Recaps

Pei Yubai searched the woods for Qiguan Yuan’s vanished residence, realizing how little he knew about him. He found Qiguan Yuan and admitted he did not know whether he liked him, but he did not dislike him.

• Pei Yubai walked deep into the forest but could not find the residence or the stream that had once led him out.
• Pei Yubai reflected on how little he knew about Qiguan Yuan and wondered why he had come looking for him.
• As Pei Yubai turned to leave, Qiguan Yuan appeared and asked whether he had been looking for him.
• Pei Yubai told Qiguan Yuan he had not meant to reject him when he said he did not like him.
• Pei Yubai admitted he did not know whether he liked Qiguan Yuan, but said he did not dislike him.

Qiguan Yuan told Pei Yubai to remain chaste for him, and Pei Yubai agreed before leaving Cloud-Hidden Town with the others. As Pei Yubai traveled away wearing Qiguan Yuan’s red thread, Qiguan Yuan realized he was lost in the forest again.

• Qiguan Yuan touched Pei Yubai’s earlobe and asked him to keep himself chaste until they met again, and Pei Yubai agreed.
• Qiguan Yuan left Pei Yubai with a red thread tied around his wrist, which Pei Yubai tightened before heading out of the woods.
• Pei Yubai met Meng Xu and the others at the village entrance, then boarded the coach and left Cloud-Hidden Town.
• Pei Yubai smelled Qiguan Yuan’s fragrance on the red thread as he rode with his eyes closed.
• Qiguan Yuan searched the Marriage Register and wondered where his home was, realizing he was lost again.

Qiguan Yuan followed the red thread to his courtyard, where he dug up eighteen wine jars and chose the one marked “Yin.” Drinking from it, he remembered Yun Yin, who had been gone for eight hundred and twelve years, and ended by preparing to fulfill their old promise to drink until they could not go home.

• Qiguan Yuan used the red thread on his wrist to find his courtyard after losing his way.
• Qiguan Yuan dug up eighteen wine jars beneath the old elm and asked Yun Yin which one had aged long enough.
• Qiguan Yuan chose a jar marked “Yin,” opened it, and drank its wine beneath the tree.
• Qiguan Yuan told Yun Yin that he could no longer remember Yun Yin’s face and recalled finding Yun Yin in Fated Marriage Village.
• Qiguan Yuan looked at the remaining jars and resolved to keep his and Yun Yin’s promise to drink until they could not go home.

Qiguan Yuan buried the wine jars beneath the old elm and went to rest, while Pei Yubai remained preoccupied with the red thread on his wrist during the bus ride. After Qiguan Yuan became a trending topic, Meng Xu sent Pei Yubai a post asking whether the production team could invite Qiguan Yuan onto the show.

• Qiguan Yuan woke at sunset, buried a fresh jar among the seventeen others, and told Yun Yin he would return after sleeping.
• On the bus, Pei Yubai studied the red thread around his wrist and hid it when Shen Yuzhou asked about it.
• Shen Yuzhou showed Pei Yubai that Qiguan Yuan was trending for interpreting fortune sticks and that a compilation of his appearances had passed ten million views.
• At a service-area stop, Pei Yubai stayed on the bus and wondered when Qiguan Yuan would come find him.
• Meng Xu messaged Pei Yubai that he had chosen their next stop, then sent him a post asking whether the production team could invite Qiguan Yuan onto the show.

Pei Yubai and the production team arrived at a remote Miao village called the Village Above the Clouds, while Qiguan Yuan slept alone in Cloud-Hidden Town. The chapter ended with someone knocking at Qiguan Yuan’s door as his silver ears twitched in his sleep.

• Pei Yubai ignored Meng Xu’s message about inviting Qiguan Yuan onto the show and waited without knowing when Qiguan Yuan would visit him.
• Meng Xu brought the group to a remote Miao village, where they admired the terraced fields at dusk.
• The group climbed to the village guesthouse, and Pei Yubai noticed that Qiguan Yuan’s scent had faded from the red thread around his wrist.
• Qiguan Yuan slept in Cloud-Hidden Town as silver ears appeared on his head.
• Someone knocked twice at Qiguan Yuan’s door, making his ears twitch without waking him.

