“Brother Chi, your clothes.”
The young assistant handed over an outfit from a brand Chi Ye endorsed.
Chi Ye paused for a moment, then took off his coat and changed into it.
Everyone in the room also started moving around, preparing to wrap things up.
Amid the bustle, someone knocked on the dressing room door.
Before the assistant could even go open it, a young man had already walked inside.
“Is Teacher Chi here?”
Chi Ye looked up.
“That’s me. What is it?”
The young man looked Chi Ye up and down.
“I’m Teacher Huang’s assistant. I came over to say hello.”
Chi Ye froze.
Say hello?
There were four guests in total for this episode of How to Evaluate XXX, including Chi Ye.
Chi Ye was the only popular young male celebrity among them.
The most influential of the remaining three was Teacher Huang.
Teacher Huang had debuted and become famous before the year 2000. For many years, he had also taught at Beijing Film Academy.
Both his qualifications and his connections placed him firmly among the senior veterans of the entertainment industry.
Chi Ye had not inherited the original owner’s memories, but from the scattered comments made by his team members earlier, he knew Teacher Huang was famously arrogant and looked down on most people.
Someone like that would take the initiative to greet a junior like him?
“Here’s the situation.”
Teacher Huang’s assistant briefly swept his gaze over the dressing room and spoke concisely.
“Teacher Huang will be giving everyone some food he personally made during the program later. When that happens, we hope Teacher Chi can… um…”
He thought for a moment before finding the right wording.
“Act like you really love it. Like it tastes especially delicious.”
Chi Ye blinked.
Act like it tasted good?
Didn’t that basically mean the food itself wasn’t good?
“Teacher Huang recently registered a new brand, so he hopes everyone can help support it.”
The young man glanced down at his watch.
“I still need to notify the other teachers… Just make sure you act like it tastes amazing. The other teachers will cooperate with you too. There shouldn’t be any problem, right?”
Chi Ye shoved both hands into his pockets.
“There is.”
The assistant froze.
Clearly, he had not expected Chi Ye to answer that way.
Chi Ye smiled pleasantly.
“You’re not paying me?”
The assistant recovered and frowned slightly at him before forcing out a smile.
“Teacher Chi really likes joking… Nobody gets paid for something like this.”
Chi Ye lowered his eyelids and yawned.
He couldn’t be bothered wasting more words on an assistant.
“All right, then that’s settled. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to work together in the future.”
The assistant assumed Chi Ye had agreed.
Although he was unhappy with Chi Ye’s earlier “attitude,” he did not think much of it.
After all, with Teacher Huang’s status, sending an assistant over personally was already considered giving Chi Ye plenty of face.
Besides, wasn’t praising Teacher Huang’s cooking basically an unspoken rule in the industry?
Chi Ye’s team watched the young man leave.
The young assistant curled her lips.
“Seriously. Even the doorman of a prime minister thinks he’s an official.”
She sounded annoyed.
“I bet he’s way more polite to guests with higher status. He’s just an assistant, so what’s with all that arrogance?”
Clearly, she had been irritated by the other assistant’s subtle attitude.
Another member of the team also clicked their tongue.
“Everyone online already knows what level Teacher Huang’s cooking is at. And now they still want us to act for them. I don’t even know why they bother.”
Chi Ye recalled the information he had recently found online.
At some point, Teacher Huang had become obsessed with building a “master chef” image for himself.
He had reinforced that persona in multiple variety shows.
Especially in the two hit shows where he was a permanent cast member, one on Tomato TV and one on Mango TV.
Among them, his chef persona had reached its peak on Mango TV’s Mushroom House.
Unfortunately, his actual cooking skills were only average.
Recently, plenty of media accounts and marketing accounts had exposed the true level of his cooking, and the related videos had gone viral on major platforms.
Now, whenever audiences saw him showing off his cooking skills on a program, they immediately felt tired of it.
Even more nauseating were the fake expressions of praise from the other guests.
Combined together, the whole thing was almost physically uncomfortable to watch.
But that was only entertainment for outsiders.
Inside the industry, because of Teacher Huang’s seniority and status, no one dared say much.
“Teacher Huang came on this episode to promote his new drama, right?”
