Chapter 69, Day 1: "They're saying Teacher Qin is pretty."
Qin Lan removes her makeup and does her skincare routine, then stands on the balcony looking up.
She counted the windows and found Jiang Yan's room, where the light was on.
Qin Lan reached out and touched the outdoor unit of the air conditioner.
You should be able to step on it.
She climbed onto the windowsill, squatted on the air conditioner unit, and was about to reach out again when she suddenly turned her head.
She felt like something was watching her from the darkness.
Qin Lan stopped in place warily, staring directly at the direction of the surveillance camera.
In the monitoring room, the screen clearly displays the popular female gecko.
"Turn on a light," Lin Shu said expressionlessly.
Two red dots lit up in the darkness.
"Turn on the radio."
Staff members are debugging the equipment.
Lin Shu leaned closer to the microphone and said softly, "Teacher Qin, what are you doing?"
Qin Lan raised an eyebrow and started doing squats: "Can't you tell? I'm exercising."
"Oh, so when does Teacher Qin plan to stop training? We'll keep an eye on things for you and come to rescue you immediately if you fall."
Qin Lan released her hand and went back inside: "It's chilly, let's call it a day."
She washed her hands, truly at her wit's end. The director not only closed her door but also kept an eye on her window.
In a small group of ten people, Yu Jintang kept tagging Qin Lan.
Yang Xingji: [Sister Qin, why were you tagged?]
Yu Jintang: [It must be because she did something against the rules.]
Jiang Yan: [Isn't Teacher Qin exercising?]
Qin Lan: [It's for training, but the production team won't allow it.]
Xiahou Cheng: [Is this show crazy? Why won't they even let us exercise?]
Yu Jintang: [I am the planner]
Xiahou Cheng: [Who says this variety show is bad? This variety show is amazing!]
Jiang Yan: [Teacher Chengcheng, you change your mind even faster than Teacher Qin!]
Feng Manhong was a keen observer of the gossip, and the evidence was that she accidentally patted Jiang Yan the next second.
Yu Jintang: [That shouldn't be the case. The show's rules are so few. Lao Qin, how could your normal workout be broadcast over the loudspeaker?]
Xiahou Cheng: [Got it, Lao Qin hasn't been exercising regularly.]
Yang Xingji: [So, Sister Qin, where do you train?]
Qin Lan casually snapped a photo and sent it over: [On the outdoor unit of the air conditioner]
The group chat was filled with question marks.
Liu Lü couldn't help but speak up: "Teacher Qin, what are you doing climbing up there?"
Feng Manhong: [I never expected Xiao Qin to have this kind of hobby]
Yu Jintang immediately understood: [Sigh, she wants to be a womanizer, breaking into other people's rooms through windows.]
This time, everyone started posting all sorts of bizarre memes, and Liu Lü exclaimed: "I never imagined that Teacher Qin and Teacher Jiang had this kind of relationship!"
Jiang Yan blushed for a moment, then poked into Qin Lan's chat box: 【Did you climb through the window?】
Qin Lan: [We've been spotted; there are security cameras outside.]
Jiang Yan couldn't help but grin and send a series of emojis.
Qin Lan felt embarrassed; it made her seem too enthusiastic.
Don't get me wrong, I'm just worried you won't be able to sleep.
Compared to the others in the group, there were three people who were eerily quiet.
Yu Jintang sent a private message to Qin Lan: "There's not much progress between them."
Qin Lan dialed the number back, put her phone aside, and started applying a face mask: "It's only the first day, what's the rush?"
There was the sound of someone playing a game on Yu Jintang's end: "No, no, no, the problem between the two of them is very serious. It's been four years. The current situation is that Yun Chui is unwilling to take the initiative, and Song Man is too proud to admit it. The 'Encounter in the Fog' segment after arriving on the island was actually designed for the two of them to ensure that they would definitely meet. I didn't expect it to be so ineffective, and now there's Anna too."
Qin Lan recalled for a moment: "She was a nice person, very knowledgeable, and played bridge very well."
Yu Jintang was speechless: "Damn, I was just complaining, after all, she's in an awkward position in the middle. I wouldn't doubt Yun Chui's character, okay? They look like friends."
"So what do you want to do?"
Qin Lan turned off the bathroom light, took her phone, and walked towards the bed: "You made these rules yourself, you can't just change them at the last minute."
