After a D-List Celebrity and Their A-List Ex-Partner Join a Travel Reality Show - Chapter 13

At the very least, in terms of handwriting, Shen He.

“It wasn’t anything else,” He Lan added.

He carefully examined the few photos of the moose he had just taken. After confirming everything was in order, he put the camera down and returned to his usual devil-may-care demeanor. He turned around and went to tease Zuo Jiaxi, who only dared to feed the moose calves.

Yu An was left scratching his head, completely baffled: “Why did he suddenly get so deep?”

When the group finished touring the locations on the map and started heading back, the sky had already begun to darken.

Passing by the store they had spotted on the way there, He Lan walked a few steps ahead to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Xiao Chen and said, “I am going to buy something over there first. You guys go ahead, I will catch up shortly.”

Xiao Chen nodded understandingly: “Understood, Teacher He.”

He Lan nodded. While everyone else was busy taking photos of the scenery, he quickly stepped out of the queue.

The souvenir shop was not very large, but it looked more crowded inside than the area where people were watching the animals. He Lan noticed that most of the shoppers were young girls picking out souvenirs, and only then did he feel a wave of awkwardness.

However, the variety of souvenirs quickly occupied his attention. He was attracted to something shaped like deer antlers. Upon walking over and reading the English description, he discovered it was actually a bottle opener made from real, intact antlers.

How novel. I should get one.

Just as he was holding it in his hand, playing with it and deciding to buy one, two voices suddenly came from behind him.

“This profile, it looks so familiar! It looks like my pick.”

“The handsome guy wearing the black windbreaker over there? They are filming a show right now, right? We should not run into them that easily, but you should go check it out. If he is handsome, help me ask for his contact info!”

He Lan’s footsteps faltered. Subconsciously, he touched his face.

Damn.

He really was that handsome guy.

He Lan prayed in his heart that they would not actually come over to ask for his contact information. He had not expected to bump into Chinese fans in such a niche place, so he was not wearing a mask, only a beanie, which did not hide anything at all. For a moment, he did not know whether to turn around or not. He had no choice but to pretend to continue browsing the souvenirs.

However, the gazes from behind him felt like needles on his back, moving as he moved. Behind him came the sound of a camera shutter clicking. He Lan sighed and decided to take the initiative. He closed his eyes for a second, put on his official professional smile, then turned around, waved, and greeted them with a grin: “What a coincidence, are you guys here to buy?”

“AHHHH!”

“It is my brother!”

He Lan’s remaining words were completely drowned out by their twin screams. People in the store all turned to look in their direction. He Lan immediately raised his hand, using the antler bottle opener to futilely cover half his face, trying to stop them from screaming: “Yes, it is me. Keep it down, please, keep it down.”

The two fans noticed the surrounding gazes and, although they finally stopped screaming, they remained in a state of extreme excitement at seeing their idol in a foreign country. One of the fans took two tentative steps back and asked impatiently: “Can we take a photo, baobei? Oops, Teacher He, we are your fans!”

The other fan nodded vigorously: “Yes, yes, we are, the real deal!”

He Lan was amused by their reaction and nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes, of course you can.”

After asking other customers to help take the photo, the fans asked: “Can we have an autograph, too?”

He Lan: “Sure.”

Upon hearing this, the two fans immediately dug photos out of their bags and handed them to He Lan. With two photos in his hand, while waiting for them to find a pen, he looked at the souvenirs again. Thinking that girls likely had better taste than he did, he asked: “Do you know which souvenirs are the best?”

The fans replied: “The ones that sell the most are the antler fridge magnets, various animal plushies, and the bottle opener you are holding. Oh, and if it is for a gift, you can also buy some of these small ornaments here.”

The fans found a pen and handed it to He Lan, asking with a gossipy look: “Is Teacher He buying souvenirs to take back as gifts?”

He Lan nodded, then shook his head, feigning seriousness: “That is a secret. You cannot tell anyone.”

The fans laughed: “Alright, alright, we get it.”

He Lan looked confusedly at the auntie smiles that had suddenly appeared on their faces. He lowered his head and flipped open the photos in his hand. After seeing the person in the first photo, he froze for a moment, then flipped to the second one.

The person in the first photo was not him; it was Shen Shiqin. The person in the second photo was him. In both photos, the two of them were dressed in very similar styles and color tones. He Lan studied the two photos for a while. He looked at the fans and asked: “Did you mix these up?”

