So many people didn't get milk tea, yet she gave her own cup to me.
She was cheering me on and praising me. What was she trying to achieve?
He didn't believe that her sole intention was simply to buy him milk tea. As for the reason, he couldn't guess.
It wasn't until Ling Fei patted his shoulder, "She's already left, and you're still staring. Have you fallen for her?"
Liu Yifeng snapped back to reality, "Don't talk nonsense. I'm just curious why she'd give me milk tea separately!"
"What's so strange about that? Perhaps she just thought you were handsome and decided to bestow special favor upon you. Your peach blossom luck has arrived." As he spoke, he winked deliberately.
Liu Yifeng found it incredibly cheesy, "She's your on-screen spouse. Why is she being so nice to me? Aren't you jealous?"
"Jealous of what? You just said it was acting. How can you take acting seriously?
Besides, if what you said were true, I've acted in over fifteen dramas, each with a designated partner. Does that mean I really have fifteen wives?"
"But I heard that it's easy to develop feelings while acting, and you two are of similar ages..."
Before Liu Yifeng could finish, Ling Fei anxiously interrupted, "It's not that it's easy to develop feelings while acting, but rather that it's difficult to break out of character immediately. Otherwise, if I fell for a different female lead in every drama, wouldn't that make me a stud?"
Hearing this, Liu Yifeng felt it made some sense and chuckled awkwardly, "By the way, are you familiar with this female lead?"
He intended to find out from Ling Fei why Meng Xi had given him a drink separately, and what secret lay behind it!
Ling Fei thought for a moment and replied, "Familiar, yet not familiar!"
This confused Liu Yifeng, "What do you mean, familiar yet not familiar?"
"We've never collaborated before, and she hasn't played a lead role before. This is our first time working together, and we've only known each other for about half a month.
Also, after each day's shoot, she never attends the wrap parties organized by the crew and leaves directly.
So, I don't know her well!"
"I see. Then why did she give me milk tea separately? I don't even know her! We haven't exchanged a word!" Liu Yifeng was full of confusion.
Ling Fei said without thinking, "Isn't that simple? Why don't you just go ask her?"
Liu Yifeng was speechless, "She gave me milk tea, and I'm supposed to go ask her why she gave it to me? Wouldn't that make me seem foolish?"
Ling Fei also felt awkward, "That's true, but why bother asking why she gave you milk tea? Just drink it!"
He didn't understand why Liu Yifeng was so fixated on this matter.
Liu Yifeng wasn't the type to pry into every detail, but he had a premonition that this woman's intentions went beyond simply treating him to milk tea.
After dinner, Liu Yifeng returned to his car to rest. As usual, he called Tongtong.
Tongtong told him that out of the twenty-four contestants, only twenty remained.
Today, they had been regrouped, with ten people per team. Two teams would select different contestants to compete against each other.
These past two days were all about elimination matches, with no eliminations.
After tomorrow's matches, the losing team would enter the individual competition the day after tomorrow, where four contestants would be eliminated.
Since it was head-to-head competition, Tongtong could only answer once per round. His teammates were rather weak, and they were trailing by several points.
Liu Yifeng listened and told Tongtong not to worry. Even if they lost, Tongtong would surely advance in the subsequent revival round.
In this type of competition, one person couldn't carry the team, so he told Tongtong not to feel any pressure.
Then, he casually asked if Song Yicheng was on Tongtong's team.
Tongtong shook his head, "Dad, Song Yicheng is on Sister Tian's team!"
Liu Yifeng hadn't expected them to be on the same team, making Tongtong their opponent.
However, as long as he wasn't on Yun Duo'er's team, he didn't want Tongtong to be with her teammates.
"Don't feel any pressure for the afternoon matches. Just perform at your true level. Dad will be back in the evening."
"Okay, Dad, don't worry, I'll compete well. Dad, drive safely on the way back!" Tongtong reminded him.
Liu Yifeng remembered that Tongtong could predict things and couldn't help but ask, "Tongtong, you told Dad to be careful. Do you know something?"
