Early the next morning, Meng Xu called everyone into the guesthouse courtyard.
An old pear tree stood in the courtyard. Its flowering season was already over, and its thick foliage cast a deep shadow in the morning light.
Meng Xu stood beneath the tree, smiling as he waited for the guests.
"The days in Cloud-Hidden Town were the prologue," he said. "Starting today, the show officially gets underway."
Shen Yuzhou squatted on the steps, unwrapping a biscuit he had bought at the service area yesterday. His hands paused at the word "prologue."
Meng Xu said, "Travel to Those Little-Known Places is a variety show combining travel and everyday life. You'll stay at each destination for fifteen days. During those fifteen days, there will be tasks every day."
Cheng Yanqiu leaned against a pillar, holding a cup of water. Her fingers tightened slightly around it as she said through gritted teeth, "Did you lure us in here just to slaughter us? Isn't this a travel show?"
Meng Xu looked utterly innocent. "I never said it was just a travel show. Our show combines travel with everyday life."
Pei Yubai stood at the back of the group. He wore a thin black jacket, a dark gray T-shirt, dark trousers, and running shoes.
His uncombed hair fell over his forehead. His sleeve covered the red thread around his wrist, leaving nothing visible. He did not particularly mind.
Meng Xu had told him about this when inviting him onto the show.
Satisfied by the guests' sickly expressions, Meng Xu began introducing the daily tasks.
"Your first task is to settle into the Miao village individually," Meng Xu said. "The production team has prepared two stilt houses on the eastern side of the village, one for the male guests and one for the female guests."
"The houses are old, and you'll have to clean them yourselves. Only the most basic household supplies are provided, and you'll have to put your beds together yourselves. You have twenty-four hours. Anyone who doesn't finish gets no lighting supplies tonight."
He even added mischievously, "Stilt houses aren't like the guesthouse you stayed in last night, especially old stilt houses. They get very dark at night."
Halfway through a bite of his biscuit, Shen Yuzhou mumbled, "What do you mean, no lighting supplies?"
"No lights. No candles. Once it gets dark, you won't be able to see anything."
Shen Yuzhou stuffed the rest of the biscuit into his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed.
The viewers watching the livestream were all grinning from ear to ear.
[Hahahaha, Shen Yuzhou's face.]
[Fifteen days with tasks every day? That's pretty intense.]
[Put their own beds together? Is the production team serious?]
"The second task is to obtain natural local ingredients," Meng Xu continued. "Every day, you'll have to gather that day's ingredients from the terraced fields and forests in the hills behind the village. Transplant rice seedlings, pick wild vegetables, catch paddy fish, and gather mushrooms. The village elders will teach you the local methods. No modern tools allowed."
Cheng Yanqiu asked, "Every day?"
"Every day."
Cheng Yanqiu asked nothing more. She glanced down at her hands, with their slender fingers and neatly trimmed nails. They were not hands suited to farmwork.
Meng Xu certainly knew how to put them through the wringer.
"The third task is an introduction to Miao village customs." Meng Xu turned to the next page. "You'll have to visit the village elder yourselves and learn Miao etiquette, language, and door-blocking wine customs from him. There'll be an assessment afterward. Only those who pass will earn the right to come and go freely in the village. Anyone who fails will need the elder's permission every time they enter or leave."
"At the end of the fifteen days, your assessment results will be tied to your points."
Shen Yuzhou raised his hand. "What's door-blocking wine?"
"A Miao hospitality custom. When guests arrive, the hosts set out a bowl of wine at the entrance, and guests must drink it before entering. There are twelve rounds of door-blocking wine, drunk one after another, each with its own rules."
Shen Yuzhou swallowed, not out of nerves, but curiosity. He had come across related posts online, but had never seen it in person.
The bullet comments were also buzzing:
[Twelve rounds of door-blocking wine? Can you still walk afterward?]
[Shen Yuzhou looks like he wants to try.]
[I actually really want to experience it. It sounds so interesting.]
Meng Xu closed his folder. "That's all for the tasks. Now for your accommodations. The production team has secured two stilt houses for you, with three rooms in each. One for the men, one for the women. They're on the eastern side of the village, not far from here."
They left the courtyard and headed east along the flagstone path. The village was small; walking from one end to the other took only a little over ten minutes.
The houses in the east were older than those in the village center, their timber darker and their roof tiles covered in moss.
The two stilt houses stood side by side, separated by a narrow flagstone path.
They were small, two-story houses, with open space below for keeping livestock and stacking firewood, and living quarters above. The wooden stairs were narrow, only wide enough for one person.
Shen Yuzhou ran up first and pushed open the wooden door to look inside. It was empty, with nothing there.
A layer of dust covered the floor, and thick cobwebs filled the corners. The windows were closed, the light dim, and the air smelled of damp wood.
"This is way too old..." His muffled voice came from inside.
