After being pulled away by Liang Xiao for a detailed communication, President Huo emerged from the rest area, finally understanding the program team’s offense toward Mr. Liang.
The program team was innocent; Yin Chi felt unjustly accused like snow falling in June. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the topics no matter how he tried. He took the entire book of cue cards back and buried himself in a dictionary.
“Everyone performed… excellently.”
The deputy director temporarily took over, allocating resources for everyone: “What you’ve obtained now will be your initial supplies.”
“Tea Time” emphasized returning to simplicity and nature, encouraging guests to return to the essence of life. Beyond ensuring basic living conditions, guests had to handle everything from food, clothing, shelter, and transportation themselves.
Apart from winning supplies through daily game segments and competition projects, guests were also allowed to exchange with each other, using surplus materials from their group to trade for needed materials from other groups.
In principle, violent seizure was not supported.
The last rule had been added just ten minutes ago. The deputy director read the rules with a stiff face and cautiously looked up: “Now… everyone can take their allocated supplies back.”
Su Man had already grabbed everything her group could and stood with her arms crossed, watching the excitement. She couldn’t help but be curious: “Jiang Pingchao’s group actually got something…”
Su Man looked around and asked Liang Xiao softly: “Did you let them have it?”
Liang Xiao was taken aback and modestly said: “Maybe Teacher Jiang’s group made a late comeback-”
“Impossible,” Su Man said. “I watched their group for half an hour, and the only word they guessed correctly was ‘mute.'”
Liang Xiao: “…”
Su Man: “And that’s because Meng Feibai guessed ‘mute’ every time.”
…
The current grouping principle really didn’t involve any telepathy. Meng Feibai had guessed one word correctly and was already moved to tears, pulling the follow-up director aside to give a ten-minute victory speech.
Liang Xiao saw he couldn’t hide it from her and smiled helplessly: “Yes… President Huo is exceptionally gifted.”
Although after temporarily closing a certain door, the telepathy between the two had decreased, they still had more than enough to crush the other groups.
Among partnerships with no tacit understanding, there was one group of traitors. The disparity in strength was too great, and if strictly allocated according to performance, some groups might have to return empty-handed.
To ensure good editing effects, the program team had specially communicated with Liang Xiao privately and appropriately adjusted the plan, at least guaranteeing basic living necessities for each group.
“Also afraid of Director Song getting angrier.”
Liang Xiao’s follow-up director turned off the camera and quietly revealed to the two of them, looking up: “After all, Director Song hasn’t realized yet that they’re staying at the top of the mountain.”
To accommodate the directing team’s age and physical strength, the program team had already changed the rules in advance, removing the rule that guests had to carry their supplies back themselves.
…But the entire program team was still very nervous, constantly worried that Director Song would lose his enthusiasm for overlooking all mountains after climbing for a few days.
The follow-up director, having done so many episodes, had never been so considerate of guests before and sincerely sighed: “We’ve tried our best…”
The follow-up directors of other groups heard this and became worried from the bottom of their hearts, comforting each other by shaking hands and exchanging safety charms obtained from Perching Stone Temple.
The game, which should have only taken half an hour, had multiplied in time several times due to the special circumstances of the guests. By the time everyone had finally allocated their resources, dusk was already vaguely showing at the edge of the sky.
If they went back to pack their things now and then returned down the mountain to gather at the old house, even if they hurried, it would drag on until evening.
With an industry-renowned horror film screenwriter participating, the evening fireside chat segment might have some unexpected developments.
“No other activities are arranged for today. Everyone should rest well after returning to their rooms, and we’ll officially start the four-day, three-night recording early tomorrow morning.”
The deputy director had discussed the schedule changes and returned to announce: “We’ve prepared special phones for everyone. If you have any issues, you can contact the program team at any time.”
It was the convention of vacation-type variety shows that guests recording the program should, in principle, be uniformly isolated from outside contact.
This was firstly to strengthen connections and interactions between guests, and secondly to maintain confidentiality, preventing unedited footage or photos from leaking out and causing adverse effects on the program.
Su Man understood this well and nodded while handing over her phone: “For example, it can’t be leaked that Actor Meng, after each word change, guesses ‘sculpture’ and ‘mute’ after five seconds of silent atmosphere…”
Meng Feibai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and quickly grabbed Jiang Pingchao, who was about to angrily rebuke Su Man for being unreasonable.
