In a corner booth on the first floor.

Zhang Minghua was still showing off his knowledge, chatting with the girls about the prospects of the short drama industry.

With Tang Song absent, he had once again become the absolute center of attention in this little circle.

During the conversation, his own light always involuntarily lingered a few seconds longer on Qian Lele, who was quietly eating fruit beside him.

Under the dim, dreamy lighting, Qian Lele’s beautiful cheeks flushed faintly with excitement and the effects of alcohol, making her look even fresher and more charming.

“Ding dong—”

Wu Siqi glanced at her phone, then leaned over mysteriously and said, “Hey! I just saw a message in the group chat saying that our base’s leaders and a senior executive from Ordinary Folks Media will come here to inspect the site later!”

“Really?” Li Jingrong immediately showed interest. “Which leaders?”

“The general manager Zhou from the film base operations department and a vice president from Ordinary Folks Media.” Wu Siqi’s eyes sparkled brightly. “I’ve been interning so long and have never seen such high-level leaders before!”

She worked in the new media department, mainly responsible for the base’s brand promotion and content dissemination. She was under the management of the operations department.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Minghua took a sip of his drink and boldly said, “Siqi, this is a great opportunity! When the leaders arrive, you should take the initiative to help serve water or run errands, so you get noticed by them. Maybe you’ll have a chance to secure a full-time position early.”

Facing Zhang Minghua’s “advice,” Wu Siqi only responded with an awkward “Mm” and didn’t say more.

She was a senior intern, and these leaders were executives of a film group. Pushing forward so boldly would only be embarrassing.

The more she interacted, the more she felt that Jingrong’s boyfriend had a heavy “fatherly” vibe and was somewhat self-righteous, nowhere near as refreshing and naturally confident as Lele’s “older brother” figure.

Just then, a familiar pleasant voice sounded nearby: “Sorry to keep everyone waiting.”

Tang Song strode back to the booth.

He politely nodded to everyone and naturally sat down beside Qian Lele.

Slightly turning his head, he saw Lele had already torn open a bag of spicy chips full of childhood memories, picking pieces with her fingertips, happily eating like a little hamster sneaking snacks.

This girl really loved spicy strips and chips. When she lived in the teachers’ dormitory, there was always an opened bag in the fridge.

Recalling those moments, Tang Song chuckled softly, then suddenly reached out and “intercepted” the chip just as she was about to bring it to her mouth.

Qian Lele let out an “Ah” and looked up in confusion.

Tang Song playfully winked at her and popped the chip into his own mouth.

Qian Lele blushed and quickly looked away.

After finishing the spicy chip, Tang Song raised his glass and shook it in front of Lele. “Come on, little sister, let’s have a drink together.”

“Okay.”

Qian Lele shyly clinked glasses with him and took small sips of the fruit wine.

“I told you guys, don’t sneak drinks!” Wu Siqi laughed and raised her glass. “Come on, everyone’s here, let’s toast to thank everyone for helping out as extras!”

“Ding~ ding~” the clinking of glasses rang out.

The cool wine slid down their throats.

The atmosphere in the livehouse grew livelier.

The three girls chattered away, talking about school anecdotes one moment and complaining about thesis topics and electives the next.

Tang Song didn’t feel out of place despite his identity. Instead, he blended naturally into their conversation, speaking wittily and clearly.

He always managed to attend to everyone’s feelings just right.

Wu Siqi and Li Jingrong looked at him with bright eyes, feeling happy chatting with him.

The clinking of glasses continued.

Though the beer and sparkling wine were light in alcohol content, Qian Lele, who wasn’t used to drinking, soon became a little tipsy.

From time to time, she would giggle foolishly at Tang Song.

Opposite them, Zhang Minghua saw the topic’s dominance quietly shift again without a trace and looked a bit embarrassed.

He had no bad intentions, just liked showing off, especially in front of pretty girls and his girlfriend.

At that moment, the music in the livehouse suddenly changed.

The director, wearing a baseball cap and work uniform, stepped onto the stage and grabbed the microphone.

“Hello everyone, friends, thank you for coming tonight! I’m the director of this short drama. Our filming is about to officially start...”

Then the director briefly explained the plot and what they needed everyone to cooperate with.

The plot wasn’t complicated: the female lead gets drunk by the leader in the livehouse, meets the male lead, and experiences the domineering CEO hero saving the beauty.

