35

They kept Live Streaming until the Dance School gate. Zhai Xingchen handed the Live Streaming phone to a staff member and got into Huo Cheng's car.

The staff stood nearby, watching them file into their cars, and said to the livestream viewers: 'That's it for today's stream. See you in the main episode, Friday night. Don't be late.'

[Ahhhh, that's it? I haven't seen enough yet!]

[Cutting off here? I refuse! Keep streaming!]

[I just started smiling like a proud auntie and you're ending it? We're not picky, we'll watch anything, just sitting on the side watching them drink is fine!]

Guo Bing smiled as he watched the bullet comments.

Perfect. This was exactly the effect he wanted. The whole point of the livestream was to whet their appetites.

When it came to building suspense, no other director could touch him, Guo Bing!

He was about to close his phone when he suddenly saw two bullet comments:

[The vibe just now was so good, feels like everyone gets along so well!]

[Yes yes yes, I also feel like this season's guests have such great chemistry, so harmonious and warm!]

Harmonious?

Guo Bing thought, he hadn't seen any harmony. All he'd seen was undercurrents everywhere!

'Are we all driving?' Hu Ying suddenly asked.

See? There it is—the undercurrent!

Huo Cheng was about to get in the car and turned back to look at Hu Ying when he heard that.

Hu Ying said: 'We're drinking later anyway, so we can't drive. I'll just not drive.'

Saying that, she also got into Huo Cheng's car.

Huo Cheng froze for a second, and the smile faded from his face.

Shit.

He was actually a pretty easygoing guy. Even when things annoyed him, he could still smile. But just now, watching Zhai Xingchen get into his car, thinking they'd be alone together, he'd been ecstatic, running through all kinds of happy thoughts, his heart bubbling over with joy—who would've thought Hu Ying would suddenly pop up.

A lump of frustration lodged in his chest.

He looked at the rest of them. Under the streetlight, Yan Zhi and the others stood in the rain holding umbrellas, each one more handsome and tall than the last.

The thought that some of these people might be his rivals made Huo Cheng jumpy at every sound.

'Hu Ying has a point. If we're not parking here, we'll have to park outside the bar, but one car won't fit everyone. We'll need to drive a second one,' Lin Qingning said.

He actually didn't know why Hu Ying had gotten into Huo Cheng's car.

Huo Cheng was interested in Zhai Xingchen, and he felt Hu Ying had figured that out early on—Huo Cheng had been pretty obvious about it.

Tonight's Zhai Xingchen was truly dazzling. Huo Cheng must be full of love's fire right now.

But Hu Ying and Zhai Xingchen had always been the closest of the eight of them. Maybe after watching Zhai Xingchen's performance, Hu Ying was also excited and wanted to chat with him more.

He could only offer Huo Cheng his sympathy.

Yan Zhi and Pei Xu both supported Hu Ying's idea.

'Then let's take two cars,' Yan Zhi said.

'I'll drive,' Pei Xu said. 'I'm not drinking tonight.'

Both their expressions were calm, but Hu Ying's move secretly pleased them both.

Compared to Huo Cheng, though, Hu Ying the little vixen wasn't much better.

But at least no one was alone with Zhai Xingchen.

Duan Yihua and Wen Nuo got into Huo Cheng's car. Pei Xu, Lin Qingning, and Yan Zhi took the other one.

The atmosphere in Pei Xu's car was silent.

So silent it was almost awkward.

None of the three were talkative, none of them were lively.

Relatively speaking, Lin Qingning was the most outgoing.

So Lin Qingning took the initiative to break the silence: 'Xingchen and their performance today was really amazing.'

Well, he could only come up with this kind of boring small talk.

They'd just watched Zhai Xingchen's performance. If they weren't going to talk about Zhai Xingchen, what else was there?

He didn't expect Yan Zhi and Pei Xu to respond. They both just 'mm'ed.

Lin Qingning took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

'Yan Zhi, this isn't your first time seeing Xingchen dance, right?' he asked with a smile, turning back. 'Didn't you say when you first arrived that you'd seen him dance the first time you met him?'

Yan Zhi 'mm'ed again.

'So which do you think was better—last time or this time?'

