The hall plunged into darkness, and those holding food hurriedly stuffed the remaining delicacies into their mouths, fearing that if they hesitated even a moment longer, they would fall into some strange and bizarre trap and lose their lives.
"Dear distinguished guests, it is a rare and precious opportunity for us to gather here today..." The host's passionate voice echoed throughout the banquet hall, and everyone listened attentively, wishing they could memorize every single word, even the punctuation marks.
"Now the lucky draw begins! Ten lucky guests will be drawn from each round to participate in the games. The winners will receive a unique little gift, so please be sure to cooperate!"
The stick figures cheered continuously, while the humans all turned pale. This was not a lottery, but a life-or-death lottery.
The host grabbed handfuls of slips of paper from the raffle box held by the hostess, unfolded them one by one, and read out the room names of the lucky winners in a suspenseful tone.
The guests were extremely enthusiastic, and every time a room number was announced, there were sounds of disappointment, envy, or joy.
The woman next to Lie Fu was chosen, and her expression changed drastically. She immediately turned to Lie Fu for help.
Lie Fu slowly finished the last sip of his soda water, held up the empty bottle with a friendly smile, and said softly, "Good luck!"
The woman stared wide-eyed in astonishment, seemingly never expecting the man who had been so affectionate with her just moments before to be so heartless. She stood frozen in place, trembling, feigning sadness but genuine fear.
Lie Fu didn't care at all about the woman's sad face, let alone the accusatory glances from the other two women. He calmly whispered with Hei Zi Shan, discussing the dangerous events that might happen in the game.
Perhaps because they hadn't received a reply from the lucky customer, the spotlight accurately captured the woman's bewildered and helpless figure.
She stood alone and helpless under the lights, becoming the focus of everyone's attention. The large red skirt trembled violently as its owner shook, like waves, further highlighting the woman's delicate and graceful beauty.
The woman's pleading gaze quickly shifted to those around her, her eyes brimming with helpless tears and a hint of hope.
Unfortunately, even though she was a beauty, no one showed her any compassion or pity at this moment.
Instead, they were all waiting for the first wave of testing to see if the so-called lucky guests were really lucky.
The customers, on the other hand, were surprised and puzzled by her performance, and kept whispering among themselves.
The buzzing conversation that started because of her momentarily threw the woman off balance. She bit her lip hard, trying to keep a scream from escaping her lips as the red-cheeked hostess approached with a fake smile.
"Distinguished guest?" The hostess tilted her head, her eyes darting around as she asked.
The woman instinctively closed her eyes, not wanting to see the rapidly rolling eyes of the effigy figure. When she opened her eyes again, she took a deep breath, her gaze hardening, and walked confidently into the line of lucky guests in her high heels.
"Women! Your name is 'Don't mess with me'!" Lie Fu sneered. Beautiful women skillfully use their delicate appearance to deceive people, but in reality, they are stronger and braver than many others!
Although Cheng Shuang was young, she was still a woman, and she gave Lie Fu a big eye roll.
When the host finished reading the crumpled paper in his hand, there were exactly ten rooms.
Despite the fact that there were several times more line figures than human figures at the event, the number of people standing on the stage was equal to that of the line figures.
Even more coincidentally, one of the five figures was someone Cheng Shuang knew.
Saying "know" is not quite accurate; Cheng Shuang knew its room number—B7110.
They were guests in the room next to the mother and child.
B7110 seemed extremely happy, grinning broadly on stage and constantly chatting with the 'people' around it. From its conversation with the waiter who knocked on the door to inquire about the owner of the lost item that morning, Cheng Shuang could guess its character: it was someone who loved to take advantage of others.
This kind of personality might be harmless in normal times, but on a cruise ship... unless the cruise ship is only for outsiders.
The host held up an electronic notebook and checked the room numbers of the ten randomly selected guests one by one, lingering a few seconds longer at room B7110.
Of course, these few seconds weren't obvious; it was only because Cheng Shuang was constantly watching B7110 that she was able to notice.
Next, the hostess handed each of the ten guests a blank A4 sheet of paper and a different colored, thick-pointed marker.
"Distinguished guests, please guess how many staff members are serving you in the banquet hall today? The five lucky winners with the closest answers will receive a gift bag. You have ten seconds to answer."
The hostess grinned and counted down, "Ten, nine..."
Cheng Shuang took out her lace-trimmed notebook and counted the number of waiters on duty that day: eighty-five in total. But this was a tricky question: should the hostess and hostesses be included after the banquet began?
What about the performers who went backstage to rest after the music stopped?
She was biting her pen, struggling with her thoughts, when Hei Zishan's big head leaned closer. He glanced at the densely packed names in the notebook and exclaimed in surprise, "When did you write this down?"
Du Jun sensed the movement of the person beside him, looked down, and saw the little girl hand him the notebook.
The three boys huddled together to read the numbers the girl had tallied in the notebook, then closed the notebook and returned it to her.
"Don't worry about it," Du Jun said softly. "The next game might not have similar questions."
Cheng Shuang nodded upon hearing this, and somewhat disappointedly stuffed the notebook back into her bag.
Seeing her sigh, Du Jun pursed his lips and praised, "That's the right approach. Be careful and observe more. Shuangshuang did a great job!"
The little girl was always worried that she was too young and would be disliked. Now that her efforts had been recognized by her older brother, her usual feigned calmness vanished instantly, and she smiled like a flower. Anyone could see her joy.
Du Jun couldn't resist patting the little girl's head.
Hei Zishan and Lie Fu also chuckled softly.
Of the five humans on stage, at least four were newcomers, all with pale faces and anxious, looking around and counting. Unfortunately, the lighting below the stage was dim, making it difficult to see clearly. Not to mention, the B7110's lines were deliberately obstructing the view of its competitors.
Other line figures, angered by it, would raise their fists in a show of threat, but the humans on the stage dared not do anything other than endure it.
Perhaps having discovered this, the bullying B7110 became increasingly unscrupulous towards the five humans.
Although the line figures' expressions are not very vivid, certain movements are still quite clear.
For example, it raises its head to peek at other people's answers.
The host seemed unaware of the disruption and cheating, and after the countdown ended, instructed everyone to reveal their slips of paper.
The ten guests gave a variety of numbers.
"Oh? I don't think I've mentioned the punishment yet? Wrong answers... will make you fall down!" the host suddenly said with a smile, then looked sharply at a newcomer, "That guest, you are not allowed to change your answers!"
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