Chapter 163 Friday Morning
Friday morning at 7:00
"Brother Xingzhi, good morning!"
In the homestay, Ren Limeng dressed quietly, tidied her clothes and walked out of the room. As soon as she went downstairs, she saw Shen Xingzhi exercising in the living room. She was stunned for half a second, smiled slowly, and greeted him politely under the "gaze" of the living room camera.
Mei City has great greenery and fresh air. Ren Limeng didn't expect that Shen Xingzhi would get up so early and not go for a morning run, but actually choose a treadmill.
The team arranged to gather at ten o'clock this morning to practice the performance of "Time and Flying Life". They had free time at noon and in the afternoon. Ren Limeng was preparing to go home, Chen Xingzhi should practice the captain's cooperation show stage, and Chen Xi and Guan He wanted to check in at other recommended sites in the guide book.
At nine o'clock in the evening, Chen Xingzhi's entire team will go to Jiangcheng to end the second stop of the trip and make final preparations for the second public stage.
"Morning, I made breakfast...Want to go out?"
The morning light slipped into the living room through the thin gauze curtains. Shen Xingzhi raised his head slightly and looked towards the stairs. His long eyelashes cast a dark blue shadow under his eyes. The white vest on his body was slightly wet with sweat, and it was thinly stuck to his shoulder blades and waist, revealing several taut grooves of his abdominal muscles.
Shen Xingzhi spoke in a low voice. As Ren Limeng's figure passed over the sofa, he finally noticed the cross-body bag on Ren Limeng's side, and his tone paused slightly.
"Well, I'm going to revisit the breakfast shop downstairs from my house. Thanks, Brother Xingzhi. Since you've already made breakfast, I won't invite you to join us."
A thin layer of sweat accumulated in the depression of Shen Xingzhi's cold collarbone. Under the sunlight, the light shimmered with the rise and fall of his breathing, making Ren Limeng hold her breath. As she spoke, she turned her head calmly to look at the kitchen, as if she just wanted to take a look at the breakfast made by Shen Xingzhi, and was not afraid of revealing her other emotions.
Ren Limeng had never seen Chen Xingzhi dressed like this before. When she first saw him when she came downstairs, she would have almost jumped out of her wits if she hadn't noticed the black cameras set up on both sides of the corridor.
Early in the morning!
Which good man is so "flashy" in front of the camera!
Ren Limeng remembered that Chen Xingzhi always liked to wear neatly fitted shirts and suits in college. After this reunion, she noticed that Chen Xingzhi rarely wore casual clothes. Usually when he was jogging in the morning or exercising in the gym, he would wear neatly dressed sportswear. He had never appeared in public in a vest like this.
In front of me, Shen Xingzhi's exposed skin shows off his figure very well, and the well-defined muscle contours are in the halo... It's simply a feast for the eyes!
She hasn't eaten yet!
Can't bear to see this!
The last sentence of the chat record with Shen Xingzhi, "Junior Li Meng", suddenly echoed in her mind again. Ren Li Meng clenched her right fist, put it to her mouth and coughed slightly. After she finished talking to herself, she lowered her head and prepared to leave.
She explained the reason for not inviting Shen Xingzhi to breakfast, but the explanation at this moment was just an excuse in front of the camera.
When Ren Limeng came back, she would of course pack some special breakfast snacks for Shen Xingzhi and other guests on the same team. This was the etiquette for guests to get along with each other. Ren Limeng walked towards the door while thinking about bringing breakfast.
"Together."
Ren Limeng turned around, with obvious doubt in her eyes. She tilted her head slightly, stuck in the blind spot of the camera, raised her eyebrows and stared at Shen Xingzhi, with a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
What does Shen Xingzhi want to do?
Do you really want to... chase her?
"I made some sandwiches for everyone to take as snacks. We're leaving Mei City today, and I haven't had many opportunities to experience your Mei City's special breakfast. Li Meng, I'd like to trouble you to be my host this morning."
Chen Xingzhi smiled faintly, his eyes still as clear as before, but Ren Limeng seemed to catch a hint of tenderness between his brows, but when she looked closely, she was only met with his pair of black eyes as deep as a pool.
"It's my honor."
Ren Limeng lowered her eyes, without trying to find out the sincerity and excuses behind Shen Xingzhi's words, she smiled generously.
"This fish noodle shop has been open for over 30 years. There's also a delicious Plum Blossom Shaomai next to it. The beef noodles over there have also been around for over 10 years. There are several breakfast shops on this street. Brother Xingzhi, what do you want to eat?"
Ren Limeng and Shen Xingzhi, wearing baseball caps, walked to the entrance of the fish noodle shop. There was a red price list sign on a white background. The two-bay shop, which was a little mottled, was still the same as before, giving off a sense of familiarity.
Ren Limeng was in a daze for a moment, and when she saw Shen Xingzhi beside her, she reacted very quickly. It was no longer the morning of school as before.
"It's all right, just like you."
Ren Limeng then asked the two people filming next to her what they wanted to eat. After the cameramen repeatedly stated that they had already had breakfast, she finally walked to the cashier's desk and said, "Boss, two bowls of our signature fish noodles, please."
“Or add soybeans?”
Ren Limeng was stunned for a moment, then nodded and smiled. She knew that the boss recognized her. Even though she only had a few chances to come back to eat noodles a year, the boss could still accurately describe her taste every time. This was probably a moment that every wanderer away from home could not help but be moved.
"Yes, Brother Xingzhi, I'm treating you. We're already at my door, how can I let you pay? Over there is the condiment table, and there are side dishes like pickled cabbage. This is your face card, take it there and eat first. I'll go buy two plum blossom dumplings."
