Chapter 74 A Man Among Men...
Chapter 74
After Luo Xiaoran finished his phone call with his older brother, he returned home to find Chu Xingli already asleep on the bed.
He tiptoed to the bedside and carefully moved the person to the center of the bed.
Chu Xingli was already lying relaxed on the bed, in a posture of letting herself be manipulated.
Luo Xiaoran's movements were gentle yet firm, and Chu Xingli remained sound asleep throughout the entire process without being woken up.
Even after lying on the pillow, her eyes remained closed, and she appeared completely unaffected.
[Sobbing, I could watch this heartwarming scene for a whole year and still not get enough!]
I really love Ranzi Ge! o(╥﹏╥)o
[They were about to kiss, sob sob, can we have one now?]
[Ideally, he'd wake her up with a kiss, leaving her with no way to retreat but to be kissed hard by Ranzi while she's teary-eyed (gesturing)]
With Brother Ranzi around, do we still have to worry about not having food to eat, sisters?
[Aww, real couples are the sweetest!!!]
In fact, Chu Xingli had already woken up the moment Luo Xiaoran entered the room.
Or perhaps he wasn't asleep at all.
Chu Xingli didn't know what was wrong with her lately.
As long as Luo Xiaoran was by his side, he rarely had nightmares.
...The temptation to avoid nightmares was simply too great for Chu Xingli.
So much so that he would rather endure not sleeping for the time being than not stay by Luo Xiaoran's side for even a moment of warmth and rest.
Fearing that Luo Xiaoran would discover she was pretending to be asleep, Chu Xingli pretended to be dreaming after being moved to lie down on the pillow, slowly turning over so that her back was to Luo Xiaoran, who was standing on the other side of the bed.
The room fell silent.
After a long while, Chu Xingli finally felt the mattress behind him sink slightly.
He blinked.
Luo Xiaoran lay down on top of her.
Chu Xingli thought that Luo Xiaoran was probably also very tired, so he lay down and rested for a while like him.
Luo Xiaoran quickly chose a comfortable lying position and then stopped moving his arms and legs, lying quietly.
Chu Xingli dared not disturb him.
She didn't dare to look back at Luo Xiaoran even once.
Chu Xingli counted sheep silently in her mind for a long time, but she did not feel sleepy.
More than sleeping, he wanted to look back at Luo Xiaoran's face.
As time passed, Chu Xingli heard Luo Xiaoran's breathing gradually become heavier.
...Asleep?
Chu Xingli quietly turned her head and glanced at it.
Luo Xiaoran lay not too close to him, probably afraid of accidentally bumping into him.
Seeing this, Chu Xingli turned around with confidence, rested her head on her arm, and leisurely looked at Luo Xiaoran's face, a face that could make people forget all their troubles in an instant.
[Hugging, she was completely captivated by her husband's features.]
[Waaaa, baby, you still admire Ranzi-ge? Do you even know how handsome you are?]
I can't even imagine how good-looking their child will be.
Please, sir, have a child!
[Okay, hug. That's it. You look at your husband, I look at my wife, it's fair. (shrugs)]
Chu Xingli remained in the position of resting her head on her arm, staring at Luo Xiaoran for a long time.
It was so long that he could no longer feel his arm before he suddenly came to his senses.
"hiss……"
Chu Xingli hurriedly pursed her lips.
I wanted to shake my numb arms, but I stopped because of the tingling sensation of ants crawling on them.
Fortunately, the person sleeping was not affected and their breathing remained even and steady.
After confirming that Luo Xiaoran was truly asleep, Chu Xingli slowly propped herself up and waited for the numbness in her arm to subside before gradually getting out of bed.
He tiptoed over and grabbed his coat, not daring to put it on directly in the room.
Worried that the sound of the fabric rubbing together would wake Luo Xiaoran, he didn't put on his coat and zip it up until he had put on his shoes, quietly closed the door, and then stood at the doorway.
[Sobbing, both babies are trying their best to love each other in their own way.]
[A perfect match for comedians o(╥﹏╥)o]
[Haha, that's hilarious! Why "comedians"? Is it because of that time they teamed up to pick up dog poop on the sidewalk?]
