Chapter 7: Seems Like Quite a Big Deal
Lu Zhou walked out of the Orange Light TV building, standing at the entrance with his head lowered, fiddling with his phone as he waited for a taxi.
As he waited, he vaguely sensed a commotion near the building’s entrance.
Turning to look, he saw several people striding quickly out of the Orange Light building, brushing right past him. Leading the group was a middle-aged man, his face alight with an enthusiastic smile, walking toward a black van that had just pulled up not far ahead.
Lu Zhou found the man somewhat familiar—he’d seen him before, but for the moment, couldn’t recall exactly who he was.
Following their movements with his eyes, he watched as the van’s rear door opened from the inside, and soon, someone stepped out.
The area around the van was crowded, making it difficult to see what was happening, but in the moment the person got off, Lu Zhou caught a glimpse of long chestnut waves of hair, a face tightly concealed by a mask and hat...
A woman, clearly a celebrity—and judging by the scene, no small star at that.
Seeing celebrities come and go at the Orange Light TV office was common, so Lu Zhou simply watched the spectacle without much curiosity about who she was.
At that moment, his ride arrived. He walked over and ducked into the car.
Just as he got in, it dawned on him who that middle-aged man was.
Director Lin Jiale—a well-known variety show director in the industry, involved in many popular programs.
If memory served, Lu Zhou had seen the director during rehearsals when he once performed as a backup dancer for a singer on a variety show.
After getting in, Lu Zhou instinctively pulled out his phone and searched for “Lin Jiale” online.
While browsing the encyclopedia entry, he came across a piece of information: Lin Jiale was the chief director of the first season of “Swap? Exes.”
Lu Zhou: “???”
What a coincidence...
So—was that female celebrity whom Lin Jiale personally came out to greet related to the second season of “Swap? Exes”?
Most likely, she’d been invited for the celebrity panel in the dating observation segment. Based on previous seasons, the observation panel was always composed of celebrities. If the show could invite popular stars, it would certainly boost ratings.
Not bothering with it any further, Lu Zhou put on his headphones and closed his eyes against the car window, planning to sleep all the way home.
-----------------
Meanwhile, inside the Orange Light TV building, in a dedicated studio.
The interviewer asked, “How did you two first meet?”
The female guest replied, “A blind date.”
The staff: “?!”
What? So young and already going on blind dates?
Feigning composure, the interviewer smiled, “Do you really need to go on blind dates?”
The guest answered, “I don’t think I do, but my parents think I do.”
“...”
“What was your first impression of him?”
“Not much, really. He wasn’t my type.”
“...”
The staff pressed on.
“If he wasn’t your type, how did you end up dating? Did you gradually develop feelings for each other?”
“Not at all. I just saw that my parents were working so hard to match us up, so I decided to fulfill their wish and let them give up sooner.”
“???”
“How long did you date?”
“Three days.”
“?!” Shocked to the core...
The interviewer could barely keep up the pretense of calm.
“Why?” He blurted out the question.
“Why what?” the guest countered.
Why only three days... But for some reason, the staff didn’t dare ask directly and changed course at the last minute.
“Why did you two break up so suddenly?”
The guest replied, “It wasn’t sudden at all. We’d agreed in advance to try dating for three days—if it went well, we’d continue; if not, we’d break up.”
Stunned—so they’d played the contractual couple game? With a trial period?
The interviewer’s mind was struggling to process this unexpected gossip.
“So after three days, you weren’t satisfied? Who wasn’t?”
“I wasn’t.”
“What didn’t you like about him?”
“What?” The guest arched her brow.
She seemed displeased... The staff, imagining a dramatic scene, quickly added, “Uh... If it’s inconvenient to answer, you don’t have to...”
“It’s no trouble. He just wasn’t interesting enough—not my kind of person.”
“...”
The interviewer was at a loss; perhaps he’d misunderstood.
“So why are you both joining our show? To reconcile... or to mend regrets?”
At this, the guest frowned slightly and looked up at the staff member sitting across from her.
“You don’t know?” she asked, sounding a bit puzzled.
The staff member was confused: “Uh? Know what?”
She sighed softly. “All right, so you don’t know.”
“I have no intention of getting back together, nor do I have any regrets over a relationship that lasted just three days.”
“We’re joining the show simply because our parents still haven’t given up hope on us. They want us to try one last time.”
“So they directly invested in your program, forcing us to participate—in hopes that, with your show’s help, we’d get back together.”
“?!!!” The staffer’s mind was full of expletives—investing in the show to force participation, was that even allowed on air?
This one really told the truth—blunt to a fault!
...
At that moment, Lin Jiale, watching from behind the scenes, shook his head and turned to the person beside him. “Is he new?”
“No.”
“Find someone with more experience, someone who can handle the scene. This interview needs to be redone.”
“All right, I’ll take care of it.”
Lin Jiale glanced at his watch. He had a meeting with the screenwriter coming up, so he didn’t linger in the studio and left.
Executive director Chen Yunpeng followed, and the two discussed the recent progress as they walked.
Lin Jiale said, “Almost all the guest lineup has been finalized. The pre-show interviews need to be recorded as soon as possible. It’s almost time to start shooting—don’t let anything go wrong.”
“Don’t worry, Director Lin. I’ve got people following up. We’ve already finished recording pre-interviews for two couples. Oh, and Lu Zhou, who just signed today—we’ve got his recorded too...”
Lin Jiale nodded. Hearing Lu Zhou’s name, he seemed to recall something and asked casually, “So, after talking with him, what do you think of Lu Zhou?”
Chen Yunpeng studied Lin Jiale’s expression and replied,
“He... His romantic history with his ex is pretty ordinary. Compared to other guests, his personal background is nothing special, so I doubt he’ll generate much buzz.”
“To be honest, Director Lin, I still think picking Lu Zhou and Li Jiayan as a couple is a waste of two slots. Among our backup candidates, there are obviously more promising pairs with greater potential for drama.”
Lin Jiale patted his shoulder and chuckled,
“If all the guests were highly dramatic, they’d just end up clashing, which actually makes the show less interesting. It’s the contrast between strong and weak personalities that’s more engaging to watch.”
“Sometimes, a show needs a few unremarkable people as a backdrop. Understand?”
“...” Chen Yunpeng nodded, though he disagreed inwardly.
Clearly, Lu Zhou only got in because he had connections with Deputy Director Liu—no need to dress it up with such high-sounding justifications.
All the guests had basic background checks. Chen Yunpeng had seen Lu Zhou’s profile—utterly ordinary. Signing with Jinhua Entertainment gave him a sliver of hope; at least the agency might invest in publicity when the show aired.
But now, rumor had it the guy had already been dropped by Jinhua Entertainment...
So average, and yet he’d managed to get on the show through Deputy Director Liu’s back door...
Chen Yunpeng’s own explanation was: Deputy Director Liu probably took a bribe. Who else would bother with Lu Zhou? Ten years in showbiz and not a single splash—Jinhua Entertainment didn’t even want to keep him. Someone like that, it’s hard to believe he could ever make it big...