Chapter 62: Are You Afraid?

Chapter 62: Are You Afraid?

Ye Leyao concocted an excuse on the spot, smiling as he said, "I don't know them personally. I just saw a leak of Sister Qian Yue and Professor Xia Yang on Weibo when I was browsing earlier. Seeing you here, Sister Qian Yue, it made me think that the other guest might be Professor Xia Yang."

At this moment, Huo Yan was already deep in thought, not really paying attention to what Ye Leyao was saying.

It was Song Zhehan who suddenly glanced at Ye Leyao. He seemed to remember that Ye Leyao had fallen asleep shortly after getting into the car. Not only did he not look at his phone, but he hadn't even taken it out.

Song Zhehan raised his eyebrows. Interesting.

It seemed these two mysterious guests were not simple either.

Qian Yue didn't doubt Ye Leyao's words, explaining with a smile, "When the production team invited us, they specifically signed us to confidentiality agreements, requiring us not to reveal our participation in the show before filming. It's funny how we were still caught by fans in the end."

If there were any doubts before, Ye Leyao could now confirm—

"President Qin indeed knows about the relationship between Qian Yue, Xia Yang, and Yu Bai!"

"To invite two guests for such a simple interactive game, why would they need to sign confidentiality agreements beforehand? The production team didn't leak any information about the guests before this episode."

"This isn't about surprising the audience; it's clearly about keeping it from Yu Bai so he can participate in the show without any preparation!"

As Ye Leyao thought about this, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

"Brilliant, it has to be President Qin."

"But what I didn't expect is that you, President Qin, also enjoy watching the drama unfold!"

"Now that both of Yu Bai's partners are here, doesn't that mean we're about to witness a showdown?!"

Ye Leyao suddenly felt a surge of excitement.

"So we have to meet up with the other group quickly!"

Huo Yan fell silent for a minute, finally catching up with the conversation.

When he heard Ye Leyao's words, he couldn't help but chuckle.

To be honest, Huo Yan was also looking forward to the showdown.

And he was particularly curious about what would happen to Yu Bai once everything came to light.

After all, although Qian Yue kept a low profile, her family, the Qians, and her overprotective brothers were not to be trifled with.

Ye Leyao was too young to understand back then, but Huo Yan knew the situation all too well!

Suddenly, he was very much looking forward to it.

The group began their return journey, heading towards the destination agreed upon by the production team.

Ye Leyao's lips carried a faint smile throughout, growing wider as they approached the meeting point. His eyes sparkled, as if anticipating something.

The live-stream viewers' attention remained fixed on Ye Leyao. Those familiar with him knew that whenever Ye Leyao started watching the drama unfold, this smile would inevitably appear on his face.

Seeing this, the live-stream viewers' eyes gleamed as well.

"There's that familiar smile again! Ye Leyao, do you have more gossip?"

"Truly worthy of being the King of Gossip. How long has our show been live? I've just finished enjoying one spectacle, and now there's more gossip?!"

"So what's the gossip this time?"

"Could it be related to Qian Yue?"

After all, Ye Leyao had only exchanged a few words with Qian Yue before breaking into that mysterious smile.

Many netizens found this theory plausible.

They analyzed:

"It could also be related to Xia Yang, since Ye Leyao mentioned his name earlier."

"But Xia Yang and Qian Yue don't seem to have much interaction in their daily lives. What could the gossip be?"

This question left the netizens and the crowd silent.

"How should we know (gritting teeth)."

"So Ye Leyao, why do you always get to the gossip before us?! Aren't you a celebrity? How do you have so much free time that you can always get your hands on gossip?"

"Darn it, Ye Leyao, you better spill the beans or else I'll beg you on my knees!"

The chat was filled with comments urging Ye Leyao to share the gossip. Meanwhile, the Huo family, watching the live stream, was also growing impatient.

Mother Huo looked at Huo Ze. "Has your second brother not sent any messages in the group yet?"

Huo Ze shook his head, glancing at the live stream. "They're still recording the show. It might not be convenient."

Huo Jing said, "We're not far from them now. We should be able to hear Little Yao's thoughts soon."

After over a month of testing, the Huo family discovered that their ability to hear Ye Leyao's thoughts was limited by distance.

The range wasn't huge, but it wasn't insignificant either.

As long as Ye Leyao was within two kilometers of them, they could hear his thoughts. But once he went beyond that range, they couldn't hear anything.

The amusement park where they were filming was simply too large, and with Ye Leyao and his group constantly moving around to complete tasks, the distance grew too great for the family to hear anything.

