Chapter 67

'Just from the sound alone, you could tell how intense the fight was.' Zhai Xingchen said.

Yan Zhi's Adam's apple bobbed. He settled the post-game high and asked, 'Do you play games?'

'I'm not really good at them.' Zhai Xingchen said.

'If you want to play, I can teach you.'

'I can't even play Honor of Kings well.' Zhai Xingchen said. 'This one looks even harder.'

'Games are basically all the same once you get the hang of it.' Yan Zhi said.

Zhai Xingchen laughed. 'How could I compare? You're a gaming genius.'

Esports is a youth-driven industry. Pro players have age limits—you have to be at least sixteen to debut, and past twenty-four you're already old. But Yan Zhi debuted even later. The Yan family was strict. His father came from a prestigious background and ran a famously successful law firm. His mother was one of the top three ophthalmologists in the country. Everyone in the family was either a doctor or a lawyer, and at first they didn't support him playing esports. He dropped out of an Ivy League school at twenty to officially debut. The moment he entered the scene, he was a star fallen from the heavens—he won three championships that year, and his absurd looks made him blow up across the entire esports circle.

Someone shouted through the headset: 'Six-ge, who are you chatting with? That little brother's voice is so nice.'

Yan Zhi picked up the headset and said, 'Going offline.'

'Wait, it's our Six-sister-in-law Zhai—'

Yan Zhi hung up before he could finish. After hanging up, he suddenly remembered the thing he'd brought back for Zhai Xingchen, so he stood up and reached for the box on the windowsill. Zhai Xingchen saw him bump the keyboard and quickly reached out to steady it, accidentally catching a glimpse of Yan Zhi's pants. He froze.

Getting that worked up over a game. Hibiscus Attacker went bloodshot.

Yan Zhi grabbed the thing and sat back down, handing it to him. 'Look at this.'

Zhai Xingchen took it and saw a box of snow, mostly melted, with a cluster of ice-sculpted flowers inside. The petals had melted too, blurring into one shapeless lump.

'It's melted a bit.' Yan Zhi said.

'What is this?'

'We went to Snow World today. There's an ice sculpting shop inside. The Production Team had me go check it out—they can carve all sorts of things out of ice blocks. I learned from the master and carved this. Can you tell what flower it is?'

Zhai Xingchen said honestly, 'Can't tell. What flower?'

Yan Zhi laughed. His glasses glinted a deep blue under the desk lamp. 'Why'd you have to come back so late?'

'You should've kept it outside. The room's too warm.'

'We already came back late enough. Who knew you and Huo-ge would come back even later.' Yan Zhi said, low and quiet.

Like he'd been holding in jealousy all night and only now let it out.

But his jealousy wasn't sour—restrained, his voice gentle.

'We weren't gonna come back that late. The car broke down.' Zhai Xingchen said. 'Come on, what flower did you carve??'

'Next time I'll carve you a new one.' Yan Zhi said. 'When we leave this place.'

Wow, so creative. Coming to North City and gifting ice sculpting—super local.

'Are you giving it to everyone as a souvenir?'

Just as thoughtful as Pei Xu.

He should think carefully too—what gift should he make for everyone? Something meaningful, something with local flavor.

But Yan Zhi would never bother putting this much effort in for anyone else. He said, 'Ice sculpting is hard. I might not finish even one in an afternoon. I can only make one.'

'So you're still carving this flower?'

Yan Zhi nodded. 'We'll see if you can guess it then. My skills aren't great.'

Zhai Xingchen glanced into the box.

Really beautiful. Really unique.

Too bad ice flowers don't last—unless you stay in Snow World forever.

Zhai Xingchen suddenly remembered something important. 'Oh right, did you see Lin Qingning when you came back?'

Yan Zhi shook his head. 'No. He and Pei Xu probably didn't have a great time.'

Zhai Xingchen sighed.

Yan Zhi said, 'Expected. Someone like Pei Xu—either he likes you first, or you have to throw yourself at him no matter how cold and harsh he gets. Lin Qingning isn't the type to throw himself at anyone.'

Yan Zhi was talking about Lin Qingning and Pei Xu, but he realized the moment he looked at Zhai Xingchen's face, his thoughts went sideways.

He thought Zhai Xingchen's lips were so soft, his skin so white.

How was it that white?

He never used to think being pale was that attractive. But looking now—someone that white also flushes that pink.

That association made white suddenly seductive.

Sometimes he was confused—wondered if he was just too repressed, too twisted, or if all young guys were like this, alone with someone they liked, especially at night, their minds always wandering. He really wanted to control himself. Felt like this way, it seemed like he only liked Zhai Xingchen for desire.

