Zhou Hanyan overestimated himself. He was full of enthusiasm before, but when he opened his mouth, he was like a deflated balloon, his voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, and his words were stuck together and could not be heard at all.
Su Huaiming frowned and asked, "What did you just say?"
"I... I was just about to say..." Zhou Hanyan hesitated for a few seconds, unable to bring himself to say it, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "I'm your fan, and I'd like to join your fan club. I wonder if you'd be willing?"
After Zhou Hanyan finished speaking, he lowered his head in shame and waited for Su Huaiming's reply.
But Su Huaiming remained silent, and Zhou Hanyan's mood grew heavier and heavier. He was consumed by negative emotions and wished he could shrink into a dark corner like a mushroom.
After a stalemate of half a minute, he couldn't bear the torment any longer and secretly looked up at Su Huaiming.
Su Huaiming was frowning, his expression somewhat conflicted.
Zhou Hanyan quickly said, "I'm sorry, I suddenly said that and it caused you trouble. I... I can prove myself..."
Zhou Hanyan was interrupted by Su Huaiming before he could finish speaking.
Su Huaiming looked even more bewildered than him and asked, "Do I have a fan club?"
Zhou Hanyan: "..."
He didn't know how to express his speechlessness, so he could only ask dryly, "You don't know?"
Su Huaiming nodded innocently and matter-of-factly, "I don't know."
Zhou Hanyan only idolizes one celebrity and doesn't participate in fan activities, but since they're in the same circle, he's been exposed to some things. Seeing Su Huaiming's confused expression, he pressed, "Are you kidding me?"
Su Huaiming shook his head. "I've never been in contact with fan groups or support clubs."
For a moment, Zhou Hanyan wondered if she had misheard. "Doesn't your agency care about fan management?"
Su Huaiming found the problem and said calmly, "I don't have a management company."
"... So you opened your own studio?"
"I don't have a studio either," Su Huaiming countered. "Is it mandatory?"
Zhou Hanyan: "..."
He remained silent for a few seconds, then looked at Su Huaiming with affection.
Su Huaiming appeared on two parenting reality shows and landed endorsements, accumulating considerable fame and barely qualifying as a first- or second-tier celebrity. Surprisingly, Su Huaiming has no studio or agency and knows nothing about the entertainment industry.
Zhou Hanyan himself was a complete novice, but at this moment he suddenly felt a surge of heroic spirit and wanted to do something for Su Huaiming.
He strode up to Su Huaiming, leaned closer, and revealed a serious and earnest expression. "Don't worry, leave everything to me!"
Su Huaiming: "..." Could you please clarify where we are in the conversation?
Before he could ask any further questions, Zhou Hanyan suddenly seemed to remember something. He muttered to himself and hurriedly walked out, looking rather eccentric.
Su Huaiming wanted to go forward and ask more questions, but as soon as he stepped out the door, he saw the program crew standing at the door, and the two of them froze at the same time.
Just as Su Huaiming was about to speak, he saw the staff member make a shushing gesture and then mysteriously point to the small living room, signaling him to go over quietly.
Su Huaiming nodded, and when he walked over, he found that the four children and Ji Mingzhe and the others had already arrived; he was the last one.
Once everyone was present, the director said, "We found out that tomorrow is Sun Siyuan's lunar birthday, and we'd like to celebrate it together. Everyone needs to keep it a secret and not let Sun Siyuan know."
Everyone nodded, and the four children's eyes lit up with joy.
The director continued, "Tomorrow we'll give Sun Siyuan a separate task, sending him out on his own. We'll split into three groups: one group will buy things to decorate his room, another will make a birthday cake for Sun Siyuan, and the last group will prepare a gift for Sun Siyuan. When Sun Siyuan comes back in the evening, everyone will turn off the lights in the house, and after he walks in, we'll all jump out together to wish him a happy birthday."
The group has already recorded two episodes. Zhou Hanyan and Sun Siyuan have known each other since childhood and are quite close. Since the recording coincides with Sun Siyuan's birthday, it's only natural to celebrate it properly for him.
The director can only help create better conditions, but the specific preparations are up to the guests.
Ji Mingzhe was thorough and tactful, taking on the role of commander-in-chief, meticulously planning tomorrow's preparations, and assigning tasks to everyone.