Lu Zhao asked retired Yue Lao Qiguan Yuan to fix a marriage bond that his young attendant had mistakenly turned ill-fated. Qiguan Yuan agreed to visit Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang in the Village Above the Clouds, while secretly keeping a feather from Lu Zhao.

• Lu Zhao told Qiguan Yuan that his attendant had muddled Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang’s destined match into an ill-fated bond that would become irreversible in ten days.
• Qiguan Yuan agreed to help Lu Zhao and learned that Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang were in the Village Above the Clouds near Cloud-Hidden Town.
• Qiguan Yuan revealed that he was a nine-tailed fox and followed a red thread through the woods while secretly dozing.
• Qiguan Yuan warned Lu Zhao not to bother him with another mistake and ordered the young attendant to copy the Marriage Record a hundred times without sleeping.
• After Lu Zhao left, Qiguan Yuan toyed with a feather he had secretly plucked from Lu Zhao’s head.

Meng Xu assigned the guests daily chores and village-custom tasks as they moved into old stilt houses, and Pei Yubai cleaned, planted rice seedlings, and gathered food. When Pei Yubai went to learn the door-blocking wine custom, Qiguan Yuan appeared beside him and offered him the first bowl.

• Meng Xu announced that the guests would spend fifteen days completing daily tasks, including settling into stilt houses, gathering ingredients, and learning Miao customs.
• The guests inspected their assigned old houses and began cleaning them, while Pei Yubai aired and swept his room and made his bed.
• Pei Yubai learned to transplant rice seedlings from an elder, then picked wild vegetables and caught fish for the day's ingredients.
• Ji Shiyu volunteered to cook after Pei Yubai struggled to start a fire, and Shen Yuzhou told Pei Yubai that the twelve rounds of door-blocking wine had different rules.
• Pei Yubai went to the village center to learn the wine custom, where Qiguan Yuan appeared, lifted a bowl, and asked whether Pei Yubai was barring his way.

Qiguan Yuan arrived at the Village Above the Clouds and reunited with Pei Yubai, who was flustered by his teasing. After Qiguan Yuan completed the gate-blocking wine custom, Pei Yubai led him into the village.

• Qiguan Yuan teased Pei Yubai about his reddening ears while Pei Yubai struggled to respond.
• Pei Yubai explained that guests had to drink gate-blocking wine before entering the village, and Qiguan Yuan asked whether he counted as a guest.
• Qiguan Yuan drank from a bowl, and Pei Yubai finished the remaining wine from the same bowl.
• Qiguan Yuan asked how the twelve-bowl gate-blocking challenge worked, then began it and paid his respects to heaven and earth before drinking.
• Qiguan Yuan asked Pei Yubai to show him the way, and Pei Yubai led him into the village.
• Qiguan Yuan realized that Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang were filming a livestream with Pei Yubai.

Pei Yubai arranged for Qiguan Yuan to stay with him in the Village Above the Clouds while he dealt with a problem. Qiguan Yuan went to sleep, leaving Shen Yuzhou wondering why he had come, and Pei Yubai said he did not know.

• Qiguan Yuan asked Pei Yubai to find him a place to stay in the village, and Meng Xu arranged for him to share Pei Yubai's room.
• Qiguan Yuan agreed to be filmed for the production team and said he did not mind being paid.
• Pei Yubai brought the exhausted Qiguan Yuan to the stilt house, where Shen Yuzhou and Ji Shiyu were surprised to see him.
• Qiguan Yuan told Shen Yuzhou that he had come to deal with a little problem, then went to sleep in Pei Yubai's room.
• Shen Yuzhou asked Pei Yubai why Qiguan Yuan had come, and Pei Yubai said he did not know.

Ji Shiyu welcomed Cheng Yanqiu, Jiang Wantang, and Lin Yanru to dinner, while Pei Yubai confirmed that Director Song had come out of retirement and was preparing a film. After dinner, Pei Yubai gave Ji Shiyu advice about acting, then slept on the sofa so he would not disturb Qiguan Yuan.

• Pei Yubai set aside food for Qiguan Yuan, and Ji Shiyu invited Cheng Yanqiu, Jiang Wantang, and Lin Yanru to join their dinner.
• Lin Yanru asked about Pei Yubai’s new project, and Pei Yubai confirmed that Director Song had come out of retirement but said the details had to wait for an official announcement.
• After dinner, Shen Yuzhou washed the dishes while Ji Shiyu asked Pei Yubai for advice about acting.
• Pei Yubai watched scenes from Ji Shiyu’s films and explained how he could make his performances feel more natural.
• Pei Yubai chose to sleep on the sofa rather than disturb Qiguan Yuan and fell asleep without insomnia for the third time.

