Huayu: This director specializes in promoting young actresses.

Chapter 16 Junko is on the left, Oda is on the right.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes red and uncertain. "You're not lying to me?"

"Why would I lie to you?" He reached out and flicked her nose. "You're someone they watched grow up, more favored than me, their own son. How could they not like you?"

Looking into his earnest eyes, Tian Xiwei's grievances gradually dissipated. She suddenly threw herself into Lin Feng's arms, hugged his waist tightly, and buried her face in his chest, nuzzling against him: "Brother Feng, I just feel uncomfortable, a kind of inexplicable sadness..."

"I know." He patted her back, like comforting a child. "You just feel like something of yours has been taken away, and you're unhappy, right?"

Tian Xiwei nodded in his arms.

"You're overthinking it. Who doesn't love our innocent, lively, and irresistibly cute Tian Xiwei? My parents would dote on you every single day."

"Pfft." Tian Xiwei was amused by him. Tears still clung to her eyelashes, but the corners of her mouth turned up. She punched him lightly, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. "You're so annoying, always making fun of me."

Seeing her laughing and crying at the same time, I couldn't help but laugh too: "Okay, stop crying, or you'll look like a little kitten. From now on, if you're ever unhappy about anything, don't bottle it up, tell me, okay?"

"Mmm." Tian Xiwei nodded in his arms. How could her relationship with Brother Feng and his aunt and uncle, which had lasted for so many years, change just because Liu Haochun came once? She was being too petty.

After he and Xiaotian went out, Liu Haochun's parents chatted with him on the sofa. Tian Xiwei sat down next to Lin's mother, peeling oranges for her while chatting with them.

"It's getting late, I should head back to the hotel. I have filming tomorrow." He glanced at his watch and stood up.

"What's the rush? Sit a while longer." Lin's mother also stood up. "I packed some cold dishes for you to take to the film set."

She turned and went into the kitchen, soon returning with a plastic bag containing vacuum-packed pork head meat and sausages. "It's all ready-made; I can just heat it up at the hotel and eat it. It's cleaner than takeout."

"Thank you, Mom." Taking the bag, she said to Liu Haochun and Tian Xiwei, "Let's go."

"Auntie, Uncle, let's go!" Tian Xi called out in a clear and cheerful voice, opening the door with practiced ease.

"Wait a minute." Lin's mother suddenly remembered something, turned around and went back into the room, coming out with two red envelopes in her hand. "New Year's red envelopes, the two girls can take them, for good luck."

"Thank you, Auntie!" Tian Xi's eyes lit up, and she accepted it without hesitation, pinching its thickness and smiling to reveal her little tiger teeth. "Auntie, you're so kind!"

Liu Haochun paused for a moment, then waved his hand somewhat embarrassedly: "Auntie, no need, I'm all grown up now..."

"Hey, take it." Lin's mother stuffed the red envelope into her hand. "Look, Weiwei has accepted it. This is a token of our appreciation from our elders. If you don't accept it, you're not giving your aunt any face."

She added with a smile, "Consider it a New Year's red envelope."

Liu Haochun then took it, accepting it with both hands, and whispered, "Thank you, Auntie."

"Be careful on the road, Xiaofeng, tell the driver to slow down." The father saw him to the door.

"Okay, Dad."

He went downstairs and hailed a taxi. Just as he was about to open the passenger door, Tian Xiwei suddenly grabbed his arm: "Brother Feng, sit in the back!"

"What for?" Lin Feng laughed, "It's crowded in the back."

"It's not crowded, it's just right for three people." Tian Xiwei pushed him back without saying a word, squeezed in first, sat on the right side, and patted the middle seat, "Brother Feng, sit here!"

As soon as she settled into her seat, Tian Xiwei closed the car door: "Driver, to...the hotel, thank you."

As soon as the car started, Tian Xiwei eagerly opened the red envelope, pulled out the money inside, counted it, and her eyes widened: "Wow! Five hundred yuan! Auntie is so generous!"

She waved the money in her hand and said to Liu Haochun, "Haochun, you open it and see, it must be the same!"

Liu Haochun felt a little embarrassed, but she still gently opened the red envelope. Sure enough, there were five brand-new hundred-yuan bills inside. She held the money, feeling a little surprised.

"Five hundred too!" Tian Xiwei was even more excited than her. "Great! That's enough for me to buy that new comic!"

Liu Haochun smiled and said, "Auntie is so generous." She carefully folded the money and put it into her wallet.

Seeing how happy they were, he teased them, "You've received such a big red envelope, shouldn't you treat me to something to eat?"

"No problem!" Tian Xi patted her chest confidently, "Brother Feng, what would you like to eat? Barbecue or hot pot? I'll arrange it!"

"Do you have enough money for a hot pot dinner?" Lin Feng laughed at her. "Save it. Just treat me to a bowl of noodles tomorrow."

"You underestimate me!" Tian Xiwei retorted, slightly unconvinced. "Five hundred yuan! That's enough to treat you to 60 bowls of noodles with eggs!"

"Haha, okay, I'll wait for your treat." Lin Feng turned to look at Liu Haochun, "And you? You received a red envelope but aren't you going to do anything in return?"

Liu Haochun nodded quickly: "I'll treat Brother Feng too! I'll buy him chicken legs for lunch tomorrow!"

"Wow, you're even more generous than Weiwei, adding a chicken leg." Amused by her serious expression, I replied, "Okay, then I'll be waiting to eat your chicken leg tomorrow."

The car drove through the night, the streetlights outside the window receding one by one. Tian Xiwei was probably tired from filming in the afternoon, plus the commotion in the evening, and soon she yawned, leaned closer to Lin Feng, and naturally took his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Brother Feng, I'm going to take a nap." Her voice was muffled, and she sounded sleepy.

"Go to sleep, I'll wake you when we get there." He adjusted her position to make her more comfortable.

He glanced at Tian Xiwei; her eyes were closed, her eyelashes were long, her breathing was even, and the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned.

Liu Haochun, who was next to him, didn't say anything either. He was probably tired too, and his eyes were a little vacant as he looked at the night view passing by outside the window.

Seeing that she was sitting upright with stiff shoulders, I moved closer to her and said softly, "If you're tired, lean back and rest for a while. There's still a long way to go."

Liu Haochun paused for a moment, then turned to look at him, a little embarrassed: "No need, I'm not sleepy."

"Don't push yourself, you have to film tomorrow." He patted his left shoulder. "Lean on here, it's fine."

Liu Haochun hesitated for a moment before cautiously leaning her head closer. She didn't dare to relax completely like Tian Xiwei; she just gently touched his shoulder, keeping her arms tightly closed, afraid of touching him.

Through his thick winter clothes, she could feel the warmth of his shoulders and the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

She felt a little flustered, like a deer's heart was pounding. It was the first time she had been so close to a boy, but she felt mostly at ease, like a ship adrift at sea finding a temporary harbor.

She glanced at Raymond Lam secretly. He was looking out the window, his profile appearing soft under the streetlights. It turned out he wasn't always as serious as he was on screen; in real life, he was like an older brother.

He could feel the weight on both shoulders; on the left, a cautious dependence, and on the right, unguarded trust.