Shu Ran refused to do square dancing, declaring that she would remain neutral regarding any group division, and she’d just join whichever group had an opening at the end.
Anyway, no square dancing for her! She was wearing a floral skirt today! Very elegant!
Guan Yu couldn’t fool her and didn’t say much, just mumbled about someone else.
"Where’s Brother Huai? Why isn’t Brother Huai here yet? He’s supposed to be the star of the show today. Or is he already here?"
"And what about Brother Cheng and Mu Qiu, aren’t they here yet?" Li Yang asked.
"They definitely are," Guan Yu leisurely fanned herself with an auntie’s fan: "I caught sight of Brother Cheng’s manager leaving by car just as I arrived."
Li Yang immediately looked around: "So they’ve already passed this game? They’re divided into groups?"
"Maybe, didn’t you notice that old man over there without a fan?"
Li Yang and Shu Ran looked in the direction she was pointing.
In the front two rows of the square dancing group, there was an old man with empty hands. While others formed lines and opened their fans, his section lacked a pop of red.
"So there’s information on the fans?" Li Yang quickly caught on, grabbing the fan from Guan Yu’s hand, he turned it around and saw the number 5.
"What does 5 mean? Could it be that two others also have 5, forming a group with you? Or does it refer to the fifth outfit?"
Having been through so many episodes, he guessed that it was likely like this.
Guan Yu closed the fan: "Not sure, but it’s definitely useful."
"Then I’ll go get a fan!"
He happily prepared to go ask an old man for a fan, but after only two steps, he stopped.
"Wait a minute. If the information is on the fan, then why the dance?"
Shu Ran coldly replied: "Because she tricked you, and you fell for it."
Li Yang: "......Sister Guan Yu!!!"
Guan Yu laughed like Donald Duck and ran away with the fan, laughing as she ran.
She had seen the conspicuous signboard by the side of the road a long time ago, so she stood up and ran to the left.
But after running for a distance, she came back.
Li Yang was worried he couldn’t immediately chase after her, but was surprised when she ran back herself.
"You picked..." he started.
"Oh my, isn’t this Brother Cheng and Qiuqiu?" Guan Yu stood in front of a group of people hiding, fanning herself, the vibrant red fan swaying back and forth.
Mu Qiu chuckled awkwardly and stood up, greeting the large group watching them: "Hi, what a coincidence, everyone is here."
Shu Ran sarcastically remarked: "Yes, what a coincidence, we’re all recording the same show."
[Hahahahahahaha Li Yang, you got tricked again!]
[Good morning everyone~ Good morning, meow~]
[Still recovering from the last episode, folks]
[Another beautiful Saturday, gathering with everyone again]
[I see it, Brother Cheng and Mu Qiu have been staying together these days]
[Isn’t that every day, or are you emphasizing something that happened these past few days?]
[It’s already the ninth episode, have they run out of tricks? Even Yangyang can analyze everything so clearly now]
[Yangyang: How polite are you?]
[Only restored his name in the last episode, this time he’s back to the variety show idiot persona]
[They’re all dressed like they’re going out for barbecue in the evening]
[Li Yang’s not bad! He can do square dancing that well!]
[Hahaha I’m dying! Shu Ran already has psychological trauma!]
[It’s the ninth episode now... only one more? Can the director extend it by dozens of episodes?]
[What’s the format of this episode? What TV drama tropes will be used? Which three guests will participate?!]
[Please, I’ve been praying every episode for my favorite brother to come, this is the second to last episode, please make it happen]
[Everyone in this show is practically a liar]
[Seriously though, where is Brother Huai? Locked up somewhere? Can we get a special shot of the little black room this episode? I want to know how Brother Huai is suffering]
[Brother Huai: Go admire someone else, let’s part ways here]
[TV drama tropes! Is it what I think it is? Will everyone play TV drama roles?]
[Mentioned novels, I’m gambling big that this episode Mu Qiu carries the whole scene]
[Here we go, getting comfortable, ready to hear everyone boasting and acting]
[...]
"......Ahem," Mu Qiu tapped the fan in his palm, "You guys better go pick a fan. From my observation, only nine fans have numbers on them, and the numbers are all different, the rest are blank."
Therefore, it’s almost certain that this episode has nine people, with non-identical numbers matching wardrobe and props.
Li Yang and Shu Ran headed back to find the fans.
Guan Yu let out an exaggerated yawn and asked her: "Makes sense, what number did you get?"
"9, Brother Cheng got 1. What number do you have?"
"5," Guan Yu unfolded the fan to show her, reasonably speculating: "This number is in the middle range, so it should be relatively good."
"Who knows."
Mu Qiu shrugged, looking at the two returning with fans, asked routinely: "What numbers did you get?"
Shu Ran: "2."
Li Yang: "7."
The usually silent Cheng Zhirang spoke up: "Let’s all take a look, see how many numbered fans are left on the field, and gather them all."
The leader spoke, and everyone started to move together.
They weaved their way awkwardly through the square dancing uncles and aunts, smiling and asking to borrow fans to take a look.
Li Yang, stuck in the middle, even got held back by an aunt who insisted on introducing him to her daughter and asked him to scan a QR code to add her WeChat.
Li Yang was overwhelmed, after multiple refusals he finally managed to escape.
Mu Qiu and the others, mixed in the crowd, laughed at his plight, while Guan Yu egged him on to add the WeChat.
Li Yang wasn’t interested and quickly waved it off.
A few minutes later, the fans with numbers were gathered, totaling four.
"Which means the others aren’t here yet," Guan Yu stroked her chin pretending to be wise, "But that’s not right, Brother Huai was really looking forward to this episode, since he’s become a permanent NPC, shouldn’t he be so excited that he flew over early in the morning?"
Mu Qiu: "From your description, I’ve imagined someone so excited they couldn’t sleep, with huge bags under their eyes, lugging their baggage at four in the morning to flee."
"...I didn’t describe it like that! Don’t slander me!"
Li Yang: "You two are alike, once Brother Huai gets here, I’m telling him you both slandered him."
Guan Yu raised a fist the size of a sandbag: "Have you ever been punched by a pretty girl?"
Li Yang: "...yuck!"
"Alright, you three have been bickering non-stop since early morning."
Shu Ran looked at them disdainfully and asked the camera: "The direction of the high-speed rail station is the only entrance here, right? Let’s wait here for them, and when they arrive, let them pick a fan and choose an outfit directly."
Guan Yu chimed in: "You seem pretty eager, are you itching to wear a cheongsam again?"
"I’ll wear your ghost! Shut your mouth!"