Chapter Twenty-Eight: Invitation
Meng Fanxi's pupils dilated slightly, but he quickly composed himself. He calmly looked back at Lin Ruohe and called out, "Captain."
He was getting more and more accustomed to using that form of address. Instead of directly answering Lin Ruohe's question, he asked in return, "Do you have any other plans after this team-building event?"
Is there anything you need his help with after the team building activities? Lin Ruohe answered honestly, "Nothing is arranged for the time being."
Meng Fanxi began to lay the groundwork: "What do you think of us? Just the few of us."
"It's good," Lin Ruohe replied, then added, feeling it was a bit vague, "It's quite energetic."
The first impression wasn't too bad, and Meng Fanxi secretly relaxed a bit. Then he asked, "Don't you think there's something lacking about us as a group?"
After asking that question, his heart pounded, and he stared intently at Lin Ruohe's reaction, afraid of missing his micro-expressions.
Lin Ruohe was surprised and said, "You guys have been included in the debut group? Congratulations." He leaned back in his chair and thought seriously, "The four of you seem to have a good relationship. Although I haven't seen your practice videos, the group image and chemistry seem very suitable."
"As for the shortcomings, haven't you decided on a team leader yet?" Lin Ruohe suggested, "It would be better to have the planning team leader select someone from among you to lead the team as soon as possible."
Seeing that he hadn't picked up on his hint at all, Meng Fanxi wasn't discouraged. She went along with his words and said, "Indeed, otherwise, if a small conflict like the one just happened again, I really wouldn't know how to handle it without you."
He asked curiously, "Who do you think is the most suitable among us?"
Lin Ruohe thought for a moment, “You are very calm, but relatively speaking, too gentle. Xu You and Gu Huailang are not very suitable. They are both quite stubborn and too sharp-edged. Ren Yuchen might be more suitable, but he sometimes stands by and observes, and he still needs more training.”
He felt he had said too much. "This is just my personal opinion. The final decision on who to make is up to you and the planning team leader. I believe that whoever becomes the team leader, your group will be even better."
Meng Fanxi remarked, seemingly casually, "It seems you know a lot about groups and groups."
Lin Ruohe didn't speak, but just smiled and looked up in a certain direction in the distance. He had no desire to express anything about his past failure.
A gentle breeze caressed their faces as a black van approached from afar, presumably to pick them up and take them back to their hotel.
Lin Ruohe made a move to stand up, and Meng Fanxi immediately supported his arm, helping him to stand up.
The two were very close at that moment, and the car stopped sideways in front of them. Two people got out of the passenger seat and the back seat, one of whom was speaking in an island dialect, seemingly asking about the extent of the injuries.
Lin Ruohe had no time to reply at this moment; his head was buzzing, and he hadn't had time to adjust the astonishment on his face.
Just now, the boy supporting him asked him a very sincere question in his ear.
It's also an invitation.
"Captain, would you like to be our captain?"
...
No one spoke on the way back. Lin Ruohe sat in the front seat, where he could stretch his legs out completely. His legs felt much better, with only a slight stinging sensation. The older brother, speaking in dialect, said that he would definitely have a large bruise tomorrow, but that was nothing to worry about. Lin Ruohe looked at the scenery outside the window, his thoughts drifting away.
Meng Fanxi sat in the back and carefully reported the progress in the group chat. He extended an invitation to Lin Ruohe, hoping that he would not take it as a joke.
The three people in the group haven't replied yet; they're probably engrossed in collecting maps, and it's not appropriate for them to be playing on their phones while being filmed by a camera.
Wei replied quickly: "???"
When Meng Fanxi saw that Wei Ye was the first to reply, he quickly typed and sent: "Promise me you won't send a voice message. Ruohe and I are in the same car." He was still haunted by the incident where he accidentally sent a voice message before.
Wei Ye: "What was his reaction?"
Meng Fanxi: "No reaction. I was a little surprised when I heard it, but I really don't have any reaction now."
Wei Ye: "Okay, be patient. Now that we've taken the first step, at least we haven't been directly rejected. Keep it up."
After arriving at the hotel, Lin Ruohe was able to walk forward slowly without anyone's help, with Meng Fanxi following closely behind.
The staff escorted them back to their room and then left.
Meng Fanxi watched Lin Ruohe's retreating figure, unsure whether he was going back to his room or staying in the living room, and tentatively said, "Captain, let me get you some water."
Then she ran over with small steps to fetch a cup of hot water and returned. Seeing that Lin Ruohe was already sitting down in the living room, she put the water on the coffee table and sat down beside her.
"Thank you," Lin Ruohe said politely.
He sat on the sofa, rolled up his trouser leg to examine his wound, and pretended to be very busy.
For the first time, Meng Fanxi felt uneasy around Lin Ruohe. It seemed that those words had had an effect on him. He decided to press his advantage and said, "Captain, what I said before getting in the car was not a joke."
"This isn't appropriate." Lin Ruohe looked up at him. "Does your planning team leader know about this?"
"I know." Meng Fanxi replied without hesitation, adding, "The person who called your name in the voice message I accidentally played in the elevator was our planning team leader."
Lin Ruohe: "..."
