He plays Feng Yuxiu, and his girlfriend is a fairy-like beauty.

Ye Mo pushed open the door.

Only one table in the corner of the cafe had its lights on.

Warm yellow light shone down from above, casting a soft glow across the tabletop.

Liu Yifei sat by the window, with her back to the door.

Today she wore a black fitted blazer over a white shirt, with the top button neatly fastened to the second button.

Her hair wasn't loose as usual; instead, it was tied into a low ponytail, revealing her long, slender neck.

A pair of thin-rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of his nose—not prescription glasses, but the kind of decorative glasses without any prescription.

The eyes behind the glasses were fixed on the phone screen, and the fingers were swiping across the screen as if reviewing official documents.

Ye Mo stood at the door and stared at her for several seconds.

The Liu Yifei in his memory.

She's either in a video with her hair down and wearing a face mask, or squatting on the sofa peeling oranges while wearing a baggy oversized hoodie.

Or you might crawl out of the Running Man mud pit and laugh until your gums are bleeding.

The man in front of me was impeccably dressed in a suit and wore gold-rimmed glasses; from head to toe, he exuded the aura of someone not to be trifled with.

She has the aura of a domineering CEO!

"You wear glasses?" Ye Mo walked over and pulled out a chair.

Liu Yifei looked up, adjusted her glasses, and said with a serious expression, "The stylist did my makeup for today's event. She said I look more mature and sophisticated in glasses."

She paused for a moment. "How is it?"

"She acts like a female CEO, ready to fire me any second."

"Then why don't you sit down and report on your work?"

Liu Yifei pointed to the chair opposite him with a straight face, but he broke his composure as soon as he finished speaking. The corners of his mouth turned up, and his eyes behind his glasses curved into two crescent moons.

Ye Mo sat down.

The two looked at each other across the coffee table for a few seconds, then laughed at the same time.

It wasn't a polite smile, nor a courteous smile; it was the kind of smile that comes from not seeing someone for half a month and finally seeing them in person.

"Half a month." Liu Yifei took off his glasses and placed them on the table. "Longer than last time."

"Filming a movie."

"I know him, Chen Yongren."

She emphasized the three words "Chen Yongren" heavily, her tone carrying a deliberately feigned dissatisfaction.

"Every day he tells me he's done work, but then Brother Hua posts on Weibo saying that you bought all the milk tea for the crew. You have time to buy milk tea for others, but you don't have time to message me."

Ye Mo opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Liu Yifei stood up, walked around the coffee table, and stood in front of him.

She looked down at Ye Mo, who was sitting in a chair, the hem of her suit jacket brushing against his knees.

Then she bent down, wrapped her arms around his neck, and rested her chin on the top of his head.

"But you came today." Her voice came down from above, muffled.

Ye Mo reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

The suit jacket was made of a slightly stiff material, but the white shirt underneath was soft.

She had a faint scent of perfume left over from the event, mixed with the smell of her usual shower gel.

"Are you wearing perfume?"

"It's required for the event, don't you like it?"

"I like you, but you're not like me."

Liu Yifei released him, took a half step back, and put her hands on her hips: "What do you mean? Aren't I attractive enough?"

"You usually smell like laundry detergent, but today you smell like a shopping mall."

"Comrade Ye Mo—" Liu Yifei grabbed the glasses on the table and threw them at him.

Ye Mo caught the glasses, folded the temples, and placed them on the table.

The two sat down again.

Liu Yifei took off his suit jacket and draped it over the back of the chair, rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt to his wrists, and took a sip of his coffee.

"How's the filming going? After that rooftop scene, are those people still giving you trouble?"

"I won't cause any more trouble." Ye Mo picked up his coffee. "Brother Qiusheng makes me tea every day now, and Brother Hua asked me yesterday how to act out the scene at the police station—he asked for my opinion."

"Did Andy Lau ask for your opinion?"

"Um."

"What did you say?"

I said one word: "Receive."

Liu Yifei held her cup and waited for two seconds, but then realized he wasn't going to say anything more.

"Just one word?"

"That's enough, he knows what it means." Ye Mo put down his cup. "He flipped to a blank page in the script and wrote it down."

Liu Yifei leaned back in her chair and looked at him.

The glasses weren't on her face, but the scrutinizing seriousness remained.

After several seconds, she finally spoke: "When you were working as an extra in Hengdian, did you ever imagine that one day Andy Lau would be listening to you give acting advice?"

