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

Chapter 214 Past and Present

After taking a shower, Lu Yuxiao came out wearing a white cotton nightgown. She looked clean and tidy, like a gardenia that had just been washed by the rain.

She walked barefoot on the carpet, sat down next to Li Ran, turned her head and glanced at his phone screen, where he was chatting with Zhou Ye.

When Li Ran saw her coming over, he tapped the screen a few times with his finger, then flipped the phone over and placed it face down on the coffee table.

"Why did you stop chatting? Are you afraid I'll peek?" Lu Yuxiao glanced at him sideways, her tone teasing.

Li Ran smiled and leaned back on the sofa.

"What?! Coconut has filming tomorrow, and it's already so late!"

Lu Yuxiao blinked, a sly glint suddenly flashing in her eyes.

She tilted her head to look at him, as if she was preparing something, or as if she was hesitating whether to speak.

After a while, she finally couldn't resist any longer. She moved closer to him, lowered her voice, and asked with a hint of mystery, "Li Ran, can you tell me about you and Zhou Ye?"

Li Ran looked at her with some confusion. "Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"I just want to know." Lu Yuxiao said, resting her head on his lap, looking up at him expectantly.

She paused, then continued, "I was curious when we were on the set of 'The Sword and the Brocade.' Zhou Ye said he'd tell me later, but he never did."

Li Ran was even more puzzled, her brows furrowing slightly. "Are you very familiar with Coconut?"

Lu Yuxiao rubbed against his leg like a spoiled kitten, her hair getting all messy, but she didn't care.

Li Ran looked down at her and warned, "Stay put, or you'll be responsible if it goes off."

Lu Yuxiao immediately became obedient, her body stiffened for a moment, and then slowly relaxed.

She recounted in detail what happened that night in the RV of the "Snow Sword" crew—how she cried, how Zhou Ye comforted her, what they said, she remembered it all clearly, even the details were vividly described.

"I cried so hard that night. Zhou Yeren is such a good person." After she finished speaking, she looked up at Li Ran.

Li Ran looked at her speechlessly. "Wait, are you giving Coconut a 'friend card'?"

Lu Yuxiao nodded, then lay back down and stared at him.

"That's true. I initially thought she would be difficult to get along with, compared to when we auditioned—" She paused, not finishing her sentence, "Never mind, let's not talk about that."

"Tell me about you and Zhou Ye?"

"What's there to talk about?" Li Ran smiled faintly, leaned back on the sofa, and looked out the window.

The lights on both banks of the Huangpu River flickered in the night, like a flowing river of light.

He suddenly remembered many things, including the first time he met Zhou Ye in college, and how she stood under the sycamore tree in a white dress, sunlight filtering through the leaves and falling on her shoulders like scattered gold.

Those scenes are so far away, like something from a past life, yet so close, like yesterday.

Lu Yuxiao looked at him seriously, "I just want to hear it. There are so many scripts online about you and Zhou Ye, and also about you and Zhang Jingyi's stunt double stories. I'm just curious."

She paused, then added, "You know, every girl has a gossipy nature."

Li Ran smiled helplessly, leaned back on the sofa, and looked relaxed, as if he were recalling a long time ago.

"Actually, there's not much to say. Things on the internet are half true and half false."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Coconut and I did break up, not because of feelings, but because we had different views on the future."

Lu Yuxiao's eyes lit up instantly, like two stars that had been lit up. She sprang up from the sofa, sat cross-legged, and rested her chin on her hands, looking like she was all ears.

"Tell me quickly, tell me quickly."

Li Ran couldn't help but laugh at her eager expression. "Back then, there was a low-budget film that came to our university to cast actors, and they ended up choosing me and Coconut."

He paused, then shook his head. "It's a rare opportunity for freshmen too. But I quit the role and went pro."

He spoke casually, as if he were talking about a trivial matter, but Lu Yuxiao noticed that his fingers unconsciously clenched a little tighter.

"Anyway, in these three years, although we said we broke up, it was more like a couple arguing and seeing who could compromise in the end."

He paused, the corners of his mouth curving slightly, a smile tinged with helplessness and self-deprecation.

"The result was that I played professionally for three years and then entered the entertainment industry."

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

Lu Yuxiao's eyes were already red, and tears welled up in them. Finally, she couldn't hold back and they fell.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, then wiped them again, but the more she wiped, the more tears flowed, like beads from a broken string, unstoppable.

"How could you be such a jerk?" Her voice was trembling with tears, her nose was thick, and she sounded aggrieved and a little heartbroken.

Li Ran looked at her innocently, "If I weren't a scumbag, why would you be here?"

Lu Yuxiao was stunned for a moment, then her face turned red.

She stood up, glaring at him, "Pah—you stinky Li Ran, you bad Li Ran—"

She cursed a couple of times, then turned and ran, her steps so fast it was as if she were fleeing.

