," Xiao Chen walked over, "I'm bringing medicine to Brother Ran."

Hu Lianxin glanced at the bag in his hand and took it from him. "Give it to me, you go back and rest first."

Xiao Chen didn't ask any more questions, nodded, and turned to leave.

He knows what to ask and what not to ask; this keen observation is what has kept him by Li Ran's side all these years.

Hu Lianxin carried the medicine to Meng Ziyi's door and knocked twice.

No one answered.

She knocked three more times, but still no one answered.

She glanced down at the time on her phone; almost two hours had passed since Li Ran pushed her out.

Her bad feeling grew stronger and stronger. Could it be that Meng Ziyi, that slut, had really raided her home?

Although Li Ran has no feelings for her, he's not incapable of having affairs...

She dialed Li Ran's number.

The beeping sound was drawn out, as if waiting for an answer that would never come.

The call was cut off halfway through the fourth note.

Hu Lianxin stared at her phone screen for two seconds, then dialed again.

Shut down.

She held her phone in her hand, stood in front of the closed door, raised her foot as if to kick it, then put it down again.

The corridor was too quiet; she couldn't make too much noise.

She placed the medicine by the door and turned to go back to her room.

Meng Ziyi, you just wait!

In the room, Li Ran tossed his phone onto the bedside table. When the screen went black, he saw the three missed calls and several messages that popped up on WeChat.

He flipped the phone over so the screen was facing down, and the light was extinguished.

Meng Ziyi lay beside him, her hair spread out on the pillow, her face flushed, her breathing not yet fully calm.

She turned her head to look at him, a slight smile on her lips, a smile that carried a hint of smugness, a hint of satisfaction, and a hint of relief that she had finally succeeded.

"You turned off your phone," she said, not in a question, but in a statement.

"Um."

Li Ran looked at her calmly and said slowly, "Don't speak, continue..."

He wouldn't treat Meng Ziyi as gently as he did Zhou Ye and the others. If you're going to be a lover, you have to be aware of what a lover is like...

Soon it was midnight.

The lights in the corridor dimmed a little more, and the light from the wall lamps changed from a stark white to a dim yellow, like eyes that had stayed up all night, shining wearily.

Li Ran didn't shower; he dressed immediately, his movements unhurried but without the slightest hesitation.

He opened the door, looked down and saw the white pharmacy bag on the ground. He bent down, picked it up, and held it in his hand.

He glanced back at Meng Ziyi on the bed.

She was completely buried in the blankets, her hair spread out on the pillow, her face flushed, like a satisfied cat, curled up lazily, not even wanting to move a finger.

He carried the medicine back and placed it on the bedside table.

"Rest for a while, then apply the medicine yourself." Li Ran looked at her and said slowly, "I'm leaving now."

Meng Ziyi reached her hand out from under the covers and grabbed his wrist.

"Li Ran, we promised you'd belong to me tonight." Her voice was soft and sweet, with a hint of coquettishness at the end, like a child tugging at an adult's clothes and refusing to let go.

Li Ran looked down at her and smiled.

The smile was faint, the corners of the mouth were slightly curved, but the eyes did not move.

"Sister Meng, I didn't agree to that." He gently pushed her hand away, the movement light but decisive.

He turned and walked towards the door, his steps unhurried. When he reached the door, he paused for a moment without looking back.

"Remember to apply the medicine." After saying that, he opened the door and went out.

The door slowly closed behind me, the latch locking into the door frame with a click.

Meng Ziyi stared at the closed door, stunned for several seconds.

The blush on her face hadn't completely faded, her eyelashes were still wet, and the coquettish curve at the corner of her mouth froze there before slowly disappearing.

She opened her mouth, her voice hoarse, "Li Ran, you bastard."

Meng Ziyi stared at the door for a long time, then slowly pulled the blanket up and covered her head.

She could tell that Li Ran really had no intention of taking responsibility; she had given herself away for nothing, and it was all just a friendly match.

However, thinking that she had slept with a top-tier celebrity, she smiled slightly, at least she had taken the first step.

……

Li Ran stood at the door of Hu Lianxin's room, hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and knocked twice. The door opened quickly, as if the person inside had been waiting.

Hu Lianxin stood behind the door, glared at him irritably, and pulled him inside.

The door closed, the lights in the hallway were turned off, and only the warm yellow lamp by the bedside remained on in the room.

Hu Lianxin wrinkled her nose slightly, as if she had smelled something that shouldn't be there.

She snorted coldly, her tone carrying a hint of disdain: "Aren't you going to take a shower?"

Li Ran looked down and sniffed himself, then chuckled sheepishly, "I didn't have any clean clothes to change into!"

Hu Lianxin pursed her lips, took a hotel bathrobe from the closet, and threw it to him.

