PLT | Chapter 9

Riding a White Horse

The moment Zhou Chenyu finished speaking, the little white horse suddenly stopped right in the middle of the road.

A few seconds later, Yan Chao heard an astonishing commotion coming from behind him, near the horse’s tail. Right after that came a loud splattering sound, as though something heavy had dropped to the ground.

At the same time, an indescribable smell drifted over.

The two of them cautiously turned their heads at the same time and looked at the ground behind them.

Only then did the staff members filming beside them erupt into a thunderous burst of laughter, collectively and very unprofessionally.

Yan Chao: “…”

Yan Chao: “Look what you did, you scared the kid.”

Zhou Chenyu: “…It definitely isn’t my fault. At most I could’ve talked it into puking. How could I possibly talk it into having diarrhea too?”

Yan Chao gave him a troubled look. “Because horses don’t have a vomiting reflex.”

A local villager walked over. His Mandarin was not very good, and he gestured as he spoke.

Yan Chao more or less understood. The villager was saying that this horse had not reached adulthood yet, and carrying the two of them together was a bit too much for it.

Although Yan Chao still did not understand why the little white horse had reacted to the burden of the two of them by stopping on the spot to take a dump.

In any case, man proposes and heaven disposes. Since the little white horse had chosen to resist their selling CP by pooping in place, the two of them could only give up.

Yan Chao asked Zhou Chenyu, “Do you dare ride by yourself? I’ll get down and lead it for you.”

This time, Zhou Chenyu took the initiative to admit defeat and shook his head. “I’d better get down instead. I think it’s not very friendly toward me.”

After the staff finished cleaning up the scene, the two of them finally got back on the road, one leading the reins in front and one riding the horse, swaying along and barely managing to continue.

The sky was already near dusk. The fiery red afterglow of the setting sun coated both the snow-covered peaks in the distance and the boundless green grasslands nearby in a faint golden sheen.

The endless prairie, the sheep scattered all across the hills, and the upright figures of the two men somehow created, for one rare second, the illusion of tranquil years and peaceful days.

After walking for a while, Zhou Chenyu began humming softly again. “I ride a white horse, crossing three passes…”

Afraid that he would scare the little horse again, Yan Chao called out to him, “Bajie, stop singing.”

Zhou Chenyu turned back to look at him. “Cuilan, don’t you know your husband loves singing?”

Yan Chao: “…”

Why was it that every time he tried to make fun of Zhou Chenyu, he ended up dragging himself into it too?

Zhou Chenyu hummed another couple of lines, and Yan Chao was surprised to realize that his diction in those Minnan lyrics was actually pretty accurate, with a real sense of style to it. Even though the words came from a pop song, he really had managed to sing them with a bit of opera flavor.

And on top of that, his voice was very clean. In this open environment, it carried a trace of clear, youthful brightness.

Yan Chao said, “You can even sing Gezai opera?”

Zhou Chenyu raised his eyebrows. “As someone who does xiangsheng, don’t you have to know a little bit of everything?”

Yan Chao nodded. “Shuo, xue, dou, chang. No wonder you all sing pretty well.”

“Opera and songs count under xue. Chang only includes our own school’s Taiping lyrics.” As he said this, Zhou Chenyu turned to glance at Yan Chao, his face full of unconcealed pride. “After we go back, I’ll take you to our theater and look around. Then you’ll know.”

Yan Chao had never really understood xiangsheng before, and only now did he realize there was so much knowledge wrapped up inside it. Especially hearing something somewhat serious come out of Zhou Chenyu’s unserious mouth, he found it rather novel. “You know that much? Then what else can you sing?”

Zhou Chenyu smiled proudly. “The Peking opera version of Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan?”

The Gezai opera section in Riding a White Horse was precisely about the story of Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan.

Yan Chao had of course heard of such a well-known story before, but he knew nothing about Peking opera and had no idea which opera Zhou Chenyu meant. He only felt even more amazed. “Then give me a bit?”

Zhou Chenyu looked at him and revealed a sly smile. “Didn’t you just dislike it and tell me not to sing?”

Yan Chao: “…I had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai, alright?”

Zhou Chenyu: “If you want to hear it, then buy a ticket and come to my solo show next time?”

Yan Chao glanced at him. “We’re a CP pair no matter what. How can you get off the horse and stop recognizing people?”

