—

Tonight was full of unexpected surprises.

The footage was packed with great moments. The Production Team was very satisfied!

Guo Bing called Liu Screenwriter and the others over. They gathered around the dining table, eating boxed meals while discussing the emotional direction of the Red and Blue House going forward.

A whiteboard was set up in front of them, and just like the Love Variety Show commentary panel, they wrote down all eight names.

Except this time they weren't split into Red and Blue teams—the eight names formed an octagon, making it easy to draw connections however they wanted.

'Let's start with the simplest. Huo Cheng, Yan Zhi—they both like Zhai Xingchen. No objections, right?'

Everyone nodded.

'Wen Nu... he probably likes Zhai Xingchen too, right?'

Wen Nu was more of a fringe character, not the focus, so they quickly moved past him.

'What about Duan Yihua?'

'His impression of Zhai Xingchen must have changed a lot today!'

'But overall, his arrow has always pointed more toward Huo Cheng, who's around his age, right?'

'Right, and after that drinking session last time, I think their impression of Huo Cheng changed a lot too.'

'Lin Qingning... I think he's also pointing at Huo Cheng.'

'I think Lin Qingning would write Pei Xu. His gaze toward Pei Xu has always been complicated—like his reason tells him to stay away, but his emotions won't listen. Today he was the one who went over to press Pei Xu's legs.'

After some discussion, the general consensus was that he liked Pei Xu the most.

'Hu Ying... she's got a bit of a player vibe, and she fits with everyone. She was closer to Yan Zhi before, now she's closer to Zhai Xingchen.'

Still, everyone thought she liked Yan Zhi the most—after all, her arrow toward Yan Zhi before was so thick that everyone could see it.

Next came the main event—the two that gave them the biggest headache.

Pei Xu and Zhai Xingchen.

One was cold to everyone, and even the line between him and Zhai Xingchen was just the Production Team's guess—unconfirmed.

The other was nice to everyone, like he could pick anyone.

'Pei Xu probably likes Zhai Xingchen. He even went to the Dance School, even though it was just chatting, nothing ambiguous.'

'I also think it's Zhai Xingchen. Someone that cold actually going to Zhongwu Academy on his own—that says a lot.'

'Definitely Zhai Xingchen. Not that he's necessarily interested in Zhai Xingchen, but out of the other seven guests, if he had to pick one, he wouldn't even have to think—Zhai Xingchen, no question.'

That got everyone weirdly fired up.

Right. Pei Xu was either going solo, picking no one, or—if he picked anyone—it could only be Zhai Xingchen.

'Here's the hardest one.' Guo Bing circled Zhai Xingchen's name.

That name was already surrounded by arrows.

'Who will he pick for tomorrow's date?'

'That one's not hard, right? I think he'll pick Duan Yihua. Since he sent that first-episode text to Duan Yihua, he hasn't had a chance to get to know him better.'

'I think he'll pick Hu Ying. Don't you think that first-episode text to Duan Yihua was kind of random? She and Duan Yihua had zero flirty interaction, no spark between them.'

'I also think he'll send it to Hu Ying. She and Hu Ying looked so in sync just now.'

Guo Bing drew Zhai Xingchen's line over to Hu Ying.

The group put down their chopsticks and stared at the connections on the board.

Guo Bing tossed the marker down. 'Not a single mutual arrow!'

'What makes Love Variety Shows eye-catching is the love battlefield—multiple people fighting over one. It's just getting started. Locking in a CP too early isn't necessarily a good thing!'

'The key is a lot of people still haven't seen Zhai Xingchen dance. Once they do, who knows what'll happen—especially Huo Cheng!'

'Right, the big move hasn't been played yet!'

Zhai Xingchen thought for a moment.

He decided to invite Hu Ying.

The reason he made this choice was that among the four Red-side Ten Thousand Admirers candidates, he felt Hu Ying was the easiest to make a breakthrough with.

Plus, the two of them had the best relationship—more and more like close girlfriends.

After writing the invitation card, the next step was getting it into Hu Ying's hands without being obvious about it.

Zhai Xingchen thought for a moment and came up with a good idea.

The Rose Flower he bought hasn't been delivered to their respective rooms yet.

So he used the flower delivery as an excuse to go upstairs.

Duan Yihua and Lin Qingning were chatting in the living room. When they saw Zhai Xingchen come up, Duan Yihua smiled and asked, 'You guys done with the massage?'

Zhai Xingchen nodded. He split off part of the flowers for them and asked, 'Where's Hu Ying?'

'Just went back to her room.'

Perfect timing.

Zhai Xingchen knocked on Hu Ying's door and heard Hu Ying say from inside, 'Come in.'

He pushed the door open and found Hu Ying applying a face mask.