"Wear this for now, and have your assistant bring over some clothes tomorrow morning."

Li Ran caught the bathrobe, nodded, and turned to enter the bathroom.

When the sound of water came, Hu Lianxin leaned against the headboard, staring blankly at the frosted glass door, lost in thought.

When Li Ran came out after washing up, Hu Lianxin glanced at him, her gaze lingered on him for a moment, and then looked away.

"Did Meng Ziyi succeed?" she asked in a flat tone.

Li Ran lay down beside her, gently pulling her into his arms, his tone casual: "They've practically fed you, there's no reason for you not to eat."

Hu Lianxin turned her head to look at him, a cold smile playing on her lips: "You eat whatever I feed you? Aren't you afraid of getting a stomachache?"

Li Ran ignored that question and looked at her, asking, "Are you angry?"

"No," Hu Lianxin answered quickly, as if she had prepared this answer in advance.

She paused, then asked, "Meng Ziyi, what do you plan to do?"

Li Ran thought for a moment and said matter-of-factly, "It's just a friendly match at most, what else can we do?"

Hu Lianxin looked at his profile. His face was expressionless, unlike when he mentioned Zhang Ruonan and his eyes softened, or when he talked about Lu Yuxiao and his lips curved involuntarily.

He truly had no other thoughts about Meng Ziyi.

Li Ran turned his head, looked at her, and smiled slightly. "I wasn't full earlier, shall we continue?"

Hu Lianxin rolled her eyes at him, her gaze containing both reproach and barely concealed amusement.

She knew Li Ran's fighting prowess; he could play games all night and still be perfectly fine the next day.

Li Ran reached out and turned off the light. Hu Lianxin leaned against him, her breathing gradually becoming steady. She closed her eyes and heard his heartbeat, steady and unhurried.

"Next time," she said, her voice very soft, as if talking in her sleep, "just one bite of dessert..."

Li Ran hummed in agreement and pulled her closer to him.

……

At 7:30 a.m., the sun in Xiamen was already high in the sky.

The crew members came and went on set, moving props, adjusting lights, and pulling wires, creating a cacophony of noise.

Li Ran came out of the dressing room. Her makeup and styling were done, her hair was sprayed with setting spray, and the foundation on her face covered up the fatigue from not sleeping well last night.

He had just turned the corner of the corridor when he saw Wang Churan and Zhang Ruonan standing in front of him.

Two people were blocking the middle of the road, one with his arms crossed and the other with his hands on his hips, both with increasingly serious expressions.

Li Ran paused for a moment, wanting to go around it, but the corridor was so wide that he couldn't go around it.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk over, forcing a smile: "Good morning."

Wang Churan didn't waste any words with him and asked directly, "Why didn't you go back to the hotel last night?"

Zhang Ruonan stood beside him without saying a word, but her eyes were fixed on him without blinking.

Li Ran's heart skipped a beat.

Judging from their behavior, the two of them must have been waiting in his room last night. I don't know how long they waited, but they must have gotten impatient.

He remained expressionless and said casually, "After taking Sister Meng back to the hotel, I rested in Xiao Hu's room."

Zhang Ruonan frowned, her eyes sweeping over his face.

"Really? If you dare to lie to us..." She didn't finish her sentence, but the drawn-out ending sound was even more frightening than if she had finished speaking.

Li Ran looked calm, even a little innocent.

"Why would I lie to you?" He looked directly into Zhang Ruonan's eyes as he said this, without looking away.

Wang Churan stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly asked, "Why didn't you reply to my messages?"

"I was busy then, and it got too late, so I didn't reply," Li Ran explained.

A bad feeling suddenly flashed through Wang Churan's mind, and she asked suspiciously, "You didn't give it to her, did you?"

Li Ran didn't speak; silence was the best answer.

Wang Churan's face changed instantly.

Her eyes widened, and her voice rose a half-octave: "You gave it to her!"

Li Ran smiled awkwardly, a smile that carried a hint of guilt, a hint of helplessness, and a sense of "I had no choice."

"You hit someone, so I have to make it up to them," he said softly, as if defending himself.

Zhang Ruonan didn't say anything, but directly grabbed his ear and twisted it.

Her fingers were slender but strong; Li Ran's ear was being kneaded and rolled in her hands like dough.

"Compensation?" she forced out through clenched teeth. "You mean, payment in kind, right?"

Li Ran tilted his head, wincing and crying out in pain, "Let go, let go, it hurts..."

Zhang Ruonan twisted his ear tightly, her fingers tightening.

"That's what I mean by pain, so you won't learn your lesson."

Wang Churan watched from the side, neither stopping nor speaking up.

