Chapter 26: Just Live, Then

Chapter 26: Just Live, Then

Qin Yao took a deep breath, suddenly feeling incredibly fortunate that he had decided to participate in the show's recording, allowing him to know some information in advance and not be caught off guard continuously!

After composing his facial expressions, Qin Yao walked onto the bus.

Ye Leyao was still lost in his own world:

"If it really is this coincidental that it's our variety show—"

Ye Leyao drew out his tone, his face full of smiles:

"I can't even imagine how lively and cheerful I would be if I could witness Du Yueqin confessing to Zhou Zijian!"

"It has to be President Qin, his eye for selecting guests is truly unique!"

Qin Yao paused in his steps, feeling that he might need to adjust his emotions again.

Ye Leyao heard the movement and looked up at the right moment.

"Ah, speak of the devil and he appears!"

Ye Leyao's smile was bright and radiant as he waved to greet Qin Yao.

Du Yueqin also noticed Qin Yao and warmly greeted him, "Oh, Little Qin is here too? It's hot outside, you must have had a tough journey?"

Ye Leyao's radar suddenly twitched again.

Qin Yao suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

Sure enough, the next moment he heard Ye Leyao say with excitement:

"No way, no way, could it be that Du Yueqin has also taken a fancy to the handsome and wealthy President Qin?"

"Although President Qin doesn't have muscles as exaggerated as Zhou Zijian's, he seems to be the type who looks slim in clothes but has plenty of muscle underneath?"

Qin Yao: "…"

At this moment, Qin Yao finally understood why some accomplished actors occasionally lose control of their expressions when facing the camera.

Because at this very moment, he was also in a complex mood and couldn't force a smile!

Looking at Du Yueqin in front of him, Qin Yao subconsciously took a step back, tightened his jaw, and gave Du Yueqin a distant and somewhat strained smile, "Thank you for your concern, Teacher Du, it's not hot."

Du Yueqin smiled brightly and patted the seat beside her, "Then come over and sit down!"

Qin Yao put away his suitcase, didn't stop walking, and went straight to Ye Leyao, then sat down directly beside him.

Du Yueqin frowned slightly in confusion as she looked over.

Qin Yao smiled and pointed at Ye Leyao, "He's my friend's younger brother, I should take care of him more."

Ye Leyao widened his eyes.

"No need, no need, there's no need for President Qin to ruin his own…."

"Leyao." Qin Yao almost gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Ye Leyao's inner monologue paused, blinking, somewhat puzzled, "President Qin?"

"There's no need to call me President Qin," pausing, Qin Yao added, "After all, we're recording the show now, just call me by my name later."

Ye Leyao obediently nodded, indicating that he understood.

But in his heart, he wondered:

"Why is he suddenly telling me this? But wouldn't it be inappropriate to call him by his first name directly?"

"Maybe I should still call him Teacher Qin."

Qin Yao let out a slight sigh of relief.

Thinking that he didn't care what Ye Leyao called him, as long as he didn't continue talking about the previous matter.

Qin Yao was only here to record the show, he didn't want to become the main topic of gossip himself!

Du Yueqin in front saw that Qin Yao indeed had no intention of coming over to sit, and somewhat regretfully retracted her gaze, continuing her conversation with Zhou Zijian.

Song Zhehan in the front seat simply exchanged a brief greeting with Qin Yao before turning back around.

Soon, the cabin was left with only Du Yueqin and Zhou Zijian's conversation.

The live stream's chat exploded into a small climax due to Qin Yao's appearance:

"Ahhhhhhh, it's been so long since I've seen my male god! Qin Yao, you heartless man, you finally decided to make an appearance!"

"Darn it, if only you had said earlier that Qin Yao would also be participating in this show, why did your production team keep it a secret?"

"Yeah, if you had said earlier that Qin Yao would be on the show, would I have needed to be dragged here by my friends to watch the live stream?"

"I didn't expect that Ye Leyao actually knows Brother Yao."

"You have to admit, two handsome men sitting together is quite pleasing to the eye."

This comment instantly received countless likes from netizens.

Of course, it would be perfect if Du Yueqin's voice were a little quieter.

With Qin Yao sitting right beside him, Ye Leyao couldn't continue looking at his notes and could only reluctantly put away his phone.

It wasn't long before two more guests arrived.

From afar, a female voice laughed, "We're here. Is anyone going to give us a hand?"

Ye Leyao immediately looked at Song Zhehan in the seat ahead.

Perhaps it was due to the significant impact Du Yueqin had on him, but he hesitated for a moment, not immediately getting up.

"Song Zhehan, do you remember your character setting?! You're supposed to be the gentle moonlight! How could you remain indifferent at first sight?"

Zhou Zijian, however, stood up from his seat right away, ready to get off the bus to help.

