As Qiao Huaiyao continued reading, his voice became softer. Flipping further, he noticed a note indicating tomorrow’s date, so he closed the script.
Bai Jinyan asked, “Finished reading?”
Qiao Huaiyao placed the script beside him and, seeing that Bai Jinyan was still awake, sighed, “Big brother, why don’t you rest for a while?”
Bai Jinyan replied, “Taking a short nap is fine.”
Qiao Huaiyao placed his fingertip against Bai Jinyan’s temple and gently massaged in a clockwise direction.
He kept his eyes on Bai Jinyan’s expression, believing that even if it hurt, his brother wouldn’t say so and would bear it himself.
He applied light pressure with his hands, gently kneading.
While massaging, Qiao Huaiyao maintained a serious and focused expression, as if he were editing important experimental content, without making significant changes in his technique.
Casually, Qiao Huaiyao thought about finding an opportunity to consult a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and learn some massage techniques.
This way, he could help Bai Jinyan alleviate fatigue at home as well.
With his eyes closed, Bai Jinyan asked, “Is it time?”
Qiao Huaiyao replied, “Almost.”
Bai Jinyan got up, saying, “I’ll go change upstairs…?”
As Bai Jinyan spoke, Qiao Huaiyao also stood up and said, “Of course, I’ll go to the set with you.”
Bai Jinyan responded, “I’ll change clothes.”
“Sure.”
Qiao Huaiyao sent a message to the driver: [Come early, we start shooting at 2 pm on set, and there aren’t many people around 1:30.]
Lu Lu had been waiting here and wasn’t surprised to see Qiao Huaiyao join them.
He greeted Qiao Huaiyao with a smile, “I’ve cleaned up inside, you can just go in.”
Although Bai Jinyan occasionally came in, the room was mostly used by Qiao Huaiyao.
However, it was originally a classroom in the abandoned school building.
For safety reasons, regular cleaning and disinfection were carried out.
Walking in, Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t smell the disinfectant anymore.
The soft blanket had been replaced, and the color was slightly different from the previous one, easily noticeable.
Qiao Huaiyao looked puzzled, “What happened to the previous blanket?”
Lu Lu came over to replenish the snacks and said, “When Brother Bai carried you back yesterday, he was afraid you’d catch a cold, so he wrapped you up with the blanket.”
Qiao Huaiyao: “!”
Brother… carried me?
Qiao Huaiyao’s eyes widened suddenly.
Although he had a guess about how he had returned yesterday, hearing Lu Lu speak about it so casually made his heart skip a beat.
Lu Lu didn’t notice Qiao Huaiyao’s surprise and, after arranging the snacks, added, “These are freshly made tea beverages that just arrived today.”
“Okay, everything’s set. If you have any issues, feel free to call me anytime.”
Lu Lu, afraid he might have other matters to attend to, unintentionally overlooked Qiao Huaiyao, and then added, “If I don’t respond, make sure to call me.”
Qiao Huaiyao cleared his throat softly, “Alright, go on with your tasks.”
After Lu Lu left, Qiao Huaiyao sat on the edge of the sofa, his face slightly flushed.
It was better not to bring up the matter, but once mentioned, all he could think about were those moments.
He couldn’t calm down.
In an attempt to distract himself, Qiao Huaiyao picked up his phone, trying to look at something to shift his focus.
Anything would do, as long as he stopped dwelling on how his brother carried him…
As he opened his phone, a series of notifications from his messaging app popped up.
The dormitory group chat was the only one he hadn’t muted.
Messages in there often piled up.
Qiao Huaiyao wasn’t accustomed to scrolling through chat histories.
He would only go back to check if someone had mentioned him in a message.
Qiu Shufeng: [Hey, study god! We’ve chosen a song, it includes Chinese, English, and French parts. Study god, take a look and see which one you like.]
Yu Laofan quickly followed up: [This is what we’ll all be singing after integrating the parts.]
Qiao Huaiyao opened the song list. There weren’t many songs, but a flame emoji was added after each title. This indicated that these songs were currently popular on the charts.
After going through the list, Qiao Huaiyao chose ‘Passionnant.’
It was a relatively gentle French song, which translated to ‘exciting’ or ‘passionate.’
Perhaps due to the song’s title, the melody was both tender and somewhat melancholic, suitable for the last day of military training and bidding farewell to the instructors.
Qiao Huaiyao: [Let’s go with ‘Passionnant’.]
Qiu Shufeng was at his phone’s ready, [Great! I’ll report the program. By the way, Study God, we have training tonight, so remember to come back.]
Qiao Huaiyao: [Got it.]
They had the day off, but it seemed they would need to make up for it with an evening training session.
Knock, knock.
Qiao Huaiyao looked up and saw Bai Jinyan outside the window.
He got up and unlocked the window from inside, opening it.
“Brother.”
Bai Jinyan handed over a cup of lemon water, saying, “I’ll be upstairs for a while. If you need anything, come find me.”
“I’ll come up with you.”
Qiao Huaiyao put his phone away and took out the phone he had prepared for filming. “I’ll be waiting at the staircase.”
Bai Jinyan said, “Take your time, don’t rush.”
“Sure.”
As they spoke, Bai Jinyan disappeared from the classroom doorway—last night’s training lasted quite late.
They had an early morning session the next day, followed by a full day of training.
Many of the trainees couldn’t keep up with the continuous high-intensity exercises and had to be taken to the infirmary before the end.
By the time the afternoon training session ended, Qiao Huaiyao felt more exhausted than after running five kilometers and doing drills.
This was the first time they had undergone such high-intensity training for such an extended period.
Normally, the training on the last day of military training would be less intense.
This time, however, it might have been to make up for the missed daytime training, which is why they adopted high-intensity exercises.
Qiu Shufeng was gasping for breath, and Wang Zhan was barely holding on. “This… absolutely the most… exhausting training I’ve… ever had,”
Qiu Shufeng managed to say between breaths.
Wang Zhan quickly added, “Couldn’t agree more. I didn’t even realize my limbs could move.”
Yu Laofan was doing better.
Seeing his struggling roommates, he extended a hand and helped one of them up, asking, “With us in this state, is there still time for rehearsal?”
Qiu Shufeng lifted his head, “Study god? When are we going to rehearse?”
Qiao Huaiyao had spent most of his time with Bai Jinyan and rarely stayed in the dormitory.
Yet, he had somehow become the backbone of the entire room.
Every roommate’s gaze was fixed on him.
Qiao Huaiyao thought for a moment and said, “How about tomorrow? I’ve asked my brother to help me arrange the music.”
Qiu Shufeng nodded, “Alright, we’ll all sing together.”
Wang Zhan added with a playful gesture, “Can I skip dancing? I have no coordination in my limbs, I’m afraid I’ll ruin the whole performance.”
If it were just for fun, he might have joined, but now he really wanted to listen to Qiao Huaiyao playing the guitar, especially since Bai Jinyan was personally directing.
Knowing that Bai Jinyan was involved, he didn’t want to go on stage…
He had transformed from an ordinary fan into an ardent one after seeing Bai Jinyan’s performance.
Watching the show from the audience seemed like a great idea.