Qiu Xinxue and Lü Songtao never expected that the production team would only be responsible for sending them there and not for their return.
Especially Qiu Xinxue insisted on staying until the fireworks show ended. It was only after leaving the amusement park that they realized that not only were taxis exorbitantly expensive during that time, but they were also impossible to find.
They walked for two blocks before they could hail a taxi, but their dating fund was completely depleted.
Qiu Xinxue tried sweet-talking and acting cute, but it was all useless. Lü Songtao attempted to leverage his celebrity status, only to discover that the driver hadn't watched any of his shows.
In the end, they had no choice but to ask the cameraman for help to pay the fare.
It was utterly humiliating.
After getting into the car, both of them were fuming, and neither spoke a word.
Fortunately, the live broadcast ended as soon as they left the amusement park, preventing their fans from witnessing their embarrassing moment.
They would later have their agents contact the production team, requesting that this segment be completely unbroadcast.
Upon arriving at the villa, both of them thought that since they had interacted quite a bit at the amusement park that day, their scenes would surely be more substantial than Xia Qingtian's group when aired.
At least their efforts wouldn't be in vain.
Besides, places like the old street sounded rather boring.
Upon receiving the gifts sent by the production team, they both accepted them perfunctorily before immediately discarding them into the trash bins in their respective rooms as soon as they entered.
What trash could be considered worthy of being given as a gift?
As expected, they were a bunch of people with no class.
The next morning, after breakfast, the pairing selection took place directly, which surprised Lü Songtao and Qiu Xinxue a little.
"You might have returned quite late last night and didn't receive the notification," Ji Meina kindly reminded them, seeing their bewildered expressions.
She had heard about it from Tong Nian Zhe the previous night.
"How was your outing yesterday?" Qiu Xinxue asked, seemingly casually.
"Very good," Ji Meina gave a thumbs-up and then added with a smile, "It was so much fun playing with Qingtian and Rou Rou!"
"Qingtian? Rou Rou?" Qiu Xinxue was surprised to learn that Lin Yirou was involved. Just as she was about to inquire further, she heard the production team announce the pairing procedure.
Qiu Xinxue had to swallow her questions.
The program outlined that for this week, all activities would be based on pre-arranged pairings, conducted through a lottery system. Female guests would first draw white ping pong balls marked with numbers 1 to 4, followed by male guests drawing yellow ping pong balls similarly marked.
Paired guests would then spend the following week together searching for locked treasure chests. There would be a total of six treasure chests, five of which would be empty, and one containing an envelope. The pair that found the chest with the envelope would be declared the winner of this competition.
The production team also mentioned that they had placed many clues to the treasure chest locations within the villa.
Currently, each group had a baseline dating fund of 1000 yuan. Each treasure chest corresponded to a dating fund of 2000 yuan, and the true treasure chest would provide an additional 2000 yuan.
This meant that at the end of the game, groups that did not find any treasure chests would only have 1000 yuan in dating funds.
Groups finding one treasure chest would have 3000 yuan, and if they found the true treasure chest, they would possess 5000 yuan, with the amounts stacking up accordingly.
Because a guest had successfully completed a task within the allotted time and found the true key in the previous week's activity, there would be no spatial restrictions in the villa this week, and even secret rooms could be searched.
Now, the female guests were invited to draw their numbers.
After Xia Qingtian and the other three had drawn their numbered balls, the production team called for the male guests to do the same.
Finally, the number pairings were announced.
"Idol, I'm number 1, and you're number 4. We're not in the same group, so I can't be your tool," Xia Qingtian said, looking at the number 1 ball in her hand and then at Ling Feng Han's number 4 ball.
"What a shame. Let's see next week's pairings," Ling Feng Han smiled.
At this moment, Lin Yirou, who was sitting on the other side, turned around and said, "I'm number 4."
"Huh? You're number 4, then..." Xia Qingtian immediately turned to look in Ji Jun's direction.
Ji Jun shook the ball in his hand, saying, "I'm number 1."
"Then I'll be counting on your guidance," Xia Qingtian said with a humble smile.
"I'll be counting on yours as well," Ji Jun nodded with a slight smile.
On the other side, Ji Meina and Lü Songtao were paired together, and Qiu Xinxue was paired with Tong Nian Zhe.
"Wow, I get to be in a group with Young Master Tong! I really love your songs, I'm so happy," Qiu Xinxue said beaming.
"You're happy too soon," Tong Nian Zhe said coldly, turning his head away and glancing in the direction of Ji Meina and Xia Qingtian.
With a fifty-fifty chance, how could it be that he didn't draw either of them?
"Ah?" Qiu Xinxue was taken aback by Tong Nian Zhe's remark and felt a moment of awkwardness.
"It's nothing," Tong Nian Zhe casually replied, then continued to prop his chin with one hand.
At this point, the production team began to provide further explanations.
For the next five days, they hoped that all paired guests would interact amicably, get to know each other better, and diligently accumulate dating funds for the heart-fluttering date five days later.
Additionally, for this week's activities, the live broadcast platform would only activate four live streams, focusing on their four pairs of guests. The live cameras in each of their rooms had been turned off.
The production team was gradually reducing the live broadcast coverage to prepare for the formally edited broadcast. With their current popularity, the number of viewers in the live streams would not be small, but the edited recorded version would be the main event.
For the guests, this was also what they desired.
After all, the more time they spent in front of the cameras, the more exhausting it became, and having their own personal space was quite pleasant.
Although it was a competition between groups, Lin Yirou and Ji Meina didn't seem to take the competition too seriously. They approached Xia Qingtian and asked, "Qingtian, do you have any ideas?"
"No," Xia Qingtian gave a dry laugh and shook her head.
With the change in the competition format and the opening of the secret rooms, the locations of the treasure chests had likely been altered as well.
"Do you want to search together?" Ji Meina asked, linking her arm with Xia Qingtian's, still feeling a bit reliant on her.
"It's probably best not to," Lü Songtao seemed unwilling to interact with Xia Qingtian, casting a look of wariness at her. "If we work together, it would be troublesome to figure out how to divide the treasure chest if we find it. It's better if we search separately."
"Alright," Ji Meina, hearing her partner's words, didn't press Xia Qingtian further. After all, they were a group, and she had to consider her group mate's feelings.
"Let's go look around," Lü Songtao said to Ji Meina.
"Mm," Ji Meina nodded, waved goodbye to everyone, and followed Lü Songtao away. The two prepared to head upstairs to find some information about the treasure chests.
Before going upstairs, Lü Songtao exchanged a glance with Qiu Xinxue, then looked at Xia Qingtian one last time before turning to leave.
The time was almost right.