Seeing them return, Tang Keni, their number-one shipper, immediately teased:
"Oh, finally back. You went pretty far for a date."
Since these two hugged and snuggled up to each other all day without hiding it from anyone, Tang Keni teased them openly.
Pei Tingyun immediately denied it. "What date? Don't make things up!"
Tang Keni glanced at his bright red earlobes, which still hadn't faded.
With an expression that said he understood perfectly, he replied, "Okay, okay, no date, no date. You were just riding horses, nothing else, right?"
Pei Tingyun: "..."
Why did it feel like the more he explained, the worse it sounded?
Besides, he really hadn't done anything!
Xie Huan was the one who kept putting his arms around him, snuggling up to him, and hugging him!
After Tang Keni put it that way, Pei Tingyun suddenly felt as though he'd gotten the short end of the stick...
With the horseback riding experience over, it was lunchtime again.
Pei Tingyun and Xie Huan's interactions on horseback had just brought the director a massive wave of shipping traffic.
He was in a great mood now.
So he wasn't planning to make things difficult for them over lunch.
After sending the Sunset Restaurant's head chef to the police station yesterday, the director had contacted the private island's owner and found another local chef to come over.
They could have him make some local specialties for lunch.
Before eating, though, there was still a little game to arrange.
Everyone took their seats in a small villa near the riding grounds.
The director said, "We've prepared a lunch menu for you, but only one of you will earn the right to order."
Every member of the Roaming Group looked utterly unconcerned.
Whoever ended up ordering could satisfy everyone's requests anyway.
The director had anticipated their reaction.
But his purpose in arranging the game hadn't been to watch them fight for ordering rights in the first place. It was to feed the shippers some sugar.
The director said, "Next, you'll decide who gets to order through one-on-one blindfolded rock-paper-scissors."
The rules went like this:
"All members will play one-on-one rock-paper-scissors in a winner-stays-on format. You must wear blindfolds while playing, then feel your opponent's hand to determine who won. Whoever wins through to the end gets to order."
As soon as the rules were explained, Pei Tingyun was the first to object. "Can I skip the blindfold? I promise I won't open my eyes."
The director refused mercilessly. "No."
Pei Tingyun said, "Then can I sit this out? I give up my right to order."
The director continued to refuse mercilessly. "No."
What a joke!
This game was designed specifically for him and Xie Huan. If he didn't participate, who would dish out the sugar?
The livestream comments:
[What's up with Peipei? It's just rock-paper-scissors. Why does he seem so reluctant to play?]
[He doesn't want to be blindfolded, I think.]
[Why? With his face shape, he'd look so hot blindfolded! I really want to see it!]
Other people didn't know why Pei Tingyun didn't want to be blindfolded, but Xie Huan knew perfectly well.
He'd known since they first met as children.
Pei Tingyun was afraid of the dark, and had been since childhood.
Closing his eyes was fine, because that was a kind of darkness he could control at any time.
But the uncontrollable darkness of having his eyes covered with cloth was too much for Pei Tingyun.
He didn't even wear an eye mask when sleeping on planes.
Xie Huan guessed that Pei Tingyun didn't want to expose his fear of the dark on the show.
So he took Pei Tingyun's hand in his palm and squeezed it gently.
"'S all good. Your big bro's coming with you!"
With that, Xie Huan kept hold of Pei Tingyun's hand and led him over to sit by the coffee table where they would play.
Then he tied the blindfold on him himself.
Tying it required both hands, so Xie Huan temporarily placed Pei Tingyun's hand, which he'd been holding, on his waist.
He hadn't really thought much of it.
He'd only figured that letting Pei Tingyun feel he was still beside him would make him less afraid.
Because when they were children, Pei Tingyun liked to clutch the hem of his clothes when he was scared of the dark.
But the next second, Pei Tingyun grabbed a handful of his hip.
The squeeze made Xie Huan let out a dolphin-like squeal.
Xie Huan dodged and laughed, his voice trembling as he spoke:
"Oh~ whoa~ hey~! Just grab my clothes. Don't squeeze, I'm ticklish!"
The livestream comments:
[Oh my god! Peipei's black leather gloves are such a turn-on! That squeeze is giving me such dirty thoughts...]
[I'm reporting this! Pei Tingyun is copping a feel of Xie Huan!]
[Oh, come on, he's copping a feel of his own man. What's wrong with that?]
[Dear customer, we recommend doing it more, because I love watching!]
Heaven was his witness!
Pei Tingyun really hadn't meant to cop a feel of Xie Huan!
He just couldn't see with his eyes covered and had accidentally grabbed too much.
But honestly, it had felt pretty good.
It would probably feel even better without the gloves.
After tying the blindfold, Xie Huan took Pei Tingyun's hand again.
Once Pei Tingyun was seated, he sat opposite him without letting go. "We'll go first."
Their tightly clasped hands rested on the table as naturally as could be.
Even the director was stunned.
He hadn't expected this segment to deliver so much sugar.
The game hadn't even started, and there had already been hip-squeezing and hand-holding.
The director even gained the confidence that his next variety-show job could definitely be a dating show!
Tang Keni, the chief shipper who had thoroughly enjoyed that, volunteered to step forward and tie Xie Huan's blindfold.
Once he was done, he stayed beside them to call out, "Okay, listen to my count. Rock, paper, scissors!"
As his words fell, Pei Tingyun and Xie Huan threw their hands out at the same time.
Then they felt their way forward, searching for each other's hands.
With their eyes open, it hadn't seemed like anything much.
Only after being blindfolded did they discover that getting two hands to meet in midair wasn't so easy.
Their hands kept missing each other, and when they finally touched, they felt around for ages only to discover that they'd both thrown paper.
The livestream comments:
[Oh my god! I only just realized how pretty Xie Huan's hands are!]
[Peipei, please weld those gloves to your hands, okay? They're so sexy!]
[I can't take it! The sight of those two hands tangled together is so droolworthy!]
[Yes! Just like that! Keep throwing paper from now on! No more scissors or rock! This is what we shippers love watching!]
In the second round, neither Pei Tingyun nor Xie Huan threw paper, but they still ended up with a tie.
Because they'd both thrown rock.
The third round was another tie.
They'd both thrown rock again.
This went on for several rounds without producing a winner.
Watching from the sidelines, Tang Keni delivered a scathing remark:
"Are you two Doraemon? All you can throw is a fist? Can't you open your hands?"
Yao Xuan shook his head repeatedly.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Your synchronization is something else. At this rate, you could play all day."
To stop them from getting stuck on this bug any longer, Tang Keni whispered "rock" into Xie Huan's ear, then ran over and whispered "scissors" into Pei Tingyun's.
But the next round was another tie. Without consulting each other, they both threw paper.
Tang Keni was truly out of ideas. "How about we leave them to play and start eating?"