Afterwards, he spent a long time explaining to the four children that it was a surprise and they shouldn't tell anyone beforehand.
As night deepened, after putting the children to sleep, everyone returned to the living room to continue planning tomorrow's celebration, not going to bed until very late.
The next morning, Su Huaiming's biological clock was incredibly strong, and he woke up at the same time as usual.
The other three also set alarms, but they couldn't hide their exhaustion when they left the room.
After everyone finished dinner, Sun Siyuan still hadn't come out, so Ji Mingzhe gave everyone a few more instructions, telling them not to give anything away.
Half an hour later, Sun Siyuan leisurely came out of the room. Seeing breakfast on the table, he shuffled over in his slippers, looking as if his life force had been drained.
Everyone was pretending to be doing something else, but their attention was on Sun Siyuan.
Sun Siyuan ate a few bites of breakfast before he fully woke up. While drinking his soup, he said in a nonchalant tone, "Oh, right, today is my birthday. Don't forget to prepare a birthday present for me."
Su Huaiming: "..."
Others: "..."
Damn it, why did you have to say it in public?!
Unexpectedly, their surprise event, which they had been preparing for so long, was exposed by Sun Siyuan, the Ji Mingzhe couldn't hold back and stared intently at Sun Siyuan.
Sun Siyuan, completely oblivious to the atmosphere he had ruined, continued sipping his porridge without Youyou up, saying, "You all need to prepare well, otherwise I'll lose face."
After he finished speaking, he noticed everyone's expressions, paused for a moment, and said, "What's wrong? Are my demands too high?"
Ji Mingzhe hesitated for a while before finding his voice. Although he was angry, he had to be the birthday boy, so he could only smile and say, "We all know it's your birthday today and wanted to prepare a surprise for you."
Sun Siyuan still had some conscience; he sincerely thanked everyone before continuing, "Just do something casual. I've never cared about formalities; I just want everyone to get together and have some fun."
Hearing this, Ji Mingzhe was somewhat moved, but Sun Siyuan quickly revealed his true colors and became arrogant.
Sun Siyuan sat in his chair with his legs crossed like an old man, and said Youyou, "Don't give me tacky gifts like jewelry and luxury watches. We have mountains of those things, we don't need any more. I want something like..."
As he spoke, Sun Siyuan's gaze gradually became distant, and he gestured with his hand, "My gift must be inexpensive but of great value, and it must also have a sense of surprise and mystery. It can't be a regular gift; I have to guess what it is, and my heart must be in my throat until the final reveal. It also has to be unforgettable."
After saying a bunch of things that even he himself didn't understand, Sun Siyuan turned to Su Huaiming and the others and asked, "Do you understand what I mean?"
"..." You don't understand at all!
Zhou Hanyan endured it for a moment, then suddenly stood up, grabbed a chair, Yu Ruicheng quickly stopped him, whispering in his ear, "Sun Siyuan is celebrating his birthday today, you must hold back!"
Zhou Hanyan ground his back teeth, silently reciting that murder is against the law, before swallowing his anger and sitting down again.
Seeing Zhou Hanyan's behavior, Sun Siyuan immediately exploded. "Today is my birthday, and my request wasn't unreasonable. Don't deliberately cause trouble!"
Thinking of all those words that gave him a headache, Ji Mingzhe lied and said, "It's not unreasonable. Everyone wants to receive a satisfactory gift."
... But this was the first time he had ever met an elderly person celebrating their birthday who had taken the initiative to make requests and uttered a bunch of vague and unrealistic words.
Fortunately, aside from birthday gifts, Sun Siyuan didn't make any other requests, telling everyone to do whatever they wanted and not to worry about superficial things.
The director soon found out about this as well. Seeing that his surprise had fallen through, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and assign Sun Siyuan a task.
Sun Siyuan was already familiar with this routine, so he didn't make things difficult for the director. He simply asked, "When can you be ready?"
"..." Ji Mingzhe said with difficulty, "Seven o'clock in the evening."
Sun Siyuan nodded. "I won't be coming back until then."
