Soon, they moved on to the next segment.
One of the most important parts of any dating show: assigning rooms.
The blackboard showed the male and female guests’ rooms, divided between the first and second floors, with four rooms on each floor.
A stood for the female guests, while B stood for the male guests.
The order on the first floor was A1-B1-A2-B2.
The second floor was A3-B3-A4-B4.
The men’s and women’s rooms were arranged alternately, so that the game’s rules could create a little interaction between them later on.
Living close to someone was certainly a good thing. It meant more chances for ambiguity and sparks.
The staff reminded them, “You can start choosing now.”
Everyone sat on the sofas, exchanging glances. Some were embarrassed to be the first to choose, while others were considering whether it would be better to wait until the guest they were interested in picked a room before making their own move.
Seeing everyone hesitate, Ji Liuyue simply stood up and said, “I’ll go first.”
She walked over to the blackboard, picked up a pink badge, and placed it on A2.
“I’m too lazy to climb stairs, so I’ll live on the first floor.” She then smiled without making any attempt to hide her intentions and added, “Why A2? I’m hoping two handsome men will be living on either side of me.”
With her taking the lead, Wang Aitian followed suit and stood up to choose room A4 on the second floor.
She even cupped her hands toward Ji Liuyue and said, “Yueyue, it’s not that I don’t want to live with you. It just sounds wonderful to have handsome men as neighbors on both sides, so I’m choosing the second floor.”
Ji Liuyue smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. “Good!”
Cen Yu thought for a moment before choosing B3, to the left of Wang Aitian’s room. It was actually a very clever choice.
After all, A3 was also a female room, meaning another woman would be his neighbor.
Liu Qingye was no longer calm either. All the good rooms were being taken.
She glanced at Ji Liuyue, then stood up and chose a room on the first floor.
In her soft, sweet voice, she said, “Then I’ll take A1. I don’t want to climb stairs either.”
The moment Ji Mingtian saw Liu Qingye choose a room on the first floor, he hurriedly stood up and picked B1, saying, “I want to be neighbors with my little sister.”
In reality, he simply wanted to live next to Liu Qingye.
Liu Qingye sat back down on the sofa with a reserved smile.
In truth, her heart remained unmoved. Her ultimate target was Xu Jinsi. Even Lu Nanxun was merely a tool in the love triangle she intended to create.
Lu Nanxun stood up and chose B2 on the first floor.
All the rooms on the first floor had now been taken.
Xu Jinsi rose unhurriedly and, expressionless, selected B4.
Wang Aitian grew a little excited when she saw this. After all, Xu Jinsi was currently the most mysterious-looking male guest, and he also had the most outstanding appearance.
Whether he had simply failed to get the room he wanted or had genuinely intended to stay on the second floor, it didn’t matter.
He was now her neighbor!
Zhang Weiyi, however, didn’t care about the room locations. She placed the last badge in the only remaining room.
The room arrangements were now as follows:
First floor, from left to right: Liu Qingye, Ji Mingtian, Ji Liuyue, and Lu Nanxun.
Second floor: Zhang Weiyi, Cen Yu, Wang Aitian, and Xu Jinsi.
After choosing their rooms, the guests dragged their suitcases away to do some quick unpacking.
Ji Liuyue discovered that every room was a double room, which meant that more male or female guests might arrive later.
Once they had finished tidying up, everyone gathered in the dining room at the production team’s arrangement.
The dining table was long enough to seat ten people.
This brought them to another particularly dramatic part of any dating show.
Where should everyone sit?
Seeing them all standing around awkwardly, Ji Liuyue simply pulled out a chair in the middle and sat down.
She naturally claimed the center seat.
“Yueyue, wait for me.” Wang Aitian naturally took the seat beside her.
Zhang Weiyi glanced at them, then quickly sat down next to Ji Liuyue as well.
Three of the female guests were now seated together on the same side.
Liu Qingye still hadn’t figured it out. Hadn’t filming just begun? Why was Ji Liuyue already so popular with the other women? Every female guest seemed eager to sit beside her.
Wasn’t this supposed to be a dating show?
Shouldn’t they be sitting next to the male guests they were interested in?
Originally, she had wanted to sit beside Lu Nanxun or Xu Jinsi. But seeing what the others had done, she could only silently sit in the same row.
Once the female guests were seated, the male guests took their places one after another.
The seating arrangement was rather intriguing, however.
Lu Nanxun sat directly opposite Liu Qingye, Cen Yu sat opposite Wang Aitian, Ji Mingtian sat opposite Ji Liuyue, and Xu Jinsi sat opposite Zhang Weiyi.
As Ji Mingtian sat down, he even said with a smile, “I’m sitting opposite my little sister.”
At first, it had only been a joke based on the fact that they shared the same surname, claiming they were biological siblings.
But as he kept saying it, he began to take it seriously.
In fact, it was clear that Ji Mingtian simply wasn’t attracted to Ji Liuyue’s type. That was why he could casually establish a friendship—or even sibling-like—relationship with her without any reservations.
Ji Liuyue waved her hand. “Sure, sure.”
She was already thinking that when it came time to stir up trouble on the dating show, she could call Ji Mingtian along too.
If there were more attention-seekers around, then the audience wouldn’t have just one person to blame.
During the meal, no one spoke.
The table was too long, and some of the dishes were difficult to reach, so Cen Yu busied himself serving food to everyone.
Ji Liuyue had immediately pegged him as the type who always tried to please everyone, and it turned out she was right. A personality like his had few sharp edges, though, so it was difficult for him to attract the attention of the female guests at first.
Everyone’s gaze still drifted, almost involuntarily, toward Xu Jinsi, who looked aloof and haughty.
There was also an air about him that spoke of an elegant young master from a wealthy family.
For the second segment, the staff brought over a stack of cards.
“These are messages everyone wrote for the person they wanted to go on a date with while on their way to the house. Please draw one at random and read it aloud.”
Zhang Weiyi immediately understood. “So the message we read might have been written by another guest for their date?”
Ji Liuyue said, “Exactly. No need to be shy about it. Just read it aloud—unless you can guess who wrote it for whom.”
Lu Nanxun discreetly raised his eyes and glanced at Liu Qingye.
In a low voice, he said, “This one should be easy to guess.”
Once everyone had received a card, Ji Liuyue began reading first.
“I’ve always thought the music I like was pretty niche. I didn’t expect you to like it too. What a coincidence.”
The moment she finished reading, she already knew.
This card had most likely been written by Lu Nanxun for Liu Qingye.
Just as in the original plot, their date location was a vinyl record store.
Everyone wore knowing expressions after hearing the message.
Wang Aitian looked from side to side and teased, “Oh, what a coincidence.”
“Who’s reading next?”
The staff gestured for Ji Liuyue to choose a male guest.
Everyone’s eyes fell on her, curious about whom she would select.
Ji Liuyue lifted her head. Her gaze lingered on Xu Jinsi for several seconds. Just as he assumed she would choose him, she suddenly turned her head.
She pointed at the person seated farthest away.
“Lu Nanxun.”
She didn’t have any particular reason for doing so. She had already guessed that the previous card had been written by Lu Nanxun for Liu Qingye.
She simply wanted to scare him a little.
After being called, Lu Nanxun instinctively looked at Ji Liuyue.
His eyes were calm and impassive.
Then he read the words on his card aloud.
“Everyone looks beautiful beneath the cherry blossoms, so whoever receives my love will feel its full warmth.”