But he really did love him. Wanted to hold him against his heart and cherish him. Walking through Snow World, every sight he saw, he thought: if only Zhai Xingchen could see this too. He'd imagine driving Zhai Xingchen home, taking him to dinner with friends and family. Or something simple—him playing games on the side while Zhai Xingchen did his own thing in the same room. Those pure, everyday moments, he'd think about them too. He wanted to love him gently, give him every bit of tenderness, not let a single tear fall. But sometimes, like just now when he was gaming, he'd go wild—wanted to devour him whole, even if he cried and begged, didn't care, wanted to make him cry hard.

He figured probably not everyone was like this. Only him.

But this was him. Others might not be like this, but Yan Zhi was. When he fell in love, this was how it was.

He was a man like a tsunami—overwhelming force.

Outside, the snow fell harder and harder. Lin Qingning heard the crack of branches breaking under the weight. He turned over and looked out the window.

The window was a hazy white glow—you could imagine the frozen world outside. He shivered and pulled the blanket tighter around himself.

His feelings were complicated.

Actually, Pei Xu hadn't said anything. It was him feeling off, plus the cold, that kept him in bed. Everyone came to check on him, and he felt a bit ashamed—felt like he'd made things awkward for Pei Xu.

Pei Xu hadn't spelled anything out. They were both smart people—smart people didn't need to spell things out. He could read what Pei Xu meant.

Pei Xu wasn't interested in him. There was zero chance between them.

Pei Xu had that kind of presence—he could make pursuers realize their odds were zero without even trying. Whether that was innate or ten-plus years of rejecting people, hard to say. But compared to his younger days, today's Pei Xu was clearly more restrained and gentle. Back then he'd been stone-faced, saying straight up, 'Don't waste your time on me.'

Knowing Pei Xu's personality, Lin Qingning actually knew his odds weren't great. But caught up in the moment, he'd still gathered his courage and made a move. He'd been prepared for this outcome.

Rather than heartbroken, he was embarrassed.

Because everything he'd done had been watched by the other guests and caught on camera. Thinking about how countless netizens—including their friends and family—would see it all, Lin Qingning was full of regret.

Male beauty is dangerous! Impulse is the devil!

How could he have forgotten the two families had always been close, their friends overlapping? Now he'd chased Pei Xu on a Love Variety Show, so obviously. Future gatherings would be full of teasing, no doubt.

He was so embarrassed his toes curled up.

But he couldn't keep hiding forever. Hiding longer would only make it worse.

Tomorrow he'd just pretend nothing happened. He never should've come looking for true love on a Love Variety Show. He didn't dare like anyone on a Love Variety Show ever again.

Pei Xu.

Pei Xu.

He closed his eyes and the young Pei Xu appeared in his mind—him sneaking glances at Pei Xu in the park, Pei Xu sitting alone by the Lake Side, so lonely, so desolate.

He remembered when they were in South City, him, Hu Ying, and Zhai Xingchen talking about Pei Xu once, and Zhai Xingchen said: "Don't you want to be his only light?"

Back then, both he and Hu Ying must have been a little tempted. Being the only light in the life of a withdrawn, brilliant boy—that was way too tempting.

Now Hu Ying had long given up, and he couldn't be that either.

He wondered who could become his only light.

Lin Qingning closed his eyes and said a final goodbye to his teenage crush.

It was already past eleven, but over at Room 4 in the Hotel, they were still chatting.

Wen Nu was absolutely crazy about Hu Ying.

Because Hu Ying was genuinely lively and talkative, and Huo Cheng was funny too, the two of them would go back and forth trading jabs, and Wen Nu would laugh so hard under the covers.

"It's already eleven thirty." Wen Nu checked the time and said.

"You sleepy?" Hu Ying asked.

Wen Nu laughed: "Just saying, not tired at all, even at this hour."

"I'm tired, I'm going to sleep, I have to get up early tomorrow to find Xingchen and learn dancing." Huo Cheng said it just to get under Hu Ying's skin.

Hu Ying said: "Sleeping next to two gorgeous guys like us, and you can still actually fall asleep?"

Huo Cheng laughed: "That sounded loaded. Speaking from experience? What, you sleep next to Pei Xu and can't sleep? You're feeling some type of way, Hu Ying."

Hu Ying said: "Please pin this on someone else. Pei Xu—next to him I'd be lucky not to freeze into an ice pop."

Hu Ying laughed as she said this: "Honestly, when I slept next to Pei Xu yesterday, it was a little awkward at first—you know how it is, red and blue guests sharing a bed. But you guys didn't see Pei Xu's reaction. I don't think he even sees me as a man."

Wen Nu and Huo Cheng both laughed. Wen Nu said: "I can imagine."

