End of Chapter 251

The scene shifts again, and Meng Li runs downstairs, her eyes red and swollen. Pointing at everyone in disbelief, she says, "Is this how you gang up on me?"

That was the scene where they were about to head to the supermarket together, when Mengli suddenly rushed down and accused them.

Those watching the program were stunned.

None of them expected that Li Zhenzhen would actually cut out this scene.

However, only this one shot was cut; everything that happened afterward was omitted.

The scene then shifts again, showing an eight-grid display of eight people packing their things and preparing to leave.

Li Zhenzhen's narration continued: "Living together is a science, and getting along is an art. Seven young people, some of whom have known each other for years, and others who are complete strangers, have gathered in this program from all over the country. What kind of stories will unfold between them?"

From here, the show begins a linear narrative, but it's not entirely linear.

The first episode was divided into three chapters. The first chapter was about greetings. It mainly showed the seven guests' impressions of the other guests and their prepared interviews in the car, as well as the scenes of them answering questions before entering the door, including the scene where Li Zhibai was determined to answer questions before opening the door, but when he opened the door, he found that he had been tricked by the production team.

The editing specifically zoomed in on Li Zhibai's speechless close-up shots, as well as shots of Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang hiding their smiles.

No one expected that this scene would be so funny when edited together.

They get to know each other, greet each other, exchange pleasantries, and chat.

Up to this point, the overall atmosphere of the program was quite good.

But at this moment, Chapter Two suddenly appears, with the subtitle "Argument".

Lu Yanhe never expected that Li Zhenzhen and the others would include the scene of his argument with Li Zhibai and Meng Li in the main program, verbatim.

Moreover, the editing made the rivalry between the three even more pronounced.

"Wow, Lu Yanhe, you truly deserve to be a top student who got into Zhenhua High School. Your thinking is so clear." Just when the whole room was quiet and no one knew what to say, Liu Zhiyin suddenly said with a look of surprise.

Lu Yanhe was taken aback.

Everyone else looked at Liu Zhiyin in astonishment.

"ah?"

Liu Zhiyin said, "If only I had your clear thinking when I argue with people. Every time I get really angry, I can't win an argument because I'm bad at talking."

"Sister Zhiyin, you probably can't argue with people in your native language when you're abroad, right?" Xiao Yun asked with a smile.

Liu Zhiyin immediately slapped her thigh, "That's true. Sometimes I just can't stand it, and I don't care if they understand or not, I just curse back in Chinese."

The initially awkward atmosphere suddenly became cheerful after Liu Zhiyin's interruption.

Yan Liang joked, "Later, I'll have Lao Lu teach you how to argue."

Lu Yanhe quickly shook his head and said, "No, I don't know how either."

“Just teach me how to sort out my thoughts in critical moments,” Liu Zhiyin said. “Every time I get anxious, my mind goes blank, I can’t think clearly, and I’m also bad at speaking. Even if I finally come up with something, I can’t put it into words.”

Lu Yanhe immediately pointed at Peng Zhixing and said, "Sister Zhiyin, you should learn from Brother Zhixing. He's a host, and he's the one who truly makes a living with his mouth."

Peng Zhixing quickly shook his head, "I can't argue."

Li Zhibai crossed his arms, smiled, and said, "Old Lu, don't be modest. You are the most reasonable person I have ever met."

"Arguing rationally is one thing, but arguing is another."

“In my opinion, it’s the same thing,” Li Zhibai said matter-of-factly. “Don’t be modest.”

"Don't be modest," Peng Zhixing chimed in.

Lu Yanhe: "..."

I want to refute it, but I don't know where to begin.

The program aired very quickly.

From arguing to both of them threatening to quit the show.

Instead of following the conventional editing method, Li Zhenzhen edited the first episode's main content at a very fast pace.

After the argument, without any transition, Li Zhenzhen's narration continued: "We all know that people have bad moods, so it's inevitable that arguments will occur. Trying to figure out who is right and who is wrong when you're angry will only make the volcano erupt more violently. So, instead of stalemate, it's better for each of us to take a step back and apologize first."

The scene then shifts to Mengli pacing anxiously, accompanied by the caption, "Because of her bad mood, she lost her temper and fell into deep self-blame."

Then, on the other side was Li Zhibai, who was also pacing alone in the courtyard, expressionless, with the caption "The same self-blame" next to him.

The scene then shifts to Peng Zhixing and his group.

The group of people were in the kitchen preparing dinner, all of them cautious and looking uneasy.

Several close-up shots of their eye contact were specially included.

No subtitles are needed; everyone knows that these people are uneasy about the conflict between Li Zhibai and Meng Li.

"What if they really quit the show?" Xiao Yun asked anxiously.

Song Linxin: "I don't know if our show can continue filming."

Peng Zhixing remained silent, wanting to reassure them, but he truly didn't know what to say to comfort them.

-

Li Zhibai looked at everyone and said, "I'm sorry to have worried you."

"Hey, it's nothing," Peng Zhixing said immediately. "Why are you apologizing to us so formally?"

Li Zhibai said, "This was supposed to be a program where people could get along happily and easily."

There are always some arguments.

-

The program cut out all the footage of the two agents arriving.

It was not reflected.

At the end of the first episode, Mengli surprisingly came to the living room, sat on the sofa, and occasionally looked back at the door.

Li Zhibai walked in from outside the courtyard, heading towards the young people's room with a heavy heart.

This scene clearly shows that the two people are about to meet again after a fierce conflict.

