The time quickly came to 10 PM, which was the broadcast time for the first episode of “China Speeding Up.” Yi Xing sat on a chair, with barbecue and beer on the table in front of him. His laptop was directly in front, displaying the show’s interface.
But he didn’t click to play immediately. Instead, he patiently waited a few minutes before starting to watch. He figured he should give the bullet comments some time to ferment; he wanted to see what netizens thought of the show.
This was the first variety show he participated in as a resident MC, and he really hoped it would achieve good results. This way, it could convert more fans, which would in turn benefit him.
After all, in this show, he felt he performed exceptionally well: he could use his brain, had a big-picture view, and took responsibility. The most crucial point was that he didn’t try to steal the limelight much. This was Huang Xiaoming’s assessment of him after filming, which made him feel a little embarrassed.
Only the full episode hadn’t been released, but things like behind-the-scenes interviews and a teaser were available.
When about ten minutes had passed, Yi Xing finally pressed the play button, and the screen came to life. Right at the beginning, he saw an overwhelming flood of bullet comments:
“Here for Qian Xi!”
“My Yuan Bao, I’m here!”
“Xiao Kai’s army, charge with me!”
“Master Huang, please accept my bow.”
The volume of bullet comments from these four people basically covered the entire screen, blocking his view of the show. He had to adjust it and couldn’t help but feel a little envious, wondering when he would have such a large fan base himself.
He even saw calls for Ju Jingyi in the bullet comments, but he couldn’t find anyone cheering for him. He shook his head with a wry smile. But this was good too; no one would expect much from his performance in the show, so when he showed his reliable side, he would definitely attract fans!
The show started completely differently from regular programs, with none of the usual guest introductions. It opened with a wide shot, showing the Accelerator teammates and the Hunter boxes facing each other from a distance, with the space between them like a chasm.
“Can other variety shows learn from this?!”
“See what a good variety show is like—it never wastes time on irrelevant segments.”
“It’s straight to the main content from the start. This is a conscientious variety show, full of substance and sincerity!”
Then, a voiceover began, introducing the rules of the opening game. Relevant game information simultaneously appeared on the screen, and the camera switched to close-ups, recording everyone’s facial expressions.
However, the editors still cut many shots, not including their moments of mutual deference. Even the suggestions Yi Xing made were cut. After all, he had the lowest popularity among these people; they wouldn’t cut Huang Xiaoming’s scenes to keep his.
As the progress bar advanced, it finally reached his first highlight moment. It was at this point that he finally had his first solo shot. Others were either wide shots or he appeared as a background.
On screen, he confidently walked to the zipper. Just as he was about to pull it, the production team, understanding how to build suspense, inserted a short commercial break.
Yi Xing took a moment to glance at the bullet comments. Sure enough, his face was more attractive; all the attention was on his looks, and few people cared about what he was doing with his hands.
“Excuse me, handsome, who are you?”
“I’m giving everyone watching three minutes. I hope to see this handsome guy’s contact information.”
“Holy cow, this guy’s looks are almost on par with mine (Xing City Daniel Wu).”
“Seeing this ad-inserting habit, it’s definitely a variety show from Mango TV. If I’m not mistaken, this guy probably released the Hunters.”
Seeing these bullet comments, he couldn’t help but laugh. Attracting fans with his looks wasn’t a bad thing. At least he had his own topic, even if it was a bit off-topic, but it didn’t matter.
The short commercial ended quickly, and the screen returned to the show. A waypoint appeared next to Yi Xing, showing his current Wei Bo account: Yi Xing 9527. The director was quite thoughtful; he didn’t even need to send bullet comments to drive traffic.
Just as the netizen had guessed earlier, the Hunters were released. Seeing the usually dignified artists look disheveled as they were chased by the Hunters, the audience couldn’t stop smiling. One’s own happiness is often built upon the suffering of others.
“Wow, they actually escaped! He’s not just cannon fodder invited by the production team; he’s pretty good!”
“Handsome and capable, I’m a fan, I’m a fan!”
Having little fame also had one crucial advantage: there wouldn’t be any negative comments about him at first. After all, very few people knew Yi Xing, so who would bother to specifically criticize a stranger they didn’t know?
Next came the normal flow of the show, with tasks being completed one by one. It’s worth mentioning here that Yi Xing had found Ju Jingyi hiding in a cabinet, right?
When he reached out and pulled her out, the tone of the bullet comments suddenly became ambiguous. Fortunately, most people were seriously watching the show and immediately pushed back.
“What’s going on? I somehow feel these two are a good match.”
“The person upstairs feels it too? I also think so. He traveled such a long distance just to find her. I’m dying from shipping them.”
“Shipping everything will only harm yourself.”
“Exactly, exactly! Can those who randomly ship CPs get their own planet?!”
“Just a reminder: this is a large-scale creative reality game variety show. Don’t treat it with the same perspective you use for dating shows!”
The female protagonist in the scene, Ju Jingyi, was also watching her variety show. Originally, it was just her and Lin Shiyi, but somehow the news leaked, and the entire N team found out.
When the show officially aired, the entire dorm was basically full. So many of them couldn’t just huddle around a phone, could they? Someone had already thought of this and brought out a projector, which they set up to project onto the wall.
When they saw the bullet comments enthusiastically discussing the CP between her and Yi Xing, her teammates all started to tease her. Some even directly gossiped, “Are you and that Yi Xing actually together?”
“No, we’re just friends,” Ju Jingyi said, making a big X with her hands in front of her chest.
“Oh~ friends! We understand, we understand.” As expected of a team that had trained together for over a year, their tacit agreement reached its peak at this moment.
“Fine, believe whatever you want.”
“Hey, Xiao Ju, is Yi Xing really that handsome in real life?”
“He’s a bit more handsome than he is on screen,” Ju Jingyi answered truthfully. She fully approved of Yi Xing’s looks; otherwise, she wouldn’t have approached him for directions at the airport back then.