Tang Song and the others playing extras just needed to act as ordinary audience members, creating a lively, festive atmosphere on the dance floor.

At the director’s command, the atmosphere instantly ignited.

Dozens of extras were guided to the center of the dance floor.

The invited internet celebrity band appeared, and the music was deafening.

Colorful laser lights wildly swept through the dense crowd, casting bizarre patterns on everyone’s faces.

Qian Lele was a bit uncomfortable and instinctively covered her ears lightly, shrinking her body slightly.

Seeing this, Tang Song naturally stepped forward, half-hugged her, and used his body to shield her from the crowd behind.

Then he placed his hand over hers that was covering her ears, forming a more effective “soundproof shield.”

“It’s okay, you’ll get used to it soon.” Original content can be found at novelFirｅ.net

This sudden, protective intimacy made Qian Lele’s heart skip a beat.

Feeling Tang Song’s breath, she blankly said, “Thank you... brother.”

Tang Song couldn’t help but pinch her cheek.

Li Jingrong and Wu Siqi exchanged knowing smiles and deliberately kept some distance from the two.

Zhang Minghua clicked his tongue and squeezed into the crowd.

After simple preparations, filming officially began.

Everyone was in their twenties and quickly got into the mood in this atmosphere, moving freely to the music’s rhythm.

Seeing the still somewhat tense “Miss Tan” in his arms, Tang Song loosened his grip, patted her back, and leaned close to whisper, “Honestly, I don’t come to places like this much either. Let’s just dance along with them randomly. It’s all chaos anyway! Haha.”

Hearing his exaggerated description, Qian Lele burst out laughing, her tension fading.

Looking at the youthful, energetic faces around and Tang Song’s encouraging gaze,

Qian Lele took a deep breath and began to sway lightly, imitating their style.

She danced casually, without form, but that youthful vitality unique to teenage girls was especially charming.

Under the cover of music, Tang Song leaned close to her ear again. “You dance beautifully. Keep it up.”

Qian Lele instantly smiled like a blossoming flower and unconsciously widened her movements.

She was just a twenty-year-old young woman, optimistic, hardworking, and positive. She had once loved to play and make noise.

But heavy family burdens forced her to suppress all the recklessness and joy of youth.

She poured most of her energy into work and study, rarely taking moments to please herself.

At this moment, a little drunk and with Tang Song beside her,

she briefly forgot about family, responsibilities, pressure, and self-doubt.

In this noisy, free dance floor, she completely let go of herself.

Jumping and spinning, her fresh ponytail whipped through the air in beautiful arcs.

Her face blossomed with a radiant, carefree smile.

That unique youthful aura spread wildly in sweat and music, dazzling enough to draw all eyes.

Tang Song stood nearby, somewhat entranced.

Noticing his slightly burning light, Qian Lele felt a little shy and slowed her movements.

Tang Song softly exhaled and gave her a bright smile.

Then he drew close again, pressed against her body, and led her back into the rhythm, gently swaying together.

The flickering, dreamy lights, the surrounding moving crowd, the faint brush of bodies, the exhales, the heated warmth...

“Thump, thump thump—”

The intense heartbeat thundered in Qian Lele’s ears, nearly drowning out all the surrounding noise.

The ultimate warmth and flutter of her heart seemed infinitely magnified in this moment,

sending shivers of tingling excitement through her body.

...

In the shadowy corner of the stage,

Susu, seriously filming behind her phone, froze in expression.

Her eyes immediately locked onto the outstanding “Second Male Lead” Tang Song in the dance floor.

He was intimately dancing with a pure yet sexy girl, their bodies close, the girl smiling radiantly — clearly an unusual relationship.

Recalling the just-happened “battlefield” scene in the booth,

Susu’s mind exploded with vivid fantasies of a tragic love-hate drama!

The second male lead seemed truly hurt!

He was definitely trying to provoke Sister Yanqing on purpose! Using this childish yet domineering way to get Sister Yanqing’s attention!

He wanted her to be jealous! To regret it!

Oh my god! What would Sister Yanqing do?

Would she rush down right now and stage a “man-snatching” drama?!

But clearly, now was not the time for her to worry about this.

She quickly composed herself, and prompted by the staff, took a deep breath and walked onto the stage.

Fortunately, her task was simple—sing a song as a special guest and say a few words to hype up the atmosphere.

After her song, amid warm applause, she gracefully bowed and left the stage.

