CH 90

Director Yan's reaction was so big that not only Mother Song, but also other staff members were startled.

"Madam," Director Yan took a step forward, his eyes shining with excitement. He asked eagerly, "May I ask if they have known each other for a long time?"

Mother Song hesitated for a moment.

A few days before the interview, her son called and instructed her not to mention certain things on camera, including his childhood engagement with Wen Xiaomei.

Even if her son hadn't instructed her, she wouldn't have mentioned it. Father Song had already held some grudges against the Wen family due to their cancellation of the engagement. However, he was a businessman and understood the benefits and compromises involved. Although he was dissatisfied, he had no grounds to reproach them. After canceling the engagement, he never mentioned the Wen family again and never visited Yancheng.

Considering her husband's dignity, Mother Song said, "Yes, when Yanzi went to Yancheng for high school education, they knew each other at that time."

The entire camera crew was shocked, their mouths wide open.

Director Yan chuckled.

After that, Director Yan took over the interview. As the chief director, he was able to have a pleasant conversation with Mother Song even without a script. The younger staff members were impressed by their interaction.

After seeing off Director Yan and his satisfied camera crew, Mother Song went upstairs to find her husband.

"The interviewers have left, you can come out now."

The head of the family, who had been hiding in the second-floor room, finally came out.

Song Yan inherited his father's handsome features. Both father and son had dignified and handsome appearances. Father Song's facial features and complexion had been marked by the passage of time, displaying a mature and dignified temperament even more than his son.

Father Song asked what his wife had talked about with those people for so long.

"It's nothing. It's just about Yanzi and Wen Xiaomei's past," Mother Song smiled slightly. "When Yanzi was in high school, didn't he like her? So I talked about some past events."

Father Song sounded surprised, "What? Didn't he know about Wen Xingyi canceling the engagement? He still liked his granddaughter then?"

Only then did Mother Song realize that Father Song didn't know about Song Yan's high school crush on Wen Li, so she quickly fell silent.

Father Song had only one son, Song Yan. At that time, the family had a big business, and naturally, Father Song had high expectations for his son. He even had strict demands on him, so the father-son relationship during Song Yan's childhood was not very good.

Song Yan was arrogant and proud, carrying himself with aloofness. Fortunately, he had a gentle mother who taught him to be friendly and kind. It was thanks to her that he didn't become a chauvinistic man like his father. He had his father's pride and sternness, but also his mother's delicacy and tenderness.

The mother and son had a better relationship, so it was natural that Song Yan was more willing to confide in his mother about his worries. This was normal.

Father Song was not very pleased, but he couldn't say anything.

Mother Song comforted him, saying, "He married the granddaughter, not the grandfather. Wen Xingyi is Wen Xingyi, Wen Xiaomei is Wen Xiaomei."

Father Song sighed lightly.

Mother Song shrugged and reminded him, "Wen Xiaomei will come to see us soon. You can't hide and avoid her, you know?"

"Yes."

After settling her husband, Mother Song called her son.

She had talked for so long with Director Yan that by the time she made the call, the outdoor filming on Song Yan's side had also finished.

Upon hearing that his mother had revealed their past with Wen Li to the production team, the man on the other end of the phone let out a sigh. Then, with a smile in response to his mother's concerned tone, he said, "It's alright, let it be."

During the years when Song Yan went to Yancheng for school, he rarely contacted his family. Father Song had a strong and authoritative demeanor, and since his son didn't contact him, he simply let his son toughen up over there.

Only Mother Song would worry day and night, wondering how her son was doing with his Mandarin, and whether he was comfortable living alone in the north.

Whenever she called to ask about his well-being, he always gave the same response, saying that everything was fine over there, and he was accustomed to studying and living there, never willing to reveal or confide more.

The more understanding a child was, the more a mother would worry.

Finally, on a certain day, Mother Song called her son as usual. This time, he didn't use his usual calm voice to tell her that everything was fine.

In a low voice, Song Yan said, "She didn't come."

Mother Song was puzzled and asked who didn't come.

After a few seconds of silence, Song Yan said, "Wen Li didn't come. I arranged a lot of candles for her, but the school janitor cleaned them up."

Just with these few words, Mother Song understood everything.