Hu Ying laughed when she saw the roses in her arms, then asked quietly, 'Did you give some to Duan-ge?'

As a good friend, of course she had to help Zhai Xingchen out.

Friendship on Love Variety Shows can sometimes be warmer and more touching than romance.

Helping each other out, standing together—no spark between them, no competition either.

'Just gave him some,' Zhai Xingchen said.

Hu Ying peeled off the face mask, smiled, and bent down to smell the roses in her arms. 'They smell amazing.'

'There's a card inside,' Zhai Xingchen said.

Hu Ying froze for a second, picked up the card and looked at it, then looked up at Zhai Xingchen after reading.

Because the camera was rolling, she only let herself show a surprised expression, then raised an eyebrow.

'See you tomorrow,' Zhai Xingchen said. 'I'm gonna go deliver the rest.'

Saying that, Zhai Xingchen left Hu Ying's room and headed to Wen Nu's room.

But Wen Nu wasn't in his room.

So he went downstairs to look and found Wen Nu alone in the kitchen, wiping down the sink.

He was thin and slight, not very tall, and for some reason, his back alone in the kitchen looked lost and pitiful.

'Wen Nu.'

Wen Nu turned to look at him and straightened up.

'I just put the roses on your desk,' he said.

Wen Nu nodded.

'We already wiped everything down once. You don't have to do it again.'

'I'm free anyway,' Wen Nu said.

'Aren't Duan-ge and the others chatting upstairs? Why aren't you with them?'

After asking, Zhai Xingchen felt a bit of regret—he was sure Wen Nu had come down because he couldn't connect with Duan Yihua and the others.

A wave of tenderness rose in him. 'Actually, you're here, that's perfect. Help me deliver the flowers to Huo-ge and Yan-ge and the others.'

Wen Nu blinked. 'Aren't you gonna deliver them yourself?'

'I need to use the bathroom. Help me out.' Saying that, Zhai Xingchen handed him the roses.

Wen Nu's heart warmed—he knew Zhai Xingchen was looking out for him.

On a Love Variety Show, him alone in the kitchen wiping this and that—he found it pretty ridiculous himself. But Duan Yihua and Lin Qingning were nice people, sure, but their conversations were way too highbrow for him. He could only sit there listening like an idiot, and it wasn't comfortable.

With Zhai Xingchen, he felt most at ease.

He sent the roses over to Huo Cheng and Yan Zhi's side.

Zhai Xingchen went back to his room and headed straight for the bathroom.

He pushed the door open and found Pei Xu inside.

Pei Xu had apparently just finished showering and was drying himself off with a towel, head down.

Holy shit.

Zhai Xingchen felt like his whole body had been scalded. He quickly shut the door and pulled back out.

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit—what the hell.

How does Pei Xu end up looking like that after a shower.

But that's not the point.

The point is, this Jinjiang male lead is way too well-equipped, isn't he!

When it was dormant it was already a sight to behold, but once it woke up it was absolutely earth-shattering.

He raised his hand and looked at his own slender, pale wrist.

Ah.

Feeling inadequate.

Zhai Xingchen stood there in a daze for a while. He was genuinely shaken—he didn't even know what to say.

Just then, Wen Nu suddenly walked in.

"There's still one bouquet here—is it for Pei-ge?" Wen Nu asked.

Zhai Xingchen cleared his throat. "Yeah, he's showering. Give it to him in a bit."

Zhai Xingchen waved him over, into his room.

He didn't know why Pei Xu was like that after the massage, but he figured Pei Xu could use some space right now.

Wen Nu glanced toward the bathroom and thought, why is everyone showering at this hour?

When he went to Yan Zhi's room, Yan Zhi was showering.

When he went to Huo Cheng's room, Huo Cheng had just finished showering too.

And now even Pei Xu was showering.

He was heading toward Zhai Xingchen's bedroom when Zhai Xingchen suddenly walked over to the camera in the small living room, picked up the piece of clothing Pei Xu often used to cover the camera, and covered it up.

The Production Team next door sat up straight immediately. "Truly, he who handles cinnabar gets stained red, he who handles ink gets stained black—when did Zhai Xingchen learn Young Master Pei's tricks!"

"Fine, he covered it, but is there a reason? Why cover it? What happened in the bathroom just now?"

"I keep feeling like Zhai Xingchen's expression is weird."

They figured Zhai Xingchen had walked in and caught Pei Xu showering, so he hurried back out.

Pei Xu glanced at the mirror. Steam still clung to the glass, the reflection wasn't clear, but he could still see his own flushed face.

His black-and-white distinct eyes seemed to have taken on a tinge of red.

He honestly didn't know what was going on with himself. His mind was completely blank right now, not a single thought, but his body was still numbly stuck in this state after the shower—no matter what he did, he couldn't return to normal. Maybe he'd been frozen for over twenty years and his vital essence was just too abundant.

