Morning light broke gently, smoke from cooking fires curling into the air.
Birds in the forest sang loudly to mark the start of the day, their calls echoing through the mountains, vast and clear.
Yishan Mountain lay in the southwest, a land of hills and rugged terrain, with slightly acidic soil, perfect for tea trees to thrive.
This region was home to the largest population of tea farmers, with verdant tea plants stretching as far as the eye could see.
Tea and its farmers would be the focus of this episode.
Yu Zhi maintained a stable daily routine, waking at six in the morning for a half-hour jog. Yet even in that brief stretch, he could run into Ji Xingyu unexpectedly on the path.
But this wasn’t something Ji Xingyu had done deliberately.
During the period when they had lived together, Ji Xingyu’s routine had gradually aligned with Yu Zhi’s. Even after they separated, following a brief spell of decadence, he still unconsciously returned to the same schedule as Yu Zhi.
“Morning,” Ji Xingyu greeted first.
Yu Zhi couldn’t very well ignore him in front of the cameras, after all, they were publicly acknowledged as good friends in the eyes of countless netizens.
So he nodded and replied, “Morning.”
After that, neither of them said anything more.
After hearing Ji Xingyu’s words the previous day, Yu Zhi had, for a fleeting moment, lost his focus. In that instant of distraction, he seemed to glimpse another shadow, which made him frown slightly. Still, he gave no response to Ji Xingyu’s confession.
And Ji Xingyu didn’t need a response. Since he had already said he would teach himself, then whatever he learned, and whether he would give up halfway, had nothing to do with Yu Zhi. Yu Zhi had neither the right to interfere nor the ability to stop him. The only thing he could do was watch and choose whether to accept it or not.
In front of so many production staff and industry insiders, Yu Zhi had no intention of saying more to Ji Xingyu, lest they expose the hidden entanglement between them.
Ji Xingyu watched Yu Zhi leave with a smile and followed after him. He had already figured it out. Yu Zhi was someone who responded to softness, not force. When Yu Zhi found himself unable to deal with something, that was precisely Ji Xingyu’s opportunity.
Within this production team, Ji Xingyu was unquestionably the biggest star. Many people tried to build connections with him, but he remained polite and distant, all business and no personal warmth.
Only with Yu Zhi did he laugh, tease, and speak freely, as though a lofty, untouchable immortal had descended into the mortal world.
The production team, of course, was well aware of the trending scandal between them. They deliberately gave the two of them plenty of shared screen time, after all, the show needed ratings. Otherwise, why invite celebrities at all? They might as well have cast ordinary professionals instead.
The content filmed by the production team mainly revolved around the daily life of tea farmers, while the guests’ task was to successfully produce a tin of tea made entirely by their own hands.
Roughly speaking, the content split was about twenty percent daily life and eighty percent tea-making, after all, filming only the former would be rather dull and monotonous.
The household where the guests stayed belonged to a major tea-farming family on the mountain. The house was relatively spacious, able to accommodate six guests along with the staff and equipment.
It was precisely for this reason that the production team had selected this household.
Since it was the weekend, the family’s teenage daughter was home from school. Curious about the filming, she was more than willing to appear on camera.
The sixteen-year-old girl got up early to prepare breakfast. When she saw the two best-looking guests returning from outside, she happily called out to them to eat.
“Uncle Ji, Brother Yu, breakfast’s ready!”
Ji Xingyu: “……”
Smiling, he said to the girl, “Little miss, can we negotiate something? Call me brother, not uncle. I’m not that old, am I? What kind of eyesight do you have?”
The girl asked, “Why?”
Ji Xingyu: “Do I look very old?”
Girl: “No.”
Ji Xingyu was puzzled. “Then why are you calling me uncle?”
The girl thought for a moment before answering, “Because I like the Uncle Yu you played in 《Stealing Light 》, so I want to call you uncle.”
Her father had passed away early, and she had always liked uncle-type male figures. Ji Xingyu’s role in《Stealing Light 》,where he played an uncle,had recently become her favorite. So upon seeing him, she instinctively wanted to call him uncle.
Ji Xingyu choked on his words. He began patiently trying to reason with her, “Look, a character is a character, and an actor is an actor. Just because I played an uncle doesn’t mean I’m an uncle in real life.”
He pointed at Yu Zhi, who was drinking water nearby. “I’m friends with this brother. If you call me uncle and him brother, doesn’t that mess up the generational order?”
The girl couldn’t stand his persistent persuasion and finally, reluctantly changed how she addressed him, though she was clearly unhappy about it. In her heart, she quietly moved Ji Xingyu down below Yu Zhi in her list of favorites.