A staff member passed by at the other end of the corridor, glanced in this direction, and then quickly looked away, pretending not to have seen anything.

Li Ran's head was tilted to the side, and his ear was being twisted by Zhang Ruonan, making him look quite pathetic.

But he stopped crying out in pain. He just tilted his head, looked at her, and had a helpless, resigned smile on his lips.

"Still laughing." Zhang Ruonan glared at him, and finally loosened her grip.

Li Ran's ears turned red, with a few faint fingernail marks on them. He rubbed them and hissed, but didn't complain.

"It was just a friendly match at most, nothing between us."

"That's for the best!" Wang Churan snorted coldly.

……

Around 3 p.m., Hu Lianxin and Meng Ziyi appeared at the entrance of the film set.

Meng Ziyi is walking perfectly fine now, so it's clear that last night's performance was mostly an act.

The two didn't stay long; they said goodbye to Li Ran and were about to leave.

Wang Churan and Zhang Ruonan stood not far away, watching Meng Ziyi wave goodbye to Li Ran with a smile, and they were furious.

She snorted and was about to rush forward, but Zhang Ruonan grabbed her arm.

"Forget it, forget it," Zhang Ruonan said in a low voice, "If you beat her up again, Li Ran will have to sell herself twice more."

Wang Churan turned around and glared at her, then said leisurely, "You do know how to keep accounts."

But she didn't go any further. She just snorted and turned back to the film set.

After seeing them off, the crew resumed their normal filming schedule.

Li Ran continued filming as usual every day. After work, she would occasionally go out for a late-night snack with Wang Churan and Zhang Ruonan, and then go over the script for the next day when she got back.

Life was regular and uneventful, like the sea breeze in Xiamen, blowing every day, and every day was the same.

A week later, the third episode of "Peach Blossom Village" aired.

After finishing filming the night scene, Li Ran returned to her hotel, took a shower, and then opened Weibo.

Several keywords related to Li Ran were trending on the hot search list.

The topmost #Li Ran Zhou Ye Peach Blossom Village Interaction# is followed by a red "Explosive" character.

Clicking on it, the screen is filled with screenshots of the two of them...

He was cooking in the kitchen, and she stood beside him handing him seasonings; she was watering flowers in the yard, and he passed by and casually took the watering can; there was also a clip of the two of them chatting while sitting on a swing, which was captured by someone and set to the background music of "Because of Love," and has been forwarded more than 100,000 times.

On the CP rankings, Wildfire CP has returned to the top spot, leaving the second place far behind.

Scroll down, and there's another entry: #Li Ran and Hu Lianxin's Waltz#.

That was a duet dance he performed with Hu Lianxin in Peach Blossom Village. It was a casual dance he did while recording the show, but it unexpectedly got edited into the final cut.

The dance was simple, just a few basic waltz steps, but the two danced naturally and in perfect harmony. At the end, she looked up at him and smiled, and he smiled too. That scene was screenshotted and went viral.

The Douyin (TikTok) platform is full of couples imitating this dance. Some are professionally trained dancers, some are uncoordinated but still try, and some even bring their cats and dogs along to spin around.

The original video featuring Li Ran and Hu Lianxin has already garnered over 50 million likes, and the number is still rising.

On the CP ranking, "Xin Huo Xiang Ran" suddenly surged to third place.

Li Ran scrolled down: number one Wildfire, number three Fragrant Fire, and number four Heartfelt Flame.

Of the top five most popular couples, he alone occupies three spots.

His collaborations with Tian Xiwei ("Burning Passion") and Liu Haocun ("Burning Heart") have fallen out of the top ten due to the lack of new works airing and recent interactions.

The next morning, when Li Ran arrived at the film set, Zhang Ruonan was already getting her makeup done.

She saw him come in, glanced at him in the mirror, smiled slightly, but didn't say anything.

Wang Churan sat next to her, scrolling through her phone without even looking up.

"Congratulations," she said lazily, "two of the top three spots on the CP ranking are yours."

Li Ran sat down next to her. "Fourth place is mine too."

"I know." Wang Churan rolled her eyes. "I'm counting for you."

When the makeup artist was applying makeup to Li Ran, he closed his eyes and heard Wang Churan scrolling through Douyin (TikTok). The audio playing from the speaker was intermittent, and it was the background music from the waltz he and Hu Lianxin were dancing to.

She swiped past it, then swiped back a while later, and then swiped past it again.

Wang Churan was getting annoyed and simply turned off her phone screen.

……

At noon, inside Li Ran's RV.

The three of them sat around a small table eating. In front of Li Ran was a normal takeout meal: rice, stir-fried beef with yellow peppers, stir-fried greens, and a bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup.

