Chapter 42: Qī Láng's Birthday Celebration

  Before the move, most of the crew gathered in Xiaobailou, everyone had feelings for this place, especially He Mu, Liu Shishi and others who didn't shoot much.

  Although Xiaobailou only provides accommodation and food for the actors, most Hengdian hotels have this function. However, Tangren strengthened the sense of belonging among the actors and their friendship with each other through this unique Xiaobailou that only allows Tangren crew to stay.

  He Mu and Hu Ge, who used to have disagreements, can now put their shoulders together, Yuan Hong and Tong Nian from the Central Academy of Drama can chat and laugh, Lin Jiayu from Taiwan and Liu Shishi and Liu Xiaoju from mainland China can enthusiastically discuss cosmetics and food. There is no distinction between schools, no regional differences, everyone gets along in harmony.

  On the last night in Xiaobailou, young people set up a barbecue rack on the empty land downstairs and prepared to hold an extraordinary barbecue party.

  He Mian personally rolled up his sleeves and took the stage, picking up a skewer of lamb with practiced ease. He had mastered this skill back in elementary school, when he wanted to earn some pocket money and convinced his older brother to make an iron frame for him. The two brothers then snuck out at night to sell roasted meat skewers on the streets, using pork they had stolen from home. In the end, they didn't make a single cent, having eaten almost all of the meat themselves. They were later beaten severely by their father, but He Mian learned a valuable lesson: pork is not suitable for roasting. On the bright side, he gained a practical skill - making roasted meat skewers.

  Flipping and sprinkling cumin, He Mu shouted in a Xinjiang accent: Mutton skewers! Authentic Xinjiang roasted mutton skewers! If it's not delicious, don't pay!

  Finally, his roasted lamb skewers were snatched away by the crowd, and everyone who ate them said they were delicious. However, Hu Ge's roasted meat skewers only had Yuan Hong reluctantly eating one out of brotherly love, before running off to He Mu's camp.

  "Hey, is what I made that bad to eat? You guys are exaggerating! And I was thinking of opening a restaurant in the future!" Hu Ge felt depressed and ended up coming over to eat He Mu's skewers.

  He Mu likes to eat delicious food, but he likes cooking even more. He enjoys receiving praise from others for his culinary skills, so he doesn't think of himself as a foodie. Even if he is one, he's a high-end foodie with taste.

  "Hey, where's Shi Shi? Usually she's the most enthusiastic one in this kind of gathering," He Mu asked Tao Qudu beside him.

  Tao Qiu chewed on a melon seed and said, "It should be arriving soon!"

  Old Tao's voice had just fallen, the lights suddenly went out, a beam of light shot down from the top floor, shining on a girl wearing ancient costume drama clothes, under the illumination of the light, she looked charming and moving. Needless to say, it was Liu Shishi, her hands were still pushing something, slowly walking towards him. At this time, music started playing, a very familiar melody, "Happy birthday to you, happy..." This is, Happy Birthday Song!

  "Whose birthday is it today?" He Mu asked Hu Ge, asked Chen Long, asked He Rongdong, they all looked at him with a strange expression.

  "Ah ha!" He Mu patted his head, "Today seems to be my birthday!"

  He Mu's birthday is very memorable, he was born on February 15, 1985, just one day after Valentine's Day in the West. If calculated according to the lunar calendar, it should be the twenty-sixth of the twelfth month, just a few days before the Spring Festival.

  Whether it's the solar calendar or the lunar calendar, He Mu's birthday is very easy to remember. However, his family doesn't have much of a tradition of celebrating birthdays, and He Mu has never really celebrated his own birthday before, let alone eaten his own birthday cake (the first time he had birthday cake was at Li Wenrui's birthday party).

  Liu Shi walked closer, she was pushing a food cart. He Mu exclaimed in surprise: "Is this my birthday cake?"

  Shishi smiled and lifted the lid, revealing a large buttercream cake, while his friends behind him began to sing "Happy Birthday to You..."

