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

Chapter 209 Li Yitong's Filming Ends

Li Yitong stood by the bed, her gaze sweeping over the two of them, feeling a little awkward.

She reached out and tidied her disheveled hair, reminding herself, "This seems to be my room."

Tian Xiwei was stunned for a moment.

She turned and looked around; there were still empty wine bottles left over from last night on the floor.

Her face slowly turned red. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back. In the end, she just glared at Li Ran, as if to say, "It's all your fault."

Li Ran smiled helplessly, "I told you we all drank too much yesterday."

Tian Xiwei snorted coldly, raised her foot, and kicked him again.

The force was much lighter than before, as if the anger had subsided and it was just a habitual urge to kick him.

Taking advantage of the situation, Li Ran quickly got out of bed, stood by the bed, looked down at his wrinkled clothes, and reached out to tug at the corner of his clothes.

"I'm going back to take a shower first."

After he finished speaking, he turned and left, his steps so fast it was as if he were running away.

Li Yitong watched him run away and chuckled softly, a hint of schadenfreude in her voice.

She sat down again, leaning against the headboard, and began to replay the scenes from last night in her mind.

Tian Xiwei was the first to black out from drinking.

She lay on the table, her face buried in her arms, and mumbled, "I can't drink anymore," before falling silent.

She wasn't much better off; she remembered leaning on Li Ran's shoulder and even asking him for a kiss at the end.

Her memories after that were hazy, but she remembered one scene—Li Ran carried Tian Xiwei to the bed, covered her with a blanket, and then stood up, as if he was about to leave.

She reached out and grabbed him, preventing him from leaving.

What did she say? I don't remember.

But she knew she hadn't let go.

And then? Then I fell asleep.

Nothing happened.

She suddenly felt a mix of relief and inexplicable disappointment.

Fortunately, she hadn't done anything out of line; what was disappointing was that she shook her head and dismissed the thought.

She looked up at Tian Xiwei, who was still sitting on the bed.

Xiaotian was looking down, his fingers unconsciously clutching the corner of the blanket, pulling it up and then letting go, pulling it up and then letting go, as if he was venting something, or as if he was thinking about something.

Li Yitong hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Xiaotian, he didn't do anything to me." Her voice was soft and her tone calm, as if stating a fact or offering comfort.

"They were both drunk, maybe he mistook me for someone else."

She paused, her gaze falling on Tian Xiwei's face. "You're not jealous, are you?"

Tian Xiwei shook her head.

She looked up at Li Yitong, her big eyes no longer filled with the anger from before, but with a complex, indescribable feeling.

She felt that something was wrong.

Li Yitong was too calm, so calm that she didn't seem like she had just spent the whole night in bed with a man. She seemed to have done this many times before, and she seemed to be deliberately hiding something.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something just feels off.

"How could that be?" Tian Xiwei smiled. "I'll go back and take a shower too."

She did not return to her room.

She walked straight to the other end of the corridor, stopped in front of Li Ran's door, and knocked three times.

The door opened quickly.

Li Ran stood at the door, her hair still dripping wet, wearing a clean T-shirt, looking like she had already taken a shower.

He saw Tian Xiwei, paused for a moment, and then stepped aside to let her in.

Tian Xiwei walked in, but didn't sit down; she just stood there, looking at him.

"Are you and Sister Tong hiding something from me?"

Li Ran closed the door, leaned against it, looked at her, and remained silent for a few seconds.

Tian Xiwei stood there, waiting for his answer.

Li Ran looked at her; the anger from before was gone from her large eyes, replaced by a quiet, earnest look.

The solemnity was as if they were waiting for a verdict.

He knew he couldn't hide it anymore, and he didn't want to hide it any longer.

"Me and her—" He paused, as if organizing his thoughts—

Tian Xiwei didn't urge him; she just stood quietly, waiting for him to speak.

He took a deep breath and recounted the entire story of Li Yitong from beginning to end.

He didn't embellish or deliberately conceal anything; he simply told the story in a straightforward manner, as if he were telling a story unrelated to himself.

Tian Xiwei listened without any change in expression; she showed neither surprise nor anger, but simply listened quietly, as if she were listening to something she already knew.

After Li Ran finished speaking, the room was quiet for a few seconds.

