Chapter 190: Cover Wave, Reality Show!

The result goes without saying.

The song "Da Lai Ba Ba" is by no means a classic hit.

Bai Ling's categorization of it as a novelty or gag piece was well-founded.

In other words, the biggest highlight of this song actually lay in Bai Ling's own personal ability.

If someone else were to sing it, even with a stellar performance, it would at most be just another internet-famous track.

Whether it could spark massive discussions entirely depended on luck.

However, Bai Ling is no longer just some ordinary internet celebrity nowadays.

Her popularity and traffic are quite astonishing.

Consequently, this song "Da Lai Ba Ba" also experienced a brief period of explosive popularity.

Although it couldn't possibly compare to works like "Left Hand Touching the Moon," failing to break into the top one or two spots on the new song and trending charts, and even missing the top five, managing to squeeze into the top ten was already quite remarkable.

At the very least, everyone was well aware that Bai Ling created this song purely as a gag for the show, so expectations weren't set exorbitantly high.

Yet, people initially thought the commotion would end right there.

After all, one couldn't possibly expect every single song by Bai Ling to become an absolute megahit.

Was such an expectation even reasonable?

However, much to even Bai Ling's surprise, due to the song's high difficulty and strong entertaining factor, a large number of people began to imitate and cover it.

After all, if they succeeded, wouldn't they have a chance to become internet famous?

Of course, not everyone harbored such utilitarian motives; quite a substantial number of people joined the ranks of cover artists purely out of genuine affection for Bai Ling.

As a result, driven by this combination of internet influencers and Bai Ling's loyal fans, the cover rate of "Da Lai Ba Ba" skyrocketed, creating a phenomenon with immensely powerful transmission momentum.

Although the song still failed to climb to the top one or two positions, it shattered Bai Ling's initial projections, breaking into the top five and lingering there for a prolonged period.

The level of discussion surrounding this song also ranked among the very top of all Bai Ling's works.

This was something neither Bai Ling nor Sister Ge and the others had anticipated.

Still, this could only be considered good news.

Moreover, following this, covers of Bai Ling's works began to intensify further.

There were always some fearless individuals who ultimately ventured into covering Bai Ling's other songs as well.

These included "Moonlight," "Ugly," "Wukong," and "Left Hand Touching the Moon."

Among them, songs like "Ugly" were still relatively easy to cover.

However, the trio of "Left Hand Touching the Moon," "Moonlight," and "Wukong" proved to be exceedingly difficult.

Consequently, the internet not only featured brilliant covers but also sprouted a massive wave of epic fail videos.

In short, there was endless joy to be had.

As for how this matter would ultimately unfold, Bai Ling had no clear idea, as it seemed to be spiraling somewhat out of control.

Regardless, it was unequivocally a positive development that greatly benefited Bai Ling's popularity.

Naturally, they didn't need to harbor any unnecessary worries.

For Bai Ling, what required much more attention were the trials and tests of a reality show.

Since her debut up until now, Bai Ling had participated in quite a significant number of variety shows.

Thus far, however, the majority of the programs she attended were singer-focused competitions.

In addition to those, there was one girl group show, one acting show, and a slow-paced lifestyle variety show.

When it came to a genuine, full-fledged reality show, Bai Ling actually lacked substantial participatory experience.

Therefore, prior to the show, Miao Miao very thoughtfully scoured the internet for some highlights of reality programs from this world.

Then, Miao Miao spent an entire day accompanying Bai Ling to watch these variety shows.

Halfway through watching, Bai Ling suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Miao Miao, are you openly slacking off?"

Though caught red-handed and feeling somewhat guilty, Miao Miao insisted with unyielding determination, "No!"

"That is definitely not the case. Do you really think I watch reality shows for fun?"

"If it weren't for keeping you company, I wouldn't have lasted a single second here!"

Bai Ling gave a disdainful chuckle, "Is that so?"

"Well, that's just fantastic then. I need some exclusive solitary space. Off you go to work, I have complete faith in you."

