Chapter Twenty-Five: Team Building Days

When Jin Ziran hurriedly ran back with the takeout, she saw the clutter on the table still piled up and breathed a sigh of relief without making it clear.

He placed the takeout on the table, pushed the pile of miscellaneous items aside, and warmly invited Zhang Yang, who was sitting in a chair, to come and enjoy it.

Zhang Yang waved his hand, his black hair gleaming with a cold light, and looked up at the window, reminding, "Don't open the window so wide in winter, you'll easily catch a cold."

Jin Ziran paused for a second, then smiled, stopped unpacking the takeout, and casually closed the window. "Indeed, it's a bit cold now."

There was a moment of silence. Zhang Yang casually got up, intending to continue his previous plan to wash up. As he reached the door, he turned back seemingly unintentionally and asked, "Why have you been so diligent lately? Planning to appear on camera?"

Currently, only Zhang Yang appears on their channel. Jin Ziran always makes excuses such as not being good enough or wanting to create an air of mystery to avoid appearing on camera, and Zhang Yang has not forced her to.

Jin Ziran wasn't surprised by the question. She had already prepared her answer in her mind and said naturally with a gentle smile, "I feel like the gap between us is getting bigger and bigger. I can't hold you back."

"Appearing on camera," he said with a slight frown and a hint of distress, "I estimate I'll be able to appear on camera once the company approves." A subtle hint of smugness flickered at the corner of his mouth.

Zhang Yang's arm tensed subconsciously. Yes, even the people in charge at Kaidi Entertainment didn't want Jin Ziran to appear on camera.

There is currently no confirmed information online regarding the "Teen Idol" talent show that I just saw.

That kind of brochure size could only be obtained at project presentation conferences attended by various entertainment companies.

He turned to the side, his lips pressed tightly together, and remained silent until Jin Ziran cast a questioning glance at him before finally asking, "If there's an opportunity now, we could debut as a group together, but we'd have to leave here. Would you be willing?"

Jin Ziran's smile froze for a moment, but with his excellent expression control, he put on a slightly surprised look. He touched his nose and said with a slightly reproachful and unnatural look in his eyes, "What are you talking about? Aren't we a group now?"

Oh.

Disappointment flashed across Zhang Yang's eyes, but he remained standing there tall and straight, without expressing any emotion. At that moment, however, the place where he stood seemed to be cut off from his surroundings.

When Jin Ziran realized something was wrong and wanted to say a few more words to explain, the boy in black had already stepped out the door.

Jin Ziran panicked and just wanted to say a few more words to Zhang Yang to confirm his true feelings. Without thinking, the words slipped out: "Did you find your CD?"

In the empty corridor, the steady, firm footsteps gradually faded into the distance, while the calm, chilling sound slowly drifted back.

"I'm not looking anymore."

**

The bus was bustling with activity on the way to the team building trip. The destination was an island, and apart from the staff who were there to provide support, the only people present were the trainees who had signed up.

The higher-ups, coaches, agents, and others do not participate in the trainees' team-building activities, so all the trainees are exceptionally relaxed.

After the plane lands, you need to take a private bus to the village and then take a boat to the island.

Meng Fanxi and Gu Huailang sat in the same row, while Ren Yuchen and Xu You sat in front of them. This time, they absolutely refused to sit in the last row, as they were too carsick.

There was a very enthusiastic tour guide on the bus who led everyone in singing famous songs by groups under the Will Records label. Time flew by as the songs played.

Before embarking on the team-building trip, Wei also shared the latest information with them.

Lin Ruohe will not go with them. Due to the wrap-up work of filming, he will go directly to the hotel on the island.

Their initial plan to approach Lin Ruo and build a relationship in the car failed to materialize.

The department that plans team-building activities always pays great attention to the trainees' privacy, so the plans are never leaked, even within the company. In this case, Wei could be said to have been of no help whatsoever.

Meng Fanxi glanced at Gu Huailang, who always stood by the window gazing intently at the scenery outside; Xu You, who was already singing along to the music with obvious excitement; and Ren Yuchen, who was resting with his eyes closed...

He couldn't say he was very confident.

The team building trip, excluding travel time, will last three days. During these three days, they need to find a way to get close to Lin Ruohe.

As for checking into the hotel today, it would be great if there was a way to get closer to Lin Ruohe's room.

To ensure the safety of the trainees' accommodations at night and to avoid any unforeseen incidents, the company arranged for two people to share a room. However, Wei Ye received information that Lin Ruohe would most likely be sharing a room alone.

After all, he is now considered a senior among the trainees present and has a certain amount of social experience.

When we arrived at the island, we were on a huge sightseeing boat. Everyone carried their luggage and found a seat on the boat.

The weather was very bright, and there was a slight dampness in the air. Meng Fanxi stared intently at the ripples where the boat met the water. They were all wearing life jackets and excitedly taking photos with their phones, their hair fluttering in the wind.

With a "whoosh," the continuous hum of an engine, like something cutting through the sky, suddenly came from afar. A speedboat was seen approaching from where they had just boarded the boat. The driver was wearing sunglasses, and his fisherman's hat seemed to be glued to his head. The speedboat immediately attracted everyone's attention.

