Chapter 14 My Tacit Approval Is Wrong!
"Mmm," Jiang Xinglan replied softly.
The vehicle sped past the streetlights, and the light inside the car, along with Jiang Xinglan's profile, became flickering and somewhat blurry.
Upon hearing this answer, Li Luo, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at Jiang Xinglan.
My curiosity was piqued: how did these two people, who seem to have nothing in common, meet?
“We crossed paths on a TV show before,” Jiang Xinglan said briefly, omitting all the details.
"So... we've met?" A big question mark appeared in Li Luo's mind.
"Doesn't that count?" Jiang Xinglan asked seriously.
"Of course not!" Li Luo turned around, raising his voice slightly. "At most, you've crossed paths! To know someone, you should at least understand their likes and dislikes!"
"for example?"
"For example, hobbies and eating habits—while I wouldn't say I know them inside and out, I'm not completely ignorant either!"
"Oh," Jiang Xinglan stared intently at the road ahead, tilting her head, "So, what are your eating habits, Senior Brother?"
“Uh…” Li Luo opened his mouth to refute, but could only utter a short syllable.
He turned around dejectedly, squeezed himself into the passenger seat, and remained silent.
The car was quiet for a moment, but Li Luo's curiosity only intensified.
Somewhat unwilling, he turned around again, "Junior sister, something's wrong with you!"
"Senior brother, how come I never noticed before that you're so curious?" Jiang Xinglan said, somewhat amused.
"Junior sister, how dare you say that? Ever since you joined the lab, everyone's energy has been focused on their own experiments. Who has the time to gossip!" Li Luo said, sounding as if she had suffered injustice for years. "You have no idea how I've survived all these years!"
Jiang Xinglan said "Oh," with a faint smile on her lips. "However, I seem to remember that once, someone was doing experiments in the lab all night and was mistaken for a thief by the security guard, who almost called the police!"
"Who was it again?" Jiang Xinglan's tone was filled with barely suppressed laughter. "Senior brother, do you remember?"
“…”
Li Luo straightened up again; there was no way they could talk anymore!
Li Luo did not speak again until they reached the vicinity of Shiweixuan.
"Senior brother, we've arrived." Jiang Xinglan spoke softly, breaking the silence in the car.
"Oh," Li Luo, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and woke up.
As soon as the two got out of the car, Producer Sun came up to them and joked, "The two teachers have finally arrived. I thought they weren't coming."
"How could that be?" Li Luo smiled politely and exchanged pleasantries with Producer Sun.
Jiang Xinglan, standing to the side, also greeted Producer Sun with a proper expression—thanks to occasionally attending various drinking parties with her parents, she knew very well how to conduct herself in such situations.
"Let's go in first!" Producer Sun stepped aside. "Once everyone's here, we can start the meal."
The two walked into the private room, led by the waiter.
“Although these people have been screened,” Li Luo said as they walked, “they are still used to the so-called drinking culture. If someone toasts them, they just accept the gesture.”
Jiang Xinglan nodded and entered the private room with Li Luo. After greeting everyone, Li Luo and Jiang Xinglan were seated at the main table.
After everyone had arrived and all the dishes had been served, Jiang Xinglan looked around but couldn't see any familiar faces.
Jiang Xinglan was still unsure of her own thoughts when she saw Director Liu raise his glass and say, "Let me say a few words. First of all, thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this impromptu dinner."
"Everyone knows the importance of this project. I hope everyone will make sufficient preparations before filming begins so as not to affect the filming schedule," Director Liu said, his voice becoming more serious. "I'm making this clear: if any problems arise during filming, I will not show any leniency."
A chorus of agreement rose from the crowd, and Director Liu raised his hand and pressed it down, "Then let's have Teacher Li say a few words!"
Li Luo readily raised his glass, saying, "What I want to say is exactly the same as Director Liu's: I hope everyone can successfully complete the filming task."
"What about Teacher Jiang?" Director Liu asked, looking at Jiang Xinglan.
Jiang Xinglan raised her glass, intending to exchange a few polite words.
However, after thinking about it, Jiang Xinglan switched back to her lab mode. "Since this filming is to pay tribute to researchers, I hope that everyone can truly treat themselves as researchers when filming, and treat each experiment with caution and seriousness."
"During filming, I will hold everyone to laboratory standards. I will point out any professional errors promptly, and I hope you will understand."
“Yes, Teacher Jiang is right,” Director Liu continued, “Then I wish us a smooth filming process!”
Everyone stood up and clinked glasses, but Jiang Xinglan only touched her lips to hers before putting her glass down.
After sitting down, Jiang Xinglan ate her meal, oblivious to everything else around her.
Until the door to the private room was opened again.
---
Around 6 p.m., Director Liu made a special phone call to Shen Yuheng.
