Chapter 78: Who Have You Truly Seen?

Her heart pounded wildly, as if it might leap straight out of her throat. Li Jiayan stared at Xu Junze’s retreating figure as he ran, her fingers tightly intertwined, knuckles turning white with anxiety.

Please, let him catch up!

It was as if the heavens heard her silent plea. At last, the car slowed, rolling to a gradual stop.

Xu Junze caught up. He leaned into the back seat, rummaging for a moment, and finally emerged from the car with a folded map in his hand.

The vehicle started up again and drove away.

Xu Junze, breathless and sweating, made his way back, waving the map from a distance and calling out with a broad grin, “Found it!”

Li Jiayan’s eyes burned with relief and gratitude; she let out a shaky sigh. That was close.

When Xu Junze finally returned to the entrance, he pulled two tickets from the map and handed them to Li Jiayan, smiling, his face glistening with sweat. “Thank goodness I caught up.”

“I’m so sorry, it was careless of me,” Li Jiayan quickly apologized, fishing tissues from her backpack and handing them to him.

Xu Junze wiped his brow and flashed her a sunny smile. “Hey, it’s nothing. Everyone slips up sometimes.”

With that reassurance, Li Jiayan felt much better. This little mishap, oddly enough, had drawn them closer.

Together, they entered The Crater Lake, tickets in hand.

Moments later, the second pair arrived.

Zhang Chen and Qi Jiajia got out of the car. Unlike the others, they’d already anticipated the ticket issue—those two tickets tucked into the map at the start were simply too conspicuous to miss.

With tickets ready, they strode briskly into the scenic area.

The livestream audience was amused—

[They walk like two hitmen. All they need are guns.]

[They see no romance, only victory or defeat.]

…

Up ahead, Qi Jiajia spotted the shadow of a cameraman.

She grew alert, nudging Zhang Chen. “There’s a pair ahead of us, moving even faster.”

Zhang Chen followed her gaze. Sure enough, there they were. He quickened his pace.

“Who is it? Lu Zhou and Fangfei?” he asked.

“I can’t tell,” she replied.

“Come on, let’s catch them.”

…

The two broke into a jog.

“I see now—it’s Jiayan and Junze,” Qi Jiajia announced, her sharp eyes picking out their identities.

They caught up, then overtook the pair. Zhang Chen tossed a sly grin over his shoulder. “Oh, it’s you two?”

Li Jiayan was surprised. “Hey? When did you get here?”

“Just now,” Qi Jiajia replied, only to be hurried along by Zhang Chen as he urged her to find the task card.

“They seem to have endless energy,” Li Jiayan remarked, watching their competitors run up the slope with backpacks bouncing.

“No need to rush. Let's keep our own pace—we’re not in a race,” Xu Junze said.

Li Jiayan nodded. There was no need to burn out so soon; the day had only just begun.

Zhang Chen and Qi Jiajia were the first to reach the task station.

“Please ride a tandem bicycle around the lake. Find five locations marked with blue flags, and take a check-in photo together at each!” Qi Jiajia read from the card.

“That’s it?” Zhang Chen raised an eyebrow.

“What more did you expect? I bet the blue flags won’t be easy to spot.” Qi Jiajia handed the card back to the staff.

Zhang Chen had already turned to the bikes. “Front or back?” he asked.

Qi Jiajia glanced at the gears. “I’ll take the front.”

“Alright, GO! GO! GO!” Zhang Chen was already astride the bike.

…No extra words wasted—always in a hurry.

So be it. Qi Jiajia mounted the bike. They pedaled off, eyes sweeping the landscape for a blue flag.

Riding lakeside, the breathtaking blue expanse stunned them both.

“Wow! It’s beautiful!” Qi Jiajia cried out.

“This blue hardly seems real,” Zhang Chen said, pausing for the first time, no longer in a hurry.

“I’ve heard the stories, but seeing it in person is something else,” Qi Jiajia replied, automatically reaching into her backpack. “Wait, let me take a photo before we move on!”

Zhang Chen shot her a look. “With what?”

Qi Jiajia froze. Right—no phones allowed…

They continued riding, circling the enormous lake, searching for even one blue flag. They cycled until exhausted, but not a single flag came into view.

“I think the producers did this on purpose. Making us hunt for blue flags beside a blue lake—anyone would go color-blind,” Zhang Chen grumbled, ready for a break.

Qi Jiajia, still pedaling up front, felt the strain growing. Glancing behind, she realized Zhang Chen wasn’t pedaling at all. Her face darkened. “No wonder it’s so hard! You weren’t even moving!”

The livestream comments exploded—

[I’m about to curse, seriously, what a jerk.]

[If Zhang Chen treats Ye Fangfei the same way, I get why his relationships only last three days.]

[Men act so differently depending on whether they like you.]

[The one in back always works harder. He just happened to stop when she turned. No need to be so harsh.]

[If it were Ye Fangfei, he’d probably carry her.]

[Zhang really only fawns over Ye Fangfei.]

…

Zhang Chen steadied the bike, fanning himself. “Let’s rest a minute. Drink some water.”

