"Hi, is this a check-in spot?"
Chu Xinghui walked up beneath a flag with his card and smiled at the young woman.
"Yes, yes! Let me stamp that for you!"
The young woman wore a qipao and had her hair in a bun. Beaming, she stamped Chu Xinghui's card.
Chu Xinghui raised the card and flicked it. There were already five stamps on it.
"Are you here to check in too?"
The young woman smiled as she asked Pei Hanmo behind him.
Chu Xinghui turned and shouted:
"Can't you stay a little farther away from me?!"
Wan Linqing had just invited Pei Hanmo to join her, but Chu Xinghui had left with his card to find the check-in spots before hearing Pei Hanmo's answer.
He had thought Pei Hanmo would team up with Wan Linqing to search, but he hadn't expected the guy to keep following him.
Pei Hanmo no longer cared about the camera in front of him. He lowered his head, looking aggrieved.
"I'm just going in the same direction as you..."
Once the young woman finished stamping his card, he walked back over to Chu Xinghui and pushed his luck.
"Since fate keeps bringing us together, why don't we walk together?"
[A whole new definition of fate!]
[You've been following Chu Xinghui the whole time! What do you mean, fate?!]
Having gotten wet, Pei Hanmo had also changed clothes, and the pattern on his outfit was very similar to Chu Xinghui's. He took another step forward, wanting to get a little closer to Chu Xinghui.
Chu Xinghui immediately stepped half a pace back. He had no desire to smell Pei Hanmo's overpowering pheromones.
"You can follow me if you want. Just don't interfere with me finding stamps."
[How can you be so cold? That's Pei Hanmo!]
[You're nothing like this on Weibo. Tell me, do you really run your own Weibo account?]
"Why don't the three of us go together?"
Wan Linqing had followed Pei Hanmo for ages, but he simply wouldn't pay attention to her.
She could only settle for second best and come forward to discuss it with Chu Xinghui.
"Let's each find our own."
Chu Xinghui glanced at Wan Linqing and kept walking.
Wan Linqing wanted to get close to Pei Hanmo. He could tell.
He wouldn't stop her from doing that, but of course he wouldn't help her either.
"All right..."
Wan Linqing lowered her head, tears seemingly shimmering in her eyes.
She squeezed her eyes shut in a series of blinks, forcing out two tears.
"Is it because I'm a new guest that none of you welcome me?"
She looked pitifully at Chu Xinghui, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes, rolling down her cheeks, and dripping onto the ground.
"I'm trying really hard to fit in with you, but it doesn't seem to be working very well."
No, lady, what are you...?
He wasn't very good at comforting crying girls. His only experience was with the babies at the orphanage.
Although he knew Wan Linqing was pretending, they were still on camera. He reached out and gently patted her back, unable to think of anything besides the way he soothed children.
"Uh... be good, baby... don't cry, baby... uh... little eyes, don't shed tears..."
His voice was so awkward it sounded as if it had just emerged from an ice cellar, stiff and stumbling along with a limp.
Behind him, Pei Hanmo covered his face and laughed until his stomach hurt.
"What are you doing?!"
Chu Xinghui turned back and stared at Pei Hanmo, who was enjoying the show.
When he turned around again, he discovered that Wan Linqing had already stopped crying and was staring fixedly at him. There was even a hint of disdain in her eyes.
"Is this how you comfort girls?"
[Hahaha, I'm dying. Chu Xinghui is such a hopeless straight guy.]
[You can tell he's spent way too much time looking after the babies at home. Doesn't Chu Xinghui have several younger siblings?]
[My preschool teacher DNA just kicked in. Don't even get me started. I can't even watch a variety show without seeing my own job.]
[Man Feiluan has already raced his way to fifteen over there. How do you only have five?]
Chu Xinghui avoided Wan Linqing's gaze and decided to change the subject.
"Let's hurry up and look. We don't have much time."
"Older Brother, am I not your baby?"
Of course, Pei Hanmo behind him just had to latch onto that. Pitching his voice high, he walked over to Chu Xinghui and lowered his head in an aggrieved manner, copying what Wan Linqing had just done.
His handsome features scrunched together like a little old man's.
[Bro, do you know how to use that face?]
[I've lost count of how many times this has happened. Pei Hanmo, if you don't salvage your image soon, your cool, aloof label will disappear!]
Chu Xinghui was already annoyed because Wan Linqing was there, and now Pei Hanmo was buzzing beside him like a bee. He stepped straight forward and caught him in a headlock.
"Hmm? Still want to be my baby? You're Older Brother's very~ best~ baby.
Speak up! Still feeling wronged?!"
Pei Hanmo wasn't angry about being caught in a headlock. Grinning, he pried Chu Xinghui's hand away and said in an obnoxious tone:
"Okay~ I just love how wild and untamable Older Brother is~ Older Brother is so handsome~ I'll smash into a wall for Older Brother~"
Hearing those familiar lines, Chu Xinghui didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He stopped paying any attention to the two beside him and walked on by himself to find the next stamp.
Wan Linqing touched her neck, suddenly feeling as though she had survived a disaster.
[The boomerang from Weibo finally came back to hit Chu Xinghui.]
[Chu Xinghui, why have you deflated? I still prefer how you were just now, with your S side out in full force.]
[Pei Hanmo: my M side explodes the moment I see Chu Xinghui. Monkey! I'm determined to act like a brat!]
[Wan Linqing, why are you touching your neck? Hahaha, are you scared Chu Xinghui will put you in a headlock? Don't worry. From what I've observed, he only does that to Pei Hanmo.]
At eleven that morning, Wang Xiao gathered the guests right on time to check everyone's cards.
Apart from Chu Xinghui, Pei Hanmo, and Wan Linqing, everyone had twenty stamps on their cards.
"What happened with you three?"
They hadn't even managed such a simple task?
The three of them hemmed and hawed without giving a clear answer.
Frowning, Wang Xiao looked at the live comments in Chu Xinghui's camera feed, hoping to find out why.
[Report! Pei Hanmo's M side exploded, and he was too busy being a brat!]
[Another report! Chu Xinghui's S side exploded, and he was too busy punishing Pei Hanmo!]
[Yet another report! Wan Linqing was too busy being scared while watching this S&M session!]
Wang Xiao's eyes widened. He turned his head, his voice trembling.
"You... just now, in my livestream... what exactly did you do?"
He had worked diligently on the show for three years and had never wanted to include anything bloody, violent, or sexual. Even the platform's content reviewers praised him as a good director in the industry.
He couldn't let these three get his livestream shut down!
"We just had a tiny argument."
As Chu Xinghui spoke, he held his hands in front of Wang Xiao, pinching his fingers together to show a tiny gap.
What was this?
An entire universe between his fingertips?
On the verge of tears, Wang Xiao led everyone onto a large boat on the little river.
"I thought you'd all manage it... We were going to have a banquet for lunch today, but you three... How about putting on a performance instead?"
Although the show had been interrupted midway last time because of Chu Xinghui, that wouldn't interfere with this time.
As long as he didn't let Chu Xinghui sing.
"Sure!"
Before the other two could agree, Wan Linqing nodded at once.
She had just lost her composure on camera. This time, she would definitely outshine Chu Xinghui!
Before you continue