[“Working together” hhh, you didn’t let them off the hook either]
Chu Xingli remembered the words the director had said to Luo Xiaoran, which sounded like a threat, before they returned to their room.
There are no ingredients.
There was also no funding.
Whether you get dinner or not depends entirely on your own abilities.
Chu Xingli, of course, could not accept this reality.
He didn't expend much energy, so whether he ate dinner or not didn't matter to him, but Luo Xiaoran couldn't.
After all, I was in the car this afternoon...
stop.
Chu Xingli forcibly interrupted his thoughts, controlling the urge to let his mind wander to that scene.
She went downstairs with her ears and cheeks flushed red.
To his surprise, everyone was sitting in the lobby on the first floor.
Everyone had a long face and looked very worried.
...Why does it look like no one has eaten?
"I told you I wanted a bag of cookies," Lin Ning muttered to Zhu Ji, "but you wouldn't let me. You insisted that the director was a nice guy and would definitely prepare lots of delicious food for you. Now, where's the delicious food?"
Zhu Ji shrank back in shame and remained silent: "..."
Chen Xuanqi and Zhao Anyu need to strictly control their figures, so not having any ingredients for dinner isn't a difficult thing for them.
On the contrary, it helps them establish a self-disciplined persona in front of their fans.
Bao Keming and Qiao Manyun felt full just looking at each other; they didn't care about the ingredients at all.
These two were the quietest at this time, not discussing dinner with the other groups at all.
When Lu Yunxin saw Chu Xingli come down, she quickly waved to him: "Xingli, come over here and let's discuss how we should divide the work to gather the ingredients."
Chu Xingli gleaned key words from Sister Lu's words.
"Everyone? Dividing tasks and gathering ingredients?" Chu Xingli asked Lu Yunxin in confusion, "Could it be..."
Nobody has any ingredients?
Lu Yunxin nodded, agreeing with Chu Xingli: "Yes, we need to find the ingredients ourselves."
Chu Xingli didn't believe the director was so heartless. She glanced back, then turned back and said, "But didn't the director say that because Luo Xiaoran and I were late, we were the only two without any ingredients and had to figure out how to have dinner ourselves?"
"Come on, don't listen to that scheming director's lies," Lu Yunxin retorted mercilessly. "None of us have any budget or ingredients. This episode is just about luring people here to kill them."
The scheming director, sitting less than five steps away from Lu Yunxin: "..."
[Director: Ber, Sister Lu, are you really going to be so disrespectful?]
[Haha, you're not providing everyone with ingredients or funding, and you expect Sister Lu to give you any special treatment?]
[Sister Lu was unhappy, so she directly pressed her face against her and unleashed her ultimate attack.]
It's alright, I saw a fishpond on location just now, Brother Zhou has a solution.
The prophet has killed [the enemy].
Chu Xingli had obviously also seen the fishpond that wasn't too far from the courtyard.
Before even solving his own problem, he proactively offered to help Sister Lu, saying, "Sister Lu, you could go fishing with Brother Zhou. We could have grilled fish, stewed fish, or boiled fish for dinner, which would all be great."
Lu Yunxin thought about it and felt that it was indeed a good idea.
She turned her head and hesitantly asked Zhou Maidong, "Did you bring a fishing rod?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Maidong immediately sat up straight, looking quite confident: "Of course."
You've come to the right person.
Lu Yunxin: "..."
If this were any other day, Lu Yunxin would definitely yell at him for not doing anything productive, even bringing a fishing rod to the recording of a TV show.
But today is different.
There's no food to eat.
This is no small matter.
So, Lu Yunxin gave Zhou Maidong a rare smile: "Oh, is that so? Then go fishing."
Zhou Maidong looked up at her warily: "Are you going to rush out and kick my fishing rod while I'm fishing?"
He brought his favorite fishing rod today.
If it gets broken, he'll be heartbroken from now until the New Year.
Lu Yunxin: "..."
I'm starting to seriously doubt whether Brother Zhou was possessed when he played those big boss roles.
He now appears not only not smart, but rather dull-witted.
[Sister Lu: I'm truly impressed]
[laughs] Now I think I understand why Sister Lu wanted to divorce him; she's completely impervious to reason.
