Wake Up, This is Not a Dating Show! Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Initial Stage (Part 1) “Want to swap?”…

After the guest list for Battle of the Defending Champions was confirmed, it wasn’t long before the filming of the initial stage began.

Ye Nai had already read the guest profiles sent by Jiang Kuan, which introduced some basic information, including what competitions they had won, what they were primarily doing before and after their championship wins, and what their representative works were.

As for their personality traits, each person had a few brief summary points, but Ye Nai felt they held little reference value. After all, those were just packaged personas shown to the outside world; who knew if the actual person was really like that.

However, his memory had always been excellent. He only skimmed through it once and already had a general impression of all five people, especially Yi Xingzhi.

After all, he was still keeping the matter of the apology in mind.

On the way to the venue, Jiang Kuan was still tirelessly reminding him, “You must control your temper well. You’re here to gain fans, not to crash the party, understand? Try not to get into conflicts with the others.”

At first, Ye Nai found it funny. “You sound like my mom, telling me to go play house and try to win a little red flower.”

Later, unable to withstand Jiang Kuan’s repeated nagging, he started rubbing his temples. “Master, please stop chanting.”

Just before getting out of the car, Jiang Kuan emphasized it one more time.

The patience Ye Nai had worn thin along the way finally ran out. He knitted his brows and said, “Is it really necessary? Is my temper really that bad?!”

The moment he shouted this out, he himself froze. Jiang Kuan was also stunned.

The two stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds before Ye Nai cleared his throat and got out of the car. “Ahem, let’s go.”

From the moment he opened the car door, a camera was pointed at him, as if reminding him that the program had already begun.

The broadcasting method of Battle of the Defending Champions was very unique. It adopted a format of full live-streaming over the weekend, aiming to increase the audience’s immersive experience by tracking the guests’ movements in real-time.

A week after the livestream, the production team would release a version with added editing and post-production, allowing the audience to choose which version to watch based on their preferences.

The popularity of Zhuolai Media’s programs was always quite high, and the guests invited this time were all highly topical. Not long after the broadcast started, the number of online viewers had already broken ten million.

Netizens frantically spammed the bullet screen. Most were there to support their own idols, but of course, there were also people just looking for a good time watching the drama unfold.

[I can’t be the only one who came just to see if the young master can win his bet, right?]

[Person in front, don’t run, you are not alone!]

[Watch your wording! What do you mean “if he can win”? You should say “how he will lose”.]

It was Ye Nai’s first time participating in a variety show. He wasn’t quite used to the shooting style of having a camera shoved right in his face right off the bat. Although he knew he should smile and greet the audience through the lens right now, he truly couldn’t squeeze one out. He only felt the irritability of not wanting to deal with the current situation and tried his hardest to suppress it.

As luck would have it, the first person he bumped into upon arriving backstage was Pei Ze.

When it came to people in the industry that Ye Nai had offended, the number wasn’t exactly large, but it wasn’t small either. Anyway, among the guests on this variety show, the only one he had bad blood with was Pei Ze.

At this moment, enemies were bound to meet on a narrow road; they bumped into each other the second he entered the venue.

“Hi, I didn’t expect you to come,” Pei Ze took the initiative to greet him, speaking with pointed intent. “Are you here to be a mannequin?”

Ye Nai had once publicly satirized reality shows in his rap, saying they should be called “Fake Reality Shows.” Presumably, Pei Ze felt that for Ye Nai to have made such a statement and then participate in one himself was a massive slap in his own face.

“Yeah.” Ye Nai replied with complete unconcern. “I came to see how mannequins act and exactly how fake they can be, to look for some creative material.”

Pei Ze’s expression instantly changed. The reason he and Ye Nai didn’t get along was precisely because he had once been his “creative material.”

Pei Ze was a highly popular, top-tier idol champion. He possessed delicate and handsome features, was an all-rounder in singing and dancing, and had debuted as the center of his group with an absolute advantage in votes.

However, accompanying his well-known skills was something else entirely.

Once, when he attended a charity gala—which was supposed to be a rather formal occasion—while sitting in the audience, he suddenly noticed a camera pointed at him. He subconsciously angled himself to tense his jawline and struck a very handsome pose, looking as if it were unintentional but clearly highly calculated.

As soon as this video came out, it became a hot topic of discussion among netizens. Originally, everyone just treated it as a small interlude and laughed it off. But as it turned out, Ye Nai saw the video too.

