Grouping

"Cough, cough..."

Yu Lin coughed twice, thinking he had to say something to change the subject. His eyes darted around before he said, "Then why don't you say Little Yu and Brother Chi betrayed the group? They even arranged to hike up the mountain early in the morning to watch the sunrise, and they didn't invite us."

"Right!"

"I almost forgot about that if you hadn't mentioned it!"

The others abruptly turned their heads, all looking at Li Yu and Chi Yan as though they were interrogating criminals.

Li Yu broke out in a slight sweat under their stares and could only smile. "Because we got up after four. We didn't want to disturb you guys."

"Hey, Little Yu, all it takes is one word from you. Even if I'd just gone to bed, I could still get back up," Xiang Zhinan joked.

"I never said that. I wouldn't be able to get up." Shu Menglan raised a hand in surrender.

"How about this? They say sunrises by the sea are the most romantic. Why don't we all come out and watch one together tomorrow?" Li Yu proposed a compromise.

"Mm... that sounds great!"

"I agree!"

"I'm fine with that too..."

Once the guests had finished their greetings, the staff stepped forward and handed them the first mission card of the episode.

Liang Meichen took the task card and displayed the information written on it to the camera before reading it aloud. "Seaview Room Selection. The production team has prepared four seaview rooms in different styles. Each guest may choose one of the four themes to stay in. The two guests who choose the same themed seaview room will become teammates for this episode."

"Teammates?!" Yu Lin caught the key word.

"What does that mean? Aren't the eight of us one big family? Why do we need teammates? Could there be a competitive segment?" Shu Menglan asked.

"What if all eight of us choose the same theme?" Zhou Yanqing asked.

"That naturally won't be possible. The production team has made a small app where you can view the four themed seaview rooms and choose the one you like best. If a themed room is already full, you won't be able to choose it, so if you see one you like, I advise you to act fast."

After the director finished speaking, the staff handed the guests sponsor-branded phones for the eight of them to select their themed seaview rooms.

After opening the app, they found four available themes.

The first was a SpongeBob theme. The walls featured SpongeBob, Patrick Star, and Squidward's homes, while the sheets were printed with all sorts of characters from the cartoon. The floor-to-ceiling windows faced the ocean, the carpet was made of red coral fleece, and the sofa was piled with jellyfish plushies. It was full of childlike charm.

The second was a minimalist Instagram-style theme. The sheets and duvet covers were the simplest white, while the carpet was dark gray. The bedside table held many Chinese and foreign books, and the floor lamp was even shaped like a page from a book, giving the room a strong sense of design. The walls were covered in oil paintings by unknown artists, making it a completely different style from the first seaview room.

The third was a cozy floral sea theme. The overall room design leaned toward a forest aesthetic, with different varieties of flowers placed on the bedside tables, balcony, and even in the bathroom. Near the floor-to-ceiling window on the other side was also a hanging chair, where one could curl up with a book, listen to the sea, and admire the flowers at the same time.

The fourth was an ocean theme, with blue as its base color and wallpaper featuring an enormous whale. At night, projection mode could cast all kinds of ocean scenes onto the ceiling, while the floor-to-ceiling windows also looked out over the sea. Most notably, this seaview room had a built-in miniature aquarium where guests could admire all kinds of marine life behind the glass.

Each of the four themes had its own distinctive features, but they all had one thing in common: every seaview room had two beds, so the guests could sleep separately.

"Wow, I love every theme. How am I supposed to choose..."

Yu Lin observed everyone's expressions. Seeing that the others were still hesitating, he quickly chose the fourth seaview room.

What the director had just said had reminded them that the room selection would determine who their teammate for this episode would be.

Yu Lin naturally wanted to team up with Li Yu the most. He himself really liked the fourth seaview room, and he figured Li Yu would probably choose it too.

Li Yu frowned and pondered for a moment before making his choice as well.

The moment Chi Yan saw Li Yu make his move, he immediately began selecting too. He guessed Li Yu would pick the fourth theme, but when he tapped confirm, the system informed him that the themed seaview room was already full.

Chi Yan's mood instantly sank to rock bottom. If Li Yu had chosen Theme Four, that meant someone else would very likely be teaming up with him this time.

Chi Yan could only stop himself from thinking too much and hurriedly chose the Theme Three seaview room, Li Yu's second most likely choice.

All eight guests finished making their selections in under five minutes, and the production team received the results.

"Now, the two guests who chose Theme One are..."

The director deliberately dragged out the final word, as if determined to keep the guests in suspense.

"Come on, Director, can't you just say it all at once?" Yu Lin said.

"What do you know? They'll be inserting an ad into this segment in post-production. Of course we have to maximize the show's effect." Xiang Zhinan joked, though he was right. It was standard practice for every show.

"Then I'll just say it. It's Shu Menglan and Xiang Zhinan!"

As soon as the director finished speaking, Shu Menglan raised a brow and looked toward Xiang Zhinan.

"Oh? I never would've guessed that Teacher Xiang likes SpongeBob too."

"Ah, childhood memories! Once you get older, you like the things from your childhood even more."

Xiang Zhinan was not actually that old. He was only twenty-eight.

"The two guests who chose Theme Two are... Liang Meichen and Xie Jingming."

Xie Jingming was somewhat surprised. He had not expected to be grouped with Liang Meichen. Liang Meichen meant more camera time and more buzz, which would be extremely helpful to Xie Jingming right now.

The only people left ungrouped were Li Yu, Chi Yan, Yu Lin, and Zhou Yanqing.

Chi Yan frowned. It would be best if he could be grouped with Li Yu. He found it somewhat hard to accept anyone else.

"The two guests who chose Theme Three are... Chi Yan and Zhou Yanqing."

Chi Yan pressed his lips together, his first reaction being to look at Li Yu.

Li Yu showed no particular expression, as though he did not care much about the grouping results.

Zhou Yanqing beside him said nothing either. In truth, he had also wanted to be in a group with Li Yu. Just now, he had been choosing between Theme Three and Theme Four, and in the end, he had selected Theme Three.

He had not expected to run into Chi Yan...

"The other three themes have all been announced, so it's just the two of us left?" Yu Lin pointed at Li Yu and himself, surprise written across his face.

Li Yu nodded. At that moment, Yu Lin was so happy he practically wanted to jump up. "I finally get to be in a group with Little Yu!"

"Look how happy Yu Lin is..." Shu Menglan said.