Meng Feibai looked around for Chi Che, handed Jiang Pingchao over to him, and good-naturedly negotiated with Su Man: “Can you give us the account password?”
The projector had an account but no password, making it impossible to log in, and the built-in storage only had “Animal World” and “A Bite of China.” Meng Feibai had confirmed with the program team and learned that the password book had been casually taken by Su Man.
Although he had already agreed to shuffle cards for the three-person director group, Meng Feibai still needed to return to his room to sleep and didn’t want things to develop to the point where Jiang Pingchao’s anger filled the room with pheromones.
“Barter,” Meng Feibai proposed. “We can exchange things from our side…”
Su Man looked through everything but really couldn’t find anything useful in Meng Feibai’s group’s meager supplies, losing interest: “Not interesting.”
Meng Feibai was out of options and looked to Liang Xiao for help.
Even with the behind-the-scenes adjustments, Liang Xiao and President Huo’s group still had particularly abundant supplies. Noticing Meng Feibai’s predicament, Liang Xiao immediately generously shared a box of luncheon meat.
“Thank you, thank you,” Meng Feibai breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Do you have more?”
“Yes,” Liang Xiao nodded, concerned it might not be enough, and reached for the hand-carried bag that guests were allowed to bring. “I still have three boxes of luncheon meat, two bags of sausages, a box of tomato sardines, a box of braised pork canned food, four bags of Wujiang preserved vegetables…”
Meng Feibai: “…”
Su Man: “…”
The deputy director who had rushed over upon hearing the news: “…”
“That’s… very abundant.”
Meng Feibai looked at his group’s bland rice, flour, and vegetables, swallowed dryly, and looked at that ordinary handbag: “Can it hold so many things?”
“Not just that,” Liang Xiao introduced to them. “There’s an expansion zipper; when opened, it can hold even more.”
Canned goods are easy to store and don’t take up much space. Liang Xiao had studied the rules before participating in the program and had specifically gathered a wave of supplies.
When it came to cramming things into luggage, Liang Xiao was undoubtedly much more skilled than these people. President Huo’s handbag was also completely at his disposal, and besides these items, he had actually brought many other useful things.
Liang Xiao was about to share more experiences when he suddenly felt a slight warmth at the back of his neck and instinctively turned around.
President Huo withdrew his hand and picked up the two heavy handbags.
…
“It’s alright.”
As the two walked together toward their accommodation on the mountainside, Liang Xiao looked at President Huo’s expression and circled around to persuade him: “No need to worry about supplies; I brought plenty.”
President Huo, after being circled several times, stopped: “I’m not-”
Liang Xiao was curious: “Not what?”
President Huo almost couldn’t resist the urge to hug him, but remembering the persistent camera following them, he closed his eyes briefly and also took the small amount of luggage from Liang Xiao’s hand.
“President Huo has great physical strength,” the follow-up director secretly remarked to Liang Xiao. “As expected of a top alpha…”
Liang Xiao liked hearing people praise President Huo and smiled: “President Huo also has a good physique.”
The follow-up director was taken aback: “How do you know?”
Liang Xiao: “…”
The follow-up director was particularly innocent, holding the camera: “?”
“…Deduction,” Liang Xiao remained calm. “An excellent actor should also have the ability to deduce measurements through clothes.”
The follow-up director listened with profound respect: “What is it used for?”
Liang Xiao made up something on the spot: “It’s used during acting to judge whether the co-star can easily…”
He was distracted talking while walking backward and didn’t notice as he stepped on loose gravel, unexpectedly slipping.
The follow-up director was terrified and was about to rush over to help, but only captured with his camera the back view of President Huo, who had already turned around abruptly and steadily caught him.
Liang Xiao was also startled, hanging on President Huo’s arm, and completed his sentence: “…pick you up.”
The follow-up director, still shaken, nodded in conviction.
President Huo nodded slightly, and as suggested, picked up Mr. Liang and quickly returned to the room.
–
According to normal procedure, after guests returned to their assigned rooms, there would still be a short follow-up filming of daily activities before taking a distant view of lights being turned off for rest.