[Turns out, intelligence really can be acted out (doge)]
Amid Lu Yunxin's grumbling and cursing, Zhou Maidong quickly ran to the car, grabbed his fishing rod, and happily went fishing at the pond.
Chen Xuanqi didn't want to stay here with Zhao Anyu any longer.
He went straight out with Lu Yunxin and Zhou Maidong, without even calling out to Zhao Anyu.
Besides Lin Ning and Zhu Ji, who were walking towards Chu Xingli, only Bao Keming and his wife, as well as the bewildered Zhao Anyu, remained in the living room.
Chu Xingli thought the three of them were dirty even to look at them.
"Xingli," Lin Ning leaned closer and whispered to Chu Xingli, "I have ingredients."
As he spoke, he winked at Chu Xingli.
"That's amazing?!"
If Zhu Ji hadn't been right next to her, Chu Xingli would have loved to hug Lin Ning and give her a big kiss.
Zhu Ji clearly saw through Chu Xingli's restless intentions and quickly reached out to cup Lin Ning's face, drawing him closer to him.
Then he cautiously reminded Chu Xingli: "You must not let Teacher Luo down."
Teacher Luo was the savior of his and Ningning's marriage.
He must defend his own love while also doing his best to protect Ms. Luo's marital security.
Chu Xingli: "..."
Lin Ning pulled over her small backpack and carefully rummaged through it.
"Found it!" He proudly pushed the item towards Chu Xingli.
Chu Xingli glanced at Lin Ning, who only had a bunch of greens and a handful of noodles, and immediately gave up the idea of borrowing some ingredients from him.
She even wanted to ask the production team for some meat to balance her nutrition, all for Lin Ning.
Lin Ning is still pregnant.
Nutrition is absolutely essential.
Chu Xingli sighed: "Wait here, I'll go find you some food."
Luo Xiaoran has always been the one taking care of him.
Today it's his turn to take Luo Xiaoran off.
I saw the bitterness in Bao Bao's every gesture.
The little boy, Bao Bao, shouldered the responsibility of supporting the family, while the incompetent Zhu Ji could only stay by his wife's side and eat noodles.
[laughs, I think Ningning's ingredients are even a bit meager]
[Hunter's Hug - Strike! !!!]
When Luo Xiaoran woke up, he found that more than an hour had passed.
Before he could catch his breath, he turned to look at the spot where Chu Xingli had been lying before he fell asleep, only to find it empty.
Luo Xiaoran reached out and touched Chu Xingli's pillow.
...It's already cold.
It seems they've been away for quite some time.
Luo Xiaoran sat up, rubbed the bridge of his nose, got out of bed, grabbed his coat, and went out the door.
As soon as he came downstairs, he heard Lin Ning and Zhu Ji discussing how to obtain ingredients.
“I can take a stool and go out to draw portraits,” Lin Ning counted on her fingers. “Although I won’t earn much in a short time, at least… it should be enough for the four of us to have dinner…”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ji became anxious and boldly reached out to pinch Lin Ning's mouth shut, stopping him from making any more noise: "No, I can't let you sell yourself."
Lin Ning: "..."
"If you had used more precise words, my situation wouldn't sound so tragic and wretched."
Zhou Maidong was quite lucky today and quickly caught several fish. He was currently sitting in the yard with Lu Yunxin, cleaning the fish.
They have now progressed to the stage of disembowelment.
Lu Yunxin looked like she was about to cry.
The award-winning actors and actresses, covered in blood, looked remarkably like the villainous characters they had played, regardless of what they were doing.
[Lu Jie's eyes... I'm really hallucinating that she played the villain back then.]
[Especially that drop of blood on her cheek, it's so dangerous!]
[Under the black and white filter, Sister Lu's curly hair and eyes are absolutely stunning; it's so satisfying to look at!]
[Sister Lu: Stop having fun, please help me! I'm really terrified of killing fish o(╥﹏╥)o]
That's enough, I feel sorry for her (doge)
Luo Xiaoran asked the four of them, but did not get the answer he wanted.
No one knew where Chu Xingli had gone.
