Pei Hanmo rose from the floor and leaned lightly against the wardrobe, still holding the pajamas as he looked at Chu Xinghui with a smile in his eyes.
"Ahem." Though he hadn't wanted to break the mood, the cameraman had a job to do and finally spoke. "The other three groups have all opened their envelopes and started their tasks."
The director's voice had just come through his earpiece, urging him to get the two guests moving through the program.
The live comments had already erupted into a furious argument, almost all of it dissatisfaction with Chu Xinghui.
[What's up with Chu Xinghui? Is he deliberately dragging things out to get more time alone with Pei Hanmo?]
[Exactly! So calculating! They walked past it so many times.]
[As a Xing-Han shipper, let me quietly point something out. Did no one notice? Hanmo saw it the first time they walked past.]
[Yeah, he even seemed to check whether Xinghui had seen it...]
[Bullshit! Our Hanmo didn't see it! Stop trying to make Chu Xinghui look good!]
At the cameraman's prompting, Chu Xinghui immediately opened the envelope in his hand.
Inside was an envelope handwritten by the director:
[Welcome back to your little home!
As everyone knows, the best way to enjoy pastoral scenery is with delicious food.
Presumably, none of you have done much cooking?
This time, the director invites you all to cook together and enjoy food you've made with your own hands!
See you at six tonight~
ps: ingredients aren't provided here~ You'll need to find your own.]
"?" After reading the letter aloud, Chu Xinghui looked utterly puzzled.
"Isn't this supposed to be a travel show?"
"Mm-hmm?" Pei Hanmo chimed in beside him.
"Why do we have to cook our own meals?"
"Who knows~"
Pei Hanmo put both hands behind his head and stole a sideways glance at Chu Xinghui.
He wondered whether Chu Xinghui would cook tonight.
Chu Xinghui's cooking was delicious. At least, Pei Hanmo thought so.
During the years when he and Chu Xinghui had gone out to work, they had taken turns cooking.
On weekends, Chu Xinghui would occasionally prepare a feast.
He hadn't eaten anything better in the past two years.
"Tsk." Chu Xinghui walked outside. "Let's hurry up and find some ingredients. It looks like it'll rain here tonight."
Snakes were cold-blooded animals, and Pei Hanmo's body was icy all year round.
That made him extremely sensitive to the cold.
Especially when it rained in countryside settings like this, where the temperature plummeted. Excessive cold would make his body stiff.
Chu Xinghui had actually checked the weather forecast for his sake!
The corners of Pei Hanmo's mouth lifted as he followed Chu Xinghui, humming a little tune in his heart, utterly pleased.
[Is he enjoying this? He's definitely enjoying this!]
[Holy shit, I've never seen Pei Hanmo like this!]
[Seriously, they aren't dating? They aren't dating?!]
[Chu Xinghui: guys, does anyone get it? I only checked the weather forecast, and someone's already having a mental orgasm.]
At the sight, the shippers suddenly went wild, flooding the live comments.
All because of Pei Hanmo's secretly thrilled expression.
Before heading out to search, Chu Xinghui decided to find out how much the others had found.
[Chu Xinghui: how many ingredients have you found?]
[The Landlord's Foolish Son: what's that supposed to mean? Are you showing off that you're sleeping with Pei Hanmo?]
Chu Xinghui: ?
Why did Wen Liangtian start acting crazy whenever he saw Pei Hanmo?
Did Pei Hanmo have some sort of switch on him?
Perhaps realizing that his words had come out of nowhere, Wen Liangtian sent another message.
[The Landlord's Foolish Son: we're fishing by the river with rods we borrowed from an old farmer. Bring Pei Hanmo over. I'm going to seduce him.]
Although Lan Xiangxian had already told Wen Liangtian not to provoke Pei Hanmo again, he still refused to believe it.
How could anyone not like him!
His methods had clearly worked every time!
He recalled Lan Xiangxian's earnest expression:
"Liangtian, according to rumors, Pei Hanmo knew Chu Xinghui before this. You'd better leave Chu Xinghui alone.
In the end, those two will be trouble makers, and we'll be double jokers!"
Chu Xinghui was just a little better-looking, that was all. He could at least sing and dance a little, so how was he any worse than Chu Xinghui!
Looking at the word "seduce" on his phone, Chu Xinghui rubbed his eyes.
Wait, he could read those two characters separately, so why did they become a little incomprehensible put together?
Seduce? Wen Liangtian? Pei Hanmo?
He turned to look at Pei Hanmo behind him.
Seeing Chu Xinghui looking at him, Pei Hanmo responded with an outrageously flirtatious smile.
?
Overwhelmed by the sleaziness, Chu Xinghui's stomach churned. He raised his hand and typed on his phone.
[Chu Xinghui: never mind, we'll go buy some vegetables.]
The director hadn't confiscated the guests' money, so Chu Xinghui could buy vegetables.
Under the blazing midday sun, Wen Liangtian had trouble making out the words on his phone.
He had already lowered his hook into the water. If he got up and walked into the shade, he would definitely startle the fish at the bottom of the river.
No! He couldn't resist finding out whether Pei Hanmo would come.
If he came, Wen Liangtian would take off his mud-covered clothes.
After thinking for a while, he got up anyway and walked under a tree.
Lan Xiangxian, beside him, was startled.
The fish he had caught and was holding was startled too. Its large tail slapped his face twice before it broke free of Lan Xiangxian's hands and escaped back into the river.
When he saw Chu Xinghui's message, not only was Pei Hanmo not coming, but he had also lost a big fish.
He jumped twice on the spot in anger.
Pei Hanmo was simply an all-natural, pollution-free man who didn't understand romance!
He consoled himself inwardly.
Still, he went back to fishing and even apologized to Lan Xiangxian.
"It's fine, it's fine."
Lan Xiangxian waved his hand.
"We can catch another fish."
[Aww, two little angels!]
[This is so lovely. Heaven on earth...]
[Suddenly I think this pair could work too. Is the director planning to mix and match everyone?]
"Grandma, how much is your winter melon per jin?"
Having seen no vegetable sellers along the road, Chu Xinghui could only muster his courage and enter a house to ask the elderly woman inside.
Since Wen Liangtian and the others were fishing, he could make winter melon and fish soup.
Seeing someone enter, the old woman raised her head slightly, her eyes full of kindness.
"Good children, if you want some, just take two.
We hardly use money here. It's an hour's drive from here to town.
Every time young people come, they just take a few pictures and leave. If they haven't trampled my vegetables, that's already good enough!"
She stood up and shakily picked up two winter melons, intending to put them into Chu Xinghui's hands.
"Well..."
Chu Xinghui hadn't expected her to give them to him for free. Standing in front of her, he didn't know whether to accept them or refuse.
He turned back and glanced awkwardly at Pei Hanmo behind him, a hint of appeal in his eyes.
Pei Hanmo knew Chu Xinghui didn't want to take something for nothing. He stepped forward and accepted the winter melons from the old woman.
"Grandma, where's your field? It's harvest time right now. Why don't we help you harvest?
We have the whole afternoon."
Almost everyone in the village was elderly. Whenever they harvested grain, they had to rest after working for a while. Having someone help them harvest couldn't have been better.
After hearing that, the old woman looked a little embarrassed.
"Thank you, young men. I'll take you there."
Before you continue