"No." Ye Mo thought for a moment, "At that time, I was thinking about whether there could be an extra piece of braised pork in my lunchbox today."

Liu Yifei didn't laugh.

She just looked at him, something moving in her eyes.

Then she changed the subject: "By the way, you said last time that Brother Hua joked with you—saying not to add lines during scenes, did you guys actually film that?"

"It was filmed, but I didn't add any lines to that scene."

Why?

"Wah Gor's rhythm was just right, and his performance was already very accurate. Adding a single punctuation mark would have disrupted the balance. Good scenes don't need any extras."

Ye Mo picked up the glasses on the table and twirled them between his fingers. "But after Hua Ge finished filming that scene, we chatted for a while, and our relationship improved!"

Liu Yifei picked up his coffee cup: "You've got everyone in this crew wrapped around your little finger now."

"No, we're still missing one."

"Who?"

"You?" Ye Mo hooked her chin with his hand.

"You're just teasing me!"

Liu Yifei said shyly.

At this time.

The door was pushed open.

It wasn't a gentle push; it was a forceful shove.

The wooden door slammed against the wall with a dull thud, and the spring on the hinge bounced twice, vibrating with a buzzing sound.

The liquid in the coffee cup sloshed, splashing a few drops onto the table.

Ye Mo turned his head.

There was a person standing at the door.

A woman in her fifties, dressed in a dark suit, her high heels clicking loudly on the marble floor.

The expression on his face wasn't anger—it was more terrifying than anger.

It's a black face, the kind of black face that says, "I've got you."

Liu's mother.

Ye Mo's mind completed three things in a fraction of a second.

First, we confirmed who was standing at the door.

Secondly, he confirmed that he was now sitting next to Liu Yifei, and that there was only a coffee table between him and Liu's mother.

Third, it was confirmed that there was no back door from which one could escape.

Liu Yifei's face turned pale instantly.

That kind of whiteness isn't just a description; it's a whiteness that's visible to the naked eye, spreading from the forehead down to the base of the neck.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but only a single syllable escaped her throat.

"mom--"

"Shut up."

Liu's mother's voice was not loud.

But each word sounded like it had been ground up between teeth and then spat out.

She took a step forward.

The sound of high heels clicking on the floor echoed in the quiet café.

She looked at Ye Mo.

"Ye Mo, right?"

She called his name as if she were chewing on the tip of her tongue.

Then, after confirming that the taste was bitter, he said, "I heard you've been filming 'Infernal Affairs' recently."

Ye Mo stood up.

The chair was pushed back half an inch, and the chair legs made a soft sound as they scraped against the marble floor.

He wanted to speak—to say, "Hello, Auntie."

But she was silenced by her mother's glare.

Liu's mother shifted her gaze from Ye Mo to Liu Yifei, and then back to Ye Mo.

Her lips twitched slightly.

It wasn't laughter, but the kind of aggression a hunter feels when he finally sees his prey fall into a trap.

"You guys are still making 'Infernal Affairs'? I think you're playing 'Infernal Affairs' with me."

Liu Yifei's head buzzed.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.

Her mother even knows how to use the tropes of "undercover agent" and "Infernal Affairs".

This shows that she has figured out the whole thing from beginning to end.

It's not that I only started thinking about it today; I've had my suspicions for a long time, and today is the day to close the net.

"Mom, Ye Mo and I are—"

"Shut up." Liu's mother said it a second time, this time softer than before, but even more terrifying.

She turned to Ye Mo.

"You're a newcomer, you've only made two movies and been popular for two days—do you think you're good enough for my Yifei? What makes you worthy? Do you have a company? Do you have connections? What do you have? Two iconic scenes? Eight trending topics?"

She pronounced each word very short and hard, as if she were breaking bones one by one on a chopping board.

"Do you know how many years Yifei has been famous? Do you know how much she's paid? What are you going to give her? Your few million-dollar salary? Your few meme-worthy expressions?"

The waiter behind the coffee machine is gone.

I don't know when they slipped out the back door.

There were only three people left in the shop.

The air was taut like a string stretched to its limit.

Ye Mo remained silent for a long time.

During this silence, he finally raised his eyes and looked directly at Liu's mother.

It's not the kind of look that says, "I'm tough, do you dare hit me?"

It's that kind of calm that comes after being righteous and assertive.

"this--"

He said two words.

Then it paused for a moment.

It was as if he was thinking of what to say, or as if he was making a decision.

"This is love."

......