'Both were great,' Yan Zhi said.

Great.

Lin Qingning didn't know how to continue. He felt his question had been stupid too.

Right then, he realized the value of having Hu Ying and Zhai Xingchen around.

With them there, he didn't have to think of topics.

So he glanced at the Audi ahead.

The other car must be pretty lively right now.

The atmosphere in Huo Cheng's car was extremely lively.

But Huo Cheng didn't see it as 'lively'—he saw it as 'noisy.'

He frowned slightly.

Zhai Xingchen sat in the passenger seat, and Hu Ying sat right behind him, leaning on the seatback, chattering nonstop.

'This morning I almost blew it, you know? The director told us to keep it secret, said they wanted to surprise you. I couldn't hold it in, almost spilled, but luckily I held back at the last second. So? Were you surprised tonight? What was your reaction when you first saw us?'

Zhai Xingchen said: 'Actually I guessed the production team would come film before I went on stage, because I participated in the Final Exam last year too, and it wasn't that big a deal. This time our school leaders all came, and I could see more camera positions on stage. But I didn't expect you all to come watch the performance and even do a livestream.'

'The director said he was afraid you'd be nervous if you knew,' Duan Yihua said, looking at Zhai Xingchen.

Zhai Xingchen smiled at him. The car interior was dark, with only the streetlight filtering through the window. Zhai Xingchen's face in the dim night looked young and handsome: 'Then I really owe it to the director for not telling me in advance. If I'd known it was a livestream, I definitely would've been nervous.'

He finished with a bright, radiant smile.

Duan Yihua sat in the back seat, quietly watching Zhai Xingchen.

He used to think Zhai Xingchen's liveliness was the same type as Hu Ying's, but today he realized that even though both were cheerful, Zhai Xingchen and Hu Ying were completely different.

Hu Ying was like fire. He was like light.

'You really danced so well today,' Hu Ying said. 'Every single one of us was amazed, stunned, and shocked out of our minds.'

Huo Cheng said: 'You're quite the idiom expert.'

Wen Nuo said: 'Xingchen really danced wonderfully today. I think among all the performances, their dance was the best, and among all the dancers, Xingchen left the deepest impression on me.'

Zhongwu Academy was full of talent, countless handsome guys and beauties, but now looking back after watching, only Zhai Xingchen shone brightly in his mind.

Hu Ying immediately said: 'See? Even Xiao Nuo said so, and he doesn't say empty words.'

Zhai Xingchen stretched out both arms and said: 'If you keep praising me I'm going to float away. Good thing the seatbelt's holding me down.'

This time even Huo Cheng laughed.

He smiled and glanced at Zhai Xingchen in the passenger seat. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were greedy.

He really liked him.

What a great personality.

Good person, even better personality. Just looking at him made his heart sweet.

Zhai Xingchen on stage was dazzling like a star in the sky, with a dreamy quality. But now he was right here beside him, back in the human world, and the lingering impact of that dance was slowly washing over him.

Looking at Zhai Xingchen again, he felt he was different from before.

Huo Cheng couldn't say what was different. It was clearly the same face, the same personality, but now looking at Zhai Xingchen again, watching his every smile and frown, joy sizzled up from his heart. He didn't know why, but just seeing him made him unbearably happy, unbearably itchy.

Huo Cheng's friend's bar was called 'Nightfire Bar,' very famous in South City. When they heard a production team was coming, the owner personally came out with people to greet them.

Recently several new bars had opened in South City, seriously hurting their business. Being on TV was free advertising for them.

The group got out of the cars. Including the production team, there were over twenty of them—a huge crowd. The owner gave them the bar's most luxurious private room.

'Which one do you like?' the owner asked Huo Cheng with a smile.

Huo Cheng said, quite pleased with himself: 'The one with the best smile.'

The owner looked at the remaining guests, and finally his gaze landed on Zhai Xingchen.

They were all good-looking, each one more beautiful than a male celebrity, but when it came to the best smile, it was still the one in jeans and a white shirt.

So clean, so sunny, and his looks were top-tier even among this group.

'Good taste,' the owner clapped his shoulder. 'I'm rooting for you.'