Chi Ye put on the watch from another brand he endorsed and turned to ask the accompanying director who had handed him the script earlier.
“Yes. It’s Little Happiness, which he personally invested in and produced.”
The director answered.
Chi Ye casually asked,
“The female lead is his student, right? She came with him today?”
The director paused.
He did not understand why Chi Ye suddenly asked that.
“Yeah… Teacher Chi, is there a problem?”
Chi Ye looked at him with a smile and asked jokingly,
“I noticed that a lot of the questions in the script are being asked by the same person. Is your production team trying to promote her?”
The director froze before giving an awkward laugh.
“They’re just normal questions. Does it really matter who asks them?”
Chi Ye glanced at him and said nothing more.
He had carefully gone through the script earlier.
He discovered that many of the harsher topics targeting him were all being raised by the same person.
She was a young actress who had recently gained some momentum in the industry, but her status was still below Chi Ye’s.
At best, she barely qualified as a third-tier actress.
Obviously, there was no way she could have personally secured this kind of “job.”
After all, everyone knew that whoever insulted Chi Ye the hardest on this episode would gain the most popularity and goodwill from ordinary viewers.
With Chi Ye’s previous-life experience of working inside the entertainment industry, the program’s arrangement was easy to understand.
They wanted to use this opportunity to step on him while pushing a newcomer upward.
Because the female lead of Little Happiness was Teacher Huang’s student at Beijing Film Academy.
She had also signed with his company.
Moreover, one of Chi Ye’s former teammates was a permanent cast member on Teacher Huang’s Tomato TV variety show.
The two of them had even formed a “master-disciple” CP and were very close in private.
And…
The original Chi Ye had a terrible relationship with that former teammate.
Sure enough.
By the time Chi Ye had finished getting ready and was almost at the lounge, the accompanying director—who had hesitated the whole way—seemed to feel that the production team should not be taking the blame for this.
After thinking for quite a while, he gave a vague hint.
“There’s nothing we can do either. Teacher Huang personally requested those shots for this episode.”
That was enough.
Nothing more needed to be said.
Chi Ye smiled at him and pushed open the lounge door.
At this moment, most of the other guests had already arrived.
Teacher Huang sat in the center of the sofa.
Beside him was Lin Jingyi, the young actress who had come with him and whom the production team wanted to promote.
On the other side sat a girl with loosely tied long hair, delicate features, and an innocent baby face.
Chi Ye looked over.
Chu Luanyu.
She was also a second-tier actress in the industry, but she had debuted much earlier than Chi Ye and had higher status.
Her background was also very special.
She was a true “royal” of the domestic entertainment industry.
Her connections ran deep.
Ever since her debut, she had continuously appeared in major productions, often with award-winning actors and actresses supporting her.
It was only in recent years, with the film and television industry entering a cold period, that she had occasionally “descended” to act in television dramas.
Unfortunately, even after receiving so many top-tier resources over the years, she remained neither particularly popular nor completely obscure.
In that sense, she and Chi Ye were almost equally unlucky.
Chi Ye greeted the guests one by one.
However, Teacher Huang clearly “didn’t know” Chi Ye.
He remained seated with an arrogant air, only glancing at him once before pulling out a tissue and blowing his nose.
It seemed he had caught a slight cold.
His student, Lin Jingyi, had an even clearer attitude.
She knew she was supposed to aggressively step on Chi Ye today.
In the industry, when someone with lower status publicly attacked someone above them, it was basically equivalent to choosing to offend that person completely.
Chu Luanyu, however, acted quite warmly.
She shook Chi Ye’s hand and then kept looking at him strangely.
Chi Ye endured it for a while before finally asking,
“Why do you keep staring at me?”
Chu Luanyu stared at him without blinking.
Her expression was extremely serious.
“Why aren’t you acting like a diva?”
Chi Ye:
“…”
After being speechless for several seconds, Chi Ye could only sigh inwardly.
Just how many sins had the original owner committed?
First impressions really could ruin a person!
…
Season Five of How to Evaluate XXX used the most commercial format currently popular in the market—broadcast first, edit later.
In other words, the recording itself was livestreamed.
