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

The car was parked downstairs at Meng Ziyi's house.

Night had fallen, and the streetlights in the neighborhood cast a dim, yellowish glow. Meng Ziyi sat in the car, motionless.

She turned to look at Li Ran, her eyes filled with the last glimmer of hope: "Are you sure you don't want to come up and sit for a bit? My chocolate can do backflips."

Li Ran smiled helplessly: "Sister Meng, let's go up quickly! It's too late."

Meng Ziyi pursed her lips, still unwilling to give up, and asked, "Do I really have absolutely no appeal to you?"

Li Ran gave a perfunctory reply: "I'm not in the mood for new relationships right now."

Meng Ziyi looked at him and suddenly smiled.

That smile carried a hint of relief, a hint of helplessness, and a complex mix of emotions.

"Okay...come visit my house sometime."

Li Ran nodded.

Meng Ziyi pushed open the car door, got out of the car, took two steps, and then looked back at it.

Li Ran, sitting in the car, waved to her.

She took a deep breath, turned around, and walked into the apartment building.

……

When Li Ran returned to the apartment, it was already one o'clock in the morning.

Pushing open the door, I walked to the sofa and saw that Hu Lianxin was already curled up asleep on it.

She lay on her side, one hand under her face, her eyelashes casting a soft shadow under her eyelids, her breathing steady.

Li Ran walked over and gently nudged her: "Go to the bedroom and sleep."

Hu Lianxin opened her eyes groggily, saw it was him, and mumbled, "Hold me."

Li Ran smiled helplessly, bent down and picked her up. Hu Lianxin wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him like a koala.

He carried her towards the bedroom, casually asking, "Did Jingyi and the other two go back?"

Hu Lianxin nodded and buried her face in the crook of his neck: "You went back not long after you left."

She closed her eyes and snuggled against him, suddenly smelling a faint scent of perfume.

She opened her eyes.

I just happened to see the clear lipstick mark on Li Ran's neck.

She instantly regained her senses.

Looking further up, you can see a few faint marks on his face.

Hu Lianxin's expression became subtle, and she slowly asked, "She kissed you?"

Li Ran paused, looking down at her.

A dim light shone through the gap in the curtains onto her face, her expression a mix of jealousy and curiosity.

He nodded casually, "Just like you were back then, but Sister Meng is braver than you."

Recalling what happened in Tengchong, Hu Lianxin pursed her lips and retorted, "Didn't you know how to resist?"

Li Ran chuckled awkwardly, "How do you know I didn't resist?"

He paused, then added, "Okay, I'm not interested in her."

Hu Lianxin gave a soft hum.

She leaned back into his arms, and after a while, asked again, "What about Zhang Ruonan?"

Li Ran didn't say anything, he just smiled.

Hu Lianxin pouted and continued to press, "What about the other silly penguin?"

Li Ran was taken aback: "Lulu Xiao?"

"Otherwise what?"

Hu Lianxin buried her face in his neck, her voice muffled, "She walks like a penguin, so you can't tell me I'm not interested in her at all."

Li Ran didn't hide anything: "I am indeed interested in clay figurines."

He paused for a moment: "But it seems you've already killed her."

Hu Lianxin smiled, a hint of smugness in her voice: "Now they've given up, but who knows what the future holds?"

She looked up at him: "And, are you blaming me?"

Li Ran shook his head and gently placed her on the bed. "Alright, let's go to sleep?"

Hu Lianxin lay on the bed, watching him turn and walk out, and asked, "Aren't you going to take a shower? Where are you going?"

Li Ran turned around and explained, "You go to sleep first, I'll go check on Coconut in the second bedroom."

Hu Lianxin continued, "So where will you sleep tonight?"

"I'll come right back after checking on the coconuts..." he replied casually.

……

next morning.

When Li Ran arrived at the restaurant, Xiao Chen had already opened the breakfast he had brought.

After he sat down, he took a bite of a soup dumpling and casually asked, "Is Dalinzi awake?"

Xiao Chen yawned, and a few tears welled up in the corner of his eye.

He shook his head and said sleepily, "No, he wasn't sober when I called him this morning."

"Brother Ran, aren't you sleepy?"

He looked at the energetic Li Ran and asked in confusion, knowing that he didn't get back until 1 a.m. last night.

Seeing his tired look, Li Ran waved his hand and said, "Alright, you should go get some sleep too. You don't need to follow me later."