Pei Yubai woke early and lent Qiguan Yuan a set of his clothes, flustering when Qiguan Yuan teased him. After Pei Yubai changed into his running gear, Qiguan Yuan decided to join him for a morning run and see the scenery.

• Pei Yubai woke before dawn and chose not to enter the room while Qiguan Yuan was still asleep.
• Qiguan Yuan asked to borrow clothes, and Pei Yubai gave him a black linen shirt from his suitcase.
• Qiguan Yuan teased Pei Yubai about watching him change, sending Pei Yubai out of the room in embarrassment.
• Qiguan Yuan came out wearing Pei Yubai's shirt, and Pei Yubai changed into his running clothes.
• Qiguan Yuan agreed to join Pei Yubai on his morning run to see how the scenery compared with Cloud-Hidden Town.

Pei Yubai went looking for Qiguan Yuan after his morning run and found him surrounded by village children, dressed in silver jewelry. Qiguan Yuan beckoned Pei Yubai over, and Pei Yubai joined the curious children at the edge of the group.

• Qiguan Yuan told Pei Yubai he could go running while he wandered around the village.
• Pei Yubai ran through the Village Above the Clouds, then turned back to look for Qiguan Yuan.
• Pei Yubai found Qiguan Yuan beneath a tree, playing with the children as they covered him in silver jewelry.
• Pei Yubai noticed several young men giving jewelry to the children for Qiguan Yuan and felt an urge to take him away.
• Qiguan Yuan saw Pei Yubai and beckoned him over, and Pei Yubai approached the children.

Qiguan Yuan returned the children’s silver ornaments and encouraged one quiet boy to believe he deserved affection. He then arrived at breakfast in a striking new look, leaving the guests speechless and sending the livestream audience into a frenzy.

• Qiguan Yuan noticed Pei Yubai was breathless after his run, then returned the children’s silver ornaments and reassured the older boy who had given him a bangle.
• Qiguan Yuan said goodbye to the children and walked back to the stilt house with Pei Yubai, remarking that the children were adorable.
• Qiguan Yuan entered the living room in a black shirt with his long silver hair loose, surprising the guests who had not known he was staying.
• Viewers flooded the livestream with exclamation marks and quickly became captivated by Qiguan Yuan’s appearance.
• Meng Xu watched the viewer numbers soar and celebrated Qiguan Yuan as his lucky star.

Qiguan Yuan joined the filming as a special guest and shared breakfast with the others, drawing Pei Yubai’s attention as he enjoyed the food. Meng Xu then announced a Miao-language task that would place the guests into teams for the rest of their fifteen days in the Village Above the Clouds.

• Meng Xu announced that Qiguan Yuan would join the filming as a special guest, and the other guests welcomed him.
• Pei Yubai served Qiguan Yuan congee, and Qiguan Yuan enjoyed the meal, especially the pickled cucumbers.
• Qiguan Yuan watched Jiang Wantang and Ji Shiyu interact briefly over the pickled cucumbers, then complimented Ji Shiyu’s congee.
• Meng Xu announced that the guests would learn the Miao language from a village elder and draw lots to form three teams for future tasks.

The guests drew teams and began learning the Miao language at the Village Above the Clouds’ drum tower. Qiguan Yuan revealed that he already knew Miao and secretly told Pei Yubai that he was his destined partner, leaving Pei unaware of the confession.

• Qiguan Yuan and Pei Yubai drew the same team number, while Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang drew another, and Qiguan Yuan praised Pei Yubai for preserving his chastity.
• Meng Xu led the guests to the drum tower, where the village elder began teaching them Miao words and pronunciation.
• Qiguan Yuan demonstrated fluent Miao, surprising Shen Yuzhou and the village elder, then helped Pei Yubai practice.
• Qiguan Yuan told Pei Yubai in Miao that he was his destined marriage partner and the only one his heart had chosen, but claimed it meant Pei Yubai was good-looking.
• Pei Yubai suspected Qiguan Yuan had lied, while viewers translated the real meaning of the sentence in the livestream chat.