"Slow down, don't fall."

Lu Yuxiao ran into the second bedroom without looking back, and slammed the door shut.

Li Ran leaned back on the sofa, looked at the closed door, and smiled slightly.

He picked up his phone and saw a message from Zhou Ye: "Go to sleep early."

He stared at those three words for a few seconds, then typed two words: "Goodnight."

I sent it, then put down my phone, stood up, turned off the light, and walked towards the master bedroom.

A sliver of light shone through the crack in the door to the second bedroom; she was still awake.

Li Ran stood in the corridor, stared at the beam of light for a while, then turned around, went into the master bedroom, and closed the door.

Li Ran did feel indebted to Zhou Ye, especially to the girl who cried alone at the base entrance on that rainy night.

The next morning, the weather in Shanghai was beautiful. The sky was a clear, bright blue, with a few wisps of white clouds hanging lazily on the horizon, like cotton candy scattered by the wind.

Lu Yuxiao wore a white baseball cap with the brim pulled low, and sunglasses that covered most of her face.

Li Ran glanced at her and couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you hiding from paparazzi or from the sun?" he asked.

"Everyone's hiding," Lu Yuxiao replied matter-of-factly, then took out another pair of sunglasses from her bag and handed them to him, "You wear these too, let's keep a low profile."

Li Ran took the sunglasses and put them on the bridge of his nose; the black lenses filtered the sunlight into a gentle gray.

The two looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

This outfit doesn't look like it's for going to an amusement park; it looks more like it's for carrying out some secret mission.

Disneyland is always packed with people.

Before even reaching the entrance, you can see a dense mass of people moving around the turnstiles, with children's laughter, screams, and cartoon music all mixed together like a pot of boiling porridge.

Lu Yuxiao, holding Li Ran's wrist, weaved through the crowd like a nimble little fish.

Her hands were small, her fingertips slightly cool, gripping his wrist with just the right amount of strength to keep up with her pace.

"Which one should we play first?" She turned around, her sunglasses sliding down to the tip of her nose, revealing a pair of bright, sparkling eyes.

Li Ran glanced at the park's map and pointed to the right. "Soaring Over the Horizon, there are fewer people over there."

Lu Yuxiao looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that the line was already very long, winding and twisting like a greedy snake.

Her face fell for a moment, but she quickly smiled again. "Let's arrange it, there's plenty of time today anyway."

She spoke with great confidence, like a general about to go into battle.

The wait in line was longer than I expected.

The two stood in the line, shoulder to shoulder, occasionally bumped together by the people behind them, and then separated again.

Lu Yuxiao couldn't stay still. Sometimes she would stand on tiptoe to look ahead, sometimes she would turn around and make faces at the children behind her, and sometimes she would take out her phone to take a selfie.

When she takes selfies, she always includes Li Ran in the frame, but he never looks at the camera. He either looks down or turns his head away, so in the end, the photo only shows her smiling face and the back of his head.

"Can't you just cooperate for once?" she pouted in dissatisfaction.

"No," Li Ran replied crisply.

Lu Yuxiao snorted, put away her phone, and ignored him.

But not long after, she came closer again, held her phone up to them, and this time, instead of letting him look at the camera, she quickly kissed him on the cheek when he wasn't looking, and pressed the shutter at the same time.

In the photo, her lips are pressed against his cheek, his eyes are slightly wide open, and his expression is one of surprise and helplessness.

"This one's good." She nodded in satisfaction and put her phone away.

Li Ran reached out and flicked the brim of her hat, causing it to tilt and cover half of her face.

"Sneak attacks are not a skill."

"Then I'll tell you in advance next time." Lu Yuxiao straightened her hat and winked at him.

The experience of soaring over the horizon was more breathtaking than I had imagined.

As the seat rose, Lu Yuxiao instinctively grabbed Li Ran's hand, gripping it tightly.

The images on the screen switched from grassland to ocean, from ocean to desert, and from desert to snow-capped mountains. She would exclaim "Wow!" and "Ah!" like a child who had never seen the world before.

Li Ran turned his head to look at her. Her sunglasses were pushed up to the top of her head, revealing her entire face. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth was slightly open, and her expression was focused yet innocent.

Lu Yuxiao was still excited after emerging from the horizon.

She dragged Li Ran to two attractions and then queued up to buy two Mickey Mouse-shaped ice creams, one chocolate and one strawberry.

She handed the chocolate bar to Li Ran, took a bite of the strawberry one herself, and licked the cream off her lips, then licked it again with the tip of her tongue, like a little cat that had stolen a bite of cream.

"Is it sweet?" she asked.

"Sweet," Li Ran said, then leaned in and licked the corner of her mouth as well.

Lu Yuxiao's face flushed red, and she reached out to push him, but the force was so light it was like a tickle.

"What are you doing? There are so many people here."