However, based on their knowledge of Ye Leyao and Huo Yan, the moment Ye Leyao's expression changed slightly, they could sense the presence of gossip.

During the discussion in the live chat, the Huo family had also analyzed the situation. Coupled with what Ye Leyao said upon getting off the car, they reached a unanimous conclusion—

Qian Yue and Xia Yang must have some sort of relationship, and both of them should also be connected to the other two new guests who joined this time.

As for whether it was Yu Bai or Zhang Qiran, the entire Huo family voted for Yu Bai.

After all, Song Zhehan had mentioned in the car that he was the one who invited Zhang Qiran!

Moreover, they hadn't heard Ye Leyao talk about how messy Zhang Qiran's private relationships were, but there were plenty of references to Yu Bai's numerous "sisters-in-law" and "brothers-in-law."

"I think our speculation is pretty much on point," Huo Dad mused after a moment before speaking.

Naturally, Huo Mom also found their deduction reasonable, but she still wanted to wait for Ye Leyao to confirm it.

Finally, as Ye Leyao and her group approached the meeting point, Ye Leyao's inner thoughts finally came through—

"Hey, isn't that President Qin over there? They're back too!"

Without hesitation, Ye Leyao told Qian Yue, "I saw President Qin and the others."

Upon hearing this, Qian Yue immediately turned her head in the direction Ye Leyao indicated, but her gaze clearly wasn't searching for Qin Yao.

Her eyes scanned the group of six people one by one, eventually landing straight on Yu Bai.

Looking closely, Qian Yue's eyes were filled with tenderness.

Seeing this, Ye Leyao was both excited and couldn't help sighing:

"Sure enough, she's looking at Yu Bai! Sister Qian Yue, your taste really needs work!"

And when the Huo family heard Ye Leyao's inner thoughts, they breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help nodding in agreement.

Huo Ze exclaimed, "See! We were right; it's definitely related to Yu Bai!"

Huo Mom commented, "It's just that child Qian Yue, her taste really isn't good. I remember her last boyfriend broke up because he cheated on her?"

Huo Dad added, "Yes, but—her ex-boyfriend's leg was broken by her brother."

Literally, his leg was truly broken.

At the mention of this, a light laughter echoed in the car.

Huo Ze looked at the three of them. "Why haven't I heard about this? And do we know the Qian family?"

Huo Mom explained helplessly, "Our company's legal department has a very good relationship with their family. You and Xiao Yao really don't pay attention to company matters, so it's normal you wouldn't know."

Huo Ze blinked.

They couldn't be blamed for this, after all, he and Ye Leyao genuinely had no interest in managing the company.

"Right," Huo Mom remembered something and asked Huo Jing, "Didn't they not receive any compensation later on?"

"How can you not have to pay compensation for breaking someone's leg?" Huo Ze widened his eyes.

"The man proposed a settlement himself," Huo Jing added, "so we only paid for medical expenses."

Huo Ze was even more surprised. "What does their family do?"

Huo Mom smiled and said, "The Qian family consists of five members, four of whom are top-notch lawyers in the country. The three most prestigious law firms nationwide are all part of their family."

Huo Yan widened his eyes, unable to help but marvel, "No wonder!"

He thought of something else and turned to look at the live stream. At that moment, the camera gave Yu Bai a close-up, and Huo Yan burst out laughing: "Then Yu Bai is in trouble, isn't he?"

More than just trouble.

Qian Yue's previous partner had been supported by her financially after being with her, spending her money, and even using her funds to maintain relationships outside.

Later, the Qian family only sent her second brother to handle the matter. They didn't know exactly what Qian's second brother did, but soon enough, the scoundrel proactively proposed a settlement and even compensated Qian Yue with a large sum of money for emotional distress.

But even so, the scoundrel's company was still audited by the tax authorities.

But that wasn't the end of it. When the scoundrel's father was taken away for investigation, the scoundrel's mother discovered that her husband was cheating, and she filed a lawsuit directly, accusing him of bigamy.

For a long time, neither the scoundrel nor his father dared to attend gatherings within their circle.

As for Yu Bai, he was a public figure.

If the Qian family was willing to investigate, and if they found any cases that hadn't passed the litigation period—

Yu Bai would suffer greatly.

Why couldn't you have provoked anyone else, but you had to go and mess with the Qian family's precious daughter, Qian Yue.

Huo Dad and Huo Mom shared the same thought, shaking their heads repeatedly.

...

Shifting their focus back to the scene.

Ye Leyao and Qin Yao's groups were separated by an amusement facility.

