Chapter 35: Separation Anxiety
4:00 AM.
The production team began reminding them in order to remove the covers from the camera lenses for the morning recording.
Lu Ciheng woke up as soon as sounds came from outside. He subconsciously felt around next to him, sighing in relief when he touched Xie Shibai. Then he realized the person beside him was facing away, sleeping somewhat far.
Lu Ciheng suppressed the corners of his lips and scooted over. He wrapped his arms tightly around Xie Shibaiās waist, pressing the tip of his nose against Xie Shibaiās smooth hair and rubbing. After smelling the unique fresh scent, his tense heart calmed down.
The production team was reminding tents one by one. Lu Ciheng inhaled the person for a while, then sat up and ruffled his hair, which was messy from sleep. Before the production team could speak, he made a shushing gesture a step ahead, indicating he would open the camera cover.
The staff member nodded and went to remind the last group.
He opened the lens cover. During the time it took for the livestream to reconnect, he lay back in the sleeping bag, his arms naturally encircling Xie Shibai from behind, the tip of his nose brushing past the nape of Xie Shibaiās neck.
The sleeping person seemed disturbed, dodging unconsciously. The arm across his waist tightened, and his back pressed against the burning chest again.
Even though it was four in the morning, a large number of netizens flooded in as soon as the livestream connected.
[So early, there’s actually a picture in the livestream?!] [Coming early isn’t as good as coming at the right time!] [This scene is great!] [Itās actually a scene of them not out of bed yet!] [This scene looks sweet and reassuring.] [This life as a CP fan is worth it, actually seeing them sleeping while hugging.] [Are they actually hugging while sleeping in private? I can’t accept this ahhh.] [Otherwise? They are a couple. When they aren’t being filmed in private, they’re probably ‘making hate’ too.] [What ‘making hate’? Let me have a nibble.]
There was still some time before sunrise.
Although the sleep duration was short, Xie Shibai had a bizarre dream. He dreamt he turned into a cornbread bun, hidden in a doghouse by a dog who licked him occasionally. Even if he wanted to run, the dog would stick to himāand that dog looked a lot like Lu Ciheng.
Hard to say if it counted as a nightmare. Xie Shibai opened his eyes, dazed for a few seconds before clarity returned to his eyes. Looking down, he indeed found the arm wrapped around his waist. The person behind him felt like a furnace, making it hard for someone with naturally low body temperature to adapt.
Hot breath brushed past the nape of his neck from time to time, making his body tense in discomfort.
Xie Shibai turned around to face Lu Cihengās sleeping face. He tried to pry the hand open to push the person a bit further away, but in the next second, the hand around his waist tightened. With a slight exertion of force, the distance between Xie Shibai and Lu Ciheng became even closer.
Xie Shibai was startled for a few seconds, raising his eyes to meet a pair of smiling eyes.
Lu Ciheng was pretending to sleep.
Before he could say anything, Lu Ciheng pulled him close, and half of both their faces were covered by the sleeping bag.
Lu Ciheng lowered his voice, his smiling eyes curving. “The camera is on.”
Xie Shibai: “…”
He pushed Lu Cihengās face, signaling him to get out; it was suffocating.
The two tidied up and left the tent at the assembly time.
The sun hadn’t risen yet. The surroundings were silent and pitch black, illuminated only by the lights of the camping area. Even the mosquitoes that liked to gather around lights were exceptionally quiet at this hour.
Su Xingran rushed over first to greet Xie Shibai. Seeing Xie Shibaiās hiking bag, he said, “Senior, let me carry that for you.”
Lu Cihengās good mood instantly transformed into vigilance at these words. He had almost forgotten that stepping out of the tent meant two rivals were waiting for him outside.
Xie Shibai: “No need.”
Rejected, Su Xingran wasn’t very disappointed. Instead, he kept eagerly trying to help Xie Shibai.
Next to him, Li You was also constantly performing upon seeing Lu Ciheng.
“Brother Lu, I have some night blindness and can’t see the road clearly. Can I follow you later?” Li You asked nervously.
Lu Cihengās face was cold. “No.”
Li You hadn’t expected to be rejected so bluntly. His face looked stiff and ugly.