In front of Wang Churan and Zhang Ruonan was a low-fat meal: lettuce leaves, boiled chicken breast, a few florets of broccoli, and half a cut egg. It didn't look very appetizing.

Wang Churan used chopsticks to pick out the broccoli florets one by one and threw them into Li Ran's lunchbox.

Li Ran glanced down and saw the broccoli florets on the rice. He picked them up and put them in his mouth.

"You're not eating broccoli anymore?" he asked, looking at Wang Churan.

"I have no appetite." Wang Churan rolled her eyes, poking several small holes in the chicken breast with her chopsticks. "I'm so angry I'm full."

Li Ran knew what she was angry about.

Last night, the CP rankings were updated, with Wildfire in first place, Xin Huo Xiang Ran in third, and Xin Yi Wei Ran in fourth.

There are no fans who ship her and Li Ran as a couple yet.

Li Ran swallowed the broccoli and didn't respond to the conversation. At a time like this, anything she said would be wrong.

If you say "I'll definitely do it next time," she'll think you're being perfunctory.

If you say "the CP rankings aren't important," she'll say you don't care.

If you say "I can't help it," she'll say you don't love her anymore.

Keeping your mouth shut and eating is the only right choice.

Zhang Ruonan glanced at Wang Churan, said nothing, and continued to fiddle with her salad, turning the lettuce leaves over and over, but didn't put them in her mouth.

Seeing that Li Ran was keeping his head down and not saying anything, Wang Churan nudged Zhang Ruonan next to her with her elbow.

The impact was quite severe; Zhang Ruonan almost dropped the fork in her hand.

Wang Churan said with a resentful tone, "Right now, we're the only two who don't have any fans who ship us with Li Ran. Aren't you worried?"

Zhang Ruonan pushed the salad forward, thought for a moment, and casually said, "Why should I be in such a hurry? I just arrived alone."

She paused, looking at Wang Churan with a hint of smugness in her smile, "Besides, I still have the title of 'Imperial Concubine in the Cold Palace.' And with Li Ran's knack for creating popular on-screen couples after the movie's release, do you think I'm worried about not having enough fans for them?"

After she finished speaking, she forked a piece of chicken breast and put it in her mouth, chewing it with a clear conscience.

Wang Churan felt even more depressed after hearing this.

Why should they? Zhou Ye has it, Hu Lianxin has it, Zhang Jingyi has it.

Although Tian Xiwei and Liu Haocun are no longer on the list, they still have fans who support them as a couple.

Even Zhang Ruonan, who just arrived, has the title of "Cold Palace Consort" waiting to be officially promoted.

What does she have? Nothing.

She snatched Li Ran's lunchbox and put it aside.

"Stop eating. Stop eating."

Li Ran looked up, his chopsticks still hanging in mid-air, a piece of beef dripping oil.

"Wang Churan, are you sick? You're not eating, and you won't let me eat either?" He reached for the lunchbox, but Wang Churan protected it with her hand.

Her determined look made Li Ran laugh.

"What are you laughing at? I'm just not letting you eat it."

Wang Churan retorted, "You'd better think of a way quickly, I want to create a CP (couple pairing) with you too."

Li Ran sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Wait, if we're going to create a CP (couple pairing) image, we need to have some work to show for it, right? Or at least some promotional content? Are we just going to create something without any substance?"

"I don't care, I want it." Wang Churan's voice softened, but her tone remained stubborn.

She knew she was being unreasonable, but she just couldn't swallow her anger.

Why does everyone else have it, but she doesn't?

Li Ran thought for a moment and said, "How about I post a Weibo like that silly roe deer and tag you?"

He said this with a slight smile on his lips, a mix of teasing and probing.

Wang Churan pursed her lips, a hint of excitement flashing across her face before being suppressed by reason.

"Then forget it, I don't want to be chased and cursed by your fans."

Although she wanted to, and wasn't afraid of being chased and scolded by Li Ran's fans, if it were officially announced, it would inevitably affect Li Ran.

Li Ran thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "Alright, after Xiao Tian and I finish filming 'The Legend of Canglan,' we'll see if there are any suitable scripts."

Wang Churan's eyes lit up. "How about we film 'Qingqing's Daily Life' together?"

She asked the question quickly, as if she had already thought of the answer.

"I don't plan to participate in 'Qingqing's Daily Life,' and you're not suitable for the female lead either. Xiaotian should play the role." Li Ran said directly, and her tone was very calm.

Wang Churan's expression fell.

"I don't care, I'm going to work with you on a film where we play the male and female leads." She said this with a hint of defiance, but her eyes were serious.

Li Ran nodded, seeing her unwillingness to back down.

"Okay, I'll have the company keep an eye on it, alright?"

Wang Churan then pushed the lunchbox back with satisfaction.

……