This Brother Ji wasn’t as likable as he was in the movie.
How could he force the audience to break immersion like this?
Ji Xingyu had no idea he had just lost a young fan, and even if he did, he probably wouldn’t have cared.
Having successfully lowered his generation rank, he let out a sigh of relief. Then he glanced at Yu Zhi, raised an eyebrow, and seemed rather pleased with himself, as if asking for credit.
Yu Zhi: “……”
How is this guy getting more and more childish?
At this moment, the other guests were only just waking up. One actress stumbled out of her room, still bleary-eyed from sleep. After washing her face, she suddenly remembered there were cameras here, and that she wasn’t wearing any makeup. Startled, she hurriedly ran back to her room.
“Young people really do have better stamina. I used to be able to get up this early too, but not anymore.” A senior veteran walked out of the house, smiling as he looked at Yu Zhi.
This veteran held a high status in the industry and had an excellent reputation. He had been carefully selected by the production team to serve as the anchor guest.
That had been the original plan. But later, when Ji Xingyu expressed interest in joining, the production team couldn’t bear to pass up such a big Buddha nor did they want to lose the publicity from his scandal with Yu Zhi. Gritting their teeth, they signed him on.
As a result, Ji Xingyu became the biggest name on the show, which put the senior veteran in a somewhat awkward position.
However, the man was genuinely warm-hearted and straightforward. He harbored no jealousy toward younger artists and was even fond of mentoring them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have earned such a strong reputation in the industry.
He didn’t take issue with Ji Xingyu taking over the top billing. And Ji Xingyu wasn’t someone who disrespected others, so the two got along quite well. The production team breathed a sigh of relief.
What none of them expected, however, was that the true controller of the scene on this show would turn out to be Yu Zhi, a newcomer who had only just debuted and was still very young.
Recently, Yu Zhi had been riding a wave of popularity. 《The Chronicles of Imperial Court》 had become a hit, yet the one who gained the most attention was Yu Zhi. Even Tang Chuyi, who played the main character, had been overshadowed.
In many people’s minds, even if Yu Zhi wasn’t the type to show off, he should at least feel proud of himself. After all, his achievements were more than enough to justify it.
But that wasn’t the case.
Among the guests on this show, there was a Film Emperor with an almost godlike status, a well-respected veteran, once-popular but now quiet young actress and newcomer stars, and a reclusive singer with a withdrawn personality.
Yet Yu Zhi treated everyone the same, neither fawning over those above him nor acting arrogantly toward those below. He met everyone on equal footing. Because of this, he could talk to almost anyone, and he got along well with them all.
From celebrities to ordinary people, from guests to staff, everyone began to notice how different Yu Zhi was.
Even those who had once wondered how someone so previously unknown could become friends with Ji Xingyu now felt they understood. Once you got to know Yu Zhi, it was hard not to want to be friends with him.
Whether standing atop a pedestal or sunk in the depths, if one stayed there long enough, they would eventually want to come back down to the ground. And without a doubt, Yu Zhi was the one who could lead them there.
Leaving personality aside, Yu Zhi also happened to be widely knowledgeable and multi-talented. No matter what topic you brought up, he could pick it up effortlessly, and more often than not, he would explain things in a way that was both accessible and insightful, getting straight to the point. It made people unable to resist continuing the conversation with him.
And so, throughout the show, Ji Xingyu watched as Yu Zhi formed an age-transcending friendship with the senior veteran, got along seamlessly with the others, became the favorite big brother of the ordinary young girl, and without question, emerged as the central figure of the entire production, someone even Ji Xingyu himself couldn’t outshine.
Even though he knew Yu Zhi was well-liked, Ji Xingyu still couldn’t help the surge of jealousy rising in his heart.
It even led to him damaging quite a few tea leaves while picking tea that day.
Watching this, the young girl couldn’t help but come over, exasperated. “Oh no, Brother Ji, just step aside and let me do it. If I picked tea like you, my mom would’ve already smacked my butt.”
The implication was clear, you’re terrible at this.
At this point, it wasn’t even a hint anymore; it was outright blunt.
Ji Xingyu: “……”
Pushed out of the tea-picking group by a teenage girl, Ji Xingyu stood off to the side alone, questioning his life choices.
The camera zoomed in for a close-up of his face.
He couldn’t help but think: Why did I even come here to do this boring work? Just to be disliked like this?!
“Have some water.”
A large, transparent cup of water was held out in front of him, accompanied by a gentle, faintly smiling voice from beside him.
Ji Xingyu’s gaze fell on the hand holding the water cup. Following it upward, he looked at the person who had come over. In Yu Zhi’s usually calm eyes, there was a fleeting trace of amusement, so light it was almost imperceptible, yet still enough to make Ji Xingyu feel both embarrassed and irritated.