“The rules don’t need to be changed.” Yu Jintang crossed her legs. “What’s too easy to get often doesn’t last. But I plan to have Lin Shu do some behind-the-scenes work to bring the two of them together.”
The next morning at six o'clock, melodious symphony filled the villa.
Qin Lan sat up, completely bewildered, and yelled at her phone, "What are you doing if it's not Yu Jintang? Wasn't I on a lighthearted variety show?"
From Yu Jintang's side came the sound of broadcasting exercises: "Early to bed and early to rise makes you healthy. Old Qin, I'm doing this for your own good."
"Who was still playing games at 2 AM last night?"
"Old Qin, if you don't wash your face soon, you'll be late. You don't want to appear in front of Jiang Yan looking disheveled, do you?"
Qin Lan slammed her phone down, got up, and rushed into the bathroom.
Lin Shu's voice echoed throughout the villa: "Guests, guests, please get up, please get up and gather at the villa's main entrance before 6:30."
Qin Lan went downstairs to scout the location, and apart from Yu Jintang and Song Man, everyone else looked like they were still in a daze.
Song Man had finished scrolling through her phone earlier than usual and looked full of energy: "Are we going to make breakfast ourselves? I've seen other variety shows do it like that."
"No need for that, our variety shows don't involve physical labor."
Lin Shu nodded and said, "Alright, children, please line up and go on a spring outing with your teacher."
Everyone: ?
The group hesitated before stepping over.
Jiang Yan happened to be standing in front of Qin Lan, Xiahou Cheng was tugging at Yu Jintang's clothes when no one was looking, and Liu Lü also stood next to Feng Manhong very casually.
The four remaining people seemed particularly out of place.
Yang Xingji found himself standing between Yun Chui and Song Man, so he moved his feet.
Song Man said angrily, "If you dare to take one step, you're finished."
Yang Xingji ignored the warnings and stood with Anna.
"Are you all ready? Let's go."
Lin Shu turned around. Today she was wearing a white hat and holding a small flag, looking exactly like a tour guide: "Come on, come on, follow me."
As soon as I stepped outside, I was enveloped in a thick fog, so dense it seemed like it would never dissipate. The chill of the early morning mixed with the moisture from the lake, creating a dense fog that blanketed the island.
"Tour guide, where are we going?"
Xiahou Cheng asked, "Is our first activity hide-and-seek?"
"I won't design routine tasks that you can easily figure out." Lin Shu rolled her eyes under her baseball cap and waved a small flag. "Let me explain the rules to you. This is the fixed task every morning from now on, and it's also the core task of our 'Call in the Fog' game. Later, staff members will lead you to the phone booths and teach you how to use them. Okay, kids, follow them."
Ten staff members led away the ten guests. Qin Lan followed them for a while, and then a red figure gradually appeared ahead.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an old-fashioned telephone booth.
There were even seats inside.
"Please come in, Teacher Qin." The staff member explained, "You can dial when the signal light turns on. The nine numbers above correspond to different phone booths. You need to keep dialing or changing numbers until someone answers your call. Similarly, if you hear the ringtone, you can also choose to answer. The call must be at least five minutes long. We will record the entire call, but we will not release it all. Instead, we will play a portion of today's audio the next morning, so please pay attention to the content of your call."
Qin Lan nodded: "I understand. Who you can talk to depends entirely on the magnetic field."
"Good luck," the staff member said shyly, bowing their head.
The traffic light soon came on, and Qin Lan decisively pressed the number "1".
The phone rang in her ear, but she didn't answer, wanting to take her luck into her own hands.
Phone booth number "1" is busy.
Qin Lan switched to dial number 2.
The call connected quickly on number 2, and Song Man's voice came through: "Who are you?"
"……I."
"..."
"Why is it you?" Both of them were disgusted and sighed in unison.
"It seems you want to talk to someone else," Qin Lan teased her. "Let me guess who it is. Is their name two characters... or three characters?"
"If it's not Jiang Yan, then it's fine." Song Man: "Otherwise, you'd be jumping up and down."
"What a joke, I'm not that petty."
Inside the phone booth where Qin Lan planned to make the call, Anna answered the phone.
She was slightly surprised to hear the voice on the other end: "Teacher Jiang?"
Jiang Yan was speechless for a moment: "It's me, Teacher Anna?"
