Forced to listen to a live version in the kitchen, Cen Wen felt mentally exhausted.

She was still here, and Ye Lan was already about to strip the other person's clothes off. Once she left, just how wild would Ye Lan get?

When Cen Wen came out of the kitchen, she looked at Jiang Chi apologetically, somewhat regretting asking him to help her keep an eye on Ye Lan.

Others might not know how bad Ye Lan's temper was, but Cen Wen knew clearly.

She saw Jiang Chi sitting on the sofa, his cheeks red and a little uncomfortable, and thought guiltily, 'Jiang Chi must be scared, right? The moment I leave, Ye Lan will start teaching him a lesson, won't he?'

Poor thing... during the New Year, to be forcibly kept here by Ye Lan and have to endure his torment.

Ye Lan looked up at Cen Wen, suddenly remembering something, and casually named a restaurant he frequented, rattling off a dozen dishes. He didn't forget to add, "Their cheesecake is not bad either, bring one back. I want the original flavor."

Ye Lan turned his head to look at Jiang Chi, "We'll have lunch at one o'clock, is that okay?"

Jiang Chi naturally had no objections.

Cen Wen opened her notepad and quickly recorded the order, nodding as she left.

Before leaving, Cen Wen glanced back at Jiang Chi with a complex expression, her heart heavy.

No matter who she was considering, Cen Wen hoped Ye Lan would let Jiang Chi leave sooner. So, after buying lunch and coming back to hear that Jiang Chi had a schedule on the second day of the new year and had to leave, she was truly relieved.

But she had underestimated the extent of Ye Lan's unreasonableness.

This time, Ye Lan didn't even use the excuse of "heavy snow blocking the roads." He was just unreasonable, forcefully making Jiang Chi stay another night at his house, only letting him go on the first day of the new year.

On the morning of the first, Cen Wen still came to deliver breakfast. After Jiang Chi left, she couldn't help but say, "He has to go to another city for an event tomorrow. You're only letting him go now, he'll be in such a rush."

Ye Lan slowly drank the walnut and black sesame congee Cen Wen had brought, saying lazily, "If I had let him go yesterday, where would he have gone? Back to his own place, or to his father's?"

Cen Wen was stunned.

She also knew about Jiang Chi's family situation.

On New Year's Eve, if Jiang Chi were to spend it alone, it would be a bit desolate.

To spend it with his father, watching that family being so harmonious, also seemed... just as lonely.

Nowhere seemed like a good place to go.

"I was spending the New Year alone anyway, so it's nice to have some company," Ye Lan handed the empty congee bowl to Cen Wen and frowned, "What is all this stuff? Why has my diet been getting weirder and weirder lately?"

Cen Wen came back to her senses and said sheepishly, "It's... all good for you. The things the nutritionist said, I don't really understand them either."

Ye Lan didn't pay it much mind and said, "Have the housekeeper come tidy up the room. Have you brought the New Year's gifts for my uncle? I'm going over to his place in a bit."

Cen Wen nodded quickly, "They're all in the car already. We can leave anytime."

They delivered New Year's gifts, gave red packets to the team to start the year, and exchanged greetings with friends. After the first day of the Lunar New Year, the two of them became even busier than before. Jiang Chi also had to run around for announcements and events, his schedule even more packed than Ye Lan's. In the half-month from then until the Lantern Festival, the two never saw each other again.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, Jiang Chi had no work. After sending Li Weili home early, he also went home.

To his father's place.

The father and son hadn't seen each other in a long time, but they weren't as excited as other families. Instead, they were a bit reserved with each other. After routinely asking about each other's health, Jiang Chi took out the New Year's gifts he had prepared for his younger brother and sister and chatted and laughed with the two kids for a while.

Jiang Chi's stepmother had always felt guilty towards Jiang Chi. Knowing he was coming, she had sent her own parents away in advance and was exceptionally polite to him. From noon to evening, the dining table was filled with all of Jiang Chi's favorite dishes.