He wondered what Zhai Xingchen would think of him.

He reached up and wiped the steam off the mirror, revealing his strikingly handsome face. That cold face seemed to have been thoroughly steamed through by the hot water. The features were still those same cool, aloof features, but the feeling they gave off had completely changed.

Once inside Zhai Xingchen's room, Wen Nu was at a loss, forgetting to even put down the roses in his hands.

"Sit," Zhai Xingchen said.

Wen Nu sat down holding the roses and pressed his lips together.

Zhai Xingchen's room smelled like Zhai Xingchen. Faint, but nice.

Zhai Xingchen picked up the mineral water on the table, unscrewed it, took a couple sips, then turned to look at Wen Nu. Seeing how lost Wen Nu looked, his heart sank.

"Teach me how to make a cake tomorrow. I heard it's trendy online lately, making cakes at home." Zhai Xingchen said. "Show me the basics first, then we'll make one together tomorrow."

Wen Nu nodded.

Finally, something he could contribute.

Actually, apart from the first day moving into the Red and Blue cabin when he was excited, Wen Nu quickly noticed how marginal he was. The feeling of not fitting in with this show grew stronger and stronger. He didn't have Zhai Xingchen's sunny, confident personality either—tied up in knots, stuck in an awkward position the whole time.

For someone with his personality, showing such an embarrassed, lonely side on camera was unbearably shameful. He'd been anxious these past two days.

So Wen Nu was actually quite moved by Zhai Xingchen's kindness. His eyes were red. He smiled at Zhai Xingchen.

Seeing him smile like that, Zhai Xingchen lowered his voice and said, "You feel like filming this show is pretty rough, right?"

Wen Nu nodded, then smiled sheepishly. But that smile broke his own defenses first—his eyes went moist. Embarrassed at crying in front of the camera, he lowered his head, looking lost.

Zhai Xingchen spoke to Wen Nu in a voice the Production Team could barely hear. He was good at comforting people—he'd put himself and the other person together, liked using 'we' and 'us.'

The two of them were the only real civilians in the Red and Blue cabin anyway.

He told Wen Nu not to be nervous, said that as long as they didn't mess up or make the audience dislike them, that was a victory for people like them—the filler cast.

He told him not to be afraid either, said there'd always be audience members who liked his type.

He assured Wen Nu that maybe not many people would like him, but no one would dislike him for sure.

"See, if you think about it that way, every extra person who likes us, we're winning, right? The Red and Blue Signal has a huge audience. A million viewers—even if only one percent like us, that's ten thousand people. You're great. You just have to be yourself and plenty of people will like you. Don't believe me? Just wait and see."

Wen Nu shook his head and smiled. "I'm not that great."

But he felt Zhai Xingchen was being sincere—Zhai Xingchen really did think he was great.

Zhai Xingchen was the sun this show had given him. With him shining down, even if only a sliver of warmth reached him, he wasn't cold anymore.

He didn't know why, but the moment that thought surfaced, he wanted to cry even more.

No reason at all.

Like feelings can't be controlled. Some tears are destined to fall, some people you admire are destined to be out of your reach.

He accidentally crushed the roses in his arms. A few petals fell, stained with his tears.

He was embarrassed, didn't know why he was crying so hard.

Maybe being a regular person on TV, the pressure was just too much.

Scared, lost, anxious—afraid of being left over, of his situation being awkward, of performing badly and getting flamed online.

Zhai Xingchen was about to comfort him a bit more when he suddenly saw Pei Xu walk past his doorway in his pajamas, glancing inside.

Their eyes met. A little awkward.

"Pei-ge." Zhai Xingchen called out. "Hold on a sec."

Wen Nu realized what he was about to say and immediately stood up—then looked down at the roses in his arms, all crushed from earlier.

Zhai Xingchen grabbed two from his own table, walked to the door, and held them out. "Um, I bought some roses. Want them?"

Pei Xu looked at the roses in Zhai Xingchen's hand.

At this moment the Production Team next door was going crazy. Too bad the living room camera was covered—and Pei Xu was standing outside the bedroom, so the bedroom camera couldn't catch his face!

From the moment they'd put Zhai Xingchen up to buying the flowers, they'd been waiting for this moment!

Especially after Pei Xu had seen through the Production Team's intentions, his choice to accept or reject carried even greater significance!

"Ahhhhh, we can't even capture such a crucial shot!"

"Will Pei Xu play favorites? Will he take them!"

Then they stared at the monitor, waiting anxiously, holding their breath, afraid of missing a single word.

Then they saw a pale, slender hand reach out.

They heard the sound of spring rain falling, of all things coming back to life.

They heard Pei Xu say, "Thank you."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The Production Team erupted.