Chapter 127: "At Worst, We End Up in the Hospital Together"

“What on earth are you doing? Are you trying to stuff me to death?” Zhou Ran stared dumbfounded at the towering pile of food stacked eighteen layers high in his bowl, utterly at a loss for words. Faced with this scene, he didn’t even know how to respond.

When the three of them had entered the restaurant, everything had seemed fine. Zhang Yuan and Zhang Xiaofeng were even interacting amicably. But as soon as the dishes arrived, the atmosphere shifted completely.

Zhang Yuan and Zhang Xiaofeng began competing to pile food onto Zhou Ran’s bowl, as if in a contest to see who could load it highest. They seemed genuinely afraid that Zhou Ran wouldn’t eat enough to be full. Zhou Ran, embarrassed to refuse, could only silently endure this overwhelming display of affection.

After a moment’s mental preparation, Zhou Ran decided to go all in. What was the worst that could happen—he’d just be uncomfortably full. Who was he afraid of? Besides, there was a large hospital just a short drive away. If he ended up there, well, they could all meet again in the hospital.

With this resolve, Zhou Ran began tackling the mountain of food before him. But his demeanor was tense; it didn’t look like he was eating, but rather defusing a bomb, cautious not to take a wrong step lest he be undone.

He took it slow, chewing carefully. If he wolfed it down, he’d probably be rushed to the hospital within five minutes. If that happened, tomorrow’s headlines would scream: “Shocking! Man hospitalized late at night—for overeating? What secrets lie behind this?”

“Ha ha ha, alright, alright, eat a bit less, we’re just joking!” Zhang Xiaofeng and Zhang Yuan burst into laughter upon seeing Zhou Ran’s painful expression. On the surface, the two seemed harmonious enough.

But the trouble began when Zhang Xiaofeng first started adding dishes to Zhou Ran’s bowl. Once she started, Zhang Yuan couldn’t resist joining in, and soon they were one-upping each other, piling more and more food, turning Zhou Ran’s bowl into a small mountain.

Initially competitive in secret, Zhang Yuan and Zhang Xiaofeng’s anger quickly dissipated when they saw Zhou Ran’s strained expression. They decided to give him a break and paused their contest, letting him eat in peace for the moment.

Hearing their words, Zhou Ran exhaled deeply. In just a few minutes, he was already about sixty percent full. If he forced himself to finish all this, he’d definitely be tomorrow’s headline.

Zhou Ran always had a habit of stopping when he was seventy percent full. It was the best way to maintain his condition. Overeating slowed the blood flow, dulling the mind. As a celebrity, he also had to control his weight, so he never ate too much.

As a star who appeared on camera, Zhou Ran knew the lens tended to make people look heavier than they actually were. So despite standing tall at 1.84 meters, his weight never surpassed 140 jin (about 70 kg). At most, he’d weighed 138 jin. Only for special shoots requiring weight gain would he alter his figure; otherwise, his weight stayed around 130 jin.

Male stars like Zhou Ran had relatively lenient weight requirements. The strictest demands were placed on female stars, whose weight was closely linked to modeling standards.

For example, a female star around 1.7 meters tall could weigh no more than about 100 jin (50 kg), absolutely not exceeding 110 jin. If she did, her agent would demand she lose weight. Female celebrities maintained far stricter control over their figures.

Even Zhang Xiaofeng and Zhang Yuan, sitting beside Zhou Ran, were noticeably skinnier than the average person. This was the path stars who relied on their looks had to walk.

“So, what’s the surprise you mentioned when you came back? Be honest!” After eating to his fill, Zhou Ran turned to Zhang Xiaofeng and asked.

“Ha ha ha, I was called here by Chef Huang. He messaged me the day before yesterday saying our film has a good chance of getting nominated. So he told me to come meet you first, and once the nominations are announced, we’ll fly straight to Kang City to handle the remaining promotional work. So, I’ll be sticking with you for a while. Excited?” Zhang Xiaofeng said, having barely eaten a few bites before already feeling full, she explained what Chef Huang had told her.

Though she spoke confidently, Zhang Xiaofeng felt a bit uneasy inside. Chef Huang originally said to wait until the nominations were out before meeting Zhou Ran, but she had skipped that step and come early. When she told her agent about going to find Zhou Ran ahead of time, the agent surprisingly agreed immediately. The agent believed Zhang Xiaofeng was safe with Zhou Ran, especially with Chef Huang’s connection involved, so no trouble would arise.

The agent wasn’t worried that Zhou Ran would be led astray by Zhang Xiaofeng; rather, she worried that Zhou Ran might be the one to influence Zhang Xiaofeng. After all, she knew her own artist’s temperament well.

“Oh, so there’s insider news already? That came fast! Alright then, you’ll be with me for a while,” Zhou Ran said, his mind fully focused on the film’s nomination, not questioning whether Zhang Xiaofeng was lying.

In Zhou Ran’s eyes, Zhang Xiaofeng had a good reputation and likely wouldn’t deceive him. Besides, it was something he could verify with Chef Huang if needed.

Yet Zhang Yuan, sitting nearby, seemed to sense that Zhang Xiaofeng was not telling the whole truth. However, she didn’t expose her. Instead, she smiled quietly at Zhang Xiaofeng, a smile whose meaning was left for others to interpret.

Chapter 127: “At worst, we’ll end up in the hospital together” – Free to read.