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

Li Ran was picking up a soup dumpling when he heard this, and without pausing, he said casually, "Oh, I went out for some fresh air last night and bought some things at the convenience store downstairs."

"And then? He went back to his room to sleep."

"Go back to your room?" Zhou Ye frowned, clearly not believing him.

"Your room key and phone are with me, how did you get in?"

Li Ran casually glanced to the side and pointed to his assistant, who was trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible: "Didn't Xiao Chen have a spare room key?"

"When I came back and couldn't get anyone to answer the door, I asked him for it."

Xiao Chen, who was suddenly called on, almost choked on his steamed bun. He quickly put down his food, swallowed what was in his mouth, and nodded solemnly in agreement: "Yes, yes, Teacher Zhou Ye."

"Brother Ran got the spare room key from me last night to enter the room."

He appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was groaning and secretly rejoicing that he had gotten two extra spare room cards from the front desk for convenience.

Otherwise, today might not have passed so easily.

Xiao Chen's inner monologue was a frantic barrage of thoughts: Li Ran's amazing moves...

It's really like a small knife pulling up a butt—it's eye-opening!

I originally thought that only Zhou Ye and Tian Xiwei, the two candidates for the boss lady, needed to report to Li's mother. But now it seems that Hu Lianxin is also one of them.

This workload... I need to consider asking for a raise!

Zhou Ye listened to Xiao Chen's explanation, and although he didn't quite believe it, he couldn't find any flaws in it for the time being.

She looked at Li Ran suspiciously, pursed her lips, and didn't ask any further questions.

She sat down next to Li Ran, her shoulder touching his.

"Now that you're back, why didn't you come to see me? I was waiting to return your phone and room key."

Her tone softened, carrying a hint of reproach.

Li Ran remained expressionless and continued eating her breakfast, her voice tinged with exhaustion: "I've been filming non-stop these past few days, and I'm really tired. I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow. I figured I had a spare room key, and I didn't need my phone urgently, so I didn't bother you."

Zhou Ye thought about it and seemed to accept this explanation.

She took a bite of the steamed bun, and after a while, she suddenly leaned close to Li Ran's ear and whispered something only the two of them could hear.

"Then...would you like to come to my room tonight? I...have a surprise for you."

Li Ran raised an eyebrow, understood, nodded, and didn't say anything more.

This kind of topic is obviously not suitable for in-depth discussion in front of an assistant.

Just then, the door made a soft "beep" sound and was opened again.

Tian Xiwei walked in.

She glanced at the three people at the table, her gaze lingering on Li Ran's face for a moment, but unlike Zhou Ye, she didn't press him about where he had been last night, as if it didn't matter at all.

She walked over to Li Ran's other side very naturally, picked up a fried dough stick, and asked in a flat tone, "You didn't even call me for breakfast?"

Zhou Ye immediately retorted, "Why should I call you that? Who are you?"

Tian Xiwei ignored her and turned to Li Ran, her tone reproachful: "Don't we usually eat together? Why did you forget about me today?"

At this moment, Xiao Chen sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. He immediately stood up, picked up the half-eaten bun he hadn't finished, and said quickly, "Brother Ran, teachers, please take your time eating. I'll go prepare the car and check the road conditions today."

After saying that, without waiting for a response, he practically slipped out of the room, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.

Li Ran watched Xiao Chen's rapidly disappearing figure, feeling speechless.

This guy runs away faster than anyone else whenever there's "battle" going on. Deduct his salary! Deduct his salary!

However, he did not know that Xiao Chen was actually receiving double pay, and that the "special allowance" given by Li's mother was probably more generous than the salary he, the legitimate boss, received.

Only three people remained in the room.

Li Ran put down his chopsticks, leaned back, rubbed his temples, deliberately darkened his expression, and spoke with an undeniable air of authority:

"Alright, eat quietly. All this noise first thing in the morning is giving me a headache."

He finally understood that he couldn't spoil the two women too much; he had to show some attitude from time to time, otherwise they could switch into battle mode anytime, anywhere.

