Chapter 31

Speaking of late-night snacks, Xia Xingcheng arranged for all the cast and crew to go to a famous local hotpot restaurant and specially arranged a private room with a cozy environment. Yang Youming and He Zheng were invited to sit in the private room as they were a significant actor and the creator of the film respectively.

Today, the protagonist was Xia Xingcheng, and the entire crew once again celebrated his birthday together. At the beginning, he went up to every table to remind everyone to freely eat as they please, and as he made his way back to the private room, he was stopped by the hotpot restaurant's other guests, who asked for photos and autographs. He agreed to each and every one of the guests heartily.

When he was done, he rushed back to the private room, and he opened the door to the sight of Yang Youming sitting next to He Zheng. He Zheng was leaning close to Yang Youming's side, smoking while they talked, and Yang Youming's whole face was shrouded in He Zheng's cigarette smoke.

An empty seat next to Yang Youming had been set aside for Xia Xingcheng.

Someone caught sight of Xia Xingcheng entering the room and raised his hand, loudly calling out to him to come and sit down.

Consequently, Yang Youming raised his head and glanced at him with a small smile.

When Xia Xingcheng went over to sit down, He Zheng was still speaking to Yang Youming in a low voice, and Yang Youming maintained his original posture, slightly leaning over to listen to him seriously.

Xia Xingcheng couldn't interrupt their conversation.

As a matter of fact, this was not the production team's first meal together. In the beginning, Xia Xingcheng had felt that there was nothing he could say whenever they talked about He Zheng. Later on, when everyone had already got acquainted with each other, Xia Xingcheng still didn't dare to easily express his opinions about He Zheng and Yang Youming.

Someone helped Xia Xingcheng fill up a glass with beer in front of him, then toasted him to wish him a happy birthday. Xia Xingcheng hurriedly picked up the glass to entertain that person. After that, he didn't get the chance to eat anything, always occupied with drinking and chatting with others, never once stopping.

With great difficulty, he finally had time to return to his seat, and just then, a waiter happened to come in, placing a bowl of warm millet congee in front of him.

At a loss, he looked up and asked the waiter, "Why is there only one bowl?" As today's host, he had to make sure that every guest had their own bowl.

At this time, Yang Youming straightened his back, putting his arm on the edge of the table, and said, "I ordered it for you."

Xia Xingcheng turned to look at him, then hurriedly reverted his line of sight, staring at the millet congee in front of him.

The waiter then left with the tray.

Yang Youming said, "I noticed that you haven't eaten anything and only kept drinking. Have some congee first."

Xia Xingcheng obediently picked up the bowl of congee. It was still a little hot in his hands, but he didn't put it back down. With his other hand, he picked up a spoon and stirred the congee. Turning to Yang Youming, he said, "Thank you, Ming ge."

Yang Youming said, "Eat first, then order other dishes."

Xia Xingcheng nodded and silently immersed himself in eating the congee.

At this time, He Zheng was being badgered by the drunk assistant director. Yang Youming was finally free, and he calmly sat without speaking.

Xia Xingcheng had lowered his head and didn't know whether or not Yang Youming was looking at him. Right then, he couldn't summon the courage to look at Yang Youming.

In reality, his personality was not as quiet and introverted as Fang Jianyuan. He wasn't afraid of social interaction, and even liked to get in touch with all sorts of different people in the past. By the time his past dramas wrapped up filming, he would always have made friends with numerous people, even the entertainment circle's older generation. He was able to respectfully and amicably get along with these people.

Only now, Yang Youming alone made him feel entirely different from before. When he was together with Yang Youming, he would always get caught up in Fang Jianyuan's state of mind when facing Yu Haiyang. And in the movie, they were head over heels in love with each other. Therefore, he had no choice but to expend a large effort to step back from his role. This made him even more nervous, and he didn't know how to deal with Yang Youming's attitude.

Everyone finished their meals. It was already late into the night when Xia Xingcheng came out of the hotpot restaurant. He stood by the doorway and watched as everyone left in their respective cars.

A while later, three girls who were in the middle of discussing their taxi ride remained, so Xia Xingcheng invited them to take his nanny car.

The three girls happily agreed.

They walked to the nanny car parked a few meters ahead of the hot pot restaurant. After Xia Xingcheng's assistant Xiao Tang opened the car door, Xia Xingcheng politely let the girls get in the car first. As he waited for his turn, a parked car behind them flashes its headlights at the group. Turning his head to look back, Xia Xingcheng heard Xiao Tang say, "Seems like it's Ming ge's car."

The car's headlights were blinding, and Xia Xingcheng couldn't clearly make out the license plate for a moment, but as soon as he registered Xiao Tang's words, he immediately scurried towards the rear car.

The effects of alcohol and the hot summer night turned his face scarlet. He watched as Yang Youming opened the car's backseat door and said to him, "Take my car."

The light of a street lamp beamed down at them, half covered by the roof of the car. Yang Youming's face was half in the light, and the other half was shrouded in darkness. The corners of his mouth weren't curved up, yet the visible half of his face showed an eye that radiated gentleness.

Xia Xingcheng said, "OK," and then bowed his head to enter the car.

Xiao Tang was stupefied for a moment, and seeing the car door close and start to move, he hurriedly got in the car and told the driver, "Xiao Xing ge is going back in Ming ge's car. Let's go by ourselves."

In Yang Youming's car, Li Yun sat in the front passenger seat. Xia Xingcheng first greeted Li Yun and sat down beside Yang Youming, his heart beating anxiously. Yang Youming leaned forward, holding out a hand in Li Yun's direction. Li Yun then took something out of her bag, passing it to his outstretched hand. When Yang Youming sat back down and leaned back, Xia Xingcheng could clearly see that there was a luxury brand's jewelry box in his hand.

Yang Youming rotated the jewelry box twice in his hand, then presented it to Xia Xingcheng and said, "I found out that it's your birthday today at the last moment. This is your birthday gift."

Li Yun was not present at the dinner tonight, so Xia Xingcheng assumed Yang Youming must've asked her to buy a gift. Xia Xingcheng was somewhat excited, and yet not so excited. He took the gift, fiddled with the bow on the top side of the box, and said to Yang Youming, "Thank you, Ming ge."

Smiling, Yang Youming said, "This is the second time tonight that I'm hearing these words."

Xia Xingcheng immediately smiled as well. Looking down at the jewelry box, he thought that Yang Youming had asked Li Yun to buy the gift at the last moment, and only did it out of politeness. Maybe he didn't even know what was inside.

Yang Youming said, "Open it and see if you like it."

Xia Xingcheng carefully untied the bow on the box. Opening the jewelry box, he saw that inside, there was a men's necklace. It was pendantless and only consisted of a metal chain that was slightly thicker than the average woman's necklace. Even by solely looking at the brand, you'd know that it certainly didn't cost a small amount.

"I really like it," Xia Xingcheng said. "Thank you." His words were sincere, no matter what Yang Youming gives him, he'd like them all very much.

Yang Youming's voice was soft and low, "Happy birthday, Xingcheng."