CH 11

In the original text, Tao Tao would then live with Bo Ye in the room with the twin beds. The male and female protagonists would be alone together for the first time. The sweet sleeping face of the female protagonist would let the exhausted male protagonist have a good night’s sleep.

This kind of plot was very romantic, and Qi Xingchen was not very willing to do things that ruin others’ fated matches. But the male and female protagonist’s divine love threatened this little life of his, and he had no choice but to make a move.

Tonight, he must separate the male and female protagonists.

After washing up, Tao Tao knocked on the door, wearing the same white T-shirt and jeans she wore that morning, “Who would I be rooming with?”

Just now when everyone was cleaning up, the programme team placed cameras in all the rooms except for the bathroom, and every single person’s gestures or attitude was in plain sight.

Qi XIngchen did not dare to continue slouching1 and sat up as straight as a board. He asked her half genuinely in reply: “Tao Tao-jie, who would you like to room with?”

Asking this question was equivalent to shifting the dilemma onto Tao Tao — if Tao Tao chose Bo Ye, there would undoubtedly be some netizens who would scold Tao Tao for one-sidedly sticking to him to rub off his popularity; if Tao Tao chose Zhang Yunfei, no one could say for sure if it would be made into something scandalous.

Amongst them, the choice with the least controversy would be him, the one without many fans and who was of a young age. Even if they stayed in the same room, the programme team would not make a mountain out of any sparks between them either.

It was the safest choice.

Tao Tao seemed to hesitate and did not speak. At this moment, Bo Ye had finished washing up and brought his wet clothes out from the bathroom and said in a low voice: “Next.”

There was only one bathroom in the suite, thus everyone had to take turns to wash up. Qi Xingchen had yet to deal with Tao Tao, so he turned to Zhang Yunfei: “Yunfei-ge, you go ba.”

“You can go first, I care for the young.”

“You should go first,” Qi Xingchen joked, “I respect the elderly.”

After he said that, Qi Xingchen covered his mouth and pretended to just realise that he said something wrong. Zhang Yunfei very cooperatively acted like he was spitting out blood.

Behind the monitors, the director laughed, “Later, edit a few arrows onto Zhang Yunfei’s chest at this part, giving the feeling of a million arrows through the heart…… Noah really didn’t sign this kid for nothing.”

“They really didn’t,” The assistant director marvelled, “Surprisingly, he has this much sense for variety, as long as he doesn’t mess up, he would surely be famous in the future.”

Of course, when the director said these behind the scenes, the four people in the room did not know. Qi Xingchen hurriedly got up to apologise to Zhang Yunfei, while Zhang Yunfei held his chest all the way to the bathroom “in grief”.

After the show was over, Qi Xingchen sat back down on the sofa. Just as his butt touched it, a hint of a refreshing mint smell wafted into his nose.

Turning his head, Bo Ye had sat next to him at some unknown point. His hair had not dried yet, and the damp strands stuck to his forehead.

To sleep comfortably, he had changed into a loose black T-shirt. Water droplets ran down along the side of his face, sliding over the bump of his Adam’s apple and disappeared into his T-shirt collar.

Qi Xingchen: “……”

Qi Xingchen did not doubt that as long as it was a woman who saw that scene just now, they would absolutely not be able to escape from the attack of his charms!

After watching Qi Xingchen’s and Zhang Yunfei’s performance, Tao Tao’s line of sight was already shifting over. Qi Xingchen hurriedly opened his mouth: “Why not—”

Tao Tao looked towards Qi Xingchen: “Hm?”

“Let’s room together, Tao Tao-jie,” Qi Xingchen saw that she did not look at Bo Ye and breathed a sigh of relief, “I sleep very quietly, without snoring or turning over in my sleep. No sounds at all.”

The camera was beside them; Qi Xingchen had already opened his mouth, therefore Tao Tao had no position to refuse and was ready to agree with him.

“No way.” Bo Ye said all of a sudden.

“……” Qi Xingchen choked up for a moment.

Is it a must for you2 to sleep together with the female protagonist?

Honestly, he could not blame Bo Ye. After all, their plot was supposed to develop like this, and as the male protagonist, Bo Ye had to follow the rules.

