Ever since the public learned that Ye Shuang—a natural Trending Topic Magnetism—had semi-retired from the entertainment industry to marry an “older man” with two stepsons, the entire entertainment world instantly erupted.
Countless variety shows, like sharks smelling blood, rushed to extend olive branches to Ye Shuang. Among them was the recently viral production team of “Little Cubs, Charge Forward.”
Even though Ye Shuang only confirmed her participation two days before the show’s premiere, the program’s director was still overjoyed. After all, Ye Shuang’s popularity was no joke—her involvement undoubtedly injected a strong boost of energy into the show.
At the very least, there was no need to worry about lacking popularity.
After Ye Shuang agreed to join the program, her nominal older sister, Ye Xinrou, surprisingly contacted the director as well, expressing her desire to participate with her stepson. The director had no reason to refuse and immediately agreed.
Having these two sisters appear on the same show was like creating a perfect control group—the topic was instantly maxed out. It would be nearly impossible for the show not to gain massive popularity. Only a fool would turn down such an opportunity.
Add to that the Triple Gold Award Winner making her first public appearance with her five-year-old son after years of a secret marriage, and the rising star revealing he had been married for years with a four-year-old son…
Just these topics alone were enough to excite audiences endlessly. The production team had even less to worry about when it came to popularity.
So, even though the production team wasn’t entirely sure whether Ye Shuang would ultimately participate, over a week before filming began, they eagerly employed the entertainment industry’s usual marketing tactics.
They released some ambiguous, vague false information early on, deliberately stirring up conflicts among various fan groups.
This strategy proved effective—if nothing else, it kept the show’s popularity consistently high, firmly securing its place at the center of discussion.
On the day filming began, the production team early released the specific guest list on their official Weibo account.
Finally, the day of filming arrived. Early in the morning, the production team posted the detailed guest list on their official Weibo:
Little Cubs, Charge Forward v: Thank you for your patience, everyone! Our show officially launches today! We have invited five sets of guests, namely:
@Qin Muqing and her son Dou Dou, @Lu Jue and his son Xiao Bai, @Ye Xinrou and her son Gu Zhao;
@Ye Shuang and her sons: Cheng Cheng and Zhou Zhou. @Li Qinqin and her daughter Duo Duo.
We wonder what exciting journeys these five sets of guests will bring us. Let’s look forward to it together!
As soon as this Weibo post went live, it instantly caused an uproar online, like a massive rock thrown into a calm lake, creating waves upon waves.
Weibo’s servers immediately faced immense pressure, freezing for several seconds with slow page loading. Many netizens complained about being unable to refresh the page.
Fortunately, Weibo’s programmers reacted quickly. After emergency repairs, the servers narrowly avoided crashing and managed to keep running.
The already stressed programmers breathed a sigh of relief.
[Smile.jpg Hah, sending an “MMP” to the production team. How can someone as terrible as Ye Shuang still appear? Truly fitting for capitalists.]
[Unlike anti-fans, as a neutral bystander, I just want to enjoy the drama. This is going to be entertaining!]
[I’m not a fan of anyone, but this is my favorite variety show. I’ve been waiting for it. I don’t care who’s on it—no one better criticize the production team!]
“Holy crap, isn’t Ye Shuang the parent who bullied that child? How can someone with legal issues like that appear on screen?? Is the production team not afraid of death??”
“Hey, the person above, it’s already been clarified that the parent was just trying to extort money. Get the full story before eating your melon, unless you want to receive a lawyer’s letter from the Ji Family?”
“Wait, isn’t it said that Ye Xinrou and Ye Shuang are sisters, biological ones at that? Why are so many of Ye Xinrou’s fans bashing Ye Shuang?”
“My Xinxin is an angel, I’m tired of saying this! Xinxin has nothing to do with Ye Shuang! Nothing! Blood relation doesn’t represent character!!”
“Tch, as a casual fan but also a melon-eater, let me give you the reliable tea. Back in the day, Ye Shuang repeatedly tried to create CP buzz with the rising star Lu Jue to get famous. Lu Jue clarified immediately, and I heard Ye Shuang even went to his hotel to ambush him. Basically, she knew he was taken but still went for it.”
“Oh? So there’s a reason why Ye Shuang married that old man? She’s not going after Lu Jue again this time, is she? Tch, poor Lu Jue.”
“Ahhhhh! I’m so mad I can’t even finish my rice!!!! Ye Shuang you trash, can’t you stay away from our god!!!”
“Great, another happy day where only us Green Threads get to celebrate~~”
No matter how intense the online arguments became, even reaching “world-turning” levels, for the program recording, everything continued as usual.
After all, the show had established procedures and schedules that couldn’t be halted due to external noise.
Moreover, this kind of heated controversy might actually be exactly what the production team wanted.
In this era where traffic reigns supreme, as long as there’s topic relevance, heat and traffic would naturally follow.
For a variety show, this was undoubtedly crucial – meaning higher viewership, more advertising revenue, and broader influence.
Sometimes, being hated was better than being ignored.
The production team kept up with current trends by adopting a combination of live broadcast and recorded broadcast format.
This way, audiences could watch the filming process in real-time through the live broadcast room while freely expressing their opinions and feelings in the bullet comment section.
This real-time interactive model not only increased audience engagement but also significantly reduced viewers’ suspicions about potential “black screen operations” in the program.
After all, the entire recording process was happening right before the audience’s eyes, making everything appear open and transparent.
No matter how much the production team craved heat and traffic, the Director understood the consequences of “destroying one’s own foundation” and would never compromise the show’s reputation for temporary gains.
According to today’s schedule, the production team would visit the homes of all five guest groups to pick them up before heading to the recording location together.
The moment the live broadcast started, countless netizens flooded into the live broadcast room like a tidal wave.
In terms of status and popularity, Ye Shuang didn’t have much advantage among the guests.
However, she had carried an “easily attracting hatred” constitution since her debut, where anything she did could easily get her trending for negative reasons.
Precisely because of this, her live broadcast room actually attracted the largest number of viewers.
The bullet comment section was filled with various negative comments:
“When Ye Shuang appears later, I’m going to curse her to death!!!”
“Hope she just faints and then drops out of the show! Since she’s always playing up her sickly beauty image, she might as well be terminally ill!”
“Hmph! Ugly people sure love to make trouble!”
These aggressive comments kept scrolling by, like a raging “verbal storm,” making the production crew sweat for Ye Shuang’s upcoming debut broadcast.
Although netizens filled the bullet comments with curses, the show’s schedule remained unaffected, and they soon arrived outside the Ji Family Manor.
At that moment, countless viewers eagerly opened the comment input box, waiting impatiently for Ye Shuang to appear, ready to vent all their frustrations at once.
However, after waiting outside the gate for a few seconds, it wasn’t Ye Shuang who appeared, but an elegant and gentle old gentleman.
“Hello, are you from the ‘Little Cubs, Charge Forward’ production team?”
The Old Butler calmly observed the group and inquired in a mild tone.