After saying that, he couldn't help glancing at Hu Ying.

His taste was different from Huo Cheng's—he liked the glamorous queen type.

So alluring.

After entering the private room, Zhai Xingchen's first move was to go to the bathroom and wash his face, removing all his stage makeup.

He was in the middle of washing when someone pushed the door open and came in.

It was Yan Zhi.

Yan Zhi didn't head for the toilet inside, but came to the sink area too, turned on another faucet, and rinsed his hands.

Zhai Xingchen glanced at the mirror and saw Yan Zhi's eyes fixed on him through the mirror. His glasses, under the direct white light above, gave off a faint reddish gleam.

'Why'd you wash it off?' Yan Zhi asked.

Zhai Xingchen straightened up with a smile and said: 'Stage makeup was too heavy.'

'It looked good.'

Zhai Xingchen turned to look at him.

Yan Zhi said: 'But you look good without it too.'

Zhai Xingchen had returned to his bare-faced self. But his skin was so good—smooth and fair, not a single visible pore. Without the stage glamour, his eyes actually looked brighter. Yan Zhi had never seen someone with such good complexion.

He seemed to give off a fresh scent all over, his bangs damp, dark, and soft.

A door separated the two of them in the bathroom, like a private world cut off from everyone else.

Yan Zhi looked at Zhai Xingchen and laughed softly.

Zhai Xingchen wiped his face with a disposable tissue. When he was about to throw it away, Yan Zhi reached out and said: 'Give it to me.'

'I already used it.'

'I'll wipe my hands.'

'Don't you have a thing about germs?'

'Is it dirty?'

'It's not dirty, no.'

Yan Zhi took it and wiped his hands: 'Let's go.'

Zhai Xingchen turned to head out. Yan Zhi seemed about to throw away the used tissue, but when Zhai Xingchen wasn't looking, his fingers curled slightly, and he tucked the tissue into his pocket.

As soon as they came out, they saw Wen Nuo and Lin Qingning gathered around Hu Ying watching a video.

The earlier livestream clips had already started spreading online. Hu Ying had somehow found Zhai Xingchen's Prince of Lanling dance, and when she saw them come out, she immediately picked up her phone to read him the bullet comments.

'How many times are you going to watch it?' Zhai Xingchen said. 'Stop reading me the bullet comments, I'm embarrassed.'

He hadn't danced that well. Some of the praise he really didn't deserve.

'One last billion times!' Hu Ying said, laughing with her phone.

'Let's order some food,' Zhai Xingchen said. 'I skipped dinner today because of the performance.'

'Does this bar have food?' Duan Yihua asked.

'Yes!' Huo Cheng said, standing up. 'What do you want to eat?'

Zhai Xingchen said: 'Anything that fills me up is fine.'

He looked at Hu Ying and the others as he said this: 'Are you guys eating?'

'Bars don't have much good food, right? I want barbecue,' Hu Ying said. 'I know a super famous barbecue place nearby. I'll order some and have them deliver. Late-night snacks should be junk food, right? What does everyone want?'

'I want crawfish,' Zhai Xingchen said.

'Done!'

Their private room was getting noisy. Hu Ying stood up to make a call, but no sooner had she left than Huo Cheng took her seat.

When they first arrived at the private room, Huo Cheng had been the last to come in because he was catching up with his friend. By the time he came in, there was no seat left next to Zhai Xingchen.

"Drink up tonight if you can!" Huo Cheng said, then turned to the staff at the next table. "Don't just focus on filming. Tonight's on me—plenty of the good stuff."

No way the staff would drink with them—tonight was the main event.

Especially since the guests would be briefly separated tomorrow, and with the Final Exam Performance tonight as a huge trigger, something was bound to happen!

But with twenty or thirty staff members total, Guo Bing felt that was too many—it would affect how the guests performed.

Their show was all about authenticity.

After discussing with the guests, they set up a bunch of cameras in the private room. In the end, only two cameramen stayed; everyone else moved next door.

Now all the guests were sitting on the red sofa. Pei Xu sat at one end, Duan Yihua at the other.

These two were unusually restrained.

But their reasons for holding back weren't the same.

