Sure enough, making a living in showbiz was never easy.
Shen Shuangjian remained as unruffled as ever, unlike the others, who had to put on noisy displays of frustration and speechlessness for the show.
"So how should we split into teams?"
Yu Sheng was young, in his early twenties, an age when he still couldn't hide what he was thinking.
As he spoke, his gaze flickered toward the silent Shen Shuangjian.
"How about you team up with Sister Weiluo and Brother Li Yi, Brother Xuanlin? I'll be with Brother Song Shi and Brother Shuangjian."
His age worked very much in his favor. At twenty, he was much younger than most of them, and calling him Brother Shuangjian both brought them closer and observed the proper courtesies.
His suggestion was also perfectly reasonable. Lin Weiluo and Gu Xuanlin were both quite popular, and with a guide who amounted to a cheat on their side, it stood to reason that their team would find more keys and get more screen time.
If Shen Shuangjian hadn't been in the other team, perhaps everyone would have thought that, young as Yu Sheng was, he understood the rules and respected his seniors.
But as it happened, their team had Shen Shuangjian.
"You're being too polite, Yu Sheng. You can just team up with Weiluo and Little Song, and take Guide Li Yi too. Shuangjian and I will be fine together. One of us is old, and the other is lying flat. We'll treat it as a stroll and forget about winning or losing."
With that, Gu Xuanlin dispensed with further pleasantries. He got up on his own and called to Shen Shuangjian as he walked ahead, looking perfectly cheerful, as though everything had been settled.
Shen Shuangjian naturally had no objections. It made no difference who he teamed up with, and he had no fear of winning or losing. If he had to name anything, the plane ticket held some appeal; it would make the journey less taxing on his body.
"Such tiny keys. The production team really is making things hard for us."
The rose garden was full of thorns. However unreasonable the production team might be, they couldn't possibly have hidden the keys among the rosebushes. They had to be scattered elsewhere around the estate.
Gu Xuanlin always had something of an advantage in conversation. He could tell that Shen Shuangjian was aloof, not the sort to strike up a conversation himself.
Playing along had always been his forte. In the past, he had been forced to put on smiles in the pursuit of fame and fortune; now, it was the best way to open the door to a good relationship.
"I heard you were ill recently. Will searching for things be too tiring?"
Gu Xuanlin always kept his warmth and distance within appropriate bounds, like a gracious gentleman, as pleasant as a spring breeze.
"Thank you. I'm fine."
Gu Xuanlin stood over a hundred and eighty-five centimeters tall. Shen Shuangjian was a little shorter, just shy of a hundred and eighty, so when speaking, he either had to look straight ahead or tilt his head up.
This time, Shen Shuangjian had clearly chosen to look up. Gu Xuanlin already had his head turned toward him, and so, without warning, he met Shen Shuangjian's gaze, which so rarely crossed anyone else's.
Their eyes met and parted at once, as though its owner had done it deliberately.
"No, no need to thank me."
And so the talkative Gu Xuanlin found himself stumbling over his words for once.
[What a strange vibe. Why does this feel like a first-date conversation with your crush on a dating show?]
[Gu Xuanlin is such a sweetheart. That gentlemanly manner isn't just for show.]
[Really? Then why is our Yu Sheng the little brother, Li Yi the guide, and Song Shi Little Song, but he calls our wife Shuangjian by name?]
[Ulterior motives?]
[Can you stop shipping people at random? He calls Weiluo the same way, doesn't he? It just depends on how well he knows them.]
[..., and Gu Xuanlin knows Shen Shuangjian well?]
[...]
[Still, that height difference, and their looks really do go together. Though my wife's beauty isn't even on the same layer as everyone else's.]
[Shen Shuangjian's eyes are so gorgeous. Such a cool, fragile beauty, with a pair of tender eyes threaded with countless strands of affection. Incredible.]
[One look at me and my dick's rock hard.]
[Fuck... you people are insane.]
[I'm a woman, but my dick's rock hard. Wanna kiss him.]
[Grow out! Grow out!]
[I'm genuinely curious about Crown Prince Xie, who rejected him. Just how amazing were the people he's met for him to turn down Shen Shuangjian?]
[Look, I'll be blunt. With that face, I'd find it understandable if someone cheated. You really couldn't resist.]
[No, I put it bluntly, but I might as well have said nothing.]
The two of them weren't particularly lucky. Shen Shuangjian followed Gu Xuanlin for over ten minutes, but they still came up empty.
Whether it was a senior's courtesy or not, Gu Xuanlin hadn't been especially active in searching for keys along the way. Only after they had circled around to the center of the estate did he finally turn his mind to finding them.
"Shuangjian, you must be tired after walking so long. Why don't you wait for me in the flower pavilion up ahead? I see a camera up there, and a ladder. There should be something to find there."
They were searching for keys as a team, with only one cameraman following them for the livestream. If Shen Shuangjian wanted screen time, he ought to have gone along.
Unfortunately, Shen Shuangjian didn't care. He had no objections, merely nodding lightly as he said, without the slightest hint of perfunctoriness, "Sorry for the trouble."
Shen Shuangjian had never visited this estate, nor did he have any experience appearing on a show. He didn't know that places without staff or cameras were generally private areas and off-limits.
Passing through an exquisitely tended flower-covered walkway, Shen Shuangjian slowly reached a small enclosed garden. Flowers weren't blooming everywhere here, but it was still elegant and fragrant.
Outside a birdcage-shaped glass conservatory, Shen Shuangjian's gaze fell on a man seated at a table. A slender cigarette rested between his fingertips, and his head was lowered as he leafed through a book in its original language.
Though his posture was languid, it retained a certain refined propriety. His tall, broad frame was clad in an expensive, crisply tailored suit that further accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow waist.
Through the curling smoke, the outlines of his deep-set, cool features were blurred. His dark eyes were lowered, diminishing some of the oppressive air inherent in his bone structure; instead, a softness flowed quietly through them.
Until the next moment, when he seemed to notice the gaze resting on him. He slowly raised his eyes, filled with frosty indifference and distance, which then silently melted away in an instant.
"Excuse me."
Shen Shuangjian couldn't quite determine who the man was, but he had a vague sense that the person before him wasn't a member of the production staff.
He seemed more like the owner of the estate, whose peace had been disturbed.
"Are you lost?"
The man opposite him curved his lips slightly. His low, polite voice and tone casually offered a renewed signal of friendliness.
"I'm here to look for keys. If I'm disturbing you, I'll leave right away."
At Shen Shuangjian's words, the man eased his long fingers and set the original-language book with its gilt cover on the table. He rose, maintaining a distance neither too close nor too far, and addressed him politely.
"Unfortunately, I don't know where the keys you're looking for are."
He paused briefly.
"My name is Xie Jinghui. I'm the owner of this estate."
Shen Shuangjian didn't want to draw too many associations from a name he wasn't particularly familiar with. Out of politeness, he lowered his eyes and replied.
"My name is Shen Shuangjian. Sir, I'm very sorry to disturb you."
The early spring wind returned from the tranquil lake to the estate where roses bloomed. One beat, two beats, countless beats.
It was a heartbeat he hadn't felt in a long time.