Chapter 72: The Live Broadcast Officially Begins

After spending a night at the villa, the next morning, all the guests packed their luggage and, escorted by the show's shuttle, headed together to the Jinghua City International Airport.

They boarded an international flight, enduring more than thirteen hours in the air, arriving directly at Oregani State in Country M.

The long journey left everyone quite exhausted.

Yet, the moment they stepped off the plane, their spirits lifted noticeably.

Chu Yao looked up at the foreign blue sky, smiled, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"It's my first time experiencing the air of Country M," she murmured.

"What does it smell like?" Lu Zhou, standing beside her, teased.

Chu Yao laughed, "How am I supposed to describe it?"

She felt excited — she didn’t travel abroad often, and it was her first time setting foot in this country, so naturally, her mood was animated.

"A whiff of half-burned jet fuel, nothing special," Ye Fangfei said bluntly.

Everyone laughed.

She was right, after all — just stepping off the plane, what fresh scents could there be?

The eight guests chatted and laughed as they exited the airport, then boarded the car arranged by the production team, heading straight to the hotel.

On the ride, everyone behaved differently.

Lu Zhou, traveling abroad for the first time in his life, quietly gazed out the window, observing the unfamiliar scenery. He wasn’t overly curious, but it all felt new.

Chu Yao and Li Jiayan sat together, both enthusiastic, pointing out things along the roadside to each other, excited like two curious children.

Wen Yiming, Qi Jiajia, and Ye Fangfei had already fallen asleep.

Xu Junze watched the scenery and yawned, occasionally glancing at the two energetic women up front — Chu Yao and Li Jiayan.

Zhang Chen was curled up in his seat, head down, squeezing in a few last moments of playing on his phone.

The car drove for quite a while before finally arriving at the five-star Kama Hotel.

"Exchange? Exes" would officially launch its live broadcast at eight o'clock that evening.

The production team had already made all the necessary preparations. Now, with the guests checked into the hotel and plenty of time before the broadcast, everyone was urged to rest and recover from the fatigue of travel to ensure nothing would go wrong during the evening’s live segment.

They were assigned presidential suites, only four rooms, with two people sharing each, according to the previous arrangement from the Pink Cottage.

The live broadcast countdown began.

Online viewers in the home country were already impatient, fans from every couple’s super-topic feverishly hyping their favorite pairings.

The clock ticked down to one hour before the broadcast.

The eight guests were awakened by staff, reminded to tidy up their appearance — though those unconcerned with their image on camera were free to ignore this.

Dinner was delivered from the hotel kitchen, and everyone gathered in the dining room for a meal.

Xu Junze’s stomach was always sensitive, and upon arriving in a foreign country, he struggled with the unfamiliar flavors. After a few bites, he lost his appetite.

Chu Yao noticed and, out of habit, couldn’t help but show concern: "Is that all you're eating? You'll be hungry tonight."

"I can't eat anymore," Xu Junze replied with a smile.

"Junze, maybe you're nervous, so you don’t have an appetite?" Qi Jiajia joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Everyone knew the live broadcast would begin soon, and the usual lively banter at the dinner table had vanished, replaced by a tense atmosphere.

"Nervous? I'm fine. It's just that I’m not used to the food," Xu Junze said, wiping his mouth with a napkin and smiling. "Are you nervous?"

Qi Jiajia took a big bite of bread and shook her head, "Look at my appetite. Do I look nervous?"

Zhang Chen heard this, curled his lips, and said, "Not necessarily. Some people eat even more when they're nervous."

Ye Fangfei and Lu Zhou glanced at Zhang Chen’s empty plate.

"...That’s quite fitting."

Qi Jiajia, unwilling to yield, retorted, "Are you talking about yourself?"

Zhang Chen’s mouth twitched.

Li Jiayan took small bites of steak and joined the conversation, "So what if you’re nervous? I’m pretty nervous right now, my heart’s pounding."

"If your heart wasn't pounding, that would be a real problem," Lu Zhou teased.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Li Jiayan, embarrassed by the teasing, felt her face grow warm. She pouted and looked at Lu Zhou, "You're so annoying."

Lu Zhou, caught off guard by her playful rebuke, quickly covered his lips and laughed, coughing lightly.

The atmosphere improved, and after dinner, Director Lin Jiale appeared.

Once again, in his capacity as chief director, he reiterated the program’s rules, then asked everyone to hand over their phones for temporary safekeeping.

Thus, the eight guests severed contact with the outside world.

The live broadcast venue was set up in the presidential suite, with camera positions arranged in advance.

The guests were told to gather in the study, which had clearly been rearranged, leaving a large open space.

After their microphones were installed, the production team requested each ex-couple stand side by side.

"Why does this feel like the teacher is making us stand in punishment?" Ye Fangfei quipped, looking around the study.

"It really does," Zhang Chen replied with a laugh.

Ye Fangfei took her place beside Zhang Chen. Seeing the distance between them, Zhang Chen stepped closer, narrowing the gap.

Next to them, Wen Yiming leaned down a bit and, holding his microphone, whispered to Qi Jiajia, "Don't forget our previous agreement."

Qi Jiajia glanced up at him and nodded.

There was a wall clock in the study, so everyone could see the time.

In the final minute of the countdown, Li Jiayan nervously tugged at Lu Zhou’s sleeve. "What should I do? I’m really nervous, my hands are shaking."

Lu Zhou turned to her with a relaxed smile.

"There's nothing to be nervous about. It's just like any other shoot, facing the camera. You don't have to interact with the live audience, just don’t let your mind wander."

"An unsettled mind causes nervousness."

"Take a deep breath and remind yourself that you’re the best."

Li Jiayan did as he suggested, took a deep breath, and silently repeated his words in her mind.

