"He’s with you?! Oh, that’s a relief. We thought he was missing and sent everyone to search for him. Since he’s there with you, I’ll have the crew come back." The director heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that Chen Yao was with Pei Yan.
Chen Yao was exhausted from the day before and had been through the ordeal of a flooded house, soaked by the rain, and had come to stay over at Pei Yan’s. He was still in a deep sleep, unaware that his sudden disappearance had driven the crew into a frenzy searching for him.
Since Chen Yao was staying in the guest room, the crew did not expect anyone to be there, so they hadn’t installed any cameras.
"Come over, I’ll go wake him up," Pei Yan said.
"Alright, alright, thank you for the trouble."
After the call, Pei Yan casually draped a towel around his neck and headed to the guest room with his phone to find Chen Yao.
"Chen Yao." He knocked on the door and called out, but there was no response from inside.
Then, he opened the door, walked in, and, with a straight face, found a loud song on his phone, turned the volume to the maximum, and hit play.
"Love even in death~"
"What the hell?!" Chen Yao was startled, jumping from his deep sleep, as if his soul had left his body, instantly sitting upright in bed.
He woke up in a second.
Although Chen Yao was awake, his mind hadn’t yet cleared completely. Seeing Pei Yan, he looked a bit bewildered, "What are you doing here?"
His gaze then moved downwards to the phone in Pei Yan’s hand, still blaring, and his eye twitched.
Recalling what had just woken him, he said with a deadpan expression, "I only borrowed a guest room from you, and you’re worse than the program crew."
At least the program crew’s noise just disturbed dreams and kept people awake.
Pei Yan was clearly aiming to kill!!
"Awake now?" Pei Yan coolly turned off the music and explained the situation, "The crew couldn’t find you this morning and thought you went missing, so they sent everyone to find you."
Chen Yao scratched his head, yawned, and asked, "Then why didn’t they call me?"
"Your phone’s dead." Pei Yan nodded towards his phone with a lift of his chin.
Chen Yao picked up his phone, realizing it was dead due to no battery, "It’s out of battery, lend me a charger."
As soon as Chen Yao got up, barely two minutes had passed when the crew hurried over, with Wang Sirui and Qin Hao in tow.
Wang Sirui’s voice arrived before he did, "Brother Yao, I didn’t even wash my face and just threw on whatever clothes I found to look for you, only to find you sleeping soundly at Mr. Pei’s!!"
"Well, how about we switch? You stay in the thatched hut, and I’ll take your room?" Chen Yao asked with a sly look.
"Nah, better not! I finally got lucky and didn’t draw the thatched hut. The one time I didn’t draw it, and it flooded. Lucky me, my luck’s not too bad after all." Wang Sirui dramatically patted his chest, noting his luck.
Chen Yao twitched his mouth at that and reminded, "It was mine that you drew."
"I disagree, my bad luck streak ended! The room I picked was fine. I drew it with Qin Hao, so it’s your bad luck." Wang Sirui claimed, with video proof of his noose between them and much audience watching.
"Sorry for the trouble." Chen Yao rolled his eyes at Wang Sirui, ignoring him, and turned to apologize to the director and crew.
"Our fault for not noticing the heavy rain last night. Glad you’re okay." The director exhaled in relief, taking responsibility.
"Once I realized the rain, I found Pei Yan nearby to crash with, all good." Chen Yao chuckled.
"Lucky you found a place. When we checked the hut this morning, it was flooded, water everywhere, and you could wring water out of the bedding." The director grimaced.
"Wow! Lucky I didn’t get the hut. With how soundly I sleep, waking up to flooding...that’d be awkward." Wang Sirui patted his heart and complimented his foresight.
With Wang Sirui involved, the gloomy atmosphere due to the weather lightened with laughter.
"Probably can’t record today; the rain’s not stopping anytime soon. But we got enough material yesterday, so let’s just relax today." The director glanced at the sky; the forecast was rain all day.
"Director, can we have a nice breakfast today?!" Wang Sirui asked expectantly.
He was tired of getting up early for breakfast he couldn’t make.
"Sure! The crew bought food for a barbeque dinner. We can’t shoot now, so order anything you want." The director decided.
"Seawood porridge!! Crystal buns! Fried dumplings!" Wang Sirui immediately called out.
Then, licking his lips, he added, "Also, some rice rolls, feels like it’s been ages."
"Won’t you get fat! Remember you’re an idol!" Chen Yao teased, still peeved over the thatched hut.
Wang Sirui lifted his shirt, showing his abs, "I work out! My abs are here."
Chen Yao looked, then lifted his own shirt.
Seeing this, Wang Sirui quietly put his shirt back down, hiding his lower abs.
Geez, emmmmmm...
No fairness in this world.
Pei Yan wasn’t picky about food but chose some meaty breakfast items.
Qin Yun and Yang Leqi, having not been called, slept in till after eight.
Thanks to Pei Yan’s small pavilion, perfect for shooting and visually appealing, Qin Yun saw the group notification as they woke.
After washing up, Yang Leqi headed over to Qin Yun, and the two went together to Pei Yan’s.
"Smells amazing! Breakfast should be hearty today!" Yang Leqi noted the aroma as soon as she entered.
Following the scent inside, upon seeing the breakfast laid out, the two suspiciously asked, "Why’s the crew so generous?! Is today going to be tough, so they’re feeding us well?"
"It’s our reward! We woke up early to help search for Brother Yao. The crew’s thanking us, and we got free choice! You’re just mooching." Wang Sirui folded his arms with a raised brow.
"Looking for Brother Yao? Isn’t he right here?" Yang Leqi pointed at Chen Yao, confused.
While they chatted, Qin Yun had already started on the seafood porridge served by Pei Yan, with two plates full of sides in front of her.