He paused for a moment, then instructed, "Find another apartment for Dalinzi this afternoon. Then ask Jingyi and Haocun when they plan to move in and what they need to buy. Get everything sorted out for them."

Xiao Chen nodded and wrote down Li Ran's instructions one by one: "Then, Brother Ran, I'll go down first."

Li Ran nodded, and Xiao Chen went downstairs to catch up on his sleep.

The living room quieted down, the door to the master bedroom was tightly closed, and Zhou Ye and Hu Lianxin were still asleep, without making a sound.

After finishing the last bite of breakfast, Li Ran wiped his mouth, got up, and walked out...

Wang Churan Apartment.

Li Ran pushed open the door and entered; the living room was filled with the faint aroma of breakfast.

Zhang Ruonan and Zhang Jingyi were sitting at the dining table, each holding a bowl of porridge and sipping it slowly.

Seeing him come in, Zhang Jingyi looked up: "Brother Li Ran, have you eaten?"

Li Ran nodded and glanced around: "Where are the other two?"

Zhang Jingyi gestured towards the master bedroom with her lip: "They're still sleeping, they haven't come out yet."

Li Ran shook his head helplessly, walked over and pushed open the door to the master bedroom.

On the bed, Wang Churan and Liu Haocun were sleeping soundly, each on one side.

The blankets were kicked into a mess, Wang Churan's legs were on top of Liu Haocun, and Liu Haocun's head was leaning on Wang Churan's shoulder. The scene was quite harmonious.

Li Ran walked to the bedside and gently pinched Wang Churan's nose.

A few seconds later, Wang Churan frowned and groggily opened his eyes.

Upon seeing it was him, he mumbled indistinctly, "What...?"

Li Ran let go of her hand: "Get up. The script reading is at ten o'clock, and it's already eight."

Wang Churan was stunned for a moment, then came to her senses.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and nudged Liu Haocun beside her: "Wake up, get up."

Liu Haocun was woken up by the push, his head still spinning.

She opened her eyes, saw Li Ran, and immediately put on a wronged expression, reaching out her hand: "Li Ran... my head hurts so much..."

The voice was soft and sweet, with a coquettish ending.

Wang Churan rolled her eyes, too lazy to watch this little green tea's performance, and got up to wash up.

Li Ran sat down on the edge of the bed.

Looking at Liu Haocun's slightly pale face from a hangover, he smiled helplessly: "Who told you to drink so much last night?"

Liu Haocun hugged his arm and rubbed his face against it, saying, "Kiss me..."

Li Ran lowered his head and gently kissed her lips.

Liu Haocun then released his grip with satisfaction.

Li Ran said, "This afternoon, Xiao Chen will take you to see your apartment. Just tell Xiao Chen what you need."

Liu Haocun nodded, lay back down, and pulled the blanket up to his chin: "Then I'll sleep a little longer, you go ahead and do your work."

Li Ran stood up and walked out of the bedroom.

……

At 9:30, Li Ran drove Wang Churan and Zhang Ruonan to Wajiji Entertainment.

The car was parked in the underground garage, and the three of them took the elevator upstairs together.

In the elevator, Wang Churan touched up her lipstick in front of the mirror, while Zhang Ruonan stood quietly to the side, occasionally glancing at her phone.

The elevator doors opened, and Li Ran said to the two of them, "You two go to the conference room first. I need to talk to my aunt about something."

Wang Churan nodded and pulled Zhang Ruonan toward the conference room.

Li Ran then turned and walked towards Long Danni's office.

The corridor was quiet, with only the soft echo of his footsteps. He pushed open the office door, and Long Danni was sitting behind her desk looking through documents. She looked up when she heard the noise.

"You're here?" she said, her tone as efficient as ever.

Li Ran walked in, sat down on the sofa, and asked directly, "Auntie, have you found an assistant yet?"

He thought for a moment and added, "Let's get a personal assistant! Xiao Chen can just run errands for me. I'll have him bring breakfast, either steamed buns or fried dough sticks."

Long Danni nodded. "That's how male assistants are; they don't know how to take care of people."

"Alright, go do your script reading now! Come back later when it's over."

Upon hearing this, Li Ran slowly stood up: "Okay, then Auntie, you go ahead and get busy."

……

Even If This Love Disappears is a joint production of Tencent Penguin Pictures and Wajiji Entertainment, and is directed by Xue Xiaolu, who directed "Finding Mr. Right".

