Di Xingchen didn't fall asleep for a long time because of the pinch on his ear.

I keep feeling a tickle there in my ear, a feeling of tension and excitement.

Because they had to catch the sunrise the next day, they were woken up early in the morning by the programme team, with music blaring downstairs, playing 'The Brightest Star in the Night'.

Di Xingchen sits up in a blur.

"Awake?" Pei Xu greeted.

Di Xingchen looks at Pei Xu and sees him leaning against the wall watching him, his hair a little dishevelled, his fair face still sleepy, not knowing how long he has been sitting there watching him.

Di Xingchen had just gotten up and his heart was racing.

Hu Ying wailed and covered his head with the blanket. Yan Zhi had already come out of the bathroom after taking a shower.

"You're up so early?" Huo Cheng asked, surprised.

Yan Zhi said "hmm" and took the hairdryer to the bathroom to blow-dry his hair.

Di Xingchen put on his clothes and climbed down from the top bunk. Lin Qingning was just sitting up, with his hair in a mess and his eyes squinted into slits. Di Xingchen looked at him with a smile and said, "Sleepy like that."

Lin Qingning yawned, fumbled for his glasses and said with a smile, "Brother Huo was snoring last night, did you hear him?"

Huo Cheng immediately asked, "Did I snore?"

"A little." Di Xingchen said with a smile, "but not for long."

Huo Cheng says, "I've been so tired lately. I only snore when I'm particularly tired."

Advertisement

He explained.

Hu Ying sat up from the bed, "I didn't hear a thing."

He listened to the song playing downstairs and asked, "Is this going to be our theme song?"

"It's pretty good." Huo Cheng said.

The song is also appropriate.

Di Xingchen is the brightest star in the night sky for them.

Pei Xu suddenly looked at Di Xingchen and said, "Does everyone need to take a shower? Hurry up if you want to take a shower."

Di Xingchen immediately fished out his toiletries and went over.

Because it was a recording, they must have showered in the morning if they had the conditions, and if they didn't, they had to wash their hair.

He took his toothbrush and toothpaste over, intending to brush his teeth while he was in the shower. Hu Ying followed him as soon as he and Pei Xu went in. Wen Nuo and Duan Yihua were not up yet, but Lin Qingning was, but when he saw Pei Xu go in, he pretended to look for something and opened his suitcase.

Huo Cheng took the clothes and went in.

When he entered, he saw Di Xingchen and the others already undressing in the cubicle. The cubicle was poorly covered and he could see Di Xingchen's naked back vaguely.

He glanced over to see Pei Xu looking at him and smiled as Pei Xu slung the shirt he had taken off over the fender, exposing his large, broad Pacific shoulders.

They were both too tall, one a little short of 5'9" and one a little over 5'9", and the fender was a little low for both of them.

Di Xingchen went to the outermost compartment, next door to Pei Xu, and next door to Hu Ying, so he entered the innermost compartment and vaguely glimpsed the tattoo on Hu Ying's body and asked, "Isn't your tattoo on?"

Advertisement

Hu Ying looked back at him, "Don't look blind, I'm very conservative."

Huo Cheng just laughed: "I can't afford to take responsibility for that."

Hu Ying said as he undressed, "It's quite fun to wash everyone together."

The sound of the water clattering and the white vapour filling the room. Pei Xu was next door when he heard Di Xingchen's painful huffing and puffing sounds, which made him feel like he was on fire early in the morning.

Di Xingchen washed hastily and came out, and when he returned to the bedroom, he said to Duan Yihua and Lin Qingning, "The water pressure is unstable, and it's hot and cold."

Duan Yihua said as he went in, "That's what happened when I washed it yesterday."

The crew were already rushing them and Lin Qingning couldn't wait any longer, so he went in with his toiletries. The other three cubicles were occupied, so he had to go into the cubicle where Pei Xu had just washed, where the smell of mint was so strong that Lin Qingning took off his clothes with a red face, turned on the shower and squeezed out a lot of his shower gel.

It can't go on like this. He can't make the same mistake twice.

At around 5:50, Guo Bing himself came up to rush him, the room was a mess as the guests were getting dressed, and Guo Bing asked, "Are you ready, the sun will come out later?"

"Let's go, let's go, let's go." Di Xingchen was the first to emerge from the room, and as he headed down the stairs, he noticed Pei Xu following him. He then walked faster.

It was already light outside, with the eastern sky faintly red, as they boarded the programme team's car and headed to the gliding base.

Hu Ying, dressed to the nines today, said, "I've paraglided before, but I've never been up this early to do it, and the scenery is so beautiful, it must be especially beautiful at sunrise."

"It looks like you've been here before?" Huo Cheng asks.

"I'm a frequent visitor." Hu Ying says.

The sun was already rising when they arrived at the gliding base. Several instructors were already waiting for them on the hillock.