However, as he looked up, he was met with two pairs of eyes brimming with expectation. He Lan’s words stuck in his throat. So they were fans, just CP fans, right?

He changed to a more tactful way of asking: “Do you want me to help sign Teacher Shen’s name?”

The fans looked expectant: “Can you? Can you? Can you?”

One pointed to the photo of He Lan and said: “Sign Teacher Shen’s name on this one!”

Then she pointed to the other one: “And sign Teacher He’s own name on this one!”

After saying that, she felt she was being too pushy and added: “If it is inconvenient, just signing Teacher He’s own name is fine too!”

He Lan had always been one to grant requests. He quickly signed his own name as requested. When it came time to sign Shen Shiqin’s name, the tip of his pen paused on the photo. Seeing this, the fans immediately pulled up Shen Shiqin’s signature on their phone to show He Lan.

He Lan did not look at it; he simply lowered his head and quickly scribbled “Shen Shiqin” as a signature. Their signing styles were quite different. The characters for “He Lan” were written with a bold, elegant flair, while the three characters for “Shen Shiqin” were written with an air of refined, effortless grace.

The Shen-He CP fans had once boasted that, at the very least, when it came to handwriting, they were right about who belonged together.

He Lan added his signature dot at the end, handed the two photos back to the fans, and said: “All done. Thank you both for introducing these souvenirs to me. Have a great time.”

The fans solemnly took the autographed photos with both hands, feeling like they were going to faint from happiness. Upon hearing what He Lan said, they nodded immediately: “Yes! Teacher He, you have a great trip too!”

He Lan replied and watched them leave with a smile. Just as he turned around to continue browsing for souvenirs, the fans, who had already reached the door, shouted to him in a low voice: “Teacher He, please take good care of Teacher Shen! Try not to argue too much!” After that, they added even more quietly, “Though you never win arguments against Teacher Shen anyway, never mind, just do not fight!”

He Lan’s actions paused. He turned to look at the two fans: “Right.”

When He Lan finished his shopping and exited the forest park, the other guests were already waiting in the vehicle.

He Lan climbed on board carrying the bags. Zuo Jiaxi, who had sharp eyes, immediately spotted the shopping bags and asked curiously: “What did Brother He Lan buy? These bags look quite nice.”

He Lan had bought quite a few souvenirs; as long as they looked nice or novel, he had snapped them all up. Perhaps because the shop owner saw how much he was buying, he had even gifted him several beautiful pieces of wrapping paper, and everything was already wrapped and placed in the tote bags. While wrapping one of the small items, the shopkeeper had patted his shoulder and said with a smile: “Ønsker dere lykke til.”

It was a phrase in Norwegian. He did not understand what it meant, but looking at that warm smile, he replied in English, “Thank you.”

He Lan said: “I saw the souvenir shop on the way back, so I picked up a few things along the way.”

He held the tote bags and handed the wrapped boxes to the guests one by one.

“Thanks, this is very thoughtful.” Yu An looked at the beautifully wrapped box in his hand and asked, “What is inside?”

“Antler bottle stoppers and fridge magnets.” He Lan thought for a moment and added, “I just bought whatever looked fun.”

Hearing this, Zuo Jiaxi remembered something and pulled two small medals out of his pocket: “Almost forgot, Xiao Chen gave these to us just now. One for everyone.”

“Since Teacher Shen and Brother He Lan are staying together, I will leave it to you to deliver his, okay?”

“Sure.” He Lan took it, only then remembering what Xiao Chen had said upon arrival: everyone could pick up a souvenir medal before leaving, and the program production team would cover the cost. The medal looked like it was made of bronze and felt very high-quality to the touch. He turned the medal over to the front and saw the animal engraved on it.

He traced his finger over the slightly raised animal pattern and discovered that both medals happened to have white moose imprinted on them.

Watching how much he seemed to love them, Zuo Jiaxi puffed out his chest: “I specially asked Xiao Chen to pick these out! Because I kept hearing Brother He Lan talking about the white moose when we arrived.”

“Though, it is quite a coincidence. These medals are becoming harder and harder to find. Xiao Chen searched for a long time before he found two with the white moose.”

He Lan listened to what he was saying and silently tucked the small medal into his innermost pocket.

When the guests returned to the homestay, even though it was only about six o’clock in the evening, the sky had already turned completely dark.