Zhou Chenyu lifted his eyes to look at him. “Did the two of us have some kind of horseback hookup or what?”

Yan Chao: “Didn’t you just say you were overflowing?”

Zhou Chenyu: “…Xiao Yan-laoshi, you’re not afraid of getting banned now?”

This time, Yan Chao had finally managed not to let Zhou Chenyu talk him into defeat again. In an instant, he felt utterly refreshed and immensely satisfied inside.

He felt like he had finally found the trick to dealing with Zhou Chenyu. For a veteran driver like this, the only way was to drive even harder than he did, until the other side had nowhere left to drive.

Although Yan Chao still looked perfectly serious on the surface, inside he had already begun to feel quietly pleased with himself. Before he knew it, the two of them had come down the hillside and arrived in front of the sheep pen.

Their next task was to take care of newborn lambs and bottle-feed those whose mothers did not have enough milk.

A staff member brought a little lamb out from the sheep pen. It was only about the size of a pet dog, and there was only a thin layer of snowy white fluff on its body, faintly revealing the pink skin underneath. The lamb still could not walk, so it had to be carried everywhere it went.

Yet the moment this originally very docile lamb landed in Zhou Chenyu’s hands, it instantly began flailing around restlessly, mouth open, giving off a soft but stubborn “Meee—”.

Zhou Chenyu pouted. “Is it really that shy?”

Yan Chao said, “You’re the one being too rough, okay?”

As he spoke, he took the flailing little lamb from Zhou Chenyu’s arms, carefully wrapping one hand around its neck while supporting it underneath with the other, gently smoothing down its fur.

Sure enough, in no time at all, the lamb miraculously calmed down and even obediently rested its head in his arms.

Yan Chao had sharply defined features, and when he was serious, he always looked somewhat cold and severe. But now, with a lamb barely bigger than two hands across in his arms and movements gentle to an extreme, there was a completely different kind of contrastive cuteness to him.

He raised his head and happened to meet Zhou Chenyu’s completely undisguised, worshipful upward gaze. Those beautiful peach blossom eyes were shining with blazing light, and the sight of them made Yan Chao freeze for a moment without meaning to.

As though he had been burned by that direct stare, Yan Chao subconsciously looked away. “See?”

Like a child, Zhou Chenyu immediately became eager to try. “Quick, give it back to me. I want to hold it too.”

Yan Chao carefully handed the little lamb over to him. Zhou Chenyu learned quickly. This time his movements were much gentler, and the lamb truly stopped fussing.

Yan Chao had just taken the bottle from the staff member, and the moment he brought it to the lamb’s mouth, he heard Zhou Chenyu lower his head and say, “Be good, your mother’s feeding you now.”

Yan Chao: “…Your mother!”

Zhou Chenyu laughed out loud and said to the staff, “See that? Your mc is publicly swearing on the show. When you get back, tell the station chief to dock his bonus.”

The staff around them all burst into laughter as well. But before everyone could be happy for even two minutes, the little lamb seemed to be startled by the lively environment and suddenly coughed.

So all the milk it had just taken into its mouth sprayed straight onto Yan Chao’s face in one go.

In an instant, that handsome face was ruined.

Yan Chao: …???

“Pfft hahahahahahahahaha…”

A thunderous explosion of laughter instantly broke out all around, and for a moment, not a single person thought to hand him a tissue.

Yan Chao was already completely frozen in the wind.

Zhou Chenyu froze for a second too, then immediately began clutching his stomach, laughing so hard he looked like he was about to die.

Still, he counted as having a bit of conscience. While laughing, he pulled out a tissue and carefully raised his hand to wipe Yan Chao’s face.

After calming himself down, Yan Chao asked him in a self-destructive tone, “Doesn’t it feel dirty to you?”

Still laughing so hard he was nearly out of breath, Zhou Chenyu replied, “Then what can I do? Look around, besides me, who else is willing to bother with you?”

Yan Chao: “Isn’t it all your fault!”

Zhou Chenyu: “My fault, my fault. When we get back, I’ll kneel on a washboard, okay?”

Yan Chao: “…Zhou Chenyu, even at a time like this, you still won’t forget to take advantage. Do you have even a little conscience?”

Zhou Chenyu: “I was wrong. Then shall I serve you with raised tray and level brows? Offer my body in apology?”

Yan Chao: “…Go disembowel yourself.”