My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 409: Chapter 268: Old Friend, New Path

Seeing that Chen Huanhuan wasn’t moving, Lei Xiaohui set an example and started to dig in.

Chen Huanhuan followed suit, but couldn’t help asking curiously, ”Are you really his employee? Not a relative?”

’Working in the big city, she’d been to plenty of company dinners, but she’d never seen employees start eating before the boss arrived.’

Lei Xiaohui chuckled. ”Of course I am.”

Chen Huanhuan thought, ’Li Xiang is a really nice guy.’

After they’d eaten a bit, Lei Xiaohui suggested Chen Huanhuan order more dishes, but Chen Huanhuan said there was already more than enough and they wouldn’t be able to finish it all.

”Brother Xiang will be eating later, and he has a big appetite.”

”Then let him order for himself.”

After about half an hour, Li Xiang finally pushed the door open. The moment Chen Huanhuan saw the tall, handsome young man, she froze for several seconds. The main reason was that Li Xiang had gotten even more handsome than before.

He had always been her crush, and now, even more so.

”What’s wrong, Huanhuan? Don’t you recognize me anymore?” Li Xiang said jokingly. He casually tossed a file folder onto an armchair, took off his cashmere coat, and hung it on a rack. A Patek Philippe peeked out from his cuff, reflecting the warm light of the palace-style lantern.

”I really don’t. You’ve changed quite a bit!” Chen Huanhuan said quietly.

Then Li Xiang sat down, ordered a few more dishes, and chatted with Chen Huanhuan as they ate.

They caught up on each other’s lives and complained about their old colleagues from their former company.

Especially since that company was now Chen Huanhuan’s former employer as well.

After dinner, he took Chen Huanhuan to Li Family Village.

As for accommodations, the county seat was a bit far, and the Li Family home had plenty of spare rooms, so Li Xiang suggested she stay with them.

Chen Huanhuan was speechless. ’How could I possibly say no?’ She was quite touched. ’You don’t invite someone to stay in your home unless you have a really good relationship, right?’

”Whoa, you built such a magnificent mansion. It’s like you’re an emperor,” Chen Huanhuan exclaimed when she arrived at Li Xiang’s home, marveling at the Li Family’s opulent, Chinese-style villa. There were even small animal figurines on the upturned eaves, just like at the Forbidden City.

A gold-stamped certificate for ”Model Household for Rural Revitalization” was posted on the window of the west wing. Above the main door hung plaques for ”Home of a Special-Class Merit Recipient” and ”Home of a First-Class Merit Recipient.”

Like everyone else, Chen Huanhuan had no idea how Li Xiang had earned those two military honors. She privately wondered, ’Did he really catch a spy?’

After getting her settled in her room and her luggage put away, Li Xiang took her to the backyard.

Seeing the garden, which was like something straight out of the imperial palace, Chen Huanhuan couldn’t help but gasp again.

Wintersweet bloomed beside Tai Lake stones, its petals the color of beeswax. Dark green and crimson camellias were dotted throughout the landscape. In the distance, a gosling peeked out from a strawberry greenhouse, playing with an orange cat. A fiery red fox was curled up under the War Drum Pavilion, nibbling on an apple core. Most astonishing of all was a rockery made of Chicken Blood Stone, its natural veins resembling splashed cinnabar.

Chen Huanhuan was surprised when she noticed a small, spiny creature lazily sunbathing on a rock while hugging a winter jujube. ”You have a little hedgehog here? Uh, aren’t they supposed to hibernate?”

Li Xiang explained, ”This little guy is special. He’s not afraid of the cold.”

Hearing that, Chen Huanhuan wasn’t sure. ’Maybe there really are hedgehogs that don’t need to hibernate.’ It’s not like she was an expert on the subject.

Er Huang was very well-behaved. Sensing the guest might be afraid of dogs, it kept its distance and didn’t approach.

Afterwards, Li Xiang took Chen Huanhuan on a tour of the scenic area. He bought two milk teas, one for each of them. Chen Huanhuan also met Yao Yao and Zhao Xueqing, but the two of them were busy, so they only chatted briefly.

After Li Xiang and Chen Huanhuan left, Yao Yao whispered, ”Was that Brother Xiang’s ex-girlfriend?”

Lei Xiaohui shook her head. ”I don’t think so. She probably liked Brother Xiang in the past, but I doubt anything ever happened.” Having picked Chen Huanhuan up and eaten with her, Lei Xiaohui could tell that even though she and Li Xiang were familiar with each other, there was a distinct boundary between them—one that felt even stronger than the one between them and Li Xiang.

