He realized that everything the director said was entirely literal!
When he said he had prepared a boat for sea fishing, he really had only prepared a boat.
He hadn't prepared any fishing gear at all!
Xie Huan saw Pei Tingyun busily rummaging around.
Puzzled, he asked, "What're you looking for?"
Pei Tingyun answered without turning around, "Fishing rods."
Seeing how much it mattered to him, Xie Huan closed his eyes and used his fortune-teller skills to divine the answer.
Two seconds later, he opened his eyes and said, "Quit looking. The rods aren't here. They're back at the villa."
Pei Tingyun finally turned to meet his eyes. "How do you know?"
Of course, Xie Huan didn't tell the truth. Instead, he said with a serious air, "I saw 'em."
Pei Tingyun didn't question him.
After all, along the way, he had discovered that Xie Huan's powers of observation really were exceptional.
So he checked, "Did you inspect them? Are the rods in good condition?"
Xie Huan, who hadn't so much as touched the rods, nodded confidently. "Yep. Brand-spanking-new. Still in their packaging."
Pei Tingyun breathed a sigh of relief.
The fishing gear and boat were both fine. At last, he didn't have to worry about tomorrow's sea fishing.
Still.
They couldn't spend the entire day floating out at sea.
What should they do after coming ashore?
He still needed to look around and see whether there were any other activities on the island.
Pei Tingyun got off the boat.
Xie Huan kept chattering behind him.
He told him to watch the steps and not miss his footing.
Those large, rough hands hovered by his shoulders.
That way, if he did miss a step, Xie Huan could catch him immediately.
Pei Tingyun stopped with a rather complicated expression and turned to ask him:
"Do you E types never get tired?"
Xie Huan blinked. "One person? What's me getting tired got to do with one person or two?"
Pei Tingyun blinked too. "You've never taken an MBTI test?"
Although Xie Huan had come down from the mountains.
Pei Tingyun didn't think he was some clueless country bumpkin the way Gu Lin did.
But this question really did fall into a gap in Xie Huan's knowledge.
Xie Huan looked as though he were listening to gibberish. "What... what eye?"
He was still puzzling over it inwardly:
What's with all these new terms and their E's and I's?
Pei Tingyun patiently explained, "Simply put, it's a questionnaire. Once you finish it, you'll know what kind of person..."
Before he could finish saying "personality," Xie Huan suddenly burst out laughing.
Pei Tingyun asked in confusion, "What are you laughing at?"
Xie Huan said, "I'm a grown man, and I still need a test to tell me what kind of person I am? Just how dumb would I have to be?"
Pei Tingyun, who had only learned he was an INFJ after taking the test, felt personally attacked.
Pei Tingyun went silent.
Xie Huan's mouth, however, couldn't stay idle for even a moment:
"Ting'er, where're you off to now?"
Pei Tingyun waved at him without looking back:
"You go back. I'm going to walk around the island and get a basic idea of the place first, so I can plan tomorrow's itinerary."
At that, Xie Huan's eyes nearly popped out.
He immediately made a sweeping move to stop him!
Xie Huan said, "Say what?! This island's half the size of Xihong City, and you wanna walk around it? You wouldn't make it back by tomorrow morning!"
Pei Tingyun stopped again and turned to look at him. "How do you know how big this island is?"
Of course, he had divined that too.
Xie Huan hadn't learned all those fortune-teller skills for nothing.
But before he left the mountains.
His master had told him that mysticism wasn't doing well these days, and that once he left, he shouldn't tell people he could tell fortunes.
He could easily get taken for a scammer and beaten up!
Since Pei Tingyun fell into the category of people, Xie Huan strictly followed his master's instructions and still didn't tell the truth.
He only said vaguely, "Never mind how I know. You just wanna know what's on this island, right? Quit wandering around. I'll draw you a map when we get back!"
With that, he took Pei Tingyun's hand and headed back.
Pei Tingyun looked astonished.
And what astonished him actually wasn't having Xie Huan take his hand.
Instead, it was this: "You can draw a map? You've been here before?"
Xie Huan said smugly, "Nope, but I still know what's in every corner of Z Island. Amazing, huh?"
Pei Tingyun instinctively felt that he wasn't telling the truth.
But if the island really was as big as he said, walking all the way around it was indeed unrealistic.
And so he let Xie Huan lead him back to the villa.
He didn't even think there was anything wrong with Xie Huan holding his hand on the way back.
Not until they returned to the villa and Xie Huan let go of him.
Only then did Pei Tingyun finally realize, belatedly.
Xie Huan had actually held his hand the entire walk back!
Pei Tingyun lowered his eyes and stared incredulously at his hand, clad in a black leather glove-
His hand had been held for so long just now, yet he hadn't felt any discomfort at all!
The livestream comments:
[They're holding hands! Round that up and they're basically interlacing fingers! Mom! My ship is together!]
[The person above really knows how to round up! Count me in. I ship White Clouds and Black Soil too!]
At that moment.
Tang Keni and Yao Xuan had already gone back to their rooms to rest.
Gu Lin had also been worn down by the husky until he had no temper left.
Sporting a dog-styled scene-kid hairdo, he plunged headfirst into bed.
The villa was very quiet.
Only Xie Huan's footsteps could be heard on the first floor.
Watching Xie Huan walk toward the dining table, Pei Tingyun stood in the doorway in a daze.
For the past year, he had been unable to tolerate physical contact with anyone, even through gloves.
A while ago, he had attended an awards ceremony.
He had merely shaken hands with an award presenter while wearing gloves, yet he had thrown up for half an hour after returning.
How had he become so normal around Xie Huan?
As if wanting to verify that everything just now hadn't been an illusion.
Pei Tingyun strode forward, raised his hand, and reached out to grasp Xie Huan's strong, sturdy forearm.
His gloves were thin, and he could feel the firm muscles of Xie Huan's forearm.
He really wasn't repulsed!
He really wasn't nauseated either!
At such close range, Pei Tingyun could even smell the very faint scent of soap pod on Xie Huan.
Could it be because of this scent?
Come to think of it, this scent seems familiar, as though I've smelled it somewhere before...
Before Pei Tingyun could figure it out.
Xie Huan's voice reached him first. "What's up?"
Under Xie Huan's gaze, Pei Tingyun instinctively let go:
"Oh, nothing... I wanted you to draw the map for me now."
Xie Huan said, "What's the rush? Let's eat first."
As he spoke, he unwrapped the instant noodles Tang Keni and Yao Xuan had left for them on the table.
Then he leisurely went to boil water and make the noodles.
Pei Tingyun didn't argue.
He simply stared fixedly at him.
His stare made Xie Huan feel a little unnerved.
He gave in. "All right, all right, I'll draw it. Right now!"
Xie Huan drew very quickly.
His drawing skills weren't much to look at, but he marked all the key locations.
Where the recreational facilities were, where the boats were, where the vehicles were.
He even marked, one by one, which rocks had oysters underneath them and which stretches of sea were good for catching fish.
Although Pei Tingyun didn't think Xie Huan would lie to him.
Looking at the freshly drawn map,
He still found it hard to believe:
"Are you sure everything you've drawn is correct?"
Xie Huan nodded confidently. "You bet!"
Pei Tingyun studied the map carefully.
Then he checked tomorrow's weather on his phone.
He murmured to himself, "With this weather... going out to sea tomorrow should be fine."
Xie Huan, who had already started slurping his noodles, immediately put down his fork at those words and headed outside.
Pei Tingyun looked at him in confusion.
He hasn't finished his noodles. Why did he suddenly leave?