The scenery at the Village Above the Clouds might have been beautiful, but he really was lazy!
Cheng Yanqiu did not go up. She stood below, looking up, her expression revealing nothing of her thoughts.
Lin Yanru also went up for a look, then dusted off her hands when she came out. "It'll be fine once we clean it."
Ji Shiyu stood downstairs, quietly looking at the stilt house. Jiang Wantang stood beside him, about a meter away. Neither looked at the other.
Pei Yubai went over last. He went upstairs, stood inside for a while, then came back out and descended the stairs. His expression was the same as usual, giving no indication whether he was satisfied.
The bullet comments discussed the accommodations.
[This stilt house has such an atmosphere.]
[But it's so old. Do they really have to clean it themselves?]
[I bet none of them knows how, hahahaha.]
Standing on the flagstone path between the houses, Meng Xu said, "The clock starts now. I'll come inspect in twenty-four hours."
They all went their separate ways. Shen Yuzhou ran back to his stilt house, stood in the doorway looking at the empty room, took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves, and went looking for a broom.
Cheng Yanqiu went to the women's house, pushed open the door, and stood there looking for quite a while before turning to go downstairs and ask the villagers where she could find buckets and rags.
Pei Yubai went upstairs and pushed open the door to the room on the far left.
The room was small and square, with an empty wooden bed against the wall. The window was shut, and sunlight leaked through a hole in the window paper, leaving a round patch of light on the floor.
A wooden table stood in the corner, its surface covered in dust thick enough for a finger to leave a trail through it.
He stood in the middle of the room and looked around, then bent down, tightened his shoelaces, and got to work.
He opened the window first. Its wooden frame was slightly warped, making it difficult to push.
He shoved it with his shoulder. The frame gave a dull thud and opened. A breeze blew in, carrying the scent of water from the terraced fields mixed with fresh grass.
He pushed both window panels as far open as they would go, letting in the sunlight.
Then he went looking for cleaning supplies. A downstairs storeroom held a pile of dusty old things.
He found a broom and a rag in a corner. Taking them upstairs, he first swept away the cobwebs, then began sweeping the floor from the corners.
Dust billowed up, making him cough. He opened the window wider and waited for some of the dust to settle before continuing.
The viewers watching him were rather surprised.
[Pei Yubai is actually sweeping.]
[But he looks so awkward holding that broom.]
[You can tell he's hardly ever done chores. Still a pampered young master after all. Tsk, tsk, this is your idol? He can't even sweep properly.]
[Haters, get lost.]
He had to put the bedding together himself. The wooden bed consisted of nothing but a bare bed board. Pei Yubai went downstairs to fetch the bedding.
Then he stood beside the bed looking at it for a while before getting started.
By the time he finished all the cleaning, two hours had passed.
Pei Yubai stood in the doorway, looking at the room he had tidied. The bed was made, the table clean, and the windows open. The breeze coming in had dispersed most of the musty smell. Though still very old, the room looked habitable now.
He turned and went downstairs.
The others were busy too. Most of them worked more slowly than Pei Yubai.
Pei Yubai stood in the courtyard, gazing into the distance. The terraced fields spread out layer upon layer in the sunlight, their bright water surfaces like so many mirrors.
Several village elders were working in the fields, their backs bent as they moved slowly and unhurriedly.
He glanced down at his hands. Dust clung to his fingers and filled the gaps beneath his nails.
He rubbed his hands on his trousers, but they did not come clean. He went to the water jar in the backyard, scooped out a dipper of water, and washed his hands.
The water was cold, icy against his hands as it washed away the dust and exposed the skin beneath.
In the afternoon, he began the ingredient-gathering task. The terraced fields in the hills were not far away, roughly a ten-minute walk from the eastern side of the village.
The terraces rose layer upon layer, separated by embankments half a person's height. Grass grew on the embankments, slippery enough to require care when walking.
An elderly villager stood at the edge of a field, holding a handful of rice seedlings.
"Hold your hand like this. Pinch the roots between two fingers and push them into the mud, not too deep and not too shallow."
The old man instructed Pei Yubai.
Pei Yubai crouched on the embankment, watching the old man's hands. His fingers were short and thick, with large joints and mud embedded beneath his nails.
Holding a seedling between two fingers, he gave it a gentle push, and it stood perfectly straight in the field.
Pei Yubai took a handful of seedlings, rolled up his trouser legs, and stepped barefoot into the paddy. The shallow water just covered his ankles.
The mud beneath was soft, his feet sinking into it and making a popping sound when he pulled them out. Cool and slippery, it wrapped around his feet like something licking them.
He bent over and copied the old man, pinching a seedling's roots between two fingers and pushing it into the mud. It tilted, falling to the left. He pulled it out and planted it again. Still crooked. On his third attempt, it stayed straight, but he had planted it too deeply. Only a tiny bit showed above the water, most of it buried in mud.
