Brother Ah-Zhuo

After Sheng Nian turned his head, the gentle, well-behaved look he had worn for Jiang Shu vanished, replaced by a mischievous face, all waggling brows and meaningful looks.

Yan Feizhuo was watching in amusement when he felt his hand being kneaded and pinched with just enough force.

He looked down at the young master's slightly pouting lips. His whole demeanor was sulky; Yan Feizhuo did not need to hear his thoughts to know he was unhappy that Yan Feizhuo had not helped him out in time.

Yan Feizhuo glanced at the young master with a faint, teasing smile. Little brat. You're using me as a tool, and now you're the one getting angry.

The two sat down in turn, with Sheng Nian taking the window seat inside. As soon as he sat down, he took advantage of Yan Feizhuo's tall, broad frame shielding him and leaned toward his ear. "You're really disobedient. If you do that again, I'll complain to Bibi (the system)!"

Watching the adorable little figure in the bubble point accusingly with his hands on his hips, Yan Feizhuo suddenly felt there was no need to expose him so soon. He could just play house with the young master.

He admitted his mistake without hesitation. "Yes, my fault."

"That's more like it, Yan Feizhuo. You're my staunchest ally, you know."

Hearing how Sheng Nian addressed him, Yan Feizhuo immediately raised an eyebrow in displeasure. "You call him Brother Jiang Shu, but I'm just Yan Feizhuo?"

Sheng Nian froze, not having expected his tool to make demands, and asked blankly, "Then what should I call you?"

Yan Feizhuo reached out and pinched his fair, soft cheek, his smile teasing. "Think of something yourself."

Sheng Nian thought his tool had a point. He wanted Yan Feizhuo to act along with him, so he could hardly keep calling him "President Yan" or using his full name on camera. That was far too distant.

He bit his lip and racked his brains for a while. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he called out smugly, "Brother Ah-Zhuo~"

Afterward, he even blinked at Yan Feizhuo, signaling for him to share his thoughts on this form of address.

It had been a long time since Yan Feizhuo had heard the young master call him that, and the corner of his mouth lifted.

"You know, there was once a little dummy who only read one side of a character and called me Brother Ah Chong. I had to teach him for ages before he could say my name correctly."

Sheng Nian completely failed to realize that Yan Feizhuo was talking about him. He burst out laughing. "Brother Ah Chong? Hahahaha! Yan Feizhuo, if you make me angry in the future, I'll call you Brother Ah Chong too."

Yan Feizhuo looked at the little dummy who remained oblivious even after being called one, and shook his head helplessly.

Having settled on what to call Yan Feizhuo, Sheng Nian demanded reciprocity. "Then what will you call me? Don't tell me it's Sheng Nian!"

He looked ready to make a fuss if Yan Feizhuo called him by his full name.

Yan Feizhuo felt as though all the patience of his twenty-odd years had gone to the person before him. He lowered his head helplessly and asked tentatively, "Niannian? Baby Nian? Or young master?"

Hearing the deep, resonant voice beside his ear, Sheng Nian suddenly felt his ears itch a little. He reached up to rub them, cast the strange sensation aside, and nodded as though satisfied, giving him an approving look.

Good, good. You're a quick learner.

"Of course, you have to choose what to call me based on the situation. Understand?"

Yan Feizhuo put on an expression of having taken the lesson to heart.

Evernight Sky.

This was the season's first location shoot. Director Ren spent quite a while at the entrance reminding them to stay safe. "Everyone, please head inside now. Although most attractions in Evernight Sky have check-in tasks set by the production team that let you earn Heart-Pounding Badges, there are also quite a few where we haven't set any heart-pounding tasks due to safety and other considerations. Don't get so caught up having fun that you forget your tasks~"

Once the director finished his reminders, everyone took their maps and headed off to do their tasks.

Each of the eleven guests was followed by several PDs and camera operators, along with high-tech floating livestream spheres, ensuring that everything they did in Evernight Sky could be filmed.

Evernight Sky was the Federation's premier amusement park, with an astonishing daily attendance of up to 100,000, so it was impossible to close for an entire day just for the production team's shoot. They had only limited admissions for today's filming, but the crowds were still quite large.

As a result, many passersby took out their lightbrains to film them when they saw the entourage. Plenty of fans had also rushed to Evernight Sky specifically to see their idols after watching the livestream.

A live variety show had no reason to fear fan footage leaking. After all, the production team's equipment was currently the best available in the Federation. Not only did they have floating livestream spheres providing high-definition footage in real time, but the edited episodes would also come in 3D. No amount of fan footage could match the production team's quality, and it could generate more buzz for the show, so Director Ren was more than happy to see these people filming.