Qiguan Yuan used his red thread to untangle Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang’s fate while leaving their fragile bond unrepaired until he knew whether their feelings could return. As Pei Yubai studied Miao language, Qiguan Yuan remembered the Tree of Fate and how he had been born beneath it.

• Pei Yubai practiced Miao pronunciation and chose to wait for Qiguan Yuan to explain the words he had spoken.
• Qiguan Yuan saw that Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang’s fate threads were knotted together, with near-broken gaps held by thin filaments.
• Qiguan Yuan sent his red thread to loosen the knot, but called it back before it could mend the breaks.
• Qiguan Yuan decided to wait and see whether Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang’s feelings could return before repairing their fate threads.
• Qiguan Yuan recalled that he had been born beneath the Tree of Fate, whose red threads had once been left tangled and untended.

Qiguan Yuan remembered how he and Xiu Yun Yin once managed the Tree of Fate together, and how he gave up his divinity for a chance that Yun Yin would be reborn. In the present, Qiguan Yuan joined the village's language game, where Shen Yuzhou's group scored six points.

• Qiguan Yuan recalled meeting Xiu Yun Yin beneath the Tree of Fate and naming him before they began managing marriages together.
• Xiu Yun Yin dissipated with red threads covering his robes, and Qiguan Yuan exchanged his divinity for a chance for Yun Yin to be reborn.
• Qiguan Yuan remembered waiting for Yun Yin in Cloud-Hidden Town with the Dust-Settling Red Cord still around his wrist.
• Meng Xu announced a timed guessing game in which contestants had to act out words and give the correct answers in the Miao language.
• Shen Yuzhou acted while Cheng Yanqiu and Lin Yanru guessed, and their group answered six questions correctly.

Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang scored nine points after skipping a difficult final word, and Qiguan Yuan and Pei Yubai then played the guessing game. Qiguan Yuan gave Pei Yubai a personal clue that he answered with “you,” leaving Pei Yubai flustered as the game ended.

• Ji Shiyu gave clues for nine words, and Jiang Wantang guessed all nine before Ji Shiyu passed on the tenth.
• Qiguan Yuan watched Ji Shiyu and Jiang Wantang, suspecting the skipped word was related to feelings.
• Qiguan Yuan acted out the first nine words, and Pei Yubai guessed each one quickly.
• For the final clue, Qiguan Yuan repeated a Hmong sentence, then touched Pei Yubai’s chest and asked him to guess without using Hmong.
• Pei Yubai answered “you,” and Qiguan Yuan said he had guessed correctly before Meng Xu called time.
• Shen Yuzhou challenged the scoring, but Qiguan Yuan defended the answer, while Pei Yubai remained embarrassed and watched him return to the drum tower.

After the game, Pei Yubai took Qiguan Yuan mushroom gathering instead of fishing, while the other guests went to complete their daily tasks. They returned with a basket of mushrooms, and Pei Yubai told Qiguan Yuan he still had to transplant rice seedlings for the village elder.

• Meng Xu recorded the teams' scores and excused Qiguan Yuan from the daily tasks because he was a special guest.
• Qiguan Yuan followed Pei Yubai to gather mushrooms and teased him about completing the work alone.
• Pei Yubai showed Qiguan Yuan how to identify edible mushrooms, warning him that white mushrooms could be poisonous.
• Qiguan Yuan tied two white mushrooms together with the red thread from his wrist, and Pei Yubai called them pretty.
• Pei Yubai filled half a basket with mushrooms and told Qiguan Yuan that he had promised the village elder he would transplant rice seedlings.

Qiguan Yuan left Pei Yubai working in the rice paddy to accompany Jiang Wantang to the village teahouse. Jiang asked him to make an exception to his limit of three fortune-stick readings a year and interpret a stick tied to her hopes of meeting someone again.

• Pei Yubai planted rice while Qiguan Yuan watched from the ridge, where a young man repeatedly looked at Qiguan Yuan.
• Jiang Wantang asked Qiguan Yuan to help her, and he left Pei Yubai to go with her.
• On the way, Jiang explained that her grandmother came from Cloud-Hidden Town and had told her about Yue Lao Temple and an earlier Mr. Qiguan.
• At the teahouse, Jiang served tea and showed Qiguan Yuan a bamboo fortune stick.
• Jiang asked Qiguan Yuan to interpret the stick, saying she feared she and someone important to her would never meet again if she did nothing.