"Let me wipe your mouth," Li Ran said seriously, then took a bite of the ice cream in his hand, his expression innocent as if nothing had happened.

Lu Yuxiao glared at him, but she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.

She lowered her head, ate her ice cream in small bites, and stopped looking at him.

But her ears turned red, from her earlobes all the way to the tips, and they glowed a thin pink in the sunlight.

In the afternoon, the two went to watch a performance in front of the castle.

Lu Yuxiao stood in the crowd, tiptoeing, her neck stretched out like a giraffe trying to reach a high branch.

Standing behind her, Li Ran looked at her serious expression and couldn't help but reach out to support her shoulder, afraid that she might lose her balance if she stood for too long.

"Did you see that?" he asked.

"I saw it! I saw it!" Her voice was filled with childlike excitement, like a child visiting Disneyland for the first time.

As the performance ended, countless colorful bubbles floated down from above the castle, shimmering in the sunlight.

Lu Yuxiao reached out to catch it. A bubble landed in her palm, swayed, and popped, leaving a small damp mark.

She looked up at the bubbles floating in the air, her lips curving into a smile, her eyes shining brightly. She seemed to have been enchanted, transformed into a princess from a fairy tale.

Looking at her profile, Li Ran suddenly remembered what she had said last night—"It feels so romantic, like something out of an idol drama."

He thought she was joking at the time, but now, looking at her surrounded by bubbles, he suddenly realized she was right.

Romance isn't about what you do, but about who you do it with.

As evening falls, the setting sun bathes the entire park in a gentle orange-red hue.

Li Ran glanced at the time; it was time to go to the airport.

Lu Yuxiao also noticed the time, and the smile on her face faded a little, but she didn't say anything.

The two walked out side by side without saying a word.

Their pace slowed down in unison, as if they were delaying something, or perhaps cherishing something.

"I'm leaving," Li Ran said.

"Mm," Lu Yuxiao responded without looking up.

Li Ran looked at her for a few seconds, then reached out, gently ruffled her hair, and handed her a set of keys.

"The key to my house by the river has a surprise waiting for you inside."

Lu Yuxiao looked up at him, blinked, and said, "Actually, I'm already very surprised that you could come and celebrate my birthday with me."

Happy birthday, little clay figure!

After seeing Li Ran off, Lu Yuxiao stood in the parking lot, watching the car disappear at the end of the road, and stood there for a long time.

-

Then she took out her phone, opened the ride-hailing app, and entered the address she had already memorized.

As the car crossed the Huangpu River, it was almost dark. Lu Yuxiao leaned against the car window, watching the night view rushing past outside, but her mind was filled with images from the amusement park earlier that day.

"Miss, we've arrived." The driver's voice pulled her out of her reverie.

Lu Yuxiao snapped out of her daze, paid the fare, and got out of the car.

A night breeze blew by, carrying the coolness of the river. She stood at the entrance of the residential area, looked up at the building, took a deep breath, and then went inside.

She was alone in the elevator. Looking at her tired face in the mirror, she suddenly felt a little nervous.

She couldn't explain why she was nervous, but her heart skipped a beat, as if something was pounding in her chest that she couldn't suppress.

She walked to the door, and the lock clicked open.

She opened the door.

Then he froze.

The room was filled with dolls and flowers.

The living room was filled with dolls of all sizes on the sofa, carpet, coffee table, TV cabinet, and even the windowsill.

There was Mickey, Minnie, Strawberry Bear, Lina Belle, StellaLou, and Duffy Bear. The big ones were taller than her, and the small ones were only the size of a palm. They were all huddled together, like a group of cartoon characters having a party.

The flowers are pale pink roses, arranged in a transparent glass vase, scattered among the dolls, with fine water droplets on the petals that sparkle under the light.

Lu Yuxiao stood at the door, stunned for several seconds.

Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth was slightly agape, as if she were frozen in place by something, or as if she was afraid that if she moved, everything in front of her would disappear.

She walked in slowly, her steps as light as if she were walking on clouds, as if afraid of disturbing something.

She bent down and picked up Lina Belle, who was sitting on the armrest of the sofa. Her soft pink fur clung to her face.

She buried her face in the glass, took a deep breath, and then looked up at the room full of dolls and flowers, her eyes instantly welling up with tears.

Several gift boxes, of various sizes, were stacked together on the coffee table, tied with ribbons of different colors.

She took a deep breath, blinked, and suppressed the sour feeling.

Then she took out her phone, took a picture, and sent it to Li Ran.

"Is this the surprise you were talking about?"

The message was sent, but there was no immediate reply.

"Where am I supposed to put all these plush toys?"

"Did you do this on purpose?"

She put down her phone, stood up, and walked around the room full of dolls and flowers.

She walked to the sofa, picked up the largest one, Lina Belle, buried her face in its furry belly, and chuckled softly.

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