Li Lu’s head was buzzing. Was he overthinking things?
If it really was what he was thinking… running into an ex-girlfriend, and then into a whole nest of them… he’d have to dig out a five-room, one-living-room apartment with his toes.
Right now, he had to buy a plane ticket immediately and start shooting at once. The location was Qiongzhou.
Then he suddenly remembered he still had one phone call to make.
A blind date, and with Gao Xiaolan, of all people. Why did every encounter get more and more miserable?
When they were kids, the two families had been so close. Weren’t the mothers embarrassed at all?
Still, what Mom said made sense. Since she was back, even if he didn’t want to meet her, he still had to call and greet her.
“Hello, guess who I am?”
Li Lu mentally steeled himself and dialed the number Mom had given him.
“Li Lu.”
The other end answered instantly.
“Wow, Xiaolan, after all these years, you still remember my voice.”
“You’re overthinking it.
I just saw Auntie yesterday, and she gave me your number.”
Xiaolan’s voice was a little different from what he remembered.
But her tone hadn’t changed… still cool and aloof, just a little more mature.
And somehow, it even felt a bit warm.
Yes, they’d been friends for so many years.
Thinking back on the things from childhood, they were actually pretty fun.
“Uh, well, my mom just likes to talk nonsense.
If she said anything weird to you, don’t take it to heart, okay?”
Li Lu wanted to explain things clearly on the phone, but he was afraid of hurting the girl’s pride.
“You’re talking about the blind date thing between the two of us, right?”
“Haha.”
The person on the other end was not nearly as tactful as he was, and Li Lu let out a dry laugh.
“Little 6, what are you thinking?
Look at yourself. You’re a useless nobody, good for nothing.
You think I’d be interested in someone like you? A playboy who only spends the family’s money chasing girls?”
She was fierce, blasting him for quite a while.
“Yes, yes, yes.
How could I ever deserve Sister Lan? Sister Lan is awesome.”
Being called a useless nobody actually made Li Lu feel relieved.
When they were kids, she used to pick on him every single day. That was the class boss-lady vibe he remembered.
“But Xiaolan, you can’t falsely accuse me.
I’m not useless, and I’ve never spent my family’s money.
I’ve been out making money for a long time now, and I’ve even had some success.
As for chasing girls every day, that’s even more ridiculous.”
Li Lu forcefully defended himself for a bit. Although he really was more or less a waste, at least he wasn’t lying flat every day. He had, after all, managed to earn a small fortune with his own ability.
Just that alone already set him apart from the playboys she was talking about.
“Tch, like I don’t know what kind of person you are.
You probably spent all that money already, didn’t you?
Didn’t I see something about you in the news yesterday, involved in some scandal with whoever-it-was?”
“Damn it, Xiaolan, you even read entertainment news?”
“Of course I do. I even follow you.
Heh-heh-heh…
I’ve actually watched all the movies and TV shows you’ve acted in.”
Her laughter immediately darkened Li Lu’s face.
He could guess what she was laughing about. It had to be his terrible acting, his off-key singing, and his lip-syncing while holding the microphone upside down.
There was dirt on him all over the internet, especially the blockbuster Space he had appeared in.
It had been chopped up by content creators into all kinds of absurd remix videos, turning him into everyone’s laughingstock.
“Is it really that funny?”
“No, not funny at all.
Making money through your own effort is respectable.
Heh-heh-heh…”
Gao Xiaolan didn’t want to laugh, but she just couldn’t help herself.
“This conversation is impossible.”
Li Lu wished he could publish his masterpiece right now and slap those little haters like Xiaolan hard in the face.
“Don’t. I’m not laughing anymore.
Really, I’m not. My stomach kind of hurts.”
“You’re back home, right? Are you free these next few days?”
Li Lu decisively changed the subject. He’d been worried the two of them would end up awkward.
But after chatting for a while, they were back to the way they were as kids. This blind date was definitely unnecessary.
She was still the same Gao Xiaolan who picked on him all the time and loved bullying him.
“What do you want?”
“It’s not easy for you to come back this one time. Let’s meet up. I’ll treat you to a meal.”
“Sure, then let’s meet.”
“I’m coming to Qiongzhou tomorrow. You come over here.”
“Li Xiaolu, you’ve gotten bold, haven’t you?
You’re inviting me to dinner and making me go to Qiongzhou?”
The other side came at him like a storm, not holding back at all.
“Well, I can’t help it.
The old agency screwed me over. Before I terminated the contract, they signed me up for a job.
I’m going to shoot a dating variety show.
I have to leave tomorrow, and shooting starts immediately. I really don’t have time to go back.
I mean, you come over here. Food and lodging are all on me.
I can even show you how they record the show. Just treat it like fun.”
“How did they screw you over? If you didn’t want to go, couldn’t you refuse?
Want sister to help you get justice?”
Li Lu felt warmth in his heart. That was the spirit of a childhood friend for you.
“No need. The contract is almost up anyway, so I’m free.
Actually, this is top-tier resources. Anyone else would be grinning ear to ear if they got it.
The main reason I don’t want to go is because…”
He couldn’t help complaining to her. Just thinking about it was really too awkward.
“What’s wrong? Are the female guests not pretty enough?”
“The female guests might be my ex-girlfriends.”
“That’s not bad. Maybe you two can rekindle the old flame.”
The phone signal might have been a little bad — her voice sounded distorted on his end, so he walked out into the yard to keep talking.
“What do you mean rekindle the old flame? It’s all acting.”
“Then just act properly. What’s so awkward about it? Be a little professional, okay?”
“The key point is, all five female guests might be my ex-girlfriends.
How am I supposed to be professional like that?”
“You damn… forget it. I’m not talking to you anymore.
My mom’s calling me.”
“Hey, hey, are you coming or not? Are you coming or not?”
“Beep, beep, beep…”
The call had already been hung up. Li Lu was speechless.
Damn it. Was she coming or not?
A pink-themed bedroom, decorated with plenty of green plants, gave off a fresh and lively feeling.
A tall, slender girl with long hair over her shoulders was lying face down on her big bed.
After Gao Xiaolan hung up the phone, she kept muttering, “You damn scumbag. Go to hell, go to hell, go to hell.”
She read gossip every day. Among all his scandal partners, only Lin Lin had admitted that the two of them had been together when they first entered the industry.
She had always thought he’d only ever dated that one person.
She never expected this damn scumbag — no, this jerk, this huge jerk.
How many years had it only been? Jerk.
The bedroom door was pushed open from outside. It was Gao Xiaolan’s mother.
“Xiaolan, change into another outfit at noon.
Your father is going to take you to meet some friends.”
“No, it’s another blind date. I’m not going.”
Gao Xiaolan was fed up. After coming back, they were trying to stage one every few days.
“Oh, it’s just meeting people.
You don’t have many friends in the country either. Today it’s the son of Yida’s boss. I think he’s pretty good.”
“No, no.”
Now that her daughter was grown, Gao Xiaolan’s mother found her a little hard to handle.
“You’re almost an old maid.
When you were abroad, you thought foreign men were no good, and your father and I had no objections.
But now that you’re back home, every guy we introduce to you is a talented young man.
Do you know what people are saying about you behind your back?”
“What do I care what they say?”
“Oh, you child.
Your father won’t let you work at a domestic company anymore. The male coworkers can’t focus on work, and the female coworkers don’t work properly either.”
“Then I just won’t go.”
“Do you think I don’t know who you’re thinking about?
But that kid from the Li family isn’t any good either.”
“Mom, get out. Get out.”
“Look, you’re getting worked up. What are you getting worked up about?”
…