The base camp arranged by the production crew was situated halfway up the mountain, featuring a clean clearing with a small patch of crystal-clear spring water flowing gently by, along with a set of stone tables and chairs that could accommodate seven or eight people, as well as a few uniquely shaped, clean, and smooth boulders.
If placed in the real world, the configuration of this clearing would appear exceptionally strange amidst the lush mountain forest, but here, it was completely normal designed solely for their convenience in setting up camp.
A short walk further up led to the summit. At this hour, one could just catch the sunset, painting half the sky in golden hues.
Ignoring Ren Xubai’s enthusiasm, Xu Qingnan offered a brief, perfunctory response and placed his pack on a large boulder to the side. “Just you alone?”
Ren Xubai feigned grievance. “Why do you ask about others the moment you get here?”
“…” Xu Qingnan glanced at him sideways. “Aren’t you standing right here.”
“Deng You left some things behind on the trail and went back to look for them,” Ren Xubai smiled. “So I stayed behind here to wait for you~”
Xu Qingnan nodded, retrieved the grill from his backpack, and after glancing at it for a few moments to figure out the assembly principle, noticed that Ren Xubai and Huo Zheng were still standing right beside him, flanking him on both sides like personal bodyguards.
Meeting Ren Xubai’s gaze, the other man’s pretty eyes curved into crescents. “What is it, Xu-ge?”
Xu Qingnan turned his head to look at Huo Zheng. This person’s gaze was clearly not as presumptuous as Ren Xubai’s; rather than staring at him, it was more like he was zoning out while looking at him. “Did you pitch the tents?”
There were two tents in total one in Ye Yuyao’s backpack and the other in Huo Zheng’s.
Huo Zheng snapped out of it, the back of his ears burning bright red hidden beneath his hair, and quickly walked away. “Oh, oh.”
Ren Xubai blinked, taking note of Huo Zheng’s awkwardness in his heart while sneering inwardly. He knew full well how easy it was for Xu Qingnan to capture someone’s attention, so he deliberately provoked, “Did Xu-ge want some alone time with me?”
Not far away, Huo Zheng’s movements stiffened imperceptibly.
Xu Qingnan’s backpack mainly contained ingredients. Without even sparing Ren Xubai a glance, he took everything out and tossed a pack of skewers to him. “The meat needs to be marinated. You string the vegetables first. Do your work and talk less.”
Ren Xubai obediently acknowledged the instruction, leisurely threading the ingredients onto the skewers while his gaze drifted over to Xu Qingnan’s direction from time to time. The setting sun shone from behind Xu Qingnan, casting a pale golden halo over the man. His wine-red hair was ruffled by the breeze, exposing a clean, smooth forehead.
The quality of the grill was a bit cheaper than Xu Qingnan had expected; the parts at the joints were wobbly and wouldn’t stay fixed, but since all the repair tools were with Cheng Yanzhi, there was nothing to be done for now.
Xu Qingnan stood up just as he met Ren Xubai’s gaze. The other person made no attempt to hide being caught and instead smiled charmingly at Xu Qingnan.
The very next second, he pricked his finger on a skewer, and his smile instantly distorted into a grimace. “Hsss—!”
Xu Qingnan raised an eyebrow and walked over to Ren Xubai’s side. Ren Xubai pitifully held up his unbleeding finger to beg for comfort, but Xu Qingnan simply bent down and to Ren Xubai’s pleasantly surprised eyes picked up a nearby bottle of mineral water. “Serves you right.”
Not far away, Huo Zheng unconsciously curved the corners of his lips.
Realizing what he was doing, he quickly straightened his expression.
With nothing much left to do on his end, and seeing that Huo Zheng’s tent was being pitched quite decently, Xu Qingnan had even less desire to stay and work with Ren Xubai, so he simply found a tree to lean against and sat down.
Just like during the rest stop along the trail, he bent one knee, rested his arm holding the mineral water bottle across it, and faced the direction of the setting sun. The soft light washed over his entire face, illuminating his usually deep eye sockets without casting any shadows, diminishing a bit of his oppressive aura and adding instead a touch of leisurely, carefree youthful charm.
With a sky full of colorful rosy clouds as a backdrop, both Ren Xubai and Huo Zheng involuntarily paused what they were doing.
On the other side, Ye Yuyao and Cheng Yanzhi, who had just arrived, happened to run into this exact scene.
Noticing the way Huo Zheng was staring at Xu Qingnan, Ye Yuyao felt a sense of crisis rise in his chest.
It felt as though something was slipping out of his control.
A “click” sound rang out from nearby.
Throughout the journey, Ye Yuyao considered things to have gone quite smoothly. Cheng Yanzhi had responded to everything he said, and he had even manufactured a few instances of physical contact by utilizing the rugged mountain path. Although Cheng Yanzhi still hadn’t given any explicit signals, not everyone had a low difficulty rating like Huo Zheng, so Ye Yuyao’s mindset remained relatively steady.
However, he hadn’t expected Cheng Yanzhi to take a photo of Xu Qingnan directly.
Ye Yuyao had a purpose in participating in this dating reality show; he had to find a marriage partner of matched social status to consolidate his position within the family. To allow the eldest brother to inherit the family business, the family had arranged an Omega from a humble background for him, which Ye Yuyao found utterly unacceptable.
