CH 34

Like a Duck to Water (1)

The production team ran through the schedule with Bai Qi again before allowing the staff to bring him to the place that he’ll be staying at.

“We gotta get up very early tomorrow. Nice work everyone, have a good rest,” the director said with a smile on his face.

They had only done a brief introduction between the guests in private today. This was a ‘special treatment’ given to them when there’s a major celebrity in the cast to avoid any unexpected circumstances.

So, they’ll have another recording session tomorrow to film ‘Meeting Each Other for the First Time’.

Everyone knew about this so they didn’t stay longer, each scurrying back to their own rooms to rest. They’d like to avoid being in a bad state the next day, which may cause their mind to be unclear and slip up with their words.

After they exited the yard, the staff carried the camera on his shoulders and followed behind Bai Qi.

Since Bai Qi had managed to sneak a quick nap on the car earlier, he was much more awake now. He touched the clip-on-mic on his chest and said, “I didn’t expect it to be so cold. What if I didn’t bring enough cotton clothes along? Does the program staff have some spare clothes?”

“This road is a little slippery.”

“The whole area over there is covered with snow, do you think we can make a snowman?”

…

Bai Qi began leisurely chatting with A-Da.

The staff felt relieved. This young man —— Xi Chengyun’s significant other —— an outsider of the industry, could talk perfectly fine in front of the camera, thus not wasting any of their efforts.

Everything should be fine when they film tomorrow.. right?

As for housing allocations, the Best Actor and Actress were arranged to stay in a huge villa. Yang Yiru and her partner were arranged to stay in a building that looked like it was from Medieval times; the building stood there as snowflakes fell, the scenery was extremely romantic. Subsequently, Qiu Sichuan and his partner were arranged to stay in a small two-story Nordic-style homestay.

Bai Qi walked for quite a bit, and finally stopped outside a beautiful and secluded courtyard.

This was where he and Xi Chengyun would be temporarily staying.

The fence was made from bamboo. Bai Qi pushed it and walked into the yard.

The flowerbeds in the yard were empty.

The staff gave an awkward smile and said, “We were going to plant Chinese roses, but then the temperature went below negative 20 degrees celsius. All the flowers froze to death.”

“Maybe build a greenhouse over it?” Bai Qi said.

The staff imagined the scenario and thought, that would totally ruin the scenery, it wouldn’t even be romantic anymore.

Bai Qi mentioned that casually, and did not carry on with the topic.

After Bai Qi was in the house, he put away his luggage and had a little snack for supper.

When he looked up at the clock ——

It was already 3 in the morning.

Bai Qi did what the program staff had taught him and covered the camera. Then, he took a bath and went to bed.

But, less than 2 seconds after he’d closed his eyes, his phone rang.

He grabbed the phone and two words appeared brightly on the screen before him: Mr. Xi

Bai Qi couldn’t help but murmur, it was already so late, is he still working?

Then, he picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“A-Da told me that you’ve already settled in.” Sure enough, it was Xi Chengyun.

“Yup.”

“Thank you for your hard work.” Xi Chengyun said courteously and paused, then he continued, “There’s something I forgot to tell you.”

“What is it?” Bai Qi could’ve guessed that the ‘something’ was the reason why Xi Chengyun was calling him so late in the night.

“Since this is a reality show between married couples, so when we’re filming…” He was silent for a moment before he continued, “We’d most probably need to sleep in the same room. Sorry, I hadn’t thought about it in advance.”

“Oh! So it’s like that! It’s fine, really…” Bai Qi twisted beneath his sheets and wrapped himself even tighter; the heater seemed to be acting up, the temperature was rising way too slowly.

“I’m really well behaved when I sleep!” Bai Qi’s voice was soft, sounding slightly muffled by the sheets.

Xi Chengyun opened his mouth.

The issue clearly wasn’t about whether he was well behaved when he slept.

However, since Bai Qi had agreed to it so easily, it was better if he didn’t say anything else.

“Mn. Have a good rest and don’t stay up too late.” Xi Chengyun said.

However, Bai Qi didn’t hang up. Instead, he thought to himself, snuggling into his sheets to prevent his voice from being recorded by the camera, and asked, “Are you well behaved when you sleep?”

Bai Qi’s voice flowed out from the phone, little by little, trickling into Xi Chengyun’s ears. It made Xi Chengyun suddenly feel as if Bai Qi was right beside him, talking to him gingerly.

“… pretty well I think?” Xi Chengyun replied.

Then, Bai Qi whispered, “Ah, then I’ve got nothing to worry about… I think that’s all for now, I’m actually hiding under my sheets as I talk. Haih, my back is exposed to the cold air coming in. Brrr. It’s so cold.”

He babbled for a bit, and then hung up.

Hiding beneath the sheets?

Xi Chengyun still had his phone next to his ears. The sudden silence made him feel… oddly strange.

At the same time, an image unintentionally came up in his mind; an image of Bai Qi huddled into a ball…

“Xi-ge, let’s go now.” Shang Guang pushed the door and entered.

Xi Chengyun acknowledged him, and in the dark night, he boarded the car.