Qiguan Yuan comforted Jiang Wantang with a marriage fortune, then got lost trying to leave the teahouse and returned to Pei Yubai for help. Back at the stilt house, Qiguan Yuan reassured Pei Yubai that he would welcome him following along.

• Qiguan Yuan read Jiang Wantang the marriage fortune, and she thanked him before leaving the teahouse.
• After leaving, Qiguan Yuan got lost on the branching roads and used the red thread on his wrist to find his way back to Pei Yubai.
• Pei Yubai washed his muddy hands, took Qiguan Yuan's hand, and led him back to the stilt house.
• Pei Yubai gave Qiguan Yuan a phone so he could call for help if he got lost again.
• Qiguan Yuan told Pei Yubai he might like having him follow along and that Pei Yubai had special privileges with him.

Qiguan Yuan spent a quiet day at the house, explored his new phone, and teased Pei Yubai while helping him win a card game. The group shared dinner, where Qiguan Yuan watched Jiang Wantang until she grew uncomfortable, then looked away.

• Jiang Wantang practiced dancing, and Cheng Yanqiu joined her and agreed to practice again the next day.
• Shen Yuzhou invited Pei Yubai and Lin Yanru to play Fight the Landlord while Qiguan Yuan examined his phone.
• Qiguan Yuan leaned close to Pei Yubai, pointed out that he was blushing, and played a straight from his cards to beat Shen Yuzhou.
• Ji Shiyu served dinner, and Qiguan Yuan tried the locally smoked cured pork while Pei Yubai turned Qiguan Yuan's lit phone facedown.
• Qiguan Yuan stared at Jiang Wantang during dinner until she became uncomfortable, then looked away and finished his porridge.

After dinner, the guests played truth or dare, and Ji Shiyu revealed that he regretted giving up a former partner. Qiguan Yuan calmed the resulting livestream chaos, then offered to help Pei Yubai with a dare, leaving them poised close together.

• Shen Yuzhou proposed truth or dare, and Qiguan Yuan declined to play while watching his livestream.
• Lin Yanru admitted that she liked shipping real couples, then asked Ji Shiyu about his regrets when the bottle landed on him.
• Ji Shiyu confessed that he had given up a partner he loved five years earlier, causing the livestream comments to erupt.
• Qiguan Yuan quieted the comments and advised Ji Shiyu not to cling to the past, while Jiang Wantang sat silently.
• Lin Yanru dared Pei Yubai to kiss someone, and Pei Yubai accepted; Qiguan Yuan beckoned him over and pulled him close by the collar.

After Qiguan Yuan kissed Pei Yubai's forehead, the guests ended their gathering and went to bed. Pei Yubai joined Qiguan Yuan in his room and massaged his aching back, leaving Qiguan Yuan drowsily mistaking him for Yun Yin.

• Qiguan Yuan kissed Pei Yubai's forehead, startling the guests, then called an end to the gathering as it grew late.
• After the others left, Pei Yubai said he would sleep in the living room, but followed Qiguan Yuan into his room.
• Qiguan Yuan told Pei Yubai to sleep, then asked him to massage his aching lower back.
• As Pei Yubai massaged him, Qiguan Yuan remembered Yun Yin's old massages and, half asleep, called Pei Yubai by Yun Yin's name.

Pei Yubai realized he was jealous of Yun Yin and learned that Qiguan Yuan’s lower back injury came from an accident beneath the Tree of Fate. After falling asleep beside Qiguan Yuan, Pei Yubai woke to find a pair of fluffy ears on his head.

• Pei Yubai massaged Qiguan Yuan’s lower back and felt jealous when Qiguan Yuan murmured Yun Yin’s name in his sleep.
• Pei Yubai asked why Qiguan Yuan’s lower back hurt, and Qiguan Yuan said he had injured it long ago.
• Pei Yubai offered to find Qiguan Yuan a doctor, but Qiguan Yuan told him to sleep and wished him sweet dreams.
• Pei Yubai woke with Qiguan Yuan asleep on his chest and discovered fluffy white ears twitching on Qiguan Yuan’s head.