“But even if we draw the game, there’s no way to change it,” Zhao Jiamo said, “How about we compromise with my brother?”
“Just have a biscuit, it’s simple, about ten centimeters, and you’re done,” Qiao Huaiyao said, looking at him.
Qiao Huaiyao: “…”
He straightforwardly said, “Let’s walk down the mountain.”
It didn’t matter if they didn’t take the cable car.
Zhao Jiamo was momentarily stunned, as if he hadn’t expected any difficulties for the two brothers to eat a biscuit.
But the guest naturally said that this kind of optional problem must be based on the guest’s thoughts.
“Alright,” Zhao Jiamo turned his head and took a box of thin stick biscuit, “Then let’s take these biscuit back to eat. They have a special filling inside, and they taste good.”
biscuit were also one of the show’s sponsors, so it was a good opportunity to get some screen time.
Qiao Huaiyao probably knew which advertisers the show had, so he accepted them.
“Brother, let’s walk down the mountain.”
Bai Jinyan said, “Okay.”
Qiao Huaiyao was still hesitating about how to talk to Bai Jinyan about the game, but he saw that his brother had no intention of asking further questions. Instead, he readily accepted the change in plans, as if he had sensed Qiao Huaiyao’s unease.
Bai Jinyan didn’t say much either, just picked up his bag and said, “I didn’t go for a morning run this morning, so I thought walking down the mountain would be a good exercise. It’s a good choice. Otherwise, I’d be too busy recording the variety show today and probably wouldn’t have time to exercise.”
Qiao Huaiyao was momentarily surprised. He looked at Bai Jinyan with a hint of amusement in his eyes. Bai Jinyan’s words were unexpected.
Bai Jinyan, seeing Qiao Huaiyao’s expression, reached out and patted his shoulder, “Let’s go.”
Qiao Huaiyao tightened his grip on the box of biscuit and said softly, “Okay.”
In the end, there were quite a few guests who chose to walk down the mountain. It was roughly half and half compared to those who took the cable car.
There was no rush to descend the mountain, so Qiao Huaiyao and Bai Jinyan walked down leisurely, like they were on an outdoor excursion, carefully stepping down the stairs. The water on the stairs was shaded by leaves and wouldn’t dry up quickly, so it seemed like the production team had taken care of it.
While walking, Qiao Huaiyao heard footsteps behind him. Nie Xingfei ran over and said, “Hey? You guys chose to walk down the mountain too.”
“Why didn’t you take the cable car?” Qiao Huaiyao remembered that Nie Xingfei’s group also received a game card.
“I was afraid my brother would kick me off the cable car,” Nie Xingfei said, sounding annoyed but actually quite proud. However, in reality… he sighed, “During the game just now, I threw flour in my brother’s face, and I was afraid he’d chase me, so I ran away.”
Qiao Huaiyao: “…”
Nie Xingfei continued to excitedly recount his brother’s misdeeds, “My brother has no brotherly love at all!”
Looking at other people’s brothers, they were all so considerate of others.
When it came to running, Nie Xingfei raised his hand as if to pat Qiao Huaiyao’s shoulder. Qiao Huaiyao, however, felt the hand holding Bai Jinyan’s go empty and instinctively looked at Bai Jinyan, then felt a slight weight on his shoulder.
Bai Jinyan semi-embraced him and pulled him closer.
Nie Xingfei raised his hand, only to realize there was nowhere to land it, but he didn’t pay much attention and continued complaining.
As he spoke, Nie Yihang’s tone turned cold, and he said each word distinctly, “Nie… Xing… Fei.”
The sharpness in Nie Yihang’s voice immediately made Nie Xingfei shiver, “You’re not going to chase me again, are you?! I didn’t mean it!”
Nie Yihang argued on one side and ran on the other, not forgetting to say to Qiao Huaiyao, “I’m leaving, see you at the foot of the mountain!”
When Nie Yihang passed by Qiao Huaiyao and Bai Jinyan, he paused and nodded in greeting, then continued to chase Nie Xingfei down the mountain.
Qiao Huaiyao noticed that there was still some flour on Nie Yihang’s neck. After getting flour on his face, he had only wiped it halfway and had come running without cleaning up properly.
“Brother,” Qiao Huaiyao looked at the two brothers chasing each other desperately, with Nie Yihang looking like he wanted to strangle Nie Xingfei.
He couldn’t help but smile and ask, “If I played the game and got flour on my face, would you chase me like Nie Yihang did?”
Bai Jinyan’s fingertips on his shoulder tapped rhythmically as he said, “It depends on whether you mind.”
Qiao Huaiyao raised an eyebrow. This answer seemed to have many different interpretations. “If I don’t mind, would you?”
Bai Jinyan lightly laughed and used his fingertip to gently touch Qiao Huaiyao’s cheek. “I wouldn’t.”
“What if I do mind?” Qiao Huaiyao asked again.
Bai Jinyan smiled softly and said, “I still wouldn’t.”
Upon hearing this, Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t help but smile. He bent his eyes, and the hint of a smile on his lips couldn’t be suppressed.
The live broadcasting equipment perfectly captured this conversation and presented it to the viewers in the live chat.
Live chat viewers: [“Not at all.”]
[“We should definitely clip this and play it on loop for Nie Xingfei to see.”]
[“My brother would say it’s staged and acting if he saw it. I would just give him a beating. Am I right, sisters?”]
[“As everyone knows, the attitude towards siblings and spouses is different.”]
[“That’s right. Keeping it low-key is true love. Being straightforward is just ordinary sibling affection. Understand? So, when the two of them openly kissed, I believed they were true siblings.”]
[“Wow, sisters, you’re really great logicians. You should write a book. It’s such a waste if you don’t.”]
[“Will this segment be included in the variety show when it officially airs? There will definitely be close-up shots, right? I’m eagerly looking forward to it!”]
Coming down from the mountain, as soon as they returned to the room and before they could even put down their bags, Qiao Huaiyao received a notification from the university group chat.
His phone kept buzzing incessantly.
When he opened it, he saw that the advisor had sent several @ messages to all members of
the group, asking everyone to respond with their presence and counting the number of people.
After replying that he had received the message, Qiao Huaiyao scrolled up to read the chat history. There was news about club recruitment and the expansion of professor’s classes.
Qiao Huaiyao vaguely remembered the expansion of the professor’s class. Before he officially enrolled in the university, the professor had already invited him to join this class. At the time, the professor had said that whether he chose this university or not, he could attend this class. The expansion of the class had nothing to do with him. All he needed to do was wait for the professor’s notification.
After putting down his phone, Qiao Huaiyao noticed that Bai Jinyan hadn’t come out yet, so he went inside to find him. “Brother, what are you doing?”
“Putting away the groceries,” Bai Jinyan said, placing the last bag of fresh ingredients into the refrigerator, “Sit down and take a break. We won’t have any time to rest once Zhao Jiamo comes looking for us.”
Qiao Huaiyao smiled and was about to say something when his phone vibrated again, this time with a message from Director Zhao Jiamo.
This one… shouldn’t be shared. It came very directly.
Zhao Jiamo: [This message is only sent to one person. Please do not share it with other guests, whether from your family or mine. Please do not tell them that you received this message.]
Zhao Jiamo: [This is a very difficult task, and it can only be completed if you hide yourself well.]
Seeing this, Qiao Huaiyao slowly raised his head and looked at Bai Jinyan, who was reading the message with him. Bai Jinyan casually averted his gaze and said, “I didn’t see anything.”
“…?” Qiao Huaiyao was both amused and exasperated. “Brother!”