The opposite Li Yang was more gloomy, "I can't keep up anymore."
He rested for two minutes but still couldn't recall any more poems. He could only watch everyone eat while salivating at the side.
Cheng Zhirang and Shu Ran continued, as for Shi Yuhuai...
"Hahaha"
Eat a bite of food.
"Hahaha"
Eat another bite of food.
An emotionless machine chuckling.
Mu Qiu thought for a bit, nodded, and agreed, "Sure, can I chat with you?"
"Yes, yes!"
Mu Qiu showed a meaningful smile.
Before Mu Qiu and Guan Yu could start talking, Li Yang, who had been sadly thinking of poems while drooling, suddenly sat up straight with a burst, "I remembered!"
He hurriedly picked up the chopsticks to grab the braised ribs he had been eyeing, then blurted out a poem, "In March, fireworks descend upon Yangzhou!"
"Just remembered this line in the middle?" Guan Yu asked.
Li Yang focused on gnawing ribs, "Forgot the beginning and end. Can you recite it?"
Guan Yu seriously thought about it, then shook her head, "I forgot too."
"Guan Yu, you broke the rules." Shu Ran suddenly spoke.
Guan Yu was startled, turned to look at the director's team, and sure enough, a staff member was already smiling and walking towards the dining table.
Then she watched, eyes wide open, as the dish of spicy hotpot in front of her was taken away.
"!!!" Guan Yu's face wrinkled with heartache, tremblingly pointed at the innocently perplexed Li Yang across the table, "you! you!"
Mu Qiu turned her head and burst into laughter.
Li Yang, who was being blamed, couldn't help but laugh heartily, continuing to gnaw on the ribs with delight.
[Let me translate for her: you! you!]
[I thought Li Yang was the socially awkward stage prince, didn't expect he was actually a silly boy]
[Is Li Yang like this in private? It's killing me with laughter! His silly grinning while gnawing on ribs really looks like the village fool!]
[I genuinely racked my brain and still can't remember the lines before and after "In March, fireworks descend upon Yangzhou"!!! Sorry, language teacher!]
[Middle school test-takers, coming to review knowledge, the first half-line is... what was it again? "A solitary sail fades into the blue sky" as the latter half]
[I have a feeling Mu Qiu is up to something]
[Look at Brother Cheng, even eating he looks so good, watching his face makes the food taste better]
[Shi Yuhuai's face is going stiff from laughing hahaha!]
[Why do I feel Shu Ran and Cheng Zhirang are a bit out of place in this?]
[Thankfully Mu Qiu stopped, I've been staring at her, finishing two bowls of rice]
[I'm just watching who will break the rules next]
Mu Qiu laughed enough, then started focusing on "chatting" with Guan Yu.
"Sister Guan Yu, is that plate of crayfish really that delicious?"
Guan Yu: "Yeah, it's particularly fragrant."
"Besides garlic, what other types of crayfish are there?"
This was an easy question for someone who frequently eats crayfish. Guan Yu was about to enthusiastically introduce more than a dozen ways to prepare crayfish, but then she remembered her task and paused.
"...many."
Mu Qiu held back her laughter, "Okay, Sister Guan Yu, can you reach the Kung Pao Chicken on our side? Let me get you some?"
"No need," Guan Yu already understood her purpose, chuckled dryly, "Why don't you just continue eating? Shi Yuhuai, what do you think?"
Shi Yuhuai was picking food and instinctively replied, "Ah? I think it's fine."
Guan Yu: "You didn't laugh."
"..." Shi Yuhuai looked at her, saddened and shocked.
A staff member already walked over, ruthlessly taking Shi Yuhuai's bowl.
Next to him, Shu Ran took the opportunity to add more food and said his signature line, "Take the gentleman's bowl away."
Shi Yuhuai thus looked at Shu Ran with sadness and shock again.
Li Yang continued merrily, while Cheng Zhirang took a sip of 1982 Sprite, wiped his mouth with a napkin, "Li Yang, didn't your team have a performance a while ago?"
Upon hearing a senior's question, Li Yang immediately nodded, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said, "Yes, Brother Cheng."
"Ha! You swallowed without reciting a poem!" Having experienced it once, Guan Yu and Shi Yuhuai immediately focused their attention on him.
Li Yang froze, looking at Cheng Zhirang.
Cheng Zhirang still maintained that gentle, courteous demeanor, akin to an immortal, "I am genuinely asking."
Li Yang pulled a long face and reluctantly stood up, gulping at watching others eat.
Shu Ran didn't eat much; going on the show requires maintaining his figure, so he put down his chopsticks.
Mu Qiu was the most satisfied eater at the table.
As long as the expression of satisfaction is exaggerated a bit, the language of evaluation enriched a bit, she could keep eating without taking the third bite.
But everyone has limited appetite, and after nearly an hour, everyone put down their chopsticks.
Then the director asked the staff to come and clear away the bowls and chopsticks.
Sitting upright throughout, Shi Yuhuai suddenly relaxed, slumping back in his chair, looking mentally and physically exhausted from the tension.
Li Yang and Guan Yu also complained repeatedly, "This is really the toughest lunch I've ever had."
Mu Qiu held back her laughter and pulled her gaze away from them, vaguely hearing Cheng Zhirang next to her also breathe out.
She glanced over, noticing Cheng Zhirang's napkin supply was already half gone.
...Worried he wouldn't have napkins if his task fails, he's using half of it preemptively to ensure his mouth isn't greasy?
Being cautious seems indeed a habit of older men?
She was still secretly criticizing, but Cheng Zhirang, being gazed at, turned and fixed her with a look, tilting his head, eyes questioning.
Mu Qiu: ...older men tilting their heads, actually, actually quite cute.
She shook her head, then turned to speak with others.
Cheng Zhirang's gaze fell on her reddened ear tips, his eyes pausing for a moment.
Everything was tidied up, and the director clapped his hands, using a small speaker for announcements.
"This teambuilding activity, is to help everyone get more familiar, facilitating team cooperation in later shows. Our program is narrative-based variety, in subsequent episodes, we'll invite many professionals related to specific stories. Sometimes you'll need to utilize skills from your respective industries. The first season of the program consists of ten episodes. Each episode will have different guest participants to complete tasks together. Guests are divided into fixed NPCs, mobile NPCs, and task NPCs. Fixed NPCs are performance partners for each story unit, mobile NPCs too, but can converse with others and occasionally break character, task NPCs are like you now, focused on task completion. Note that not all of you are necessarily task NPCs."
Mu Qiu listened, thoughtfully nodding, "This is like the content in my book, the unchanged kind."
An atmosphere-maker, Guan Yu immediately turned, asking her, "Then explain it to us, I feel I didn't understand."
Two seats over, Shi Yuhuai also quickly nodded, frowning and still a bit confused, "I didn't quite understand, I don't really play games."
Mu Qiu: Actually, I don't play much games either.
She felt this mixed-race model was a bit silly, took another look, then slowly explained to everyone.