Just after rejecting Li You, Lu Ciheng approached Xie Shibai and naturally took over Xie Shibaiās hiking bag. The expression on his face flipped from a storm to sunny skies; the speed of the change left the livestream audience sighing in amazement.
Li You gritted his teeth, not having been spared a single glance.
[Laughing to death hahaha.] [LCH really treats Li You as a rival ah, face turned black in a flash.] [Just this double standard is satisfying!] [Isn’t Li You trying to be a homewrecker? Such a big opportunity in front of him, why isn’t he talking?] [Whatever he says will be taken as a rival move by LCH. Serves him right.]
The observation point at the summit was some distance from the camping area. They needed to follow the map and hike all the way up to the observation point.
But waking up early made the body sluggish, while going to see the sunrise at 4 AM made the spirit very excited.
Apart from the security guard, there was no one else at the observation point. The whole area was quiet, with only the breeze blowing and dark clouds not far away.
“What a big cloud,” Mu Zhenzhen lamented, taking out her phone to snap a few photos.
Xie Shibai stared at the cloud for a while, seeing that it had no intention of dispersing. “If this cloud stays here without moving, it will block the sunrise, right?”
Mu Zhenzhen also felt the crisis. “Right, wouldn’t we have run all this way for nothing?”
The production team replied that they hadn’t expected it either. The weather forecast for the day had indicated no extra clouds, but unexpectedly, the forecast wasn’t accurate. The weather on the mountain was always changing rapidly.
[What a pity, so we won’t see the sunrise, eh.] [Although one should have a calm heart about this, climbing for so long only to find you can’t see it really breaks the mentality.] [I found someone who isn’t worried at all about whether he sees the sunrise or not.] [It’s your damn love-brain LCH!] [I’m fed up. Waking up early in the morning just to get angry looking at this. Everyone is concerned about the sunrise; what are your damn hands doing!] [Woo-hoo, he got hit. Being honest now, right?] [???? Why does it seem like getting hit made him happy!] [It is a bit hard to distinguish whether LCH’s solo stans are CP fans or anti-fans.]
Lu Ciheng gently pinched Xie Shibaiās fingers, not caring whether they saw the sunrise today or not.
Xie Shibai pulled his fingers back, glanced at him, and asked, “Aren’t you worried about not seeing the sun?”
Lu Ciheng leaned back in the folding chair with a relaxed posture, the corners of his lips hooking up. “The process of watching the sunrise with Teacher Xie is already meaningful enough in itself.”
Xie Shibai looked at him. The skylight in the distance was gradually brightening. The dark clouds seemed to be dissipating, revealing a bit of orange-red glow that landed on Lu Cihengās smiling face. His hair was casually styled, slightly upturned, blowing with the breeze at the summit.
Xie Shibaiās fingers twitched slightly. A thought flashed quickly through the bottom of his heart, like a stone thrown into a calm water surface, creating ripples.
Did he just want Lu Ciheng to touch him?
His slender fingers tightened slightly. He calmed his breathing, dismissing it as an illusion. After all, from age seven until now, Xie Shibai had never had such a thought.
As if hearing everyone’s prayers, the dark clouds were soon blown to the other side by the wind. The orange-red glow rose bit by bit from the horizon. It was so beautiful it drew gasps of admiration.
Although they experienced a few twists and turns, everyone saw the sunrise they had been longing for. Everyone was very excited on the way down the mountain.
The next day, the production team didn’t give everyone much time to rest and directly announced the task for the husbands/couples in this episode.
Director Tan read aloud in front of the camera: “The task for this episode is ‘Role Swap Experience.’ There are many misunderstandings in life. To reduce conflicts between both parties and be more considerate of each other, we will now switch. Experience your partner’s life. We hope everyone can learn more about and understand their partner during this task.”
[Finally here!] [I remember in the last season, this task turned directly into an accusation conference.] [This episode should be okay. The only non-celebrity has left the show. It should be harmonious; everyone’s nature of work is basically the same, so no problems.]
The role swap experience was simply experiencing the other person’s life. One party would determine the stage the other needed to experience; it could be work content or long-accumulated conflicts.