Without wasting a moment, she slipped to the VIP booth on the second floor and reported her “major discovery” in detail to the big shot, Yanqing.

“Boss Yanqing, what should we do?!”

Xu Qing pursed her lips, looked down at the dimly chaotic dance floor, and showed no surprise or panic on her face.

She of course knew Tang Song had many women around him.

But in front of her own “little pendant,” she definitely had to maintain her “leading lady” persona.

Thinking of this, her dark eyes shifted slightly.

She raised the Long Island iced tea on the table and took a small sip.

Licking her red lips, she said lightly, “Men, huh, always like to use these childish ways to get my attention. Let them be. Once they’ve had enough, they’ll come back naturally.”

Her voice held three parts disdain, three parts helplessness, and four parts clear insight.

Boom—

This sentence struck like thunder, shattering Susu’s brain full of ridiculous gossip!

Her eyes instantly filled with huge shock and admiration!

So the adult world, especially the emotional world of a top elite like Boss Yanqing, was so... profound and unfathomable!

Her own pitifully childish “cry, tantrum, threaten” love brain was utterly weak in comparison!

From today on, she vowed to study hard and strive to become like Boss Yanqing,

a true queen who could toy with men in the palm of her hand!

...

After several repeated takes of a few scenes, filming finally reached a pause.

The extras on the dance floor reluctantly dispersed.

Back at the booth, everyone wiped sweat and started happily drinking, chatting, and eating.

Having fully released themselves on the dance floor, Qian Lele was much more cheerful and talkative than before.

She even took the initiative to joke a few times and would affectionately lean toward Tang Song when conversations became lively.

Having drunk quite a bit and after the intense exercise,

her cheeks were rosy, like a juicy apple under the livehouse’s dreamy lights.

Fresh and cute, full of energy and extremely alluring.

Seeing the four of them laughing and chatting,

Zhang Minghua, who had long abandoned his mature and steady persona, felt out of place and didn’t know how to join the conversation.

After a moment, taking advantage of a toast, he cleared his throat and casually asked Tang Song, “By the way, Tang Song, I haven’t asked you before, what industry are you in?”

Tang Song, who was feeding on spicy chips from Qian Lele, smiled and said, “At present, mainly live-stream e-commerce.”

He had come today specifically to accompany Qian Lele and to experience the industrial support of his film base, not wanting to seek the spotlight.

Wu Siqi seemed to notice something and cheekily interrupted, “Brother Tang Song, I heard from Lele that your computer skills are super impressive, like a full-stack master. Is that true?”

Tang Song looked at Qian Lele beside him and smiled, “Lele and I both majored in computer science. She’s very smart and learns quickly;

she’ll definitely surpass me one day.”

Hearing his high EQ reply, Wu Siqi and Li Jingrong both gave thumbs up: “You two are masters! Haha.”

Zhang Minghua swirled his glass and leaned forward slightly.

“Oh? Live-stream e-commerce, that’s really catching the trend. But, the internet industry’s ‘35-year-old crisis’ isn’t a joke. It’s okay to make some quick money while young, but you’d better plan your fallback early. For example, keep an eye on large state-owned enterprises’ online recruitment.”

His words carried a lecturing tone, as if he saw through everything.

Tang Song sipped his wine and, instead of arguing, smiled and nodded, “Mm, Minghua makes a good point.”

Zhang Minghua, boosted by the casual compliment, felt a little elated.

He clinked glasses with him, drank a big gulp of sparkling wine, and continued to pontificate, “I’m telling you, the essence of society is all about circles and platforms. Look at our company — it seems relaxed normally, but when there’s a project, it’s always a billion-yuan deal... and Siqi, now that you’ve joined Yannan Film Base, that’s a good platform. In the future...”

Wu Siqi smiled awkwardly, about to say something.

Suddenly, the music in the livehouse softened.

From the VIP entrance diagonally ahead came a faint commotion.

Wu Siqi whispered and quickly pulled Li Jingrong’s arm, excitedly lowering her voice, “Look, look, the big leaders from both companies are here! Our supervisor is in the group too!”

Soon, a group of seven or eight people slowly entered, surrounded by core crew members.

Most wore formal business attire, standing out among the young people in T-shirts and skirts.

They talked quietly as they walked, stopping occasionally to nod and gesture.

Their every move exuded strong presence.

The commotion quickly spread.

Most young people here were university students invited for the event;

some, like Wu Siqi, were interns or employees at the base.