Tian Xiwei gave a soft hum, "I knew it—"

In fact, she had already noticed those subtle, undeniable signs: the way Li Yitong looked at Li Ran, the way Li Ran looked at Li Yitong, and the unspoken understanding between the two of them.

She's not stupid; she just doesn't want to talk about it, doesn't want to expose it, and doesn't want to break through that final barrier.

But now that the paper is torn, she no longer needs to pretend.

Li Ran thought she would be angry and would pounce on him like before.

He opened his mouth, about to argue, but before he could speak, Tian Xiwei continued, "Go to my room and get me some clothes. I want to take a shower."

Li Ran paused for a moment, then nodded with an awkward smile. "Oh."

He responded, turned around, opened the door, and went out.

Tian Xiwei walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and the hot water poured down from above, washing away the smell of alcohol and her fatigue.

Her eyes were closed, but her mind was racing.

It's not that she's not angry.

She simply learned not to make decisions when she's angry.

In the past, she would make a fuss, cry, hit him, and question him about why he had lied to her again.

But after all the fuss, crying, fighting, and questioning, what can be done?

He is still him, still the fickle, restless Li Ran who they both love and hate.

She couldn't change him, and she didn't want to try to change him anymore.

What she's thinking about now is how to make things develop in her favor.

She opened her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror.

The hot water made her face flushed, and water droplets clung to her eyelashes, making her look like she had just come out of a long and tiring journey.

She reached out and wiped the condensation off the mirror, looking into her own eyes. The innocence and recklessness of the past were gone from those big eyes; only a quiet, composed, and somewhat cold clarity remained.

She was aware of her current situation.

Although she was the first to gain the approval of Li Ran's family, she was also targeted by others as a result.

Zhou Ye and Hu Lianxin are in cahoots. Although Wang Churan appears to be close to her, who knows what she's really thinking?

She was all alone, isolated and helpless.

She had long understood Li Ran's attitude towards them.

Zhou Ye was the most favored; no matter what happened, Li Ran's preference for her never changed.

She once thought that Li Ran's favorite person would be Zhang Jingyi, after all, she was his ideal woman during his youth and the first girl he brought home.

However, upon closer observation, she realized that Zhang Jingyi might just be Li Ran's way of making up for the regrets of his youth—as an explanation for his unsuccessful past relationship—but not his future destination.

If Li Ran were to marry, he would have to choose from four women: her, Zhou Ye, Zhang Jingyi, and Liu Haocun.

Perhaps add Wang Churan as well —

-

Hu Lianxin probably has no chance.

From the very beginning, Li Ran did not consider her his first choice.

She is his woman, but not someone he considers for the future.

Zhang Ruonan poses a significant threat, but she arrived too late and her foundation is unstable, so she cannot shake anything in the short term.

What about Lu Yuxiao? Well, she's like a little sister. Li Ran is nice to her, but the kind of niceness he shows her is different from how he treats others.

There wasn't that possessiveness that she absolutely had to have; it was more like a protective instinct? She couldn't quite put her finger on it.

As for Li Yitong—Tian Xiwei thought of this name and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

Li Yitong and Li Ran together pose no threat to anyone.

The reason is simple: their age is a factor.

Li Yitong is so much older than Li Ran, even if they were together, she could never become his legitimate wife.

My family won't agree, and public opinion won't let me off the hook.

Given Li Ran's family background, it was impossible for him to marry a celebrity.

But Li Ran's personality was too much to resist.

But Li Yitong can be her help.

An older, experienced, and resourceful woman who is unlikely to usurp the position of the main wife is the best ally.

Tian Xiwei turned off the shower, dried herself off, and walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel.

Li Ran has returned and put her clothes on the bed.

"Li Ran".

He turned around and looked at her.

"You don't need to worry about what happened between me and Sister Tong. I'll handle it myself."

Li Ran looked at her, remained silent for a few seconds, and then nodded.

"it is good."

Tian Xiwei didn't say anything more and lowered her head to start getting dressed.

Li Ran stood by the window, looking at her profile, her slightly furrowed brows, and her tightly pursed lips, and suddenly felt that she had changed.

It's not that I've become prettier, nor that I've gotten older; it's that I've changed my aura.

She used to be sweet, like a freshly baked cake, every bite was full of cream.

She's still sweet now, but there's an extra layer underneath the cream, like a cake base—solid, chewy, and not so easy to melt.

