After Huo Yuhao unveiled Xiao Xiao's veil, he chose to end his segment.
After Huo Yuhao, it was He Caitou's turn. This fellow was truly naive; he initially planned to use a seventh-grade spirit tool cannonball to force the Sea God Fairies to remove their Hat themselves. He only realized this wouldn't work after Dai Yueheng reminded him. However, being a spirit tool genius, he always had some ingenious ideas for using spirit tools. In the end, he also managed to unveil the Hat of four Sea God Fairies.
The remaining male disciples also displayed their unique abilities, advancing towards the Sea God Fairies whose Hat had not yet been removed. Ultimately, only three of the twenty-one Sea God Fairies still wore their Hat, and only thirty-nine of the forty-two male disciples remained. Besides Ye Liu, who had incurred public wrath, two other disciples lost their qualifications for falling into the water by taking a shortcut.
The first segment, 'Mutual Appreciation,' concluded. The male disciples' enthusiasm had been fully ignited, with many turning into hungry wolves with green eyes, eager to pounce on the Sea God Fairies, who were like delicious lambs.
The second segment was about to begin. The order of appearance for the male disciples in this round had changed, ranked by the number of Hat each had removed. Zhu Ziyang, having removed four Hat, was first, followed by He Caitou, who had also removed four Hat.
"Next is the second segment," Dai Yueheng announced loudly. "After the acquaintance in the first segment, it is now time for the girls to express which boy they fancy. Therefore, the second segment is called 'Love at First Sight.'"
"The rules are simple: each female student will receive a switch that controls the spirit tool lamp on her lotus leaf. They will light up the lamp for each male student. Any male student who receives a lit lamp from a female student can remain here to participate in the subsequent segments."
"But if, unfortunately, no female student lights a lamp for him, then, regretfully, he will have to leave our event."
Zhu Ziyang felt strange after hearing Dai Yueheng's introduction. So-called 'Love at First Sight' was just about looks, wasn't it? If the two parties had truly had no prior contact, then the only factor that would make a girl willing to light a lamp for a boy at first glance was that the boy's appearance perfectly matched the girl's aesthetic. Besides that, there was no other possibility.
After all, humans are visual creatures.
As the first one, Zhu Ziyang was at the forefront. At that time, he didn't care at all. Not to mention Jiang Nannan, Ma Xiaotao, and Qian Lingyi, just based on appearance, he was very confident.
Dai Yueheng continued, "Please, Sea God Fairies, consider carefully. You have one minute, so make sure to think it through!"
"Furthermore, I need to emphasize that if none of you light a lamp for any of the thirty-nine boys, it also means you are giving up on this matchmaking event and must withdraw from Sea God Lake."
Hearing Dai Yueheng's words, the girls all pondered, though their faces remained expressionless.
Soon, the minute was up. Zhang Weiwei said softly, "Alright, time's up. So, our second segment, 'Love at First Sight,' begins now."
"First, please, all Sea God Fairies, light your lamps for Zhu Ziyang. A reminder to all sisters: in this segment, lighting a lamp for a boy does not mean you must ultimately choose him. As long as you have a good impression of this boy, you can give him a chance and give yourself a chance. I believe he will also pay attention to the girls who light a lamp for him."
"Now, begin!"
Zhu Ziyang maintained a faint smile, as if it wasn't he who was now being judged by a group of girls, but someone else. It can only be said that with the advancement of his strength, Zhu Ziyang's state of mind had long reached a level where he was unperturbed by honor or disgrace. For him, this kind of scene, which might be very tense and awkward for ordinary people, was truly not as stimulating as when he flirted with Zhang Lexuan while carrying Jiang Nannan on the Moon God Shuttle. Ahem, I've strayed too far.
"Three! Two! One!" Dai Yueheng's countdown ended, and all twenty-one lamps in the venue were still lit; not a single one had gone out.
"Good! All twenty-one lamps are lit. Ziyang truly set a great precedent!" Dai Yueheng said with a laugh, his voice tinged with emotion. "Truly worthy of being Ziyang!"
Zhu Ziyang smiled slightly, not surprised by this result. Among the twenty-one girls, those who knew him naturally needed no explanation. Those who didn't know him would also be attracted by his performance in the first segment. Although they didn't understand him, leaving a lamp and expressing goodwill was always right, after all, those who could enter Shrek Academy's Inner Courtyard were not ordinary people.
Zhu Ziyang's twenty-one lamps put immense pressure on the subsequent boys, especially He Caitou, whose palms were now sweating nervously.
"Second, He Caitou. All Sea God Fairies, please prepare," Dai Yueheng continued. "Begin!"
As his voice fell, everyone instinctively felt the light of Sea God Lake dim considerably. Lamps extinguished one after another, a cruel sight that made He Caitou somewhat despair. However, fortunately, his popularity was still quite good, and his friends were also quite loyal. Among the twenty-one lamps, two remained: Tang Ya and Xue Weiwei.
