Chapter 7

Duan Yihua and the others couldn't hold back anymore. They kicked off their shoes, rolled up their pants, and headed for the water.

Lin Qingning turned to ask Yan Zhi, 'You're not going in?'

Yan Zhi shook his head.

Lin Qingning thought about it, then decided to stay by Yan Zhi's side.

The Production Team knew exactly what they were doing — they weren't about to miss a shot this romantic. The cameramen following Yan Zhi and Lin Qingning circled around them, one in front, one behind. Lin Qingning wasn't used to being filmed this way, but Yan Zhi beside him was completely at ease. Against the sea and the sky, Yan Zhi's performance was practically flawless.

Gentle, refined, with just the right amount of distance — Lin Qingning thought back to how fierce and sharp Yan Zhi had been in competition, and his heart went all over the place.

Hu Ying bent down and splashed water on her legs, glancing back at Yan Zhi and Lin Qingning every now and then.

The sunset was fading. Dusk rose up off the sea, and the wind was turning cool. The Production Team suggested they skip the living room and kick off this season's Age Revelation right here on the beach.

'But Pei Xu isn't here,' Hu Ying said.

'We've already contacted him. He'll be here in a bit,' the staff member said.

Zhai Xingchen asked, 'Where did he go?'

'He walked over toward Floating Boat Mountain.'

They found a clean patch of sand and sat down to wait for Pei Xu. The sun was almost gone. At the line where sea met sky, a streak of fire-colored light made the clouds look black by comparison. A ribbon of gold shimmered across the water, broke apart, then pulled itself back together.

Zhai Xingchen wandered along the Beach picking up shells. In the distance, he spotted a familiar figure slowly walking out of the dusk, surrounded by deep blue sea and a thin wash of moonlight.

The guy's posture was so striking it reminded him of a Western film — that classic moment when the male lead walks out of the mist.

Pei Xu really was born to be a Jinjiang male lead.

He stood up and waved at Pei Xu.

When Pei Xu got closer, he asked with a smile, 'Heard you ate too much?'

Pei Xu asked instead, 'What happened to you? You look like a drowned rat.'

Zhai Xingchen said, 'Just slipped and fell in the sea a minute ago.'

'Cold?'

'I'm fine.'

Not cold, just sticky and uncomfortable.

'Come on, everyone's waiting for you,' Zhai Xingchen said.

'Picking up shells?' Pei Xu asked.

'Yeah.' Zhai Xingchen showed him the few he'd just collected.

Pei Xu held out his hand. 'These are for you.'

A tiger cowrie, an oversized landscape-painted scallop, and a purple starfish.

'So pretty,' Zhai Xingchen said.

He couldn't hide the excitement in his voice.

'You like this stuff?'

'You can make crafts out of them,' Zhai Xingchen said. 'Some you can even paint on.'

Pei Xu hummed in acknowledgment.

'You're giving these to me?'

'For you.'

Pei Xu said.

Huo Cheng and the others had already settled on the sand, but Yan Zhi was squatting — germaphobe that he was, afraid of getting dirty.

Zhai Xingchen sat down cross-legged in the empty space between Yan Zhi and Wen Nu.

Yan Zhi glanced at what he was holding. 'I picked up a few for you too.'

He handed Zhai Xingchen a few shells as he said it.

Pei Xu glanced their way.

Duan Yihua and the others looked at Pei Xu. 'How far did you walk?'

Pei Xu didn't sit down. He walked straight over to the Production Team, came back a moment later with a plaid shirt, and dropped it on Zhai Xingchen's lap.

Zhai Xingchen had been looking at the shells Yan Zhi gave him. He glanced back.

'Thanks.' He immediately peeled off his damp floral shirt. Huo Cheng and the others all stared at his pale skin.

A dancer's body — lean, even muscles, a slim supple waist, both soft and strong at once.

'How are you that white?' Hu Ying groaned.

Like actual milk.

Yan Zhi's gaze drifted involuntarily to Zhai Xingchen's chest. His thin lips pressed together for a second. He glanced up at his follow-cam, then dropped his eyes and started fiddling with the shells on the sand.