He was in the middle of writing a song satirizing the chaos in the entertainment industry at the time, and casually threw this example into the lyrics—

“Looking for chances to act cool anytime and anywhere, finding the camera and striking the right angle. I don’t care what’s happening on stage, as long as the photos taken turn out flawless.”

When this song was released, the heat surrounding Pei Ze’s video had just passed. But as soon as netizens saw this lyric, they all recalled the scene from that time. Their emotions ran high, and they dragged the topic right back into the limelight.

Many comedy bloggers used Ye Nai’s song as BGM and paired it with Pei Ze’s video to make fan edits. There were also many parodies and memes, which surprisingly spread even wider than the first wave of popularity.

Pei Ze always cared deeply about public evaluation. The public opinion he had finally managed to pacify was stirred up again by Ye Nai; how could he not hold a grudge against him?

Hearing him dare to bring up old history at this moment, Pei Ze couldn’t help but speak passive-aggressively, “Then I’ll quietly await your masterpiece. Take me along for the ride and let’s go viral again, yeah?”

“Depends on your performance,” Ye Nai said with a sincere tone. “If it goes viral again, you don’t need to thank me. After all, it’s a mutual achievement.”

“You…” Pei Ze was so angry he wanted to curse, but remembering they were on a livestream, he had to forcefully swallow it back, his small face puffing up like a steamed bun.

Having successfully roasted his target, most of the gloom in Ye Nai’s heart dissipated. Just then, he saw someone else arriving at the door.

Both men were very tall and straight. The slightly taller one carried a guitar on his back and wore a black sweater paired with smoky-grey jeans. Although his attire was casual, coupled with his clean and handsome face, he naturally exuded a carefree and uninhibited charm.

The other man wore a loose, pure white suit that made his figure look even leaner. The deep V-neck plunged to an imagination-provoking depth.

Ye Nai recognized the one in white as the singer champion, Yin Tianhan. That particular competition had also been hosted by Zhuolai Media, and he had been signed with them ever since. They had been heavily promoting him and giving him a lot of resources.

And the person next to him was none other than Yi Xingzhi.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a stage like this with no chance for rehearsal, just going straight up. I’m actually a little nervous,” Yin Tianhan smiled and said to Yi Xingzhi. “But I’ve been to this venue before when participating in other programs, so I guess I’ve taken a bit of an advantage, haha.”

He seemed to carry an affability that made him instantly familiar with anyone. Originally, as an artist under Zhuolai, it was somewhat easy for people to speculate about inside connections. But with just these few words, laying it all out in the open actually rendered it harmless.

Yi Xingzhi’s eyes were faint, looking as if he wasn’t in high spirits, but he still replied, “Is there anything to watch out for at this venue?”

“Watch out for…” Yin Tianhan thought for a moment and said, “Don’t beat me by too much.”

After saying that, he laughed at his own joke.

Yi Xingzhi politely raised the corners of his mouth and walked into the backstage area with him.

Seeing Yi Xingzhi, Ye Nai immediately remembered his mission to apologize, but naturally, he wouldn’t say it in front of the cameras with so many people around. However, because he was calculating the matter in his mind, his gaze unconsciously followed him around until they made eye contact.

Crashing into those deep eyes, Ye Nai inexplicably felt a bit guilty. Biting the bullet, he didn’t look away and merely nodded at him as a form of greeting.

He didn’t expect that this time, Yi Xingzhi would actually speak first: “We meet again.”

“Yeah, what a coincidence,” Ye Nai casually replied.

Fuck, what kind of nonsense is he saying?

“I watched your live performance backstage last time,” Yi Xingzhi didn’t seem to mind, unexpectedly walking straight over and sitting down next to him. His tone was as familiar as an old friend catching up. “Very explosive, very brilliant.”

Ye Nai was taken aback. That day, Yi Xingzhi went on stage after him, so it was perfectly normal that he had watched his performance. But he didn’t expect someone of so few words to proactively bring this up now, and furthermore, to be so unsparing with his praise.

He decided to tell the truth as well: “I originally wanted to stay and watch yours before leaving that time, but something came up later and I couldn’t.”

“It’s fine, there’s still a chance today,” Yi Xingzhi said flatly.

Ye Nai raised an eyebrow. “Then I’ll wait and see.”

The netizens watching the livestream immediately started overanalyzing the interaction.

[Am I on a 2G network? When did these two meet?]

[I know the answer to this! It was at the Jinping Music Festival last month.]

[Why do I feel like something is slightly off?]

[It is off, Yi Xingzhi is actually initiating a conversation with someone?]

