Top star Pei Tingyun had been straight for over twenty years, only to end up bent like a mosquito coil on a travel variety show. Since he was bent already, surely bending a roughneck too and making him his wife wasn't too much to ask?
The Ultimate Roaming livestream:
[Huff, huff! That waist! Those legs! Those goldfish vibes!]
[Aaaah! Darling, that suit is killing me!]
As the bullet comments drifted past.
A close-up of top star Pei Tingyun appeared in the Ultimate Roaming livestream.
A long leg, sporting this season's latest leather shoes, stepped out of a business van.
A pale ankle flashed beneath his suit trousers.
He lowered his head slightly and adjusted his cuffs.
The snug black leather gloves on his hands were particularly eye-catching.
Yet very few people knew they weren't a fashion accessory, but Pei Tingyun's protective layer.
When he raised his head toward the camera, his lips curved into a perfectly calibrated professional smile.
There was no sign whatsoever that he had already worked for over twenty-four hours straight without a wink of sleep.
Pei Tingyun took the luggage cart stacked with three large suitcases from his assistant and walked elegantly into the noisy airport.
As aloof and refined as ever, he was a delight to behold, like an immortal descended to earth.
At that moment, a line of decorative lettering appeared beside Pei Tingyun:
Youngest brother, Pei Tingyun.
The livestream switched shots.
A young man with wheat-colored skin, a buzz cut, and superb muscle definition, wearing a racerback tank top.
With an unlit cigarette between his lips, he was squatting outside the airport, chatting animatedly with an old man.
Only when his accompanying producer reminded him that it was almost time to meet up.
Did he pick up his only piece of luggage-
The old hiking backpack by his feet.
At the same time, he raised his other hand and waved to the old man.
The moment he opened his mouth, out poured a thick Northeastern accent:
"Oh, man! Ain't gonna make it! Can't keep jawin' with ya, I'm off!"
A line of decorative lettering appeared beside his hastily running figure:
Eldest brother, Xie Huan.
Question marks instantly flooded the livestream comments:
[Who's this guy? An ordinary person the production team invited?]
[I know this one! He's the real young master the Gu Household just found in some remote mountain village!]
[I heard the Gu Household's other young master is coming too! Doesn't that mean a reunion of the real and fake young masters?]
[Why are you all focused on the rich-family shura field? Am I the only one who thinks the aloof kitty and roughneck wild dog would make a great ship?]
Inside the airport.
All five guests of Ultimate Roaming had assembled.
Unlike previous years, when the guest lineup paired men and women to make the work easier.
This year's Ultimate Roaming had an all-male guest lineup.
Five young men in their twenties, each with a different style, stood in a row.
Pei Tingyun and Xie Huan happened to be next to each other.
Standing side by side, the gulf between them could not have been more obvious.
One was so fair he practically glowed, ethereal as a noble prince.
The other was dark as charcoal and thoroughly down-to-earth, like a brick-hauling laborer.
The camera continued panning over the other three guests.
Decorative lettering beside them identified them as second brother, third brother, and fourth brother respectively.
Without even giving them time to get acquainted, the director issued the first task card.
The task card was handed to top star Pei Tingyun.
Following the production team's instructions, Pei Tingyun read out its contents:
"Welcome, everyone, to Ultimate Roaming!
Your journey officially begins now.
Your first task is very simple.
Pair up and find the correct boarding gate within half an hour.
The first pair to reach the gate will receive a special reward at the first stop.
Now, going from left to right, please team up with the person to your right."
After finishing, Pei Tingyun looked at Xie Huan, who stood to his right.
Seeing him look over, Xie Huan flashed him a toothy grin.
Against his dark face, those two rows of gleaming white teeth stood out.
Pei Tingyun's expression, however, was rather hard to describe.
Because the production staff had already begun putting their pairing wristbands on them.
And they were the anti-lost kind specifically meant for children!
Pei Tingyun hadn't been able to have normal physical contact with others for a long time.
Other people's touch made him intensely nauseous.
Sometimes, it even made him vomit uncontrollably.
He watched helplessly as his hand and Xie Huan's were tethered together by the wristbands.
On the surface, Pei Tingyun looked perfectly calm.
Inside, however, a massive alarm had already gone off.
To avoid repeating his past experience of getting cursed onto the trending searches, accused of acting like a diva and refusing to cooperate with filming.
Pei Tingyun could only take a deep breath and brainwash himself:
The cord between the wristbands is long. We won't touch!
Stay calm! Stay calm!