Qi Jiajia got off, gazing at the blue volcanic lake. “Do you think we missed it earlier?”

“Who knows? Could be,” Zhang Chen muttered, gulping water, already tired of the show. As he glanced back down the road, he spotted Li Jiayan and Xu Junze on their bikes.

But instead of following the main path, they turned down a side trail and stopped.

Zhang Chen’s eyes lit up. He capped his water and stuffed it in his pack. “There! Looks like they found it.”

They turned around and cycled back. Sure enough, at the fork, a blue flag fluttered on the slope.

Li Jiayan and Xu Junze were already unsealing the task card.

“What does it say?” Zhang Chen leaned over to ask.

The sudden approach startled Li Jiayan, who glared and almost kicked him. “Gosh, you scared me! Why so sneaky?”

“Hey, we’re on camera—watch your image.” Zhang Chen laughed, dodging her, “You’re easily startled, aren’t you?”

Qi Jiajia, watching Zhang Chen, was surprised. He acted so different around Li Jiayan than with her.

“You two were running so fast, we thought you’d finished already. Turns out we found it first,” Xu Junze joked.

“Our eyes aren’t as sharp as yours,” Qi Jiajia replied.

Zhang Chen pressed, “Come on, what’s the task?”

Xu Junze read the card aloud:

“Take a photo with your partner, mimicking the pose in the example as a check-in. The photo must include at least blue sky, the crater lake, and a chipmunk.”

The sample photo showed a couple: the woman standing on a rock, leaning down toward the man, who looked up at her with a smile—so close, they could almost kiss.

Li Jiayan blushed at the idea, looking at the staff. “You really know how to stir things up.”

Meanwhile, Qi Jiajia looked mortified. The thought of standing face-to-face with Zhang Chen, so close, made her skin crawl.

It was clear that Zhang Chen’s lack of consideration for women during the journey had squandered whatever goodwill his “wealthy” status had once given him in Qi Jiajia’s eyes.

While the women blushed and squirmed, the men’s reactions were different.

Xu Junze secretly looked forward to the sparks this might ignite.

Zhang Chen, on the other hand, found the pose simple—no challenge, except for the chipmunk. He turned away immediately to find one.

“Jiajia, come here. Let’s shoot from this angle,” Zhang Chen called.

Qi Jiajia followed, climbing onto a nearby rock.

But as she stood, she found herself towering over him, forced to bend awkwardly to get close to his face, as in the sample photo…

From Zhang Chen’s perspective, she loomed over him like a mountain. His face darkened. “This angle’s all wrong. Forget it, let’s find a shorter rock.”

The viewers in the livestream burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, Li Jiayan and Xu Junze had found a perfect spot—mountains, water, blue sky, and chipmunks darting on the rocks.

They both stood on rocks, Li Jiayan’s slightly higher. She leaned down, drawing close to him.

Xu Junze held his breath, not daring to move. It was his first time seeing her up close—her features were delicate, her skin even better than he’d imagined.

“Is this close enough?” Li Jiayan asked the photographer, uneasy.

“Closer,” the photographer replied.

With no choice, Li Jiayan leaned in, unable to meet Xu Junze’s eyes, instead focusing on his nose…

At this angle, his upturned face drew her attention to his nostrils…

Li Jiayan couldn’t hold back a laugh, biting her lip.

Xu Junze didn’t know what had amused her, but her joy was infectious, and his own stiff smile softened into something genuine.

“Good, very good. Now look at each other,” the photographer said, snapping the shot.

Just then, Chu Yao and Wen Yiming arrived at the first blue flag.

Chu Yao’s heart seemed to quake, a dull ache blooming in her chest.

It was just a task, but the light in his eyes—what did it mean?

Wen Yiming’s gaze, meanwhile, was on Qi Jiajia, who seemed unhappy, searching for a spot with Zhang Chen, the two apparently at odds.

He smiled to himself: It looks like I’m still her best travel companion.

At the same time, lagging far behind everyone else, Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei finally arrived at the entrance to The Crater Lake.

Ye Fangfei was still asleep, never having woken up along the way. Lu Zhou wondered if she’d been up all night.

When the car stopped, he gently nudged her arm. “Wake up.”

Ye Fangfei blinked groggily, frowning at him, a touch of annoyance in her sleepy gaze.

“What is it?” Her voice was unexpectedly soft, husky with sleep.

Lu Zhou was charmed by her drowsiness. Smiling, he said, “We’re here.”

“That fast?” Ye Fangfei yawned behind her hand, grumbling, “I was just about to take a bite of the roast chicken leg I bought in my dream, and you woke me up before I could.”

Lu Zhou laughed. “Why don’t you go back to sleep and finish your chicken leg before we go in?”

Ye Fangfei stretched, surprised. “Can you really do that?”

“Of course. I do it all the time. Haven’t you tried?”

Ye Fangfei shook her head. “I’ll try next time.”

The two strolled leisurely toward the entrance.

The livestream audience:

[Are these two on vacation?]

[Everyone else is almost done, and you two are still not even inside.]

[It’s like there’s no sugar, but also sugar—CP fans are going crazy, who can understand?]

…