But before he could step out, Du Yueqin reached out and grabbed his arm, "Where are you going?"

Zhou Zijian didn't understand Du Yueqin's intentions for a moment and subconsciously replied, "To help them..."

Du Yueqin's seat was close to the bus door and by the window, allowing her to clearly see the situation with the two guests. She quickly glanced over and then looked away, saying without thinking, "They're just two girls with two suitcases. They can carry them up themselves. Why would you need to help?"

Zhou Zijian was taken aback, almost thinking he had misheard, "Huh?"

Ye Leyao widened his eyes slightly, his tone excited yet somewhat incredulous:

"Hmm? How long has it been? Du Yueqin won't even let Zhou Zijian help? Could it be that Du Yueqin has already developed feelings for Zhou Zijian? So is Du Yueqin treating the new female guests as rivals in love?"

Before Ye Leyao could recover from his surprise, a small yet utterly mocking voice sounded beside his ear, "So you only consider yourself human."

Ye Leyao hurriedly raised his eyes to look at Song Zhehan in the seat ahead.

Song Zhehan had already stood up from his seat, regaining his previous gentle demeanor, as if the sarcastic comment hadn't come from him.

Ye Leyao couldn't control the upward curve of his lips, his face filled with satisfaction.

"Coming to participate in this variety show was indeed the right choice. Watching the drama unfold live is too interesting!"

"In just half an hour, Song Zhehan's character has collapsed twice!"

Qin Yao, being close by, naturally heard Song Zhehan's sarcastic remark just now, and the corner of his mouth involuntarily curved upwards.

Actually, aside from this variety show being a major investment project of his company this year, watching the drama with Ye Leyao was indeed very entertaining.

But the problem was that Qin Yao couldn't really set that aside.

He had invested a lot of money into this variety show!

Forget it, he could only take it one step at a time now.

Ye Leyao suddenly turned his head.

Qin Yao asked in confusion, "Hmm?"

"Shouldn't we also go to help... After all, they're two girls."

"I'll go." Qin Yao stood up, following Song Zhehan, bypassing the two still tugging at each other, and got off the bus to help the two female guests carry their suitcases.

On the bus, Du Yueqin still held onto Zhou Zijian's arm without letting go.

At this point, Zhou Zijian's face was flushed red. With Du Yueqin's obvious behavior, what did Zhou Zijian not understand now?

The netizens in the live stream also keenly noticed something amiss with Du Yueqin:

"Why do I feel like... Du Yueqin's attitude towards Zhou Zijian seems a bit off?"

"Yeah, yeah! I feel the same way. She must have taken a fancy to Zhou Zijian, right?"

"But, although this is true, our program... is called 'Travel Together', not 'Fall in Love Together'?"

"Hahahaha, even if it were 'Fall in Love Together', how unlucky is Zhou Zijian to be targeted by a guest who could be his mother right off the bat?"

Fortunately, Ye Leyao couldn't see the comments, or he would definitely have given this comment a thumbs up.

At the same time, he would have asked the soul-searching question: How do you know Zhou Zijian isn't enjoying himself?

While the live stream was still in heated discussion, Qin Yao and Song Zhehan had already returned, each carrying a suitcase, followed by the two female guests.

At this point, Zhou Zijian had already pulled his arm back, reaching out to take the suitcase from Qin Yao's hands. Ignoring Du Yueqin's disapproving gaze, he helped place the suitcase properly.

After doing so, he didn't return to his seat but instead followed Qin Yao and Song Zhehan to the back, sitting in the last row.

Du Yueqin's expression instantly became somewhat displeased.

Ye Leyao's lips curled upwards uncontrollably once again.

"Good, good, good. Zhou Zijian still has some sense of male virtue."

"And Du Yueqin's micro-expressions... are truly fascinating! Interesting, very interesting!"

In the staff's special vehicle, Father Huo and Mother Huo had the exact same thoughts as Ye Leyao.

How long had the recording been going on, and there were already two rounds of dramatic confrontations! They watched with great satisfaction.

"If I were the editor, I would definitely carefully edit the footage from just now. It would be best to slow down and enlarge each guest's micro-expressions, then add subtitles for commentary—hee hee."

"Who said travel variety shows don't have dramatic confrontations?! Based on these clips alone, why can't they trend? If they were really edited like this, there's a chance our show might become a hit!"

As soon as Qin Yao sat back down next to Ye Leyao, he heard these words.

His brows furrowed slightly as he thought about it carefully. Suddenly, he felt that this method might actually work?

After all, the variety show had become a field of gossip even before filming began. Instead of cutting out these dramatic events later on, it would be better to go against convention and keep them!

Qin Yao's eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly took out his phone to send messages to the post-production supervisor and the director.

Keep it! Not only should these scenes be kept for the main episodes, but they should also be meticulously edited!