Huo Cheng laughed and rubbed his nose.

No wonder there's a milky smell, he thought.

Pei Xu spoke up just then. 'There are cameras. Maybe watch yourself a little?'

Zhai Xingchen laughed and immediately looked at the cameramen nearby. 'Cut that out.'

Once everyone had settled in, the Production Team set up an ambient light in the middle of them.

'I thought we'd skip this part,' Hu Ying said. 'Do we even need to guess jobs? Don't we all know a little about each other by now?'

'Wen Nuo and Xingchen are harder to guess,' Lin Qingning said.

'Xingchen's a college student,' Huo Cheng said.

'College student?' Duan Yihua and the others looked at Zhai Xingchen.

Zhai Xingchen nodded. 'Sophomore.'

Great. He knew the second this came out, he'd be completely PASSed over by them.

Sure enough, Hu Ying immediately said, 'I need to have a serious talk with the Production Team. What do you mean, throwing a male college student at us?'

'A younger puppy,' Huo Cheng said, looking at Zhai Xingchen.

The ambient light the Production Team gave them was golden-yellow. As the night deepened, the glow fell across their faces like a beauty filter — everyone's eyes suddenly looked full of feeling.

'What about Wen Nuo? He looks really young too,' Huo Cheng said.

'Student?' Yan Zhi guessed.

Wen Nuo looked at Pei Xu and the others. Pei Xu said mildly, 'I'm guessing student too.'

'I work,' Wen Nuo said.

He was probably feeling a little insecure and shy — the moment he finished, he covered his mouth and laughed, his ears bright red.

'You're already graduated?' Hu Ying said, surprised. 'I thought you were a student too. You look about the same age as Xingchen.'

Wen Nuo had never gone to college. If they kept guessing his job, these rich kids who'd never known real hardship would inevitably guess something way too high, and that would just embarrass him more. Zhai Xingchen quickly said, 'We can't guess. Just tell us.'

'I opened a cake shop with a friend,' Wen Nuo said.

'No wonder you told me in the kitchen today that you could help if we needed to make desserts,' Zhai Xingchen said. 'Then I need to find you as my teacher and learn some dessert skills. I can make anything, just not desserts.'

Wen Nuo laughed and buried his face in his knees, looking shy and a little pitiful.

Actually, today's Age Revelation was a real hurdle for Wen Nuo.

Only at moments like this did the gap between him and these children of fortune really hit home.

Some people were born so far ahead of him he'd never catch up in his whole life. Life was never fair. A guy like him, a guest on a Love Variety Show full of rich second-generation heirs, was like a bicycle wedged between a row of luxury cars, like a knockoff mixed in with a pile of designer clothes. When you thought about it, it was pretty brutal.

So he hid behind that shy smile.

But Zhai Xingchen gave him a kind of safety.

They were the same kind — bound by mutual sympathy.

He even thought Zhai Xingchen had sat next to him on purpose.

And Zhai Xingchen, so calm and warm, with not a trace of insecurity on him — that gave Wen Nuo courage too.

The sea breeze was getting cold, so he scooted a little closer to Zhai Xingchen.

Aside from those two genuine civilians, the rest of their jobs instantly leveled up the whole show's quality.

The three main male leads didn't even need mentioning — they were all famous already.

Hu Ying was a representative figure in the influencer world too.

Duan Yihua had founded a milk tea shop called A Little Sweetness. Recently it had blown up — influencer-level famous. Just in South City alone, he'd opened over a dozen chain locations. The lines were so long it had even trended on Weibo.

Mature, steady, career-driven — how could this kind of big brother not be appealing?

Hot as a top, even hotter as a bottom — red-faced, climbing on and moving on his own...

OK, brain, you can stop now.

Lin Qingning was even more impressive — Yale master's graduate, now the youngest professor at a domestic university, the most learned of all the guests.

Actually, compared to Yan Zhi's almost-sexy Asceticism vibe, Lin Qingning was the real deal — genuinely cold and indifferent.