[Ye Nai is the more abnormal one, right? Has anyone ever seen him speak so politely? Does he owe the guy money or something?]

A while later, the next guest, Yuan Lei, also arrived.

Yuan Lei was the person Ye Nai was most familiar with on this program. Although he debuted as a street dance champion, he also had foundational rap skills. He used to be in the same rap label, NAH, as Ye Nai, and they could be considered to have a ride-or-die friendship.

Even after Ye Nai left that label, he still kept in touch with him.

The moment they met, the two tacitly exchanged a combo of hip-hop greetings. No barrier had formed between them despite not having seen each other for a long time; they were just as close as before.

It wasn’t until right before the production team’s designated arrival time that the final guest, Fu Tingyuan, arrived.

As a highly popular actor, he possessed a tall and handsome exterior, but he had a uniquely mysterious aura. Like a mountain range shrouded in mist, he easily invoked a desire to explore him.

Ye Nai remembered the profile Jiang Kuan had given him mentioned that this man had played many vastly different roles and possessed strong malleability, but his temper was extremely eccentric.

In the acting competition program where he won the championship, while shooting a short film, he repeatedly demanded retakes on a scene that even the director had approved, constantly bringing up different perspectives, nearly driving the entire team crazy.

It seemed the production team had deliberately invited highly controversial guests, preferring to bear uncontrollable risks rather than compromise on ratings.

Moreover, this was a livestream. Once a mess occurred, any attempts to remedy the situation would be powerless.

As long as it brought heat, anything was fine. This was Zhuolai for you.

“Wow, did you walk in timing it with a stopwatch, Master of Punctuality?” Pei Ze checked the time with exaggerated movements and said to Fu Tingyuan.

A member of his group had once acted opposite Fu Tingyuan and ended up shutting himself down so completely that he never wanted to take on another acting role again. Therefore, seeing him this time, he somewhat meant to vent some frustration on his teammate’s behalf.

Of course, with so many eyes watching, it was limited to just a passing remark.

“I didn’t delay anyone else’s time, and I didn’t waste my own. What’s wrong with that?” Fu Tingyuan asked calmly without a change in expression.

Pei Ze choked, unable to follow up.

Just what kind of ruthless characters had come today?

“Haha, very good, very good,” Yin Tianhan stepped in to smooth things over. “I give this time management a perfect score.”

Once everyone was present, the program officially began. A male host stepped onto the stage to give the opening remarks. After introducing the guests one by one, he started explaining the rules.

“The program adopts an individual points system. Points will be awarded based on wins and losses in each episode’s matches or games. The person with the highest total score will be the ultimate champion of our Battle of the Defending Champions.”

“Today is the initial stage of the first episode. After the first guest finishes their performance, the live audience will vote, and the number of votes will be announced.”

“After every subsequent guest finishes their performance, if their votes exceed the current highest votes, it will be announced; otherwise, all results will be uniformly announced after all performances have concluded. The top two places will receive 3 points each, the third and fourth places 2 points, and the fifth and sixth places 1 point. Does everyone understand the rules?”

Pei Ze: “I still don’t quite understand…”

The other five: “Understood.”

Pei Ze: “…”

Next came the drawing of lots, which would determine the order of appearance.

Ye Nai knew that for this kind of audience-voted stage, the order of appearance, as well as the genre of the performance right before one’s own, would heavily impact the final result.

The worst-case scenario was naturally being the vanguard. Not only would the audience not be fully immersed yet, but they would also be expecting better stages later on, making it highly likely for them to hold onto their votes.

And if one was scheduled right after someone with a similar stage style, the audience could easily experience aesthetic fatigue, which was detrimental to the vote count.

Ye Nai wasn’t worried about the latter; after all, his performance style was unique. But if it was the former…

Forget it, overthinking was useless.

He casually reached a hand into the drawing box and scooped one out. The paper he pulled out was folded in half, but the paper was so thin that the number inside was already faintly visible through the page.

A thin, slender line. No matter how you looked at it, it looked like a “1”.

Ye Nai’s face darkened. Before he even opened it, he saw Yi Xingzhi pull one out next to him.

His two slender fingers casually clamped the paper. The metacarpal bones on the back of his hand were clearly visible, carrying a vigorous sense of power.

Yi Xingzhi noticed Ye Nai’s gaze, followed his line of sight, and stopped on his own hand.

The next second, he straightened his fingers and handed over the lot he hadn’t even looked at yet.

“Want to swap?”