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

Li Ran breathed a sigh of relief. The rest of the program glossed over the workers' labor process, with only a few brief shots.

The production team didn't include the brief private chat between him and Zhang Jingyi after they finished their farm work, even though it was just a normal reminiscing.

If Coconut sees this, given her current sensitivity and fighting spirit, she'll probably get jealous and cause a lot of trouble.

"Alright, the show's over, let's go to sleep. We all have a lot of scenes to film tomorrow." Li Ran said, standing up and picking Zhou Ye up in her arms without further ado.

Zhou Ye exclaimed in surprise and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him like a koala.

As he carried her to the bed, she leaned close to his ear, her voice soft and sweet, carrying a hint of probing: "Really, we're just ordinary high school classmates?"

Li Ran lifted the person in his arms, lightly patted her bottom, and said with a hint of helpless indulgence, "What else? Are you Conan? Do you want me to check my high school records?"

Zhou Ye gently bit his shoulder, then didn't press the matter further. Some things are better left unsaid; pressing for details only adds to the point.

This is the method Hu Junshi taught her: tell him you're jealous, but don't make a scene; always maintain a distant and ambiguous relationship.

However, in another room of the hotel, Tian Xiwei did not go to bed early.

She sat cross-legged on the bed, holding a tablet computer, searching for information about Zhang Jingyi online. Clearly, this junior from elementary school had also been labeled a "potential enemy" by her.

Meanwhile, in an apartment in Shanghai, Wang Churan had just turned off the television.

She leaned back lazily on the sofa, muttering to herself, "This junior high school girl, she does look quite innocent, but she's a bit dark-skinned."

Meanwhile, Li Ran was holding Zhou Ye, who had finally stopped asking questions, and preparing to go to sleep, completely unaware of the bigger turmoil that might arise from the broadcast of the show.

At noon on set, Li Ran and Zhou Ye were eating takeout ordered by their assistant.

Tian Xiwei walked straight over, completely ignoring Zhou Ye, and sat down next to Li Ran, getting straight to the point.

"Is Zhang Jingyi really just your junior from high school? Is your relationship that simple?"

Li Ran was taken aback by the question, put down her chopsticks, and asked in surprise, "You watched 'Yearning' last night too?"

Before Li Ran could answer Tian Xiwei's question, Zhou Ye, who was standing next to her, had already raised his head.

Her gaze swept over Tian Xiwei, a half-smile playing on her lips, and she said sarcastically, "As his girlfriend, I haven't asked any questions, so why are you meddling?"

Tian Xiwei seemed to only then notice Zhou Ye's presence. She glanced at him sideways and said provocatively, "Are you indifferent, or do you simply not be able to control him?"

She paused, raising her chin slightly, "If you can't manage it, then step down now. I'll take over, and I guarantee I'll manage it 'better' than you."

Li Ran, listening from the side, didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and rubbed his temples.

What do you mean by "manage"? He's a perfectly healthy person, when did it become their place to manage him? This conversation is getting more and more absurd.

Zhou Ye scoffed, "A reverse psychology tactic? Tian Xiwei, do you think that will work on me?"

Tian Xiwei smiled faintly, "I have no interest in arguing with you."

"Anyway, after this drama wraps up, Li Ran and I will continue filming 'So Cute Us,' so we'll have plenty of time to spend together. As for you..."

These words accurately captured what Zhou Ye cared about most right now. Her chest heaved slightly, and just as she was about to explode, she suddenly remembered Hu Lianxin's reminder and forcefully suppressed her anger.

She flashed a fake smile reminiscent of Wei Lai, looked at Tian Xiwei, and said clearly, "So what? As long as we don't break up, I'll always be Li Ran's open and aboveboard girlfriend. You..."

Tian Xiwei's eyes suddenly turned cold. She realized that Zhou Ye seemed to have changed in the past few days and had become somewhat difficult to deal with.

She ignored Zhou Ye and instead looked at Li Ran, who was quietly eating his rice, and slowly said, "Your junior from junior school seems to have been trending on social media because of the show. Take a look for yourself."

After saying that, she stopped looking at the two of them, stood up briskly, turned around and left, her back view crisp and dashing.

Zhou Ye watched her retreating figure and muttered, "Ugh~ Pshaw~"

Li Ran frowned, picked up his phone, and opened Weibo. Sure enough, in the middle and later parts of the trending topics list, he saw several related hashtags: #NewcomerClumsy,AngersChefHuang#, #NewActorIntentionallyRidingLiRan'sHeat?#...

Clicking through, the content is largely the same, basically excerpts from the scene in "Yearning" where Zhang Jingyi knocks over chicken tendons, accompanied by various eye-catching titles and interpretations.

The comments section was full of all sorts of opinions: "What's wrong with this newbie? He's so clumsy, he obviously has no life experience."

"It's clearly because the rope wasn't tied properly, Huang Lei is also partly responsible, isn't he? Making a newcomer take all the blame is a bit much."

"It's just for the show, why are you taking it so seriously? But the little sister looks kind of cute when she's flustered."

"Chef Huang's persona remains intact! It must be because the newcomer was too nervous!"

These are still within the scope of normal variety show discussions, but what really sparked more discussion were the topics and discussion areas related to Li Ran's name.

"Holy crap! The God of Burning suddenly entered the entertainment industry, could it be because of this junior schoolmate? Even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman?"

"Zhang Jingyi? Never heard of her before. She's on a popular variety show with Ran Shen right off the bat, calls Zhou Xun 'Auntie,' and says she has no connections?"

"She and Ran Shen seemed quite familiar with each other on the show? High school classmates? That's quite a coincidence."

"Ran Shen just officially announced his entry into the entertainment industry, and now a 'childhood sweetheart' from his junior school is appearing on a show with him? Isn't this a bit too much of a publicity stunt?"

"Take our Burning God away! We refuse to be bound! Please walk independently, okay?"

The direction of public opinion began to deviate from the event itself, focusing more on the relationship between Zhang Jingyi and Li Ran, and making various speculations and amplifications.

After all, Li Ran has been very popular recently. From retiring at the peak of his career to crossing over into the entertainment industry, and then to the conflict on set, he has always been the focus of public opinion.

This variety show appearance, his first as an artist, naturally attracted countless eyes. Anyone associated with him, especially any woman he showed a certain level of familiarity with on the show, was easily scrutinized and became a topic of conversation or even a point of controversy.

Li Ran quickly browsed through the pages, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. He hadn't expected that an unintentional act, coupled with the editing of the program, would bring Zhang Jingyi such trouble.

Many of Li Ran's female e-sports fans have already started attacking Zhang Jingyi's Weibo account.

Zhou Ye also came over to take a look, his expression somewhat complicated.

On the one hand, she felt instinctively uncomfortable seeing women being discussed because of their relationship with Li Ran.

In addition, she also realized that Zhang Jingyi was simply implicated, and that many of the criticisms were malicious speculations about her trying to gain attention or being scheming.

As a fellow artist, a faint sense of sympathy crossed her mind, just like when "Better Days" aired last year, some people also criticized her for no reason.

After reading the Weibo post, Li Ran remained silent for a moment before dialing Long Danni's number, which was answered quickly.

He immediately said, "Auntie, you saw the trending topics, right?"

……