Just very flat, very controlled about his own desires.

Hmm, hard to say off the top of my head who'd be hotter as the older bottom — him or Duan Yihua.

Gap moe is deadly. Just thinking about it makes me want to become a brother-con.

They took one last round of guessing each other's ages.

Everyone was polite about it — they all guessed younger.

Finally, they revealed their ages one by one.

Duan Yihua was the oldest — he'd just turned 30.

Huo Cheng and Lin Qingning were the same age, both 28.

Hu Ying and Yan Zhi were the same age, both 24.

Pei Xu was 25, Wen Nuo 22.

Zhai Xingchen was two years younger than Wen Nuo — just 20.

'Twenty...' Hu Ying laughed.

Huo Cheng looked up at the night sky and saw the bright stars.

Twenty.

After looking at the stars, he lowered his head and caught a glimpse of Zhai Xingchen's long pale legs stretched out in front of him.

When they ran out of things to talk about, they just sat on the sand watching the moon and listening to the waves.

'If it weren't for this show, we'd rarely get the chance to sit around this leisurely,' Duan Yihua said.

'Are you super busy with work?' Hu Ying asked.

Duan Yihua nodded. 'Doing this show is basically the only vacation I've given myself in the last two years.'

'Oh right, you all did solo interviews during the day, right?' Hu Ying seemed to suddenly perk up. 'Did the Production Team ask who left the deepest impression on you? Who did you all say?'

'I haven't yet,' Yan Zhi said.

Hu Ying looked at Zhai Xingchen and the others.

Duan Yihua and Lin Qingning both sat up straighter — clearly they cared a lot.

'Can we say?' Huo Cheng asked. 'Isn't this supposed to be confidential?'

'We definitely can't. Isn't this the same as the Heartfelt SMS Transmission we're sending later?'

'Not necessarily. The person I told the Production Team left the deepest impression on me isn't the person I want to send my Heartfelt SMS to tonight.' Hu Ying finished and cast a pretty suggestive look at Yan Zhi.

Looks like she switched from Pei Xu to Yan Zhi, Zhai Xingchen thought.

Just when he thought the topic was about to die, he suddenly heard Pei Xu across from him say, 'I picked Zhai Xingchen.'

The moment those words came out, everyone went quiet — clearly everyone was shocked.

Even Zhai Xingchen himself was surprised. He looked up at Pei Xu.

Everyone laughed. Hu Ying quickly said, 'Huh? I thought Red and Blue had to pick each other!'

Duan Yihua: 'Me too.'

'They said there's no range restriction,' Pei Xu said.

Zhai Xingchen explained, 'That's true. It's not about who you like — just who left the deepest impression.'

'Then who left the deepest impression on you?' Pei Xu suddenly asked.

His tone was a touch slow, with a hint of casual indifference.

Zhai Xingchen froze for a second.

Pei Xu was famously tight-lipped and hard to talk to — why was he so chatty tonight?

But he knew this was exactly what the Production Team wanted. Love Variety Shows were inherently flat — they lived off the guests interacting with each other, whether it was the tension of hostility or the pink haze of romance.

He sensed a faint whiff of gunpowder in the air.

Had Pei Xu decided he was one of the threats?

He was the least threatening person here!

He smiled and looked at Pei Xu, finding his expression genuinely serious.

His features were sharp, and when he was serious, there was something fierce and pressing about him.

He looked at Yan Zhi and Huo Cheng. Huo Cheng was smiling. Yan Zhi was expressionless — high nose, thin lips, handsome as jade under the light.

The other guests were clearly here for the show, all watching him expectantly.

Wen Nuo even rubbed his little hands together in excitement.

Zhai Xingchen gripped the landscape-painted scallop in his hand.

'Yan Zhi,' he said.

Yan Zhi's mouth curved into a smile, a soft little laugh.

'Why?' Huo Cheng asked.

'He drove me around today.'

'I also left the deepest impression on Yan Zhi,' Hu Ying said.

'What, he drove you around too?' Duan Yihua asked with a smile.

