Chapter 10

Pei Xu pulled on his cap and headed out for a morning run.

He'd barely stepped through the gate when he heard Hu Ying call after him: "Going for a run?"

Pei Xu glanced back and saw Hu Ying jogging out in workout gear. "Come on, let's go together."

"I run pretty fast," Pei Xu said.

"Yeah?" Hu Ying laughed. "How fast?"

Ten minutes later, Hu Ying was gripping her knees, gasping for breath, face bright red, watching Pei Xu pull farther and farther ahead.

She honestly couldn't tell if Pei Xu was deliberately shaking her off, or if the guy was just naturally this clueless about romance.

Couldn't he see why someone would want to run with him?

This was such a rare chance to be alone together.

Her — Hu Ying — had had admirers lined up since middle school. Straight guys fell at her feet. She was pale, rich, gorgeous. Who wouldn't be a match for her?

She decided not to chase after him anymore. One, she couldn't catch up. Two, no need to chase him anyway — her first pick right now wasn't Pei Xu, it was Yan Zhi.

She wiped the sweat off her face. She'd pushed too hard without warming up — figured she'd pulled something in her thigh.

She wandered back to the Red and Blue house and saw someone was already in the kitchen.

She grabbed a glass of water and found Yan Zhi and Zhai Xingchen busy in the kitchen.

"Morning," Zhai Xingchen greeted her with a smile.

"Morning."

Hu Ying carried her water over and sidled up next to Yan Zhi, one hand on her glass, the other braced on the counter: "What are you making?"

"Helping out," Yan Zhi said.

"Your fans would die if they saw those hands cooking," Hu Ying said.

Yan Zhi was famously useless at daily life. Cooking was out of the question — when he'd first joined the team, he couldn't even work a gas stove, and his teammates had ragged on him for it. As an esports player, those hands were precious. They were his livelihood, and they were also famously good-looking in the gaming world.

The guy whose hands alone could make people scream.

Hu Ying couldn't help glancing at Yan Zhi's hands. Yan Zhi was washing purple cabbage. Hu Ying looked up and saw Wen Nu and Duan Yihua coming downstairs.

Everyone greeted each other and crowded into the kitchen.

Zhai Xingchen fried eggs while sneaking glances from the corner of his eye.

This was a classic Love Variety Show moment.

Just like on TV — Duan Yihua and Hu Ying were both subtly gravitating toward Yan Zhi, while only Wen Nu stood there dumbly beside him, watching him fry eggs.

"You're so amazing," Wen Nu said.

"Frying an egg? What's amazing about that," Zhai Xingchen laughed.

"Your technique is just different from ours," Wen Nu said.

Zhai Xingchen turned to look at him. Wen Nu met his eyes and actually blushed, dropping his gaze.

Such a cute uke.

Before long, Lin Qingning and Huo Cheng were up too. The kitchen was too packed, so Huo Cheng didn't go over — he just watched from a distance and asked, "Why's someone missing? Pei Xu still asleep?"

"He's up," Zhai Xingchen said.

"He went running," Hu Ying said.

"Did you go running too?" Yan Zhi suddenly turned and asked her.

Hu Ying blinked. "Yeah."

"You worked up quite a sweat," Yan Zhi said.

Oh no.

Yan Zhi was seriously germaphobic. He definitely wouldn't be into the so-called "manly smell."

Zhai Xingchen looked at Hu Ying. Hu Ying was still leaning into Yan Zhi's space. Yan Zhi's brow furrowed slightly — he shifted away without making it obvious and got up to grab a fruit knife.

So germaphobic now, but what about when he's drenched in sweat doing... that... with someone someday?

Ha. Haitang double-standard seme.

They'd just finished cooking when Pei Xu came back.

His whole face was red, his neck and ears too. His hoodie was soaked through in patches.

Everyone was startled when they saw him.

Especially Zhai Xingchen, even though he already knew from the original novel that Pei Xu had a few key traits:

Pale skin, for one.

Sweats easily.

There were too many cold, aloof male leads on Jinjiang — as formulaic as the four Jinjiang surnames. So authors were starting to play with new tricks. Like flipping the original uke into a seme — that was the hot new Jinjiang trend the last couple years. Or the gap moe type like Pei Xu. Honestly, a cold seme covered in sweat with his neck flushed red? Kinda hot.

