—

Half the mountain gone, but the other half was still standing.

Then Wen Nu raised his hand too. He'd also drawn a slip with a picture.

Which meant one of the four remaining people had drawn a room.

A blank didn't guarantee rooming with Zhai Xingchen, but a room meant definitely not rooming with him.

Huo Cheng, the most impatient of them, opened his slip first.

The camera gave him a close-up, and a million viewers caught the moment his eyes lit up.

[Ahhhhhhh!]

[Definitely a blank!]

[A man this MANLY suddenly doing something like that really gets me, tough guy with a soft heart!]

[Oh my, his mouth is about to split open.]

Huo Cheng wrestled his mouth under control, crumpled the slip in his fist, and turned to Yan Zhi beside him. 'Blank.'

Apart from Hu Ying, Yan Zhi was the heavyweight rival.

Yan Zhi glanced at Huo Cheng, his expression even more serious.

The Meteor CP fans were as tense as Yan Zhi himself.

Prayers filled the screen.

The camera gave Yan Zhi a close-up, but his lenses caught the sun and almost hid his eyes. His pale, handsome face didn't move at all. He barely glanced, then folded the slip.

Guo Bing: 'Blank or picture?'

Yan Zhi gave nothing away. 'Blank,' he said, flat.

Huo Cheng's mouth dropped, then he let out a short laugh.

Lin Qingning said, 'I'm blank too.'

Only Duan Yihua and Pei Xu were left unrevealed.

This really had nothing to do with skill. It was all luck.

Duan Yihua and Pei Xu opened their slips almost at the same time.

Both their faces filled the screen.

Duan Yihua was still wrapped up tight, mask and sunglasses covering his whole face. He hadn't even seen the slip yet and was already coughing nervously twice.

While he was coughing, Pei Xu showed his slip to the Production Team.

'Blank,' he said.

Lin Qingning's expression dimmed beside him.

He'd planned to say, if Pei Xu drew a room, he'd volunteer to room with him. Pei Xu's popularity wasn't high right now — if he offered first, probably no one would fight him for it.

Looks like that wasn't happening.

Not getting his way, Lin Qingning felt a burn inside. He glanced at Pei Xu quietly, and his heart only beat harder for him.

This Love Variety Show had woken his greed. Even knowing he'd come away bloody, he still wanted to try.

What if.

'What if' really is a dangerous word.

Duan Yihua beside him opened his slip, glanced, then crumpled it back up. 'Picture.'

[This is getting spicy!]

[So the blanks are Pei Xu, Yan Zhi, Huo Cheng, and Lin Qingning?]

[Lin Qingning isn't gonna get paired with Zhai Xingchen, right? He's the guest with the weakest CP chemistry with Zhai Xingchen.]

[Ning Caichen refuses to accept this!]

[Ning Caichen? Can't even say right now which is more suggestive, him or Rising Sun Star!]

The guests split into two groups.

The four blanks stood together, the four rooms stood together.

Zhai Xingchen and Hu Ying's group huddled up, comparing the pictures they'd drawn.

The second Hu Ying saw what Zhai Xingchen had drawn, her chest went sour — deflated, uneasy. 'Your luck is unreal.'

Zhai Xingchen looked at what Hu Ying had drawn.

The conditions were rough, but hey, this was a Love Variety Show. Rough had its own charm.

Thinking about it as a place where love could grow, the Hotel suite was clearly the worst — zero atmosphere. The farmhouse wasn't bad. The first and third sets had the best and worst conditions, but that actually made them the most likely to spark something.

Because staying in those two cabins, the plot definitely wouldn't stay flat.

'Alright, alright, the four guests who drew rooms, please follow the staff to your houses.'

Zhai Xingchen pushed his luggage and glanced back at Huo Cheng and the others.

Huo Cheng, Pei Xu, and Yan Zhi all fixed their eyes on Zhai Xingchen.

Zhai Xingchen walking with Hu Ying's group was the tallest of them, his white Down Jacket catching the daylight, the wind stirring his Scarf — the hem of it swayed right into their hearts.

They watched the four of them walk away, cold wind cutting through, even the sunlight turning cold.

The sun looked like it was about to set.

'We assign ourselves, right?' Huo Cheng asked Guo Bing.

Guo Bing nodded. 'Right.'

The situation now: they all knew the four rooms' conditions, but not who was in each one.

So on the surface, they were just picking rooms.

But when Zhai Xingchen first opened his slip, he'd asked Guo Bing if he could swap rooms.

He wouldn't ask for no reason — that room was either especially good or especially bad.

But the odds were better on good than bad.

'Everyone speak up — which room do you like?' Huo Cheng offered.

Lin Qingning cleared his throat softly. 'You three pick first. I'll take whatever's left.'

'I like Room 1,' Yan Zhi said.

