By nearly two in the afternoon, someone was knocking on the door again.
"Is Teacher Xu here?"
Huh? Who's knocking?
Chu Tian sluggishly woke up, rubbed his eyes, and looked around—only to realize he was alone. What the—where did everyone go? How did I end up alone?
The knocking continued, and he quickly shook off his confusion to answer the door.
Upon opening the door, he saw a staff member pushing a food cart.
"Hello, this is Teacher Xu's room, right?"
Seeing Chu Tian nod, the person efficiently took out two well-packed meal sets.
"This is your lunch; please check if it's correct."
"Oh? There's lunch now?"
He had just complained about this darn show not providing meals, and suddenly they did? Not bad, not bad, a nice improvement. But why give me two portions? Do they think one isn't enough for me?
He glanced back at the room. They must be busy with something, but at least they hadn't forgotten to send him food; that was nice. Two portions then, just perfect. Anyway, I don't have to worry about keeping in shape in this lifetime. I'm tall and eat a lot, especially since I didn't eat this morning. One wouldn't have been enough; two was just right.
After closing the door, Chu Tian tore open the packaging and seal. He took a look—Hey, the food standard is really good! The boxed meals have three dishes and a soup, and the packaging is exquisite and securely sealed, each box with a tamper-evident sticker.
He took a bite. Amazing! The flavor is so good, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a star's specially prepared meal—definitely chef-made! Indeed, big production teams are generous; even the food for assistants is this good.
In no time, the meal was swiftly devoured, soon settling in his stomach.
Patting his now-bloated belly, Chu Tian burped contentedly.
After tidying up a bit, he casually placed the trash into the bin by the door and wandered around, but was quickly stopped by the staff.
This is boring. I'll just keep browsing on my phone.
Just as he was getting into it, the door of the lounge was pushed open once again.
"Ah? You're awake?"
Xu Qingqiu, dressed to the nines and with delicate makeup, carefully walked in. It was still a black gown, but this time it featured a body-hugging, deep V-neck design, revealing her shoulders and extending downward. Diamond-shaped iridescent patches covered the neckline in a radiating pattern, like a sunflower, with densely packed rhinestones along the edges that gradually thinned out. The right side of the gown had a high slit, adorned with a line of rhinestones that appeared to trail off. The entire dress seemed like a galaxy being drawn into a mysterious black hole, shining its last light.
It was exceptionally enchanting.
Chu Tian stared, a bit mesmerized, before snapping back to reality and quickly nodding.
"Where did you all go?"
"We just went to get our makeup and change clothes, and we've also had a couple of rehearsals."
She didn't mention that because of the song change, she had a long talk with the director, which was why they rehearsed twice. She didn't want to bother Chu Tian with these matters.
Her young assistant Yiyi was busy organizing something in her backpack, while Sister Hua seemed to be searching for something, circling the room several times.
The two of them were left looking at each other, suddenly unsure of what to say.
Xu Qingqiu was secretly pleased by the mesmerized look she had seen in his eyes moments ago, and she remained highly conscious of her attire, ensuring nothing was amiss. Chu Tian, on the other hand, was simply feeling awkward.
As he was wondering what to say, Sister Hua came running over, fuming.
"Chu Tian, did someone come by just now?"
"Ah? No, what person?"
"No one? Didn't the production team say they were sending meals? Didn't they deliver ours?"
Hearing his denial, Sister Hua became perplexed.
"Oh, you mean the food delivery? It's already been delivered."
Chu Tian had thought it was something serious. Turns out Sister Hua was just worried they hadn't been sent their meals. He hadn't expected Sister Hua to be so considerate of him.
"Delivered already?"
"Yeah, I think it was around two o'clock."
"Where's the meal?"
"The meal? I ate it, didn't I?"
Wait, what does that mean? Wasn't the meal meant for me? Was I not supposed to eat it?
Sister Hua was about to explode.
"You ate it? Was there only one portion?"
"Two portions, what about them?"
"Two portions! How many did you eat?"
"Two portions..."
Even Chu Tian, dense as he could sometimes be, knew something was amiss now. Surely he hadn't eaten this tigress's meal, had he?
"You, by yourself, ate two portions? Are you a pig? That was our meal! What am I supposed to eat? What about Yiyi? What about Qingqiu?!"
"…"
Wait, what does that mean?
"There were only two portions..."
Li Chunhua rattled off a series of names, leaving Chu Tian dumbfounded. Just two meals, and she already named three people. What's the deal?
"I know two portions! One for me, one for Yiyi and Qingqiu to share. Is there a problem?"
Zhou Yiyi, who had been quietly observing the whole time, quickly raised a small hand when Chu Tian looked at her and interjected weakly, "Sister Qiu is going to sing, she can't eat too much, and I'm on a diet..."
"Fine, even if what you all say is true, Sister Hua has one portion, you two share one. Then what about me? What do I eat?!" Chu Tian exclaimed.
"…"
The silence. It was the silence of three people.
Li Chunhua turned to look at Xu Qingqiu, who turned to look at Yiyi. Zhou Yiyi, completely bewildered, stood there as all eyes turned to her, before she finally said in a pitiful voice, "Well... earlier Zhouzhou asked me how many people we had, and I thought it was just three of us: Sister Qiu, Sister Hua, and me. Then Sister Qiu said she'd share with me, so I ordered two portions... and then forgot to change it."
She didn't finish her sentence, but Sister Hua said it for her, "So you let him eat both portions all by himself, right?"
What could Chu Tian do? He could only nod.
"Was it good?"
"Delicious. Seriously, I have to admit, the show's catering is really good. It must be made by a top chef! I take back what I said before."
PFFT.
He shouldn't have said that. Once he did, Xu Qingqiu couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. Her whole body shook with mirth, and she struggled to control her expression, afraid of ruining her makeup, which made the entire situation even funnier.
"Laugh, laugh, laugh, all you know is how to laugh! I've been helping you all day and don't even have a meal to show for it." Li Chunhua rolled her eyes but was helpless in the face of Xu Qingqiu.
All she could do was glare fiercely at Chu Tian. "It's all your fault, eating so much."
That's not really fair. Even if I hadn't eaten them, it wouldn't have been enough, right?
"How was I supposed to know? Besides, the portions were so small and so tasty."
"Hmm, was it that good?" Zhou Yiyi, upon hearing how delicious the food was, inexplicably began to drool. She swallowed hard and, as if compelled, asked.
Chu Tian savored the memory, nodded affirmatively, and said seriously, "It was indeed delicious. It must have been specially ordered from a private kitchen!"
Watching the two of them go back and forth, Li Chunhua felt like her lungs were about to explode.
"Enough from both of you!"
"HAHAHA. Come on Sister Hua, don't be mad. Just have them send two more portions. If worse comes to worst, we can go out and buy something. There's no need to be upset," Xu Qingqiu said, trying to soothe her.
Li Chunhua slumped onto the sofa with a sullen face, muttering disgruntledly, "Easy for you to say. Before I came back, I remembered he was here too, so I was worried he might not have a meal. I was thinking of getting an extra one for him.
"They had a limited number of meals prepared, specially ordered from a top chef because it was the first day of official recording, and they were all allotted. And what happened? He ate both portions! He's full and satisfied, while I'm starving!"
No wonder she was so angry; that was the real reason. It seems I might have misunderstood her.