Hearing Ye Leyao's voice, Qin Yao and his group walked over.

"They're coming, the dramatic confrontation is about to happen."

Ye Leyao's expression was unusually excited.

Before the two groups could get close, Li Siyuan raised his voice and shouted, "Have you found the guest?"

Ye Leyao and the others hadn't even spoken yet when Qian Yue excitedly waved at them, "I'm over here!"

Ye Leyao's gaze had been fixed on Yu Bai from the start, naturally noticing Xia Yang who was closely following him.

Xia Yang and Yu Bai had collaborated before, so it didn't seem odd that they were walking close together at first glance.

But the question was, would two unrelated guys walk shoulder to shoulder?!

The moment Qian Yue's voice rang out, Ye Leyao also noticed that Yu Bai's steps clearly paused, followed by an incredulous glance in their direction.

Despite the distance, Ye Leyao didn't need to guess how shocked Yu Bai's expression was at that moment.

His lips couldn't help but curl up high:

"It seems not only did you recognize Qian Yue's voice, but you've also seen her in person."

Prompted by Ye Leyao, Huo Yan and Qin Yao couldn't resist looking at Yu Bai and Xia Yang beside him.

Xia Yang took a couple of steps forward, suddenly realizing that Yu Bai wasn't following. He stopped, puzzled, and whispered, "What's wrong?"

Yu Bai's forehead was already covered in a thin layer of sweat.

When he saw that the mysterious flying guest was Xia Yang, Yu Bai was already quite surprised.

But then Yu Bai thought about it; before he got together with Xia Yang, they had agreed on three rules, one of which was that their relationship must not be revealed to outsiders.

In the five months they'd been together, Xia Yang had kept his word.

So even if they appeared together in a variety show now, there was no way anyone would discover their relationship.

With this thought, Yu Bai quickly accepted the reality.

But who could tell him why Qian Yue was also here!

She was wearing a headset, clearly participating in the program recording—

Suddenly, Yu Bai felt uneasy.

Xia Yang also noticed that Yu Bai's expression was strange, but he assumed it was because Yu Bai wasn't feeling well. He took another two steps forward. "Are you uncomfortable? Do you want—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a figure swiftly passed by him. In the next instant, Qian Yue threw herself into Yu Bai's arms. "Yu Bai! It's been a long time!"

Xia Yang froze on the spot.

Cold sweat trickled down Yu Bai's forehead.

Ye Leyao couldn't hold back his smile anymore. He bit his lip hard to prevent himself from bursting out laughing.

"The current girlfriend just hugged Yu Bai in front of the current boyfriend, hahahaha—"

"I really want to interview Yu Bai right now. Are you nervous? Hahaha, I'm nervous for you!"

Ye Leyao laughed loudly in his heart.

Huo Yan and Qin Yao's smiles didn't fade either.

Song Zhehan had been observing Ye Leyao's expression. Seeing him fixated on the trio, he caught on and leaned close to Ye Leyao, whispering, "There's something going on with these three?"

Ye Leyao's pupils constricted sharply, surprised.

"No, Teacher Goushi, you figured it out already?"

Ye Leyao's reaction was so big that Song Zhehan understood he was right without needing further explanation.

Song Zhehan smiled slightly, his voice low enough for only the two of them to hear: "This is getting interesting."

Curious, Ye Leyao lowered his voice as well. "How did you know?"

Song Zhehan glanced at him and asked with a smile, "Has anyone ever told you that you're very bad at acting?"

"My acting teacher has," Ye Leyao answered honestly.

Song Zhehan chuckled. "True."

Ye Leyao: "..."

After not hearing Ye Leyao's inner monologue for a while, Qin Yao turned to see Ye Leyao and Song Zhehan whispering to each other.

Whatever they were saying, the smile on Song Zhehan's face was evident.

Qin Yao's brows furrowed slightly before he looked away.

The live chat naturally noticed this scene and commented:

"What are those two whispering about?"

"Ah! Teacher Goushi deliberately covered his headset. Alright, alright, he just doesn't want us to hear, does he?"

"Darn it, not only did Teacher Goushi cover his own headset, but he also made Melon King take off his headset!"

"So they must be secretly enjoying some juicy gossip, right?!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhh, no way! I can't allow this! Why are you eating melons behind our backs?!"

"Well, actually, I don't think they're eating melons behind our backs. Look, both Melon King and Teacher Goushi are watching Qian Yue and Yu Bai!"

Upon seeing this comment, netizens hurriedly shifted their attention to Qian Yue and Yu Bai.

