After finishing the morning shoot, there was a one-hour break for the actors to eat, use the restroom, and rest briefly.
Since the lunchboxes were ordered from his family's restaurant, Qi Lin's meal was naturally different from the others, with noticeably more meat dishes.
Qi Lin was enjoying his meal when he smelled a familiar fragrance. Han Xue and her assistant had already sat down beside him.
The assistant, after glancing at Qi Lin's meal, casually handed him a chicken leg from her lunchbox, saying, "Here, you eat it. I'm on a diet."
Qi Lin didn't think much of it. He smiled at her and continued eating.
You can't expect a sports student to have particularly elegant table manners. Though he wasn't exactly wolfing it down, he was pretty close.
However, in the eyes of someone infatuated, even crude eating habits seem genuine and manly. To the assistant, Qi Lin's eating habits displayed a true and masculine nature.
Qi Lin hadn't been with the crew long enough to sense anything unusual, but the staff were shocked. Han Xue never ate with them!
Han Xue had her own RV and usually ate inside, with a private chef preparing her meals. In almost two months of filming, this was the first time they saw her eating with the crew.
But it was obvious to the keen observer that Han Xue's target was Qi Lin, as she sat directly beside him.
Before Qi Lin joined the crew, no one had ever seen this young lady leave her RV.
Yet, the staff couldn't figure out whether she was interested in Qi Lin romantically or wanted to recruit him into her company. They leaned towards the latter, considering her status and the caliber of men she had encountered.
Qi Lin, unaware of any unusual circumstances, continued eating heartily.
After finishing his lunch, he wiped his mouth and leaned back in his chair with a satisfied expression.
Han Xue, who ate delicately, handed her half-eaten lunch to her assistant, who promptly headed for the trash can.
Qi Lin was displeased. His father had always instilled in him the importance of not wasting food, and seeing so much being thrown away irked him.
Qi Lin directly confronted Han Xue, "Why throw away so much food? Do you know how many people in our country can't even fill their bellies? This is practically a crime!"
Han Xue was stunned. She had been flattered her whole life and had never been spoken to like this.
"It's just a lunchbox. What's the big deal?" she thought. Even if it were steak or lobster, she often took just a bite and discarded the rest.
But for some reason, seeing Qi Lin's frowning face made her feel guilty, like she had been caught doing something wrong.
In her twenty-plus years, this was a first for her.
"Who does he think he is to lecture me? But... why don't I dislike it?" she wondered.
Qi Lin, noticing Han Xue's reddening face, suddenly remembered he was on set, not at school. The woman before him was the leading actress, not a classmate.
"What's happening? Was I too harsh? Is she blushing out of anger or shame?" Qi Lin thought, feeling a bit intimidated.
Despite his apprehension, he kept his gaze fixed on Han Xue, not blinking.
The bustling dining hall fell eerily silent as everyone held their breath, waiting for Han Xue's reaction.
They knew her temper; she could explode at the slightest provocation. Surely, Qi Lin was in for a slap.
To everyone's surprise, Han Xue walked to her assistant, retrieved the lunchbox, and sat back down to finish her meal, her face as red as a monkey's bottom.
Only then did Qi Lin's frown relax.
The onlookers' jaws dropped. They heard Han Xue's soft voice, "I understand. I won't waste food again."
Qi Lin grunted in acknowledgment, then noticed a grain of rice on her lips. Without thinking, he picked it off and said, "Who knows how hard it is to grow this rice. My parents get up at two to buy vegetables. It's tough work. Please respect their labor and the farmers' efforts."
Face-touching?
Han Xue's already flushed face turned even redder, feeling like her head might explode from the rush of blood. She couldn't hold back any longer, grabbed her lunchbox, and fled to her RV.
The assistant, equally stunned, quickly followed.
Once inside the RV, the crew heard two excited shrieks.
"Eek!!!"
"Eek!!!"
Everyone in the crew looked at the RV, then at Qi Lin, then back at the RV, and finally at Qi Lin again.
Only Qi Lin was confused.
"It was just a grain of rice. I can give it back if she wants. Why so dramatic?" he thought. "And why does she scream like a marmot?"
Qi Lin genuinely hadn't thought much about it. As a pure steel-hearted guy, he couldn't tell if Han Xue's blushing was from shyness or shame.
That afternoon, Qi Lin noticed a distinct shift in the crew's attitude toward him. They seemed more friendly, even cautious, as if afraid to offend him.
Qi Lin was puzzled. "What's so intimidating about me? I don't have any background."
Unbeknownst to him, the staff saw him as a potential future in-law of their company.
...
After a day's filming, Qi Lin returned home to find his parents' expressions off, especially his mother, who looked unusually angry.
Curious, Qi Lin asked, "Mom, what's wrong? Who upset you?"
Seeing Qi Lin, his mother forced a smile, "Nothing, nothing. No one upset me."
But his father snorted, "It's those idiots online. Your mother was reading the news today and saw people insulting you."
Qi Lin was taken aback. He hadn't expected the incident to spread so quickly.
Qi Lin didn’t mind if it upset him, but if it made his mother unhappy, he was very displeased.
Before Qi Lin could say anything, there was a knock at the door. A middle-aged woman walked in, asking, "Is Qi Lin here?"
Turning to look, Qi Lin recognized her immediately. It was Wang Xiaohua, the agent who had followed Huang Yi that day.
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