Qi Xingchen silently lowered his head, waiting for Bo Ye to throw out an olive branch to the female protagonist.

“I am a relatively light sleeper,” Bo Ye stated, “I can’t stay with the average person.”

Oh, that just means you can only stay with the female protagonist then, why are you still searching for a reason? Qi Xingchen thought in his heart.

“So,” Bo Ye turned towards Qi Xingchen, “You’re sleeping with me.”

Qi Xingchen: “……”

Qi Xingchen: “???”

.

And the rooms were assigned like that.

Zhang Yunfei was slightly shy as he brought Tao Tao to the larger bedroom, while Bo Ye and Qi Xingchen slept on the double bed.

Qi Xingchen was currently staying at the school dormitory and used bunk beds. But when he was younger, he had lived on the large communal beds3 of the acrobatics troupe before, and he was not opposed to the idea of two men sleeping on the same bed.

He was only curious as to why Bo Ye specified that they were to sleep together, was he afraid of him laying his hands on the female protagonist???

Compared to him, Zhang Yunfei was good-looking with a good body figure, was he not a greater threat?

Qi Xingchen was immensely puzzled, digging his pyjamas out from his suitcase, and he continued to think about it while tugging on the hem of his shirt.

Bo Ye was still sitting on the sofa listening to music but removed his earbuds when he saw his movements. He frowned: “What are you doing?”

“……Changing my clothes, heading to shower, then sleep ah.” How is this also your business?4

Bo Ye cast a sidelong glance at him, casually picked up his jacket and walked to the left corner.

He tossed it upwards, covering the camera perfectly, “Many people are watching, be careful.”

“Th-thank you,” It turned out he had misunderstood him, Qi Xingchen rubbed the tip of his nose, “I shower very quickly, I won’t delay your sleep.”

After saying that, he rushed into the bathroom. He got it done efficiently5 and came out. Bo Ye was wearing an eye mask with his back facing him and seemed to have fallen asleep already.

As soon as Qi Xingchen laid down, he could smell a long-lasting cool fragrance.

The author has something to say:

Bo Ye: Heh, your mouth says you love me, yet your body6 wants to sleep together with the female protagonist, what kind of plastic7 fan love was this?

Tonight’s dream was also minty.

QI Xingchen often had messy and disordered dreams, most of them about the unpleasant shards of his childhood. Fresh dreams like tonight’s were extremely few, allowing him to sleep very soundly.

Due to this, he was in a good mood when he woke up, humming while making the bedsheets.

Bo Ye woke up slightly earlier than him. The hand that was towel-drying his hair paused: “What are you doing?”

“Folding the quilt.”

The hotel quilts would be unfolded for washing after the guests have checked out; it would be for nothing if you folded them.

Bo Ye’s gaze settled on Qi Xingchen’s back for a few seconds and did not say anything. Hence, Qi Xingchen just happily folded his own quilt, then proceeded to fold Bo Ye’s quilt as well.

Breakfast was provided by the hotel. Everyone gathered together to have their meal and started to discuss their next course of action.

Tao Tao said: “ Let’s take a look around Copenhagen1 since we are here already. We can treat it as the tourist place for today.”

“I approve,” Zhang Yunfei said, “Are there any famous attractions here?”

Qi Xingchen searched through the memories in his brain: “Copenhagen Opera House2, Andersen’s3 Grave, National Museum of Denmark, the Little Mermaid Statue …… Copenhagen Opera Theatre and Andersen’s Grave are near each other, we can see them together.”

“Then it’s settled,” Zhang Yunfei clapped his hands, “Xingxing, it’s great that we have you, we saved time on strategising.”

Before she could even interject, today’s tour route was already decided in a few sentences. Liu Ziyu took one look and felt that it could not go like this, eyes darting4, “Xingxing, you specially checked the route before coming right? How hardworking of you.”

Qi Xingchen vaguely replied with a hum. The Qi family had more than ten wine cellars in Denmark, Qi Yunxiao would occasionally bring the original owner here to observe them, therefore the original owner had a deep impression of this place.

“I knew it,” Liu Ziyu sucked a mouthful of milk, “You shouldn’t have worked here before. I did do a magazine shoot in Denmark before though, a pity that time was too tight and I didn’t have time to enjoy myself.”