Qian Yue had already gotten off Yu Bai by this time, smiling as she explained to the guests watching them, "Yu Bai and I are good friends. It's just that I haven't seen him in a long time, so I got a little excited. I didn't scare you guys, did I?"

Wen Xiangyue smiled and said, "No."

Then she exchanged a glance with Liu Yan. This way of greeting was a bit unexpected for them.

Ye Leyao and his group finally approached at this moment.

Ye Leyao's gaze swept over Yu Bai, Xia Yang, and Qian Yue, and the corner of his mouth curled up again.

"If it's supposed to be good friends meeting, why is only Qian Yue happy? Xia Yang almost looked like he was going to write his bad mood on his face."

"Everyone is an actor, so they should still pay attention to their facial expressions!"

Looking at Yu Bai, he was genuinely a bit flustered at this moment.

He first looked at Xia Yang's expression, then at Qian Yue, who was still holding his arm while standing beside him.

It seemed like he was hesitating whether to pull his hand away or not. Hearing Qian Yue's explanation, he held back and quickly put on a smile, explaining, "Yes, Qian Yue and I are just friends. She's used to being carefree all the time."

That last sentence was clearly directed at Xia Yang.

Whether Xia Yang believed it or not, after hearing Yu Bai's words, his expression improved slightly.

Speaking of which, Yu Bai looked at Qian Yue again. "Are you still going to hold my hand?"

Qian Yue deliberately glared at him with a look of dissatisfaction before letting go of his hand.

At this point, Xia Yang's expression completely improved.

The regular guests of "Let's Travel Together" were people who were used to seeing big storms.

Seeing the strange atmosphere between the three of Yu Bai, they didn't interject but simply wore polite smiles.

However, there weren't many polite people, and they wouldn't politely stop those who wanted to speak.

Thus, Li Siyuan suddenly laughed and said, "No matter how good our relationship is, we should still avoid suspicion a bit when we're in front of the camera, right?"

In Qian Yue's view, she and Yu Bai were originally a couple. Although they hadn't made it public yet, there would definitely come a day when they would make it public.

So on the show, it didn't matter if they were a little more intimate.

However, Qian Yue wasn't angry. Hearing Li Siyuan say this, she just smiled. "I'll remember next time."

Li Siyuan's eyebrows curved.

Anyone familiar with Li Siyuan knew that he had a bad temper. He usually spoke with hidden barbs, rarely showing a pleasant expression to others, let alone a good one.

But he didn't always have a sour face when he was about to argue with someone. Sometimes, when he was in a good mood, he would also argue with a smile, just like now—

"An outsider might think you two are a couple. Friends don't need to hug when they meet."

As Li Siyuan finished speaking, Ye Leyao clearly saw Xia Yang's face turn from gloomy to sunny again.

Ye Leyao almost couldn't hold back his laughter. It was Song Zhehan who secretly elbowed him, causing Ye Leyao to quickly turn his face away and start laughing.

"I can't take it anymore, Li Siyuan! Is it possible that they really are a couple!"

Sure enough, upon hearing Li Siyuan's words, a blush immediately rose to Qian Yue's cheeks. "N-no..."

"Bumbling and stuttering, who would believe there's nothing going on here!"

"You tell me, Xia Yang!"

Ye Leyao turned around in time to see Xia Yang turn his head with a sour face, no longer paying attention to Yu Bai and Qian Yue, and walking straight ahead.

Seeing this, Yu Bai's expression visibly panicked. He frowned and glared at Li Siyuan, saying directly, "It's almost time. We should hurry to the gathering point."

"The topic change is too obvious!"

However, it was indeed close to the time set by the production team. No one delayed any further and continued walking towards the gathering point.

Ye Leyao followed behind the trio of Yu Bai, ensuring he could see all their movements at any time.

He was so engrossed in watching that he didn't even notice his feet.

Just as Ye Leyao was about to trip over a stone on the pebble path, a hand reached out in time from the side.

Qin Yao said, "Be careful."

Ye Leyao smiled at Qin Yao. "Thank you, President Qin."

"It's all thanks to President Qin. If it weren't for President Qin, there wouldn't be such a good show today!"

Qin Yao's expression was somewhat helpless as he reminded, "Pay more attention when you walk."

Ye Leyao obediently nodded. "Mm, okay."

"Anyway, they probably won't do anything else now, so I'll focus on walking."

Hearing Ye Leyao's words, Qin Yao let go of his hand with relief.

The two walked side by side forward, and Qin Yao's gaze suddenly fell on Song Zhehan.

