As he spoke, Qiao Huaiyao reached out his hand, wanting to pull him up, “Brother.”
Bai Jinyan didn’t move, instead he said, “Step back and stand behind, don’t get water on yourself.”
“It’s fine.” Qiao Huaiyao spread his palm, extending his arm to reach him.
Seeing this, Bai Jinyan’s lips curved into a slightly helpless smile. He extended his hand to grip Qiao Huaiyao’s hand, but not tightly – it was a light grasp, almost feathery.
After pulling his brother up, Qiao Huaiyao looked at Bai Jinyan’s slightly damp shirt, “Brother, let’s go back and change clothes.”
The pants provided by the production team were waterproof, so after taking them off, most of their clothes were still dry. However, their shirts unavoidably got wet. Since the fishing was going to continue for a while, they couldn’t stay with wet clothes like that.
Zhao Jiamu looked over to them and said, “There’s still half an hour left before it’s over. You can go back, and the production team will provide transportation to bring the fish back for you.”
“Alright.” Qiao Huaiyao picked up a jacket and helped Bai Jinyan put it on, then he held his hand, “Let’s go.”
The fishing time set by the director’s team was three hours. After all, there was still work to do after catching the fish, and if the time was too long, it would affect the progress of the evening’s games. Moreover, they hadn’t had lunch yet. If they kept fishing continuously, they might end up having dinner instead.
When the time was up, no matter how many fish they had caught, the director called everyone back. Bai Jinyan took a shower and changed his clothes as he got wet. When the other participants finished fishing and returned, all the families sat together in the guest area.
The fish were divided into small buckets, with the bucket colors corresponding to each family’s access cards. Before announcing the results, Zhao Jiamu said, “Our show belongs to the family lifestyle genre, mainly testing the survival skills and family interaction of our guests. Therefore, we have a rule in our production that guests cannot eat their own brought food during filming.”
“Just now during the fishing game, I remembered when Ji Zhenqi gave Xiao Ke snacks,” he continued, realizing they hadn’t mentioned this earlier. They had been focused on the live content and forgot during the recording.
Zhao Jiamu smiled and added, “But for kids, we understand. Children are exempt from this rule, but their adults…please remember to hand over any food you brought.”
Hearing this, Qiao Huaiyao instantly thought of the suitcases full of snacks they had brought. He looked at Bai Jinyan beside him. Bai Jinyan’s expression remained unchanged, not showing any surprise or astonishment about this.
He placed his hand on Qiao Huaiyao’s shoulder, giving it a light pat. Zhao Jiamu continued, “The fish that were caught have already been cleaned by professionals. We’ll have an outdoor barbecue for lunch. The production team has also prepared some barbecue meats and seafood. You can exchange the fish you can’t finish for these, to enrich the variety of lunch.”
“Now, let me announce that each family has caught fish,” he stated. “Ji Zhenqi’s family caught three, Zuo Tai’s family caught five, Bai Jinyan’s family caught four, and Su Yijia’s family caught one.”
“Even if you don’t want to eat fish, you can exchange them directly for meat skewers. Discuss amongst yourselves,” Zhao Jiamu said.
Zuo Tai paused for a moment and then laughed, “Sure, I thought I had the most. Director, nobody in our family likes fish, so we’ll exchange our five fish for something else.”
Su Yijia also chimed in, “We’ll exchange ours as well.”
One fish wouldn’t yield much meat, so it was better to trade them for other meats directly.
Qiao Huaiyao didn’t immediately decide. He thought for a moment and discussed with Bai Jinyan, “How about we keep two fish?”
Bai Jinyan always followed Qiao Huaiyao’s lead, “Sure, whatever you think.”
They wanted to eat some of the fish they had caught themselves.
In the end, Qiao Huaiyao decided to keep two fish.
Zhao Jiamu collected the menus from them. “Alright, the selected ingredients will be delivered to the backyard soon. You can head there to prepare. There are four barbecue grills in the backyard of the second-floor building.”
Qiao Huaiyao walked over to the section with red cards. Boxes of charcoal were placed on the table, along with tongs. He had used this kind of barbecue charcoal during summer vacations when he went camping with Bai Jinyan.
He opened the grill, placed the charcoal inside piece by piece, and used easily flammable solid alcohol to ignite it. He waited for the charcoal to catch fire, using the fan to gently fan the flames, making them burn brighter. When he felt it was ready, he closed the grill and turned to Bai Jinyan, “Brother, hand me that—”
Before he could finish his sentence, the fan he was about to ask Bai Jinyan for was already in front of him. Qiao Huaiyao looked up abruptly, meeting Bai Jinyan’s gaze close at hand. He couldn’t help but smile, a trace of mischief in his eyes.
Bai Jinyan’s eyes held a smile as he used a wet tissue to gently wipe away a bit of ash that had accidentally landed on Qiao Huaiyao’s face. Seeing him still somewhat dazed, Bai Jinyan’s tone turned gentle, “The charcoal is about to go out.”
“Huh?!” Qiao Huaiyao quickly took the fan and tried to rescue the dying charcoal.
In the live chat, comments were flying.
[“Wait, did you see that? Did you see that?!!”]
[“Bai Jinyan’s gaze hasn’t left Qiao Qiao for a minute. As soon as Qiao Qiao spoke, he knew what he wanted. Aren’t they so obvious?”]
[“They’re so sweet, I love them both. Can they start dating already?”]
[“Please, I beg you. My best friend is having a massive heartbreak and repair surgery in the afternoon. Before her operation, she wanted to see Bai Jinyan and Qiao Huaiyao kiss.”]
…
Qiao Huaiyao’s task was to light the charcoal, and then he quietly sat aside, leaving the role of chef to Bai Jinyan. Barbecuing required skill; a moment’s inattention could result in burnt, uncooked food. With the limited supplies they had, Qiao Huaiyao didn’t want to risk it.
Bai Jinyan brushed oil on the grill, placed the prepared skewers on it, maintaining some distance between them to prevent sticking. When the meat touched the hot grill, it sizzled and crackled. Spices and seasonings were readily available on the side, provided by the production team and well-stocked. Seafood cooked quickly.
Bai Jinyan picked up a row of freshly opened oysters, saying, “Open your mouth.”