Ye Le Yao didn't notice Qin Yao's actions; he was still engrossed in watching the spectacle unfolding ahead.

The two new female guests were Yang Qi, a popular current star, and Liu Yan, an idol who had just debuted not long ago.

Yang Qi, having been in the industry for years, immediately sensed Du Yueqin's hostility towards them with just one glance. Although she didn't know where Du Yueqin's animosity stemmed from, as a senior figure in the circle, Yang Qi didn't want to offend her and could only pretend not to notice.

On the other hand, Liu Yan, due to being well-protected by her family, didn't detect anything amiss at all and was still smiling as she greeted Du Yueqin.

Du Yueqin responded indifferently and then lowered her head to look at her phone.

Liu Yan didn't sense anything wrong either. Seeing that Du Yueqin wasn't acknowledging her, she pulled Yang Qi and walked to the back of the bus, giving Ye Le Yao and the others a simple greeting before happily sitting next to Zhou Zijian: "Teacher Zhou!"

Zhou Zijian was Liu Yan's mentor during her talent show days, and after the show ended, the two often collaborated, maintaining a good relationship.

It was indeed normal for Liu Yan to come over and greet him, but—

Ye Le Yao glanced at the two of them chatting merrily from the corner of his eye and then cautiously looked at Du Yueqin's expression ahead.

In the next moment, Ye Le Yao spoke cheerfully:

"Wow, her face turned pale with anger!"

Qin Yao raised his hand to cover his mouth.

Father Huo and Mother Huo couldn't hold back their laughter either.

"Stimulating, entertaining, I love it, give me more!"

Father Huo and Mother Huo nodded in agreement.

Yes, yes, give us more!

We love watching this kind of dramatic scene!

Du Yueqin's complexion alternated between red and white. Being someone who couldn't bear to hold her temper, when the sound of Zhou Zijian and Liu Yan chatting grew louder behind her, she couldn't help but turn around to look back.

Worried about being seen making the move, she could only quickly steal a glance before withdrawing her gaze, then started sulking to herself again.

Du Yueqin thought no one noticed, but unbeknownst to her, all her subtle movements and micro-expressions were already under the watchful eyes of Ye Le Yao's melon-eating squad.

Father Huo and Mother Huo even asked Li Li to contact the director to set up exclusive camera positions for Du Yueqin and Ye Le Yao on the side, so as not to miss any of their scenes.

And at this point, Li Li also realized what was happening.

The variety show had only just begun filming, yet there was already some drama. Could it be that the chairman and his wife knew about these things in advance and came to join in the fun?

Regardless of whether this was the case or not, Li Li was now completely unconcerned about Ye Le Yao.

After all, the undercurrents among the other guests were far more exciting than what Ye Le Yao was showing!

On the bus.

Ye Le Yao found it increasingly amusing to watch, and whenever he couldn't resist, he would turn his head to look out the window.

Fortunately, such an atmosphere didn't last too long.

A few minutes later, the last guest, Li Siyuan, arrived, and the eight guests finally gathered together.

Ye Le Yao quickly scanned everyone.

"Hmm, it's truly a gathering of outstanding talents, a den of hidden dragons!"

Qin Yao: "…"

Yeah, who could say otherwise?

As soon as everyone was present, the bus carried the eight people to their first destination.

The filming location for the first episode was on an island, and after the car started moving, the director got on board to briefly explain the day's task arrangements to everyone.

After all, it was the first day of the program, and the guests were meeting each other for the first time, so the main task for the afternoon was still to break the ice.

Thus, the first task for today was: the guests working together to prepare dinner for the evening.

Preparing dinner wasn't considered difficult, and most of the guests had no objections, except for Liu Yan—

Upon hearing that they had to prepare dinner, she furrowed her brows and complained softly, "But I don't know how to cook, what should I do?"

Seeing this, Zhou Zijian hurriedly comforted her, saying, "Cooking doesn't require many people. If you don't know how to cook, just assist and help out on the side."

Liu Yan instantly curved her lips into a sweet smile, "Okay!"

Ye Le Yao had been paying attention to Du Yueqin ahead, and as expected, the moment he heard Liu Yan speak, Du Yueqin turned her head.

After hearing what Zhou Zijian said to Liu Yan, her expression instantly darkened, and her mouth rapidly opened and closed, seemingly cursing under her breath.

Ye Le Yao instantly widened his eyes:

"What did she say?!"

"The voice was too low to hear clearly!"

"Darn it, do I have to learn lip reading now?!"

"You young ladies are indeed full of vitality and youth." Unbeknownst to when, Du Yueqin had already risen to her feet, sauntering leisurely to the back row.

However, the seat beside Zhou Zijian was already occupied by Liu Yan.

Du Yueqin could only take a seat in the row ahead but still faced backward.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yan assumed Du Yueqin was complimenting her and bashfully smiled, "Sis, you're not old either, about the same age as my mom."

