Chapter 1285: Group Differentiation
"You really know?"
"How can we get four identical grilled meats?"
"Why only accept seven allies?"
As soon as Senping finished speaking, a chorus of fragmented responses arose among the group on the beach. Everyone's attention was fixed on him until, after a couple of seconds, someone suddenly realized and called out softly, "The chef isn't waiting for anyone!"
Even though no one was currently queuing, the chef didn't stop to see who was next. When the 11th-ranked man with a gray face, Li Xing, stepped away with the chicken sausage, the chef threw another piece of meat onto the grill. In a short time, everyone exchanged a few words, and the piece of meat started sizzling and seemed ready to be cooked.
"I'll join you!" Greene suddenly shouted, standing opposite Senping and not far from Lin Sanjiu. As soon as she spoke, she had already taken two hurried steps outward—only at this moment did the others' attention move away from the grill.
Ji Shanqing let out a low, "Oh no."
If viewed from above, everyone's positions were loosely connected, forming a circle, with the center naturally being the yellow plate mark. This meant that no matter where Senping stood, the person standing opposite him, wanting to walk over and join him, would inevitably pass through the circle's center.
The doubts that the grand prize had just ignited in Lin Sanjiu's mind didn't even have a chance to take shape before they were dispelled by the scene before her eyes.
Greene had taken advantage of just two steps, but it was enough. Just as everyone's gaze landed on her, she suddenly tossed the skewer of grilled meat and beef ribs on her plate into the air. Almost everyone's eyes were drawn to the flying grilled meat—meanwhile, Greene rolled on the ground as if she was burden-free, flipped over, and jumped up. Her plate was raised, and the two pieces of grilled meat dropped neatly into it while her foot landed precisely on the yellow plate mark.
"It's cooked. It's a piece of beef rib!" the chef shouted, putting the newly grilled rib on Greene's plate.
Greene took a slight breath, raised the plate, smiled back at everyone, and said to Senping, "I wasn't lying just now. You are smart, and I'm still willing to join you. What do you say?"
Senping glanced at her under his snowy white eyelashes and smiled, saying, "We've gone through so many rounds together; you don't even need to ask."
Greene smiled and shrugged. "I've only got two pieces, too, no more than anyone else. Stop staring at me." Then, she walked over to the white-haired man and stood beside him.
As the chef took out another piece of meat, the atmosphere among the group suddenly became tense.
Greene's move just now wasn't particularly clever, but her determination and swift action made the difference. She had used the only opportunity to successfully do so. The second person to pass through the center and head toward Senping would most likely be the focus of everyone's attention. Senping seemed to have realized this as well. He turned to the tall man beside him and Li Xing opposite him and said, "You two, join as well."
Li Xing was taken aback, "Huh? Okay, sure."
The tall man, whose head almost disappeared into the night sky, grunted softly in agreement.
"Both of you walk up and put one foot on the plate mark," the white-haired man said, scanning the grill. He urged, "Quick, be fast."
"So, you said you know how to win," Mr. Ito said doubtfully, holding the plate as if it were his only child. "You want to exploit a loophole?"
The villa owners present weren't fools, and when Senping spoke, they all realized that the chef had indeed only said, "When the meat is cooked, there must be someone on the mark," but hadn't mentioned, "Only one person on the mark."
Seeing Li Xing and the tall man quickly approaching the yellow mark, Senping didn't answer, he just turned to Greene and ordered, "Once the meat is cooked, start eating the skewer."
Even if they were exploiting a loophole, everyone naturally wanted to see if it would work. After all, this round of beach barbecue activity had fewer eliminations and more survivors. Moreover, the activity had just started, and plenty of meat remained. Therefore, Li Xing and the tall man confidently stepped on the mark, and no one tried to stop them.
"I can't figure out why he only accepts seven allies..." A young man nearby murmured to himself.
"Do you still need to think about it?" Mr. Ito snorted, "There are eleven people; three will be eliminated, and he excludes himself, so there are only seven left."
The young man was taken aback and said, "Oh..." However, before this sudden realization could fully sink in, he seemed perplexed for some reason.
"Sis." The grand prize moved close to Lin Sanjiu as if he were afraid she would be misled and spoke in a low voice, "That's not the case."
"What then?" Lin Sanjiu stared fixedly at the meat on the grill without blinking her eyes. Her voice was equally low, and only the two could hear each other.
"That Senping is quite smart," the grand prize said in a tone reminiscent of a judge evaluating a beauty pageant. "But the real intention behind his words just now was to transform himself from one of those excluded to a member of the majority who would have an absolute advantage in grabbing the meat—and the crucial point is that wherever he is, that side becomes the majority."
Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment. "Regardless of his motives, he's still planning to complete the beach barbecue with those seven people. That hasn't changed... Do we want to join the alliance?"
The young man glanced at them a few times, seemingly realizing they were whispering and hesitating.
Ji Shanqing sighed. He looked back at the young man and suddenly beckoned him to come over while quietly telling Lin Sanjiu, "Although this guy hasn't figured it out, he's already aware that something is not right."
"It's cooked!" The chef suddenly shouted, and as he looked up, he seemed to realize that two people were standing on the mark. "You thought it through well," he shook his head and used the spatula to pick up the roasted lamb. "But things can't be that easy, can they?"
After speaking, he deftly flipped the spatula, and the lamb leg landed with a plop on the sand under his feet, disappearing instantly.
"Is it... invalid?" someone exclaimed in surprise, while another called out to the two people on the mark, "Hurry down!"
Senping remained unmoved and turned to Greene, saying, "Start eating now."
Greene opened her mouth without hesitation and bit the first piece of meat on the skewer. A skewer and two beef steaks were on her plate, and eating one skewer didn't have much impact. However, she could make such a decisive decision probably because she had cooperated with Senping more than once.
As Greene took a bite of the meat, the few people who were just itching to go up and grab the yellow mark suddenly calmed down. After eating the skewer, an effect would be triggered, but it was still uncertain what effect Greene would get. No one wanted to fight so hard for a spot only to have Greene decide the fate of the next piece of grilled meat.
"Li Xing, it's your turn to stand on it this round," Senping ordered Li Xing. "Ge and I will cover you, so just wait for the meat."
The tall man looked at him and asked with a buzzing sound, "Is the next one me?"
"Yes," Senping replied, looking around at the others. "We have four more spots left for our allies. Who else wants to join?"
"Listen carefully," Ji Shanqing whispered to the two people beside him while the black-skinned woman hesitated, raising her hand and attracting Senping's attention. "When the chef explained the rules just now, it was quite misleading, and Senping took advantage of it. He never mentioned that only eight people could leave the beach barbecue."
"He said that the last three people would be eliminated. Isn't that different?"
From behind a few people, Ito's voice suddenly sounded low and hushed. They turned around to find him hunched over, one ear moving up and down like a jellyfish as if he had come alive. Even though he was several steps away, he could still hear their conversation.
The chef added charcoal to the grill and started roasting another piece of meat with a sizzling sound.
After staring at Ito for a few seconds, Lin Sanjiu finally sighed and waved him over. Still holding his plate like a child, Ito cautiously approached them, his head bent forward and his heels still far away. He looked like the leaning tower of Pisa as he joined the small group.
"In the end, how is the last decision made?" Ji Shanqing raised his chin, pretending to be ready to impart divine wisdom to mortal ears, saying, "It's not the last moment when all the meat is roasted. It's when the chef's hands get tired, and this unpredictable moment determines the end of the activity. He might get tired after four people have gathered the same type of grilled meat. In that case, the second, third, and fourth people who collected the meat, as well as those who didn't will all be eliminated, leaving only the first person who gathered the meat to become a villa owner. Of course, this is an extreme example."
The expressions of the few people couldn't help but turn grim. "Then why is Senping looking for seven allies?"
Ji Shanqing glanced at Lin Sanjiu. "I think it's more likely that he's using allies to explore, experiment, and test the possibilities."
The chef didn't wait for anyone; he roasted a piece of meat in half a minute. During the waiting time, Senping recruited allies and arranged who would go to collect the meat. There was barely any time for him to explain what he knew and how he knew it. This meant that even if he didn't know how to win the activity at this moment, he might figure it out when there was a chance for the others to ask him.
"So, aren't we going to remind others?" Lin Sanjiu couldn't help asking.
"No rush," the grand prize said, smiling at her. "Isn't it better to let him gain more information?"
While the young man and Ito were contemplating, the chef suddenly said, "Oh," and everyone looked up to see that he had paused in his movements. "You ate my grilled meat," he called out to Greene from afar, "now it's up to you to decide..."
As he said that, the meat on the grill was cooked—a chicken sausage. Li Xing already had one chicken sausage and one lamb leg on his plate, and his eyes lit up. He turned to look at Senping and spoke a bit stutteringly, "Do you, do you really know how to win this activity? Do you know if I'll get the same meat as before?"
Senping nodded.
The chef seemed to have not heard their conversation and handed the chicken sausage to Li Xing while continuing to ask Greene, "You decide, which meat will be thrown away after this chicken sausage?"
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