Surprise Bonus Chapter

Ting li ting qi—usually means fair-skinned, dignified-looking handsome guys who could pass for provincial-level government officials, the glasses-wearing type.

The second they saw him in person, something subtle shifted in every face in the room.

Zhai Xingchen was buzzing.

Yan Zhi!

The most magnetic haitang-type male lead in the whole story! Gentleman on the outside, beast underneath, sexual tension cranked to the max!

A Love Variety Show isn't like a TV drama — there's rarely any super dramatic plot, so the real meat is in the micro-expressions and tiny shots. He couldn't help sneaking glances at the other guests out of the corner of his eye.

All four guests had looks of pure amazement. Duan Yihua, normally so poised, seemed almost flustered, kept pressing her lips together. Hu Ying stepped back half a pace and blurted out, 'So handsome.'

'Hello.' He looked at them, radiating gentlemanly asceticism—calm, warm, every inch of him, suitcase included, giving off this almost obsessive neatness and cleanliness. 'I'm Yan Zhi.'

Zhai Xingchen glanced at Pei Xu and Huo Cheng.

Huo Cheng was always careful about his on-camera face, still smiling, but his nostrils flared—clearly on guard now. His eyes flicked between Yan Zhi and the four red-team guests, and once he caught their excitement and awe, the smile on his lips visibly dimmed.

Pei Xu's expression went straight to serious.

The instinctive look of a male animal running into a worthy rival.

Oh, this is good.

He could already picture the edited episode—heart-flutter music swelling underneath, how romantic and electric it would look. Best to give every single one of them a close-up of their expressions!

Zhai Xingchen let out a soft laugh without meaning to. That laugh made both Pei Xu and Huo Cheng turn toward him. Pei Xu pressed his thin lips together. Huo Cheng grinned along with him.

'Just set your stuff down over there,' Duan Yihua said.

'Have you eaten?' Hu Ying asked.

Yan Zhi shook his head.

'Perfect, we're eating right now,' Hu Ying said.

'I'll grab bowls and chopsticks,' Wen Nu said.

Lin Qingning said, 'Have a seat first, the chair—'

He glanced around. Huo Cheng volunteered to bring over another chair.

'Thanks,' Yan Zhi said.

'Sit,' Huo Cheng said.

'I'd like to use the bathroom first,' Yan Zhi said, a little stiff.

'Let me show you the room first,' Huo Cheng said with a smile. 'We share one.'

Yan Zhi nodded, glanced around at everyone, and his gaze finally landed on Zhai Xingchen's face and lingered.

Zhai Xingchen smiled at him.

Yan Zhi nodded and followed Huo Cheng to their room, suitcase in hand.

Zhai Xingchen grinned at Hu Ying and the others. 'Big handsome guy.'

'Yeah, damn he's hot,' Hu Ying said, eyes burning.

'First time seeing him in person. Didn't think he'd be even better-looking than on TV,' Lin Qingning said.

Wen Nu and Duan Yihua set Yan Zhi's plate down on the table.

Yan Zhi was like a stone dropped into a lake—ripples everywhere in an instant.

The whole dining room vibe shifted on the spot. The love show feeling was suddenly, unmistakably real.

Zhai Xingchen couldn't stop grinning. 'Oh right, the wine glasses!'

He jumped up excitedly to grab the wine glasses, full of pumped-up energy.

Pei Xu sipped his wine, elbow on the table, long fingers wrapped around the glass, gave it a gentle swirl. He looked up to find Lin Qingning smiling at him with a teasing glint in his eye. Pei Xu arched one dark brow, his features looking sharper, more striking.

Huo Cheng came out first after a bit, pulled out a chair and sat down, glancing around at the others.

A bit later, Yan Zhi came out of the room too.

His seat was right next to Zhai Xingchen.

'You're a bit late, we've already eaten a lot of the food,' Duan Yihua said.

'It's fine, I'll just have a little,' Yan Zhi said.

'Noodles or rice?'

'Noodles.'

Hu Ying immediately stood up, served Yan Zhi a bowl of noodles herself, and handed it to him.

What an aggressive beauty. Getting the upper hand early in a love show is crucial. Well played!

Yan Zhi looked around at everyone. His gaze was still as deep water, but his smile was a little shy. 'Stop all staring at me like that, I'll get embarrassed.'

Everyone laughed.