Meanwhile, Chu Yao and Xu Junze, the ex-couple, seemed perfectly at ease.

One was a social media influencer used to the camera, the other a boss managing countless streamers behind the scenes.

Live broadcasts were routine in their daily work; since this one didn’t require direct interaction with viewers, it felt no different from their usual filming.

In the last ten seconds of the countdown, the show’s director called out through the intercom:

"Alright, everyone ready!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One! Go live!"

...

The number of viewers in the live room kept rising, and the comments were exploding across the screen.

[Finally, you’re here. Glad I didn’t give up.]
[So excited, watching live reality romance.]
[Which couple does everyone support?]
[Wow, my Fangfei is dazzlingly beautiful!]
[Please, Li Jiayan and Lu Zhou, get back together!]
[Where is this? What’s next?]
[Daily question: Has Zhang Chen won over Ye Fangfei?]
[Is this scripted?]
[So what's happening now? Who likes whom? I’m confused.]
[Got my watermelon ready; director, make it as dramatic as possible, I love it.]
...

The live room was buzzing, but the eight guests on camera were oblivious.

Li Jiayan, who had been so nervous her hands shook, was now a little bewildered — wasn’t it time? Why did nothing seem to have changed?

She realized, perhaps, her nerves were for nothing.

Suddenly, the production staff spoke, announcing the start of the task.

"Tomorrow, your first day in Country M will begin with paired travel in mixed-gender partnerships, one-on-one."

"Who would you like to spend the day with?"

The staff paused deliberately.

The question caught the guests off guard — who did they want to travel with? They all fell into thought.

But before they could finish, the staff continued:

"Will you be able to spend tomorrow with the person you desire?"

"The answer will be decided by you."

"Next, we’ll play a game called ‘Say It, Guess It.’"

"Here are the rules, please listen carefully."

"Each ex-couple forms a game group. Each group freely draws five topics. The male is the guesser, the female gives clues."

"The female provides hints about the topic through words or actions; the male must guess the answer within two minutes based on her hints. Note, verbal clues may not contain any words already present in the topic. If violated, that question is counted as incorrect."

"Final scores will be based on the man’s correct answers."

"Ranking will be determined by accuracy; the man with the highest score gets first pick of his preferred female travel companion. But note: the woman in the highest-scoring group has one veto vote. If the man is rejected, he must choose another partner."

"If two groups tie, a tiebreaker will determine the final score."

"Does everyone understand the rules?"

The staff finished and looked to the guests.

Ye Fangfei raised her hand, her face serious with doubt: "It’s a cooperative game between two people, so why does only the man get to choose his companion in the end?"

This unexpected interlude sent the live comments into frenzy—

[Ha! Only my Fangfei would say that!]
[Good question! The game isn’t fair. I refuse to play.]
[Is she worried Zhang Chen will win and pick her? Haha.]
[If you don’t want Zhang Chen to pick you, you can purposely make him lose! Then someone else will pick you and he’ll have no chance!]
[Is it that serious? Does she like any of the other guys? If she’s going with someone else, she might as well stick with Zhang Chen.]
[Zhang Chen’s fans are shameless.]
...

The staff was momentarily stunned by Ye Fangfei’s question, thinking she hadn’t understood, but she understood too well — she was questioning the fairness.

"This time, the guys pick. Next game, the girls will have their turn," the staff explained.

"Understood," Ye Fangfei nodded and said no more.

Then Li Jiayan raised her hand, asking, "Excuse me, I’d like to confirm: Only the girl in the top-scoring group gets the right to refuse, correct? The others don’t?"

"Yes," replied the staff.

That special privilege fueled the girls' competitive fire.

Not to help the men get first pick, but... to win the right to refuse, since no one knew who would select them. If it happened to be someone undesirable, at least they could say no.

The staff looked around, seeing no further questions, and said:

"If there are no other concerns, we’ll begin the game segment."

"There are cards on the desk, which you’ll use for the game. Please have one representative from each group draw five topics."

After a while, all four groups had randomly selected their topics and handed them to the staff.

"Which group will go first?" the staff asked.

No one knew what was written on the cards, so no one moved.

Going first meant more nerves and less time to adapt — easy to fail.

Lu Zhou glanced around, then nudged Li Jiayan with his elbow, "Shall we go first?"

Li Jiayan bit her lip, hesitated, then shook her head, "Let’s watch a bit first?"

Since it was a two-person game, and Li Jiayan didn’t want to go first, Lu Zhou didn’t push.

At that moment, Ye Fangfei turned to Zhang Chen, "Shall we go?"

"You want to be first?" Zhang Chen asked.

Ye Fangfei shrugged, "I’m fine with it. In this kind of game, it doesn’t matter who goes first. Someone has to take the lead, otherwise we’ll be stuck forever."

"Fine, but if we get first place, and I pick you, will you promise not to reject me?" Zhang Chen played his little trick.

Ye Fangfei raised her eyebrows, "You’re that confident?"

"These are simple games — nothing difficult. Don’t forget, I run a game company, I deal with games all the time," Zhang Chen smiled confidently. "Will you promise? Don’t reject me."

"Alright," Ye Fangfei agreed.

She raised her hand and told the staff, "We’ll go first."

The staff, delighted that someone was willing to step up, clapped enthusiastically, "Great! Ye Fangfei and Zhang Chen will start, the other groups please wait to the side."

The live comments:

[Help, Zhang Chen is so humble.]
[Ahhh, Ye Fangfei agreed not to reject! Is she starting to warm up to him?]
[Tears, my favorite couple is finally sharing sweet moments.]
[You call this sweet?]
[I bet a hundred bucks this group will get first place.]
[Zhang Chen graduated from Jinghua University, his IQ must be high; this game should be easy for him.]
[Unless he got into Jinghua University by other means...]
...

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