Anna laughed awkwardly: "I'm just an ordinary person, you don't need to call me Teacher Jiang like that."
Jiang Yan considered intercepting part of the call, so she asked cryptically, "Did you enjoy being on the show?"
Anna immediately understood and said, "It's a dream opportunity to be on TV with... well, so many big stars. It's just that it's so wonderful that I'm a little afraid to even think about it, Teacher Jiang, you understand? I have a lot of concerns, but I'm still looking forward to it."
Jiang Yan smiled and said, "Of course."
After making their calls, the guests were led back to dinner by staff, and most of them came out within five minutes.
They had finished eating, but Xiahou Cheng and Yu Jintang still hadn't returned.
What are they talking about?
Qin Lan washed a bowl and dried it: "Are you still planning to eat? The dishes have already been washed."
Jiang Yan subconsciously replied, "Shouldn't we be talking about humanity entering feudal society now?"
There was a few seconds of silence in the room. Qin Lan was also a little embarrassed. Although there were all sorts of behind-the-scenes clips, it still felt a bit strange to have such a natural conversation in front of the camera...
Jiang Yan silently turned her head and began to awkwardly chat with Feng Manhong: "Teacher Feng, the color of this shawl you're wearing today is particularly beautiful."
Feng Manhong smiled obligingly and said, "Really? Teacher Qin also said it looked good this morning."
"..."
"Who's pretty?" Yu Jintang's lazy voice came from the doorway.
Following behind was a human ancestor, a species suspected to be an ape-man, who rushed into the house walking upright, quickly jumped onto a chair, grabbed food, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"You were saying that Teacher Qin is pretty," Jiang Yan said naturally. "You two chatted for half an hour."
"Half an hour is the production team's limit, not mine, Xiahou Cheng's," the ape-man mumbled.
"How could she be so hungry?"
Qin Lan turned her head to ask someone, but when she turned around, she found Yun Chui sitting on her left with an expressionless face and Song Man sitting on her right with an arrogant look.
Yun Chui shook his head apologetically: "I met Teacher Xiahou for the first time yesterday, so we're not very familiar with each other."
Song Man: "Same."
"..."
Qin Lan grimaced and turned her head back.
Jiang Yan saw her expression reflected in the glass and immediately burst into laughter.
In the silence, Liu Lü couldn't help but ask her softly, "Teacher Jiang, what are you laughing at?"
Jiang Yan's eyes were almost filled with tears: "I suddenly thought of some funny things, hahaha..."
"Don't pull it out." Qin Lan suddenly provoked.
Honestly, all she did was make a few expressive faces, and that Jiang Yan is pulling this blatant stunt again...
Yang Xingji maintained an expression of wanting to watch the drama unfold while also being terrified, carefully taking out a pack of tissues: "Yanyan, here, wipe the tears from the corners of your eyes..."
Xiahou Cheng ate even more than Anna, who didn't need to manage her figure, so everyone gathered in the adjacent living room to wait for her to finish. Yu Jintang was also eating, but she was eating with great enthusiasm. The two of them were also chatting while eating, mentioning that they had just entered the Common Era.
After the two of them finally finished eating and washing the dishes, everyone looked at Lin Shu and asked, "What's the next activity?"
Lin Shu: "There are no events right now. We'll call you at nine o'clock."
"..."
"Let's go, let's go." Everyone immediately got up and went upstairs to take a nap.
Qin Lan was furious: "Why didn't you remind us sooner?"
Lin Shu protested, "I thought you were waiting for them to finish eating. Shouldn't you have some team spirit?"
Qin Lan: "Are you kidding me? If I had known there wouldn't be any tasks after eating, I would have gone back to sleep."
Jiang Yan: "Please remind us next time, Director, that I still have a script to read."
Song Man: "I want to practice dancing."
Liu Lü: "I work out."
Feng Manhong: "I get beauty treatments."
Anna: "I need to rest."
Yang Xingji: "I watch anime."
Only Yun Chui remained, and Lin Shu stared at her.
Yun Chui: "Sorry, I have something to do too."
At 9:00 AM sharp, Lin Shu announced that today's tasks would begin.
"Except for the first day and the last two days, we will have a random task or activity that requires two people to cooperate every day."