Miao Miao's expression instantly collapsed into a pout before she flashed a cheeky smile and said, "Don't be like that, Sister Bai. Let me stay a bit longer to keep you company."

Bai Ling laughed dryly, "Are you keeping me company, or are you keeping all these screen husbands of yours on TV company?"

"Does Xiangzi know you're such a fickle-hearted person with seven or eight screen husbands?"

Miao Miao sighed helplessly, "Oh, come on, it's just celebrity worship! I am a rational fan, just swooning mindlessly over the goofy husbands on the television screen, that's all."

"Xiangzi understands; she has her own goddesses too, you know."

With that, Miao Miao cast a sidelong glance at Bai Ling.

Bai Ling suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

"No way, you're freaking me out."

Miao Miao chuckled lightly, "Sister Bai, you're exaggerating way too much. Given your current level of traffic and popularity, you have no idea how many people are keeping their eyes on you."

"You are, after all, our nation's goddess."

"Uh, I was just spouting nonsense, don't take it seriously."

Bai Ling shook her head, "Really? So I haven't reached the status of a national goddess yet? What a pity."

"Then I'll just have to strive to become everyone's goddess sooner."

Miao Miao sighed helplessly, "Alright, I'll go buy you a trending search topic tomorrow. This might be the very first trending topic we'll ever purchase, is it worthy of commemoration?"

Bai Ling shook her head, "You actually have to buy trending searches? What kind of prodigal spendthrift are you?"

Miao Miao instantly felt at a loss for words.

Was Sister Bai speaking from the heart, or was she just humble-bragging on another level?

What on earth would those artists who kept trending searches on a year-round subscription basis think about this?

This was just too bullying!

The two of them continued watching the variety shows, bickering and bantering as they whiled away the day.

Truth be told, reality shows really did vary significantly in quality and tier.

Some reality shows were produced with immense dedication, featuring exceptionally well-crafted script designs.

The various program effects and comedic timings were also exceptionally brilliant.

Others, however, were relatively subpar.

As for those utterly mediocre and low-quality ones, not only were they lacking in popularity, but Miao Miao wouldn't even bother selecting them to contaminate their eyes.

In short, after watching these reality shows, Bai Ling—who in her past life had practically never watched shows like "Keep Running" or "Let's Go" (Running Man and Go Fighting equivalents)—gained a relatively profound understanding of the genre.

"Even though I'm only participating for a single episode, I still need to put on a good performance."

That was what Bai Ling declared before her departure.

Miao Miao likewise expressed her full confidence in Bai Ling.

However, by the time she finished shooting a hastily arranged scene the next day and caught a flight to the filming city, Bai Ling's face was contorted in bitter exhaustion.

"So tired..."

If the system hadn't boosted her physical stamina by fifty percent, she probably wouldn't have been able to hold on until this point.

"That's why I say, unless one is utterly desperate for money, nothing could make me go through this routine. Flying back and forth like this is just utterly exhausting."

Tired as she was, though, the work still had to be done.

That very afternoon, upon arriving at the outdoor filming location, Bai Ling sought out a large parasol, reclined on a beach chair, and closed her eyes to rest and recharge for two hours.

Shortly after, she received a notice from the staff of the reality show "Cola Challenge."

The show's recording was about to begin.

This episode of the show was going to be broadcast live...

"Live broadcast?"

Bai Ling froze in place.

No one mentioned anything about a live broadcast when she accepted the gig.

Why on earth was this sudden curveball being thrown at her?

Sure enough, a show titled "Happy Challenge"—changing plans on a whim like this certainly lived up to the "happy" part.

The staff stammered incoherently for a long time without providing a coherent explanation.

In the end, they could only pass the buck: "Well, that's how the director instructed it. It seems the decision was suddenly changed half a day ago."

"I don't know the specifics either, Miss Bai. Why don't you go ask the director yourself?"

Bai Ling shook her head, "Forget it. What's done is done; live or recorded, we'll just shoot whatever comes."

She was here to make money, and she needed to keep her priorities straight.