Chapter 87
Song An'an followed the crowd into the studio set up by the film crew. After settling the fans down, Liu Hao temporarily left.
Among the fans were also many wearing hats and masks. Her outfit didn't stand out among them.
Soon, many people from the crew came over, including co-actors and staff members, but they kept a certain distance from the fans.
Song An'an hid behind the fans in an inconspicuous spot, trying to minimize her presence.
Fortunately Liu Hao didn't take long to return, and Pei Kuang came over soon after, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
From among the crowd, Song An'an saw Pei Kuang not far away.
He was dressed in his costume with makeup on, giving off a different vibe from usual.
Unexpectedly, just as she was lost in thought, Pei Kuang suddenly glanced over with their eyes meeting directly.
Song An'an panicked a little at that moment.
Oh no, could she have been recognized?
But before she could decide what to do, Pei Kuang had already shifted his gaze away the next second.
Song An'an unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. He probably didn't recognize her after all.
Next was the cake cutting and eating. During the photo session with fans, Song An'an pretended to take a call and took the chance to hide in a corner nearby.
But unbeknownst to Song An'an, throughout the process Pei Kuang had surreptitiously glanced in her direction several times.
The crew had to continue shooting, and the fans' visit was also time-limited. After around half an hour, Pei Kuang left.
Subsequently, Liu Hao started handing out gifts to everyone, saying it was a little something Pei Kuang had specially prepared for the fans.
Everyone was very happy after receiving their gifts, chattering excitedly.
Liu Hao distributed the gifts one by one from front to back, finally reaching Song An'an at the last row.
Song An'an looked up at him briefly, then lowered her head again as she received the gift and thanked him.
So as not to disturb the filming, Liu Hao quickly led the fans out.
After leaving the studio, Song An'an intentionally lagged behind the others, then took the chance when no one was paying attention to quietly slip away.
She found a nearby cafe where she could rest for a bit and grab some food, not having had lunch yet after coming straight here from the airport.
As for her plans after this, Song An'an was thinking to first find a hotel in the area to settle into, then contact Pei Kuang suddenly that night after he finished work to surprise him.
In fact, she hadn't originally planned to sneak in, only needing to figure out the general location of the filming site.
But after landing and chatting briefly with Pei Kuang during lunch when he mentioned possibly shooting night scenes that day, she decided to change plans on the spot.
If he finished work after midnight already, the surprise would feel a bit incomplete.
Song An'an thought it over for a long time before deciding to celebrate Pei Kuang's birthday in person.
Even if she had to hide among the crowd, at least she got to spend his birthday with him on the actual day - the trip wouldn't have been for nothing.
At this time of day, there weren't many people in the cafe. She found an inconspicuous spot in the back and ordered an iced Americano and a slice of cake.
While waiting, Song An'an decided to look online first for nearby hotels.
Just then, Pei Kuang sent her a message: "An An, find a spot near the filming location to wait, then send me your location. I'll have Liu Hao come get you."
Song An'an was stunned for a moment.
It was clear now - she had already been recognized by Pei Kuang earlier.
In the break room at the filming location, Liu Hao had just seen the fans off and couldn't help sighing as he came back in.
"Bro Pei, you know what, just now among your fans I saw someone who looked a lot like little sister-in-law, except she was wearing a hat and mask so I could only see her eyes."
He then regretfully added, "But after leaving the set, I didn't see her anymore."
Pei Kuang glanced up at him briefly before lowering his head to fiddle with his phone again: "I'm sending you a location, go bring the person back."
Liu Hao exclaimed in surprise, standing there looking utterly confused. "Bring who back?"
Li Dong laughed and patted his shoulder. "Come on, you should understand now. She didn't just look like your little sister-in-law, she was your little sister-in-law!"
Liu Hao was stunned for a second before the realization suddenly dawned on him and he slapped his thigh. "Now I get it - that's why she looked at me then immediately lowered her head again. She was afraid I'd recognize her!"
Then he added, puzzled, "But wait, when did little sister-in-law become a fan of Bro Pei?"
Li Dong couldn't help but put his palm to his forehead. He hadn't had a chance yet to explain to Liu Hao about Song An'an and Pei Kuang being together.
"Just focus on your job for now. I'll explain it to you when you get back."
Still confused, Liu Hao acknowledged it. But just as he was about to head out, Pei Kuang suddenly called for him to stop.
"Hold on, you don't need to go."
He then looked to Li Dong. "You should be the one to go - I'm worried there might still be fans who haven't left yet outside."
Li Dong immediately understood his rationale. Liu Hao had been the one interacting with the fans earlier, so it would draw too much attention for him to go out now.
"Got it, send the location to my WeChat." Li Dong said. "Let's not bring little sister-in-law back here either. We should just take her straight to the hotel."
With so many people around, it would be risky if they didn't intend to announce their relationship publicly yet.
Pei Kuang considered it briefly. "Alright."
After leaving the filming site, Li Dong followed the location and soon arrived at a nearby cafe where he quickly spotted Song An'an inside.
Li Dong walked over with a smile. "Little sister-in-law, it really is you!"
Song An'an scratched her head, embarrassed. "Sorry for the trouble."
