Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The winter nights here were exceptionally cold. There were very few cars on the road from the county town to Little Arctic. It was pitch black all around, and even the snow-capped mountains were just dark outlines under the moonlight. Occasionally, one or two houses would appear by the roadside, mostly two-story buildings with golden windows that make the night look even more desolate and cold.
The tavern was warm and inviting at the moment.
All six guests had drunk a lot, their faces flushed with alcohol. After the meal, Hu Ying asked the staff member next to her, “Haven’t Xingchen and the other two returned yet?”
The staff member said, “Not yet.”
Everyone checked the time, and Wen Nuo said, “Will they be spending the night out?”
“Probably not,” Lin Qingning said. “Last time Brother Huo and Xingchen went on a date, it was snowing so heavily, and they still rushed back overnight.”
“They don’t need to stay out overnight,” Hu Ying said. “When they come back, they’ll still stay together.”
Moreover, they could sleep on one kang (heated brick bed) when they come back, but if they stayed overnight outside, they would definitely need at least two beds. If Pei Xu wasn’t stupid, he wouldn’t stay overnight outside.
Pei Xu really got a great deal this time.
Four consecutive days was incredibly damaging.
“They should be back by now, let’s go back too,” Duan Yihua said.
They left the tavern and returned to room number one.
No one left; they all tacitly sat together in the living room waiting for Pei Xu and Zhai Xingchen.
Huo Cheng went out for a smoke, but after he finished, he didn’t go back. He wandered around outside by himself, and eventually ended up at room number three.
He recalled the time he went on a date with Zhai Xingchen, climbing Baiyu Mountain together. They returned very late that night, and when their car arrived here, they happened to run into Pei Xu, who was building a snowman.
Looking back now, it wasn’t just a coincidence at all. Pei Xu was clearly just like him now, waiting for them here on purpose.
Everything was traceable, but they didn’t notice it at the time.
The two snowmen were still holding hands, but one of them had a broken nose, making it look rather ugly.
He squatted there for a while, then suddenly noticed the few cigarette butts he had thrown away that morning. They were black, their dark yellow-black color staining the snow. He reached out and picked them up, then sighed and stood up.
He threw the cigarette butt into the scenic area’s trash can and went back into room number one.
Duan Yihua and Lin Qingning sat at the dining table playing checkers, with Hu Ying and the others watching. Only Yan Zhi was lounging in his chair playing video games.
When Hu Ying saw him come in, she immediately turned around and asked, “Are you back?”
“No.”
Seeing Huo Cheng take a carrot from the kitchen, Hu Ying asked, “What are you going to do with a carrot?”
“Didn’t Pei Xu’s snowman’s nose break?” Huo Cheng said.
“Why is the snowman’s nose broken?” Duan Yihua asked.
“I don’t know, it probably fell by itself,” Hu Ying said.
He just didn’t understand why Huo Cheng suddenly thought of this and wanted to change the snowman’s nose.
Huo Cheng took the carrot out, pulled out the carrot that was broken in half, and then used the snow on the ground to cover the carrot back up.
He glanced at the two snowmen and then noticed a car approaching from a distance.
He was secretly delighted, pursed his lips, and stood still by the roadside.
There were two cars, one in front of the other.
As soon as the car arrived at room number three, Zhai Xingchen saw a familiar figure.
The car headlights illuminated the entire road, and Huo Cheng stood between two snowmen, a scene that seemed to be recreated. Only, Pei Xu in the car and Huo Cheng by the roadside had switched places.
Pei Xu stopped the car, and Zhai Xingchen opened the car door and got out, calling out, “Brother Huo.”
Huo Cheng smiled and looked at him, saying, “You’re finally back.”
Pei Xu said in the car, “I won’t get out. I’ll return the production crew’s car first.”
“Go ahead.” Huo Cheng said, glancing at the car behind him, only to see two familiar faces.
They were two cameramen from the production crew.
Pei Xu picked up the gloves that Zhai Xingchen had dropped: “They’re a bit cold.”