He took the cup expressionlessly, drank from it expressionlessly, and… cursed himself inwardly with the same expressionless face.
The peacock hadn’t even managed to properly spread its feathers before the other party had already seen him make a fool of himself, and he still thought he could pursue him?
What a joke, he might as well be daydreaming.
Ji Xingyu refused to admit defeat. If others could do it, why couldn’t he?
He stepped forward, ready to rally himself and make a comeback, when that gentle voice sounded by his ear again.
“You’re pinching it wrong.”
The familiar voice rang out once more. Ji Xingyu’s hand paused, and then he heard the other continue, giving instructions.
Though calling it instructions wasn’t quite right, guidance would be more accurate.
It was still not fully daylight. The group had started picking at the optimal pre-dawn time, and even counting everything, it had been less than an hour so far.
The other guests had all gone from clumsy beginners to barely managing the task, still awkward and unpolished, very much the level of ordinary novices.
Of course, there were two exceptions. Ji Xingyu was exceptionally bad, while Yu Zhi was exceptionally good, clearly not a beginner at all.
With Yu Zhi offering pointers from the side, and Ji Xingyu unwilling to look completely hopeless, he listened carefully. In the end, although he still couldn’t match the others, he managed to scrape by; at the very least, the young girl stopped voicing her complaints out loud.
Of course, what she didn’t say out loud didn’t necessarily reflect what she thought inside.
In any case, Ji Xingyu’s standing in her heart plummeted at lightning speed, while Yu Zhi’s shot up just as quickly.
Brother Yu is really so smart, like he knows how to do everything, if only he could be my real older brother.
Watching the girl circle around Yu Zhi, Ji Xingyu felt a faint bitterness in his chest.
He knew perfectly well that this was just Yu Zhi’s nature, and he also knew the girl harbored no romantic feelings toward him, but he still couldn’t help feeling displeased.
After the tea-picking came the step of letting the leaves wither in the sun. This task was simple, and Ji Xingyu handled it fairly well. However, since everyone else also did a decent job, his results didn’t stand out at all.
Which made him even more annoyed.
So why had he even chased after this production team in the first place? He might as well have waited until filming ended before pursuing Yu Zhi. Now look at him, whatever Film Emperor aura he had was completely gone. In Yu Zhi’s eyes, he was probably just a somewhat older fool.
The moment he thought about his age, Ji Xingyu felt another pang of frustration.
After all, this was a farmhouse, there weren’t as many rooms as in a hotel, so the guests could only squeeze two to a room.
Because Yu Zhi and Ji Xingyu were good friends who had trended on the hot search, the two of them were, unsurprisingly, assigned to share a room.
Thinking about it, it was rather ironic. They had once lived together, yet this program ended up being the only time they actually shared a room and slept in the same space as part of a formal arrangement.
And there weren’t any extra beds here. The two of them were forced to sleep on the same bed. Although it was large, they were still two grown men, once they lay down and each took their own blanket, the bed was completely filled.
After washing up, Yu Zhi returned and glanced at Ji Xingyu, who was burrowed in bed, sulking under the covers. He rummaged through his suitcase, found something, and tossed it onto Ji Xingyu’s bedside.
“Apply it yourself.”
Ji Xingyu poked his head out from under the blanket and saw a tube of ointment above him. He picked it up and took a look, it was for repairing skin abrasions.
Tea-picking looked simple, but it wasn’t easy in practice. Especially with long periods of repetitive motion, even something simple could make the hands sore and uncomfortable, particularly for someone who wasn’t used to manual work.
Ji Xingyu squeezed some onto his hands and rubbed it in. A faint, cool medicinal fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose, it was even a bit pleasant.
The itching and soreness in his hands eased considerably.
“Why are you so skilled at this?” he asked. “I don’t understand this line of work at all, I don’t know anything.”
Yu Zhi didn’t elaborate, only saying, “I did some research before coming.”
Ji Xingyu fell silent for a moment.
Just as Yu Zhi was about to get into bed to rest, he suddenly heard the other speak again:
“Yu Zhi, did you research me too?”
Yu Zhi’s motion of drying his hair paused.
Ji Xingyu lifted his head to look at him, his gaze fixed directly on Yu Zhi. “Someone like you wouldn’t do anything without thorough preparation.”
“Back then, not long after I approached you, you agreed. You probably weren’t being truthful when you said you only got close to me because you found me unpleasant and wanted to get back at me, were you?”
Yu Zhi listened quietly, watching as Ji Xingyu got off the bed, walked up to him, and—
—watching the complex, unreadable emotions in his eyes.
