After much talking and reasoning, Qiu Ci finally managed to convince Su Yu that he and Jiu Qing were still innocent.
Su Yu did not dwell on the issue either, simply marveling inwardly at how thoroughly the influential Lord Jiu Qing pampered Qiu Ci.
Having raised him for two years, the man had finally waited for Qiu Ci to reach adulthood, spent an entire week living in close quarters with him, and still hadn’t dared to touch him.
Tsk tsk.
This wasn’t some sugar daddy; this was clearly a mysterious bigwig searching for true love.
“Right,” Su Yu said, pulling out his tablet again. “Have you been paying attention to the program lately?”
“No.” Qiu Ci had spent the entire past week playing a battle of wits with Jiu Qing, leaving him zero time to care about any variety show. He had glanced at it a couple of times when he had a spare moment, but promptly forgot most of it.
Su Yu wasn’t surprised and continued slowly, “The show started official promotions the day we signed the contract, but they haven’t announced the fixed cast members yet.”
They only released a few ambiguous teasers to let people guess, and the internet was already in an uproar. Everyone was trying to figure out which celebrities, whether singers, idols, or actors, would appear, though nobody knew for sure yet.
It had to be said that the show had successfully built up maximum anticipation.
However, doing this was somewhat risky. If the guests everyone eagerly anticipated didn’t show up, wouldn’t that just leave the audience disappointed? It only showed that the production team was exceptionally bold, wealthy, and unfazed by such risks, to the extent that they didn’t even have a title sponsor.
“What about me?” Qiu Ci still cared a great deal about his own entertainment career. “How is my anticipation rating online?”
“Uh.”
Su Yu was momentarily at a loss for words.
Qiu Ci hadn’t even finished high school, and his academic performance from elementary through high school had been abysmal. This fact was exposed the moment he debuted, making it the only black mark in his two-year career that could never be washed clean.
True to Qiu Ci’s expectations, the show carried a distinctly heavy historical vibe.
Therefore, not only casual viewers, but even Qiu Ci’s own fans assumed the production team was unlikely to cast such an academic underachiever as a regular member.
Still, quite a few sweet fans were hoping to see their little brother or son Qiu Ci on the show.
They were all mom-fans and older-sister-fans.
As for wife-fans and girlfriend-fans, well, Qiu Ci had only just turned eighteen, and aside from Jiu Qing, no one else dared to make a move on him. At least for now, nobody online was calling him husband.
Qiu Ci wasn’t surprised by this outcome and accepted it quite calmly.
The recording for the first episode took place in a remote small town within the city.
The production team had arrived a few days early to set up the scenes. Word had also spread around the town that a crew was shooting a television drama there, so quite a few young people from the surrounding counties actually came over to join in the excitement.
Looking out the car window at the town’s street, Qiu Ci asked, “We will have to stream live while recording the show. The address here will be exposed very quickly. Won’t that cause trouble?”
“The production team will arrange everything, so you don’t need to worry too much. I heard they hired three security teams.”
Qiu Ci nodded. Soon, the person in charge from the production team came over to coordinate with Su Yu.
The other guests had arrived as well, and official filming was scheduled to start at noon. Until then, they could return to the hotel to rest and freshen up.
The best hotel in the town had been entirely booked by the production team, but the conditions were still somewhat underwhelming.
Su Yu looked slightly dissatisfied. “The conditions here are terrible. If I had known, I should have brought a few sets of bed sheets and quilt covers for you.”
Poor conditions didn’t matter too much; what was scary was a lack of cleanliness.
Qiu Ci wasn’t picky. He had lived in the crowded group dormitories of the orphanage when he was little, so having an actual hotel room to stay in now was already pretty good.
Su Yu kept nagging, “Once filming starts later, if nothing comes up, I’ll see about going out to buy a couple of sets for you.”
“There’s no need.” Qiu Ci took a look around. “Even though these white sheets are a bit old, they still look quite clean. Don’t bother with all that fuss. If word gets out, people will start accusing me of acting like a big-name celebrity again.”