The old man came over, bent down to look, and shook his head. Without speaking, he simply reached out, pulled up the seedling, and planted it again. His movements were swift, the seedling seeming to have eyes in his hands as it stood straight on its own.
Pei Yubai stood in the paddy, mud reaching his calves and a long stretch of his trouser legs soaked. Sunlight fell on his face, and sweat trickled from his forehead down the bridge of his nose. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and kept planting.
He planted for about an hour. His lower back ached badly, and after bending over so long, he could barely straighten up.
He straightened and leaned backward, hearing a series of faint cracks from his spine.
He looked down at the small, crooked patch of seedlings he had planted. Some were straight and others slanted, some deep and others shallow. Compared with the old man's seedlings beside them, they looked like the work of two different groups of people.
Now there was even a little more respect in Pei Yubai's eyes as he looked at the old man.
The old man came over, took a look, and nodded. "That'll do. Continue tomorrow."
Pei Yubai climbed out of the paddy, his feet covered in mud.
After washing his feet and putting on his shoes, he took a basket to pick wild vegetables. They grew along the embankments and beside the ditches, and he happened to run into the old man.
The old man showed him which kinds were edible and which were not. He crouched on the embankment and picked them one by one.
It really was not the sort of scene one would associate with the so-called crown prince of Beijing's elite or a celebrated film emperor.
Pei Yubai quickly completed the task.
Back at his stilt house, he put the wild vegetables and the fish he had caught afterward in the kitchen.
The shared kitchen was on the ground floor, with an earthen stove and an iron wok.
He did not know how to start a fire. After crouching in front of the stove and studying it for ages, he finally gave up.
Then Ji Shiyu volunteered to handle the cooking, because Pei Yubai and Shen Yuzhou really were kitchen disasters.
Later that afternoon, Shen Yuzhou ran over to find Pei Yubai.
"Brother Pei, have you done the door-blocking wine task?"
Pei Yubai shook his head.
Shen Yuzhou squatted on the threshold, looking miserable. "I went to see the village elder. He said we have to learn the rules for all twelve rounds."
"Every round is different. Some require singing, some dancing, and some require paying respects to heaven and earth before drinking. I can't remember them."
Pei Yubai did not respond. He looked out at the terraced fields. The sun had already moved west, turning the water orange-red.
Shen Yuzhou stood and dusted off his trousers. "I'll go study some more. If you want to go, Brother Pei, the elder's in the big wooden building in the village center."
After Shen Yuzhou left, Pei Yubai remained by the window for a while. He thought for a moment, then stood up and went out.
The big wooden building in the village center was easy to find. It was the tallest building in the village, with two large red lanterns hanging at its entrance.
An open space lay in front of it, with a long table holding twelve earthenware bowls filled with wine.
It was rice wine, cloudy and smelling sweet, with the sourness of fermentation mixed in.
The village elder stood beside the table. He was very old, his hair entirely white and the wrinkles on his face like knife carvings.
He wore a black front-opening jacket and a black head wrap, supporting himself with a bamboo walking stick.
Pei Yubai approached and stood before the table. The elder looked at him without speaking, merely pointing to the first earthenware bowl.
Pei Yubai lowered his gaze to the wine.
It was milky white, with a few incompletely strained grains of rice floating on top. He reached for the bowl, but just as his fingers touched its rim, a fragrance drifted over from behind.
It was neither the smell of earth from the terraces nor the smell of cooking smoke in the village.
It was cool and clear, with a hint of pine needles.
Like mountain mist, like winter snowmelt, like the warmth emanating from someone's skin.
He was a little surprised. This rice wine really was good.
A hand reached out from behind him, its fingers long and slender, its skin cool white, its fingertips tinged with pale pink.
The hand passed over his shoulder and picked up the earthenware bowl. Fingers hooked around its rim, the bowl tilted, and the wine flowed out and was caught.
A voice came from very close, brushing his ear, quiet and languid, its final note curling slightly upward.
"Are you, my host, barring my way?"
Pei Yubai stood there without moving.
The hand had already circled around him, holding the bowl, its rim pressed against his lower lip. The wine swayed gently, wetting his lips.
Cool and sweet, with the fragrance of rice. He parted his lips slightly, and the wine slipped inside, flowing down his throat, cool all the way to his stomach.
He turned his head.
Qiguan Yuan stood beside him, his face turned toward him. Long silver hair fell over his shoulders, gleaming pale gold in the sunset.
The breeze lifted his dark red robes slightly, pressing them against his body before they loosened again. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and his lips held the faintest curve.
He truly was beautiful.
Pei Yubai looked at him, and he looked back at Pei Yubai.
The wind blew between them. The wine bowls on the long table trembled faintly in the breeze, making the softest of sounds.
At that moment, the bullet comments exploded.