Just from the pre-shoot interview alone, the number of livestream viewers broke two million!
Many people regretted that Duan Zhihan had missed the livestream for some reason, curious about his reaction to Jiang Li’s comments.
“Too bad Teacher Duan doesn’t use Weibo, or I’d send him that clip of Jiang Li”
“You just want to see them fight, don’t you? Sorry, me too, already sent it”
“I want to see them fight it out in bed”
“What kind of thirst-driven comment is that from the person above!”
“Now that you mention it, I can’t sleep anymore. DM me for the explicit Duan-Jiang fanfic”
With five days left until filming, everyone’s appetite had been thoroughly whetted, unable to wait for tomorrow’s premiere.
Over a hundred thousand people flocked to the official account daily to press for updates.
“Dad! Look at your starving children waiting to be fed!”
“I dreamed the show had premiered last night, woke up and realized there’s still five days left, I could just die”
“If I don’t see the show soon, I’ll die too”
“I’m on edge every day, can’t even study for finals”
Director Xia felt both delighted and exasperated reading the comments, delighted because the buzz was so high, exasperated because there were just too many people pressing for updates.
Even once filming was complete, editing still took time, and yet the whole internet was saying it would air in five days.
“What do we do about the five-day thing?”
Director Xia sighed, looking at the comments.
The deputy director suggested, “What if we did a live broadcast while filming instead?”
Director Xia’s eyes lit up. The feedback from the earlier livestreamed pre-interview had been great, if they could control any mishaps during the live broadcast, it would be more engaging than traditional airing.
After discussion, he finalized the proposal.
Under nationwide anticipation, the domestic entertainment industry’s first celebrity divorce variety show, “Divorce Diary,” locked in its premiere date.
The show invited three pairs of guests total, each episode covering a two-day trip, using real-time livestreaming, with each guest getting their own livestream room.
“Wouldn’t that mean whoever screws up gets embarrassed in front of everyone”
“Real-time livestream! I’m mentally preparing to camp out in front of my computer for an entire day”
“Aaaaaaaah I’m so happy, been waiting so long and it’s finally airing, I’m going to write some Duan-Jiang fanfic to calm down”
“Suddenly feeling really nervous”
No one in the comments objected to the real-time livestream, but Ye Cheng’s expression was heavy.
He’d originally planned to work behind the scenes, cutting out any footage unflattering to Jiang Li, it would’ve been hard NOT to clean up his image with that approach.
This livestream had completely ruined his plan.
Xiao Su tried to comfort him: “Livestreaming means no malicious editing, and it also prevents behind-the-scenes manipulation.”
Ye Cheng patted Xiao Su’s shoulder. “You’re still too young.” We ARE the behind-the-scenes manipulation.
On the day filming began, a light drizzle fell.
Compared to Ye Cheng’s anxiety, Jiang Li calmly got into the production team’s car, only puzzled as to why Duan Zhihan would participate, did he not know Jiang Li would be there too?
Ye Cheng answered with confidence: “His new movie’s about to release, right? He’s probably just doing promotion for it.”
That made sense.
Jiang Li knew how much Duan Zhihan valued filming, during their marriage, eight out of every ten days he was on set, he wouldn’t skip promotion just because of Jiang Li.
He didn’t care whether Duan Zhihan appeared on the show or not, as long as they didn’t bother each other. After filming, they’d each go their own way.
Jiang Li relaxed and played on his phone.
As Ye Cheng saw Jiang Li off, what he saw was the boy’s face, striking in the sunlight, his long lashes distinct strand by strand.
His anxiety suddenly eased. Back when Jiang Li had stood out from that talent show, besides tireless effort day and night, it was this face that had done most of the work.
At least he could earn some goodwill points on looks alone.
Ye Cheng waved the small red flag in his hand like a parent sending their child off to a college entrance exam, watching the car drive toward the airport.
The little Jiang robot had no idea about Ye Cheng’s parental hopes for him, he just wanted to finish filming and go home to play games.
But right then, a screenshot circulating online made him unhappy.
The screenshot showed him in his fuzzy cat pajamas, eyes half-open, still waking up. He wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into out of embarrassment, trying to tell himself not many people would have seen it.
The guests all gathered at the airport, and once the car pulled up at the entrance, Jiang Li managed to put the matter out of his mind.
The airport was humanity’s transit hub, with people being shuttled off to different places every minute, a mysterious place to him.
The little robot watched the passersby intently, curious about where they’d all be sent.
Just then, a young man in his twenties walked over, extending his hand. “Hi, I’m Ruan Yan.”
The young man had an oval face, his temperament generally described as gentle, but appeared plain next to the boy’s striking features.