Li Dong waved it off as he sat down across from her. "No trouble at all, we're all family."
He grinned at Song An'an and asked, "You came to surprise Pei Kuang for his birthday, right?"
Song An'an pressed her lips together and softly murmured in agreement. "But it seems I messed it up."
Li Dong said with a laugh, "No worries, I wouldn't say you messed up. Pei Kuang looked quite pleasantly surprised."
Song An'an smiled wryly. "More like shocked, right?"
Recognizing her in that kind of situation, Pei Kuang was surely more shocked than surprised.
Li Dong waved his hand again. "Not at all, his mental fortitude isn't that weak."
"But for next time you come, let me know in advance and I'll coordinate from the inside."
After chatting briefly, it was clearly not the place to keep talking. Li Dong brought Song An'an straight back to the hotel, leading her to Pei Kuang's room without following her in. He gave her a couple quick instructions at the door before leaving.
Song An'an closed the door and changed into the hotel slippers before walking further inside.
Entering the living room, she set her backpack down on the sofa and started looking around.
The room was a large studio layout with the interior structure clear at a glance. Aside from the basic hotel facilities, there were also some of Pei Kuang's clothes and personal belongings.
"Meow!" It was Duoduo's meow.
Following the sound, Song An'an saw the kitty lying by the floor-to-ceiling window not far away.
She hurried over and picked up Duoduo, cuddling him in her arms.
"Duoduo, did you miss me? I missed you so much! Are you settled in comfortably here?"
"Meow!"
And so, human and cat entered chat mode, instantly dissolving the awkwardness Song An'an initially felt coming into the unfamiliar environment.
5pm, back at the filming location after finishing a scene.
The director came over and patted Pei Kuang's shoulder. "Alright, since it's your birthday today, I'll let you off work early."
Pei Kuang didn't decline and thanked the director. He quickly removed his makeup back in the break room and rushed off the set.
This was his first time experiencing what it felt like to rush home with all his heart, thinking of Song An'an waiting for him at the hotel. He had barely kept it together that afternoon, tempted several times to just ask for time off.
When Pei Kuang returned to the hotel, Song An'an was crouching by the sofa playing with Duoduo using a cat teaser wand.
Hearing the door open, she immediately turned to look, and upon seeing who it was, tossed aside the wand and ran over.
"You're back so early?" Song An'an asked, surprised.
Pei Kuang poked her on the forehead. "Need you ask?"
With the one he had been missing dearly here, how could he have any mind left to work?
So, after seeing Song An'an, he went to discuss with the director, hoping to move up his scenes for today as much as possible, just hoping to finish work earlier and come back sooner.
"Don't you know I'd worry about you running over here all by yourself?"
Song An'an thought, what's there to worry about, she wasn't a child anymore.
But with Song Linchuan's example before, she knew these words didn't make sense.
Anyway, Pei Kuang was about the same as Song Linchuan, both felt she was naive and easy to fool, and it was as if she was the kind who would get kidnapped at the airport.
But right now, Song An'an was so well-behaved and didn't talk back, not just because of this reason, but mainly also because she felt a little guilty.
When she was alone in the room that afternoon, she also reflected a bit, she really didn't consider things fully.
With so many fans present today, and the crew members, if she was recognized even a little carelessly, it would definitely bring trouble to Pei Kuang.
Sigh, looks like she really doesn't have any talent for creating surprises.
Song An'an took the initiative to wrap her arms around Pei Kuang's waist, looking at him expectantly, "Are you angry?"
How could Pei Kuang be angry, he was so happy Song An'an could come over today, he couldn't be happier.
As for those troubles the little girl was worrying about, that wasn't even in his considerations.
But seeing the little girl's cautious appearance, he suddenly wanted to get angry for a bit, to see how she would react.
Pei Kuang lightly coughed and said, "A little."
Song An'an said "Oh", just a little, that's fine then.
Should be pretty easy to coax him.
Based on her experience coaxing Song Linchuan and her sister-in-law in the past, Song An'an immediately had a strategy.
She pulled Pei Kuang's hand, swaying it, her voice soft and whiny: "Sorry, I was wrong, don't be angry okay?"
How could Pei Kuang stand this, his heart instantly softened, but luckily he still kept his expression stoic on the outside.
Song An'an blinked, this wouldn't even coax him?
She looked up at Pei Kuang, a flash of inspiration, she suddenly tiptoed and kissed him.
Feeling the fleeting warmth on his lips, Pei Kuang lightly raised his brow, "What are you doing?"
Song An'an smiled at him happily, answering very openly: "I'm coaxing you."
Pei Kuang said "Oh," his gaze unconsciously growing deeper, "Coaxing me huh, this might not be enough."
Song An'an was a little slow to react, she said "Ah," and subconsciously asked, "Then what would be enough?"
Pei Kuang's Adam's apple rolled, he suddenly lowered his head to cover her.
He held her soft lower lip, gently pecking, his tongue slowly prying open her lips, entering her mouth.
Their lips pressed together, relying on each other's lips and teeth, the air mixed with both their scorching and hurried breaths.
After a while, Pei Kuang's low sexy voice sounded by her ear.
"Be good, this is what's called coaxing."