Advertisement

"We have a paragliding certificate with Hu Ying, Pei Xu, Duan Yihua and Yan Zhi." says Guo Bing. Guo Bing said, "There are exactly four of them, two red and two blue."

Di Xingchen is ready to go.

The show wouldn't be a show if it didn't fuck up.

"So how do we split it?" he asked Guo Bing. He asked Guo Bing.

"Is it safe for the four of them to take people?" Huo Cheng asked, "It's safer to be with a coach, right?"

"I also think it's better with the coach ...... I think." Wen Nuo said.

Hu Ying glanced towards the two of them at the sound of his voice.

Don't think he can't see the small minds of these people, who can't bring Di Xingchen themselves, and won't allow themselves to do so!

"I'm not bragging, I've won prizes in professional paragliding competitions," Hu Ying says. Hu Ying says, "These instructors may not be as skilled as I am."

"I take my friends to fly every year." Duan Yihua says, "I have an E certificate and have at least three flights over fifty kilometres recorded with a 100 per cent safety rate."

When Duan Yihua said this, even the coaches next to him were stunned. Pei Xu and Yan Zhi both glanced at Duan Yihua with a slightly surprised look on their faces.

Duan Yihua pursed his lips and glanced across at Di Xingchen.

This is a proactive Duan Yihua.

Hu Ying asked Pei Xu and Yan Zhi.

"I'm an E."

Advertisement

"Me too."

Hu Ying: "......"

For goodness sake, why!

He's good at just one paraglider, why can't he still be the first!

Huo Cheng coughed lightly and asked Guo Bing, "So how do we split it up?"

"Choose for yourself."

Di Xingchen froze for a moment: "Choose yourself?"

Guo Bing smiled wryly, "Right, you four guess the order and the winner goes first."

Di Xingchen purses his lips.

He just knew that the show was going to do everything possible to screw things up in the set-up of the segment.

"Come on then." Huo Cheng said, "Wait a little longer and the sun will come out."

Di Xingchen, Huo Cheng, Lin Qingning and Wen Nuo stand together, Huo Cheng looks at Di Xingchen for a moment and suddenly raises an eyebrow.

Di Xingchen then glanced over at Huo Cheng's hand.

Lin Qingning smiled and did not say anything.

On the contrary, Wen Nuo did not see it.

Advertisement

Di Xingchen is grateful for Huo Cheng's thoughtfulness.

The best outcome is that he loses and doesn't have to make a choice. If he wins, he is the first to choose, and he doesn't really know who to choose from the four men who are expecting to fly with him.

Guo Bing said excitedly, "Hurry up, hurry up, the sun will be out in a minute."

Huo Cheng shouted, "Come on, rock-paper-scissors ...... cloth."

Huo Cheng is a cloth, Lin Qingning is a cloth, Wen Nuo is a stone, and Di Xingchen is also a stone.

Slightly disappointed, Guo Bing said, "Huo Cheng and Lin Qingning will take first and second place again, while Xingchen and Wen Nuo will take third and fourth."

Huo Cheng is in a very happy mood.

He couldn't fly with Di Xingchen, but he must have made a little bit of goodwill with Di Xingchen just now.

Thoughtful Huo Cheng Iron Man plus one.

He and Lin Qingning took a guess.

He was first and Lin Qingning was second.

Di Xingchen breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Wen Nuo.

Wen Nuo was too honest to think about what he could do with this opportunity, and he honestly had a guess with Di Xingchen.

Di Xingchen is still the rock, he is the scissors.

Guo Bing was relieved: "Then Huo Cheng is first, Qingning second, Di Xingchen third and Wen Nuo fourth."

Advertisement

Huo Cheng looked across at the four men.

Pei Xu, Duan Yihua, Yan Zhi, Hu Ying .

Hu Ying gestures slightly towards him to Pei Xu on the far left.

Huo Cheng smiled, "I know what you brothers have in mind, but I had to choose at random, so don't blame me."

Hu Ying smiled and said, "Choose quickly."

"I'll find a lighter weight, Hu Ying."

Hu Ying: "......"

Huo Cheng then walked towards Hu Ying.

Hu Ying sighed and looked over at Lin Qingning.

He was keen for Lin Qingning to choose Pei Xu.

First, give Pei Xu the boot!

But Lin Qingning looked at Duan Yihua, and then at Yan Zhi.

He finally chose Yan Zhi.

He wanted to give the red guests a little more of a chance and not be transparent from start to finish.

This time it was Di Xingchen's turn.

Advertisement

Di Xingchen smiles and looks at Duan Yihua and Pei Xu. When he saw Pei Xu's eyes, he looked a little averted.

Pei Xu, however, smiles gently.

Huo Cheng, who had been smiling all along, stopped smiling and looked at Di Xingchen and Pei Xu very seriously.

There is a reason why he did not choose Pei Xu.

