Driving from here to Hetong Town took over three hours, which wasn’t too far. When the director chose the location for the variety show, they had taken into consideration the preferences of all the guests. Bai Jinyan opened a bag of snacks, facing the opening towards Qiao Huaiyao. “We still have over an hour to go. We can chat or play with our phones.”
Qiao Huaiyao snacked on the treats while holding his phone. Instead of playing games or scrolling through social media, he kept the chat interface of his dormitory group open, waiting quietly for Wang Zhan’s video to be uploaded.
The videos were somewhat scattered and unedited, mainly for his roommates to watch, so Wang Zhan hadn’t compressed them. They were directly uploaded, making them easy to access but also causing some delays due to their size.
As he waited for the notification that the upload was complete, Qiu Shufeng sent him a private message. Qiao Huaiyao tapped on his phone, and to his surprise, it was a video of their military training exercise.
Qiu Shufeng: “Study god! I’ve edited the video. Please take a look and let me know if there are any issues. If you can’t watch it properly, I can make adjustments.”
Qiao Huaiyao: “Sure, thanks.”
Qiao Huaiyao opened the video, finding Qiu Shufeng’s editing to be quite comprehensive. It included the moment Bai Jinyan got off the car and walked towards him. The video quality was decent considering it was taken with a smartphone; it was already quite good.
Qiao Huaiyao took a screenshot of the scene where he and Bai Jinyan were running side by side, saved the video, and closed it. The hidden live devices at the back were recording everything.
Leaving the store, the filming for the variety show was officially underway. Therefore, they didn’t notify the guests about the ongoing live stream.
Barrage: [“Is this the video from the day Brother Bai accompanied Qiao Qiao on the training run? Please share!”]
[“I can only find low-quality images online. I can’t see the face clearly. But Qiao Qiao, you have a video! Wifey, good things like this need to be shared with everyone. (Serious face)”]
[“We just want to see the video. Don’t be vulgar! I’m different from you all; I just want to take a peek at Qiao Qiao’s album, wuwu… I wonder if there are many pictures of Brother Bai that we haven’t seen?”]
Qiao Huaiyao saved the video clips, sent them to another phone reserved for storing them, and didn’t upload them to the cloud. He had many behind-the-scenes makeup pictures that hadn’t been publicly shared yet. He couldn’t reveal them before the movie’s release. Therefore, he kept all the files locally.
As soon as he finished organizing the clips, Qiao Huaiyao was handed a snack. He put a chip to his lips and, ready to bite, he hesitated. Confusion crossed his eyes. Bai Jinyan’s voice sounded casually, “You can finish it.”
Qiao Huaiyao looked up in surprise. He was about to bite the chip but stopped himself. With a quizzical expression, he met Bai Jinyan’s gaze. Without any change in his demeanor, Bai Jinyan said, “Finish eating.”
Qiao Huaiyao blinked, and then he ate the chip in two bites. The savory and crispy chip didn’t draw his attention much. With a playful tilt of his lips, he looked at Bai Jinyan. There was no change in Bai Jinyan’s expression.
Their eyes met, and the unspoken words turned into a hint of a smile. Qiao Huaiyao leaned back in the car seat and grinned, “I want the blue bag.”
Bai Jinyan’s eyes were filled with familiarity as he smiled back, “Sure.”
Qiao Huaiyao wiped off the chip crumbs from his fingers and, with a hint of seasoning powder on them, he found the chip a bit sweet. The sound of a notification chimed.
Wang Zhan: “The photos and videos are uploaded and ready. Study god, take a look and let us know what you think!”
They had stayed in the dormitories the previous night, so they had already seen the pictures and videos. Qiao Huaiyao and Bai Jinyan had returned to the hotel immediately after the show, so they hadn’t seen them yet.
Wang Zhan had set up his equipment – a tripod, a handheld camera, and even a camera on a drone. Recording everything extensively wouldn’t hinder them from recording the main video. Various angles – frontal, side, top-down – were all covered.
With so much footage, when they uploaded the videos, files got mixed up, and there was a momentary glitch in the group files. Qiao Huaiyao saved all the content and then individually downloaded and opened the videos.
The first one was his solo performance. Bathed in the spotlight, he held the guitar, his white Western-style clothing not appearing monotonous at all in the video. Qiao Huaiyao turned to Bai Jinyan, raising his phone. “Brother, take a look.”
“It looks great.” Bai Jinyan also took a shot, but only in the beginning. Once Qiao Huaiyao began playing the guitar, he didn’t touch his phone again. Capturing the moment was essential, but Bai Jinyan wanted to savor Qiao Huaiyao’s guitar performance during this show.
Looking at the recording devices in the car’s backseat, he wanted to concentrate solely on appreciating Qiao Huaiyao’s guitar playing. Bai Jinyan flipped through the recorded material and said, “Send me a copy.”
Qiao Huaiyao nodded and forwarded the video. The live stream chat was bustling.
[“Ah! Send me a copy too!”]
[“When was this video taken? Why is he wearing the white outfit again? Did I miss something?”]
[“I bumped into some friends… I have the recording. I’m sharing it with you all. Psst, Qiao Qiao’s guitar skills are amazing!”]
…
Qiao Huaiyao sat up straight and continued scrolling through the videos. As he reached the end, his finger suddenly stopped just a hair’s breadth away from the screen. This one seemed to be taken with a drone from a side angle.
The focus of the video was undoubtedly the brightly lit stage, but… Qiao Huaiyao zoomed in on the video. Not far from the caution tape, he saw Bai Jinyan’s figure reflected in a mirror. Even the large red rose he held behind his back was clearly visible in the darkness, and his gaze was fixed on the stage.
On the stage, Bai Jinyan looked back at him. Qiao Huaiyao’s fingertip curled slightly as he traced the image on the screen. Unable to suppress his smile, he bit his lip. He glanced at the video and then at Bai Jinyan sitting right beside him.
Then, unexpectedly, their gazes locked. Bai Jinyan raised an eyebrow slowly. “What are you looking at with such happiness?“
Qiao Huaiyao shook his head, saved the screenshot, but didn’t explain the details to Bai Jinyan. The horizontal image was carefully stored in the photo album. Opening it, it would be the first thing he’d see.
Bai Jinyan ruffled Qiao Huaiyao’s hair without pressing for an explanation. Thinking that Qiao Huaiyao had eaten quite a few chips, he opened a bottle of water and handed it to him. “Have some water.”
Qiao Huaiyao took a sip, then looked out of the window. “We’re almost there, right?”
He had seen the map provided by Director Zhao Jiamo earlier. After exiting the highway and taking a small road to its end, they would arrive at the village.
Just as he said that, the car stopped. The driver turned around and said, “The road ahead is too narrow for the car to pass through. Sorry, we’ll have to walk the rest of the way to the village.”
Qiao Huaiyao raised an eyebrow. The director hadn’t informed them of this beforehand. It seemed like a test from the production team. However, this also meant that they had brought quite a bit of luggage.
Bai Jinyan pushed the bag of snacks towards Qiao Huaiyao. “Take this.”
The road ahead wasn’t very smooth, and dragging the suitcase would be difficult. So, Bai Jinyan gave him the lighter one.
Qiao Huaiyao blinked and didn’t accept it. “Brother, let me take this one…” He quietly reached out towards the larger suitcase nearby.