Afterwards, her son never mentioned Wen Li again, perhaps in embarrassment or perhaps having let go of the past.

Mother Song didn't ask anymore either, respecting her son's choice.

Two years ago, he suddenly told his parents that he had decided to get married. Although Father Song felt uneasy, he didn't stop him. He only sighed and lamented their ill-fated relationship. When Mother Song learned about his choice of marriage partner, she was first astonished, then couldn't help but chuckle.

Now that they were already married, Mother Song didn't think that past incident was something that couldn't be talked about.

And Song Yan's gentle and indifferent tone was evidently in line with what Mother Song had in mind.

His tone sounded indifferent, indicating that he had already stopped caring about the past.

Regardless of the past grievances with the Wen family, he insisted on marrying Wen Li. Song Yan must really like Wen Li, and by helping him unearth the buried memories and filling the void, Wen Li had surely found happiness with him as well.

Mother Song finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that no mishaps had occurred, and it was good to have Wen Li.

——

The outdoor shooting was completed after two days and one night. Standing in front of the program's camera, all the guests bid farewell reluctantly. They took a group photo in front of the church and exchanged small gifts. The scene was beautiful and romantic. Even the staff couldn't help but shed tears during the shooting process, sighing that the atmosphere between the couples in the second season was truly amazing.

On the night after the final episode was recorded, the four couples made plans to eat at a street stall with Director Yan and the staff.

The romantic atmosphere during the day disappeared in an instant.

Qiu Hong raised his glass and spoke in a bossy manner, "When we return to Yancheng, I'll treat you all to a drink. You must all come, got it? If anyone doesn't come, I'll expose them on Weibo!"

Then he looked at Director Yan and said, "Yan Zhengkui, you have to come too. If you don't come, don't even think about inviting me to any new variety shows in the future!"

Director Yan had an exasperated expression and replied, "Alright, alright, I'll come."

The entire production team and the guests toasted each other. Regardless of who was offering the toast, Director Yan always drank the most. Soon, the men started hiccuping and their faces began to show signs of intoxication.

Taking advantage of Qiu Hong's engagement with a few cameramen in a drinking contest, Director Yan excused himself and walked over to where Song Yan and Wen Li were seated.

Coincidentally, at that moment, Wen Li was whispering something quietly to Song Yan, and it was about Director Yan.

"I feel like Director Yan has been looking at us strangely these past two days," Wen Li said, "I asked him what was wrong, but he was secretive and said it wasn't convenient with so many people around, especially the production team. You know, the group that went to interview your parents. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like everyone's gaze towards me has been really strange."

After saying these words, Wen Li anxiously asked, "Did something go wrong during the interview that day?"

These past two days, the guests were busy with outdoor shooting for the final episode. The production team was very busy as well, so they hadn't had a chance to edit Mother Song's interview footage. They planned to discuss it with the guests after returning to Yancheng.

Song Yan, who had already been informed in advance by his mother, remained calm. When Director Yan approached their table, he smiled and said, "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear."

As soon as "the devil" arrived and sat down, he began by saying, "I must say, you two are really unscrupulous, you know that?"

Wen Li was puzzled, "What?"

Then Director Yan briefly recounted the story that Song Yan's mother had told them during the interview.

Wen Li was first surprised as to how her mother-in-law found out, and then she looked at Song Yan with concern, silently asking him what they should do.

It didn't really matter to her, but for Song Yan, this past was not particularly pleasant, so she was a little worried about him.

"I had no idea why you kept it a secret. It's such a beautiful story, like something out of a drama. But if you have a special reason for keeping it a secret, just let me know before we start editing. We're already at the final episode, and I don't want to offend you by making any mistakes," Director Yan waved his hand.

Song Yan remained composed and said, "There's nothing that can't be aired."

His calm response left Director Yan and Wen Li stunned.

Wen Li tugged at Song Yan's clothes and whispered, "I thought you didn't want anyone to know? Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

"I don't mind anymore," Song Yan also whispered in her ear, his tone calm and with a hint of a smile, "Thank you."

Being thanked face-to-face, and by her husband no less, Wen Li suddenly felt a little embarrassed. She playfully patted his back and said boldly, "Well, am I not your wife? You're welcome!"

