"Hello, hello!" Chen Feiyu was the first to stand up and come forward, very gentlemanly, "My name is Chen Feiyu, and that side is already full. May I ask if you would like to sit here?"
Without a doubt, the third female guest Song Enya and the leading male guest You Zijun were the kind of megastars whose presence could save people thirty years of effort, and the program team's considerations were indeed meticulous.
Both male and female guests had megastars; who doesn't like to hitch a ride on a superstar's coattails?
"Sure, thank you." Song Enya flipped her hair and gave Chen Feiyu a flirtatiously confident smile.
Then came the tedious round of introductions, where each new arrival required a round of greetings. Fortunately, only the last female guest had yet to make her entrance.
Before long.
The door made a light sound, and the final female guest arrived fashionably late. Her voice preceded her.
"Hello everyone, sorry for being late."
A tall girl appeared before everyone, with a delicate and literary oval face, wearing a vine hat on her head, and dressed in a green floral dress.
The fourth female guest stood with poise, slender and delicate. She appeared to be about 1.75 meters tall, with straight, shapely calves, as exquisite as a porcelain white vase of great collectible value.
She had a slim frame, and judging by her look, she seemed to be a flight attendant. Her dressing style was that of the girl next door, her ample bust proudly displayed, her waist slender, and she gave a gentle, shy smile as she said,
"My name is Nian Shuyu, please take good care of me."
"The last female guest, welcome."
"There's an empty seat over here!"
Everyone stood up, greeting her warmly while also feeling relieved that they wouldn't have to go through another round of introductions.
At this point, there were nine guests in total, both male and female, all accounted for.
Each had their own unique features, especially the female guests. Xu Qingyan didn't know how much effort the program team had put into it, but they managed to gather internet celebrities, stars, wealthy heiresses, and flight attendants all at once.
The lead female Shen Jinyue was youthful and sweet; the second female Pei Muchan was the mature star and older sister figure; the third female Song Enya, the wealthy heiress; and the fourth female Nian Shuyu, the flight attendant.
With such a fanbase, topicality, and wide audience appeal. Everything was in place, and all that was left was for him, the man detested by thousands, to take the stage as the least favorite male.
"It seems like there are five guys, right?" Shen Jinyue's voice was sweet, prompting everyone to look back.
That's when the male guests also realized that they were five, while there were only four female guests, which meant that at least one of them would end up alone.
"Doesn't that mean one of us will be alone?" Chen Feiyu was surprised, "That's too tragic!"
Bai Jinze turned his head and, in a joking manner, asked Pei Muchan who was sitting next to Xu Qingyan.
"Would big sister choose someone like me?"
"Do you often ask others this question?" Pei Muchan countered.
"Not at all." Bai Jinze was taken aback by her unexpected response, a flash of panic crossing his eyes, "I just want to know big sister's opinion of me."
Pei Muchan pursed her lips, smiled, and said nothing.
Xu Qingyan wasn't paying attention to the exchange between Bai Jinze and Pei Muchan; his mind was on the script. The director had told him to let loose, but just how loose was that?
Since the show was broadcast live before editing, the current meeting of the guests was just being recorded – he didn't need to do anything. Having contributed a fake fan moment, along with "What do you do for a living, master?", was already enough.
The specific script would be communicated to him privately by the director, and most of the time, he needed to improvise on the spot.
In any case, the director was now very satisfied with him. His name had transitioned from Xu Qingyan to Little Xu, and the director had even considerately informed him that the live broadcast had been rescheduled to tomorrow morning.
A live broadcast meant not only that any embarrassment was in real-time, but also that it would be in high definition with no censoring.
"Everyone is here, shouldn't the crew be coming?" Liu Renzhi asked.
"When I arrived, the driver handed me an envelope, may I read it to everyone?" Nian Shuyu raised her hand and asked cautiously.
Everyone naturally had no objections and expressed their agreement.
Nian Shuyu opened the envelope and read it word by word.
"Enjoy your day with someone of the opposite sex you have good feelings for on the island tomorrow; for now, you may head to the kitchen for a sumptuous dinner and engage in free conversation."
"After a pleasant conversation, you will go to different hotels to rest. Tomorrow morning, the male guests may go to the hotels of the female guests they fancy to ask them for a ride to the Love Cottage for the next phase of recording."
The task card had already outlined the schedule for everyone: first have dinner and chat, then disperse to stay at different hotels.
In the morning, the male guests who liked someone would drive to invite the female guest they admired, and the two would head together to the official recording location, which was the Love Cottage.
This was kind of a test before checking into the Love Cottage, filled with randomness since being rejected when inviting someone was a very socially embarrassing situation.
The unscrupulous production team simply wanted to see the male and female guests start a mental competition; nobody wanted to be left alone, and even the female guests might be left out if they didn't make an effort to stand out.
As Nian Shuyu finished speaking, the male and female guests let out a surprised murmur, either touching their foreheads in headache or looking around nervously at each other.
"The competition has started," Chen Feiyu said anxiously, his gaze involuntarily landing on Female Number Three, Song Enya.
Song Enya, on the other hand, seemed somewhat interested in the mature and strong-bodied Liu Renzhi, occasionally sweeping her eyes over his pectorals with a smile curling at the corner of her lips.
The mature brother's attention was fixated on Pei Muchan, but unfortunately, she hadn't really looked at him, which made him look somewhat distressed.
Xu Qingyan hadn't noticed that Pei Muchan's gaze often swept in his direction; his mind was filled only with dedication to his job and that one million, thinking about what kind of heavenly act to pull off tomorrow.
Suddenly, he realized… he didn't even have a car.
After discreetly asking around, Xu Qingyan found out that the Prince of Amusement, You Zijun, had brought a million-dollar Jie Bao sports car, and both the mature brother Liu Renzhi and Chen Feiyu had driven to the place.
The cute guy Bai Jinze tilted his head, indicating that he planned to rent a sports car, which made Xu Qingyan feel even more embarrassed.
It seemed the assistant director hadn't mentioned anything about the guests bringing their own cars, but even if he had, it wouldn't have mattered; Xu Qingyan only had a seemingly dangerous but actually not at all safe fish head with chopped peppers back home in his garage.
Hearing the others mentioning names of luxurious cars like Jie Bao and Benz, Xu Qingyan instantly felt a headache coming on; spending money wouldn't be reimbursed.
The rent for a luxurious car could range from one to three thousand a day. Spending money? Not a penny to spare!
Forget it, he would borrow an electric car from the crew. Face belonged to the production team, but money was his own.
By the time he snapped back to reality, everyone had already discussed going to the kitchen to eat.
"What are you thinking about?" A clean hand waved in front of him, and Pei Muchan's perfume scent once again invaded his nostrils bit by bit, "Aren't you going to eat something?"
"Oh, oh, thanks for the reminder." Xu Qingyan hastened to follow, then turned his head as if he remembered something, and returned to Pei Muchan's side, "Can I add you on WeChat?"
"Is this your invitation?" Pei Muchan asked.