Outdoor Livestream

[Hello? Remember me by Daming Lake?]

[It's been days already. Still no update? Getting cocky?]

[You usually posted at ungodly hours, but now you're not even posting at ungodly hours? Do you know how I've spent these past few days?]

[Even a production brigade's donkey wouldn't dare slack off like this! Update now!]

[Without you, even food doesn't taste good.]

Several days had passed since the last update and livestream. The new comments beneath the latest video had turned over again, all begging for an update.

While tens of thousands clamored for more, Su Tingbai was leading everyone onto the vehicles. He had originally planned to wait for Xing Ying and the others, but Xing Ying called to say that he and Huo Heng might be late and told them to find a good spot first. So Su Tingbai decided to leave ahead of time and set up the grill, tents, and everything else.

"Careful." Su Tingbai took Shen Rui'an's hand and helped him into the front passenger seat.

After fastening his seat belt for him, he turned toward the car behind them. "You got everything ready?"

Little Zhu, sitting in the driver's seat, gave him an OK gesture.

Su Tingbai swept out a hand. "Let's go!"

"Let's go!" Shen Rui'an echoed.

Baisui, behind the driver's seat in the RV, barked along too.

Su Tingbai drove in front to lead the way, with the others following behind.

The mountain roads twisted and turned. Since Su Tingbai had leased this mountain, he had had roads built here. Only the stretch leading into the creek and pool was a little bumpy; the rest of the road was fairly smooth.

So Shen Rui'an was doing all right and didn't get carsick.

The car stopped, and Su Tingbai unfastened his seat belt. "We're here."

Shen Rui'an undid his seat belt and got out. His view immediately opened up before him. Where they had parked was a broad grassy field. Beyond the grass was a bed of pebbles, and farther ahead was a babbling creek with water so clear he could see straight to the bottom. It didn't look very deep.

The water flowed gently. Looking closely, he could see little mountain crabs hiding in the cracks between rocks. Baisui ran back and forth in the stream, where the water only reached his legs, startling the bitterling fish into scattering everywhere.

Hardly anyone probably came here, so even the fish seemed a little slow-witted.

Upstream was a small waterfall. The larger waterfall wasn't as big as Cheonjiyeon Falls in South Korea, but the scenery was far more beautiful. Wild grass grew thickly along both banks of the creek, and several flowers Shen Rui'an couldn't name grew from the rock face. They looked like orchids, though he wasn't sure.

There were other blooming wildflowers as well. White roses even covered the upper reaches on both sides of the waterfall, a magnificent sight, their white petals carpeting the pool below.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Su Tingbai walked over to Shen Rui'an's side and looked at the roses. Every time he saw them, he couldn't help marveling at nature's handiwork.

"These are small-fruited roses, the most common kind of wild rose in the mountains. When they bloom all at once, they're especially spectacular. We came at just the right time—give it a few more days, and their flowering season will be over. If we'd come in May, we might even have seen honeysuckle." Su Tingbai lowered his head to look at Shen Rui'an, who was gazing absently at the roses.

"You know so much!" Shen Rui'an turned and gave him a brilliant smile.

Su Tingbai froze for a while. By the time he came back to himself, Shen Rui'an was already getting ready to go into the water with Baisui to catch fish for fun.

He was wearing a T-shirt and shorts today. The shorts couldn't hide his long, slender, pale legs. Bathed in sunlight, he seemed to blend into the glittering water, so white that it was impossible to tell which was reflecting the light.

Su Tingbai narrowed his eyes at him, feeling as though a thin veil had fallen over his vision. The man before him seemed like some mountain spirit transformed into human form, as though he might vanish on the spot the next second.

His heart tightened, and he hurried after him. "Be careful. The stream may be clean, but this is still the wilderness. Accidents can happen. We can just play here. The pebbles are still above the surface here, so the water isn't deep. You can't go over there in front. It looks clear enough to see the bottom, but it's actually very deep."

Su Tingbai was confident he could swim in that depth of water, but he still couldn't help worrying.

Shen Rui'an couldn't swim, and he had no interest in taking risks anyway. He only planned to splash around near the shore. Hearing Su Tingbai's warning, he nodded. "I'm not going swimming."

With this body of his, it was enough to go barefoot in the water and play a little. Swimming was out of the question. He would probably shiver the moment he got out.

"Woof woof!" Baisui sprinted forward, did a lap through the water with a doggy paddle, then came back.

As a native little dog from Gui Province, Baisui naturally knew how to doggy paddle. The place where he had lived was beautiful and suited for retirement, with plenty of ponds and streams nearby. Whenever it got hot, the local dogs would find a mountain channel and lie in it to soak.

After making a round, he came back and shook himself in front of Shen Rui'an, sending water spraying everywhere.

"Hahaha!" Shen Rui'an rubbed the dog's soaking-wet head. "Stupid dog!"

"Woof woof!" The little dog had no idea he was being scolded and enthusiastically circled Shen Rui'an's calves.

"Idiot Baisui!" Shen Rui'an got splashed all over by the water Baisui shook loose and couldn't resist rubbing up his little head.

Su Tingbai crouched down and rubbed the silly dog too, but his gaze remained on the dog's owner.

After parking the cars, Little Zhu and the others took out the cameras to gather footage. The cameraman's sharp eyes landed on the two people and one dog by the creek. The sunlight was so dazzling that Shen Rui'an's face was blurred in the lens.

Su Tingbai was crouching in a better-lit spot, so he was still vaguely recognizable.

Through Little Zhu's camera, it was as if Shen Rui'an had turned on a soft-focus effect himself. Like an immortal appearing in a drama, his features couldn't be seen clearly, yet his figure alone made it obvious that he was extraordinary.

Little Zhu thought the shot was too beautiful and couldn't help filming it for a while before finally turning to other things.

Everyone else bustled about setting up the camping equipment. After Su Tingbai made sure Shen Rui'an would not go swimming, he returned to help out.

After playing in the water for a while, Shen Rui'an began to feel cold. He simply followed behind Su Tingbai on the way back, with Baisui still trailing after Shen Rui'an like a little tail.

"I'll help you!"

Everyone was busy, and Shen Rui'an eagerly tried to lend a hand. Unfortunately, he only made things worse, so Su Tingbai set a small folding stool on the grass and had him sit there to supervise.

Baisui, on the other hand, happily bustled after everyone as though he were helping tremendously. In the end, he was so tired that he lay at Shen Rui'an's feet with his tongue hanging out.

Little Zhu and A-Ming took turns filming. By the time they had gathered enough footage, the camping tents, barbecue grill, table for the ingredients, and everything else had been set up.

The sun began to grow scorching, but fortunately, the canopy had been put up early. Su Tingbai quickly had Shen Rui'an hide beneath it so he wouldn't get heatstroke.

Once everything was ready, the others were exhausted as well. Fortunately, Su Tingbai had prepared in advance and took cans of cola from the RV refrigerator, handing one to each person.

He opened Shen Rui'an's can and put in a straw for him. "Here."

Little Zhu took a sip of the happy water and came back to life. "Boss, it's been a long time since we last did an outdoor livestream. Why don't we start one now?"

Su Tingbai thought about it, then agreed. At the same time, he sent Xing Ying and the others a message on WeChat.

He also carefully reminded Little Zhu and the others not to film Shen Rui'an.

Little Zhu and the others agreed, then found a good position, set up the camera, and started the livestream.

Su Tingbai went live without warning, so the fans were caught off guard. Even so, there weren't few viewers; within ten minutes, a thousand people had joined.