Before the swap experience, both parties created a confidential profile of the other, to be revealed after the swap experience.
The profiling took place in a single-interview room. A drawing board was placed on the table. Xie Shibai didn’t hesitate when he put pen to paper, as if he already had an internal portrait of Lu Ciheng in his heart.
Because it was a surprise gift to be unveiled at the end, the livestream didn’t broadcast this segment. It would only be announced after the swap experience ended.
When the task started, there was a day of preparation time. However, Lu Ciheng had a long-scheduled event to attend. Although he didn’t want to waste time with Xie Shibai, the contract had been signed early and couldn’t be postponed, so he had to leave the hut in the early morning.
With one less person around, the surroundings suddenly became much quieter.
In the morning, Xie Shibai woke up as usual. When he sat up, his fingers curled subconsciously, as if they had muscle memory. It was an expectation he hadn’t even realized himself, but the physical contact that happened every day didn’t occur this time.
Xie Shibai was dazed for a few seconds, quickly returning to normal. Without looking at the empty half of the bed, he left.
Breakfast was made by Mu Zhenzhen’s group. When he went downstairs to eat, the bullet screen sensed something was wrong.
[Why do I feel like Brother Xie is so quiet?] [Right, feels like instantly there’s a sense of distance from people.] [Because Dog Lu isn’t here, right?] [They are really so shippable! When Brother Lu is here, Brother Xie has a human touch, like he’s easy to reach. But when only Brother Xie is left… the quieter he is, the better it is to savor!] [Brother Lu, come back quick!!!]
Mu Zhenzhen also sensed something was wrong. “Teacher Xie, are you okay?”
Xie Shibai shook his head. “I’m fine. What’s wrong?”
Mu Zhenzhen shook her head hurriedly. “Nothing, nothing. Just feel you are very quiet today.”
Xie Shibai asked, “Is quiet bad?”
When Lu Ciheng was here, he was always talking in his ear; it was very noisy.
Mu Zhenzhen couldn’t quite say what was going on, just that it felt not quite right.
Su Xingran was overjoyed. He spent the whole time handing things to Xie Shibai and carrying things. This kind of clinginess was completely different from Lu Cihengās clinginess.
It felt like it was finally his turn to take the position.
All day long, Xie Shibai made himself not think about Lu Ciheng, quietly choosing his own exchange content.
When the clock hand passed midnight, Xie Shibai leaned against the headboard reading a book, immersed in the quiet of the night. After turning a few pages, he glanced at the empty spot next to him. He snapped the book shut, inexplicably unable to calm down, a sense of irritability permeating from the bottom of his heart.
He got up and found there was no water in his cup, so he simply went downstairs to get some.
His gaze swept past the window, noticing the drizzling rain outside. With the wind, the precipitation was increasing linearly, vaguely looking like it would turn into a heavy rainstorm. Raindrops hit the glass, making a da-da-da sound.
Xie Shibai stood in front of the window for a few seconds, frowning slightly. He subconsciously wanted to feel for his phone but found he hadn’t brought it.
The lights in the living room were dim. Netizens chatting boredly in the livestream discovered Xie Shibaiās figure.
[Why is Brother Xie up at this hour?] [Usually asleep by now, right? Heard them say Brother Xie and Dog Lu always rest very early.] [Came down to get water. Then it’s fine.] [How could Dog Lu let Brother Xie get water!] [LCH hasn’t returned yet.]
Xie Shibai didn’t turn on the light, getting himself a glass of water in the dark. The sound of water falling into the glass and the gradually increasing sound of rain outside didn’t mask a slight noise. Xie Shibai turned off the water and looked vigilantly behind him. He sighed in relief when he saw clearly who was behind him.
The bullet screen got nervous too.
[What happened? What happened?] [Seems like Brother Xie isn’t alone in the living room. There’s another person not being filmed.] [Damn, damn! Who? Why acting so mysterious?]
Xie Shibai glanced at the time on the clock. He placed the cup on the kitchen island. The glass cup made a clink sound against the surface, the noise cold and carrying a thorn he didn’t even realize himself.
“Didn’t you say you’d be back by nine? What amazing time management.”
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