Volleyball

After recognizing the shape of the stone, Chi Yan froze for a moment. The look he gave Li Yu was laden with meaning.

"Is this... for me?"

"Of course. It's for the grown-up friend who got the answer wrong, as consolation."

After saying that, Li Yu placed the stone in Chi Yan's hand.

Chi Yan suddenly found it a little funny. "Then what would you say if I guessed right?"

"Simple. It's for the grown-up friend who got the answer right, as a reward."

As soon as Li Yu finished speaking, Yu Lin called out to him from ahead.

He answered and jogged over to Yu Lin's side.

Chi Yan rubbed the stone in his hand, an inexplicable restlessness rising within him.

Little Fish acting like this...

It was far too easy for him to misunderstand.

Chi Yan slipped the stone into his pants pocket and silently followed behind Li Yu.

The breakfast shop for the guests was not far from the beach, only a few steps away.

It was called "Memory Picks." The name sounded artsy, but it sold nothing but steamed buns, mantou, steamed dumplings, and all kinds of porridge.

The director specifically reminded the guests that there would be a sports-related game later and told them to eat more.

"Hey, what kind of game do you think we'll be playing later? Could it be surfing?" Shu Menglan asked as she ate.

"That's actually possible. Either way, let's fill up first," Xiang Zhinan said.

Li Yu did not have much of an appetite in the morning, so he only ate a few soup dumplings and drank a bowl of seafood congee. When he turned his head, he discovered in horror that Yu Lin had already polished off an entire steamer of soup dumplings.

"Yu Lin, you're eating that much in the morning?" Li Yu clicked his tongue.

"Easy. If I weren't thinking about how I shouldn't get too full before exercising later, I could eat even more." Yu Lin chuckled.

"Yu Lin eats so much and still keeps his figure. I'm kind of jealous," Xie Jingming said.

"Yeah, I usually spend my free time at the gym."

"You really don't look it, Yu Lin." Shu Menglan gave Yu Lin a playful once-over.

Propping up his chopsticks, Li Yu looked around at the male guests present. They all had pretty decent builds. As for Chi Yan, Li Yu knew that once he took his clothes off, his physique was even more impressive.

Li Yu silently thought about himself. He had specifically trained his abs before, but the results had not been great. The lines on his body came purely from being skinny.

After breakfast, they returned to the beach.

A volleyball net had been set up on the previously empty sand, and the production crew had marked out the corresponding areas on both sides of the net.

"So... we're playing volleyball?" Yu Lin asked after seeing the net.

"If we're competing in teams, there are only two people in each group. That doesn't seem like enough players," Xie Jingming said.

"That's right, we really don't have enough people, so everyone can just play for fun. We won't follow professional rules too strictly, so there's no need to be overly serious," Zhong Su said.

"Considering that some guests may not have had much exposure to volleyball, our rules are fairly simple. You can use any part of your body to pass the ball, but you can't hold it. Also, when spiking, be careful not to touch or cross the net, and the ball can't go out of bounds. Otherwise, the other side wins."

"That sounds so complicated. I've never played volleyball before. I don't even know how to serve."

Shu Menglan was a complete black hole when it came to sports. She could already imagine all the bizarre ways she would embarrass herself later. She might even get turned into reaction memes by netizens.

"It's okay, Sister Menglan. I'll keep you company. I've never played either," Xie Jingming said gloomily from the side.

"The production crew considered that too, so we invited a temporary coach to teach everyone some volleyball basics. You'll practice first, then split into groups to compete."

"We'll use a best-of-three format. The group that becomes the final winner will also receive a surprise reward~"

"Director, tell us first what the reward is if we win, so I'll have something to look forward to." Yu Lin immediately became interested and raised a brow at Zhong Su.

"That won't do. I said it's a surprise reward. If I tell you now, there'll be no suspense left. What kind of surprise would that be? Don't even think about prying it out of me." Zhong Su mercilessly refused Yu Lin.

"Pfft, Director, you're pretty tight-lipped," Li Yu joked.

The temporary volleyball coach invited by the production team was named Lia. She was a tall woman with quite a reputation, and the volleyball teams she led had achieved impressive placements in international competitions.

Lia smiled as she shook hands with each of the eight guests and briefly introduced herself. "Hello, everyone. I'm Lia, and I'm currently a head volleyball coach."

"Coach Lia, oh my god, I can't believe I get to see you! I used to admire you so much." Yu Lin occasionally watched sports competitions, so he naturally recognized Lia.

"Thank you. I've heard you sing too, and your songs sound lovely as well." Lia replied with a smile.

"Coach Lia, are you taking a break recently?"

"Mm. I brought my team out for training, and we happened to be not far from Rippling Isle. When Director Zhong Su invited me, I figured it was only half a day, so I came." Lia said.

"Oh my god, I'm a little nervous. Coach Lia, please don't be too strict with me later." Shu Menglan was somewhat intimidated, so she tried acting cute to win Lia's favor.

"It's fine. The director told me that you're only playing for fun this time, so I'll just teach you things like hitting, passing, and positioning." Lia wore a smiling expression, and her tone was exceptionally gentle.

"That's good, that's good." The guests all breathed sighs of relief. They had heard that Coach Lia was very strict with her players in private, but now, she seemed quite gentle...

However, none of the guests could smile after that—

"What's going on? We only practiced one set of one-handed bumps, and you're telling me you can't do it anymore?"

"Pass it, pass it! You're a team. You need to follow your teammate's ball and receive it!"

"You're using that much force? Are you trying to hit the ball all the way to the Sahara Desert? Do you know you're handing points directly to the other side like that? All that useless brute strength!"

"Chemistry, chemistry! Where is your chemistry? Can you work properly with your teammates? Stop focusing only on your own performance!"

"When blocking, your body can't touch the net... Swing your arms! Get those arms moving!"

The woman who had worn such a gentle smile moments ago transformed directly into a "tigress" once training began. Her expression was so fierce it looked like she might start hitting people the next second, and her mouth was even less forgiving. The guests were scolded so badly that they were left completely dumbfounded.

Shu Menglan kneaded her wrist, feeling as though her hand was about to become useless.

As expected, a sports black hole like her could not come anywhere near activities related to exercise!

Liang Meichen was also somewhat tired. She stood with her hands on her hips, panting. She had just completed a set of arm-swing drills, and her arms were now going weak.

She exercised regularly, so this level of intensity was still manageable for her.

The male guests had fairly good stamina and could take the grind. Still, they inevitably made mistakes in their movements, prompting another round of Lia's verbal assault.

Lia paced among the eight guests. When she reached Li Yu, she watched his movements for a while before finally nodding. "At last, there's one decent one."