The follow-up director, tasked with filming scenes of President Huo and Mr. Liang being unfamiliar, watched as President Huo steadily held Mr. Liang with one arm while deftly tidying the room with the other hand, and didn’t know how to proceed.
“President Huo…”
The follow-up director had been filming all day and vaguely felt that President Huo wasn’t as rumored to kill with every ten steps. He cautiously engaged him in conversation: “Aren’t you going to put Mr. Liang down first?”
President Huo frowned slightly: “He injured his leg.”
The follow-up director was startled and immediately set aside his work, prioritizing guest safety: “Is it serious?”
The light was too dim when going up the mountain, and no one had time to see clearly how badly Liang Xiao had fallen.
The follow-up director was very concerned and took out his phone: “We have a medical team on standby; we can contact them anytime if needed…”
Liang Xiao’s ears burned as he quickly pulled at President Huo: “No need.”
Falling on flat ground was embarrassing enough. Liang Xiao, having traversed various film sets’ rooftops, wasn’t lacking in coordination to the point of getting injured from a simple fall.
In front of the camera, Liang Xiao couldn’t directly comfort their President Huo, so he could only try his best to cooperate, making something up: “Just twisted it a bit… nothing serious, it’ll be fine after a night’s rest.”
“That’s good,” the follow-up director sighed in relief and generously shared his experience. “Then you should put Mr. Liang down even more.”
Liang Xiao: “…”
Liang Xiao inconspicuously shifted a bit, helping to shield the follow-up director from the cold wave.
The follow-up director only knew that these two weren’t familiar with each other and was completely unaware of the atmosphere. He diligently explained: “After twisting your ankle, you should elevate the injured leg, preferably lie down with it higher than your heart to increase blood flow back to reduce swelling. It also allows the injured area to rest still, reducing further damage.”
“And you shouldn’t apply heat immediately,” the follow-up director continued at length. “The earlier you apply ice, the better the effect…”
The follow-up director vaguely felt he saw small ice chips, stuttered, and hesitated: “Is that not right?”
“It is,” Liang Xiao sighed. “I’ll lie down right away.”
President Huo’s shoulder and back contours were sharp, clearly already at the limit of restraint. Liang Xiao was really worried that President Huo might accidentally freeze the entire filming crew, so he took the initiative to grab him, smiled politely at the follow-up director: “President Huo will help me treat it.”
President Huo was tugged by his sleeve, and his silently gathering, rising aura gradually subsided as he tightened his arms.
The follow-up director vaguely sensed something was off, nodded hesitantly, and signaled the cameraman to also stay outside.
To accommodate the guests’ special situations, although each room was set up for two people to sleep together, side bedrooms were also equipped. Whenever guests needed, the side bedroom could be prepared at any time.
Knowing that President Huo and Mr. Liang’s group had chosen room number four, the program team hadn’t needed to ask and had already thoroughly prepared two bedrooms in advance.
President Huo directly bypassed the other room, encircled Liang Xiao, and walked into the master bedroom, closing the door tightly.
…
Mr. Liang might indeed be seriously injured.
The filming crew didn’t dare to disturb them rashly and anxiously crouched outside the door, listening to the faint, short, muffled groans coming from inside. They whispered to each other with lingering fear: “Teacher Liang is truly dedicated…”
Despite being so severely injured, he could still force himself to continue recording as if nothing was wrong.
Even the cold compress was causing him to gasp in pain.
The group speculated about Mr. Liang’s injuries, crouching nervously for about ten minutes, almost suspecting that President Huo was setting a bone for Teacher Liang inside. Finally, they saw the bedroom door open again.
President Huo came out of the bedroom.
His overall aura was vastly different from before, and his expression also seemed somewhat softened.
His shirt cuffs were visibly slightly wrinkled, rolled up to his elbows, and his unapproachable elite aura had also diluted considerably.
The follow-up director wanted to record a short segment of Mr. Liang after his injury was treated, but before he could approach, President Huo had already firmly closed the bedroom door.
The follow-up director was somewhat disappointed and tentatively asked President Huo: “We probably need to continue recording for about ten more minutes…”
President Huo nodded slightly and turned to organize things.
The follow-up director breathed a slight sigh of relief, signaling the cameraman to film the tightly closed bedroom door with infinite meaning beyond the limited words, then followed President Huo as he tidied up the room.