"Do you guys think he's, like, asexual?" Hu Ying said.

As she said it, what she'd glimpsed through the crack in the door suddenly flashed through her mind, and she laughed.

Hahahaha, if he's all looks and no function, that'd be hilarious.

"You two barely talked yesterday, that's why you have so much to say today." Huo Cheng said.

Hu Ying, resting her head on her arm, said: "I wonder who'll get stuck with him in the Room Assignment tomorrow."

"Whoever's lucky." Huo Cheng joked.

That's what they said, but really, what they were all wondering was who they'd end up with—and who would end up with Zhai Xingchen.

So they fell into a brief silence.

Pei Xu sat up on the kang bed.

Too hot, way too hot. He was getting inflamed again, his tongue root aching.

He got up and drank several glasses of water, his whole body and mind tormented by the heat.

Next Room Assignment, no matter what, he was not sleeping here again.

He threw off the covers and checked the time—past eleven at night. He opened his phone's photo album. There were tons of photos in there, but aside from scenery shots, there was only Zhai Xingchen.

Some he had taken himself, some were screenshots from the internet. After looking through them all, he went online and searched for videos of Zhai Xingchen.

What made Zhai Xingchen blow up online wasn't actually his dancing clip, but countless Live Streaming moments—like him sitting in the audience after a Performance, suddenly noticing the Live Streaming camera and smiling, or candid clips of him coming out of a supermarket.

Of the eight guests on The Red and Blue Signal, everyone except him had a Weibo account. He didn't.

He'd actually had one as a kid, but he'd deleted it the day the internet flooded with hate about him and Pei Huahong.

So he registered a new Weibo account and followed Zhai Xingchen.

After following Zhai Xingchen, Weibo recommended a bunch of Zhai Xingchen-related topics to him—stuff about The Red and Blue Signal, other guests, tons of CP super-topics.

He was like an old fossil—he hadn't been following any of this online stuff, didn't even know CP super-topics existed.

He saw names like "Star Lake CP," "Meteor CP," "Mars CP," and other CP names. He scrolled past them expressionlessly until he spotted one called "Rising Sun Star."

At first he didn't even realize it was his and Zhai Xingchen's CP—after all, his name was "Xu," and he didn't get what the CP name meant.

Until he tapped in and saw tons of photos and short videos of him and Zhai Xingchen.

He'd always felt that aside from being assigned to the same room as Zhai Xingchen in the first episode, he hadn't had much chance to interact with him, and he hadn't been as proactive as Huo Cheng or Hu Ying. But CP fans were seriously powerful—even his sub-second glance at Zhai Xingchen across a crowd had been caught.

"Rising Sun" was him. "Star" was Zhai Xingchen.

He really liked the name.

He followed their CP super-topic and, while he was at it, changed his own Weibo name to "Rising Sun Star."

Supporting his own CP super-topic couldn't be wrong, right?

Turns out the name had already been taken.

He tapped on the Weibo account called "Rising Sun Star."

And then a door called fanfic and fanart swung wide open for Pei Xu.

Pei Xu was an emotional desert, a blank slate. Since his teenage years, he'd had zero interest in the stuff most teenage boys were into. Math had taken up basically his whole life. He rarely watched videos, had never read any... colorful novels.

The phone screen lit up his features, and he understood every meaning of the name "Rising Sun Star."

In a dim room at the Production Team's place, only two people were still at the monitors—one called Xiao Zhang, one called Xiao Li.

Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li were on night shift. It was cold here, and once the guests fell asleep there usually wasn't much activity, so they didn't need to watch the monitors constantly. They were mainly on standby in case anything unexpected happened.

Wrapped in blankets, dozing off in their chairs, Xiao Zhang suddenly sat up straight.

"Someone went out." He quickly shook Xiao Li awake.

"What's up?" Xiao Li rubbed his eyes.

"Someone went out." Xiao Zhang said: "It's Young Master Pei."

There was a camera outside Room 3 too, and below it was a vast expanse of snow. They watched Pei Xu come out of Room 3 in a thick hat. There were no streetlights on the path—only the snowlight, showing his tall, dark silhouette. He walked slowly into the heavy snow and wind, all the way to a tall lamppost. He looked up at the snow swirling beneath the light. His face was striking, his features sharp and handsome. The vast, bitter cold of the world couldn't put out the fire in his heart.

In the darkness, Yan Zhi—who'd been lying on his side with his back to Zhai Xingchen—suddenly flipped over to face the sleeping Zhai Xingchen. His unbespectacled features were tight in the dark. His brow furrowed—he didn't know how long—then suddenly relaxed.

Everything fell silent, except for the heavy snow outside.