Duan Yihua was embarrassed.

When his feelings burned hottest, that's exactly when shame hit hardest. He'd hit a crossroads now—push through and he'd explode; hold back and he'd snap right back into being that composed, dignified grown-up.

Not knowing what to do, he just kept drinking, one sip after another.

He wasn't much of a drinker and didn't really like alcohol—everything was either too bitter or too spicy.

But that unpleasant taste actually eased the anxiety in his chest.

Pei Xu, on the other hand, was the most level-headed one right now.

Tonight everyone had lost it.

He'd seen this coming.

In moments like this, people like Hu Ying and Huo Cheng had the natural advantage. If you pushed yourself forward, you might end up right in front of them without a clue what to say—staying calm was what mattered.

Same logic as playing the stock market—when everyone else is going crazy, you need to keep your head.

Luckily, he could hold steady.

He lounged lazily on the sofa, scrolling his phone, thinking quietly to himself.

Then he heard a voice that sent goosebumps all over him.

"Pei-ge."

Pei Xu's heartbeat went haywire. He looked up and found Zhai Xingchen standing in front of him—when had he gotten there?

He put down his phone and sat up a little stiffly. "Yeah?"

"You gonna eat something? You're not drinking, you're not hanging out with everyone..." Zhai Xingchen said.

He was really running himself ragged worrying about this Jinjiang male lead!

"I can't hold my liquor. I'm driving back later," Pei Xu said.

He glanced over at Huo Cheng's side and noticed the food Hu Ying had ordered had arrived—seven or eight bags of barbecue. Yan Zhi and the others were helping unpack it, and the whole table was already covered.

He looked up at Zhai Xingchen again, meeting those bright eyes.

"Then I'll grab some food," he said.

Zhai Xingchen patted his shoulder.

Pei Xu suddenly felt like he was getting special treatment.

Zhai Xingchen did care about him after all—he'd been paying attention to what he was doing.

He had to admit, all that "level-headedness" from earlier was partly just self-comfort.

He was like a neglected kid—one piece of candy and he was happy.

He followed Zhai Xingchen to the table.

But Zhai Xingchen walked straight toward Duan Yihua.

"Duan-ge," he heard Zhai Xingchen call.

Pei Xu: "..."

Fine. He'd been reading too much into it.

Duan Yihua had accidentally drunk too much.

Not drunk exactly, but his head was foggy.

Wen Nu was handing him water beside him.

Seeing Zhai Xingchen walk toward him, Duan Yihua set down his glass, leaned back into the sofa, and smiled at Zhai Xingchen.

He wasn't sure if he'd heard what Zhai Xingchen said or not. He waved a hand, pulled his baseball cap down over his face.

"Let Duan-ge rest a bit," Wen Nu said. "He probably had too much to drink."

Hu Ying whipped around at that. "Duan-ge had too much?"

She was shocked.

Because Duan Yihua was absolutely true to his name—the most dignified and generous of all of them. Everything he ate, drank, said, did was measured and proper.

Hu Ying took off her jacket and handed it to Zhai Xingchen.

Zhai Xingchen draped it over Duan Yihua.

But that gesture broke through Duan Yihua's last wall.

He lost control in an instant. Years of bottled-up composure came crashing down like a flood. He pushed up his cap, looked at Zhai Xingchen with burning eyes, and grabbed his arm.

His face was flushed red.

Zhai Xingchen called out, "Duan-ge?"

Duan Yihua couldn't make a sound. The alcohol was burning his throat—he was parched.

He was still thinking about all the cameras in the room.

All of this was being filmed right now.

He let go of Zhai Xingchen's arm.

Zhai Xingchen was startled.

The way Duan Yihua had looked at him just now—so intense.

Had he actually seen love in those eyes?

Why?

Zhai Xingchen was a bit dazed.

He felt he'd been pretty restrained around Duan Yihua. In the original novel, Zhai Xingchen was a total simp—he'd thrown himself at Duan Yihua hard, and Duan Yihua hadn't batted an eye, just treated him like a little brother.

And he himself had barely interacted with Duan Yihua beyond sending that first-day "heart-flutter" text.

Was it just because of his dance tonight?