After Tian Xiwei finished dressing, she walked up to him, reached out, and gently pinched his cheek.

"Next time something like this happens," she said, looking him in the eyes, "tell me in advance."

Li Ran nodded. "Okay."

She let go of his hand and turned to walk towards the door.

She took two steps, then stopped and looked back at him. "I'll talk to Sister Tong."

After she finished speaking, she opened the door and went out.

Li Ran stood there, staring at the closed door, and remained silent for a long time.

Why does he feel that Xiaotian is becoming more and more like her mother?

When Li Ran came out of the dressing room after finishing her makeup, the sun on set was already very strong.

He squinted to adjust to the light, his gaze sweeping over the direction of the rest area. Li Yitong and Tian Xiwei were sitting under the sunshade, very close together, their heads touching, talking about something.

Tian Xiwei was smiling, and Li Yitong was smiling too. Their smiles overlapped, like two flowers blooming on the same branch, one passionate and the other gentle.

He took a few steps closer and heard Tian Xiwei say, "And then what, and then what?" in an urgent tone with a hint of coquettishness at the end.

Li Yitong smiled and shook her head, then reached out and gently tapped her forehead, as if she were tapping a disobedient little apprentice.

Tian Xiwei didn't dodge, but looked up at her with her big, bright eyes, like a kitten waiting to be stroked.

Li Ran stood a few steps away, watched this scene, and shook his head.

He recalled the events of that morning—that embarrassing "three people sharing a bed" incident that made him want to disappear into the ground.

He had expected the atmosphere to be delicate today, with at least some awkwardness between Tian Xiwei and Li Yitong.

But the scene before him told him that he was overthinking it.

Instead of growing apart, they became even closer than before.

He couldn't say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, but at least for now, this was the situation he wanted to see.

"Li Ran!" Tian Xiwei saw him and waved to him. "Come here, come here."

He walked over and sat down next to Tian Xiwei.

Li Yitong looked at him, her crescent-shaped eyes curved in a smile, as if nothing had happened.

Li Ran suddenly realized that this woman was much stronger than he had imagined.

Li Yitong is officially wrapping up filming today.

The last scene is a scene between Li Yitong and Tian Xiwei.

Si Ming and Xiao Lan Hua are master and disciple.

The script was restrained, with no sentimental lines, but the eyes of the two actors were full of emotion.

Tian Xiwei lay on the stone table, her chin resting on her crossed arms, her big eyes staring unblinkingly at Li Yitong, with an innocent, naive confusion in them.

"Is this fate?"

Her voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing something, or as if she had already accepted some unchangeable fact and was just making a final confirmation.

Li Yitong looked at her with a serious expression.

The usual smile was gone from those crescent-shaped eyes; only a calm, resolute gentleness remained.

She reached out and gently brushed away the stray hairs on Tian Xiwei's forehead, her fingertips tracing from her eyebrows to behind her ears, her movements slow, as if she were sketching a precious painting.

"Everything in this world is fate." She paused, her voice becoming even softer, as if she were speaking only to the person in front of her. "Except for love—it is not fate."

After the director yelled "Cut," the set was quiet for a moment.

Staff members gathered around, some offering flowers, some offering water, and others saying "Happy wrap-up!"

Li Yitong took the bouquet of flowers and smelled them.

She looked up at Tian Xiwei and smiled.

"Let's have dinner together tonight, Li Ran is treating." Tian Xiwei's tone was light, as if she were saying something perfectly natural.

After she finished speaking, she looked at Li Ran, who was standing not far away, and winked.

Li Yitong also looked at Li Ran, her crescent-shaped eyes crinkling with a smile. "Really?"

Li Ran nodded.

He leaned against the prop box next to him, relaxed, with his hands in his pockets and a calm expression, as if waiting for an expected answer.

Li Yitong shook her head, her crescent-shaped eyes filled with a hint of regret and reluctance.

"It might not work this time, my flight is at six o'clock."

Tian Xiwei paused for a moment, then blinked her big eyes.

"Oh? I see."

"It's okay, we can get together again sometime," Li Yitong comforted her, reaching out to hug her.

Tian Xiwei leaned on her shoulder, like a kitten that had finally found its home, closed her eyes, and rubbed against her shoulder.

The two people separated.

"Let's get together again sometime, you little brat," she said slowly, looking at Li Ran.