"Welcome to Let's Travel Together, everyone. I'm your director, Wang Xiao."
The director stood in front of the camera with a microphone, waving his arms and striking flamboyant poses.
"As everyone knows, our show is all about authenticity. Some guests may have watched videos of previous episodes beforehand.
Knowing we ask some 'interesting' questions at the beginning, they may have prepared their answers in advance.
So this time, we've decided to welcome our dear guests a different way."
Eight chairs were arranged neatly behind him, with no guests' names on them.
Clearly, the guests would choose their own seats when they arrived.
[This early? Do you have a death wish?]
[Can't wait!]
[Die, Chu Xinghui! Die, Chu Xinghui!]
[I bet Chu Xinghui will definitely take one of the two center seats.]
[You up there, you've already won that bet.]
Let's Travel Together was an extremely popular variety show. Even though it was very early, some fans entered the livestream as soon as it started.
Watching the viewer count climb, the director smiled mysteriously.
"I've already messaged all the guests to tell them today's livestream has been delayed by an hour.
Of course, whether they're watching the livestream right now, I have no idea~
The cameras will be hidden in the flowers beside us,
so let's look forward to seeing how our guests behave!"
[That's so sneaky. Telling them it's delayed now, when they must already be on their way!]
[Honestly, I'm kind of excited. What are they like in private?]
[If the director isn't bad, the fans won't love him~]
Bleary-eyed, Chu Xinghui looked at the message Gu Kai had sent him.
The time on his phone clearly read six thirty.
What kind of insane variety show made people get up at six thirty?
He wasn't even allowed to take his own private car.
He raised his eyes slightly and looked over the top of his phone.
Wen Liangtian was resting with his eyes closed, but his expression wasn't particularly pleasant either.
Chu Xinghui even felt that Wen Liangtian was currently more resentful than a college student with an eight a.m. class.
The boss had explicitly forbidden Gu Kai from coming with him, while Wen Liangtian had brought three assistants.
And he was riding with him, too.
He withdrew his gaze and read the information Gu Kai had sent.
Aside from the three of them, there were five other guests this time.
Two of them were from a currently popular group, its vocalist and main dancer, no less.
Their names were Man Feiluan and Yuan Zhanpeng.
One was even a sheep and the other a wolf.
Barring any surprises, those two probably had plenty of ship fans.
After all, even he and Pei Hanmo, who had absolutely nothing to do with each other, could be shipped together.
The other three were all actors.
Hua Zhiyuan was currently the hottest actress, having won most people's affection with her striking looks and her acting that made her seem so pitiful and vulnerable.
However, she hadn't revealed her animal identity.
She had never exposed it in public either, so it remained a mystery.
Many people speculated that she wasn't any kind of nice animal-a rat or something, for instance.
The next was Qiao Tong, who had won Best Actress the previous year alongside Pei Hanmo's Best Actor win. Chu Xinghui remembered plenty of people shipping the two of them back then.
But the two had immediately clarified things on Weibo, with Qiao Tong stating that she already had someone she liked.
The last guest was someone whose previous level of fame had been about the same as Chu Xinghui's.
Her name was Lan Xiangxian, and supposedly, she was widely known because all her roles were corpses.
Playing corpses??
Chu Xinghui looked at the picture on his phone, the corner of his eye twitching slightly.
Even that could make someone widely known?
"Are we not there yet?"
Wen Liangtian, who was sitting up front, suddenly spoke:
"I saw the director say it's been delayed, so stop acting for now. Save your energy for when filming starts."
He stretched, opened his phone to check the time, and pointed at Chu Xinghui behind him.
"You're good-looking enough. You don't need a makeup artist. Just go bare-faced."
Chu Xinghui: ...How very kind of you?
After reading up on the guests, he put his phone aside and silently watched the scenery race past outside the window.
Since this was the first episode, the director hadn't chosen anywhere particularly remote. Instead, he had picked a small village within the city.
Chu Xinghui had just looked it up online. Its rural scenery was quite beautiful, and there were plenty of lovely photos online. There was also a small mountain nearby, so they would probably be hiking later.
"We're here. Get out. I still want to sleep. I'll do my makeup later. None of you stay in the car."
Once they arrived, Wen Liangtian chased Chu Xinghui out of the car.
He shook his head helplessly and headed toward the address the director had sent, carrying his luggage.
Since this trip lasted three days and two nights, everyone had to bring some of their own daily necessities.
[Wait, why is Chu Xinghui the first one here?]
[Where's our boy? Aren't they from the same entertainment company?]
[So calculating! Trying to look enthusiastic by arriving first, huh? Deliberately leaving our Liangtian behind! Stop workplace bullying!]
[Stop workplace bullying!]
The moment Chu Xinghui arrived first, the viewers in the livestream started hurling abuse.
Because Wen Liangtian's fans hadn't seen their idol, they started stirring things up.
Unaware of the bloodbath in the livestream, Chu Xinghui set his luggage aside, walked to the far left, and sat in a chair the director had prepared.
The other artists probably all had their own cars and wouldn't be here anytime soon. He might as well take this chance to sleep.
With that thought, he slumped bonelessly in the chair and closed his eyes.
[? Dude, what are you doing?]
[You up there lost your bet! Apologize to our Huihui!]
[Exactly! Huihui isn't that desperate to hog the camera!]
[There are still people who like Chu Xinghui? I'm dying of laughter. Who isn't here to watch the award-winning actor put him in his place and humiliate him?]
[Pei Hanmo's here! He'll definitely sit on the far right!]
Not long after he closed his eyes, a breeze blew past, and Chu Xinghui caught a familiar scent.
He opened his eyes a sliver, squinting at the person approaching.
He didn't need to think to know who it was.
Pei Hanmo wore a tailored, fitted black suit and gold-rimmed glasses as he strode briskly toward them.
Pei Hanmo's fans immediately started screaming in the live comments.
The previously sparse stream of comments gradually grew as Pei Hanmo appeared on camera.
Chu Xinghui glanced at him and offered a brief appraisal: Life was dull and flavorless; a peacock was playing human.
Who knew what Pei Hanmo was up to, dressed like a peacock and oozing such flamboyance.
Having finished his appraisal, he was about to close his eyes and go back to sleep, only to see Pei Hanmo pass the rightmost chair and walk toward him.
His eyes immediately widened, all sleepiness gone. His brows furrowed as he signaled to Pei Hanmo with his eyes:
Don't sit next to me!
Pei Hanmo stopped two chairs away and looked down at him, his deep eyes inquisitive, one eyebrow raised:
Why should I listen? No.
Seeing him lift a foot to come closer, Chu Xinghui opened his mouth and bared his sharp fangs at Pei Hanmo:
Take another step this way and I'll bite you to death!
Looking at Chu Xinghui baring his teeth like a kitten before him, Pei Hanmo lowered his head and chuckled twice, then looked toward the seat beside him:
Then may I ask where I should sit?
Chu Xinghui looked toward the rightmost seat.
The latter shrugged to show that he would do as he was told, then walked to the right.
[???]
[Wait, what did you two just do?]
[I told you Pei Hanmo doesn't like Chu Xinghui. He definitely went over to provoke him!]
[Xinghan is real! The way you two keep looking at each other-please stop making eyes at each other, I'm begging you QWQ. The baby's about to be born!!]
[God, do you really think that was provocation? Wasn't that obviously flirting?]
[Make.]
[You're not alone!]
[Love.]
Before you continue