Chapter 3: Sacrifice the Guests, Infinite Mana

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Sacrifice the Guests, Infinite Mana

J TV Station Headquarters.

Backstage at Studio 3, it was a flurry of activity as the live broadcast was about to begin.

The deputy director in charge of talent coordination squeezed his way over to Chief Director Xu Lin and said in a low voice:

"Xu Li said she’s bringing Nan Zhi and her son over right away."

Xu Lin frowned, somewhat displeased with this outcome.

"She actually made it in time?"

He had already lined up a replacement guest, just waiting for Nan Zhi to breach her contract and walk off so he could swap her out immediately!

The deputy director glanced at Director Xu’s expression and quietly suggested:

"How about we reduce the screen time for Nan Zhi and her son?"

Xu Lin shot down the idea immediately.

"Reduce it? Why would we reduce it! I’m going to increase her airtime and really fan the flames!"

The deputy director was a sharp one and quickly understood Xu Lin’s meaning.

The fastest way for a variety show to gain popularity was to find a guest to sacrifice, using negative public opinion to draw in casual viewers.

After all, it takes a long time to build up affection, but hatred can form in an instant.

The guest isn’t hated by enough people?

No problem. With some "careful" editing, you can turn white into black!

This was incredibly cruel to Nan Zhi and her son, but the deputy director felt no sympathy at all. Instead, he felt a sense of satisfaction.

—To be able to earn the disgust of the entire production team in such a short time was, one had to admit, a skill in itself.

Having received his orders, the deputy director turned around and told the colleague in charge of the live broadcast to "guide" the bullet comments at the appropriate time.

The colleague sighed helplessly.

"Do they need guiding? They’re already cursing her out right now!"

The live broadcast was still half an hour away, yet tens of thousands of viewers were already waiting in the stream, flooding the chat with comments to warm up.

The two people mentioned most often were Fu Chao and Nan Zhi.

Fu Chao was the show’s biggest draw—a top-tier, award-winning actor in the entertainment industry. He rarely appeared on variety shows, so his participation with his nephew this time was highly anticipated!

The bullet comments were filled with praises for him. Even casual viewers, not just his fans, were full of anticipation for Fu Chao’s performance.

But as for Nan Zhi?

Her reputation with the general public was already notoriously bad, and on top of that, she had thrown a tantrum and walked off the set in the middle of yesterday’s live broadcast. The audience’s disgust for her had reached its peak!

A quick glance showed that the bullet comments about her were nothing but curses and insults!

This malice even extended to Nan Yi; the vitriol directed at the four-and-a-half-year-old child was utterly vicious!

From another perspective, the reshoot hadn’t even started, but the buzz was already through the roof!

Looking at the soaring viewer count, the deputy director nodded in satisfaction.

"This is the effect I wanted!"

Just then, an assistant director ran over and said that Nan Zhi had arrived.

-

The variety show was called Cub Observation Diary. It featured four celebrity guests and their Cubs experiencing the lives of ordinary people. By overcoming harsh environments and difficult realities, the show aimed to display parent-child interactions, as well as the reactions and growth of the Cubs.

In each episode, the guests would draw a different profession and family background. They then had to earn money to support themselves and their Cubs while staying in character according to the provided script.

Additionally, the filming process would be broadcast live. Points would be awarded based on the stream’s popularity, audience votes, judge votes, and task completion, while points would be deducted for actions that broke character.

For the group with the highest combined score each episode, the production team would make a donation in their name to children in impoverished mountainous regions.

In short, it was a childcare-themed version of X-Change.

There were four groups of guests in total:

Top-tier actor Fu Chao and his nephew, Qing Xi;

Up-and-coming director Xie Yu and his daughter, Xie An’an;

Singer-songwriter Qi Pei’er and her nephew, Qi Zhang;

And rookie actress Nan Zhi and her son, Nan Yi.