President Huo was originally silent and didn’t have much interaction with the filming crew. He allowed the cameraman to follow behind him, meticulously organizing all the supplies they had brought.
The follow-up director had been curious about their luggage and specifically had the cameraman follow those two handbags, witnessing without missing a moment as the items were taken out one by one, filling up half of the storage rack.
Canned food only occupied a tiny portion. Compared to the simple toiletries and essential clothing of other group guests, the things Liang Xiao had brought clearly headed toward another extreme.
“Did we notify the wrong person?” The director’s assistant looked at the climbing-specific retractable rope and asked softly, “Who was responsible for notifying Teacher Liang? This episode isn’t going to the Amazon jungle…”
The follow-up director was following with the camera and was about to scold him for talking nonsense when he saw President Huo take out an electric baton with high-intensity illumination: “…”
The follow-up director cautiously took two steps back and discreetly contacted the program team.
–
It was half an hour later when the filming crew finally left.
With the original intention of protecting the guests’ personal safety, Yin Chi personally rushed over, patiently negotiated with President Huo for a long time, and finally persuaded President Huo to temporarily hand over some potentially dangerous items from Mr. Liang’s luggage to the program team for safekeeping.
President Huo had originally not planned to agree, but remembering Liang Xiao’s instructions, and after Yin Chi repeatedly promised to return everything intact after the end, he finally nodded.
Yin Chi led the team, carrying batons, signal flares, and electric prods down the mountain in a grand procession.
The house was finally completely quiet. President Huo checked the doors and windows once, locked the door, and returned to the bedroom.
Liang Xiao was lying on the bed, his breathing shallow and steady, already sound asleep.
The schedule had been too tight; he had rushed over right after wrapping up filming, without time to replenish the mental and physical energy consumed earlier.
Liang Xiao had managed to cooperate and complete a day of program recording at his limit. Earlier, gripping President Huo’s sleeve and being kissed into a daze, he had barely managed to stay awake for less than half a minute after his head hit the pillow before his wavering energy declared complete exhaustion.
President Huo moved gently to the bedside and sat down.
Liang Xiao slept restlessly alone, tossed and turned, touched a familiar arm, and opened his eyes.
President Huo was sitting beside him, holding his hand, placing a kiss on his forehead.
The bedroom wasn’t very large, but it was comfortably clean, with soft lighting, the light gradually merging with the darkness and moon shadows outside the window.
It was rarely quiet all around.
Liang Xiao took a moment to react, finally coming back from his overly relaxed and fatigued state, and smiled at him: “Has the program team left?”
President Huo nodded and was quiet for a moment: “They took some things.”
“The self-defense set, right?” Liang Xiao was somewhat prepared, supported himself on his arm to sit up. “That is indeed dangerous. It’s fine if they took it, no worries.”
When he received the specific recording notice and heard they were going into the mountains, he had originally thought it would be exciting projects like valley exploration or river rafting.
The actual style was vastly different.
Liang Xiao was still worried that their President Huo would be reluctant to part with them, so he held his hand and squeezed it, leaning forward to check President Huo’s expression: “It’s alright, I have several more sets, bought in bulk before…”
President Huo had him lean against himself, reaching out to embrace Liang Xiao’s back.
Liang Xiao instinctively hugged him back, nuzzling against his neck: “What are you thinking about?”
President Huo closed his eyes briefly and said softly: “Thinking about the day you left.”
Liang Xiao was stunned for two seconds, smiled, and half-seriously, half-jokingly nudged President Huo with his arm: “Why think about that… want to go soak in the hot spring?”
President Huo shook his head slightly, quietly looking at him.
It wasn’t in Liang Xiao’s nature to wallow in self-pity. At times like this, he would always try to change the subject, never allowing him to dwell on these past events for even a second.
But President Huo couldn’t help but think about it.
Liang Xiao had been supporting himself for so long that some habits couldn’t be changed quickly. As President Huo stayed by his side, he could sometimes glimpse shadows of those untold past events from details that Liang Xiao himself hadn’t noticed.
Yin Chi couldn’t understand why Liang Xiao would bring an electric baton to participate in the program, but President Huo actually knew.
“I watched the additional episode of ‘On the Road.'”
