Chapter Twenty-Six: The Banquet
In Meng Fanxi's view, this operation demonstrated their extraordinary teamwork and tacit understanding.
He proposed that everyone surround Lin Ruohe, taking advantage of the previous room arrangement flaw, and instead of single rooms or double rooms, everyone should stay in the same room as Lin Ruohe, in order to achieve the advanced concept of being close to the water and getting the moon first.
Xu You planned to be the first to negotiate with the front desk, but due to his tendency to get impatient while negotiating, Ren Yuchen took the lead and negotiated with the front desk, proposing that they wanted a room for five people.
Xu You used his extensive experience staying in hotels to support him from behind.
Gu Huailang, in the third leg, relayed messages, while simultaneously keeping a close eye on the situation behind him and activating his disruption skills.
Meng Fanxi then used his affability buff to lower the target's defenses. If the first attack failed, he would use the "idol theory" to enhance his power. If the second attack failed, he would give a tearful warning.
His acting skills are still comparable to Lin Ruohe's at this point.
But the target suddenly became mysterious.
"Okay." Lin Ruohe agreed without hesitation.
That easy?
Standing in front of Lin Ruohe, Meng Fanxi felt her heart racing with disbelief upon hearing the answer. Worried that he might change his mind, she immediately turned around, not forgetting her role at this moment: "Okay, we've got everyone. Let's register quickly."
Several people were also in a flurry of activity, but Ren Yuchen, who was standing at the front, calmly walked over and collected everyone's documents one by one.
When registering at the front desk, Lin Ruohe's name was naturally seen. The manager had specifically instructed them to reserve a private room for him. Now, holding his ID, he looked at Lin Ruohe, who was two meters away, and said, "Hello, aren't you...?"
Everyone's hearts were in their throats; if Lin Ruohe changed his mind at the last minute, there was nothing they could do.
Lin Ruohe moved closer, a perfectly timed smile on her face: "It's alright, just register as you are now."
Registration took some time, and by the time it was over, only a few of them remained in the hall.
Lin Ruohe kept a distance from everyone as they moved.
There were only a few of them standing in the elevator. Even Meng Fanxi, who was the one who recruited Lin Ruohe, didn't know what to say and awkwardly looked at the room card in his hand: "I've never stayed in a presidential suite before."
He then gave two awkward laughs.
Xu You tried to smile and cheer, but his breath came out short and turned into a cold snort, making the atmosphere even more awkward.
Ren Yuchen and Gu Huailang stared blankly at the elevator ceiling, one on each side.
The current situation is that Lin Ruo's cooperation has left them at a loss for what to do.
Lin Ruohe had no intention of speaking first. He was relaxed, dragging his suitcase while browsing his phone. He seemed quite patient, probably waiting for them to slip up first.
Meng Fanxi calmed himself down; he absolutely couldn't rush things at this moment.
He also took out his phone and looked through it. He saw that Wei Ye had sent several more voice messages in the group, so he started with the first one and prepared to read it by converting the voice messages to text.
At this moment, when they arrived at the floor, the elevator doors opened, and he stood in front, distractedly carrying his suitcase as he walked out. Suddenly, his finger, which had been pressing the voice call button, went limp, and the phone volume had somehow been turned up to maximum.
Wei Ye's voice suddenly broke the silence amidst the moving luggage: "How is everyone? Lin Ruo..."
With a "snap," Meng Fanxi's ears rang. He quickly turned off his phone, pretended to be calm, and stepped forward, ignoring Lin Ruohe's questioning gaze.
This wasn't just one person's social death scene; the other three also felt a sense of collective punishment, as if they were being publicly executed.
A useless sense of understanding suddenly erupted at this moment.
Xu You started making a lot of noise, deliberately shaking the ornament on the side of his suitcase so it jingled, "Wow, look, isn't that our presidential suite? So exciting!"
He was very good at playing the role of a clueless, unruly kid, even though he was completely uninterested in things like presidential suites when they were initially discussing the battle plan.
Gu Huailang suddenly approached Lin Ruohe with great enthusiasm. He had only brought a sturdy hiking backpack to the team building event, and his hands were empty. Taking advantage of Lin Ruohe's distraction, he took the suitcase from his hands and said, "Let me help you."
His other arm, taut, betrayed his tension.
"Uh." Lin Ruohe was caught off guard and tried to take the suitcase, but the person had already moved forward with a swift movement.
Ren Yuchen then walked to Lin Ruohe's side and explained in a rather organized manner, "Senior, please don't misunderstand. We have always looked up to you as a role model and hope to have a pleasant time together."
Lin Ruohe maintained his composure, and despite not believing a word Yu Chen said, he politely replied, "Thank you."
After the simple room assignments were completed, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. The team leader then announced that a dinner would be held in the hotel's banquet hall later to provide a simple welcome ceremony for all participants in the team building activities.
In the group chat, Meng Fanxi first apologized to everyone, and everyone said it was okay, then unanimously shifted the blame onto Wei Ye.
Xu You: "@Xiao Wei, your right to send voice messages is hereby revoked, effective immediately."
Gu Huailang: "@Xiao Wei, I've never thought Brother Ye's voice was so grating..."
Ren Yuchen: "I won't say anything more, Brother Ye, reflect on this."
