The dinner, graced by the presence of Zhang Miaomiao, was exceptionally joyful for everyone, except for her, the cook, who sat alone on the side in a daze.
"What's wrong?"
Xia Weiliang brought over food and directly shoved a bowl into her hands. "No dieting allowed here! Who knows if you'll suddenly be asked to plow a field or plant rice tomorrow? You need to eat well to have the strength."
Zhang Miaomiao held the dinner bowl, gazing into it absentmindedly.
"But your cooking is truly amazing! When did you learn it? I've never seen you show off before..."
At her question, Zhang Miaomiao actually sniffled and started to cry.
"A-Miao, what's wrong?" Xia Weiliang was a bit flustered and quickly crouched down to comfort her. "Did my words scare you? We're not always this tough on every show; sometimes we get enough to eat, and there's plenty of meat too..." Sudananovel.com
Zhang Miaomiao simply shook her head silently, tears streaming down her face.
"Then what is it..."
"I learned to cook from my dad."
Xia Weiliang paused, then after a moment of thought, realized. "Ah, your dad is too amazing! He has to travel all over the world for business, and I never expected his cooking to be this delicious!"
Zhang Miaomiao lowered her head, sobbing and then smiling again. "Busy with business?"
"Yes~" Xia Weiliang said cautiously, watching her. "I only heard that through gossip."
Zhang Miaomiao held her bowl and slowly shook her head. "He's a chef, not some big boss."
Xia Weiliang was stunned for a moment, but quickly smiled again. "Oh, that's wonderful. No wonder your cooking is so good!"
There were many unspoken frustrations in the entertainment industry, but it depended on individual choices.
Take their backgrounds, for instance. Celebrity profiles online were a mix of truth and falsehood, and people in the industry generally knew but didn't expose it.
Xia Weiliang had heard about Zhang Miaomiao's family background on set, with exaggerated tales of her father. Zhang Miaomiao had never confirmed them, attributing it to her father's desire to avoid publicity!
Xia Weiliang truly hadn't expected her to be so candid about her father being a chef. Regardless of whether she had intentionally misled everyone before, Xia Weiliang was touched by her trust.
After speaking her mind, she seemed to relax. Zhang Miaomiao wiped her tears and slowly said, "I hated the smell of cooking oil that clung to him. He used to pick me up from school, and my friends would laugh at me~ After a while, I didn't want him to come to my school anymore. Even after I entered the entertainment industry, I wasn't used to him appearing in front of the cameras."
She didn't need to say more; Xia Weiliang understood.
She smiled and patted Zhang Miaomiao's shoulder. "But judging by your cooking, it's clear you've always appreciated him. You're not as you say you are."
Zhang Miaomiao shifted her gaze uncomfortably. "Isn't it because of my talent?"
"Uh, if you insist on putting it that way, then genetics can indeed explain things."
In the end, it still came back to her father's influence!
Zhang Miaomiao lifted her head, as if trying to push back the tears. "It's so strange, why am I telling you all this?"
Xia Weiliang echoed her tone, "Isn't it because I'm approachable?"
She finally smiled, and her appetite returned. While eating, she said, "Besides cooking, my dad's biggest hobby is watching my TV shows. He'd watch any drama I was in, over and over again."
As she spoke and smiled, she began to cry again. "But I found him annoying..."
Her cries grew louder, and Xia Weiliang could understand her quite well. When she first learned about her own origins, her first thought wasn't to find her birth parents or to be grateful to the Xia family for raising her, but rather the fear of being ridiculed if her background was exposed.
After finally comforting Zhang Miaomiao, Xia Weiliang glanced at Xiao Shuai, who had been filming them the whole time.
Xiao Shuai was also perceptive and nodded gently, indicating he understood.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Miaomiao wiped her eyes and said, "There's nothing that can't be broadcast. Since I can say this in front of the camera, I don't plan to hide it anymore. Besides, as you said, Weiliang, I'm naturally talented. I was born to be a culinary god! I owe all of this to my dad too!"
Xia Weiliang blinked. "Uh... regarding the topics of talent and culinary gods, I think we can discuss this further."
"No need!" Zhang Miaomiao waved her hand grandly, showing great trust. "I've noted everything you said. I need to put it into practice so as not to disappoint your earnest expectations~"
"..."
Well, this was enough for now.
If she said any more, the girl might give up entertainment and pursue cooking instead.
Seeing the young girl's mood lift and her return to the table to chat and laugh with everyone else, Xia Weiliang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The night wind was strong. After dinner, Director Huang let everyone return to rest.
Sleeping in military tents was a first for Xia Weiliang, and she found it quite novel.
She lay on the bed, hands behind her head, unable to sleep. Zhang Miaomiao had already fallen asleep, exhausted, but Xia Weiliang just couldn't. She had counted a basketful of dumplings without success.
The outside was eerily quiet. In this season of rebirth, there wasn't even the sound of insects. She remembered the same stillness when they passed through the foggy forest.
She couldn't help but start to overthink, reviewing almost every horror movie she had ever seen, growing more and more convinced that this place was strange! The strangest thing of all was that since entering the village, they had only seen Xin Hong and Xin Jinghe; not a single other villager had appeared!
This didn't feel like a village at all.
So, where had all those villagers gone?