But he had only just finished brainwashing himself.
When Xie Huan leaned over.
And, of all things, raised his hand and draped it over his shoulder!
Xie Huan was an outright social terrorist:
"Lil' bro, stick with me! We're gonna be the first ones there for sure!"
Pei Tingyun stiffened.
His hand hanging at his side clenched involuntarily.
Too close.
He could even smell the sun-warmed soap-pod scent on Xie Huan.
Unexpectedly, the scent didn't make him nauseous.
But the tension brought on by a stranger's touch still made him frown and move away from the hand Xie Huan had laid on his shoulder.
He said coolly:
"Don't put your arm around me the moment we meet. We don't know each other."
Xie Huan wasn't annoyed by the rejection.
He even clapped Pei Tingyun on the shoulder with complete familiarity:
"Aw, man! Why're ya treatin' me like a stranger, lil' bro?
We don't know each other now, but hang out a bit and we will!
Look, those two have already taken off! We'd better get movin' too! Or they'll take first place!"
With that, he gave Pei Tingyun no chance to refuse and pushed him forward.
Pei Tingyun: "!!!"
Bruh, was my rejection not obvious enough???
Although the wristbands limited how far Pei Tingyun could run away from home-no, from Xie Huan.
Pei Tingyun still resolutely stepped two paces to the side.
Just then.
A tour group of over a dozen people ran past behind him.
One person's suitcase was about to crash into his leg.
Xie Huan reacted in a flash.
He grabbed Pei Tingyun's arm and pulled him toward himself, carefully shielding him.
The suitcase wheels skimmed past Pei Tingyun's trouser leg.
"Can't ya watch where you're goin'?!" Xie Huan bellowed at the suitcase's owner.
Then he lowered his head to check Pei Tingyun's leg.
When he spoke again, his volume instantly dropped by half.
He sounded inexplicably gentle. "Ya okay?"
Pei Tingyun shook his head to indicate that he was fine.
Then those peach-blossom eyes, which would look affectionate even gazing at a dog, glanced at Xie Huan, then at the hand still gripping him.
The meaning was-
You can let go now, right?
"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The suitcase's owner apologized as they ran off.
Xie Huan, however, showed no intention of letting Pei Tingyun go.
He even took it further.
And put his arm around Pei Tingyun's shoulders again.
He even scolded him:
"Look at ya, still wouldn't let me put an arm around ya. If I hadn't grabbed ya, you'd have been knocked over! Look how skinny ya are. Another knock and you'd fall apart!"
Pei Tingyun: "..."
Great! A social bandit. There's no saving me!
At that moment, Pei Tingyun, who was utterly resistant to Xie Huan, could never have imagined.
That in the near future, he would wish he could grow right onto Xie Huan!
Seeing this scene.
The netizens, skilled at shipping anyone, anywhere, had already caught a whiff of a pairing:
[Hang out a bit and you'll know each other? Hang out how? Date? I approve. Go ahead and date! Auntie smile.jpg]
[Big brother protects little brother so naturally! This black-and-white pairing has such chemistry! Why don't you two date? Give that suitcase the seat of honor at your wedding!]
Some netizens even gave them the ship name White Clouds and Black Soil.
Whenever the two appeared in the same shot, White Clouds and Black Soil began floating across the comments.
Meanwhile, another group of netizens who weren't shipping them focused on the task card:
[The task is actually just finding the boarding gate?]
[I don't believe it's that simple. With my experience watching two seasons of Ultimate Roaming, there's definitely a catch!]
Pei Tingyun, who had crammed the previous two seasons before coming, shared that thought.
When fourth brother checked his boarding pass for the gate information earlier, he had deliberately stolen a glance.
Sure enough, he discovered that the gate information on their two boarding passes didn't match!
But before he could speak up to warn him.
Fourth brother had already pulled his teammate, third brother, away and run off.
While he himself was being steered by Xie Huan's arm around him in the exact opposite direction.
Pei Tingyun vaguely suspected that the gate information on every one of their boarding passes might be different!
To verify this, and to distract himself from the arm around his shoulders.
Pei Tingyun asked Xie Huan:
"Which gate does your boarding pass say?"
Xie Huan shook his head. "Dunno. Didn't look."
Pei Tingyun was surprised. "You didn't look? Then where are you taking me?"
Xie Huan looked perfectly calm. "What's the point of lookin' at a fake boarding pass? I'm takin' ya to find the real gate."
Now Pei Tingyun was even more surprised.
How did he know the boarding passes were fake?