President Huo held him in his arms: “This episode… they talked about the dangers and treatment options for alpha differentiation obstruction.”
Liang Xiao’s voice was slightly hoarse: “I had planned for you to find out at this time.”
President Huo was taken aback: “What?”
“It couldn’t be hidden forever,” Liang Xiao knew he was troubled, exhaled, closed his eyes, and relaxed against President Huo’s chest and shoulder.
“I had made all the plans. After I finished filming and you had handled everything that needed to be dealt with, I would lead you from the sofa to the bathtub to the desk…”
Liang Xiao’s ears warmed slightly, he coughed lightly, and smiled: “Hold you and tell you properly, slowly.”
There were too many variables.
Even now, whenever Liang Xiao thought about President Huo being trapped in that nightmare, his heart still ached.
“Just think about it,” Liang Xiao squeezed his hand. “With my skill at stuffing things into suitcases, I must have taken quite a lot of belongings with me when I left.”
Liang Xiao had indeed taken many belongings when he left. Later, through his wanderings, he had developed the habit of packing in a whirlwind, never expecting that their President Huo would detect clues from this: “With so many things, I only ever put others at a disadvantage, never being at a disadvantage myself.”
President Huo didn’t contradict him, listened quietly, and nodded.
“I can also climb onto roofs,” Liang Xiao said. “I can attack when advancing and defend when retreating. If I can’t win, I can still run. I’m the local boss wherever I go.”
Liang Xiao became increasingly passionate: “Dominating the scene, commanding a hundred responses…”
President Huo’s chest ached. He closed his eyes briefly and gently kissed his eye.
Liang Xiao, in the midst of his domination, suddenly felt a warmth, his heart beating faster, his whole body softening in response, and he said softly: “Let’s… go soak in the hot spring?”
After the two had worked hard to maintain their public image all day, Liang Xiao had been looking forward to the hot spring so much that he particularly wanted to add one more word to Yin Chi’s list of prohibited words with President Huo.
Liang Xiao was excited to get moving but was pulled back by President Huo, who said softly: “You haven’t rested well; soaking now would make you dizzy.”
Liang Xiao was taken aback: “Is that a thing?”
President Huo looked at him and nodded.
The mountain was cool, and the room wasn’t particularly warm. Liang Xiao had only slept for this short while, but he had already broken out in a cold sweat.
President Huo was worried he might catch a cold and held Liang Xiao, warming him with his body heat for a while, then touched his still damp clothes: “We’ll soak tomorrow.”
Liang Xiao nodded in disappointment, withered in President Huo’s arms for two seconds of regret, then suddenly came to his senses and extrapolated: “How would you know?”
President Huo’s shoulders tensed slightly. He lowered his head to kiss him and carried him into the bathroom.
As warm water poured down, Liang Xiao let himself be turned over and handled, reasoning logically: “Your body improved after differentiation, so this isn’t something from after we separated.”
President Huo only wanted to know how Liang Xiao had spent these years, not have him turn back to investigate himself. His shoulders tensed, and he said softly: “Let’s not talk about this.”
Liang Xiao traced back to the source of his memories: “One day you suddenly told me that your parents were coming to pray at a temple for blessings, there was a hot spring nearby, not far from us, and they wanted you to go together…”
Liang Xiao suddenly realized: “Was the temple you mentioned back then Perching Stone Temple?!”
President Huo was taken aback by his question: “Yes.”
President Huo had already explained this to him before and didn’t understand why Liang Xiao was so surprised. He stroked his wet hair: “What’s wrong?”
“…” Liang Xiao: “I thought it was seventy-four at the time.”
President Huo: “…”
Liang Xiao: “I even responded with ‘how many pavilions in the misty rain.'”
“That’s eighty-” President Huo gave up correcting him and pressed his forehead. “I thought at the time… you didn’t want to go.”
President Huo’s parents had come to Jiangnan to pray for blessings, coinciding with the coming of age of the main family’s only heir. The branch family, wanting to test the main family’s attitude toward young Huo Lan, secretly invited him to soak in the hot spring, pretending it was from his parents.
He had mustered the courage to invite little Liang Xiao at that time, but seeing little Liang Xiao reciting poetry desolately on the balcony, he didn’t dare say more.
