Meanwhile, the other guests had put on their orange-yellow life jackets one after another and boarded their boats.
Lu Ran and Gu Nianzhi had successfully settled into their kayak.
They paddled with their orange oars, their movements not quite in sync.
Waves kept rolling in, leaving the little boat teetering precariously.
Still, they were in good spirits. After a short while, they finally found their rhythm, and Lu Ran started joking with Gu Nianzhi.
A slightly larger wave swept toward them, catching them completely off guard.
With a splash, the long, narrow boat capsized, dumping them into the sea like dumplings into a pot.
Over on Yu Wan and Shi Jinyan's side, the two veterans in their thirties had finally managed to climb onto the inflatable platform and mount their bicycles after considerable effort.
Their task should have been the easiest: all they had to do was pedal.
Except the production team had fitted the bicycles with waterproof distance trackers and set a required mileage for them.
What had started as a romantic bike ride on the water instantly became a tandem cycling competition at sea.
They pedaled hard for a while, but when a wave rolled in, the inflatable platform drifted along with it, taking them right back to where they had started.
Yu Wan and Shi Jinyan: ...
Compared with the first two teams, Luo An and Lu Yiyi had only just boarded their sailboat.
Lu Yiyi had been sulking the entire time. Luo An patiently coaxed her for ages, but she still refused to listen.
Luo An could only suppress the urge to roll his eyes and carry her onto the sailboat bridal-style.
"You're not fat. Maybe he was a little impatient. Your figure is already great." Drawing on every skill he had ever learned, Luo An kept his expression from betraying him and said with unwavering conviction, "I like you just the way you are."
Lu Yiyi's cheeks flushed slightly, and her temper eased a little. She reluctantly cooperated with him and settled onto the sailboat.
In the three couples' dedicated livestreams, fans watched with delight, eagerly enjoying every sweet moment from their front-row seats.
Song Yunxing and Shen Yanci, however, had run into a problem right at the starting line.
Shen Yanci was already standing on the skateboard-sized footboard, his feet secured in the rear bindings.
"Come over here and stand on the board," the instructor beside them directed.
Song Yunxing hesitated for a moment before stepping onto the footboard.
The distance between them closed in an instant, his back almost pressed against the man's body.
Searing body heat seeped through his clothes into his back, making him shudder.
His bare calf brushed faintly against the man's, sending a strange sensation through the point where their skin touched.
The instructor was about to fasten his bindings when Song Yunxing finally couldn't take it anymore and jumped straight off. "No! This feels too weird!"
Song Yunxing's cheeks flushed as a strange current coursed through his entire body, leaving him tingling all over.
"This won't work either?" The dark-skinned instructor frowned slightly. "Then how about a different position?"
"What position?" the young man asked in confusion.
The instructor gave him a push in the back, sending the unprepared Song Yunxing tumbling into Shen Yanci's arms.
Song Yunxing froze, not daring to move a muscle.
The man's scorching breath fell into his hair. His whole body lay against that broad, solid chest, one hand pressed against the man's pectoral muscle.
Beneath his hand, the man's heart thudded steadily, the vibrations making his palm tingle and burn.
For some reason, his own heart began to slip out of his control, too, that familiar yet unfamiliar tingling sensation creeping over it once again.
The man caught him instinctively, but his hands hovered in the air, never quite wrapping around him.
"You young couples always come up with something new." The instructor shook his head helplessly and fastened the binding around Song Yunxing's right foot.
"Wait!" Song Yunxing jerked his left foot a step backward, stopping things at the very last moment.
"What else do you want?" The instructor sighed and looked up at him.
The young man was red from his cheeks down to his neck. After choking on his words for ages, he finally managed to squeeze out, "...Let him go up first!"
"This is a two-person activity. Both of you need to rise at least three meters above the sea within twenty minutes, or the task won't count as complete," the instructor explained.
"He can go up alone and finish the task first, then I can go up and finish it! Won't we both have gone more than three meters above the sea?" Song Yunxing shouted, heat rushing into his face as embarrassment turned to indignation.
He didn't dare lift his head at all, holding it just shy of the man's abdomen in an exceedingly awkward position.
[Hahaha! Song Yunxing, your day has finally come!]
[Xingxing, why are you so shy? No wonder Shen Yanci has to find every possible way to dodge the cameras whenever you two get intimate.]
[Xingxing, that pose is way too funny! I have a reaction meme that looks exactly like this!]
[You've done it enough to wreck the bed, yet you're still this innocent! Xingxing really is an irresistible beauty~]
Seeing that Song Yunxing refused to budge, the instructor considered it for a moment.
This activity was difficult enough as it was. Even flying solo was a serious challenge, let alone getting two people to reach the target within twenty minutes.
The instructor exchanged a glance with the field director, then reluctantly nodded and undid Song Yunxing's binding.
"Phew!" Song Yunxing lifted his foot, ready to flee.
"Where are you going? Such a scaredy-cat." Shen Yanci's voice was deep and resonant. Catching sight of his reddened ears, he gave a couple of pleased chuckles.
Thinking Shen Yanci was mocking him, Song Yunxing stopped dead halfway through his escape.
"I'm not a scaredy-cat! I can still fly that high! It's only three meters! I'll be up there as soon as I close my eyes!" Song Yunxing's face was red, but he lied without so much as blinking.
"I wasn't talking about the activity. How can you be this clueless?" The man lowered his eyes, a helpless, doting smile tugging at his lips.
Before Song Yunxing could process that, the man had already leaped into the water.
Water splashed up before his eyes, the brilliant sunlight shining through the droplets like countless dazzling diamonds.
The viewers in the livestream had already gone wild over the pairing.
[Aaaaaaaaaah!]
[Who saw that gorgeous smile when he lowered his eyes? He just wiped the floor with a whole crowd of romantic drama leads.]
[Shen Yanci, who the fuck said you couldn't act in romantic scenes? You're just picky about your partner!]
[Don't make me beg you. Hurry up and announce you're dating, then get married!]
[I seriously can't stand you two! Hiding things one minute, feeding us sweet moments the next. Don't mind me, keep it coming!]
On camera, the man burst out of the water. His soaked sun-protective shirt clung tightly to his body, faintly revealing the sleek contours of his arm muscles.
The waves rose and fell around him, but he stood perfectly straight, engaging his core to maintain his balance.
The powerful jets of water beneath the board propelled him straight into the air.
His body hovered there, seemingly unbound by gravity, like a dragon emerging from the water to soar freely through the air.
Water streamed off him as he casually swept back his soaked fringe. After steadying himself at roughly three meters, he calmly maneuvered the equipment and performed two flips in midair.
Director Guo, sitting beneath the sunshade: !!!
The instructor beside him, with five or six years of experience: !!!
The utterly bewildered Song Yunxing: ??!
"Which one of you gave him cheat codes?!"
Before you continue