As they approached, Meng Fanxi noticed a person standing behind the driver, wearing butterfly-shaped narrow-framed sunglasses, with soft hair flowing in the sea breeze, and dressed in a simple white shirt and black pants.

Holding onto the railing with one hand, her sleeve was rolled up, revealing a section of her taut forearm, yet she exuded an aura as warm as jade.

At this moment, he was naturally and lazily enjoying the sea view on the speedboat.

Gu Huailang also noticed the person and said in a low voice, "That looks like..."

"Lin Ruohe is their goal for this trip," Meng Fanxi said firmly.

Xu You and Ren Yuchen were right next to him, so they naturally heard Meng Fanxi's confirmation and carefully observed the figure that was getting further and further away as the speedboat went.

"Wow...that's high-class." For the first time, Xu You felt at a loss for words.

He had seen Lin Ruohe a few times from afar before, but since he thought they were not in the same field, he had only marveled at Lin Ruohe's stunning appearance. Now that he saw her again, he felt as if they were from two different worlds, and that she was simply a superstar.

“I think this will also fail.” Gu Huailang poured cold water on the idea; based on this one encounter, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be part of a group with him.

They sat together in a circle, the noise from the sightseeing boat constantly echoing in their ears, their voices audible only to each other.

Xu You was a little jealous at this moment, and his words unconsciously carried a sour tone: "He is a completely capable adult, and he even has his own yacht. He's quite good at showing off."

Lin Ruohe is actually the same age as Zhang Yang. The reason he is a freshman is because of his excellent grades, which allowed him to pass the university selection and admission a year in advance. This is also one of the reasons why he has such a good reputation among the public.

Ren Yuchen remained calm, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. He said with interest, "It would be really interesting if Zhang Yang and Lin Ruohe could both become one of us."

"How could that be?" Xu You asked, puzzled. He could accept Zhang Yang, but Lin Ruo and Mo Ming had a kind of unapproachable aura. Everyone said that Lin Ruo had a good personality, but he inexplicably felt a similar feeling to his cunning uncle.

Xu You flinched slightly, starting to back down: "How about we just forget about it?"

Meng Fanxi patted Xu You's shoulder hard, saying with exasperation, "It hasn't even started yet. Okay, stop imagining things. Lin Ruohe is a person, not a monster. We should at least try our best before discussing whether it will work out."

Meng Fanxi said earnestly, "Brother Ye is still eagerly waiting for us."

As expected, Wei Ye was jumping around in the group chat, asking everyone if they had arrived, what the situation was, and so on, wishing he could immediately make a video call to check on the progress.

When checking into the hotel, the trainees were all very excited and rushed to the front desk.

After about ten minutes of guidance, they all obediently lined up in rows and registered for check-in in an orderly manner.

Meng Fanxi and his group rallied, shaking off the anxieties and worries they had on the ship. They decided to check in first and then use their numbers to surround Lin Ruohe during the subsequent activities.

They had only been distracted for a moment when disembarking, and now that they were at the very back of the queue with no sign of moving, they sat down on their suitcases and started chatting, ignoring the fact that their companions were recording the scene with a camera.

Just as Meng Fanxi was idly admiring the scenery outside the hotel's transparent glass doors, he suddenly saw a familiar yet unfamiliar figure gracefully pulling a suitcase towards him.

Lin Ruohe only arrived at this moment.

The yacht may have taken him sightseeing a few more times on its own.

An idea suddenly popped into my head.

To avoid attracting attention, Meng Fanxi pretended to look away while keeping his eyes fixed on the figure out of the corner of his eye. He lowered his head slightly, put his hand to his mouth so that no one could see his mouth movements, and said in a voice that only his companions could hear, "Watch out, watch out, don't move, listen to me."

When Lin Ruohe entered the hotel lobby, there was only one line of girls and one line of boys left in the hotel. He stood silently behind the line of boys.

According to the original plan, he was supposed to get a single room. Actually, he regretted it a little after arriving, because several trainees he knew well did not come.

In terms of age, he is not much different from these trainees, but in terms of mentality, he feels that he has become mature and may not be able to keep up with today's internet trends.

He was like an outcast who had been forcibly integrated into a group of young people, and when he arrived here, others had to give him special care at all times.

According to the plan, he could arrive and check in as early as possible, but canceling the original sea route would disappoint others' good intentions, so he had to ask the yacht driver to take him around a few more times to delay the process.

Although the long journey had left him exhausted and he wanted to collapse into bed, he didn't want his presence to disrupt the relaxed atmosphere among the trainees.

The line gradually shortened, and there were only four people ahead of him checking in. Lin Ruohe showed no impatience, and his eyes behind his sunglasses were calm and deep.

There seemed to be something happening at the front; the boy was discussing something with the receptionist.

Lin Ruohe turned his head to look out of curiosity, but the three people in front of him suddenly became very excited and started singing incoherently, and he couldn't hear a word they said.

After a while, the scattered and disorderly singing stopped as the discussion at the front ceased. Messages were passed from one person to another from front to back. Then, Lin Ruohe looked at the boy in front of her and turned around, looking directly into his eyes through her sunglasses, her eyes sparkling with a tentative question.

"The receptionist said there's one presidential suite available, but it requires five people to check in. Shall we go together?"