Pei Tingyun understood and exchanged another glance with Gu Lin.
Gu Lin hesitated a little, but ultimately gave him an OK sign.
Gu Lin really did want to crush his so-called older brother, Xie Huan, on the court.
But teaming up to get revenge on the director seemed a little more interesting.
So when Gu Lin served, he aimed straight at the director.
The three on the other side braced themselves, all assuming defensive stances.
But when the time actually came to defend.
Each was more halfhearted than the last.
They either walked instead of running or failed to get off the ground when they jumped.
Yao Xuan was even more outrageous. He simply crouched down where he stood, undid his shoelaces, and tied them again.
And Gu Lin's serve was particularly fast.
Before the director could even react.
The ball had already smashed into his face.
Before the director could lose his temper, Tang Keni immediately stepped forward to take responsibility:
"Ah, my bad, my bad, my bad! Shorry, I didn't block it!"
The livestream comments offered their sharp assessments:
[You barely ran faster than a turtle. It'd be a miracle if you blocked it.]
[Hahaha, you can tell Tang Keni's a professional. A professional at getting the director hit!]
[LMAO, in that case, everyone in the Roaming Group is pretty professional.]
[Not everyone, right? Peipei hasn't hit the director.]
[Just wait. I bet he's next.]
[The director's about to have another meltdown.]
The viewers' prediction was correct.
Pei Tingyun did indeed intend to hit the director hard with the ball to vent his frustration.
But the director had already been hit several times.
There was no way he would obediently sit there waiting for Pei Tingyun's final strike.
As the saying went, if you couldn't beat them, run.
The moment Pei Tingyun touched the ball, the director tried to make his escape under the pretext of changing his pants.
Today, the director had shoehorned tasks into their itinerary, ruining the outing plan Pei Tingyun had spent an entire day painstakingly putting together.
Of course Xie Huan wasn't going to let the director dodge Pei Tingyun's attack.
He quietly formed a hand seal and immediately used Words Become Law:
"Director, quit leggin' it. Ain't no use. You can't dodge this."
Then he urged Pei Tingyun, "Don't hesitate! Just go for it! Trust your bro, you're fer sure gonna hit him!"
The livestream comments:
[Whoa, they're not even hiding it anymore!]
[Xie Huan: We're not hitting the ball. We're hitting the director.]
[Roaming Group: We never hold grudges. We settle them on the spot.]
Pei Tingyun took aim, then delivered a powerful spike.
The volleyball whistled over the net, heading straight for the director!
The director was running too fast.
He felt he had never run this fast in his life.
The ball Pei Tingyun had hit was, in the end, beginning to drop behind the director.
Just when everyone thought the ball could no longer pose any threat to him.
A strong gust suddenly swept in from the sea.
By sheer coincidence, the volleyball that was about to land was blown back up by the wind.
Straight toward the director.
It was even faster than before.
With a smack, the volleyball struck the director's calf.
The running director lost his footing and fell flat on his face in the sand.
When he lifted his head, his face and mouth were full of sand.
The broadcast director, never one to pass up more excitement, even added a "splat" sound effect to the shot.
The livestream viewers laughed themselves silly:
[I can't, this is too funny! I feel like the director's been set up!]
[Xie Huan and the others didn't turn off their mics when they plotted to hit the director. We all heard them. There's no reason for the director to react like this. I'm afraid the production team really did set him up.]
[Okay, but... he really looks like a crab spitting out sand hahahahaha.]
The entire Roaming Group felt thoroughly satisfied.
The five stood in a row with their arms around one another's shoulders, looking unbearably smug.
To avoid physical contact with anyone other than Xie Huan, Pei Tingyun, the biggest star among them, had deliberately stood at the very end.
And just like that, the center position fell into Tang Keni's lap.
Tang Keni, who had started out as an internet celebrity and had never stood in the center position in his life, was overwhelmed by the honor. "What have I done to deserve this?"
Xie Huan had learned yesterday from Pei Tingyun's manager, Hua Xin, that Pei Tingyun had trouble with physical contact.
So he smoothed things over. "You deserve it. Ting'er's letting you stand there, so just stand there."
Tang Keni said, "Aw, since I'm in the center, shouldn't I say a few words?"
Yao Xuan reminded him, "Don't get too carried away."
Tang Keni brushed that off:
"We won our showdown with the director! You have to gloat when you win. If you win and don't gloat, isn't that the same as not winning?"
The others thought he had a point.
So they let him say a few words.
Tang Keni thought for a moment, then declared:
"Ah! What a thoroughly exhilarating battle! That felt great!"
The rest of the production team were delighted.
When Xie Huan had plotted his revenge against the director earlier, the sound crew had indeed heard him, as had the assistant director.
But at the time, the director had been concentrating on figuring out how to put Pei Tingyun and Xie Huan on the same team, and hadn't been wearing headphones.
Naturally, he hadn't heard what Xie Huan and the others were discussing.
The assistant director, however, had thought this segment would be highly entertaining and signaled for all the crew members who had heard to keep it secret.
He had even singled out one of the camera operators following Xie Huan and sent them specifically to film the director.
And so another iconic director meltdown was born.
Having achieved their goal, the Roaming Group stopped playing volleyball.
The five were just preparing to start taking their check-in photos.
The assistant director suddenly picked up the megaphone:
"A friendly reminder: during the photo check-in task, you may interfere with other teams.
The team that finishes the task last will not get to enjoy the candlelit dinner and will have to serve the other teams throughout the meal."
Xie Huan said, "Well, dang! So whoever comes last doesn't just miss out on eating, they've gotta carry plates on the sidelines too?"
The assistant director nodded to confirm that he had understood correctly.
Tang Keni snapped his fingers. "Got it. The losing team can only be idol waiters. No eating."
Just then.
The director, alive but a little dead inside, returned to his post covered in sand.
The megaphone in the assistant director's hand instantly changed owners.
The director said, "The slowest team will also be punished tonight by having to move out of the villa and camp outdoors!"
At those words, the livestream viewers all broke into a sweat for the Roaming Group:
[Oh no, the director's found the Roaming Group's weak spot! That was the whole reason they did the task earlier.]
[The director's taking the rain he got caught in and throwing it back at them by the basinful.]
[Won't they have to tear into each other to avoid sleeping in tents?]
[Director, you really know how to stir things up!]
Most viewers thought the Roaming Group, always overflowing with team spirit and united against outsiders, would fall apart over this.
But upon hearing the punishment, the five members of the Roaming Group collectively fell silent and exchanged glances.
Then!
Tang Keni, who could never keep his fiery temper under control, was the first to erupt!
He charged forward, pointing at the director. "You're abusing your power to settle a personal score!"
He looked ready to fight, so Yao Xuan hurried forward to hold him back and stop him from actually charging over to punch the director.
As if frightened, Pei Tingyun ducked behind Xie Huan.
Xie Huan immediately spread his arms to shield him.
The two were pressed very close together.