After Ren Limeng finished making the arrangements in an orderly manner, she walked towards the Plum Blossom Dumpling Shop two shops away. The so-called Plum Blossom Dumpling is a dumpling made in the shape of a plum blossom, which is also a specialty of Meishi.
When Ren Limeng returned to the shop with a basket of plum blossom dumplings, Shen Xingzhi had already brought two bowls of fish noodles to the table and was sitting at the table waiting for her.
Ren Limeng returned her noodle card to the boss and sat down opposite Shen Xingzhi. She noticed that Shen Xingzhi had already taken the disposable chopsticks and placed them on top of her bowl. She had added some green onions and coriander to the bowl of fish noodles, as well as a large spoonful of minced garlic.
This was her taste preference when she was in college, and Shen Xingzhi actually still remembered it.
During the recording of "Mountains and Seas", breakfast was mostly eaten in a hurry, and she seemed to have little time to sit down and eat. Naturally, Chen Xingzhi had no chance to know her current taste, and of course, there was no need to know her current preferences.
She has long disliked eating mashed garlic.
"Thank you, Brother Xingzhi. Brother Xingzhi, how are your captain's stage preparations going?"
Ren Limeng had a polite smile on her face. She picked up the chopsticks and neatly ground the burrs across them. She casually started a conversation while picking all the mashed garlic out of the bowl.
"fine."
Shen Xingzhi noticed Ren Limeng's calm movements, "Limeng, I seem to have put the wrong bowl. I haven't eaten yet, you eat my bowl."
Shen Xingzhi put down his chopsticks with his slender fingers and pushed the bowl of noodles in front of him that only had green onions in it. Ren Limeng paused with her right hand, raised her eyes and looked at Shen Xingzhi with surprise and embarrassment in her eyes.
"Ah, Brother Xingzhi, I've already mixed it. No need. I can do anything. How about I add some cilantro and minced garlic for you?"
"Need not."
Chen Xingzhi shook his head silently, feeling Ren Limeng's clear attitude, and said nothing more.
When Ren Limeng and Shen Xingzhi took the packed breakfast back to the B&B, Chen Xi had already gotten up and was eating the sandwich that Shen Xingzhi had made.
"Xingzhi, Limeng, you're back. Thank you, Xingzhi. Guan He and I are so lucky to have breakfast made by you. If I hadn't seen your message in the group chat, I would have wanted to stay in bed. Limeng, why don't you eat the breakfast made by Xingzhi? Is it not to your taste? Do you want to go out for dinner?"
Chen Xi looked at Ren Limeng with a smile. Under the camera, she tilted her head slightly, and her seemingly casual words were full of targeting.
Chen Xingzhi looked up, put down the packing box, and was about to explain when Ren Limeng was already looking at Chen Xi with the same smile.
"Sister Chen Xi, Brother Xingzhi and I packed some Meishi snacks. We've all been eating hotel meals these past few days, and I thought before we leave today, we should at least let everyone taste the flavors right next door. Brother Xingzhi made four sandwiches, but he has to save one for me. He said it's for me as a snack. Don't you agree, Brother Xingzhi?"
"Um."
Chen Xingzhi looked at Ren Limeng with deep eyes. He couldn't understand her ambiguous attitude, but it didn't matter, as long as she was happy.
And he will remain consistent.
"Brother Xingzhi, I'm going out for a while and will be back soon."
Ren Limeng glanced at the time and saw that it was only nine o'clock. She took off her microphone and prepared to go out again. She had made an appointment with Yan Fangshu to meet in the morning to get back the gift she had left with her.
"Li Meng, don't you wear a microphone when you go out? Our show is recorded 24 hours a day, and it wouldn't be nice if passersby saw us."
Chen Xi smiled, his eyes fixed on the microphone that Ren Limeng had put down, and he reminded her knowingly.
Although, during the recording these days, it is customary for guests to take the microphone when communicating with their company staff about their work or going to the bathroom or other private time, and it is also an unspoken rule tacitly approved by the program team.
"Chen Xi, isn't there enough food?"
Shen Xingzhi stepped forward, blocking Chen Xi's sight and interrupting her question. Ren Limeng glanced at Shen Xingzhi's broad back, hesitated slightly, and explained, "Sister Chen Xi, I'm going to make a work call over there. I'll go first. Brother Xingzhi, Sister Chen Xi, you guys chat first."
Yan Fangshu was waiting for Ren Limeng in the coffee shop next to the theater. She and her acquaintance, the boss, chose a corner with a blind spot. As soon as she saw Ren Limeng, she handed the gift box to her.
"Fangfang, thank you, thank you for your trouble."
Inside the gift box was a Huangmei Opera costume that Ren Limeng had made herself as a gift for her mother's 50th birthday.
The main color is a bluish-white gradient of dusk cloud gauze, which metaphorically represents the passage of time from Wu Murong's black hair to her gray hair; with a stand-up collar and double-breasted jacket as the base, the edge of the collar is embroidered with a half circle of lotus pattern with extremely fine silver thread, symbolizing that Wu Murong has been like a lotus for half her life, still standing tall and pure despite the wind and rain; the entire garment is embroidered with a blue phoenix pattern, and the tail feathers turn into flowing sleeves. Gently pull the inner ribbon, and two lotus embroidered flowers will bloom at the end of the sleeves, implying the unity of mother and daughter.
Ren Limeng spent more than three years embroidering this costume, which is full of ingenuity and care. She wanted to use her mother's birthday to express her unspeakable emotions and express her plans for the future, but she forgot that that year was the last chance for her to graduate with a doctorate and choose a new career.
Her mother didn't give her any room to speak.
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