  Looking at each and every sincere smiling face, He Mu was so excited that he didn't know what to say, he just kept his hands together in respect. After singing a small birthday song, a thin man walked out from the back, "Now it's time to cut the cake and make a wish."

  "Old Tang!" He Mu was surprised that Da Tang would appear here. Although it's normal for an agent to follow their artist, Da Tang is a top-notch agent who always sits in his office monitoring every move of his artists through Xiaomi, making the right decisions for their development and controlling every time they appear in front of the media.

  He was like a hidden person hiding behind He Mu, controlling the overall situation. Even when He Mu first started filming, he only sent a small assistant with not much work experience to follow him, and this was his first time appearing in He Mu's crew.

  "I heard that today is your birthday, and coincidentally the crew needs to make a big move, so Director Li decided to hold a birthday party for you, which will also serve as a mobilization meeting for the next stage of filming," said Da Tang. "After hearing about it, General Xiao asked me to assist with the arrangements and also represent the company in giving you a gift."

  Under the encouragement of Da Tang's eyes, He Mu opened the gift box and found a small Sony home camera inside. It was a new product that could be held in one hand, capable of taking photos and recording videos. This thing wasn't cheap at all, costing at least tens of thousands.

  Although the gift was expensive, He Mu accepted it honestly and without hesitation. It's really a case of "when you need something, it comes to you". I was just thinking about learning photography, and my boss gave me this, so considerate!

  Then Director Li Guoli presented a disc to He Mu on behalf of the Tang people, which he said contained all the NG shots of He Mu since the first take.

  Although Tang Ren's gift is economical, He Mu also likes it. This is his first formal play, which records his every move. Those NG shots have the function of commemoration and error correction, which are very precious.

  After Li Guoli, several other young actors also started presenting gifts to He Mu. They were indeed prepared in advance, although they weren't anything precious, but still a token of friendship. He Mu thanked each one of them.

  In the end, it was just Liu Shishi left, and He Mu was very expectant: "Shishi, where's my gift?"

  "I, I wasn't prepared," Shishi said in a very low voice. "They only told me to push the birthday cake and didn't say there was a gift-giving segment, can I make it up next time?"

  "I think we shouldn't wait for next time, Shi Shi, you give Xiao Mu a kiss, and that's the gift, how about it?" Liu Xiao Jie proposed, after saying that she looked at He Mu with a self-satisfied expression, feeling like she had done something great.

  People also started shouting along, "Kiss one!" "Kiss one!" The people in the entertainment industry were indeed all uneasy and restless, each and every one of them was a troublemaker who feared that the world would not be chaotic.

  Teased by the crowd, Liu Shishi felt embarrassed and lowered her head. Liu's mother, who was standing at the third-floor window and hadn't come down, seemed to have heard some bad news: These little rascals, they just know how to bully my precious daughter! Liu's mother stormed down, planning to call her daughter upstairs to avoid being taken advantage of.

  He Mu looked at Liu Shi's red face and thought it was quite amusing. This girl rarely blushed, but the crowd's demands were indeed a bit too much for her. He Mu helped her out by saying: "Fourth Brother is still here today, you're making Fourth Sister kiss me, this doesn't put Fourth Brother in consideration at all. I think we should just forget it and everyone eat cake instead."

  "It doesn't matter to me anyway." He Dong shrugged his shoulders, and like Liu Xiaoqian, he also thought that the two of them had something going on from the start, after all they were so close, just like one person, so he was happy to see them get together.

  The fourth brother also expressed that he didn't care, and the crowd's voices became even more boiling. Even Chen Long, who was usually calm and composed, shouted "Give me a kiss".

  It's hard to refuse hospitality, He Mu smiled and looked around at everyone: "In that case, Shi Shi is a girl, don't make it too difficult for her, I'll take the initiative, no problem?"

  ……

  It's really late, and the word count isn't much either. Tomorrow should be better though. Lao Fo will try to stockpile one or two chapters to avoid the updates being irregular again~~