He knew that if he did not choose Pei Xu, Lin Qingning could not choose Pei Xu either, so he left Pei Xu for Di Xingchen.

Pei Xu will definitely choose Di Xingchen, and he wants to see if Di Xingchen will choose Pei Xu.

He doesn't know how he came up with this idea. Perhaps he felt that the aura of Pei Xu and Di Xingchen had changed a little recently, that they were too familiar.

But he was actually very nervous that Di Xingchen would choose Pei Xu.

Yan Zhi held up his glasses for a moment and also looked at Di Xingchen nervously.

The atmosphere was quiet for a while, and Wen Nuo came back to his senses, thinking that he should have found a way to win.

It was at this point that Duan Yihua suddenly took the initiative: "You choose me, Xingchen."

Duan Yihua stepped forward for the first time and initiated an offer to Di Xingchen.

Di Xingchen nods and walks over to Duan Yihua.

Guo Bing was excited to see Duan Yihua being so forthcoming and said, "Then Wen Nuo will go with Pei Xu."

Huo Cheng was disappointed, not expecting Duan Yihua to come out of nowhere.

Advertisement

He turned his head to Duan Yihua, who he hadn't been paying much attention to, and noticed that Duan Yihua had actually changed a lot from his first two stops.

His hair is a little shorter and his gaze is steely.

The sun was mostly out and everyone was getting ready for gliding.

Duan Yihua was a different person, he became extremely proactive and considerate, he carefully fastened Di Xingchen's helmet, tied his knee pads and safety harness, he was very serious and professional, he didn't have any flirtation with Di Xingchen, his big brother like behaviour soon made Di Xingchen's embarrassment go away.

They were the first to fly and there were a lot of people around them. Hu Ying looked at him with a camera, envious and excited: "Our Xingchen's first time paragliding in full record! Let me interview Xingchen, are you nervous?"

Di Xingchen said, "Tell the truth? No tension."

Hu Ying then gave him a thumbs up.

Yan Zhi knelt down to give Di Xingchen another check on his safety equipment.

Everyone gathered around him, but Pei Xu did not come up to him. Di Xingchen looked through the crowd to the side and saw Pei Xu, who had been keeping his hands in his jacket pocket, reaching out and giving him a wave.

Everyone's attention was on Di Xingchen, and the scene was so chaotic that only Guo Bing saw it. Guo Bing smiled and held up his loudspeaker and said, "Everybody spread out, our first group can take off now."

Everyone went to one side, leaving Di Xingchen, Duan Yihua and two helpers behind.

"Wait and run straight ahead," says Duan Yihua, "and don't be afraid to stop when you get to the edge of the cliff."

Di Xingchen looked a little more serious: "Good."

Wen Nuo, watching nervously from the sidelines, asked, "Why aren't they running yet?"

"Waiting for the wind to come." Hu Ying said.

Advertisement

They stood there for a while and suddenly felt a wind blowing, and Duan Yihua said, "Come, one, two, three, go."

Di Xingchen was completely excited, straining forward in his stride, with a heavy weight behind him and a staff member pulling on his arm.

"Run!" Duan Yihua shouted.

Di Xingchen became even more excited as he took a step forward and was lifted up by the paraglider as they stepped over the cliff. Di Xingchen smiles as he rises into the air, Duan Yihua behind him, riding the wind as he and Di Xingchen drift away, he looks back and sees Hu Ying and the rest of the group standing on the cliff watching them. He looked back, pulled the steering ring to steer and asked Di Xingchen, "Are you scared?"

Di Xingchen smiles and shakes his head, "It's more stable than I thought."

He wasn't nervous at all, he was open, confident and calm. Duan Yihua couldn't help but ask, "Have you played a similar sport before?"

"I used to love skydiving." Di Xingchen said.

Duan Yihua froze for a moment and then said, "No wonder."

Duan Yihua purses his lips, and while his head is above the camera, he stares at the back of Di Xingchen's head without moving.

He thought that what they had seen of Di Xingchen was perhaps just a few facets of him, that there were many more facets of Di Xingchen waiting to be discovered, a boy so fine and young that at thirty he might not be able to keep up.

At this moment, it may be the only short date of his love journey.

But he feels no shame.

He originally thought it would be humiliating to initiate the pursuit and fail.

But he doesn't feel it at the moment.

There is no shame in failing to love a boy so radiant.

Advertisement

Both were silent, the wind alone carrying them as they drifted slowly, the mountains and rivers all beneath their feet, undulating and rolling, a few stallions racing through the valley, and what appeared to be someone on that horse, looking up towards them.

"Look, the sun." Duan Yihua said.

Di Xingchen turns his head towards the east, where the sun rises and shines brightly. Duan Yihua leans forward slightly and bows his head, almost resting his forehead against Di Xingchen's back, and makes a wish that will probably never come true.