Chapter 86
After hanging up the phone, Li Dong curiously asked, "What's the situation? You and auntie Song still don't plan on telling Song Linchuan?"
That day, he thought they were joking, but didn't expect they would be serious.
Pei Kuang helplessly said, "Anan wants to wait a little longer before saying anything."
"Don't blame me for not warning you, this matter shouldn't be delayed." Li Dong kindly reminded.
"Otherwise with Song Linchuan's temper, knowing you hid this from him for so long, he definitely won't have the heart to say anything harsh to his auntie. So all that anger can only be directed at you."
Pei Kuang smiled and replied, "I know."
He originally planned to tell Song Linchuan as soon as possible. Naturally he also knew this matter shouldn't be delayed. But the little girl insisted on waiting for some reason, so he just went along with her.
Of course, Pei Kuang also had personal reasons.
He thought, at least he should wait until Song Anan likes him more. Only then would he have the confidence to face Song Linchuan.
After all, his previous methods weren't entirely fair and square.
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Song Linchuan was at a critical turning point in his career. After finishing filming this drama, he stayed in City B for less than a week before starting on another project.
In comparison, Pei Kuang's break this time was quite long. Since finishing recording that workplace variety show, adding up the breaks in between, he had almost three months of free time.
Pei Kuang himself wasn't in a hurry. Every day he and Song Anan flirted with each other. During the day at home he would read books and tend to flowers, then at night he would cook dinner and wait for Song Anan to get off work and come home. Life was comfortable and leisurely.
But as his agent, Li Dong was truly anxious!
Heavens, how could he not have noticed before that Pei Kuang actually had the potential to be lovestruck.
Fortunately, his next drama was about to start filming, so there wasn't much time left for him to be all lovey-dovey.
After Pei Kuang started filming, Song Anan moved back into the dorms.
But she never could have imagined that Pei Kuang would come back after just a few days.
That day, it was Li Sirui's turn to work the late shift, so after getting off work Song Anan went straight back to the dorms, and even bought dinner from the cafeteria on the way.
Just after getting back to the dorms, she received a call from Pei Kuang saying he was at her school gate right now.
Song Anan ran out with a blank look on her face. After getting in the car and seeing Pei Kuang, she still hadn't reacted.
They had been in contact every day since being apart these past few days. She knew Pei Kuang had a heavy filming schedule these two days.
"Why did you suddenly come back?" Song Anan asked.
Pei Kuang held Song Anan's hand and smiled, "Do you know what day it is today?"
Song Anan was stunned for a moment, her mind raced but she had no idea.
"What day is it?" she asked.
Without further explanation, Pei Kuang turned around and took out a gift box from the back row.
"This is for you. Our one month anniversary gift," he said with a smile as he handed it over.
Song Anan let out an "Ah", subconsciously scratching her head.
They needed to celebrate monthly anniversaries too? She didn't have experience in this area and really hadn't thought of it.
"Um, I didn't know, so..." she didn't prepare anything for him.
Pei Kuang rubbed her head and said with a smile, "You don't need to prepare anything. These are things I should be considering."
Song Anan didn't quite understand, "Why?"
Pei Kuang just smiled and shook his head, explaining, "You're a girl. Having a sense of occasion in a relationship is the boyfriend's responsibility."
This time Song Anan understood his words, but she had a different attitude towards it.
In her opinion, dating was something between two people. No matter what they did, it should be mutual.
She could also give him a sense of occasion.
But Song Anan didn't argue too much. Today she really was inexperienced. Since she didn't prepare anything, no matter what she said would just be empty words. She could make up for it next time.
Song Anan looked down at the gift in her hand. She definitely wasn't unhappy.
Noticing there was also an envelope on the gift box, she couldn't help but be surprised. Was this a congratulatory card, or...
Just as Song Anan was about to open it and take a look, Pei Kuang stopped her.
"I came all this way, and you're only looking at the gift. You're not even looking at me?"
Song Anan raised her head to look at him, a glint of anticipation flashed through her eyes, "I saw there's an envelope. What's inside?"
Pei Kuang stroked her palm with his thumb, smiling as he asked, "What do you think is inside?"
Song Anan quietly looked at him, somewhat hesitant, "If I guess, will it really be that?"
Pei Kuang raised his brows, "Say it and see. Even if it's not this time, who knows, maybe next time."
As for Song An'an, her situation was relatively more flexible. She had told her supervisor a month and a half ago, adjusting her work schedule to take 3 days of vacation time.
But this wasn't asking for leave, just shifting her vacation days together to take them consecutively.
