His firm, wheat-colored muscles were on full display.
Eight neatly arranged abs.
His V-lines disappeared into his waistband...
The sight was too beautiful.
Pei Tingyun's Adam's apple couldn't help bobbing slightly.
He swallowed his retort right along with his saliva.
What came out instead was, "Why aren't you wearing clothes?!"
The livestream chat filled with thirsty panting:
[Bro really doesn't treat us like outsiders! He's got muscles, and he actually lets us look!]
[Look! Peipei's overheating!]
[Ooh! We're all family here. Why get shy over a few abs?]
[He just hasn't seen enough. If Xie Huan shows him every day, he won't be shy anymore.]
Xie Huan looked down at the big floral board shorts on his legs, which were perfectly suited to the beach, and asked in confusion:
"Aren't I wearing them?"
Pei Tingyun, who had already turned red for some inexplicable reason, said, "I meant a shirt!"
Xie Huan said, "Oh, c'mon! Wearing a shirt to bed in the middle of summer is way too hot! No thanks!"
Pei Tingyun, who was currently wearing long-sleeved pajamas and didn't feel hot in the slightest, said, "..."
Compared with Pei Tingyun's meticulous skincare, Xie Huan was more than a little rough around the edges.
After washing up, he didn't apply any skincare products, just climbed into bed and went straight to sleep.
In less than a minute, Pei Tingyun heard his soft snores.
Having finally completed his entire skincare routine, Pei Tingyun walked over to the camera in the room with a towel.
He gave the camera a professional good night before covering the lens and getting into bed.
Looking at Xie Huan, who was already fast asleep in the other bed, Pei Tingyun silently sighed.
Sigh.
I really envy Xie Huan's ability to fall asleep instantly.
Unlike me, with my insomnia every night.
Early the next morning.
Pei Tingyun was woken by his alarm.
Unsurprisingly, he had suffered from insomnia again last night.
He had only gotten a little sleep after dawn.
He stretched groggily.
Suddenly, he caught the aroma of food drifting in through the gap under the door.
The room was quiet.
The bed beside his was empty, too.
Clearly, Xie Huan had already left.
Pei Tingyun got out of bed and quickly washed up.
Then he used some tone-up cream to cover his dark circles.
Only after putting on the black leather gloves that were practically conjoined with him did he open the door and walk out.
He discovered that the aroma was coming from the downstairs kitchen.
Remembering Xie Huan's promise of breakfast last night, Pei Tingyun had an inkling.
He followed the aroma.
Sure enough, the figure bustling in front of the stove in a racerback tank top, board shorts, and a pink floral apron was Xie Huan!
Seeing the seafood fried rice packed with ingredients in the wok, Pei Tingyun was astonished:
"Where did all this seafood come from?"
Skillfully tossing the wok, Xie Huan answered:
"I went foraging on the shore first thing this morning. So? Pretty awesome, aren't I?"
Pei Tingyun nodded sincerely. "Awesome! But where did the rice come from? I don't remember there being any rice in the kitchen."
Xie Huan dished out the wokful of fried rice, dividing it between two plates.
Then he leaned mysteriously toward Pei Tingyun's ear and said, "I snatched it from the production team, of course!"
Pei Tingyun's eyes widened. "And they just let you?"
"'Course they didn't wanna, but too bad I've got dirt on them. They had to hand it over whether they liked it or not!"
Xie Huan kept his hands moving as he spoke, heating oil in the wok and continuing to fry rice.
At that moment, Pei Tingyun had just one word in his mind: Awesome!
This was a man who could keep the production team in line!
An absolute must-have for home and travel!
Having been in the industry for so long, Pei Tingyun naturally knew what to ask and what not to ask.
Things like leverage and secrets fell firmly into the latter category.
Yet even though Pei Tingyun didn't ask, Xie Huan started chattering away all on his own.
He had no intention of hiding anything from him.
Xie Huan said, "Oh, man! You have no idea how rotten those folks on the production team are! They gave us instant noodles last night while they had a feast!"
Complaining wasn't enough; he even asked Pei Tingyun, "Hey, know what they stuffed themselves with yesterday?"
Pei Tingyun shook his head.
Xie Huan leaned toward Pei Tingyun's ear again and whispered, "They ate the welcome banquet originally prepared for us!"
Pei Tingyun's mouth fell open silently.
Xie Huan continued, "So when I asked them for rice, they didn't dare refuse! If they did, I'd expose the whole thing!"
Pei Tingyun glanced at the camera filming beside the stove.
Uh...
Looks like you've already exposed it.
The livestream viewers burst out laughing:
[Hahaha, I really want to see the director's face right now. It must be priceless!]
[Director: That weight on my mind finally dropped-right onto my toes!]
The viewers had guessed correctly.
Watching the monitor, the director was thoroughly exasperated!
The producers had told them to set traps for the guests to create conflict and entertaining moments.
Instead, every boomerang of fate had come flying right back at them.
No!
They couldn't just let this slide!
To meet his quota for setting traps for the guests, the director rolled his eyes in thought.
He turned and instructed the props team:
"Go move those five fishing rods right now. Let's see how they fish without any rods!"
The props crew went to do as instructed.
Meanwhile, Xie Huan, unaware that he had already lost one of his bargaining chips against the production team, remained completely oblivious.
He was still chatting away with Pei Tingyun.
Pei Tingyun didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Granted, this was how ordinary people behaved when filming reality shows.
They often forgot the cameras and microphones existed.
But Xie Huan really was treating him like anything but an outsider.
He told him every unvarnished truth.
Tang Keni and Yao Xuan had just gotten up and were heading downstairs.
The kitchen was open-plan, so they spotted Pei Tingyun and Xie Huan standing at the stove immediately.
Then.
The two, who had intended to say hello, suddenly stopped in silence.
Because from their angle, the sight of Pei Tingyun and Xie Huan standing close together and talking, their backs turned, looked indescribably intimate.
Tang Keni and Yao Xuan exchanged a glance.
Tang Keni: Isn't there something a little off about those two?
Yao Xuan: Should we just head back?
Otherwise, they kept getting the strange feeling that they shouldn't be here, but under a car instead.
Having reached an agreement, Tang Keni and Yao Xuan were just about to turn back.
Just then.
The villa's front door suddenly flew open with a bang.
More precisely, it was rammed open!
Everyone looked toward the sound.
All they saw was the blur of a husky sprinting in, along with an unidentified pink lump being dragged in by the dog.
Only when that lump lifted its head.
Did everyone discover that it was actually Gu Lin, dressed in a pink sweatshirt and sweatpants!
For a moment, everyone froze.
In the end, Xie Huan, who wasn't Gu Lin's real older brother but was better than one, was the first to break the silence:
"Oh, man! How'd you end up like this? Are you walking the dog, or is the dog walking you?"
Hearing that, Gu Lin instantly exploded like a lit firecracker:
"It's all your fault! Why did you have to make the food smell so good? It caught the scent and ran straight back. I couldn't hold it back at all!"
As he spoke, Gu Lin looked down and discovered that the leash was no longer in his hand.
When he looked up again, the husky was already beside the stove.
Gu Lin could tell that the husky desperately wanted to throw caution to the wind and paw at the cooked rice on the counter.
But...