Lin Ruohe asked, "Why me? Do you really intend to let me join you?"
Meng Fanxi replied, "Yes, we all really hope you can join us." He looked at Lin Ruohe very sincerely, not daring to blink, and emphasized the word "very" in his tone.
As for the reason, Meng Fanxi did not hide it: "Our team leader wanted to plan a unique group that was different from the overly homogenous group in the entertainment industry today. In addition to the four of us, he also wanted to add Zhang Yang, who is a former trainee who has now left the company."
He paused, noticing Lin Ruohe's momentary lapse in concentration upon hearing Zhang Yang's name, though she quickly regained her composure.
He continued, "Then, as you said, our team was missing a leader, and that's when you came along."
Lin Ruohe remained silent for a while before slowly asking, "Did Zhang Yang agree?"
Well, Meng Fanxi wasn't sure if Lin Ruohe wanted Zhang Yang to agree, so he only replied, "He's still considering it."
Lin Ruohe picked up the water on the coffee table, blew on it gently, and then sipped it slowly, as if she were savoring tea.
Lin Ruohe said, "Before becoming an actress, I had a failed attempt to form a group."
Fearing he might use this as a reason to refuse, Meng Fanxi quickly reassured him, "We've heard about that too. Every experience will become valuable lessons on our path forward."
"Zhang Yang probably doesn't want to be in the same group as me."
"Huh?" Meng Fanxi couldn't help but be surprised, and the other party left behind such an ambiguous remark before moving back to the room.
At lunchtime, the staff thoughtfully delivered the dishes directly to the room, where Meng Fanxi and Lin Ruohe silently enjoyed their meal together.
Lin Ruohe ate elegantly, but at a fast pace. After finishing, she said, "You can go out and have fun with everyone this afternoon. Don't worry about me. I'll stay in my room and rest this afternoon."
Staff will visit him regularly to reapply medicine and re-bandage his wounds.
"Oh." Meng Fanxi looked at the unyielding look in his eyes, but didn't ask the question.
The three people who collected the check-in map at noon won the first prize and returned with many gifts they had collected. There were so many things that Meng Fanxi had to run over to pick them up.
The group piled the gifts in the corner of the living room and then went back to their rooms to rest, exhausted.
We exchanged a few words about the progress in the group chat.
While anxiously waiting in the capital, Wei Ye couldn't help but remind everyone in the group chat: "Don't forget our main quest."
Several people only saw it after they woke up.
In the afternoon, we took a yacht out to sea to sightsee in the vicinity. Instead of continuing to form groups as in the morning, we were randomly assigned to board the boat.
Meng Fanxi and a few others gathered together, wanting to go to the same yacht, but were ruthlessly separated by the team leader: "You guys shouldn't always stick together. Aren't you tired of eating and sleeping together? The purpose of this team building trip is to break down the barriers between everyone, so that we can all get along well and not distinguish between you and me."
Then, like herding ducks, they broke up several small groups that had gathered together, and they all dispersed.
Aside from feeling a little regretful that he couldn't take advantage of Lin Ruohe's absence to refine the plan with everyone, Meng Fanxi got along very well with the other people on the ship.
His gaze was filled with the boundless blue, the hum of the speedboat stimulated his eardrums, and the surging waves and refreshing sea breeze made him feel relaxed and happy. He opened his phone to record this beautiful scene, and then sent the video to Lin Ruohe, whom he had just added.
After sending it, he remembered that Lin Ruohe had come by yacht and would definitely be used to this scene, so he hesitated before withdrawing his finger.
Lin Ruohe quickly replied: "A beautiful scene [thumbs up][thumbs up]"
Meng Fanxi breathed a sigh of relief and sent several more videos from different angles.
After dinner, Meng Fanxi and the others returned to their room, while Lin Ruohe, who had also eaten dinner early, sat on the sofa watching TV.
The group chatted for a few minutes. At this point, Ren Yuchen and Lin Ruohe had not yet developed their excellent acting skills. Knowing that Lin Ruohe already knew about their plan, they became a little tense, as if they were preparing for battle.
After a few warm-up remarks, Meng Fanxi got down to business: "What did you mean when you said Zhang Yang didn't want to be in the same group as you? Is there some conflict between you two?"
That shouldn't be the case. When these two joined VIER together in their previous life, there was no conflict between them. Could it be that they had already resolved their differences back then?
Since it can be resolved, there's no need to worry too much.
Meng Fanxi and the others listened attentively to Lin Ruohe's response, their minds racing as they tried to analyze how to deal with various situations.
Lin Ruohe was surprised by how persistent these people were, and said with a wry smile, "Yes, we used to be... friends, but we've lost contact with each other now."
When friends break up, it's not good news.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Ren Yuchen asked directly.
Lin Ruohe found it difficult to explain; his thoughts were in turmoil. But he tried to regain the initiative: "In any case, getting me to join you is not something that can be decided easily. I need to see a plan at least. I can't decide right now."
At least it wasn't a direct rejection, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
But they still need to know what happened between Zhang Yang and Lin Ruohe.
Meng Fanxi had a hunch that this matter might be inextricably linked to Zhang Yang's current situation, and might even become a starting point to persuade Zhang Yang to join the group.
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