"Yuheng, when will the event end?" Director Liu asked as soon as the call connected.
"Director Liu, the event hasn't started yet!" Wei Yu answered the phone for Shen Yuheng, who was getting her makeup done. "The brand has postponed the start time."
"Rescheduled to what time?"
"They said it would be 6:30."
"Is Yuheng going to the drinking party tonight?"
"What drinking party?" Wei Yu quickly went through his recent schedule in his mind. There were no drinking parties today!
"Here's the thing, after you left, we thought we should still organize a gathering so everyone can get to know each other. It'll be at 7:30 pm at Shiweixuan."
“If we finish early here, we’ll head over,” Wei Yu said after a moment’s consideration. “If it’s too late, we won’t go.”
"Okay, the main reason we invited Teacher Li and Teacher Jiang is to have Yuheng come and meet them," Director Liu explained. "However, if Yuheng really can't make it, then it's okay, there will be other opportunities in the future."
"I think it's about the same. In my experience, these kinds of activities usually last about 1-2 hours, so it should be about the same." Wei Yu quickly changed the subject.
Shen Yuheng, who was putting on makeup, glanced at his manager upon hearing this.
Seeing that Wei Yu had hung up the phone, he asked, "Whose call was that?"
“It’s Director Liu.” Wei Yu handed the phone back to Shen Yuheng. “Director Liu said he’s organizing a gathering and asked if you want to participate.”
"When?" Shen Yuheng opened the group chat but didn't see any messages related to the dinner party.
"7:30 pm, at Shiweixuan."
“If you can make it, go,” Shen Yuheng said, his gaze fixed on his phone. “It wouldn’t be good to miss this kind of gathering.”
I just don't know if she'll go...
Looking at the expectation hidden in Shen Yuheng's calm expression, Wei Yu said with a hint of disappointment, "The external experts will also be there. If you have time, you can ask them."
A flicker of joy flashed across Shen Yuheng's eyes. Despite the many people around him, an uncontrollable smile appeared on his face. "Yes, I understand."
So as soon as the event ended, Shen Yuheng went straight to Shiweixuan without even removing his makeup.
Seeing Shen Yuheng's anxious expression, and even opening the map to check how much longer it would take to arrive, he instructed, "There will be a lot of people later, so please be patient!"
Shen Yuheng verbally agreed, but when he went upstairs, he took two steps at a time.
After finding out the location of the private room, they went there quickly, completely disregarding Wei Yu's "life or death".
So when Shen Yuheng pushed open the door to the private room, he pretended to be calm and composed, but Wei Yu behind him completely betrayed him.
"Yuheng, you've finally made it! You're so late! You'll have to punish yourself with three drinks later!"
Director Liu greeted him with a booming voice.
Jiang Xinglan looked up when she heard the name "Yuheng".
Shen Yuheng stood at the door in a gray casual outfit, with Wei Yu, who was breathing slightly rapidly, behind him.
Jiang Xinglan silently turned her gaze back to Shen Yuheng, meeting his gentle eyes.
Although he still wore exquisite makeup, making him stand out in a crowd at first glance, Jiang Xinglan felt that he didn't look as good as he did during the day.
Jiang Xinglan smiled slightly and nodded, which was considered a greeting.
The next second, she heard her senior brother's voice in her ear, "Junior sister, something's wrong with you."
The moment Shen Yuheng walked in, Li Luo felt an invisible radar activate above his head.
He naturally saw the silent exchange between the two.
"Senior brother, this dinner has been going on for almost an hour," Jiang Xinglan said, glancing at the time. "You must have noticed my preferences by now!"
"Well..." Li Luo rested his chin on his hand, as if thinking, "From what I've observed, you prefer sweet flavors?"
"Wrong!" Jiang Xinglan replied mercilessly.
"How could that be!" Li Luo exclaimed. "I clearly saw you put the sweet and sour pork with pineapple in your bowl many times!"
Li Luo continued to chatter in Jiang Xinglan's ear, but the latter's thoughts had already drifted far away.
Li Luo said those words in the car.
She wanted to refute it, but it was like an abnormal variable appearing in an experiment. Using her usual analytical approach, she couldn't find a solution.
When faced with such a problem, Jiang Xinglan would choose to categorize it as "unresolved," but for Shen Yuheng...
Jiang Xinglan subconsciously chose to avoid the issue, as if she had tacitly allowed Shen Yuheng to leave a blurry area in her rational and clear mind.
Although Shen Yuheng had been exchanging pleasantries with Director Liu since he entered the room, he also kept some attention on Jiang Xinglan.
When Jiang Xinglan and Li Luo got very close and started chatting and laughing, a sense of crisis gripped his heart like vines.
Shen Yuheng subtly adjusted his posture and said gently, "Director Liu, why don't we sit down and talk again?"
A note from the author:
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