The male lead is Li Ran, and the female lead is Zhang Ruonan.

The script readings lasted for three days.

The main actors sat in the conference room, going through the script page by page and meticulously working out their lines line by line.

Director Xue Xiaolu is very meticulous, with requirements for emotions, rhythm, and tone, but she is gentle and never gets angry.

Zhang Ruonan was a little nervous at first, but she gradually relaxed and explained her understanding of the female lead.

To sum it up in one sentence...

Memories reset every day, but love never fades.

The day the reading session ended, the start date was set, and a week later, in Xiamen.

……

The new personal assistant that Long Danni found for Li Ran was a chubby girl, two years older than Li Ran. She was a relative from Li Ran's mother's side of the family and also had the surname Long.

By all accounts, she is Li Ran's cousin.

Given Li Ran's current status and his complicated love life, Long Danni wouldn't just randomly pick someone from outside.

The uncertainty is too high. At least this relative is someone I know well and can trust.

……

The morning after the script reading ended.

At the dining table in Li Ran's apartment, he was drinking plain porridge.

Liu Haocun peeled an egg, its surface white and tender, and handed it to Li Ran: "Here you go."

Li Ran was about to reach out and take it...

"Li Ran, eat mine."

Zhou Ye, sitting on the other side, also stretched out his hand, holding a peeled egg.

Liu Haocun pouted: "I peeled it for you first, eat mine."

Zhou Ye glared at her: "Eat mine! My big egg!"

Li Ran looked at the two eggs in front of him, then at the two girls, and sighed: "I don't eat eggs."

Liu Haocun pushed the egg forward a little further, his voice soft and sweet: "Li Ran, eat it quickly."

Zhou Ye also stretched out his arm: "Eat mine! Mine's big!"

Li Ran said helplessly, "Fine, we'll eat it all, okay?"

He took the two eggs and took a bite out of each.

Liu Haocun smiled with satisfaction, his doe-like eyes curving into crescents. Zhou Ye also hummed and lowered his head to continue drinking his porridge.

Hu Lianxin sat to the side, quietly drinking her porridge, without participating.

Her gaze shifted between Liu Haocun and Zhou Ye, then fell on Wang Churan, who was sitting on the other side.

Xiao Hu silently gave these people a score in his mind.

Liu Haocun, this little green tea, is all talk and no action; his little brain isn't actually much smarter than a coconut.

Zhou Ye, needless to say, is straightforward and his thoughts are always written on his face.

That night at the dinner party, the two of them were the only two who got drunk; Da Linzi doesn't count, since he wasn't a woman.

What she really found troublesome was Wang Churan.

After her former ally Tian Xiwei stepped forward, she decisively severed ties with her and immediately formed an alliance with Zhang Jingyi and Liu Haocun.

This decisiveness made Xiao Hu extremely wary of her; she might be the most scheming of all the women.

……

After finishing breakfast, Li Ran tidied up briefly and went out to get into the nanny van.

He leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes to rest, and the car slowly drove out of the residential area, merging into the morning rush hour traffic.

The new assistant, a woman sitting in the passenger seat, held a tablet in her hand and glanced back at him: "Today's job is to shoot a double cover for Harper's Bazaar."

Li Ran opened his eyes and frowned slightly: "A double cover?"

He didn't know beforehand what magazine he was shooting for, let alone that it was a duo shoot.

My cousin nodded and swiped down the screen: "The person you were filming with is Cheng Xiao, that girl group idol from Yuehua Entertainment."

Li Ran was stunned for a moment.

Cheng Xiao?

He recalled some unpleasant memories.

"Cheng Xiao from Yuehua Entertainment?"

He confirmed, "The one who acted in 'You're Beautiful When You Smile'?"

My cousin smiled and said casually, "Little brother, if there aren't any other female idols in the entertainment industry named Cheng Xiao, then it must be her."

Li Ran glanced at her helplessly: "Cousin, call him boss during work hours."

His cousin turned around, glaring at him. Her eyes bore a resemblance to his mother's: "Little sprout, what did you say?"

Li Ran: "..."

He paused for two seconds and decided not to argue with his cousin.

And no one has called him by that nickname for so many years.

The car continued driving forward, and the street scenes outside the window rushed past.

He leaned back in his chair, and images from the show flashed through his mind... the absurd plot, the scenes that were ridiculed across the internet, and the female lead's exquisite face.

Cheng Xiao...

Big and beautiful, a real-life Barbie.