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

After dinner, Li Ran followed Zhou Ye back to the hotel.

There were only the two of them in the elevator. Zhou Ye was holding Taxue and leaning on Li Ran's shoulder, with an unconcealable smile on his lips.

She swiped the door open and went in first, hugging Taxue and showing it off to Li Ran.

"Look at the double room I specially changed to! I thought I wouldn't need it..."

Li Ran walked in, his gaze sweeping over the indeed very large bed, and said with an awkward smile, "Then tonight I'll have a good experience with this bed and see if it's... comfortable."

Zhou Ye's face flushed slightly for a moment, but she quickly raised her chin and said coquettishly, "Then... can you restrain yourself a little? I've been filming so much these past few days..."

Li Ran smiled.

He pulled Taxue out of her arms and put her on the ground.

The little guy was suddenly put down and looked up at the two of them in a daze. Before he could react to what had happened, he was ignored.

Li Ran picked up Zhou Ye and carried him towards the bathroom.

"It depends on how you do," he said.

Zhou Ye put his arm around his neck, leaned close to his ear, and whispered with a mischievous grin, "I have some in my suitcase..."

"Battle Robe..."

She paused, her face turning even redder.

"You said you were coming to visit the set, so I bought this a few days ago..."

Li Ran paused, looking down at her.

She buried her face in the crook of his neck, her ears burning red, but the smug smile on her lips was impossible to hide.

Ta Xue squatted outside the door, tilting her little head, her black bean-like eyes filled with confusion.

It looked at the big bed again, then at the closed door, its little dog brain completely baffled...

Why do the owners "fight" every day?

Wearing the carefully prepared outfit, Zhou Ye transformed into Ahri, the nine-tailed fox, and engaged in a fierce solo battle with Li Ran's Monkey King in the mid lane of Summoner's Rift.

In the early stages, Ahri took advantage of her long range and moved flexibly, making Sun Wukong quite embarrassed.

She smiled smugly, thinking victory was assured.

But the Great Sage remained calm and focused on developing his strength.

After reaching level six, he seized an opportunity, went straight into the bushes, used a fake monkey king to confuse the enemy, and then...

Three sticks.

He enlarged the Ruyi Jingu Bang, and with one blow, how could the little fox demon withstand it?

They were immediately reduced to their original form and left to soak in the fountain while waiting to be resurrected.

Zhou Ye lay on the bed, looking at the unwearable clothes on the floor, and sighed: "No matter how good you buy them... they're still disposable."

Li Ran, lying beside her, couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this: "Why do you have so many... um, little ideas?"

Zhou Ye rolled his eyes lazily: "Otherwise what? Should I send you to find that Stitch?"

Li Ran didn't respond.

He thought to himself: I was with her last night.

But he didn't say.

He discovered something: ever since the system rewarded him with physical optimization, some of his abilities seemed to have improved considerably.

If I had been working like this non-stop before, I probably would have needed a few days to recover. Now my back doesn't ache and my legs don't hurt, and I can climb eighteen floors in one go without any problem.

He reached out and pulled Zhou Ye into his arms, kissing her on the forehead.

"Go to sleep," he said. "We have filming tomorrow."

Zhou Ye hummed in agreement, snuggled closer to him, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

……

The following afternoon, Li Ran left the "Mountains and Rivers Order" production team.

Zhou Ye carried Taxue to the entrance of the film set, his face showing a hint of reluctance, but mostly a satisfied smile.

"I'll take Ta Xue with me for now, and return it to you after filming is finished," she said.

Li Ran nodded and rubbed Taxue's head. The little guy seemed to realize that its owner was leaving and let out a pitiful whimper.

"Sweetheart," Li Ran said, "I'll come pick you up in a while."

He straightened up and looked at Zhou Ye.

"I'm gone."

Zhou Ye nodded without saying anything, just stood there holding Taxue, watching him get into the car.

She looked down at Taxue in her arms and whispered, "Your father is gone."

Ta Xue let out a "whoosh".

Zhou Ye smiled, rubbed its ears, and turned to walk back.

……

On the evening of July 17th, Li Ran returned to her apartment in Beijing.

Pushing open the door, a familiar quietness greeted me.