Sure enough, seeing that he seemed genuinely displeased, Zhou Ye and Tian Xiwei both shut their mouths, glared at each other, and then lowered their heads to eat, temporarily restoring the superficial calm.

Zhou Ye took a bite of the crispy fried dough stick, his little brain working rapidly.

She rolled her eyes, swallowed her food, turned to Li Ran, and said in a sweet, innocent voice, "Li Ran, I have oil on my lips, can you wipe it off for me?"

Li Ran glanced at her, said nothing, and pulled out a tissue.

Just as his hand holding the tissue was about to touch her lips, Zhou Ye suddenly leaned forward and, with lightning speed, gave him a quick "pop" kiss on the cheek.

After the kiss, she immediately pulled away, a triumphant smile on her face, her eyes curving into crescents: "Alright! That counts as being clean!"

Li Ran paused, looking at Zhou Ye's sly little face, and couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

This little guy is getting more and more playful!

He calmly wiped his face with a tissue without saying anything.

Tian Xiwei, sitting opposite, took in the whole scene, snorted coldly, and continued eating her breakfast.

You like kissing, right? I'll let you see enough in a bit!

After breakfast.

Tian Xiwei looked at Li Ran and said calmly, "By the way, we're filming the amusement park scene this morning. You... be prepared."

After saying that, without waiting for Li Ran's response, he got up and left the room.

Li Ran was stunned for a moment.

The amusement park scene? If I remember correctly, wasn't that scheduled for the day after tomorrow? Didn't Director Cat inform him?

He immediately realized that this was likely something Tian Xiwei had asked the director to do on short notice.

Thinking about what day it was, and then remembering that Zhou Ye was right next to me...

Li Ran thought to himself: Tian Xiwei is really vengeful, and she's also quite decisive in her actions.

"What kind of play is it? Do we need to prepare for it?" Zhou Ye asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, just a rather important scene with my opponent." Li Ran brushed it off vaguely and stood up.

"Let's go, get ready to go to the film set. Didn't you say you wanted to ask Xiao Hu to come along?"

"Oh right!" Zhou Ye also stood up, temporarily suppressing his doubts.

"I'll go get her! We agreed to go together."

Li Ran nodded, watching Zhou Ye's retreating figure as he walked away, and smiled helplessly.

Tian Xiwei timed it perfectly, wanting to give Zhou Ye a memorable birthday gift during her visit to the set!

However… he thought about it again, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

In a way, it seems like we're the ones who actually benefit?

It might not be a bad thing to let Zhou Ye get used to this kind of situation sooner.

After a while, Zhou Ye returned alone.

"Where's Xiao Hu? Isn't he coming along?" Li Ran asked.

"She said she wasn't feeling well, probably because she didn't sleep well last night, and wanted to rest a bit more before going to the set herself in the afternoon," Zhou Ye explained.

Li Ran understood, but remained outwardly calm. "Yes, if you're not feeling well, rest more. Let's go then."

This white tiger isn't very strong either!

The film set was a temporarily rented amusement park.

Zhou Ye followed Li Ran to the filming area, looking around curiously.

"Li Ran, after filming, can we play for a while?" she asked curiously.

Li Ran nodded: "Okay, after we finish filming, I'll talk to the director and see if I can stay a little longer and play with you."

"Great!" Zhou Ye happily shook his arm.

Looking at her smiling face, Li Ran silently added in his heart.

The premise is... that you'll still be in the mood to play after you've finished watching the rest of the filming.

He did not stop Tian Xiwei's arrangements. Firstly, the die was cast, and it was unrealistic to change the filming plan at the last minute.

Secondly, perhaps, just as he had thought, it might not be entirely a bad thing for Zhou Ye to face this situation sooner and gradually adapt to the opposite sex who might appear around him.

However, this adaptation process is unlikely to be pleasant.

Not far away, Tian Xiwei's gaze briefly met Li Ran's. She slightly raised her chin, her eyes filled with provocation, as if to say something.

The stage is set, the actors are in place, and the show is about to begin.