“You’re too calm.”
“And too proper.”
“Someone like you, even if others offend you, you’d only retaliate through legitimate means.”
“If what you said were true that I offended you by treating you as a substitute, then you would have openly and aboveboard struck back at me.”
“Not used something as roundabout and exhausting as deliberately getting close to me.”
Ji Xingyu folded his arms and walked straight up to Yu Zhi, looking at him intently. “So, why did you get close to me in the first place?”
Faced with Ji Xingyu like this, Yu Zhi found himself momentarily at a loss for words.
He hadn’t expected Ji Xingyu to think this far, nor had he expected him to ask it outright.
“Couldn’t it just be that I disliked you so much I was willing to hurt myself just to hurt you?”
Ji Xingyu lifted the tube of ointment in his hand and held it up in front of Yu Zhi, the corner of his lips curving slightly. “You call this disliking me?”
Yu Zhi thought to himself: These days, even being a decent person is a mistake.
He might not particularly like Ji Xingyu, but he truly didn’t dislike him either. Taking care of others casually was simply a habit of his when it came to people he got along reasonably well with. Even with Ji Xingyu, he had never thought to deliberately change that.
Yet it was precisely this unchanged behavior that had now given rise to suspicion.
“So, can you tell me your reason for getting close to me back then?” Ji Xingyu looked at him, still waiting for that answer.
But he was destined not to get it. Since it involved the mission, Yu Zhi wouldn’t say.
“Then just take it as me having a lapse in judgment back then, doing something foolish,” Yu Zhi said. He sidestepped Ji Xingyu, put away the towel he had been using to dry his hair, and then got into bed as if nothing had happened, paying no mind to Ji Xingyu standing there with his lips pressed together, watching him.
Like two armies in standoff, in the end, it was Ji Xingyu who lost heart first and admitted defeat. Resigned, he climbed into bed as well, staring at the back of Yu Zhi’s head, no one knew what he was thinking.
He couldn’t help but think back over the course of his encounters with Yu Zhi, yet in the end, he still couldn’t find the answers he wanted.
Back then, he hadn’t paid much attention, but now, in retrospect, Yu Zhi really didn’t seem like the type to take revenge in such a manner.
So then… what exactly was the point of that revenge?
And that ever-present, incessantly lingering white moonlight, his unattainable ideal still left Ji Xingyu completely baffled.
The next day, Yu Zhi got up early. It was raining, and the paths were muddy, so he couldn’t go for his morning run. Instead, he went to the kitchen to help the young girl prepare breakfast.
Her grandparents were busy with chores around the house, so she had taken on the cooking herself.
She had always thought her skills were decent, after all, she had learned from her grandmother, who was said to have been the head chef for village banquets when she was young.
But seeing Yu Zhi cook made her realize she might not be all that capable after all.
Yu Zhi can pick tea, do chores, cook, and act… how is he so competent? And who could ever measure up to him? Especially that other guy who’s so clumsy.
The young girl said sympathetically, “Looks like Brother Ji won’t be able to catch up with Brother Yu.”
Yu Zhi’s hand trembled slightly as he served the dishes. He glanced at her and said helplessly, “You’re too young to be saying things like that.”
The girl snorted. “Don’t talk down to me because I’m young. I’ve watched plenty of TV dramas. You can’t fool me. Brother Ji clearly likes you.”
“So what?” Yu Zhi replied casually.
The girl feigned a deep sigh. “Sigh… looks like you two won’t work out then.”
Brother Yu clearly doesn’t like Brother Ji.
Two people this good-looking, how could they not be together? It’s such a delight to the eyes.
Hearing her say that, Yu Zhi couldn’t help sneaking a few glances at Ji Xingyu across the breakfast table.
This person really is that blatant, that unrestrained? So obvious that even a little girl can tell he likes him?
Because Ji Xingyu’s attitude hadn’t changed much from before, just his temper had been reined in, Yu Zhi hadn’t even noticed at first.
It took a reminder to make him realize something was amiss.
He’d have to find a chance to talk to him about it.
Since it was raining, all of today’s filming was indoors. With a break at noon for a nap, Yu Zhi went to rest for an hour.
When he woke up, he heard someone knocking urgently at the door.
“Brother Yu!”
Yu Zhi got out of bed, frowning as he opened the door, and saw the young girl holding something in her hands, panicked. “Brother Yu, Brother Ji is missing!”
“He told me to hold this for a moment, but when I waited a little while, I couldn’t find him anywhere!”
She held out her hands, revealing the item inside: the black star-shaped earring that Ji Xingyu never parted with.
====================