Liang Xiao wasn’t interested in pursuing the specific circumstances of that time and frowned as he asked: “Did you see your parents?”
President Huo shook his head.
At that time, his differentiation was obstructed, and he had a persistent high fever. His body was already weak, and after being led to wait in the hot spring for a short while, he couldn’t hold on and lost consciousness.
The branch family, afraid of letting the master and mistress see him, hurriedly took him away. When he regained consciousness, President Huo was already lying in a hospital bed.
The more Liang Xiao heard, the heavier his heart felt, and he frowned deeply: “So you just lay in the hospital for three days?”
President Huo was quiet for a while, then lowered his head to kiss the corner of his lips.
Liang Xiao had thought at the time that young Huo Lan had gone out to have fun for three days. He hadn’t expected that by coincidence, revisiting the old place would unexpectedly clarify the situation at that time. Anger rose uncontrollably in his chest: “How could they do this?! Those branch families-”
“They’ve already been cut off,” President Huo said.
“…” Liang Xiao’s surge of anger was abruptly halted: “Cut them off again!”
President Huo watched him gesturing angrily with commanding presence, his eyes warming slightly as he nodded: “Alright.”
President Huo had thought Liang Xiao knew about Perching Stone Temple, only now realizing that the two of them had likely experienced another misunderstanding. He rubbed Liang Xiao’s wet short hair, carefully massaging acupressure points: “When you go there… if you see the longevity tablet, light an incense stick for me.”
Liang Xiao was stunned for a long while, his heart aching sharply. He didn’t speak but nodded.
President Huo kissed him again, was quiet for a while, then said softly: “Tonight-”
Liang Xiao couldn’t bear to maintain distance anymore: “Sleep together.”
President Huo tightened his arms, pulled him into his embrace, and closed his eyes.
–
The next day, the program team arrived early at the doors of each group of guests, as per the rules.
According to the rules, the program team would wake up the guests with a “little surprise.” To maintain mystery, except for this rule that had been announced in advance, the order and method of waking would be strictly confidential.
“Up to now, we have awakened three groups of guests.”
The host lowered his voice and gestured: “This group is the most special. We all know that one of them is not a member of the crew, but the investor of the crew, the CEO of Huo Corporation and Xingguan…”
The host interviewed other members: “Are President Huo and Mr. Liang familiar with each other?”
Jiang Pingchao, who had known about their relationship since the banquet, felt he must be responsible and firmly denied: “Not familiar.”
Su Man, who had seen clues since the charades game, was eager to watch the drama unfold and decisively shook her head: “Not familiar.”
Meng Feibai, having been in the industry for many years, had long viewed such matters with equanimity and smiled accommodatingly: “Not familiar.”
The host felt reassured, nodded, and carefully pushed open the side bedroom door a crack: “…”
The host opened the side bedroom door and carefully looked at the empty room: “Does Mr. Liang have a habit of sleeping on the roof?”
Director Song was still very drowsy and yawned: “No.”
“Alright,” the host thought carefully. “Let’s use the process of elimination. First, Mr. Liang is not in the side bedroom; second, Mr. Liang is not on the roof…”
Director Song, accustomed to waking up actors, didn’t bother with the program team’s suspense-building segments and directly turned the knob of the master bedroom door.
President Huo opened his eyes in response, frowned slightly, and supported himself on his arm as he abruptly sat up.
The host: “…”
The follow-up director: “…”
The “Year’s End” crew: “…”
Liang Xiao had been exhausted from rushing between filming and schedules. Last night, after coming out of the bathroom, he had barely managed to hold on until his hair was dry before collapsing onto President Huo’s shoulder, sleeping soundlessly and completely unconscious.
Although the current commotion was significant, it wasn’t enough to pull him out of his deep sleep.
The host, seeing the scene before him, stuttered, but found his microphone through professional instinct: “You-and Mr. Liang…”
Dawn had just broken, with the morning light filtering in hazily, making the room feel warm and peaceful.
President Huo’s aura was cold and calm as he gradually detached Liang Xiao from himself, bundled him into a small ball, tucked him back under the covers, and secured the corners of the blanket: “Not familiar.”
##
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
![After losing all his wealth, the ancestor rose from his coffin [BL]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Your-paragraph-text-1.png "After losing all his wealth, the ancestor rose from his coffin [BL]")