The Production Team next door was losing their minds.

"Holy shit, Duan-ge's eyes!!!"

"He can make that face too? It feels so... so sexy..."

"Today's dance really paid off!"

"Duan Yihua's sex appeal is so good—that kind of good-man sexiness."

On camera, his handsome face was flushed red, with that restrained, mature-man sexiness.

"Xingchen, come get some barbecue! Weren't you just saying you were starving?" Hu Ying called out.

Zhai Xingchen went over to eat.

Sigh. The barbecue in his hand didn't even taste good anymore.

He kept glancing at Duan Yihua.

Hu Ying noticed and looked at Duan Yihua too.

What had Duan Yihua said while grabbing Zhai Xingchen's arm?

She knew Zhai Xingchen liked Duan Yihua.

She'd even been playing matchmaker for them.

Hu Ying couldn't quite name what she was feeling right now.

Wasn't this what she'd been hoping for?

Now that Zhai Xingchen and Duan Yihua were making progress, she should be happy.

She should also try harder—to take things further with Yan Zhi.

So she glanced at Yan Zhi across from her.

Yan Zhi, in his gold-rimmed glasses, sleeves rolled up, was peeling shrimp.

A germaphobe like him, peeling shrimp now—and not eating any himself, just piling the white meat to the side.

"Anyone want some?" Yan Zhi held up the plate of peeled shrimp.

"You're not eating any yourself?" Hu Ying asked.

"I don't really eat shrimp," Yan Zhi said.

He doesn't even eat them but still peeled them for everyone—such a nice guy.

Hu Ying reached out and took one.

Yan Zhi offered the plate to Wen Nu, who shook his head. "I can't handle spicy food."

Lin Qingning shook his head too—none of them could handle spicy.

Yan Zhi held the plate out to Zhai Xingchen.

Zhai Xingchen took one, and Yan Zhi set the plate right in front of him.

Huo Cheng watched silently.

He thought Yan Zhi's moves were the slickest of anyone in this group.

The guy really knew how to do these little things.

Huo Cheng took a swig of beer, thinking he wasn't attentive enough—he hadn't even noticed Zhai Xingchen liked shrimp, or he would've peeled some too.

But Zhai Xingchen's mind wasn't on the crawfish. Gloves on, eating as he thought—was his dance just too cool?

Was it?

Honestly, if the Love Variety Show had arranged a charm-showcasing segment for each guest, then no doubt the Production Team had called everyone here today just to give him a chance to shine.

Maybe he'd just been too dazzling today.

And his dance had been too dominant.

No, he needed to get back into "bestie" territory.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Duan Yihua wobble to his feet and sit down next to Wen Nu.

"Duan-ge, what do you want to eat?" Wen Nu asked.

"I'm not eating. I'll just watch you guys," Duan Yihua said.

His words still carried that tipsy slur.

Zhai Xingchen couldn't help glancing at Duan Yihua—and their eyes met.

Zhai Xingchen felt the crawfish really had lost all its flavor.

He thought for a moment, then had a great idea.

He wiped his mouth, pulled off his gloves, and asked, "You guys didn't get enough of my dancing today, right?"

The moment he said that, Hu Ying—who was eating a lamb skewer—sat up straight. "What do you mean? You're gonna dance for us?"

"I'll do a dance I'm actually best at," Zhai Xingchen said. "The Prince of Lanling today wasn't really my style."

"You can dance even better?" Huo Cheng asked, his face flushed from drinking.

Zhai Xingchen gave a mysterious smile, glanced at Duan Yihua, then said, "Watch me!"

There was a karaoke machine in the room playing light music. He walked over to it, thought carefully, ran through every song in his head, took forever to pick.

"What style are you gonna dance?" Hu Ying asked.

Zhai Xingchen smiled and finally picked a song.

When the music started, Hu Ying froze for a second—then once she realized what song it was, she cracked up.

"Oh, I know this song!"

Wen Nu said shyly, "I know this song too..."

Only Duan Yihua and Pei Xu didn't know it.

Pei Xu frowned slightly.

He had a feeling this wasn't a good song.

"What song?" Huo Cheng asked Wen Nu, eyes blank.