"No, I just care about Dad. You don't need to overthink it!"
Hearing this, Liu Yifeng felt relieved, "Mmm-hmm, Dad understands. Then you should rest during Uncle Wang's rest day. Dad won't disturb you."
Just as Tongtong was about to hang up, Xia Qianqian's voice chimed in, "Yifeng, don't hang up yet!"
Liu Yifeng was startled, "What is it? Is something wrong?"
"It's nothing major, just asking you to come back early after filming!" Her tone conveyed her longing for Liu Yifeng.
Although Liu Yifeng hadn't dated anyone seriously since high school, Xia Qianqian's subtle affection made him quite troubled.
Dealing with Xu Muqing and Su Wanru was already enough; now there was Xia Qianqian too. He wished he could split himself into three.
Then he wouldn't have to struggle with how to choose between three women. However, on the surface, he remained calm, his voice betraying no unusual emotion, "Okay, I understand!"
With that, he quickly hung up the phone, fearing Xia Qianqian might say something else strange that he wouldn't know how to respond to.
Xia Qianqian wanted to say a couple more words, but saw that the call had been disconnected. She became quite annoyed, "He hung up before I could finish speaking. Could there be a woman pressing his hand?"
Tongtong, overhearing Aunt Xia's strange words, immediately said, "Aunt Xia, Dad doesn't have any other women. Are you unhappy because Dad hung up on you?"
"Wh-what are you talking about? Dad and I aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. How could I be unhappy because he hung up on me!" Xia Qianqian vehemently denied it.
But how could she deceive the sharp Tongtong? Seeing Aunt Xia deny it, he secretly covered his mouth and chuckled.
Seeing Tongtong's action, Xia Qianqian's face immediately flushed red, "Tongtong, are you thinking the wrong thing?"
"Thinking the wrong thing about what?" Tongtong asked innocently.
Xia Qianqian couldn't explain anything, so she quickly changed the subject, "Tongtong, didn't you say you were sleepy and wanted to nap? Then hurry up and sleep, or you'll have to go record the show again soon."
Knowing Aunt Xia was easily embarrassed, Tongtong didn't say anything further. He lay down on the sofa, pulled a small blanket over himself, and closed his eyes to sleep.
In reality, he wasn't truly asleep. His mind was constantly oscillating between Aunt Xu and Aunt Xia.
Should he choose Aunt Xu, or Aunt Xia?
The reason for excluding Su Wanru will be explained later.
Xia Qianqian looked at Tongtong, who was asleep, and her expression turned serious.
Her focus was on her career, but when it came to Liu Yifeng, he was different from other men.
She couldn't ignore this feeling, and she could accept becoming Tongtong's stepmother.
Therefore, she was extremely conflicted.
Should she choose her career, or Liu Yifeng?
Moreover, she didn't know Liu Yifeng's true feelings towards her. If she said he liked her, she didn't feel it.
If she said he didn't like her, he was quite good to her and even entrusted Tongtong to her care.
So, she made a decision: she would leave the choice to Tongtong.
If Tongtong won the championship, she would focus on her career. If he didn't win, she would bid farewell to this industry.
She would strive to pursue Liu Yifeng and make Tongtong call her Mom!
Liu Yifeng, sleeping in the car, was unaware that Xia Qianqian had already considered him a future pursuit. After hanging up the phone, he prepared to sleep.
However, he had barely fallen asleep when his phone rang, waking him up.
He took out his phone and saw an unfamiliar number. He hung up without thinking.
He didn't recognize anyone from the region displayed on the number, so he suspected it was a scam call, which was why he hung up so abruptly.
Just as he was about to go back to sleep, the phone rang again. He impatiently answered, "Hello, who is it? Don't you know it's rude to disturb someone's nap?"
Soon, a very pleasant female voice came from the phone, "Hello, Mr. Liu. I am Meng Xi, the person who treated you to milk tea at noon. I apologize for disturbing your nap!"