Everyone went into the main recording room to remove their microphones and other equipment. Seeing He Lan walk into the room, Meng Yichun immediately trotted over and said, “Teacher He!”

He Lan felt a chill run down his spine. He stepped back twice and said with certainty: “You want something from me.”

Meng Yichun had not expected to be exposed in a single second. He let his lips droop and said, “Brother Shen has not talked to me all afternoon. He has not even replied to my messages.”

“Serves you right,” He Lan said while taking off his equipment. “With that temper of his, who told you to provoke him?”

“?” Meng Yichun clenched his fists, but after a long silence, he dropped them powerlessly. “Teacher He, you are so handsome and kind-hearted, do me a favor.”

“What is in it for me?” He Lan finished packing up, found a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs while asking.

Meng Yichun’s mouth twitched. He is not even asking what the favor is, just straight to the payment?

He composed his expression and held up three fingers.

He Lan nodded understandingly: “Oh, an increase of 300,000 in the appearance fee.”

” ?!” Meng Yichun’s eyes widened. What kind of lion’s share is this?

“You really dare to ask for anything!” Meng Yichun could not keep up the act, put his hands on his hips, and accused, “The contract already specifies the amount, why should I pay?”

“Tsk, I am tired. Going back to sleep.” He Lan stood up, stretched, and made to leave.

“Hey!” Thinking about the livestream banquet tonight, knowing that as long as his Brother Shen was there, the viewership numbers would absolutely skyrocket, Meng Yichun took a deep breath and called out to He Lan, “What is the rush? I agree!”

He Lan felt like his ears were buzzing from that shout and dug at them: “Fine. Go ahead, what favor do you need from your brother?”

Gaining confidence, Meng Yichun said huffily: “Get Brother Shen to come to the banquet later, and tell him that I was wrong. I should not have tricked him into coming on the variety show!”

He Lan suppressed his laughter: “Alright, I will try my best. But given the current state of our relationship, I cannot guarantee he will actually listen to me.”

“The money is already promised to you! The mission must be completed!” Meng Yichun remained confident.

He Lan turned and headed out of the room, waving a hand and saying: “Alright, I will go give it a try.”

Once he was gone, Meng Yichun let out a sigh of relief. He picked up his thermos, took a couple of sips of hot water while frowning, and then silently gave himself a pat on the back.

Spending 300,000 to get his brother to show his face on the banquet livestream, the returns would definitely be worth more than 300,000. Hm, Director Xiao Meng. Not bad at all, you really know how to do business.

When He Lan entered the room, it was pitch black. He glanced toward the bedroom, feeling a bit surprised that Shen Shiqin had slept for so long. Is he still not awake? It was possible he was awake, but too lazy to get up and turn on the lights.

Thinking this, He Lan took off his jacket, hung it up carefully, and changed into his slippers. Carrying the bag of souvenirs, he headed toward the bedroom. He reached the bedroom door, though he did not rush to open it.

He Lan looked at the pitch-black space visible through the crack in the door. He paused, lowering his hand that was about to knock. He turned the doorknob, opened the door a crack very quietly, and slipped inside. Just as he had expected, the bedroom was also pitch black.

He Lan tip-toed to the bedside, glanced at Shen Shiqin, who had wrapped himself up like a silkworm, and placed the shopping bag on the nightstand. He sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes gradually adjusting to the darkness. The breathing of the person on the bed was so shallow that it was barely noticeable.

His phone chimed. He Lan came back to his senses and opened it. It was a message from Meng Yichun:

“Teacher He, is he awake yet? The dinner starts in less than two hours, and he still needs to get his makeup and hair done.”

“Soon. Do not rush me. I will make sure to get him back to you in one piece.”

He Lan put his phone away and turned his gaze back to the person sleeping on the bed. Seeing that there was no sign of the person waking up, He Lan patted Shen Shiqin’s arm through the quilt and said: “Time to get up, Teacher Shen.”

Teacher Shen had no reaction.

He Lan tsked and raised his voice slightly: “I said, Teacher Shen, your dining time has arrived. Get up.”

Seeing that there was no reaction, He Lan silently reached out, feeling around in the dark until he found the position of Teacher Shen’s nose, trying to feel his breath. However, the next second, a rush of warm air sprayed against He Lan’s fingers.

His heart jumped, and he flipped on the bedside lamp.