Seeing the senior leaders arrive, they all straightened up and whispered softly.

Tang Song put down his glass and looked ahead, raising his eyebrows.

After all, he was a major shareholder and owner of Yannan Film Base and knew the company’s core executives.

He just didn’t expect to meet them at this time.

Wu Siqi looked at the chat and screenshots in the group and whispered, “The one wearing the administrative jacket is our base’s operations director, Zhou Qiming, and the one in the gray coat is Zhang Chunjie, vice president of Ordinary Folks...”

Li Jingrong curiously leaned closer, watching the heated discussion in their work group.

Zhang Minghua calmly smiled with a look of familiarity, “Judging by their posture, they’re probably here to inspect the filming site and progress. Siqi, you can take this chance to show yourself in front of the leaders.”

Wu Siqi stuck out her tongue and nervously shook her head, “Forget it, I’m just a small intern;

going up would be asking for trouble... Ah! The leaders seem to be heading this way to the booth area!”

As she spoke, the surroundings grew quieter.

The group laughed and walked into the booth area, coming very close to them.

Wu Siqi hurriedly stood up, her heart racing uncontrollably.

Zhang Minghua straightened his posture slightly and subconsciously adjusted his collar.

But in the next second,

Zhou Qiming, the base’s operations director walking at the front, happened to glance their way, his face instantly filled with surprise and embarrassment.

But this expression lasted less than half a second before quickly turning into a vivid, even slightly anxious enthusiasm.

He almost immediately stopped talking with those beside him and nearly ran over to their secluded booth.

In everyone’s shocked gaze, he bowed slightly toward Tang Song and said respectfully, “Director Tang! Why... why are you here in person? Oh my, you came to inspect our base, yet didn’t notify us beforehand to prepare for your reception.”

Director Tang?!

Wu Siqi stood dumbfounded, staring at the company’s top leader in a nearly humble posture.

Her mind went completely blank...

Li Jingrong’s mouth slowly formed an “O.”

Zhang Minghua sat upright, staring at the surreal scene in front of him, unable to comprehend what was going on.

Tang Song still sat on the sofa, lightly nodding and saying, “No need to be so nervous. I’m not here to inspect today;

I just came to accompany a friend and play an extra, and to feel the filming atmosphere at our base.”

At that moment, hurried footsteps approached again.

Zhang Chunjie, vice president of Ordinary Folks, rushed over.

Seeing Tang Song, his face immediately filled with a mixture of surprise and admiration:

“Director Tang, good evening! It’s our honor to have you personally support our crew’s filming! If you have any dissatisfaction with our work, please criticize and correct us at any time!”

Tang Song smiled and nodded, “It’s quite good.”

Zhou Qiming immediately added, “Director Tang, if you have any comments on our Light Rail Livehouse’s design and services, please don’t hesitate to point them out. From the start, we strictly followed your strategic direction to ‘create a trendy cultural landmark for Yancheng.’

This cooperation with Ordinary Folks’ S-level project not only provides professional venue support for the crew but also leverages the short drama’s popularity to precisely promote our Livehouse’s grand opening!”

As he finished speaking, Zhang Chunjie quickly supplemented, “General Manager Sun gave tremendous support to our crew! Director Tang, you repeatedly emphasized integrating Ordinary Folks’ content production with the film base’s scene resources to form an industrial closed loop. Now, the results are fully showing...”

“Good evening, Director Tang!”

“Good evening, Director Tang!”

Middle and senior managers from the two companies who followed behind also respectfully greeted him.

Listening to their information-packed conversation,

Wu Siqi and Li Jingrong’s minds exploded with lightning after lightning.

Their worldview was being overturned.

What they heard between the lines... how did it sound... were these two companies both Tang Song’s?!

Zhang Minghua’s calm and composed expression shattered completely. He sat there stiffly,

his face rapidly losing color to a pale white.

Qian Lele, sitting next to Tang Song, instinctively moved away a bit.

Lowering her head, her expression was complicated.

Although she already knew some things about Tang Song, like Glow Coffee, the Bentley, and the birthday party for Yaoyao, so she wasn’t especially surprised by this scene.

But when she saw him accept the two executives’ face-to-face reports with such casual ease,

she felt that the familiar and intimate “brother” who accompanied her to roadside stalls, shared spicy chips, and danced with her,

at this moment became somewhat strange and distant.