“Do you all remember that group photo on debut night? No one wanted to stand next to Jiang Li, it’s kind of brutal seeing the comparison”
“Well, Ruan Yan’s actually quite good-looking too, is there anyone who isn’t afraid to stand next to Jiang Li”
“Only Teacher Duan”
“They really are a good match”
“Stop twisting the knife in my heart, other people’s ships get married on a wedding variety show, and the ship I stan is on a fucking divorce show”
The little Jiang robot recognized him as one of the show’s guests. Disliking physical contact with humans, he merely nodded.
“Feels kind of rude”
“Isn’t he always like this?”
“Jiang Li’s face always gets me hyped up, but his personality always brings me right back down”
“Curious how he’s survived this long without getting hit by someone”
Ruan Yan was startled for a moment—Jiang Li’s personality really was as bad as the rumors said, a total “keep away” vibe.
He knew the worse Jiang Li’s attitude was toward him, the more the audience would sympathize with him, so he said nothing.
A moment later, he walked to the boy’s right side and said softly, “This is a small gift I made myself.”
The airport itself was noisy, and Jiang Li couldn’t hear a word Ruan Yan was saying at all. He went off to the lounge on his own, doing his best to avoid Duan Zhihan.
The camera captured Jiang Li coldly walking away, while Ruan Yan let out an “oh” behind him, putting the gift away, looking quite pitiable.
“My heart aches for Ruan Yan”
“I’ve actually started liking Ruan Yan quite a bit”
“He doesn’t have to accept it, but at least don’t just walk away”
“Maybe he just didn’t hear him”
“Fans, stop trying to spin this, unless he’s deaf”
Jiang Li sat in the lounge, and the other guests arrived as well.
The first to arrive was Ruan Yan’s ex-husband, Xu Jiawen, bronze-skinned, in his early thirties, known for playing tough guys in military dramas. He didn’t say a single word to Ruan Yan after entering.
Another pair was An Zhiqing and Qi Hui, veteran actors in their forties and fifties, who had been an enviable on-screen couple in their younger days. They’d suddenly divorced last year, and though they still chatted and laughed now, there was always a lingering awkwardness between them.
All of this was material Jiang Li had reviewed before the show, he didn’t want to be mocked by Duan Zhihan for mistaking people.
They couldn’t leave until all the guests had arrived. He waited a long time without seeing the last person, who was apparently filming in Gengtong.
Just as Jiang Li was growing impatient, he heard that Duan Zhihan had arrived and turned around.
The man appeared at the airport entrance pulling a black suitcase, and everyone’s eyes fell on Duan Zhihan.
“Sorry I’m late.”
An Zhiqing quickly spoke up. “No worries at all.”
Ruan Yan tilted his head and asked Duan Zhihan, “It takes six hours by high-speed rail from Gengtong, that must have been exhausting to rush over.”
“Not exhausting.”
Duan Zhihan glanced toward Jiang Li’s direction.
“What is Teacher Duan looking at! Let me see too”
“Looks like… he’s looking at Jiang Li”
“They’re rivals after all, wouldn’t be normal if he weren’t looking”
“So scared they’ll fight the second they see each other”
Once everyone had gathered, Ruan Yan handed out the homemade cookies he’d brought, one to each guest.
“Ruan Yan’s got such a good attitude, I wouldn’t even have the courage to give gifts, but he’s giving them out one by one”
“Bet he didn’t give Jiang Li any”
“Obviously not, who would offer warmth to a cold shoulder”
“Those two are total opposites”
Ruan Yan, a little nervous, gave the largest bag of cookies to Duan Zhihan. He knew Duan Zhihan was a polite person who wouldn’t embarrass others, and sure enough, the man accepted the gift.
He instinctively glanced toward the lounge, the boy was just indifferently playing on his phone, only coming out when Director Xia called for everyone to gather.
Once everyone had assembled, Director Xia didn’t reveal today’s destination. “Since this is the first trip, the destination level is Class C.”
“Why not Class A”
“Curious about the grading criteria”
“Me too”
Qi Hui voiced the same question: “What’s different about a Class C destination?”
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
Director Xia kept them guessing.
No matter how much they asked, they couldn’t get an answer, so the guests picked up their luggage and prepared to board.
As Jiang Li walked, he noticed that Duan Zhihan was walking right beside him, their fluttering coats even brushing against each other.
He deliberately slowed his pace to create distance, and Duan Zhihan seemed to notice he was avoiding him, pausing for a moment before walking on.
Actually, he didn’t even need to avoid him—Duan Zhihan easily became the center of any crowd, while he stood alone at the edges.
Jiang Li walked with his head down at the very back, focused on his steps, when suddenly his sleeve was grabbed by a hand.
At some point, Duan Zhihan had stepped out of the crowd, his peach-blossom eyes soaked in sunlight, and said in a low voice, “Don’t fall behind, little kitten.”