'He's just got this really distinctive quality. Look at what we're wearing, then look at what he's wearing,' Hu Ying said. 'So husband-coded.'

Everyone laughed.

'Do you dress like this in summer too?' Duan Yihua asked Yan Zhi.

'I'm used to it,' Yan Zhi said.

Yan Zhi was the ultimate Asceticism type.

But the day he finally snapped — that would be terrifying. Normally he barely showed an arm or a leg, the textbook husband-coded gentleman, but once desire exploded he'd want to be naked and tangled up every single day. Isn't that exciting? Isn't that hot?

The Begonia husband-coded school — only one person gets to see him naked.

The whole world doesn't get to see me naked — only you. That's my most sincere confession.

Ugh.

His gaze met Yan Zhi's, full of laughter. Yan Zhi's eyes seemed to hide an entire ocean — vast and deep.

Pei Xu stood up.

The sea breeze was getting cooler. It was winter, after all — even in South City where it felt like spring most of the time, the nights got cold. Duan Yihua said, 'Let's head back. I'm freezing.'

Everyone got up from the sand and walked back together.

Next up was their first Heartfelt SMS Transmission at the Red and Blue House.

Zhai Xingchen couldn't guess who any of them would send to.

In the original novel, they'd all sent their first-day messages to Pei Xu — but that was because Yan Zhi hadn't arrived yet at this point in the original. Based on what he'd observed, Yan Zhi had now drawn almost everyone's attention.

Zhai Xingchen looked up and saw Pei Xu walking ahead of him.

'Pei Xu.'

Pei Xu turned back, hands stuffed in his pockets — cool and striking in the night.

Zhai Xingchen caught up. 'Whose staff member does this shirt belong to?'

Pei Xu said, 'Didn't catch the name.'

Zhai Xingchen: '...'

He went to ask the Production Team. Pei Xu watched him run off, then kept walking.

Lin Qingning moved closer to him. 'Since you've decided to come on this show, just enjoy it. Treat it like a job. Cooperate with the Production Team a little more — Auntie Zhou's been worried sick.'

Pei Xu said, 'I can't act.'

'I know you can't act. Just be a little more proactive,' Lin Qingning said.

Pei Xu didn't say anything. Lin Qingning walked alongside him and said, 'Don't you think it's actually pretty interesting? A bunch of people who barely know each other, brought together by a variety show. Whether everyone's really here to date or whether anyone actually ends up dating — it's still a pretty unique memory. I hope when it's almost over, or years later when you look back at this show, you won't feel any regret.'

Pei Xu turned to look at Lin Qingning. Lin Qingning gave him a small smile.

Pei Xu hummed in acknowledgment.

After Zhai Xingchen figured out who the shirt belonged to, he rejoined the group. Yan Zhi had been looking back at him the whole time. When he caught up, Yan Zhi asked, 'Where'd you go?'

'I went to ask whose shirt Pei Xu grabbed.'

'He really thinks of everything,' Yan Zhi said.

He'd only been thinking about the fact that he wasn't wearing anything underneath his shirt — otherwise he would've taken it off and given it to Zhai Xingchen himself. He hadn't thought to go ask the Production Team for one.

'You guys are about to go on break too, right?' Yan Zhi asked.

Zhai Xingchen hummed. 'This month.'

'Exams coming up?'

'Last two days of next week. One culture class, one Final Exam,' Zhai Xingchen said.

'Your Final Exam — is it a Performance format?'

Zhai Xingchen nodded.

Yan Zhi looked thoughtful but didn't say anything.

He thought back to the Zhai Xingchen he'd seen at last year's Zhongwu Academy Final Exam.

In red, on a golden stage, he danced a classical masterpiece — Flight. Both soft and fierce, ethereal and transcendent, like a god descending into the mortal world.

When the dance ended, the whole audience erupted in thunderous applause. He froze on stage in the Flight Plucking Flowers Dance pose, sleeves flying. And Yan Zhi finally understood why some dances were so beautiful they made you want to cry.