Chapter 34 Pitching a Tent.

Chapter 34 Setting Up Tents.

From Yu Xin's perspective, he could most directly feel the man's gaze, brimming with amusement.

He even harbored a fleeting illusion that this excessively handsome man was intently watching him, Yu Xin.

Perhaps individuals with deep, beautiful eyes always create the impression that "he's looking at me."

But...

This person felt strangely familiar.

He remembered—a gloomy, rainy day, the dazzling crystal chandelier in the lobby, and that distant, acknowledging glance exchanged across a throng of elegantly dressed guests and the hazy glass wall of a café.

In that brief exchange, Yu Xin hadn't clearly seen the face of the kind gentleman who offered him an umbrella, but the impression of those smiling eyes remained exceptionally vivid.

Was it him? Yu Xin wasn't sure.

To accept an umbrella from a stranger and then encounter him again on a show—could such a coincidence truly happen?

"Holy hell, he's so incredibly handsome!"

"Who is this guy? I have absolutely no recollection..."

"His eyes are golden! One look from him and I feel like my soul is gone, sob sob sob. So this is what they mean by a soul-stirring gaze?"

"Where's my royal secretary? I want all this man's information within ten minutes."

"With looks like that, he couldn't possibly be unknown in the entertainment industry. He must be a complete non-celebrity."

"Wow, where did the production team find such a handsome non-celebrity?"

"And it's not just his looks... the aura he exudes makes you overlook his face. Who understands?"

"I get it, I get it. I can barely look directly at him."

After he removed his hat, the number of comments surged, all filled with various elaborate praises.

Everyone, including the director who had met Ji Yixing once before, was momentarily speechless, stunned by his dazzling, almost scorching appearance.

Yu Ning secretly bit his lip. He had tried to engage this man in conversation earlier, but the other party completely ignored him, radiating an aloof aura.

Since returning to the Yu family, Yu Ning hadn't encountered anyone who so openly disregarded him, so he simply stopped bothering.

He never expected this person's appearance to be so outstanding...

The director regained his composure, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Ahem... welcome, new guests. With that, our program for this episode officially begins."

The new guests joined the original group. Yu Ning and Ye Ran were clearly together, while Ji Yixing walked directly towards Yu Xin.

Originally, Sheng Xingyao was standing beside Yu Xin. When he saw Ji Yixing approaching, for some reason, he instinctively took a step back.

Only after moving did he realize—what was he doing? Why had his body reacted so naturally?

Yu Xin was still lost in thought when a shadow suddenly fell over him. The tall man stood by his side and offered him a slight smile.

Alright, this time it wasn't an illusion—the man's smiling eyes were indeed directed at him.

Are interstellar folks this casually friendly?

Staring into those eyes, a sentence escaped his lips without conscious thought, a spontaneous utterance.

"Have we... met somewhere before?"

"I'm glad you remember." Ji Yixing's eyes curved even more. "Silver Rose Square, on a rainy day—that was our first encounter."

So this sense of familiarity wasn't unfounded... Yu Xin's tone became much more sincere. "Thank you for the umbrella that day. Otherwise, I would have been completely drenched."

That umbrella was still at his home, exquisitely made and clearly expensive.

"No need to thank me," Ji Yixing said softly. "I'm sure it was delighted to be of service to you."

"Let's formally introduce ourselves. I'm Yu Xin." Yu Xin extended a hand.

The hand before him was slender and pale. Ji Yixing had seen its owner use it countless times to skillfully prepare various dishes, and now he was finally seeing it in person.

He carefully reached out and gently clasped it, his gaze sincere. "A pleasure to meet you."

As their hands clasped, the larger one seemed capable of completely enveloping the other.

Seeing that the imposing new guest immediately struck up a conversation with Yu Xin, Sheng Xingyao couldn't help but ask curiously, "Did you two know each other before?"

"We met once. Mr. Ji happened to help me out," Yu Xin said without elaborating.

"It was just a small favor, hardly worth mentioning."

"What a coincidence," Sheng Xingyao remarked, also finding it incredibly coincidental that out of all the people on the capital planet, the stranger who had helped him would reappear on the same variety show.

Ji Yixing stood by, smiling without comment.

In truth, his connections with Yu Xin went far beyond that. For instance, he was still the top contributor on Yu Xin's live-streaming channel. But Ji Yixing had no intention of revealing all that to Yu Xin just yet.

After all, they had plenty of time ahead. Ji Yixing was patient. In China, there was a saying: "There's plenty of time ahead." Wasn't that right?

***

The first task in wilderness survival was setting up camp and exploring the surrounding environment.

They were on a small island at the edge of the ocean, close to the tropics. The sea was azure and clear, the sand white and fine, surrounded by tall coconut trees. It was not much different from the resort destinations Yu Xin had seen on Blue Star.

Walking inland from the beach, the center of the island was a tropical jungle—lush, dense, and vast, almost impossible to see across. It was rich in resources, with several types of wild fruits visible, heavy and hanging from branches. Just the wild fruits alone could fill them up, not to mention the variety of animals and plants.

Coupled with the seafood in the ocean, they were in for a treat over the next five days.

They found a flat, shaded spot safe from high tide and began setting up tents.