He stood in the entryway for a while, then suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. Ta Xue was not there, wagging its tail as it ran over to greet him, nor was Liu Haocun nestled on the sofa, cuddling it while watching TV.

Having grown accustomed to the hustle and bustle, the sudden quiet felt somewhat desolate and unsettling.

He took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and then sat on the sofa and picked up his phone.

After thinking for a moment, he dialed his father's number.

The phone rang a few times before being answered.

Li's father's deep voice came through the receiver.

"What's wrong, you brat? Calling so late."

Li Ran leaned back on the sofa, carefully considered her words, and began to speak.

He recounted the whole story of Pants Pictures.

The day before he went to visit Zhou Ye on set, Producer Wang from "The Young Dragon" called and invited Li Ran to dinner.

After being rejected, it was rather unusual that he would specially ask the producer to receive Li Ran when he came to visit the set.

Ma Tao's attitude was a bit too eager.

I have a feeling that something is wrong.

After thinking it over, Li Ran realized that his family was the only option, so he came back today to ask his father about the situation.

"Dad, I just feel like something's not right."

He concluded by saying, "My current status shouldn't warrant such treatment. So I wanted to report to you to see if there's anything I'm unaware of."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Then Li's father spoke up, his tone calm: "If they have any good resources for you, just take them. Don't worry about anything else."

He paused, then added a few more words of explanation: "It must be the intention of their parent company."

"That richest man isn't having an easy time lately and is looking for some reliable backers. Don't overthink it; just cooperate where you can and refuse where you can."

Li Ran understood.

Thinking back to that speech I gave in October of this year in my previous life, and the subsequent halt of the IPO, although my father couldn't say it outright, there must have been rumors about it by now.

"This won't affect our family, will it?" he asked.

Mr. Li chuckled, his laughter carrying a hint of nonchalant confidence: "It won't affect anything. Our family runs a legitimate business, what's there to be afraid of? Besides, the old man is still here."

Li Ran felt relieved.

"That's all, I'm hanging up now..."

"etc."

Li's father interrupted him, "Your mother wants to say a few words to you."

A rustling sound came through the receiver, then it switched to Li's mother's voice.

"Son, when did I give you the safety rope?"

Li Ran: "..."

He chuckled awkwardly, "Uh, someone gave it to me. I was just using you to cover for me; who knew Xiao Tian had your WeChat?"

Li's mother snorted, her tone unreadable, neither angry nor amused: "So, now you're using your mother as a cover?"

She paused, then asked, "Your aunt said you dated three people at once? Who gave you that lucky charm?"

Li Ran knew he couldn't hide it any longer, so he confessed honestly: "It was given to me by Zhang Jingyi."

"Your high school classmate?"

"right."

Li's mother remained silent for two seconds.

Then she said, her tone so flat it was impossible to discern any emotion, "Fine, I can't be bothered with you anymore. Bring Xiaotian home for Chinese New Year this year, let the old man see him."

She paused, then added, "As for the rest, it's up to you."

Li Ran was stunned for a moment, not expecting her mother to say that.

"Okay... I understand, Mom."

"Goodnight, Mom. Please tell Dad for me too."

The phone hangs up.

On the other end, in the Li family's living room.

Li's mother put down her phone, leaned back on the sofa, and sighed softly.

Mr. Li came over with a teacup and sat down next to her: "Why are you sighing like that?"

Li's mother gave him a disapproving look: "Isn't he your precious son? You wouldn't talk about one if you didn't want to, but now that you've started talking about it... four? No, it should be five."

Mr. Li took a sip of tea and smiled, "Five is fine, what's the big deal? If you like them, just talk about it."

Li's mother glared at him: "You think you can marry them all?"

Mr. Li put down his teacup and said matter-of-factly, "We'll talk about it when the time comes. We'll find someone the old man approves of and marry her into the family; as for the others, if he likes them, we'll keep them outside."

He paused, then suddenly remembered something: "But these are all actors, I don't know if the old man would even approve of them."

"What do you think of the daughters of my comrades? Should I introduce them to him?"

Li's mother sneered, "Give me a break. Your son... how do you say it these days? Yeah... a looks-obsessed person."

She paused, a hint of helpless amusement in her voice: "They have very high standards."

Mr. Li picked up his teacup and took another sip.

"Let him be! He's still young."

Being young is wonderful! Thinking back to when I was young...