Helpless, Luo Xiaoran could only take out his phone and call Chu Xingli.
Ever since that incident, he has been worried about what might happen if Hug wasn't around.
Chu Xingli did not answer the phone.
Luo Xiaoran frowned and prepared to go out and look for him along the main road in the resort, calling him repeatedly in the meantime.
Just as Luo Xiaoran was about to leave the courtyard, he saw the cameraman who had been following Chu Xingli.
The other person was squatting in the corner watching ants. I went over and asked him about Chu Xingli's whereabouts.
The cameraman answered sincerely, "Teacher Chu said he might have to do something very undignified, so he didn't want everyone to see what he looked like, and that's why he didn't let me follow him."
Luo Xiaoran: "..."
"How undignified?" Luo Xiaoran knew Chu Xingli was always full of wild ideas, but he couldn't imagine how wild he would be today.
The cameraman shook his head: "I was curious too, so I followed him for a while, but Teacher Chu has a strong ability to detect things. He spotted me before I even left the courtyard."
As he spoke, he scratched his head again: "I don't know how he found out."
Luo Xiaoran glanced at the machine beside him: "..."
It's really hard to avoid being spotted while carrying such a large machine.
[I can testify, that's exactly what Hug said.]
[Hilarious! Does the cameraman think the camera is an extension of himself? He didn't even consider that the hug was actually him discovering his dark, unsightly machine.]
[Ranzi Bro: I woke up to find my wife had run away; I'm never sleeping like that again!]
Following the direction Chu Xingli left in the cameraman's memory, Luo Xiaoran searched carefully along the way.
As we walked, we arrived at the busiest village center of the resort.
Although it's called the village center, it actually has streets, everything is in good order, and there are bustling shops on both sides.
Suddenly, the cameraman called out to Luo Xiaoran: "Teacher Luo."
Luo Xiaoran stopped and turned around.
The cameraman's tone was full of uncertainty as he pointed a finger towards a supermarket that was having a promotion in the distance.
"Is it possible that Teacher Chu is there...?"
Luo Xiaoran hadn't really looked in that direction when he left in such a hurry.
Upon hearing the cameraman's suggestion, he stopped in his tracks and surveyed the situation.
...It was very lively.
Like the places they would choose to hug.
Even if there are no ingredients to take, you can still see a lot of excitement there.
Luo Xiaoran looked closely.
Amidst the bustling crowd, he indeed caught a glimpse of Chu Xingli's face.
Luo Xiaoran gave the cameraman a wink.
The cameraman immediately understood his meaning, and, with a furtive and furtive movement, quickly approached the area where Chu Xingli was located—
The supermarket's loudspeakers were deafening. The cameraman had barely reached the entrance when he was so shocked that his eyes rolled back and he had to take several steps back before he could regain his senses.
"Special offer today! Take a photo with this sign and get a free egg!!! The more photos you take, the more eggs you get, up to six eggs per person!!! Line up to collect yours!!!"
Such a great event is a godsend for Chu Xingli, who is short of ingredients.
Thus, relying on her sweet talk and good looks, Chu Xingli managed to win a place among the elderly.
However, what followed was an endless barrage of inquiries into his personal situation.
"Child, how old are you this year?"
Chu Xingli answered truthfully.
"Where do you work? How much is your annual salary? You're so handsome and have such a great presence, you must earn a lot every year, right?"
Chu Xingli waved his hand modestly: "I work for a small company, and my annual salary isn't much. I'm just an employee."
Even this answer did not stop the elderly couple from pressing him for answers.
"Could you tell me exactly how much you earn? Honey, would you be interested in meeting my daughter? So you two can get to know each other?"
Chu Xingli waved her hands repeatedly: "No, no, no, it's not necessary."
"Why don't you want to go on blind dates? Do you have a girlfriend?"
Luo Xiaoran couldn't stand it anymore. If he continued to answer like that, the recognition he had worked so hard to gain with Baobao would be completely erased.
He stepped forward, took Chu Xingli's hand, and politely replied to the old man, "I'm married, I have a wife."
As she spoke, she raised her left hand, which still had a brace, and showed everyone the ring on her ring finger.
The elderly men and women all looked up at the obviously taller and stronger young man with suspicion, unable to believe their eyes.