Although Sun Siyuan was relatively cooperative, the surprise had lost its original meaning. Ji Mingzhe smiled helplessly and, after Sun Siyuan left, told everyone to proceed according to the original plan.
Yu Ruicheng's task was to prepare a birthday gift for Sun Siyuan, but when he thought of what Sun Siyuan had said before, he had such a headache that he wanted to bang his head against the wall. He couldn't think of a gift that met his requirements at all.
Left with no other option, Yu Ruicheng turned to Ji Mingzhe for help. Ji Mingzhe frowned, racking his brains for a full half hour, before finally letting out a helpless sigh.
"What should we do then?" Yu Ruicheng asked.
Ji Mingzhe did not answer. When their eyes met, a name silently surfaced in their minds.
Su Huaiming was dressing Fu Xiaoxiao when he suddenly felt a shiver down his back. Two sharp gazes fell on him, their presence extremely strong.
Su Huaiming couldn't help but shudder, turning his head to meet the intense gazes of Ji Mingzhe and Yu Ruicheng, like searchlights.
"..." Suddenly, a bad feeling crept over me.
Yu Ruicheng darted over in a flash, his expression obsequious, almost as if he were about to clasp his hands together and bow to Su Huaiming.
"Su Huaiming, can we switch tasks? You can go and prepare a gift for Sun Siyuan." Yu Ruicheng this predicament. "I really can't think of a suitable gift. You're smart and have many ideas; you'll definitely find a gift that will satisfy Sun Siyuan more easily than I do."
Ji Mingzhe also came over and said, "We didn't want to trouble you, but we really had no other choice..."
Su Huaiming readily nodded, "Okay, I'll go prepare Sun Siyuan's birthday present."
Yu Ruicheng's lips unconsciously curled up, and his shoulders, which had been slumped over, straightened. Just as he was about to feel relieved, he suddenly remembered that Su Huaiming was in the same difficult situation as him, and asked with concern, "Have you thought about what gift to give him?"
Su Huaiming shook his head. "Not for now, but we still have plenty of time to think about it."
Su Huaiming's eyes and brows were languid, and his tone was very indifferent, yet there was a strange sense of conviction in him.
In Yu Ruicheng's mind, Su Huaiming was almost omnipotent and could solve any problem.
Yu Ruicheng and Ji Mingzhe both felt sorry for Su Huaiming, so they took over the other tasks so that Su Huaiming could focus on preparing the gift.
Su Huaiming couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to accept their kindness.
Ji Mingzhe and Zhou Hanyan took two children to buy decorations, Yu Ruicheng took two other children to make a cake. The production team was responsible for ordering food. Everything would be ready before 5 p. m., and then they would wait for Sun Siyuan to return.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Ji Mingzhe, as the chief planner, returned in a hurry, carrying large bags and small packages.
He saw Su Huaiming sitting on the sofa and asked, "Have you prepared a gift yet?"
Su Huaiming nodded.
Ji Mingzhe didn't ask what it was, completely at ease with Su Huaiming, and continued with his work.
After a while, Yu Ruicheng and the others returned with four children, carrying a large cake.
Su Huaiming curiously leaned closer, and after seeing what the cake looked like, he fell silent for a moment.
The cake was made by everyone and divided into four sections, each decorated by one of the four children.
Children's aesthetic sense differs from adults', and they have no experience in making cakes, so the shapes are bound to be a bit peculiar. But when Su Huaiming saw the cone-shaped pile, the curved horns on top, and the suggestive colors, he couldn't hold back any longer.
He couldn't help but ask, "Who decorated this place?"
Fu Xiaoxiao came running over, rested her chin on the table, her eyes bright and round, and exclaimed excitedly, "It's me!"
Su Huaiming: "..."
Fu Xiaoxiao and Sun Siyuan had a good relationship. Fu Xiaoxiao was also very active and wanted to celebrate Sun Siyuan's birthday. He really couldn't understand the purpose of Fu Xiaoxiao decorating the cake with poop.
He said tactfully, "Could you tell me what this is?"
Fu Xiaoxiao hadn't expected her stepfather to have such poor eyesight. She gave him a look that said, "I give up," and sighed before saying, "These are flowers."
Su Huaiming remained silent for a few seconds, unable to convince himself, and asked in return, "What kind of flower is this?"