"How far did you run?" Huo Cheng asked.

"No idea," Pei Xu said. "Over by East Ferry Terminal, I think."

"That's gotta be ten kilometers," Duan Yihua said, surprised.

"I'm gonna shower," Pei Xu said and headed to his room.

No one waited for him. They sat down to eat Breakfast.

Last night's texts had affected the mood today. Some people had gotten more than one; others hadn't gotten any. Zhai Xingchen carefully watched everyone's eyes and movements, and his gaze suddenly met Duan Yihua's.

Duan Yihua actually dodged his eyes and cleared his throat softly.

He got it. He'd read about Duan Yihua's psychology in the novel.

After yesterday's age reveal, he figured Duan Yihua had completely passed on him. Being a thirty-year-old career-focused guy, getting liked by a student seme ten years younger — that had to be embarrassing and awkward.

The kind of awkwardness and shame of "I see him as a kid, but is he thinking about sleeping with me the whole time?"

But what could he do — he'd been dealt the devoted puppy-dog unrequited-love tool-man character.

Huo Cheng had finished eating ages ago but stayed slouched in his chair. He chatted with Wen Nu and the others now and then, his eyes drifting between Duan Yihua and Zhai Xingchen.

After carefully pumping Zhai Xingchen for info last night, combined with the subtle vibe between him and Duan Yihua, he'd probably figured out who Zhai Xingchen liked.

A bit of a headache.

He and Duan Yihua were both the "big brother" type, but completely different kinds. Zhai Xingchen and Duan Yihua had that older-woman-younger-man romance thing going; with him it was pure socialist brotherhood.

It was the weekend, no one had work. They were all going on the Sea Voyage together around ten in the morning, so after breakfast everyone went to get ready.

Huo Cheng was the most excited — today was his home turf.

He loved water sports and was good at all of them.

Zhai Xingchen went back to his room and saw Pei Xu blow-drying his hair. He was only wearing basketball shorts, shirtless. From the side, his chest and abs were clearly defined — tall and lean and built.

Slim in clothes, meaty out of them — textbook JJ male lead.

'Pei-ge, I put your breakfast in the kitchen.' Zhai Xingchen said.

Pei Xu turned at that, killed the blow dryer. 'What?'

'Your breakfast. I put it in the kitchen, on the counter.' Zhai Xingchen said.

Pei Xu hummed and walked straight out of the bathroom.

Whoa.

What a body. Broad shoulders, narrow waist — a walking clothes hanger.

The Red Team Guests are in for a treat.

Back in his own room, Zhai Xingchen had a free moment, so he pulled out his textbooks.

His academics had never been great, past life or this one.

But academics weren't all he had to take. The bulk of his finals was Classical Dance Basic Training, plus Body Rhythm, Han-Tang Basic Training, Dunhuang Dance, and a few performance pieces. So he set stools on his desk, stacked them about head-high, then lifted his right leg straight up onto them.

He had dance training from before, and since transmigrating he'd been practicing hard, so the move came easy. He reached for his textbook and started memorizing while stretching.

Pei Xu came out dressed, and passing Zhai Xingchen's half-open door, caught sight of him standing there in some weird pose.

Zhai Xingchen's legs were almost at a 180-degree split, standing on one leg beside the desk.

Zhai Xingchen held his textbook, lips moving as he recited.

He must have sensed someone behind him. He glanced back, saw it was Pei Xu, and broke into a bright smile.

'Practicing?'

'Studying. Stretching while I'm at it.' Zhai Xingchen said.

Pei Xu hummed. He knew dancers were flexible, but seeing it in person still caught him off guard — even after breakfast, the image kept flashing back.

'What's Xingchen doing?' Huo Cheng said, already moving to check.

'Don't bother him,' Pei Xu said. 'He's studying.'

Of everything about himself right now, Zhai Xingchen was most satisfied with his body.

Dancers usually racked up all kinds of injuries, but he had none. A full split came easy, a leg raise cleared shoulder height no problem — he could push it however he wanted, super tough.