How to put it, this was both good news and bad news for He Caitou. The good news was that he wouldn't be eliminated immediately and could proceed to the next segment. The bad news was that the two girls who lit lamps for him were both his friends' wives. The girl he admired had not lit a lamp for him. Although he knew it was unrequited love, people are just like that; they always hold onto unrealistic fantasies until the very last moment.
He Caitou's eyes were somewhat dim, but he still smiled and exclaimed, "Xiao Ya and Weiwei are truly loyal!"
"Don't you have to treat Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi to a meal?" Zhu Ziyang said with a teasing smile.
"Hehe! Definitely, definitely!" He Caitou chuckled sheepishly.
The next few people failed to replicate Zhu Ziyang's peak, and of course, they also didn't replicate He Caitou's low point. Everyone received around six or seven lamps.
Soon, it was Xu Sanshi's turn. Compared to the others before him, Xu Sanshi was much calmer. What a joke, he, Xu Sanshi, was a man with a family. How could he care about the attraction of buzzing bees and fluttering butterflies?
"Xu Sanshi, Love at First Sight, begin!"
Swish, swish, swish... As if by prior agreement, all twenty-one lamps extinguished almost simultaneously, leaving only one lamp, emitting a not-so-dazzling light. And that lamp, of course, belonged to Xue Weiwei.
"Ugh! I just don't feel that happy!" Xu Sanshi was a bit depressed. He knew this must have been a pre-arranged agreement among the girls, but he couldn't voice any objections, after all, they were doing it for his and Xue Weiwei's good. Helplessly, Xu Sanshi had to accept the crown of last place that He Caitou hadn't even warmed up yet.
"This Xu Sanshi, taking advantage and still complaining!" Zhu Ziyang naturally heard Xu Sanshi's grumbling and chuckled softly, saying.
"Exactly, exactly!" He Caitou nodded in strong agreement.
"Senior Brother, did Sister Weiwei and Teacher Xiao Ya plan this out?" Huo Yuhao, who had removed one Hat, and Bei Bei, who hadn't, were standing next to each other. Huo Yuhao, with a strange expression, asked Bei Bei.
"Mm!" Bei Bei nodded, his expression also a bit odd, because he had already anticipated that when it was his turn, probably only Tang Ya would light a lamp for him. Alas, he inexplicably envied Ziyang.
Soon, it was Huo Yuhao's turn. Huo Yuhao was a little nervous. Although he knew he wouldn't have all his lamps extinguished, men always hoped to gain more favor from girls.
"Huo Yuhao, Love at First Sight, begin!" Dai Yueheng shouted, subtly glancing at Huo Yuhao. Dai Yueheng was quite interested in this junior brother who had repeatedly defeated Dai Huabin. Although he no longer needed to compete with Dai Huabin for the right of succession, they were, after all, biological brothers.
Quite a few girls lit lamps for Huo Yuhao. Tang Ya, Xue Weiwei, and Xiao Xiao, of course, and also the three girls still wearing their Hat—Girl No. 2, Girl No. 17, and Girl No. 21—all lit lamps for Huo Yuhao, along with some other girls like Wu Ming. Together, there were sixteen lamps, which, while not comparable to Zhu Ziyang's twenty-one, was the most among the others.
After Huo Yuhao, it was Bei Bei's turn. Just as Bei Bei had guessed, among the twenty-one girls, only Tang Ya had indeed lit a lamp for him. He could see the expression on Tang Ya's face: a gleeful, smug smirk.
Bei Bei smiled helplessly.
Further on, there were few people left for Zhu Ziyang to pay attention to. Dai Huabin was one. As a Dai family descendant already engaged to a Zhu family daughter, his participation in the matchmaking event surprised not only Zhu Ziyang but also left Dai Yueheng, who was hosting the event, with a face full of black lines. However, Dai Huabin was not yet married, so it wasn't a violation of the rules, and Dai Yueheng couldn't do anything about him.
However, Dai Huabin's identity was not a secret in the Inner Courtyard. A man with a fiancée attending a matchmaking event behind his fiancée's back, without a doubt, all the girls extinguished their lamps for him, except for one girl named Wu Feng. This girl was also the only one, besides Jiang Nannan, Ma Xiaotao, and the other two girls, who extinguished her lamp for Huo Yuhao.
Zhu Ziyang stroked his chin, seemingly understanding the intentions of these two. These two were coming for student Xiao Huo, he thought, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face. People who enjoy gossip never complain about the gossip being too sweet.
After Dai Huabin, the first male student to be eliminated in this segment appeared. Xie Huanyue, having no girls light a lamp for him, regretfully withdrew. The little Fatty shouted indignantly, "Fatty has no human rights!"
Unfortunately, people's joys and sorrows are not interconnected; they only found Xie Huanyue very noisy.