Huo Zheng counted as one option, and Cheng Yanzhi counted as another. Ren Xubai clearly had his eyes set on Xu Qingnan, while Deng You showed no interest in him whatsoever. As for Xu Qingnan, based on his own shrewd judgment, Xu Qingnan was hardly a figure from the upper echelons.
Furthermore, judging by his personality and physique, Xu Qingnan was far from Ye Yuyao’s ideal type, placing him completely outside the scope of consideration.
Ye Yuyao originally felt that having two prospective candidates was enough, and intended to mind his own business and leave Xu Qingnan alone. But right now, looking at Huo Zheng who was staring dazedly at Xu Qingnan and Cheng Yanzhi beside him, who also showed interest in Xu Qingnan, Ye Yuyao realized he could no longer afford to sit back and do nothing.
“Huo Zheng!” Ye Yuyao called out abruptly, snapping Huo Zheng back to attention. Watching Huo Zheng drop what he was holding to rush over and welcome him, Ye Yuyao relaxed slightly. As he naturally handed his things over to Huo Zheng, he asked softly, “How did it go? Did he give you a hard time along the way?”
“No,” Huo Zheng replied simply. “Xu Qingnan is actually a pretty good person.”
Ye Yuyao’s heart sank, though his expression remained unperturbed as he teased, “What is this? Changing your target?”
Huo Zheng’s actions paused for a split second, and everything in his hands dropped to the ground.
This was the first time Ye Yuyao had ever spoken to him in such a distinctly biased tone.
“No,” Huo Zheng’s ears burned bright red. “No.”
Ye Yuyao smiled culturedly and politely. “That’s good.”
Ye Yuyao’s voice naturally drew the attention of the others. Xu Qingnan stood up and walked over to take Cheng Yanzhi’s belongings.
Cheng Yanzhi actually looked somewhat pleasantly surprised. “Tha—thank you?”
Before his voice even trailed off, Xu Qingnan had already unzipped the bag to search for the proper tools. Since their backpacks were all distributed by the production crew and contained no personal items, Xu Qingnan quickly found what he needed and handed the bag back to Cheng Yanzhi.
Cheng Yanzhi’s tone took a playful turn as he tilted his head, clearly not displeased by Xu Qingnan’s actions and even flashing a highly intrigued smile. Taking back his bag, he took two quick steps to catch up with Xu Qingnan. “It looks like Qingnan can’t get anything done without me?”
In a fairly good mood, Xu Qingnan gave a slight nod. “You could say that.”
“Need any help?” Cheng Yanzhi asked. “I might be the only one here who can actually help you out?”
Having experienced that brief stint of kitchen coordination last night, Cheng Yanzhi’s movements were crisp and efficient, noticing what needed to be done, speaking very little, and genuinely knowing how to cook a bit. He was vastly superior to the other few pampered roosters and phoenixes combined, making Xu Qingnan quite satisfied with this cooking partner. “Ren Xubai is working on the vegetables, and the meat hasn’t been marinated yet. Do you know how?”
Cheng Yanzhi replied, “I’ve done it before, but I’m a bit rusty. I’ll move my things over by you, is it alright if you watch me do it?”
Xu Qingnan gave a nod of assent.
He hadn’t expected Ren Xubai to tag along as well.
Xu Qingnan frowned. “What are you here for?”
“Just visiting and learning, I won’t talk, and I won’t stop what I’m doing with my hands either,” Ren Xubai said, hugging his vegetable station close. “Xu-ge, give me a chance?”
Ren Xubai’s attitude was sincere, and he had even reined in some of the over-the-top enthusiasm that Xu Qingnan found so repellent, making him look far more well-behaved than when he was deliberately trying to act cute. Xu Qingnan pressed his lips together. “Why are you trying to learn this?”
Seeing Xu Qingnan’s attitude soften, Ren Xubai felt a surge of joy. “It can’t be that the two of you always have to do all the cooking, right?”
Xu Qingnan sat back down to inspect the grill. Knowing this was tacit permission, Ren Xubai happily sat down with his chores.
On the other side, Ye Yuyao was helping Huo Zheng pitch his tent. Ye Yuyao was articulate, gentle, patient, and eager to learn, enthusiastically unpacking the other tent to handle it himself and asking Huo Zheng to teach him. “Huo Zheng, why won’t this part open up? I can’t pull it loose.”
Huo Zheng reached out intending to take it over and inspect it, but Ye Yuyao showed no signs of letting go. Left with no choice, Huo Zheng had to lean in close to Ye Yuyao and guide him through the disassembly. With four hands active in such a tiny space, physical contact was inevitable.
Within three to five minutes, Huo Zheng’s movements began to carry a hint of awkwardness, and his speech grew slightly stuttering.
Ye Yuyao finally regained a comforting sense of control.
He glanced over at the other side. The other three were seated in a triangle, distinctly centered around Xu Qingnan in the middle. On the left, Cheng Yanzhi lacked any of the polite reserve he had shown when walking with Ye Yuyao, leaning his head over as though asking humbly for advice. On the other side, Ren Xubai was listening just as intently to Xu Qingnan’s instructions.
Ye Yuyao adjusted his glasses.
Then he glanced back at Huo Zheng, who was wholeheartedly and intently helping him set up the tent.
He would never return empty-handed.