Jiang Chi genuinely felt that his stepmother was a very good person and that it hadn't been easy for her all these years. Before going to bed that night, he gave her the several concert tickets he had prepared long ago and smiled, "A friend gave them to me. I remembered you like this."

Jiang Chi's stepmother quickly smiled and thanked him, saying he was very thoughtful.

Jiang Chi smiled, ruffled his little brother's hair, and returned to his room.

Jiang Chi didn't really like coming home, not entirely because he felt out of place.

Every time he came back, he would think of his mother.

Jiang Chi's mother passed away when he was twelve.

It was a lie to say it wasn't painful, but after losing his mother and his father remarrying, he didn't become withdrawn or insecure; he just matured earlier than his peers.

He didn't want to force himself or his whole family to pretend to be a happy, harmonious family, so he took the initiative to request to attend a boarding school.

It was quite hard at the beginning. The trauma caused by his mother's death; the discomfort from the sudden change in his living environment; the loneliness of having good grades but no one to show them off to anymore—all of it tormented the fourteen-year-old Jiang Chi.

This continued until he accidentally watched a movie.

From then on, for one person, it was love at first sight.

A life with a goal to strive for instantly became clear and bright.

Lying in bed, Jiang Chi suddenly missed Ye Lan.

Ye Lan should have already returned to the set; he had to rush the scenes for the bartender role.

Jiang Chi looked at the time, 11:17 PM. Ye Lan might still be on set right now, or he might have already returned to the hotel.

He wondered if he had eaten sweet dumplings for the festival.

Jiang Chi rolled over and picked up his phone again.

He opened the messaging app and looked at their chat history. The last time he contacted Ye Lan was two days ago.

He had sent many messages, and Ye Lan had replied twice in between. One was a voice message, which Jiang Chi had listened to repeatedly many times.

After that, Jiang Chi sent Ye Lan a funny video and a cute pet video, but Ye Lan didn't reply to either.

If he sent a message to Ye Lan now, he didn't know if he would reply.

Jiang Chi searched for some Lantern Festival blessing messages, picked through them, and felt that none of them were very interesting. Ye Lan would probably assume it was a group message and just ignore it.

Jiang Chi thought for a moment and felt that sending a red packet was more practical.

Not only was it practical, but once Ye Lan claimed the red packet, he would know that he had seen it.

It was like killing two birds with one stone.

Jiang Chi opened the red packet function in the chat software. He looked at the passphrase red packet function added in the New Year's version, and an idea struck him.

The person receiving the red packet needed to type a specific phrase designated by the sender to claim it.

Jiang Chi's heart sped up a little. He had a daring thought: if he sent Ye Lan a passphrase red packet, would Ye Lan claim it?

This way, not only would he give Ye Lan a red packet, but he could also trick a reply out of him.

Jiang Chi craftily wanted to use this method to make Ye Lan reply to him.

Jiang Chi got up and stood by the window. After hesitating for a few seconds, he put ninety-nine yuan into the red packet and then set the claim passphrase: Happy Lantern Festival.

Jiang Chi thought for a moment, deleted the passphrase, his ears turning slightly red, and re-edited it: Happy Lantern Festival, Jiang Chi.

This way, if Ye Lan really claimed it, it would look like he was wishing him a happy festival.

Jiang Chi thought, pushing his luck, 'What if... I change the words "Jiang Chi" to "Xiao Chi"?'

Never mind, never mind, that would be too embarrassing.

Jiang Chi paused, then sent the red packet.

Jiang Chi suddenly remembered the day he had tossed and turned waiting for Ye Lan's reply, and thought to himself, 'Please don't leave me hanging for a long time.'

If a red packet isn't claimed, it gets automatically returned!

Jiang Baiqing knocked on Jiang Chi's room door. "Jiang Chi, I see your light is still on. Not asleep yet? Didn't you say you have to leave early tomorrow? Rest early. Your work is always so busy. You finally came home for a visit, so rest early."

"I know." Jiang Chi pursed his lips and suddenly said, "Dad... you and Auntie should also rest early."