Wei Ye: "..."
As the banquet time approached, Meng Fanxi, wanting to make amends, went to Lin Ruohe's room and knocked three times nervously: "Brother He?"
Isn't this sudden, affectionate address a bit deliberate?
"Senior?" Meng Fanxi changed to a more appropriate form of address and quickly pressed himself against the door. The other three also opened the door to cautiously observe the commotion.
"Wait a moment," a voice came from inside.
A moment later, the door opened from the inside. Lin Ruohe had just taken a shower and was drying his hair. A few drops of water dripped down his smooth hair when he wasn't looking. Without his sunglasses, Lin Ruohe looked a little childish, with the youthful feeling of a high school student.
Meng Fanxi gave a gentle, harmless smile and tentatively asked, "Senior, shall we go down together later?"
Even when it's the younger version of Lin Ruohe, Meng Fanxi always gets nervous.
Lin Ruohe said, "Okay. Just call me by my name." He seemed to have forgotten the previous 'farce'.
Meng Fanxi: "Okay, Brother Ruohe."
They arrived at the venue ten minutes before the banquet began, which was neither too early nor too late.
The trainees were already scattered around chatting. They were all surprised to see them enter with Lin Ruohe. Lin Ruohe himself attracted everyone's attention, and they also felt a sense of honor.
As soon as Lin Ruohe arrived, he was called over for a talk by the team leader and the hotel's senior management. However, he did not forget to say goodbye to Meng Fanxi and the others before leaving.
They were met with surprised stares and whispers about their relationship.
Meng Fanxi saw Qi Xiaohan and Xu Weiguang waving at him. They had been on another bus with the members of their debut group throughout the journey, and only now did they have time to get together. Meng Fanxi immediately went over to them.
"Wow, bro! You actually know Lin Ruohe?" Qi Xiaohan indeed waved him over vigorously to gossip.
Meng Fanxi shook his head smugly: "Not only that, now we're roommates."
"Wow." Qi and Xu had never seen Meng Fanxi so smug before, so they quickly asked him for advice.
Meng Fanxi made up a few things to get by, while secretly wondering how well his performance went.
In fact, their smug demeanor was part of their strategy. Lin Ruohe was probably chatting with someone else while secretly observing and guarding against them.
What they need to do now is to show off, to act very superficially, to make Lin Ruohe believe that they truly admire him, so they approach him and lower their guard.
Meng Fanxi scanned the entire scene. Xu You and Gu Huailang had already slipped into the crowd as planned, praising Lin Ruohe lavishly. He then glanced around. Where was Ren Yuchen?
Ren Yuchen sat in a corner where he could observe Lin Ruohe, quietly watching him.
It was different from what they had expected.
Lin Ruohe was very focused on talking to others, and all her expressions and responses were perfect; this was something that someone with a short attention span couldn't do.
He did not get distracted at all by looking at other parts of the venue.
Ren Yuchen frowned slightly as he looked at the refined young man in front of him, who was dealing with adults with ease and always maintained a proper smile. An intuition arose spontaneously in his mind.
Lin Ruohe didn't care about them at all.
Their approach, subtle hints in their voices, and probing attempts have so far had no effect on him.
The dinner started quickly. The team leader and the hotel organizer gave a few brief words, introduced the itinerary for the next few days, and gave them a uniform – a black short-sleeved shirt with simple gold line drawings.
The simple line drawing on the short-sleeved shirt mainly consists of a few irregular lines, yet it has a wonderful sense of balance on the shirt. Everyone's expression was different when they received the team uniform, but Meng Fanxi was quite satisfied.
There were buffet seats on site, and soon everyone began to move around freely. Lin Ruo and the others obediently returned and walked together with Meng Fanxi and the others, without straying from the group.
The timing wasn't quite right, so Ren Yuchen hesitated and refrained from telling everyone what he had discovered for the time being.
The group discussed and agreed on the dishes, then sat down at a corner table to begin their meal. Lin Ruohe ate quietly but also listened patiently to everyone's discussion.
To make him laugh, Xu You dug out all his best jokes, which actually worked somewhat.
When Lin Ruohe's usually aloof expression is amused, his eyes crinkle into a smile, but he will subconsciously try to conceal it by placing his hands together against his lips to slightly cover the upturned corners of his mouth.
Ren Yuchen secretly observed for a few more moments.
Their pleasant atmosphere drew the other trainees closer.
On the way back, they went outside the hotel to enjoy the fresh air of the island at dusk. They hadn't left the hotel all afternoon. Fortunately, the various activities would start tomorrow, and everyone was very excited, chatting excitedly about the twinkling stars in the sky.
Lin Ruohe also seemed to be watching quietly, completely absorbed.
On the way back, everyone seemed to have gotten closer, chatting together, with Lin Ruohe's voice occasionally audible among them.
"Yeah?"
"Then you're really amazing."
"No way?"
Meng Fanxi walked behind, side by side with Gu Huailang. The cool sea breeze relieved his sense of unreality. Listening to the conversation, he and Gu Huailang exchanged a glance, both of them sensing something strange.
If you calmly observe the whole process from an outsider's perspective, you will find that Lin Ruohe never revealed anything from beginning to end; he maintained a clear boundary.
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