Pei Yubai was taken aback by Qiguan Yuan's question.
He thought Yuanyuan still had places she wanted to visit, so he followed him. Little did he know, Yuanyuan was looking for her way back.
I almost forgot, Yuanyuan doesn't seem to have a good sense of direction. Qiguan Yuan mentioned this before when we were in Village Above the Clouds.
It seems that Jiang Wantang and Yuanyuan left together that time. Yuanyuan returned after a long time and told him that she couldn't find her way.
Pei Yubai took Qiguan Yuan's hand and walked out along the left-hand path.
Pei Yubai's hands were clenched tightly, palm to palm, and Qiguan Yuan's fingers slowly warmed in his palm.
" Yuanyuan, how long can you stay with me this time?" Pei Yubai asked, looking at the road ahead.
Qiguan Yuan glanced at him sideways and asked, "How long do you want me to stay with you?"
Pei Yubai's hand tightened slightly. "I want to be with you forever."
Qiguan Yuan remained silent.
He took a few steps and then stopped. Pei Yubai also stopped and turned to look at him.
Qiguan Yuan stood under the streetlamp, his silver hair gleaming in the light. He looked at Pei Yubai for a moment, then said, "I can't be with you all the time for now."
"There's something I haven't finished doing yet. Once I've done it, you'll know everything. But for the next few days, I'll stay with you."
Pei Yubai looked at him. "What is it?"
Qiguan Yuan did not answer.
Pei Yubai did not press the matter further.
He tightened his grip on Qiguan Yuan's hand, then turned and continued walking.
Qiguan Yuan walked beside him, the two of them side by side, neither of them speaking again.
Inside the teahouse, Song Zhuangyi was still studying the chess game.
He carefully placed Qiguan Yuan's black pieces back one by one, then looked at the key moves from his own white pieces again and again.
He rearranged and disassembled the chess pieces on the board, and the tea on the table had gone completely cold.
A person walked in through the door. He was wearing a dark gray jacket, black-rimmed glasses, and carrying a thermos.
He walked in slowly, his leather shoes making a very soft sound on the floor.
The waiter approached, but he waved him off and walked directly towards Song Zhuangyi's seat.
Song Zhuangyi looked up at him, then put the black piece back into the chess box. "Sit down."
Song Yuan sat down opposite him and placed the thermos on the table.
He glanced at the unfinished game on the chessboard; the black and white pieces were entangled, and the situation was very close.
He didn't ask about the chess game. He leaned back in his chair, unscrewed the lid of his thermos, and then screwed it back on.
"You seem to be in a good mood today," Song Yuan said.
Song Zhuangyi picked up the iced tea on the table and took a sip. The tea was cold and very bitter, but he didn't pay attention to it.
He put down his teacup and placed one of the black pieces back on the chessboard. "I met someone today, and we played a game of chess together."
He paused, then said, "I lost."
Song Yuan paused for a moment.
He looked at Song Zhuangyi Song Zhuangyi, whose expression didn't seem to be joking.
He knew Song Zhuangyi's chess skills, but he had never seen anyone who could make Song Zhuangyi say "I lost": "Who?"
Song Zhuangyi placed one of the black stones back on the chessboard and asked Song Yuan, "What's Xiaobai's girlfriend's name?"
Song Yuan leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment, " Qiguan Yuan." He picked up his thermos and took a sip of water; the water was warm, not hot.
How did you meet him?
Song Zhuangyi recounted what had happened that afternoon.
Song Yuan listened to him finish speaking without interrupting.
" Qiguan Yuan." Song Zhuangyi repeated the name. "You've worked with Pei Yubai, and you've had contact with him?"
Song Yuan nodded. "We haven't spoken, but we've met." He thought for a moment, "When he played chess with you, did he seem like a chess player?"
Song Zhuangyi shook his head. "It doesn't seem like it." He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now that Song Yuan had asked, he realized it.
"When he sat there, holding his teacup and looking at the chessboard, he didn't look like a chess player, but rather like a hermit. Although this description is indeed somewhat ridiculous, it's the only adjective I can think of."
Song Yuan: "You think so too?"