Su Yu clicked his tongue. The town didn’t look very large anyway, so even if he wanted to buy sheets and quilt covers, there probably weren’t any decent ones available. Besides, newly bought items couldn’t be used directly without washing. Furthermore, since Qiu Ci didn’t have a personal assistant right now, Su Yu had to stay close by at all times.
Reluctantly, he agreed with Qiu Ci’s suggestion.
After resting for a bit, they headed to the makeup room prepared by the production team for styling. For outdoor reality variety shows like this, makeup basically consisted of applying a light base, subtle touch-ups, styling the hair, and changing into the outfits prepared by the production team.
Qiu Ci was a bit curious. The makeup rooms were individual spaces, and with recording about to start, he still had no idea who his teammates were.
Su Yu had also gone out to ask around. Running into a few assistants and managers gave him a rough idea, but before he had a chance to brief Qiu Ci, the production team called everyone in to start filming.
There were four regular cast members in total: a veteran esteemed actor, a famous talk show host who was a brilliant public speaker, and an idol-turned-top-tier celebrity in the entertainment industry. Every single one of them was a heavyweight, highly sought-after figure in showbiz.
It looked like the production team had spared no expense.
After all, Qiu Ci had only debuted two years ago, possessed a weak background, and was still very young.
Following Su Yu’s usual habits, he would normally analyze the personalities and personas of the collaborators for Qiu Ci beforehand, not necessarily to buddy up with them, but at least to avoid offending anyone.
In the entertainment industry, you didn’t fear open confrontation; what you feared were knife stabs in the dark.
Especially since this show was being broadcast live.
However, time was tight, and the production team hadn’t given him that opportunity. Fortunately, Qiu Ci had always treated people generously and politely, so there wasn’t too much need to panic.
The recording location was a very old ancestral hall.
In the moderately spacious open area outside the ancestral hall, all preparations were complete.
As soon as the live broadcast camera turned on, a massive volume of viewers flooded into the stream.
“Oh? Where is this?”
“Let me see, let me see which cute celebrity is going to be here.”
“Could little brother Ah-Ci be here?”
“Is the person above sure they aren’t a hater?”
“I feel like a show like this would definitely invite people with a very high level of cultural education.”
The program did not disappoint its viewers. The first to appear was Yang Xu, a renowned talk show host from the hosting world. A high-achieving graduate from a prestigious university, he fit the audience’s initial impression of this program perfectly.
Yang Xu greeted the live streaming camera, introduced himself, and smoothly began warming up the atmosphere.
The comments in the live stream started scrolling rapidly again, becoming extremely lively.
Although Yang Xu wasn’t necessarily who they had anticipated seeing, he enjoyed immense public favor, so the audience wasn’t disappointed.
The second person to appear was veteran actor Chen An. Aside from filming movies, Chen An rarely remained active in the public eye, but his national recognition was extremely high, making him another choice that met public expectations.
The third to appear was the idol Wu Feng. Excelling in both singing and dancing through a survival show debut, Wu Feng maintained a very high level of popularity even after going solo. Rumor had it that his personality was also great, boasting a massive fan base.
The moment he appeared, the live stream comments were instantly dominated by his fans.
The anticipation level shot straight up, and everyone began waiting for the final guest.
Generally speaking, the last person to appear was referred to as the finale act.
Fulfilling his duties conscientiously, Yang Xu played the role of the host, exchanging pleasantries with the other two guests before moving on to the next step.
“And now, we have our final regular cast member. Has anyone guessed who it is?”
During the recording, the guests couldn’t see the comment section, but the atmosphere still needed to be kept lively.
Overall, the chat was buzzing with activity, free of any discordant remarks, until Qiu Ci stepped into the camera’s view.
“Hello everyone, I am Qiu Ci. I am very glad to record this deeply meaningful program with my seniors…” Qiu Ci greeted them properly and formally.
