After a D-List Celebrity and Their A-List Ex-Partner Join a Travel Reality Show - Chapter 6

Shen Shiqin smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes. Upon hearing He Lan’s words, he retorted, “Teacher He, why did you not pull the reins faster just now? Someone who did not know better might think you did it on purpose. Also, who was the one telling me not to feed them before the race?”

He Lan was choked by his own words, biting his back teeth in frustration. He had indeed stopped the other man from feeding them ham before the race. It seemed like that did happen. Besides, saying it out loud made it sound as if he had purposely let go of the reins just to hold onto Shen Shiqin.

He had simply been slow to react, which was why he failed to hold the reins. Who would want to hold him anyway? He had hugged him enough years ago, thank you very much! Thinking of this, he suddenly recalled how Shen Shiqin had clung to him like an octopus last night. He remembered Shen Shiqin pressing tightly against him to avoid falling off the edge of the single bed, leaving He Lan no choice but to wrap his left arm around him. He remembered what he felt at the time: Shen Shiqin had truly lost weight, his shoulder blades noticeably more prominent than before.

He Lan shook his head. No, where was his mind wandering?

Shen Shiqin caught sight of him lost in thought for no reason, retracted his gaze, and continued petting the dogs.

He Lan finished his internal debate but still felt something was off. He watched the dogs wagging their tails in comfort after eating their fill. He ruffled the head of the Husky nearest to him and pinched its ears. “Full now, are you?” he said, feigning menace. “Once you are full, run properly later. You are not allowed to be lured away so easily again. Did you hear me?”

However, the Husky merely stood up, tilted its head slightly toward He Lan, shook it twice, and then turned around with great elegance. It paced over to Shen Shiqin’s side, nudged Shen Shiqin’s feet, and lay down.

He Lan: “?” What was that supposed to mean?

Shen Shiqin rubbed the dog’s head: “Such a good boy.”

The dog nudged Shen Shiqin’s hand with its nose, rolled over, and exposed its belly.

Shen Shiqin smiled: “Good dog.”

He Lan: “??”

The staff member spoke up at the right moment: “Since the sleds from both groups veered off the correct track, this round is considered a loss for both.”

Hearing this, Zuo Jiaxi whispered a weak rebuttal: “How is it possible to win if things are run this way?”

He Lan glanced at the staff member in the distance who was busy reloading the now-empty barrel with fish meat. “The production team is messing with us on purpose.”

On the other side, having just experienced the thrill of speed, the atmosphere remained serene. The reindeer sleds of Yu An’s group and Yuan Kuanglun’s group were slow, but they offered a different kind of experience. For them, this path did not feel like a race track at all, but rather a sightseeing route.

The reindeer group came over slowly and saw the two sleds parked by the side of the road. They were all stunned. The two sleds were parked side-by-side, and the four people sitting on them were each busy with their own business. Shen Shiqin and Duan Nan were using ham sausages they had gotten from somewhere to feed the dogs, while He Lan and Zuo Jiaxi were still arguing about which dog was better behaved.

Yu An saw them from afar and asked curiously, “Why did you stop here?”

Hearing the voice, the four looked over in unison. Ke Tongtong, who still held her camera in position, saw the scene and snapped a photo subconsciously. After she finished and tucked the camera away, she realized it was the perfect moment. She excitedly tapped Yu An on the shoulder. “Sister Yu An, now is the time! Let us hurry and overtake Kuanglun!”

Yu An tightened her reins and, before Yuan Kuanglun could react, increased the speed of the reindeer. Thus, the Husky group watched helplessly as Yu An and Ke Tongtong drove their reindeer sled, passing them at a steady pace. When passing in front of He Lan, Yu An even turned her head to nod at him in greeting.

He Lan silently gripped the reins in his hands. He had an inexplicable feeling that his intelligence had been insulted.

Yuan Kuanglun followed closely behind to take second place. The production team waited at the finish line. After all four groups reached the destination, Meng Yichun announced, “In the first round, Yu An and Ke Tongtong’s group came in first, Yuan Kuanglun’s group in second, and the results of the other two groups are invalidated.”

The group with Yu An clearly did not know what had happened, and after it was explained, they did not hold back their mockery toward the dog sled group.

Shen Shiqin felt that the dogs had been fed enough, so he patted the snow off his body and prepared to stand up. However, having crouched for too long, a wave of dizziness hit him the moment he rose. He stumbled and grabbed the hand of the person beside him.

He was not wearing gloves, and his cold, chilling hand rested on the back of He Lan’s hand. He Lan’s body temperature had been high for years, and even in such cold weather, his hands remained warm. Being chilled like that, his reflex was to shake him off, but catching sight of Shen Shiqin’s face, the tip of his nose and ears slightly red from the cold, he refrained on a whim.

He said drily, “Cough, Teacher Shen, are you feeling a bit weak now?”

Shen Shiqin was still experiencing a blackout in his vision. He was too tired to argue with He Lan, so he gripped He Lan’s hand with slight force, closing his eyes to wait for the dizziness to pass.

Zuo Jiaxi noticed and leaned in to support Shen Shiqin from the other side, asking with concern, “What is the matter, Teacher Shen?”

Shen Shiqin shook his head. Seeing that someone was supporting him, he let go of He Lan’s hand and said, “It is fine. I just stood up too quickly.”

The cold sensation disappeared suddenly. He Lan touched his hand, the one that had just been gripped, in discomfort. His gaze inadvertently swept over the hand supporting Shen Shiqin’s arm before he quickly looked away.

The second race was about to start. He Lan was turning the sled around to head to the starting line when he saw Shen Shiqin jump off the sled again. He looked at He Lan. “I am not riding in the second round.”