After memorizing, he ran through a few basic moves. At exactly ten, the Production Team reminded him to get ready to head out.

Of course, the Production Team had filmed his whole practice session.

Everyone was praising his body.

'No wonder he's a dancer — what a figure.'

'His leg-to-body ratio is unreal, broad shoulders, slim waist. I think he's even better-built than Pei Xu.'

'I think we can actually look forward to a blue-blue romance this season.'

'But I don't think he's a bottom at all — a red-blue romance is possible too.'

'I heard the scriptwriters pulled an all-nighter and added three blue-blue lines for him, plus the original four red-blue lines — he has the most CP lines now.'

'The biggest breakout of the show isn't gonna be him, is it? I remember he was originally brought in just as window dressing.'

'Pei Xu and the others were already kinda famous. If we can actually launch a nobody, this show is gonna blow up for real.'

'Every hit show has its dark horse!'

As a Love Variety Show built around rich second-gen heirs, Zhai Xingchen and Wen Nu were brought in as filler. The Production Team's expectations for them were low — just don't embarrass themselves, look pretty in the background.

Everyone thought this season's innovation was the rich-handsome romance angle — the guests they'd assembled were the absolute ceiling of the Love Variety Show genre.

But in just one day, Zhai Xingchen had become the person the Production Team was watching most closely.

At ten-thirty, everyone gathered at the beach.

Warm weather, clear skies. Everyone was dressed light and flashy — a row of flowers, beauty spilling everywhere. Only Pei Xu stuck to his black tee and black shorts, looking even leaner and sharper for it. And Yan Zhi in long pants and a white shirt, staying true to his prudish-guy brand.

The most exposed was Hu Ying — her pink tank top hid nothing. Hair up in a bun, makeup as delicate as March peach blossoms, beautiful in a way that made her gender even harder to pin down.

This morning was also a Live Streaming slot. It was the weekend, so viewership was more than double yesterday's.

Yan Zhi hadn't appeared in yesterday's stream, but the moment today's went live, the barrage got taken over by his fans.

Every time the camera swept past Yan Zhi, the screen filled with screaming-meme emotes.

[Ahhhhhh, Six-ge is so hot!]

[I thought we'd finally see Yan the Great shirtless at the beach, but I guess I was hoping for too much.]

[I bet no one except his partner will ever see what he looks like undressed.]

[So curious what Yan Zhi's like when he's dating. I've always thought he was the secretly-passionate type!]

Apart from Yan Zhi, the next most-discussed was Hu Ying.

No helping it — her outfit today was just too eye-catching. Bold and gorgeous and arrogant.

Guo Bing stood behind the camera crew with a megaphone: 'Today's water activities are parasailing, jet boat, jet ski, and hydrofoil board — four events, eight people, two per group, four groups total.'

'That intense?' Hu Ying asked.

'I've never done any of them…' Wen Nu looked at Zhai Xingchen nervously. 'What if I can't?'

'You can do the first two — just follow the staff, no skill needed.' Huo Cheng said.

Duan Yihua asked: 'How do we split up? Free choice, or a game to decide?'

Guo Bing smiled, a little loaded: 'Figure out the groups yourselves.'

The Production Team wants to see where everyone's feelings are headed, right?

Zhai Xingchen immediately looked at the other guests.

'I'm with Yan Zhi!' Hu Ying called out immediately.

That's the Queen for you — strikes first, leaves no opening for anyone else.

Yan Zhi smiled and pressed his lips together — couldn't tell if it was pleased or disappointed.

The remaining three Red Team Guests were more restrained. With Yan Zhi already taken, they all looked at Huo Cheng and Pei Xu.

Zhai Xingchen figured he'd let them pick first.

Just then, Huo Cheng said: 'Zhai Xingchen, let's pair up.'

Barrage: [Here it comes here it comes, the way he was looking at Zhai Xingchen in the car last time was kinda thirsty!!]

[One look at his face and I knew he was the same type as Hu Ying — straight ball kind of guy!]

[Love show straight balls are GOAT!]

[Looks like this season really is gonna give us a blue-blue romance. Fellow double-top fans, I'm hyped!!]