He looked at the water droplets on the cup lid. "When Pei Yubai brought him to the set, I glanced at him from afar. That person was standing at the entrance of the dressing room, with silver hair and a red dress. He was clearly standing there, but you felt like he didn't belong there."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "He seemed to have stepped out of a painting, as if there was something separating him from everything around him."
Song Zhuangyi remained silent, looking down at the chess pieces on the board.
The black pieces were placed there, exactly the same as when he moved them. He looked at them for a while, then collected the pieces from the board and put them back into the chess box one by one.
"Didn't you already turn on your phone? What brings you here today?" Song Zhuangyi asked.
Song Yuan picked up his thermos and leaned back in his chair. " Pei Yubai's variety show is filming at the amusement park tomorrow. I'm filming some lighthearted scenes tomorrow, so I'm not busy."
He unscrewed the lid of his thermos, took a sip of water, and said, "Their director, Meng Xu, came to see me, and I agreed. Pei Yubai is taking the day off tomorrow, and the filming schedule isn't heavy, so I'm going out for a walk."
Song Zhuangyi closed the chess box lid and placed it on the corner of the table. "An amusement park?"
Song Yuan nodded. "They said they wanted to film the guests' reactions to the amusement park rides."
Song Zhuangyi picked up the iced tea and finished the rest. The cup was empty, so he put it on the table and slowly ran his finger along the rim.
Then Qiguan Yuan probably won't have time tomorrow.
He also wanted to invite Qiguan Yuan to play chess.
The next morning, the guests gathered at the entrance of the amusement park.
The amusement park's gate is very tall, with rows of colorful balloons hanging from the archway, in red, yellow, blue, and green.
There was a long queue at the ticket window, and the screams of children could be heard from a distance.
Meng Xu stood at the door, holding a folder in his hand, sweat already beading on his forehead from the heat.
Shen Yuzhou the first to arrive.
He was wearing a white T-shirt, a light jacket over it, sneakers, and his pants rolled up to his ankles.
He stood at the doorway, looked around, and said to Cheng Yanqiu, "Wow, so many people!"
Cheng Yanqiu glanced at him and said, "Of course amusement parks are crowded."
Lin Yanru stood next to Cheng Yanqiu, her hands in her pockets, looking at the huge Ferris wheel in the distance.
Su He'an stood behind Lin Yanru, holding a map of the amusement park and looking at it.
Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang walked over one after the other, several people apart, and neither of them looked at the other.
But anyone could see that the two seemed to have grown much closer.
Qiguan Yuan and Pei Yubai were the last to arrive.
Qiguan Yuan wasn't wearing a red robe today; he was wearing the clothes Pei Yubai had prepared for him.
He wore a light blue robe, and his hair was still braided to the side, hanging down in front of his chest.
Pei Yubai, wearing a thin black jacket, stood next to Qiguan Yuan, their shoulders almost touching.
The live stream started the moment all the guests arrived.
The comments flooded out from the right side of the screen, very quickly, one word after another, layer upon layer.
After Qiguan Yuan and Pei Yubai appeared, the show's popularity soared once again.
Meng Xu introduced today's activities: the guests were divided into groups to enjoy the amusement park rides, with each group having to experience at least five rides. Points were awarded based on the thrill level of the rides, with higher thrill rides earning more points. After completing their five rides, the guests were to gather under the Ferris wheel.
Shen Yuzhou glanced at the roller coaster; the track had spun around several times overhead. He swallowed hard and lowered his hand.
The groups were the same as before: Shen Yuzhou and Cheng Yanqiu were in one group, Lin Yanru and Su He'an in another, Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang in one group, and Pei Yubai and Qiguan Yuan in another.
After Meng Xu said "begin," the groups dispersed.
Qiguan Yuan did not rush to make a move.
He stood at the doorway, looking at the Ferris wheel in the distance. The Ferris wheel was very tall; from below, at its very top, it almost touched the clouds.
He watched for a while, then glanced at Pei Yubai. Pei Yubai was also looking at him.
"What do you want to play?" Pei Yubai asked.
Qiguan Yuan thought for a moment and said two words: "Let's see."