Jiang Baiqing was stunned for a moment, then quickly smiled, "Okay, okay, Dad's going to bed now. You get to sleep quickly. I'll wake you up tomorrow morning. Have breakfast before you go."

Jiang Chi agreed, a smile appearing on his lips.

Jiang Chi turned off the bedroom light and looked back to see his phone on the bed was still lit up, showing one unread message!

Jiang Chi quickly picked up his phone.

Ye Lan: Happy Lantern Festival, Jiang Chi.

Ye Lan had sent the correct passphrase. At the same moment, the red packet Jiang Chi had prepared for Ye Lan was automatically claimed by him.

A small firework instantly bloomed in Jiang Chi's heart.

Smiling, Jiang Chi quickly typed: Happy Lantern Festival. It's quite late, you should go to bed early.

Before Jiang Chi could finish typing, Ye Lan sent a red packet from his end.

Claim Passphrase: Brother Ye Lan is the most handsome.

Jiang Chi's face flushed red.

On the set, Ye Lan, wrapped in a down jacket, sat on a lounge chair holding his phone. He absently listened to Ren Haichuan and the cinematographer discuss something, while a smile played in his eyes as he looked at his phone.

Jiang Chi replied: Brother Ye Lan is the most handsome.

The red packet was successfully claimed.

Ye Lan burst out laughing.

Ren Haichuan was in the middle of a crucial point in the discussion. He looked up at Ye Lan, and his face instantly darkened.

Ye Lan waved his hand apologetically, suppressing his laughter. As if discovering a new continent, he continued sending red packets to Jiang Chi.

The passphrases he set for the red packets became more and more embarrassing to say.

Jiang Chi, whether he really wanted the red packets or was afraid of making Ye Lan unhappy, actually claimed every single one of them.

Ye Lan could almost imagine Jiang Chi on the other end of the screen, his face flushed red with embarrassment.

The cinematographer and Ren Haichuan were at a stalemate. He turned to look at Ye Lan and asked, "What is Teacher Ye's opinion?"

"I think..." Ye Lan looked at his phone screen with a smile, absentmindedly. "I think we might as well try both ways and see how it looks in post-production. Otherwise, we could also..."

As soon as Ren Haichuan heard this, he frowned. Without waiting for Ye Lan to finish, he cut him off and continued his grave discussion with the cinematographer, clutching several storyboards.

Ye Lan was happy that no one was bothering him. He lightly licked his lips, and as if suddenly remembering something, a mischievous smile appeared on his face as he sent another red packet to Jiang Chi.

The passphrase he set this time was the simplest, just one word: Daddy.

But this time, Jiang Chi didn't send those one word over for a long time.

Ye Lan smiled, unsure if Jiang Chi was too embarrassed to call him 'Daddy' or if he was angry.

Ye Lan got up, found a slightly less crowded place, and called Jiang Chi.

"You're not mad, are you? I was just teasing you." The set was as cold as ever, and it was even colder away from the rest area. Ye Lan tightened his down jacket and said with a smile, "If you don't want to say it, then don't. Don't be mad, okay?"

Jiang Chi hadn't expected Ye Lan to suddenly call and was startled. His face was already red from being teased by Ye Lan for half the night, and his voice was a bit hoarse, "I'm not mad..."

"Eh? Not mad, huh?" Ye Lan's spirits lifted instantly. "Then say it. It's fine to say it over the phone too."

Jiang Chi choked with shame, "You..."

"Hahahahaha..." Ye Lan laughed so hard he coughed twice. He cleared his throat before saying, "I won't bully you. You don't have to say it."

Jiang Chi felt a bit embarrassed for having received a whole bunch of nonsensical red packets from Ye Lan and said, "You've sent too many. Let me send you one back..."

"No need," Ye Lan said bluntly. "Consider it your New Year's money. What's wrong? Do you feel you don't deserve it?"

For some reason, the words "New Year's money" seared Jiang Chi's heart, warming it up completely.

Jiang Chi let out a soft "Mm."

Ye Lan smiled, "Then just owe me one. You can pay me back in the future."

The author has something to say: