Xie Huan said, "Before we set off just now, your eyebrows were all scrunched together. You definitely weren't feeling right."
Hearing that, Pei Tingyun instinctively touched the space between his brows.
Sure enough, they were furrowed.
He was just about to say something.
Xie Huan suddenly swung the boat around in a sharp U-turn.
Never mind the production crew not having time to react.
Even Pei Tingyun was thrown off balance.
Xie Huan practically made the boat fly.
His maneuvering was downright sizzling.
Even with a professional helmsman aboard, the production crew's boat couldn't get anywhere near them.
The director was frantic!
He called in several more boats to surround them.
But Xie Huan's boat-handling skills were the real deal.
Every time another boat was about to close in, he managed to find a tricky angle and break through the encirclement.
The aerial footage was spectacular.
The people aboard his boat, however, were suffering.
They swayed from side to side.
Xie Huan had no idea how the people outside the wheelhouse were doing.
He only knew that being tossed back and forth was making Pei Tingyun uncomfortable.
Xie Huan reached out.
He simply scooped Pei Tingyun into his arms to steady him.
That way, he wouldn't sway so badly.
Pei Tingyun had never been held like this by a man in his life.
He was utterly stunned.
His brain short-circuited on the spot.
The hand that had instinctively moved to push the other man away froze in place.
For some reason, it looked a little like he was playing hard to get.
The shipper fans in the livestream were very happy with what they saw.
The director, still caught up in the chase at sea, had no attention to spare for shipping.
In the end, he ran out of options.
He could only announce his surrender over a megaphone.
He agreed to their request to exchange ingredients.
The director was so frustrated.
Why couldn't a drunken butterfly like him ever fly out of Xie Huan's world?
Xie Huan had him wrapped around his finger every single time!
He couldn't let this keep happening!
He had to reclaim his control as the director!!!
The livestream viewers were thoroughly enjoying themselves:
[I actually got to see Fast and Flirty on a travel show! Xie Huan really knows what he's doing!]
[Hahaha, Xie Huan's moves were so hot, even the director got burned.]
[Xie Huan's like four trick bags minus three-he's really got a bag of tricks!]
Back on shore.
The production crew provided the ingredients as promised.
But getting lunch wasn't going to be that easy.
The director said, "For the cooking segment coming up, you have to work together."
Then he looked at Xie Huan and emphasized through gritted teeth:
"Xie Huan is not allowed to cook!!!"
As soon as he said that.
Gu Lin, Tang Keni, and Yao Xuan all pulled long faces:
"Huh?!"
There was no other reason.
Not one of the three of them knew how to cook.
All three turned in unison toward the utterly composed Pei Tingyun.
Gu Lin asked hopefully, "Tingyun, can you cook?"
Pei Tingyun shook his head with breezy ease:
"Nope."
Gu Lin: "..."
Tang Keni asked in confusion, "Then why are you so calm? Aren't you worried we won't get to eat?"
Pei Tingyun countered as though it were obvious, "What's there to worry about with Xie Huan here? He can cook."
Yao Xuan reminded him, "But the director won't let Brother Xie cook!"
Pei Tingyun glanced over with slightly narrowed eyes.
First there had been "Xuanzi," and now there was "Brother Xie."
They were both getting pretty friendly with their names.
For some inexplicable reason, Pei Tingyun's peculiar competitive streak flared up:
"We can make four dishes and a soup without my Brother Xie cooking."
As he spoke, Pei Tingyun gave Xie Huan a deliberate but unforced wink. "Isn't that right?"
Suddenly receiving a wink from the top star, Xie Huan was unusually flustered and even started stammering:
"Ahem... well, uh, I-I'll listen to our tour guide. Whatever my buddy Da Ting tells me to do, I-I'll do it."
The shipper fans, experts at picking out sweet moments in variety shows, had already reached a conclusion after seeing this:
[Who was questioning whether Pei Tingyun was a top? Look at him getting all jealous and possessive. He's totally a younger gong!]
[Key point: my Brother Xie! Brother Xie is mine! Mine!]
[Hahaha, Xie Huan looking all dazed after being flirted with is such gap moe! So cute!]
The Roaming Group wasn't thinking nearly as much about it as the shipper fans.
Tang Keni, the only one who had picked up on it, kept his insight to himself.
Naturally, nobody else thought along those lines.
They were as united, friendly, and harmonious as ever.
Pei Tingyun pulled Xie Huan over to stand in front of the stove and asked:
"Take a look. What dishes can we make with these ingredients?"
Xie Huan glanced at them and immediately started rattling off dishes:
"Hot-and-sour shredded potatoes, eggplant in sauce, stir-fried eggs with green peppers, and we could do a stir-fry of potatoes, eggplant, and peppers too."
Pei Tingyun clapped his hands in satisfaction:
"That'll do. Add an egg soup, and we've got four dishes and a soup. Perfect!"
Hearing that, the director intervened. "No, Xie Huan isn't allowed to cook!"
Pei Tingyun raised his eyebrows slightly, his lips curving. "Did I say I was letting him cook?"
The director froze.
Before he could work out what Pei Tingyun was planning.
Xie Huan had already obediently followed Pei Tingyun's instructions and stepped away from the stove.
Pei Tingyun nodded in satisfaction:
"Right, just stand there. Use your mouth, not your hands."
Xie Huan looked as though everything had suddenly clicked:
"Well, would you look at that! My buddy Da Ting really is the smart one! If I'm not lifting a finger, it definitely can't count as cooking!"
As he spoke, Xie Huan gave Pei Tingyun a thumbs-up.
Pei Tingyun returned the thumbs-up and praised him:
"Huanhuan's smart too. You caught on right away!"
The director: "..."
It was over!
The top star had been thoroughly corrupted by Xie Huan!
Meanwhile, Tang Keni, who had been secretly shipping them alongside the viewers all along.
Was now struggling to suppress the corners of his mouth as they rose uncontrollably.
Were these two not even bothering to hide it anymore?
Oh my god!
He couldn't hold back his shipper smile!
Compared with him, the livestream shippers had much more freedom to beam away.
The corners of their mouths hadn't come down once:
[Huanhuan!!! Help! That nickname is such shipper fuel!]
[Tsk, tsk, tsk. He's not even calling him big brother anymore.]
[When the younger one won't call him big brother, he's definitely got ideas! I told you those two were real!]
["That Time I Got Real Sugar from a Travel Show"]
In truth, this celebration among the shipper fans was entirely accidental.
Pei Tingyun hadn't expected it himself.
He had accidentally let the nickname he'd given Xie Huan slip out.
Now he wanted to bite his own tongue!
Fortunately, the top star's expression management remained professional.
Nobody noticed his embarrassment; they only thought he'd made a harmless joke.
They laughed, and the moment passed.
And Xie Huan, the rugged man himself who had been called Huanhuan, hadn't found anything wrong with it either.
It seemed that whatever Pei Tingyun said or did, he saw nothing wrong with it.
Everyone thought Pei Tingyun had arranged things perfectly.
But when it came to putting the plan into practice.
Sure enough, something went wrong.
It all started like this-
Under Xie Huan's verbal direction.
Pei Tingyun was in charge of washing the vegetables.
Yao Xuan was in charge of chopping them.
Gu Lin was in charge of mixing a bowl of sauce for the stir-fries.
And Tang Keni, the only one with experience boiling instant noodles and getting out of the kitchen safely, was assigned to man the wok.