Director Yan had already gone to drink with the camera team when he happened to run into Qiu Hong and his wife. Qiu Hong asked why Director Yan had so many wrinkles on his face from smiling.

With joy in his heart, Director Yan didn't mind Qiu Hong's comment about his wrinkled face and raised his eyebrows as he told them about the unexpected surprise he received during the interview at Song's family house that day.

Qiu Hong was surprised, but his wife, Chen Zitong, didn't react much.

Director Yan was puzzled, "Qiu Hong, why isn't your wife surprised at all?"

Qiu Hong didn't know either. After Director Yan left, Chen Zitong wasted no time and quickly went to find Wen Li.

She had already guessed this fact when she visited her teacher that time. However, since they were colleagues and everyone had secrets in this industry, and since Wen Li had concealed it so well, it meant there was a hidden story. Revealing it would not only offend people but also disrupt the unspoken rules of how colleagues in this circle interact, as long as there was no conflict of interest. That's why she had been holding back until now.

"So, you two knew each other in high school, huh?"

Wen Li didn't understand why Chen Zitong was so excited, "Well, yes, we can talk about it. Is there something wrong?"

"If I had known earlier, I would have exposed it to the media first," Chen Zitong belched and said resentfully, "Really, how much money would I have made just from the exclusive news! And I would also gain favor with your CP fans!"

Qiu Hong listened from the side and also understood the situation. He looked pained and said, "When you told me that you found a secret about them, I thought one of them was having an affair, and I advised you not to act impulsively. Damn it... Chen Zitong, you had such a great opportunity to make money and win favor with their CP fans, but you just handed it over to Yan Zhengkui like that!"

Wen Li: "..."

The couple, wearing faces of "wronged", finished the rest of the drinks with a deep sense of heartache.

Their expressions were in stark contrast to Director Yan's triumphant face.

That evening, after drinking quite a bit, the production team and the other three couples left Aocheng City first because they had other work arrangements.

Wen Li, on the other hand, forcefully woke up from her hangover and dragged her exhausted body to visit her parents-in-law's house.

Prior to this, she had been nervous for several days, preparing several versions of her script, but none of them were used in the end.

Mother Song was easy to talk to, always responding gently no matter what Wen Li said.

Father Song seemed less approachable, but he didn't say much. When his daughter-in-law came to visit, he casually asked a few questions. The expression on his face remained indifferent. Afterward, he took her to the family's small ancestral hall.

In this modern era, there weren't as many formalities when younger generations returned home. Offering incense to the ancestors was sufficient.

After finishing these rituals, Father Song left his son and daughter-in-law in the care of Mother Song and stayed in the ancestral hall for a long time.

"She is Wen Xingyi's granddaughter," Father Song softly said to the ancestral tablets, "I hope you ancestors won't hold her responsible for the grudges of the previous generation. Let the past grievances be settled in their generation. I don't want it to affect my children."

Wen Li didn't understand why her father-in-law spent so much time in the ancestral hall, facing the ancestral tablets. She didn't dare to ask either. She felt that her father-in-law resembled Song Yan in his youth, as well as her uncle Wen Yan.

But Father Song was not Song Yan, nor was he Wen Yan, so Wen Li didn't know how to interact with him.

She stayed at her in-laws' house for two days. Before leaving, Mother Song gave her a long list of instructions, while Father Song asked her one question.

"Have you had any nightmares these past two days?"

Wen Li found this question inexplicable but nodded honestly, "No."

Father Song made a sound of acknowledgment and didn't say anything else.

On the way to the airport, she asked Song Yan what his father's question meant. Song Yan shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

Then he smiled at her puzzled face that was guessing left and right, getting more and more off track, until she finally gave up.

——

A few days before the final episode of [In This World With You] aired, Wen Li had already traveled to Bin City to participate in the opening ceremony of the drama [Ice City].

The official Weibo account of [In This World With You] also released a post on the same day.

For the final episode of [In This World With You], the production team did not create separate trailers for the four couples. Instead, they integrated the footage of all four couples into a longer trailer, signifying that the final episode would be a perfect conclusion in the form of a joint activity among the guests.

On the day of the recording, there was an unexpected encounter with Tang Jiaren's drama crew. This news was already leaked by netizens who were present at the time and there were even photos. Everyone, including the staff present, thought that the production team would definitely edit out this segment.