Only then did Qi Xingchen understand her meaning, she was speaking in a roundabout way again just to mock him for being obscure.

He had expended great effort to join 《Budget Travel 》to get close to the male and female protagonist and had no mood to care about other people. But Liu Ziyu kept trying to pick a quarrel with him, and he also did not wish to tolerate it.

“Move over.”

Just as Qi Xingchen was about to talk back, a chilly voice came from behind him.

Bo Ye had returned from his morning run at some point and stood behind him, saying to Liu Ziyu: “You’re sitting on my seat.”

“……Oh, excuse me, I didn’t notice.” Liu Ziyu smiled awkwardly, stood up, and made a beeline for the opposite bench.

As the guarantor of the click-through rate of the fourth season of 《Budget Travel》, Bo Ye had his own fixed placement, which was the place the camera was facing directly.

Like this, it could be guaranteed that he would have the most footage available during post-editing, even though he did not talk much.

Before when Liu Ziyu plopped down over here, it was also due to the fixed camera position facing at this location directly and wanted to increase her footage a bit more. Who would have thought that Bo Ye would actually chase her away?

Underneath the table where it could not be recorded, she clenched her fist with all her strength, her long fingernails almost puncturing the flesh of her palm.

.

At 10 am Denmark time, the crowd left their luggage at the front desk and departed towards Anderson’s grave.

As the oldest male in the group, Zhang Yunfei automatically assumed the responsibility of the leader, conveying the screenwriter’s intention: “Denmark is a green country, promoting low-carbon travel. On the boulevard, that row of bicycles at the opening can be used for free, saving money and the environment as well. Let’s ride the bicycles there, how about that?”

How else could it be? Looking at the big sun in the sky, the guests faked a smile: “Of course we will!”

“It’s no fun to just ride the bicycles, how about a PK5?” Zhang Yunfei further proposed.

“How do we compete?”

“We have three males and three females, so we’ll divide into two groups by gender. The male and female that gets first place will be rewarded with a large meal.”

…… Seeing that there were only such a small bit of travel funds, how large can the large meal even be? Although the guests grumbled in their hearts, their movements were still keen and quick, each person selecting a bicycle that was to their liking.

While waiting for Zhang Yunfei to issue the command, Qi Xingchen took out his earbuds, stuffing one side into his ear and wrapping the other around the handle of his bicycle.

The following shot assistant was bewildered: “Xingxing, what are you doing?”

“By letting my bicycle listen to my idol’s voice, it would be able to go faster later on.” Qi Xingchen stated resolutely.

“……” The following shot assistant had no words. One really cannot afford to mess with a Grade 106 rainbow farting contestant.

5 minutes later, when everyone had finished preparing, Zhang Yunfei shouted: “Take your positions—”

Qi Xingchen leaned forward to brace himself, while the following shot assistant did not make any sound.

“3, 2, 1, Let’s go!”

With a “whoosh”, Qi Xingchen rushed into the neighbouring alley!

The cameraman and following shot assistant did not react in time: “……Xingxing, slow down!”

Unfortunately, Xingxing could not slow down. He would usually cycle to and fro school and the acrobatics troupe, after more than a decade, this craft of his has been practised to the point of perfection7.

Besides, he also knew how to ride a unicycle, if he could get things done with a single wheel, wouldn’t the addition of another wheel be a double kill?

Qi Xingchen cycled faster and faster, taking note that he was still filming a programme and thus did not show his full strength.

Afraid that the guests would tunnel through alleys, the cameramen and following shot assistants all rode electric bicycles8. Now, they realised, despite the fact that their bicycles were motorised, they almost couldn’t catch up with a manually powered one. They shouted at the top of their lungs9: “XINGXING!”

The director heard the cameraman shouting from the audio monitor and thought that something went wrong on site, and he hastily asked: “What’s going on?”

“I don’t dare to go too fast on the electric bike as I’m carrying the camera equipment, and I can’t catch up to Qi Xingchen!”

When the director heard this, he first heaved a sigh of relief, then felt it was hilarious immediately afterwards. He ordered the following shot assistant of Qi Xingchen’s group: “What is the scene right now like? Shoot it for me.”