Then one week later, the edited version would be released on both the streaming platform and television.
The guests had already finished their makeup and styling.
During the break, the show’s host, Teacher He—who was also a friend of Teacher Huang—came over with the permanent cast members to greet everyone.
Ten minutes later, the show officially began.
Lin Jingyi, the least famous guest, entered first.
Chi Ye was the second guest to appear.
As Teacher He and the other guests onstage exclaimed “Wow!” and hyped things up, Chi Ye walked onto the stage.
After briefly exchanging greetings with everyone, he sat down on one side of the sofa.
There were not many audience members in the recording studio, but the venue itself was quite large.
The overall setup felt more like a huge social gathering.
Including the show’s three permanent cast members, there were seven people in total, yet it still didn’t feel crowded.
“Don’t be mad. I was just curious.”
After Chu Luanyu finished making her entrance and sat in a position closer to the camera, she lowered her voice and apologized to Chi Ye.
“I always heard people say you act like a huge celebrity.”
She continued,
“Actually, I act like a diva all the time too. And both of us get tons of resources, yet neither of us has become truly popular.”
Her eyes brightened.
“I feel like we’re kindred spirits.”
Chi Ye:
…
Thank you so much.
“Look at all those people who insult us every day. They’re obviously just jealous.”
Chu Luanyu acted extremely familiar with him despite them barely knowing each other.
Her eyelashes fluttered.
“Don’t you think so? That’s how I usually comfort myself anyway.”
“Oh.”
“Then how do you usually comfort yourself?”
“I don’t.”
Chu Luanyu suddenly lowered her voice until it was barely audible.
“Let me tell you a secret.”
She glanced sideways.
“Her face is plastic surgery. I heard it got messed up.”
Chi Ye’s eyes shifted toward Lin Jingyi, who was sitting not far away.
Indeed.
This woman definitely seemed like an expert in “renovation.”
Her entire face radiated cyber technology.
She was only in her twenties, yet somehow already possessed the weathered look of someone in their fifties.
She had successfully saved herself thirty years of aging.
“Now, let us welcome today’s final guest—Huang Jianfeng, Teacher Huang!”
Suddenly, screams erupted from the audience.
Beside Chi Ye, Chu Luanyu and the two permanent cast members immediately put on shocked expressions.
Lin Jingyi even covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes full of surprise.
“Teacher Huang? No way! Even Teacher Huang came?!”
One of the male permanent cast members sighed dramatically.
“Wow, now this is a heavyweight guest. The production team is getting richer and richer.”
Then, with excellent emotional intelligence, he added,
“I’m actually a huge fan of Teacher Huang.”
Lin Jingyi immediately joined in.
“I love eating Teacher Huang’s cooking! It’s ridiculously delicious!”
She even made a gesture as though she were ascending to heaven.
“Every time I eat it, I feel so happy.”
Another female permanent cast member nodded enthusiastically with stars in her eyes.
“Exactly! Exactly! I ate his cooking once when I visited Mushroom House. That taste…”
She sighed dramatically.
“I couldn’t forget it for five whole days.”
So bad you couldn’t forget it for five days?
Chi Ye could not help correcting her.
“Only five days? Shouldn’t it be five years?”
“Oh, right, right! Look at me—five years…”
The female cast member had completely failed to understand Chi Ye’s meaning.
She even thought he was helping create variety-show effects.
“No, fifty years!”
Chi Ye immediately started cheering enthusiastically.
“Teacher Huang! Teacher Huang! I’ve been your fan for fifty years!”
Then he began chanting,
“Huang Feng! Huang Feng! Forever love Jianfeng!”
Lin Jingyi and the others froze.
Chu Luanyu failed to hold back and burst into laughter.
Teacher Huang, who had originally entered with a broad smile, suddenly stiffened.
He frowned and glanced at Chi Ye, feeling extremely irritated.
A fan for fifty years?
How old do you think I am?
You were already my fan when I was still a sperm cell?!
Ridiculous!
What the hell did the assistant do?
I told you to act.
I didn’t tell you to act this ridiculously!
After Chi Ye’s performance, even the slowest audience members could sense it.
Everyone’s praise just now…
had clearly been fake.