Huo Cheng watched from the side with a half-smile. While Pei Xu drove the car away, and Zhai Xingchen, still a little embarrassed, said, “Why are you standing here?”
“I came to give the snowman a new nose,” Huo Cheng said.
Zhai Xingchen glanced at the snowman’s nose and, sure enough, one of the snowmen’s noses looked brighter red.
He stuffed his gloves into his pocket, put both hands in his pockets, and said, “Is everyone resting?”
“They’ve all been waiting for you,” Huo Cheng said. “Let’s go. Let’s go together.”
They then walked together toward room number one.
The north wind was howling, and it was very cold. Huo Cheng turned to look at Zhai Xingchen, then put his hands in his pockets and asked casually, “How was your day?”
Zhai Xingchen said, “It was alright.”
Huo Cheng didn’t ask any more questions. He felt that asking too many questions might not be appropriate, even though he really wanted to know.
“We thought the production team hadn’t sent any cameramen this time,” Huo Cheng added.
“They followed us secretly, but we spotted them on the way.”
As Zhai Xingchen spoke, he glanced at Huo Cheng. He remembered that Huo Cheng had been squatting here early this morning, and he didn’t expect that it would still be him waiting for them to come back in the evening.
Huo Cheng was a rough man, but it was precisely because of his roughness that his feelings for Huo Cheng were all the more profound.
The more you experience, the more you understand what the director meant; these people genuinely like him.
Pei Xu did, and so did Huo Cheng.
He noticed that Huo Cheng was wearing a hat this time.
A gray cotton hat.
Hu Ying and the others were still sitting at the dining table playing games when Yan Zhi was the first to see someone come in.
Pei Xu entered.
Yan Zhi was startled and immediately put down his phone and sat up straight.
Immediately afterward, Duan Yihua also saw Pei Xu, and he immediately sat up straight and said, “You’re back.”
Hu Ying and Lin Qingning both turned to look, and when they saw Pei Xu enter, Hu Ying immediately stood up: “You’re back? Where’s Xingchen?”
Pei Xu said, “He’s in the back.”
Hu Ying’s face lit up instantly, and he immediately ran out.
Pei Xu turned to watch him leave, then walked to the dining table, took his and Zhai Xingchen’s water glasses, and poured two glasses of hot water.
“The people in the cabin have all come back to life,” the staff member said with a smile.
“Pei Xu and the others are back, shouldn’t Xiao Wei and the others be back too?”
Xiao Wei and Xiao Li sdre the cameramen who went to the county town with Pei Xu and Zhai Xingchen today.
He had barely finished speaking when Xiao Wei and Xiao Li ran in carrying a camera.
“Director Guo!”
Guo Bing immediately stood up: “What exactly did you film? You’ve been keeping me in suspense for so long. If the footage isn’t good enough, I’m going to deduct your bonuses.”
“Director, if we have captured a really great shot, will you give us an extra reward?” Xiao Wei asked with a smile.
A staff member nearby said, “Judging from his tone, it seems like they’ve made a big discovery.”
They quickly took the two cameras and connected them to the machine next to them. Xiao Wei said excitedly, “This trip was definitely worthwhile! Do you know how brilliant Brother Pei’s plan was this time? He followed the rules at first, but then pulled out all the stops at the end! I think if Zhai Xingchen wasn’t completely clueless, he would definitely have been tempted!”
His words drew all the other staff members in the room. Guo Bing asked, “Didn’t you say Pei Xu wouldn’t let you come along?”
“We didn’t actually film many shots at the beginning; it was mostly filmed by Pei Xu himself. You can check out his camera footage later. But I don’t think there will be any major surprises.”
A colleague handed him a cup of hot tea, which Xiao Wei accepted with a smile, taking two large gulps: “But from the moment we started climbing the mountain, I dare say almost every shot we filmed was useless! We always thought he was going up to see the stars, but it turns out he took Zhai Xingchen to set off fireworks !!”
“The most amazing thing is, do you know what kind of fireworks he set off?” Xiao Li added.
Everyone was completely captivated by their excited expressions: “What fireworks?”