Unexpectedly, the production team not only didn't edit it out but also included this footage in the trailer.

Weibo is a famous fan gathering place, and although fans were also confused, they had to control their comments. However, on online forums where fans couldn't control the comments, people were baffled by this incident.

「Has anyone seen the trailer for the final episode of 'In This World With You'? What is the production team doing? They didn't even cut the part where they coincidentally met Tang Jiaren!」

「This season's most popular variety show is 'In This World With You,' and yet they still want more hype? = =」

「Regardless of whether Tang Jiaren was Song Yan's ex or not, it's really annoying when they bring celebrities onto variety shows for no reason.」

「Tang Jiaren is just doing her job in filming, but she ends up being used by a certain production team and a married couple for attention. Isn't it pitiful?」

Until the day before the episode aired, the topic of "how confusing is it to have an ex appear on a variety show with the current couple" remained highly discussed. Every once in a while, the "Tang-Song" CP would resurface in marketing promotions like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

The topic of whether Tang Jiaren and Song Yan had a past relationship once again ignited heated debates among netizens.

Despite Song Yan repeatedly denying it, "Tang-Song" CP fans had two compelling "pieces of evidence" in their hands.

First, when Song Yan was acting in his debut work, despite his inexperienced acting skills and lack of formal training, he excelled at expressing emotions through his eyes.

Those who understood the subject of acting knew that when it comes to scenes that test an actor's emotions, such as crying scenes or farewell scenes, it's impossible to move the audience with theoretical knowledge alone. It requires the actor to tap into their own emotions and convey them through the performance to achieve the best empathetic effect.

Second, in one interview, Tang Jiaren was asked about her opinion on Song Yan's acting in his debut work, particularly his eye acting.

"I was very surprised. Even though I wasn't familiar with him at the time, we didn't even exchange many words when we weren't filming," Tang Jiaren said with a smile, "In that moment, I even thought he was Chen Jiamu."

The first half of her statement was automatically overlooked, but the fact that Tang Jiaren couldn't distinguish between Song Yan and Chen Jiamu in terms of deep emotions became "conclusive evidence" for some fans who firmly believed that they had a past relationship.

At this time, Wen Li was attending makeup classes on the drama set. Although she had already taken several months of classes before the start of the film, Director Qiu still wanted her to continue learning from the teacher during her free time on set.

On the day of the final episode's broadcast, it was simultaneously released on the internet and on TV, and the barrage of comments was already lively.

In Mother Song's interview, she shared many interesting anecdotes about Song Yan's childhood.

Until she mentioned her son's past, talking about how he liked a girl in high school.

「Wow, so the beauty's first love was indeed in high school.」

「Can some fans stop arguing? His first love isn't Sanli, we get it. But it definitely is also not your beloved actress, okay?」

「Isn't it okay to flirt first? If you want to show off your love, just do it well. Is it necessary to ride on someone else's popularity?」

While the barrage of comments continued, Mother Song spoke again.

"I'm talking about Yanzi and Wen Xiaomei's past."

The argument in the comments instantly came to a halt. The two conflicting camps clashed with confusion, and the screen was filled with question marks.

Even the female interviewer in the footage was bewildered and uncertain, asking if they knew each other before.

Mother Song gave an affirmative answer once again.

The quick-witted and unfiltered barrage of comments had now regained their senses and changed their "?" to "ah".

After the segment with Mother Song's interview ended, the camera directly returned to the several couples still filming on location in Aocheng.

The Song Yan couple and the Qiu Hong couple were together and coincidentally encountered Tang Jiaren's drama crew in a shopping mall.

Both sides acted gracefully, showing no hint of awkwardness. Especially during their farewell, the director of the film crew even specially greeted them, saying that he knew this variety show was highly popular and asked them to help promote his movie after the program aired.

So, the production team didn't edit this footage because of personal favors and to help promote the director's movie.

It was even stated that Tang Jiaren's appearance in [In This World With You] was positive publicity for both sides and didn't need to be avoided because she and Song Yan had no past and were only involved in a simple film collaboration ten years ago.

The fans who had just been arguing about Tang Jiaren in the barrage were now completely silent. They hurriedly left, one after another, feeling embarrassed.