...These two body types? Never mind, young people these days really know how to have fun.
As soon as Chu Xingli spotted Luo Xiaoran striding towards her, her heart leaped into her throat.
Although he and Luo Xiaoran had a very clear division of labor when it came to matters related to that kind of thing.
However, this cannot be a reason for Luo Xiaoran to openly call him "wife" in front of the general public.
Therefore, Chu Xingli was very apprehensive before Luo Xiaoran spoke.
Until Luo Xiaoran said those words.
Chu Xingli suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
And I was somewhat surprised.
A real man doesn't care about this.
[Brother Ranzi, you truly are a man among men, a masculine among masculines]
[Only care about who's above and who's below (primitive man slaps his mouth and cheers.gif)]
No, it's inside and outside (doge)
【Does nobody really care whether Hugs lives or dies? o(╥﹏╥)o】
[laughs] Unexpectedly, the more Ranzi gave in, the more adorable Hug Hug seemed. Hehehe.
I've collected all the eggs.
Chu Xingli followed Luo Xiaoran and the cameraman, carrying her little eggs with great joy, and strolled leisurely back home.
"There are six eggs in total. Two will be given to Ningning and Zhuji, and four will be given to the two of us," Chu Xingli said, distributing the eggs in an orderly manner. "Two will be fried, one will be boiled, and one will be steamed."
Luo Xiaoran couldn't help but laugh: "How about I go and get six too?"
Chu Xingli enthusiastically chimed in: "That would be perfect. With Professor Luo's status and influence, he would definitely give you two more."
The cameraman chuckled innocently, "Is Teacher Luo's face only worth two eggs?"
Chu Xingli: "..."
Luo Xiaoran: "..."
To ensure Chu Xingli wouldn't go hungry that night, Luo Xiaoran decisively turned back. Under the enthusiastic greetings of the shopkeeper, whose voice trembled with excitement, he readily posed for dozens of photos with the owner. Afterward, carrying a whole tray of... a full thirty eggs, he embarked on his journey back to the village.
Chu Xingli was extremely excited.
They were as excited as if eating these eggs would grant them immortality.
Chu Xingli calmed down as they approached the courtyard.
He didn't actually tell Luo Xiaoran.
I've been thinking about some things lately.
However, it is uncertain whether these are truly his past memories or scenes he imagined based on the plot of the original book.
Therefore, they didn't dare to open the champagne halfway through the game.
With that thought in mind, Chu Xingli took out her phone and opened the chat window with her older brother.
Before that, he needs to resolve one thing.
[One punch to shatter this world: Hey bro, good afternoon~]
Chu Lianqing is very busy with work.
After sending the message, Chu Xingli didn't expect him to reply quickly.
I didn't expect to feel the vibration as soon as I put my phone back in my pocket.
Chu Xingli took out his phone again.
[Eldest brother: Offering help for no reason]
[Big Brother: What's up?]
Chu Xingli was already used to her older brother's sharp tongue but kind heart, and typed with a smile.
[One punch to destroy this world: Does what my brother said that day—that he'd pay my breach of contract fee—still stand?]
[Eldest brother: It doesn't count]
Chu Xingli: "..."
[I'll smash this world with one punch: Bro, can you give me a car?]
[Big Brother: Shameless! The world is going to the dogs! This is a disgrace to our family! Get lost!]
Chu Xingli pretended not to see it and continued typing shamelessly.
[One punch to shatter this world: It suddenly occurred to me that the day I had the car accident, I was driving Luo Xiaoran's car]
[I'll smash this world with one punch: I'm thinking, regardless of whether we get divorced or not, I should give him a car, right?]
President's Office of Chu's Group.
"Smack—"
Chu Lianqing was stunned for a long time, then suddenly flipped the phone over and stood up abruptly from her chair.
He finally understood what Luo Xiaoran had meant to him in that phone call.
From beginning to end, they ignored it.
The car Chu Xingli was driving on the day of the accident.
It's the one Luo Xiaoran drives most often.
The restored phone call records show that Chu Xingli's last phone call was not answered at the moment the car accident occurred.
The IP address is from overseas.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com