When facing the camera, Qiu Ci wore a cool, composed expression, carrying a mature steady demeanor that belied his age.
Yet it was precisely this sense of detachment that made people both adore and dote on him.
Having just gone through a storm of controversy not long ago, Qiu Ci’s sudden appearance on this program left the audience feeling somewhat incredulous.
“No way, no way. They actually invited him?”
“My goodness, although the dramas he acts in are quite nice and his acting is decent, but…”
“But he really doesn’t suit a program like this.”
“What is the production team playing at? Could there be shady behind-the-scenes dealings?”
“Don’t talk nonsense, upstairs. This show doesn’t even have a title sponsor unless you’re saying it was specially funded just for him.”
“Still, he has a lot of nerve showing up. He hasn’t even finished high school; he doesn’t fit the vibe of this show at all.”
“Ah, ah, ah! My son, look at Mama!”
“Little brother Ah-Ci, older sister is right here.”
“Ah-Ci, fly bravely, Dictionary will follow forever.”
“Little brother Ah-Ci is still young, I hope everyone won’t be too harsh on him.”
“Some people are just naturally unsuited for studying, and little brother Ah-Ci is probably one of them. I hope everyone can study hard, but little brother Ah-Ci already tried his best.”
The live stream comments were exceptionally lively, though the four guests on site remained completely unaware of it.
Following the usual conventions of reality variety shows, the guests needed to get familiar with each other first, and the footage looked quite harmonious.
Meanwhile, outside the set, the bald director broke out in cold sweat. He had taken over this program under an emergency directive, or rather, rumored to have been personally designated by the financial backer behind the scenes.
The bald director felt flattered and overwhelmed.
Mainly because he hadn’t caught wind of any news beforehand, and suddenly being told to start recording felt a bit too rushed. Furthermore, since this show had no prior counterpart to use as a reference, it caught him completely off guard.
There was no script, only a simple outline and story settings for each episode. On top of that, being a program with educational value, figuring out how to make it entertaining was the real challenge.
Since it was billed as a variety show, it couldn’t be purely educational; it had to possess entertainment value to work.
Modern people, especially young people, lived under heavy stress. If a variety show focused entirely on lecturing people, rambling on about history and unsung heroes, what appeal would it have?
Therefore, the moment he signed the contract, he hastily gathered his team for an overnight brainstorming session, only to discover that the entire production crew had been designated from the top down.
The bald director had been in the industry for nearly thirty years, and it wasn’t until he saw the four fixed guests that he finally experienced an epiphany of understanding.
An orphan who debuted two years ago and managed to sail smoothly through the entertainment industry, even when hit with a couple of black PR scandals, none of them managed to kick up any major waves.
Everyone understood what was going on.
However, looking at the comments now, he couldn’t help breaking out in a cold sweat.
He had no idea if the backer behind the scenes would be dissatisfied.
“Director, should we… cut down a bit on Qiu Ci’s screen time?” The assistant director was a newcomer who had joined the industry less than two years ago and didn’t understand all the intricate maneuvering.
In a conventional show, if a certain celebrity had low popularity or poor public reception, their screen time would typically be reduced to avoid bringing negative impact to the program.
The bald director shook his head. “Not only can we not reduce Qiu Ci’s screen time, but we also need to give him more screen time. Having discussion value is a good thing after all.”
The assistant director nodded thoughtfully.
In front of the camera, the recording continued.
The four guests had grown familiar enough with one another, providing sufficient content for post-production editing, and it was time to move on to the next step.
Specifically, the protagonist of today’s program: Miracle Doctor X.
As for why the letter X was used as a substitute, it was because sufficient historical documentation could no longer be found, and no records anywhere preserved his actual name.
Over eight hundred years ago, this place had been nothing but barren mountains, dotted only by a few scattered small villages where villagers made a living by cultivating medicinal herbs, until that one terrifying year when a horrific plague swept across the entire city.