The final episode of the program lasted for a full two and a half hours. It had already trended several times on Weibo when it just started, with a new hot search almost every few minutes. Finally, when Song's mother appeared in the program, Weibo's servers couldn't handle the influx of new hot searches anymore and crashed. Fans had nowhere to go but express their frustration in their fan groups.

「When will Weibo be fixed?!! I have nowhere to shout anymore!」

「Notebook, my sisters!! I've already filled two pages of it!」

「I just called the dormitory manager to my dormitory building, hahaha! I'm sorry for disturbing the peace today, but I must tell the whole world that the Beauty and Sanli were each other's first love!!」

When Weibo finally restored its functionality, the "Salt Grain Couple's Daily Bot" had already written a mini-essay.

「A complete analysis from the first episode to the final episode of 'In This World With You', based on the conclusion that Beauty and Sanli knew each other in high school and tracing back, there were so many sweet moments in the previous eleven episodes!! They were all sugar!!!」

...

「Beauty mentioned in the Rong City episode that he used to act cold towards the girl he liked out of shyness. That girl was Sanli.」

「Beauty and Sanli both mentioned that their first kiss was during their school days, not on the screen. Their first kiss was actually with each other.」

「When they returned to their high school in the eighth episode, Sanli wore Mingfeng's school uniform and set up candles to confess to Beauty. It was because Sanli was Mingfeng's student in high school. That wasn't Sanli's confession, it was Sanli's response to Beauty.」

「He had always liked her, for many years, and waited for many years. As soon as she realized it, she immediately responded with equal affection.」

「And a few off-screen details! The song Little Li wrote for Sanli, 'That Moon,' when he was a child, he hoped the moon would take Sanli away and eat her, indicating that they knew each other since childhood. Also, the Chinese painting Master Xu gave them, and Mother Song calling Sanli 'Wen Xiaomei,' which is clearly a nickname for a little girl.」

「@BeautyXSanli, that video from campus to workplace is amazing! Such a great fortune-teller!」

「Happy! I'm genuinely so happy right now!」

「I was prepared to rely on a kiss to last until my pension expired, but when I turned around, I realized I hadn't paid my social security yet, but everywhere is filled with sugar!」

「I'm dead, I'm alive, I cried, I laughed, I can't anymore, I'm about to faint!」

As the CP fans deduced the process based on the conclusion, more and more details were uncovered. Looking through a microscope, every neglected or confusing point turned out to be sugar.

It felt like buying a lottery ticket or opening a blind box, originally just for self-comfort, but then discovering that the lottery ticket won the jackpot and the blind box contained a super rare item.

While the heat of the finale of [In This World With You] hadn't cooled down yet, the official Weibo account of the [Ice City] drama crew had already started a new round of promotions.

It wasn't just the actors but also the director and staff.

In the latest released behind-the-scenes video, Qiu Ping was directing Wen Li in a scene. At first, Wen Li's performance wasn't satisfactory, but after Qiu Ping patiently said something to her, she gradually regained her state during the shoot.

The crew member who was carrying the camera for shooting the behind-the-scenes footage asked, "I'm a bit curious about how Director Qiu guided Teacher Wen to act with her eyes earlier?"

"Oh, it's quite understandable. This is Old Yu, Director Yu Weiguang's own method," Qiu Ping said, "New actors find it challenging to get into character, especially for emotional scenes. So, Director Yu would teach these actors to imagine someone they like in their hearts while filming. It makes it much easier for them to get into character. This method may sound ordinary, but it's quite effective. Song Yan won the Best Newcomer Award in a film by using this method."

「So, the everlasting gaze Beauty had was thinking of Sanli?!!!!」

「Please stop, my child's teeth are decaying from all the sugar.」

「Can we have a little breathing space? Either don't promote it at all or just choke the fans, is that right? Can't we be a little less extreme?」

Once this behind-the-scenes video was released, Tang Jiaren finally understood the gaze that had been bothering her for years, and so did the Tang-Song shippers, of course.

The ambiguity before was because Tang Jiaren herself wasn't sure, leaving room for fans to speculate.

Now, there was hardly anything uncertain.

—Wen Li was Song Yan's past, present, and future.