Li Siyuan was chatting with Song Zhehan. Not knowing what was said, Song Zhehan suddenly glanced back in Ye Leyao's direction before quickly withdrawing his gaze.

Qin Yao's brows suddenly furrowed uncontrollably. For some reason, he suddenly thought of Ye Leyao and Song Zhehan whispering together earlier.

He couldn't help but ask softly, "What were you and Song Zhehan talking about just now?"

Ye Leyao immediately turned her head and looked at Qin Yao with a puzzled expression.

Qin Yao, not hearing Ye Leyao's inner thoughts, continued to ask, "What's wrong?"

Ye Leyao suddenly smiled.

The young man was exceptionally handsome, his almond eyes sparkling like they contained countless stars when he smiled.

Qin Yao's gaze fell on Ye Leyao's eyes, and suddenly he couldn't look away.

Then Qin Yao saw Ye Leyao suddenly extend one hand and directly grab his microphone.

Qin Yao paused in his steps, his heartbeat skipping a beat.

Ye Leyao covered her own microphone with her other hand and said in a mischievous yet playful tone, "President Qin, you're asking this question knowing the answer. You've invited these three people over; what else would we be talking about but gossip?"

After she finished speaking, Ye Leyao released her hold on Qin Yao's microphone and waved at him. "Let's go, let's go! We should hurry!"

"Next up, shouldn't it be time to assign rooms?"

"Given how President Qin has been stirring things up this time, he can't possibly have prepared twelve large double rooms for us, right?"

Qin Yao stood rooted to the spot, his gaze fixed on Ye Leyao's back.

After several seconds, he gently smiled and caught up with Ye Leyao.

Yes, it was impossible to prepare twelve large double rooms.

The guests had perfectly completed their mission, bringing back two mysterious guest stars.

The production team then took them all to their accommodation for this episode—a villa nestled by the mountainside and beside water.

It was even larger than the seaside villa they stayed in during the first episode. The entire villa spanned four floors, with the ground floor being the activity area, and the remaining three floors consisting of suites.

There were a total of six suites, meaning that two guests could share one suite.

Just like in the first episode, the guests could still freely choose their rooms and floors.

The group of twelve started touring from the fourth floor.

Ye Leyao preferred the room overlooking the river and couldn't help but ask, "Who wants to share this suite with me?"

Qin Yao glanced at Huo Yan.

Huo Yan's attention wasn't on Ye Leyao at all; he had been secretly observing Yu Bai and the others.

So just as Qin Yao was about to speak, he heard Li Siyuan say, "I'll be with you. I also quite like the view here."

Qin Yao pursed his lips.

He felt that this was good too—he should indeed maintain some distance from Ye Leyao.

Wen Xiangyue preferred the scenery on the other side, so the second suite on the fourth floor was chosen by her and Zhou Zijian.

After Ye Leyao and Li Siyuan selected their room, they followed the group downstairs to continue the tour, after all, choosing rooms was the most interesting part!

Song Zhehan looked at the suite on the north side of the third floor and suddenly turned to Zhang Qiran. "Will you share a room with me?"

Zhang Qiran's smile froze instantly.

Ye Leyao pursed her lips.

"Don't laugh, don't laugh!"

Seeing that Zhang Qiran didn't respond, Song Zhehan continued to ask, "What's wrong? Could it be that you really dislike me so much that you're unwilling to share a suite with me?"

With Song Zhehan saying it to this extent, how could Zhang Qiran refuse?

So he gritted his teeth, forcing out a smile, and said, "Alright, then we'll share a room."

Ye Leyao:

[I feel like that "share a room" was said through gritted teeth.]

Song Zhehan didn't care whether Zhang Qiran was truly unwilling or pretending; as long as he could make Zhang Qiran uncomfortable, he felt particularly content.

Qin Yao chose one of the remaining two rooms on the third floor, and Huo Yan simply shared the same suite with him.

Among the remaining few people, only Qin Yao was someone he could choose.

When they reached the second floor, the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Yu Bai kept his lips tightly pursed without speaking.

Qian Yue looked around excitedly.

Xia Yang's face showed no signs of joy or anger.

After visiting the last room, Qian Yue and Xia Yang spoke simultaneously:

"Yu Bai, why don't you share a room with me."

"The two of us will stay together, Yu Bai."

Ye Leyao couldn't hold back any longer, covering her mouth as she laughed, her shoulders shaking.

"You have two people choosing you, Yu Bai. Are you scared?"

"So, it's your turn to make the choice now!"