The tents provided by the production team were the basic type that required poles for support, available in different sizes. Shen Tong and Ruan Qing, the two female guests, chose a large tent to share, while the others opted for smaller individual tents.

None of the guests except Yu Xin had seen this type of tent before. They were at a loss, staring at the pile of plastic poles.

"What is all this? Some ancient relic from centuries ago? Did the production team borrow these from a museum?" Ye Ran, the young master of the Ye family, was the first to lose patience. He tossed aside the confusing plastic poles and crossed his arms, refusing to continue.

Though the other guests didn't act out like him, they were equally frustrated. Accustomed to relying on technology, their hands-on skills had greatly deteriorated.

However, the original participants knew they had a go-to person for help: "Yu Xin—"

Setting up a tent was no challenge for Yu Xin. In just over ten minutes, his tent was nearly complete.

Hearing the call, he turned around to see Shen Tong clasping her hands in a plea. "We need your help. I can't figure this out on my own..."

"Hahahaha, asking Yu Xin for help when there's trouble has become the go-to solution."

"Yu Xin, the indispensable companion for home or travel."

"He's like Doraemon, isn't he?"

Yu Xin walked over, took the messy, tangled-up tent from her hands, and said to everyone, "Pay attention—I'm only demonstrating this once."

He slowed his movements, offering clear explanations as the tent gradually took shape in his hands.

After driving the last stake into the ground, Yu Xin straightened up. "Alright, try it yourselves."

"Yu Xin is so amazing! There's truly nothing you can't handle," Shen Tong said with starry eyes.

"It's just putting up a little play tent. What's so impressive about that?" Ye Ran said sarcastically.

His comment was clearly targeted and full of scorn, unmistakably aimed at Yu Xin.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shen Tong retorted, her temper flaring as she responded sharply.

"Xiao Ran, don't say things like that," Yu Ning said, tugging at Ye Ran's sleeve. He turned to Yu Xin and Shen Tong apologetically, "Sorry, Xiao Ran is just blunt. He didn't mean it like that."

Ye Ran still looked defiant. "It's true, I didn't say anything wrong."

"Ye Ran's EQ is seriously low…"

"Does he have a problem with Yu Xin? He seems really targeted."

"Yu Xin's fans, don't be so paranoid. What Ye Ran said isn't wrong—it's just putting up a tent."

"Besides, Xiao Ning already apologized for Ye Ran. No need to blow it out of proportion."

"Is Yu Xin some kind of fragile young master? Can't he take a single comment? Even the real young master, Yu Ning, isn't as high-maintenance as him."

Suddenly, a wave of comments poured in from people who seemed particularly displeased with Yu Xin, shattering the previously harmonious atmosphere. Their words were full of nitpicking and criticism, yet they acted all righteous, as if entirely justified.

Yu Xin glanced at the two of them coolly but didn't respond.

Ye Ran's malice and dislike were utterly undisguised, even though they had never interacted before. Without a doubt, it was because of Yu Xin's identity as the original fake young master. Ye Ran was close to Yu Ning and was sticking up for him.

As for the real young master, Yu Ning, he appeared as innocent and polite as rumored, but Yu Xin sensed something a little off.

For instance, his words sounded apologetic on the surface, but by describing Ye Ran as "blunt" rather than disagreeing with the content of his remarks, it implied that Yu Ning also agreed with Ye Ran's sentiment—he just thought Ye Ran shouldn't have voiced it so bluntly.

Although Yu Xin didn't think putting up a tent was any great feat either, that didn't mean he would tolerate others speaking ill of him and just take it lying down.

Qin Shizhen and the others were also putting up their tents. Yu Xin went over to check on their progress, completely ignoring the two who were clearly tag-teaming him.

"Look at his attitude!" Ye Ran was furious that his dig meant to annoy him was outright ignored by Yu Xin.

"Alright, Xiao Ran," Yu Ning soothed, pulling Ye Ran back. "You know what Yu Xin's like. Don't take it to heart. Let's just focus on setting up our own tent."

"No wonder nobody likes him. He has himself to blame."

On the other side, Yu Xin went to check on the other guests' progress on their tents.

Qin Shizhen and Sheng Xingyao were still struggling with their tents, but when he turned around, Ji Yixing's was almost complete, which surprised Yu Xin.

This man seemed noble and accustomed to a life of privilege, yet he was quite handy.

Noticing Yu Xin's approach, Ji Yixing emerged from his nearly finished tent and invited, "Instructor Yu, could you check how I did?"

"Sure." Yu Xin carefully examined every part of the tent, checking how sturdy it was with his hands. "Very good. You've done an excellent job."

"Thank you for the praise," Ji Yixing said with a slight nod, though he sounded unsure. "I'm just not sure about the inside…"

"Would you mind taking a look, Instructor Yu?"

"Of course."

Ji Yixing held open the tent flap for him. Yu Xin half-knelt, bending down to lean his upper body into the tent.

"The inside is fine too. No issues."

"That's great."

Ji Yixing watched the graceful curve of Yu Xin's waist as he bent down, his smile growing more and more genuine.

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Author's Note:

Thank you all so much for your support. I will continue to work hard!