Huo Cheng asked Pei Xu, face unreadable: 'Xu, what about you?'

'I like Room 1 too,' Pei Xu said.

Yan Zhi glanced at Pei Xu at that.

Huo Cheng had been wavering between Room 1 and Room 3, but the moment Yan Zhi picked Room 1, he figured Zhai Xingchen was most likely in Room 1.

'Looks like everyone likes Room 1. The conditions are good there.'

'Talking won't get us anywhere,' Pei Xu, usually cold, suddenly took the lead. 'Let's set a method. Pick in order.'

Yan Zhi nodded. 'Fine.'

'I'm good with that too,' Huo Cheng said.

Lin Qingning: 'What method?'

'How about push-ups?' Huo Cheng suddenly asked.

[WTF, Huo-ge is bullying people, you're obviously a pro at this.]

[Rock-paper-scissors would be fairer!]

[How is RPS fair? Some people always win at it, some always lose — that's brain vs brain.]

[Push-ups are good to watch, see who does the most! The strongest gets priority!]

[Strongest? I strongly suspect you're being suggestive. The Red and Blue barrage this season really shouldn't be read.]

'We're wearing too many layers, push-ups are kind of inconvenient,' Yan Zhi said. 'Not fair to Qingning either.'

Lin Qingning turned to Pei Xu. 'What do you think?'

Pei Xu said flatly, 'I'm fine with anything.'

Guo Bing didn't want the first Room Assignment to get that intense — gradual was more watchable. Plus, they'd already done a sit-up contest back in South City, and that footage hadn't aired yet. He didn't want repeat content in this Live Streaming.

'Everyone's wearing too much, the ground's freezing, forget push-ups. Keep it simple — rock-paper-scissors.'

The Director had spoken, so Huo Cheng couldn't really argue.

'Bring it,' he said, cracking his knuckles with gusto.

He and Lin Qingning said together: 'Rock, paper… shoot!'

Yan Zhi and Pei Xu just threw their hands, no words.

Four hands came out. Huo Cheng's smile froze.

He was out in the first round.

'Shit.'

Lin Qingning couldn't help a laugh at the sight, but seeing Huo Cheng's face go completely blank, he swallowed it and pressed his lips together.

The Mars CP fans wailed.

Huo Cheng couldn't hide his disappointment, and became even more convinced Zhai Xingchen was in Room 1.

He pinned his last hope on Pei Xu, hoping he'd win.

Lin Qingning is one of the Red Team Guests, and Yan Zhi goes without saying, but only Pei Xu is the safest.

Even if he didn't get anything out of it, he couldn't let Yan Zhi win.

But in the second round of rock-paper-scissors, Yan Zhi beat both Pei Xu and Lin Qingning outright.

Huo Cheng: '...'

His heart went ice-cold.

Lin Qingning smiled. "Yan Zhi picks first."

"I'll take Room 1." Yan Zhi didn't even hesitate.

Meteor CP fans immediately went wild.

[Prayers answered, thank the heavens!]

[Marmot screech! We're gonna see Yan Zhi take his clothes off!]

[Clothes off? Instantly get why Yan Zhi picked Room 1!]

[Asceticism male god is finally going to put on a strip show! We're so hyped!]

[What do I do, just thinking about it makes me blush! Meteor CP fans are really winning big this year!]

[If Yan Zhi shows skin, I'll believe he's in real love!]

Lin Qingning looked at Pei Xu. "Do we still need to go again?"

Pei Xu played him again, and this time Pei Xu won.

"I'll take Room 3," Pei Xu said.

Lin Qingning ended up with Room 2.

Huo Cheng had no choice left—Room 4.

Huo Cheng was in a terrible mood.

No, terrible didn't even cover it.

If it had to be someone, Lin Qingning would've been fine.

But Yan Zhi won in the end!

The second Yan Zhi won, he figured Room 1 was even more likely to be Zhai Xingchen's!

Actually, Pei Xu's mood was even more complicated than Huo Cheng's.

Huo Cheng mainly had to watch out for Yan Zhi. He had to watch out for both of them.

Huo Cheng was too enthusiastic—who knew what he'd do if he roomed with Zhai Xingchen.

Sure, the cameras were rolling 24/7, but Huo Cheng was loud and shameless, and just thinking about him sharing a room with Zhai Xingchen made Pei Xu depressed.

And Yan Zhi—he was smooth, more skilled, a master at getting under your skin. Even more dangerous.

Once the rooms were picked, everyone headed off to their respective places.

Yan Zhi pulled his suitcase and walked the fastest.

But actually, by this point, he was even more nervous.

He didn't want Zhai Xingchen rooming with anyone else.

He didn't want to room with anyone else either—he had a thing about cleanliness.

But if his roommate was Zhai Xingchen, suddenly he didn't have a thing about anything.

He could handle any level of dirty.