—The introductory VCR had just finished playing on the large screen behind the studio stage, and the audience was already typing on their keyboards so furiously they were about to catch fire:

[Rookie actress? She debuted three years ago and is still a rookie?]

[Are they crazy?! Nan Zhi almost smashed a camera yesterday, and they’re still letting her continue filming? Is Nan Zhi the chief director’s mother or something?]

[I don’t care whose mother she is, I’m your production team’s daddy! Swap her out for me, now! Who wants to see that psycho Nan Zhi and her son’s dead-looking face?]

[Just as I thought! A kid without a dad is mentally unstable! Nan Yi always has that gloomy, creepy look. He’s probably a sociopath!]

[My Brother Fu only goes on a variety show once every few years, and you bastards have to ruin it! Great job!]

[Nan Zhi and Nan Yi, get out of the show!]

[AHHHH, so annoying! Nan Zhi, go die!]

...

It was rare for a guest to be attacked so intensely right as a variety show started filming.

As it happened, to facilitate interaction between the celebrity guests and the audience, the production team had "thoughtfully" placed a giant screen at the front of the stage, which displayed the live bullet comments from the stream in real time.

The others glanced up, saw the harsh and cutting words, and felt embarrassed for Nan Zhi, shooting frequent looks in her direction.

But Nan Zhi, who was waiting backstage, seemed oblivious to both the comments and the others’ gazes. She only whispered to Nan Yi:

"Remember our promise, okay? You have to cooperate with the filming."

Nan Yi’s face was gloomy as he gave a noncommittal grunt.

Nan Zhi sensed that something was off with his mood and guessed:

"You can read?"

Nan Yi’s shoulders trembled for a second, and he immediately shook his head to deny it.

"I can’t."

He didn’t admit it, because he knew his mother hated it when he was smart.

Once, the old lady next door had given him a Xinhua dictionary. He had treasured it so much that he wanted to clutch it to his chest even when he slept.

But then his mother saw it, screamed and berated him, and even tore the dictionary to shreds right in front of him.

From then on, Nan Yi never dared to show his true self again. He was like a little mouse in a gutter, following its own rules of survival.

Nan Zhi looked thoughtful but didn’t press him further.

Just then, Xu Li walked over, her expression grim.

"...There’s no makeup artist. The assistant director told us to figure it out ourselves."

Who didn’t know how much one’s appearance on camera depended on makeup and styling?

With Nan Zhi’s bare face, even if she had the beauty of a goddess, her looks would be greatly diminished on camera!

As Nan Zhi’s manager, Xu Li could feel the malice and targeting welling up from the shadows. Even though she was thoroughly fed up with Nan Zhi, she still felt uneasy and worried for her.

After a moment’s thought, Xu Li whispered a warning to Nan Zhi:

"Be careful. I’m afraid you’ve been handed the sacrificial lamb script."

Nan Zhi just hummed lightly, seeming unconcerned.

Xu Li pressed her lips together.

Before long, Nan Zhi’s name was called from the stage—

"...let’s welcome Nan Zhi and her son, Nan Yi, to the stage!"

Nan Zhi suddenly spoke up.

"Don’t worry. Leave it to me."

Xu Li froze, stunned.

Gazing at that unhurried departing figure, the anxiety in her heart was suddenly soothed.

’How could a person change so much in such a short time?’

’Could she have been transmigrated into?’

Xu Li suppressed the strange thought. Then, she recalled the rice porridge and scallion egg pancakes she’d eaten that morning and couldn’t help but swallow, her mind starting to wander.

Meanwhile, Nan Zhi had already led Nan Yi onto the studio stage.

They were currently reshooting the pilot episode, and Nan Zhi and Nan Yi were the last group.

The first three groups of guests had already taken the stage one after another. Under the host’s guided questions, the atmosphere in the studio was light and fun, constantly filled with laughter.

Until Nan Zhi and Nan Yi appeared, and the temperature in the room instantly dropped.