Lin Shu held up the task card: "Today's task is [Shadow Dialogue]. Everyone will be randomly paired up and will need to have a conversation through a frosted glass for at least half an hour. The topic is self-introduction and getting to know each other. Some guests may not be familiar with each other yet, so this task will help all the teachers get to know each other."
"Every day's random mission rewards you with an island date and a candlelight dinner. After leaving the island, you can have physical contact with the other players, and the reward is quite tempting. So, who will claim today's reward depends on your performance in the mission! Let's get moving!"
Song Man was led into a room where a huge frosted glass wall was placed in the center.
After a while, a shadow flickered on the glass, and someone sat down opposite her.
Song Man carefully examined the outline. Hmm, it looks quite good.
The staff rang a bell: "Teachers, please don't speak yet. Please write down your first impressions of each other."
Song Man quickly typed two lines: [First of all, the person opposite me is a woman with long hair, wearing what appears to be a turtleneck sweater, and she seems very gentle.]
The impression card from the other side was also passed over, and Song Man's face immediately fell.
She recognized the character too well; she was now considering leaving.
It simply said three words: 【Teacher Song】
"The two teachers may now begin their self-introductions," the staff member reminded them.
Song Man was completely baffled. She hadn't recognized Yun Chui even after four years of not seeing him, so how did Yun Chui know it was her?
"We can begin now," the staff member reminded again.
Yun Chui opened her mouth, her mouth churning with nervousness. Before she could even think of what to say, Song Man spoke first: "Teacher Yun has good eyesight."
Yun Chui: "Yes, my eyesight is indeed quite good, 5.5 without glasses."
Song Man: "..."
She said dryly, "My eyes are fine, and my medical report shows I'm healthy."
Next, both sides began to report their information, and the staff couldn't bear to listen anymore.
"Your profession is a current member of the national professional Latin dance team. What does Teacher Yun do?"
"I don't have a stable job. I've been traveling all over the world since I graduated from university."
"Personal hobbies?"
"yes."
Song Man felt a pang of sadness: "I didn't expect Teacher Yun to be so passionate about traveling. Does Teacher Yun have any other hobbies?"
Yun lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on the slightly frizzy projection on the glass. She slowly reached out her hand, as if wanting to smooth her hair.
"Like Teacher Song, I also used to like Latin dance."
Song Man saw the dark shadow of the finger touch the glass and immediately flinched: "What are you doing?"
Her fingers paused for a moment, then moved away from the cold glass: "Teacher Song, please tidy the hair around your ears."
Song Man was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran her fingers through her hair, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
Yun Chui has changed a lot; she doesn't like dancing anymore, yet she seems unchanged, still so gentle.
A bitter feeling welled up inside her, but a surge of determination rose within her, and she asked with a determined tone, "Then why doesn't Teacher Yun dance anymore?"
Yun Chui pondered, "Because... there are no longer any targets in this regard."
Song Man continued, "Why?"
Yun Chui chuckled softly.
“Teacher Song, everyone has different choices. Some choices have nothing to do with people or passions; it’s just that I made this choice, so I don’t jump anymore.”
Apart from Song Man and Yun Chui, none of the others found a match with their ideal partner. Surprisingly, the most harmonious pair among the ten was Jiang Yan and Xiahou Cheng. They chatted about relationships and got along very well, giving the impression that they had both secretly admired eight hundred people.
Jiang Yan: "I understand Teacher Xiahou's feelings all too well. I played a character like that before, Princess Taiping. In the drama, Shangguan Wan'er was her unrequited love from her youth. Although she seemed to get Shangguan Wan'er later, she never truly experienced Shangguan's wholehearted love. Taiping didn't care about fairness; what she cared about was how much sincerity Shangguan had for her..."
Xiahou Cheng slapped his thigh: "I know that! The first drama I filmed had the same setting. The character was carefree and always sunny, seemingly not caring about anything that happened. But actually, she really hoped to be pursued by someone she cared about. Who isn't a baby at heart..."
The two used their character's wine glass to vent their frustrations, chatting for a full hour and still not quite done. Lin Shu announced that the two people with the highest mutual attraction that day were Jiang Yan and Xiahou Cheng, and they were given the opportunity for an afternoon date on an island, as well as a romantic candlelight dinner.
The others watched silently as the two women left, chatting and laughing. A gust of cold wind blew into the lobby, making it seem particularly desolate.
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