Sheng Nian kept feeling that the show's heart-pounding tasks could not be this simple. He discussed checking a nearby attraction with Yan Feizhuo first to assess the difficulty before deciding on their route.

Yan Feizhuo nodded in agreement, then took out the map and pointed to the giant pendulum ride right by the entrance. "Then let's check this one first."

The two reached the entrance to the giant pendulum ride. Perhaps enemies really did keep crossing paths, because just as they were about to board, they saw Jiang Shu and He Gu coming over too.

Sheng Nian: ...

Are you two our shadows? There are so many attractions, yet we still run into you.

However, Sheng Nian, who could not act out of character, still had to look delighted to see Jiang Shu.

The four gathered around the screen at the ride's entrance and read its check-in rules.

Giant pendulum ride check-in rules: [Is that wildly racing heart a sign of excitement? Fear? Or attraction? Please take a photo together on the giant pendulum ride.]

Sheng Nian was baffled. "??? What does that mean? We just take a photo and the task is done? It's that simple?"

The other three also thought it was too simple. Was this task testing how quickly the guests could check in?

"We'll know whether there's a catch once we try it." With that, Yan Feizhuo pulled Sheng Nian over to seats farther away from Jiang Shu and He Gu.

The little figure in the bubble immediately bounded toward the giant pendulum ride. [Great! With them out of sight, I can let loose and have fun. My tool really is reliable!]

As soon as the giant pendulum ride started moving, Sheng Nian began screaming, "Aah! Aah! Aah!" Not because he was scared, but because shouting made it more exhilarating.

Yet Yan Feizhuo sat beside him in utter composure, without the slightest reaction.

Sheng Nian turned his head. "Why aren't you reacting at all? You're not getting into the spirit of the ride."

Yan Feizhuo turned to look at his little face, flushed with excitement, and asked with a smile, "Then should I shout a couple of times too?"

Sheng Nian pictured Yan Feizhuo yelling his head off. Ugh~ A shudder ran through him.

"Forget it, forget it. I'll do the shouting myself. We're a couple, so if I shout, it counts as you shouting too."

"Come on, let's take a photo together first!"

Once they had finished the check-in task, he stopped paying attention to Yan Feizhuo and continued shouting happily.

Yan Feizhuo glanced at the Omega, whose eyes were shining, and could not help smiling. This was how his young master should be: carefree.

When the giant pendulum ride stopped, Sheng Nian still had not quite had his fill.

He lingered in his seat for a few minutes.

Seeing him dawdle, Yan Feizhuo asked, "Want to go again?"

Sheng Nian did indeed want another ride, but thinking of the production team's tasks, he shook his head. "Let's submit our task first."

By the time they reached the staff member handling task submissions, Jiang Shu and He Gu had just finished submitting theirs.

"Task check-in complete. Congratulations to Jiang Shu and He Gu's team on earning three Heart-Pounding Badges. Once you've checked in at an attraction, you can't earn more Heart-Pounding Badges there~"

Having heard the staff member, Sheng Nian understood the task rules a little better. He also stepped forward and handed over their photo.

The staff member sounded like a dutiful NPC. "Task check-in complete. Congratulations to Yan Feizhuo and Sheng Nian's team on earning two Heart-Pounding Badges. Once you've checked in at an attraction, you can't earn more Heart-Pounding Badges there~"

Sheng Nian: "???"

"Why did they get three while we got two?"

The staff member placed both photos on the table and gestured for him to look closely.

In Jiang Shu's team's photo, He Gu had his eyes squeezed shut in fear, his head tilted slightly toward Jiang Shu's embrace. They were also holding hands.

In their photo, however, Sheng Nian was smiling happily at the camera, while Yan Feizhuo watched him with calm concentration.

"?? What's wrong? Is our photo blurry?"

The staff member reminded him, "Heart-Throbbing Observation Diary is a dating show, you know~"

Sheng Nian still did not understand, but Yan Feizhuo beside him caught on. "Their photo is more intimate than ours."

The staff member said, "You guessed right, President Yan~"

Sheng Nian: "..."

"You should've said so earlier! We can't check in again at attractions we've already done. If we hadn't discovered this rule and earned one or two fewer badges than everyone else at each attraction, wouldn't we end up dead last?"

Sheng Nian inwardly cursed the production team's cunning. Yan Feizhuo reassured him, "The others might not have discovered this rule either. This is only the first attraction."