"No, Liu Yan, who taught you to speak like that!"

"Women are sensitive about their age, especially Du Yueqin, who was just flirting with Zhou Zijian. Now you've compared her to your mother right in front of him; she's bound to explode!"

Sure enough, in the next instant, Du Yueqin's face visibly darkened.

Yet, Liu Yan remained oblivious to the shift, continuing with a smile, "Sis, you don't need to worry about your age. My mom is also—"

"Enough!" Du Yueqin could no longer control her expression, glaring fiercely at Liu Yan, "What do you mean?"

Liu Yan froze, her eyes filled with confusion.

Brought up in privilege and pampered by her parents, she was accustomed to speaking and acting on a whim. It was only after entering the entertainment industry that she began learning restraint.

The problem was, Liu Yan had debuted only half a year ago.

In other words, when it came to reading people's emotions, she lacked the necessary discernment.

"I..." Liu Yan glanced at Zhou Zijian, then at Yang Qi, belatedly asking, "Did I say something wrong?"

Du Yueqin's chest heaved with anger, her face flushed red: "You were all but pointing at my nose calling me old. And you ask if you said something wrong?"

"This is escalating!" Ye Leyao appeared concerned, yet her tone betrayed an underlying excitement.

Qin Yao felt conflicted.

He wanted to watch the drama unfold but was also worried whether the variety show could continue. His thoughts were a tumultuous mix.

Never before had Liu Yan been spoken to so harshly, her eyes welling up: "But didn't you start it by—"

"Shut up!" Du Yueqin, unable to contain her fury any longer, snapped, "I knew from the beginning you weren't a good person. Indeed... how long has it been, and you're already trying to cling to him. I've seen too many of your kind, little green teas. You don't have to pretend in front of me..."

"Sis Du..." Seeing Du Yueqin's words becoming increasingly harsh, Zhou Zijian couldn't help but interject, "Liu Yan doesn't know how to speak properly. Please don't take it to heart..."

"Is it me who wants to make a fuss?" Du Yueqin grew even angrier upon hearing Zhou Zijian still defending Liu Yan, "Didn't you hear what she said? How can you take her side?"

Zhou Zijian opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"What she said isn't wrong either." A voice echoed softly through the air.

Ye Leyao spun around instantly, staring at Song Zhehan in shock.

"Not so fast, Song Zhehan! Do you remember your character setting?!"

"And, saying something like this at this time is just fanning the flames!"

Ye Leyao suddenly thought of something and glanced towards the front of the bus, only to see Li Siyuan suddenly rip off his hat that had been covering his face. His heart skipped a beat.

"Li Siyuan... looks like he's about to blow up."

"Could it be that we won't even finish recording the first day of our variety show?"

Qin Yao: "…"

It's a bit late for you to start worrying now!

Du Yueqin clearly hadn't expected Song Zhehan to say such things. She flushed with anger and turned her head, brimming with fury. "You—"

"I said, can all of you shut the hell up? You have energy but don't want to rest; I, on the other hand, want to rest."

"Is this bus your home? Why don't you just use megaphones if you're going to make noise?"

"If it comes down to it, I'll move the camera over here and broadcast you. How about that?"

A defiant and disgruntled voice suddenly rang out from the front, each sentence more shocking than the last.

"He's here."

"Li Siyuan really has a bad temper, and he truly hates being disturbed when he's sleeping..."

Ye Leyao silently lit a candle for Du Yueqin in his heart.

"A master of insults, daring to curse! Well done!!!"

Everyone present was stunned by Li Siyuan's words. Liu Yan forgot to cry, and Du Yueqin's emotions were interrupted. She stared at Li Siyuan in shock. "You—"

Li Siyuan, fueled by anger, continued his tirade—

"What 'you'? You're the youngest in the world, right? I'm forty, you're eighteen, you go ahead and live, who can outlive you?"

"Li Siyuan!" Du Yueqin was livid, her eyes turning red.

Li Siyuan raised his chin. "What's wrong? Got a problem with me? Fine, then fine, contact the director right now and tell him you don't want to record the show anymore. I'm not stopping you. Don't ask why I'm not quitting; I didn't start any trouble, nor do I have any issues with anyone. Since you can't stand those two rude chatterboxes and me, it's best if you leave."

"Hahahaha—"

The laughter echoed, cutting through the tension. The atmosphere, though still charged, began to shift as everyone processed Li Siyuan's bold and unapologetic words. The confrontation, while intense, seemed to momentarily unite them in a shared moment of shock and amusement, albeit tinged with unease.

Ye Leyao was on the verge of being overwhelmed by her emotions, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

Qin Yao also wanted to laugh, but if this program wasn't one he had invested in, he might have been as sunny and cheerful as Ye Leyao, right?