Huo Cheng's hotel was the closest—just a few hundred meters, one turn and you're there.

They'd barely reached the hotel entrance when they spotted a familiar figure coming out the front door.

When they saw who it was, they all froze.

Only Huo Cheng lit up. "Zhai Xingchen!"

Zhai Xingchen blinked, then grinned. "You guys done picking?"

Huo Cheng grabbed his suitcase and ran over. "You got this one? The hotel?"

He was over the moon.

Zhai Xingchen shook his head. "Wen Nu got the hotel. I came to help him with his bags."

Huo Cheng: '...'

"So which room did you get?" Huo Cheng asked again.

Please don't let it be Room 1.

The camera caught Yan Zhi and Pei Xu's seemingly expressionless faces.

The chat was flooded with [hahaha].

Yan Zhi and Pei Xu stared at Zhai Xingchen without moving a muscle.

Zhai Xingchen said, "I'm Room 1."

Yan Zhi smiled at that exact moment—brighter than the sun on Snow Mountain.

Pei Xu and Huo Cheng couldn't smile at all.

Just Snow Mountain, no sunshine.

"Which of you is rooming with me?" Zhai Xingchen asked.

He was actually curious too.

Zhai Xingchen figured anyone would be fine.

Pei Xu, Yan Zhi, Huo Cheng—they were all good friends of his now. The three male leads didn't exactly get along with each other, what with the competition, but they were all warm to him. They probably didn't see him as a rival, otherwise they wouldn't have come to hang out with him on weekends.

As for Lin Qingning, they barely interacted—he was the most distant of the seven guests. But Lin Qingning looked easy to get along with.

Anyone was fine.

Then he saw Yan Zhi give a little wave. "New roommate, nice to meet you."

Zhai Xingchen blinked. "It's you."

Huo Cheng couldn't hide his disappointment. He grabbed his suitcase and headed into the hotel.

Inside, he ran into Wen Nu, who smiled and called out, "Brother Huo."

Huo Cheng was bummed, but Wen Nu looked like such a poor little thing, he couldn't dump his bad mood on him. He smiled. "We're rooming together."

The sunlight had turned golden-orange, and the sunset stretched their shadows long. The rest of them kept walking and passed Room 3.

Hu Ying had just come out of Room 3, wailing, "How is anyone supposed to live here!"

When she saw Zhai Xingchen and the others walking over, she ran to the intersection.

"How's your room?" Zhai Xingchen asked.

"There's nothing in there and it smells like mold!" Hu Ying said, disgusted. "I just sprayed half a bottle of perfume in it."

She'd lived a pampered life since birth—when had she ever stayed somewhere this bad?

"Hang in there, just two days, then we switch rooms," Zhai Xingchen comforted her.

Hu Ying looked at Yan Zhi and the others. "Who's rooming with me?"

Zhai Xingchen pointed at Pei Xu.

Hu Ying froze, then looked at Pei Xu.

Pei Xu grabbed his luggage and headed straight for Room 3.

Hu Ying glanced at Yan Zhi again. "You two are sharing?"

Zhai Xingchen nodded.

"It's cold," Yan Zhi said. "Let's go."

Saying that, he picked up Zhai Xingchen's luggage and walked ahead.

Zhai Xingchen patted Hu Ying's shoulder. "Clean up and come hang out at our Room 1. Next time the Production Team definitely won't do a blind pick."

Every chance he could get.

Hu Ying was disappointed. "My luck is terrible."

"Actually, Pei Xu's pretty great too," Zhai Xingchen said.

He felt like Hu Ying didn't really know Pei Xu at all.

If Pei Xu fell for you, he'd be sweet and gentle.

Classic cold male lead from Jinjiang.

Plus he'd run into Pei Xu in the bathroom before—he could say with full responsibility that Pei Xu was absolutely not smaller than Yan Zhi!

Hu Ying just needed a chance to discover the treasure. And here it was.

The crappier the room, the better.

He patted Hu Ying's shoulder and went after Yan Zhi.

Hu Ying stood at the intersection, watching Zhai Xingchen and Yan Zhi walk away.

What does "Pei Xu's pretty great too" even mean?

Is he trying to set her up with Pei Xu?

Hu Ying went back to Room 3, and the second she walked in, she saw Pei Xu's sour face.

Even sourer than when she'd first arrived on The Red and Blue Signal.

Lord, even if she couldn't room with Zhai Xingchen, at least give her someone easy to live with—Huo Cheng or anyone would've worked.

But it was Pei Xu!

Her luck was so bad!!

The sunlight had grown thin, and their feet crunched on the snow. Yan Zhi kept stealing glances at Zhai Xingchen as they walked, unable to stop smiling.

Zhai Xingchen gave him a puzzled look. "You're in a good mood."

"I am," Yan Zhi said.

So happy he could fly.