Zhao Xueqing blinked. ’What are you two guessing for?’ she thought. ’Is there any reason to be this jealous? Brother Xiang has three beautiful women right here, and he hasn’t made a move on any of us.’

When they entered the filming location for the Ancient Tomb Sect, Li Xiang described what it was like during the shoot. The movie was set to be released at the end of the year, and small ads for it were already popping up everywhere. Although he was only a supporting actor, his role as the ”Dragon Knight” couldn’t be ignored, and the buzz around it was actually quite high.

In real life, he and Luo Feifei were genuinely good friends and often interacted online. Some people jokingly shipped the couple, calling them ”Xiang-Fei”—a pun on their names that also forms an idiom for ”letting one’s imagination run wild”—and claimed they had fallen in love on set.

Someone commented, ”This is hilarious. Little Dragon Girl didn’t fall for Yang Guo on set, she fell for Yin Zhiping instead.”

Another person replied, ”Well, you can’t blame her. The Yin Zhiping in this movie is gorgeous, and the actor is super rich in real life and a Major in the military. If I were her, I’d fall for him too.”

Every time Chen Huanhuan saw comments like these, she couldn’t help but think, ’Me too.’

”The wires we used for filming are still here. Want to try sleeping on the rope bed like Little Dragon Girl?” Li Xiang’s magnetic voice pulled Chen Huanhuan back to reality.

”Huh? No way! I’d fall flat on my face the second I got on,” Chen Huanhuan said, not daring to even try.

So Li Xiang gave a demonstration right then and there, surprising not only Chen Huanhuan but also earning applause and cheers from the surrounding tourists.

Many people tried it, but few ever succeeded.

After visiting the National Tea House, the National Style Tavern, the milk tea shop, the filming locations for the Ancient Tomb Sect from *The Return of the Condor Heroes*, and the second-phase mountainside Shelter, the two interacted with the ”wild man” actors on Wild Man Slope before heading to the giant panda reserve on Bamboo Mountain.

Li Xiang introduced the five giant pandas one by one.

Chen Huanhuan had seen them online before, but watching them up close was a completely different experience, especially when Li Xiang beckoned the pandas to come closer.

To Chen Huanhuan’s surprise, the pandas were very Spiritual and actually responded to Li Xiang’s hand gestures. For example, when Li Xiang signaled for them to do a somersault, they would do one on the spot. When he gestured for them to use the swing, they would immediately start swinging.

Other tourists also tried giving them commands, but the proud pandas completely ignored them.

”That panda’s name is Huanhuan. Are you playing a prank on me?” Chen Huanhuan asked.

Li Xiang threw up his hands, a look of mock indignation on his face. ”I swear I didn’t name it. The cub already had that name when it was sent here. Look at its file if you don’t believe me.”

As he spoke, Li Xiang took out his phone and pulled up the panda’s file.

It was an official, registered animal. The file listed its ID number as GX2137, its date of birth, nickname, previous and current habitats, when it was named, its weight at various stages, photos, preferences, fecal analysis results... every single detail was meticulously recorded.

And the name ”Huanhuan” had indeed been given at birth.

Chen Huanhuan’s doubts were finally dispelled. She joked, ”So that just means my name is too common, huh~”

”Not at all. The fact that a national treasure shares your name proves it’s a good one. It’s noble and auspicious.”

”You’re such a sweet-talker, as if your lips are coated in honey.” ’If you were this smooth back at the office,’ Chen Huanhuan thought, ’you would have been thriving.’

Li Xiang laughed. ”My name is the common one, actually. Just a quick search online will pull up tons of people with the same name. There’s a TV host, a young dancer, the diplomatic ambassador to Eritrea, a character in a TV series, even girls named Li Xiang, a Ph.D. in theatrical arts...”

His name, Xiang—as in *xiangliang*, ”resounding”—was very common. Not only common, but not even particularly pleasant-sounding. His parents had simply hoped he would grow up to be a renowned and upstanding man. In this life, Li Xiang had certainly achieved that.

After staying at the Li Family home for a few days, Chen Huanhuan even took part in some of the open auditions for the village’s New Year’s gala. When Li Xiang asked about her plans for work, Chen Huanhuan admitted she didn’t have any good prospects.

So, Li Xiang invited her to join Eternal Night Media.

Chen Huanhuan shook her head. There were too many beautiful women here; she felt she had no advantage and was actually a bit intimidated.

Li Xiang then suggested another option: he could set her up as an assistant manager at a jadeite jewelry store. If she did well, she could eventually be in charge of her own store.