“Why are you not riding?” He Lan stopped what he was doing. “Teacher Shen, you cannot possibly distrust me, can you?” He stopped abruptly after saying this, then looked at Shen Shiqin as if nothing had happened, waiting for his answer.

“Teacher He, you are indeed not very worthy of anyone’s trust,” Shen Shiqin said, pausing before continuing, “Just focus on controlling the direction. I will wait for you at the finish line.”

Seeing that he really had no intention of joining him, He Lan assumed he was afraid of another accident where they might fall onto each other again, so he said nothing more. He sat on the sled alone and headed to the starting line.

The four groups were poised at the starting line, waiting for the staff to give the signal. When the second whistle blew, the Husky group shot out immediately, once again putting a significant distance between them and the reindeer group.

In this round, there was only one person on the sled, which undoubtedly greatly increased He Lan’s control. He felt an inexplicable sensation, reminiscent of the time he filmed horse-riding scenes on the grasslands, so he shouted, “Giddy up!” and accelerated further.

Duan Nan saw him gradually pulling away from them and increasing his speed, so he called out, uneasy, “Teacher He, be careful! Watch your safety!”

“Do not worry!”

Zuo Jiaxi watched as the sled headed toward the finish line at an extremely fast speed. Although he felt it was a little dangerous in his heart, he looked down at himself, then turned his head to look at Duan Nan from top to bottom. Helmet, knee pads, goggles, and thick climbing gear and gloves. Yes, very safe. He then looked at He Lan, who was completely letting loose and galloping dashingly not far away.

His eyes began to glow.

Duan Nan suddenly felt a sense of foreboding and silently gripped the handrail beside him. Sure enough, in the next second, Zuo Jiaxi looked at him and asked excitedly, “Teacher Duan, shall we speed up too?”

Duan Nan really wanted to say no; he was already thirty years old. But meeting those eyes, clearly filled with excitement, his words took a turn: “Mm, go slow. Watch your safety.”

“You got it!” Zuo Jiaxi immediately urged the Huskies to speed up and sprint forward.

He Lan heard the noise from behind and maintained his acceleration, keeping a distance from those behind him. The finish line was getting closer and closer. As expected, the staff members stood on the side of the track holding their buckets again.

The dogs caught a hint of the familiar fish smell in the air and, following their noses, gradually began to veer off-course with He Lan once more. He Lan immediately pulled the reins to the other side, attempting to guide them back to the track. While adjusting their direction with all his might, he shouted, “Did you not just eat fish a moment ago? And Shen Shiqin fed you so much ham! It was all truly a waste!”

However, whether it was because his words were effective or not, the Huskies suddenly turned their direction and returned to the track.

He frowned and looked toward the finish line, seeing Shen Shiqin standing on one side. One hand was tucked into his climbing jacket pocket, and the other was holding something up. That thing was obviously more attractive to the Huskies than the fish meat; they howled and ran toward Shen Shiqin. As they got closer, He Lan finally saw clearly that what Shen Shiqin was holding was a link of red sausages!

He was speechless for a moment. Was Shen Shiqin’s climbing jacket pocket a bottomless pit? How could it fit so many sausages?!

Seeing the speed of the Huskies increasing, He Lan finally reacted. He raised his voice and shouted toward Shen Shiqin, “Teacher Shen! Throw the sausages on the ground!”

To ensure absolute safety, the program team had placed soft mats around the perimeter of the finish line, enclosing the area, and even placed mats on the sleds. Shen Shiqin looked back and, confirming that it would be perfectly fine for both man and dog to fall, tossed the entire link of red sausages toward the finish line.

The Huskies watched the delicious food being tossed into mid-air and jumped along with it, tongues lolling. And so, a truly spectacular scene was born.

The sausages landed in the thick snow, and the dogs followed, sinking into the snow one by one. They immediately transformed into excited snow-burrowing gophers, conducting a carpet search for the sausages.

As for He Lan, just as he was about to have an intimate encounter with the snow along with the Huskies, he chose his moment and leaped, landing on the soft mat with grace. After an entire morning of heavy snow, a thick layer of snow had already fallen on the mats.

Shen Shiqin watched the person who had buried himself in the snow and stayed there without moving for a long time. He walked over immediately and asked with concern, “Teacher He?”

Seeing no response, Shen Shiqin’s heart leaped. He knelt on the soft mat with one knee, reaching out to brush the snow off the edge of He Lan’s helmet. He raised his hand and tapped the helmet: “He Lan?”

The person remained motionless. He brushed away the snow on the side, leaned forward slightly, tilted his head, and looked through the side of the helmet to see He Lan’s tightly closed eyes.

He struggled to reach one hand into the gap of the helmet, felt under He Lan’s nose, and sensed carefully. Hm, he was warm.

Shen Shiqin sighed in relief and was about to withdraw his hand. However, in the next second, the man who had been playing dead suddenly “came back to life,” reached out, grabbed Shen Shiqin’s wrist before he could pull it back, and pulled him onto the soft mat.

“Hey!”

Shen Shiqin had completely not anticipated such a move. Caught off guard, he was pulled onto the mat by He Lan.

Shen Shiqin lay on his back on the mat, and the snow at his side was also disturbed from its original shape. His hands were easily grabbed by He Lan’s one hand and held above his head.

He Lan knelt on one side of him with one leg and crossed the other leg to his other side. In the struggle, snow fell onto Shen Shiqin’s hair and eyelashes. He lifted his head, glaring at He Lan with knitted brows.

“He Lan, what kind of madness are you throwing?”