Xu Qingyan watched the excavator work for a while and immediately felt incredibly bored. Clapping his hands, he said.
"Let's go, there's nothing to see here."
The two of them had only stood there watching for a short while, not staying for too long.
This time, Xu Qingyan didn't play any tricks, and the two of them were the last among all the guests to arrive at the Love House, right around ten in the morning.
The cottage was located on the side of Lanling Island, covering several hundred square meters, and was originally used as a guesthouse. Later, the show's crew rented the place, becoming the first batch of guests to stay there.
The cameras mounted on flying devices zoomed out, and the live broadcast's screen instantly switched to a view of a luxurious guesthouse perched against the descending terrain of the island, resembling a neatly arranged reef.
The two rode their bikes through the tropical coconut groves and arrived at the front gate of the cottage. Their luggage was brought over by Zhou Mian from the props team, a small privilege granted to them.
After all, riding with a large suitcase isn't visually appealing, and the filming team wouldn't agree to it.
The guesthouse was connected by a highway, with its entrance facing inward toward the island, where one could hear the sound of the waves when walking further inside. There was no more road for bikes here, so according to the show's arrangement, they had to proceed on foot.
Don't ask. If you ask, it's the task of the guesthouse owner, who must show off the uniquely decorated little garden in front of you.
A few steps lead to a small staircase, and after turning a corner, there's another small staircase, with neatly paved stone roads. Most of the stones near the sea are either white or light gray, a combination that looks somewhat out of place at first glance.
In any case, if you can't figure it out, just call it 'Internet Celebrity' style.
"Can you walk?" Xu Qingyan stopped and casually asked.
"I can," Pei Muchan replied, somewhat unsteady on her feet, hobbling along the way, "If I had known, I wouldn't have worn high heels, they get caught in the cracks so easily."
"Don't you wear them often?" He glanced at Pei Muchan without a trace, "Why didn't you wear sneakers?"
"There are some in the suitcase."
"Give me your hand, I'll lead you across," Xu Qingyan turned around, his face expressionless and his tone even, "It's so hot outside."
"Thank you."
She reached out her hand and Xu Qingyan steadily pulled her over; as they got closer, there was a faint fragrance wafting towards him. The scent was cool, like an icy mountain spring thawed by the chill of early spring.
Xu Qingyan silently held his breath, taking a while to steady his fluttering heart.
Pei Muchan's fingertips felt cold, and as he took each step, he thought that her small hand was as flawlessly perfect as white jade, even the temperature felt like a piece of jade.
Initially cool to the touch, with a hint of chill, it warmed up after a while.
Within a few minutes, they crossed the small garden. It was as if Xu Qingyan had forgotten, he didn't let go of her hand, and Pei Muchan didn't seem to react either.
It was not until they reached the small wooden door of the guesthouse that he finally let go of her hand.
Behind the scenes, the directing team couldn't help but reveal a chuckling smile, their faces unable to hide their excitement. They looked at each other, thinking it was time for the heart-fluttering special effects!
"Tech team!" the director shouted.
"We added it the first chance we got!" The intern blurted out, hurriedly raising his hand.
The barrage of comments was relentlessly sarcastic, with some already reluctantly shipping the couple. However, many others were throwing proverbial lemons, shouting, "I want Xu go die!"
"Wuwuwu! Is Sister Pei being threatened? Blink if yes."
"It's over, it's over. My Sister Pei can't be serious, right?"
"How could she be? After so many years since her debut, she's an old hand. Besides, isn't joining a love reality show just for marketing oneself? It's all acting, wuwuwu... it must be acting!"
Hanging on the small wooden door was a bell, accompanied by a bunch of odd flowers as decorations.
Xu Qingyan pushed open the door, and Pei Muchan followed him inside.
Upon entering, there was an entryway, with shoes of several guests arranged on the shoe rack, it seemed everyone had arrived. The two exchanged a glance and began to bend down to change their shoes.
The entrance was rather narrow, and the filming crew had gone in first, not capturing the two of them.
Pei Muchan, with one hand on the shoe cabinet, bent down, and her other hand awkwardly reached behind her. The hem of her skirt at her waist and hips folded, outlining a full curve.
Xu Qingyan changed his shoes quickly and, as he raised his head, swept a glance at her without betraying any emotion, his eyelids twitching slightly.
He noticed that Pei Muchan had the typical physique with hips wider than shoulders, a slender and soft waist, and a voluptuous figure, while her hands, feet, and face appeared lean.
In ancient times, she would have been a beauty who outshone all others; one could only say Sister Pei was formidable.
"What's wrong?" Pei Muchan saw him staring at her and even looked down at her chest, um....it was blocked.
"It's nothing."
Any explanation in such a small space, devoid of even an ant, would seem clumsy, but saying directly that he was looking at her would seem too abrupt.
So, it was customarily glossed over, as if nothing had happened, a kind of almost instinctual tacit understanding between men and women.
"Alright," Pei Muchan said.
Hearing that, Xu Qingyan couldn't help but look back at her again, only to find that Pei Muchan was also looking up at him. Her gaze was a bit blustery yet unguarded.
She tried to carry the air of an elder, but appeared as innocent as a fawn learning to howl. Awooo, awooo, it lacked any deterring power and was quite amusing.
Xu Qingyan saw her reaction and thought she was just a newbie, still trying to play the old hand.
He simply stared back, his gaze like a strand of silk, gently floating over. It tangled with her gaze, invaded her heart without restraint, and lightly pinched it as if shaking hands.
Eventually, Pei Muchan could not stand it anymore, and her face turned away gently, a blush spreading like rouge from her ears down her snowy white neck.
She felt suddenly warm inside, her face hot, feeling a bit embarrassed.
He... how could he be so bold!
The books never said it was like this.
But, it seems he was the one who looked first, so there's nothing wrong with looking back, is there?
"Are you done looking? Come on, let's go inside," Xu Qingyan said with a light chuckle, lifting his chin at her to indicate she should follow and then turned and walked in.
"Who was looking at you!" Pei Muchan couldn't help but argue.
"Hmm."
Her response came back indifferent from ahead, instantly making Pei Muchan feel like she had punched cotton, suddenly feeling foolish.
She should have just ignored him. Why couldn't she resist explaining?
The filming crew was waiting outside the entryway to film them both, with the camera facing the corner of the entryway, the livestream showed a still image. Not seeing anyone come out for a long time, viewers thought the stream had frozen.
The result was snippets of sound coming from the entryway, gradually became clear, as they were fully picked up by the microphones attached to them.
When the viewers heard Pei Muchan's like-chiding "Who was looking at you," the livestream's chat exploded in an instant.
"Damn, what has Xu done to my Sister Pei!"
"What are they doing sneakily in the entryway? What exactly are they doing?!! Can someone tell me, what exactly are they doing? (I'm freaking out!)"
"It's over, my Sister Pei is being played by a man, what to do! Awaiting advice! (Eating lemons)"