Although Song An'an had never dated before, she was very adept at learning, figuring things out from one example.
Given Pei Kuang's surprise last time, she wanted to take a page from his book and prepare a surprise for him on the day itself.
The night before, Song An'an was packing her things in the dorm.
Li Sirui paced around, rubbing her hands eagerly, seeming even more excited than Song An'an.
"Wow! I'm finally experiencing the joy of shipping a couple."
Song An'an shook her head helplessly. She had Li Sirui to thank for this time's events.
The two of them were rotating in the same department right now. The one who had worked with her to adjust the schedule was Li Sirui, otherwise things wouldn't have gone so smoothly.
"Sirui, thank you for switching shifts with me. I'll treat you to a meal when I get back." Song An'an said.
Li Sirui giggled excitedly, "No need for a meal, just give me more details to satisfy my shipping happiness when you get back."
Song An'an shook her head helplessly again. Ever since Li Sirui had become a fan of them as a couple, this kind of 'fishing for details' behavior had become the norm, nothing unusual.
Early the next morning, which was Pei Kuang's birthday, Song An'an set off for the airport.
After getting off the plane, she took a taxi directly from the airport to the filming studio. About an hour later, the car stopped at the entrance to the filming studio.
Song An'an put on a hat and face mask, then took out her phone and opened a fan chat group for Pei Kuang.
Li Sirui had added her to this a couple days ago. For Pei Kuang's birthday this time, the fans had spontaneously organized some people to visit the filming set, as a way to celebrate his birthday.
Since this was meant to be a secret, Song An'an naturally had to be extremely careful. She had considered contacting Li Dong at first, but was afraid he might give something away.
So in the end, she chose this method to blend in with the fans and sneak in.
However, Li Sirui had repeatedly reminded her to keep her distance from the fans, to avoid being recognized.
Song An'an opened the group and saw someone had posted a location, telling everyone to gather there.
She walked in that direction, and soon saw a group of 20-30 people in the distance.
Song An'an checked the location on her phone again to confirm they were Pei Kuang's fans, then stood not too close or too far away behind them.
Not long after, Pei Kuang's assistant Liu Hao came out of the filming studio to receive the fans. He said something to the fan in front, then led the group towards the studio.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Song An'an hurried to follow behind, finding an inconspicuous spot in the crowd.
Inside the filming studio, Pei Kuang had just finished shooting a scene and returned to the waiting room.
Li Dong said, "The fans will come celebrate your birthday soon, go greet everyone."
Pei Kuang asked, "Did you coordinate with the filming crew?"
Li Dong nodded, "Don't worry, we coordinated early on."
Fan visits were good publicity material for the filming crew too, a scenario welcomed by all.
And today was Pei Kuang's birthday after all, it was reasonable on all counts and wouldn't inconvenience the crew.
Pei Kuang lightly hmm-ed in acknowledgement, "Did you prepare the fan gifts in advance?"
Li Dong gave an 'ok' gesture, "Same as always. It's your birthday, but they get the gifts."
When fans came to celebrate Pei Kuang's birthday, there was an unwritten rule. He would not only not accept any gifts from fans, but also prepare a gift for the fans who had come from afar, as a token of gratitude.
It was also an idol's gesture of goodwill towards his fans.
Since Li Dong said there were no issues, Pei Kuang didn't ask further. Instead he lowered his head to continue fiddling with his phone.
The little girl had sent him a photo of the food at her hospital cafeteria an hour ago, saying she was eating lunch. He tapped open the photo and unconsciously frowned slightly.
Pei Kuang's fingers flew as he typed back a message: "Why are you eating so little?"
Li Dong peeked at Pei Kuang's phone, "What's up, messaging your little auntie?"
Pei Kuang didn't even lift his head, just lightly hmm-ed in acknowledgement.
Li Dong tsk-tsked twice, "I'll say, you're just being stubborn. You must really want to spend your birthday with your little auntie right, I suggested asking for a day off half a month ago but you refused no matter what."
Pei Kuang glanced at him but didn't say anything.
Just then, Liu Hao opened the door to the waiting room and came in, saying the fans had arrived and Pei Kuang could go out now.
He nodded, he still had several scenes to film later, couldn't delay.
The filming crew had cordoned off a reception area in the studio for the fans. The fans were all arranged there, along with other actors and staff from the crew.
The assistant director had prepared a large three-tier cake in advance. Everyone was ready to celebrate Pei Kuang's birthday together.
When Pei Kuang walked over, he had his usual smile on his face, warmly greeting the crowd and fans.
But when his gaze swept over the crowd and landed on an inconspicuous corner in the back, his smile froze for a second.