Yan Zhi looked at Zhai Xingchen. 'Zhongwu Academy?'

Zhai Xingchen blinked. 'How'd you know?'

'You two know each other?' Huo Cheng asked.

'No way. If I knew him I'd definitely remember. He's that big a deal,' Zhai Xingchen said.

Everyone turned to look at Yan Zhi.

Yan Zhi smiled. Wen Nu, sitting across from him, turned red all the way to his ears and couldn't bring himself to look again.

'He's the campus heartthrob at Zhongwu Academy,' Yan Zhi said.

That made even Zhai Xingchen curious. He looked at Yan Zhi, who smiled back at him, warm and gentlemanly.

"My younger sister goes to Zhongwu Academy — I've been to their Dance School and was lucky enough to see him once," Yan Zhi said.

His tone was unhurried, easy on the ears. Shyness and steadiness—two contradictory qualities—merged in him in this strange, elegant, gentlemanly way.

Huo Cheng took a sip from his glass. Pei Xu's expression stayed grave, brows slightly furrowed, he wiped his lower lip, his sharp jawline catching the light.

'I can't believe I don't remember,' Zhai Xingchen said. 'I must not have seen him, otherwise there's no way I'd forget a guy this good-looking.'

Yan Zhi was gorgeous, had a good temper. Aside from being overly clean-freakish, slow to warm up, and introverted, he had almost no obvious flaws. If Pei Xu was the type every girl liked, and Huo Cheng was the type every guy liked, then Yan Zhi was the type everyone liked.

His arrival gave the Red and Blue House its first flutter of attraction, and threw tonight's first heart-flutter text into serious uncertainty.

Because in the original, Yan Zhi didn't show up until the second stop—he'd been absent for a full seven days.

What to do—the moment Yan Zhi arrived, Pei Xu was instantly out of favor.

Good-looking, good temper, famous, ridiculously capable—basically the perfect man. Most importantly, under that ascetic, clean-freak exterior was an extremely 'fiery' soul. The original spent plenty of ink describing what 'ascetic sexiness' meant, and hinted more than once at his... exceptional gifts.

Yan Zhi even trended once for wearing grey sweatpants out—the bounce was too obvious going down the stairs. Male fans jokingly called him 'Big Bird Bro.'

In short, the author wrote him in a completely different style from the other three male guests. Haitang author confirmed!

He got better treatment than the others too. Like, Huo Cheng can't cook, and netizens say modern men should know how to cook to be a good husband. But Yan Zhi is even more of a life idiot—he doesn't even know how to light a gas stove. Yet netizens all gushed: a god-tier competitor who slays on stage can't even handle the simplest life skill in real life, eek eek, the gap moe is so endearing, I just want to take care of him!

The double standards are unreal.

This stop was different from the other three—the filming location was the city where they all lived and worked, because the Production Team also needed to film them at their jobs and studies. So after dinner everyone hurried out.

'You don't have work, right?' Huo Cheng asked Yan Zhi.

Yan Zhi shook his head. 'No.'

Duan Yihua and the others looked envious. 'Lucky.'

Everyone left almost at the same time. A row of luxury cars sat outside the Red and Blue House. Zhai Xingchen came out with his backpack and saw Yan Zhi sitting in the living room.

'Heading out.' He waved with a smile.

'Zhongwu Academy's pretty far from here. You taking a cab?' Yan Zhi asked.

'There's a bus stop nearby,' Zhai Xingchen said.

'Let me drive you,' Yan Zhi said.

Zhai Xingchen blinked. Yan Zhi grabbed his car keys and stood up. 'Good excuse to drive around, get familiar with the area.'

Zhai Xingchen grinned. 'Thanks then.'

They headed outside together. While changing shoes, Zhai Xingchen glanced back at Yan Zhi. 'Have we really met before?'

'At your school's anniversary last year. I was wearing a mask.'

'That's what I figured. No way I'd forget seeing you in person.'

He pushed the door open and saw Hu Ying flash by in a red supercar. The roar of the engine made Huo Cheng and Duan Yihua both look over involuntarily.

Zhai Xingchen glanced up at the camera. Hu Ying in that red supercar was definitely going to look amazing on screen.

'Zhai Xingchen.'

He turned his head. Pei Xu.

Pei Xu wore a baseball cap, all in black, looking especially sharp and striking.

'Ride with me. I'll take you partway,' Pei Xu said, cool and casual.