“A sky full of stars!”
“Did you see the sunset tonight? I can only say that Pei Xu’s fireworks were even more spectacular than the sunset!”
Guo Bing’s face flushed with excitement. He sat down at the computer, opened the file, and started watching. He was so eager that he clicked on the one with fireworks scenes. As soon as he opened it, everyone in the room gasped in surprise.
Hu Ying walked quickly forward, and finally started running. He then saw Zhai Xingchen and Huo Cheng in the distance.
The bittersweet joy in his heart made him stop and stand still.
Finally, Zhai Xingchen greeted him first.
“You’re finally back,” he said with a smile.
This day felt so long.
Zhai Xingchen sensed everyone’s longing for him from Huo Cheng and Hu Ying.
Actually, he felt a little awkward as they approached Little Arctic. After a day of dating, returning home wouldn’t be much better than leaving in the car— that was to be expected. But the sincerity he felt from Huo Cheng and Hu Ying made him feel less awkward.
Perhaps this was the biggest change in him since this trip.
The three of them entered cabin number one together. As soon as he entered, he saw Wen Nuo and Duan Yihua all standing and looking at him. They all greeted him, saying, “You’re back.”
The return of Zhai Xingchen and Pei Xu instantly enlivened House Number One.
Zhai Xingchen smelled a strong odor of alcohol and asked, “Have you been drinking?”
“We went to a tavern today,” Lin Qingning said with a smile.
After saying that, he glanced at Pei Xu next to him.
Everyone was secretly observing the two people returning from their date, trying to judge their current emotional state from their mood and expressions.
But Pei Xu was a man who never showed his emotions, so you couldn’t tell anything from him except that he was very thirsty and had drunk two cups of water since he came back.
Zhai Xingchen was also a little thirsty. He noticed that his water glass was already filled with hot water, and he wondered who had poured it for him.
“Did you go to see a movie?” Hu Ying asked.
Zhai Xingchen asked, “How did you know?”
“I saw the Weibo photos online,” Hu Ying said. “They said you went to see ‘The Boss Loves Me’?”
Zhai Xingchen didn’t expect such details to be spread online. Because it was Pei Xu who arranged the trip, he was afraid that people would misunderstand that Pei Xu deliberately took him to see this kind of movie, so he explained: “We went to a movie theater where you can eat and watch any movie you want. I saw that this movie was ranked number one, and I thought that if it was ranked number one, it must be good, so I chose it. But we left halfway through the movie.”
They didn’t go there specifically for that purpose.
It seems they misunderstood Pei Xu.
Indeed, Pei Xu would not be so lustful and low-class.
“What did you all do today?” Duan Yihua asked.
Discussing what they did after a date was an unavoidable part of dating reality shows, and the group had already discussed it after their last date. Since it was going to air anyway, Zhai Xingchen didn’t hide anything from them, saying, “We went to a handicraft workshop first and made bark paintings.”
“Are there any bark painting shops around here?” Wen Nuo immediately asked. “I heard that bark paintings in Beicheng are very famous and are a cultural heritage. I’ve looked for them in the scenic area, but I haven’t seen any.”
“Yes, there are bark paintings for sale right next to the post office,” Lin Qingning said.
“And then?” Duan Yihua asked with a smile.
Before Zhai Xingchen could answer, Pei Xu said:
“After that, we watched a movie and strolled around the old street,” he thought it would be better for him to say this part for Zhai Xingchen to avoid making Zhai Xingchen feel awkward. He spoke in a calm tone, appearing extremely low-key: “Finally, we went to set off fireworks on the mountain.”
Just as he expected, everyone looked surprised when they heard about the fireworks.
Everyone was surprised and turned to look at him.
They were all thinking the same thing: Damn, fireworks?
Pei Xu is so good at this!
They were all shocked.
Because they felt this was even more terrifying than Yan Zhi’s starry sky.
Then they thought about the magnificent sunset today.
Damn it!
Pei Xu looked at everyone.
It seems he’s about to become the number one rival in love.
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