What will happen between the two of them?

That concludes the first episode.

"Wow!" Xiao Yun's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth in disbelief, saying, "That was amazing!"

"It was like watching a TV series the whole time," Song Linxin said. "Even though I was there, there were a lot of things in the show that I didn't know at the time. I didn't know that the God's perspective was like this."

Yan Liang turned to look at Li Zhibai and said, "Brother Bai, I reckon you and Meng Li are going to be trending on social media."

Li Zhibai waved his phone and said, "My comment section has been overrun."

This was all expected.

Lu Yanhe hadn't expected the first video to be edited so brilliantly. The micro-expressions and interactions between people, as well as the arguments and the resulting changes in interpersonal relationships, were like a movie. Li Zhenzhen, through re-editing these materials, highlighted a very clear main storyline while avoiding all the unsuitable segments about Li Zhibai and Meng Li that were not suitable for broadcast.

-

"The fans are arguing," Li Xia said to Meng Li. "If nothing unexpected happens, you and Li Zhibai will both be trending on social media. You absolutely must not act impulsively, and you must not reply to anyone or any messages online, understand?"

“I know.” Meng Li said impatiently, “They’re filming their show again? Who did they hire?”

"A newcomer, a girl group member who returned from overseas, Yoo Ji-eum."

Mengli immediately curled her lip in disdain.

“Once I leave, they can only find people like this to record the show,” Meng Li said. “You have to keep a close eye on them and make sure they don’t try to smear me just because I’m not on the show.”

Li Xia felt somewhat helpless when she heard Meng Li say such things.

“We won’t smear you. In the previous episodes, I’ve communicated with Zhou Ping’an and the production team. We’ll edit the footage to show you going from arguing to making up. Your conflict with Li Zhibai was just a conflict caused by both of you being in a bad mood. There’s no other reason. Don’t worry,” Li Xia said. “Of course, your fans will definitely start arguing. That’s within our expectations. It doesn’t matter. Arguing is also a form of buzz.”

Mengli: "I know, I won't argue with them. You've told me this so many times. Don't you trust me?"

Li Xia said, "It's not that I don't trust you, but you know your temper. When you get emotional, you don't care about anything. If you hadn't lost control of your emotions, how could you have ended up like that with Li Zhibai on the show?"

"Is it my fault?" Meng Li immediately went into an aggressive stance, angrily saying, "If you were made a fool of like me, could you remain calm?"

Seeing that Mengli was about to launch another indiscriminate attack, Li Xia stopped talking and silently shut her mouth.

-

The second phase of the program's recording ended at 9:30 PM.

Everyone left.

Lu Yanhe and the others did the same. They didn't have the company pick them up; Li Zhibai simply drove them back.

Peng Zhixing was still joking, saying, "The three of you don't seem to be here to record a show, you seem to be here on vacation together."

Everyone else had a team to pick them up, but Li Zhibai and his two companions simply left and traveled light.

"Anyway, we've been apart for so long, and the three of us live together, so we're too lazy to bother with anything else." Li Zhibai waved to everyone, "See you later."

Peng Zhixing nodded. "Bye-bye."

The night was as dark as ink, splashing across the heavens and earth.

As we continued our journey, the number of cars on the road increased.

There was even a traffic jam in the middle section.

But neither of them was in a hurry. Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang were both looking at online comments about the show on their phones, reading them aloud as they went.

"Li Zhibai is a bit ridiculous. As an idol, doesn't he even bother with his image?" Yan Liang read aloud. "His hair is like a bird's nest. Doesn't his manager care about him?"

Li Zhibai: "Shut up."

Lu Yanhe continued: "Li Zhibai and his manager are hilarious. His manager is so humble in front of him."

Li Zhibai couldn't believe it: "He's humble?"

Yan Liang: "Li Zhibai looks quite smart and domineering, how come he's so stupid?"

Li Zhibai: "Who said that?"

Yan Liang: "This was said by an ID called 'Where is my true love?'"

"Hmph, with such a harsh tongue, no wonder you can't find your true love." Li Zhibai said indignantly.

Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang burst into laughter, making honking noises like geese in the car.

“However, there are quite a few people online criticizing you and Yan He right now,” Yan Liang said. “Most of them are Meng Li’s fans, who think that the two of you are ganging up on Meng Li.”

Li Zhibai: "Let them curse me, it won't hurt me."

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Sister Ziyan has already given me a heads-up, saying that the criticism against me will continue for a while. I've already heard that Mengli's fans are crazy. Let them criticize for a few days. Sister Ziyan said that as long as Mengli herself and her team don't get involved, they won't cause any big trouble."

"Sister Ziyan's judgment is still reliable, unlike Zhou Ping'an, who never speaks the truth and only says what is in his own interest." Li Zhibai's tone still showed disdain and disapproval of Zhou Ping'an.

"Netizens have all said that your agent is very humble in front of you," Lu Yanhe joked.

"All I can say is that he's a real liar. He knew there were cameras filming, so he put on that act. It's disgusting."

"That's not true. When there are no cameras around, don't you still criticize him relentlessly?" Yan Liang laughed.

Li Zhibai said, "He brought this on himself."

The three of them chatted and laughed as they got through the long traffic jam, finally returning to their new dormitory late at night.

Everyone was exhausted, so after they got back, they washed up and went to sleep. The next morning, Lu Yanhe got up very early to go for a run with Yan Liang, and then walked to school to catch their 8 a.m. morning class.

Because he arrived too late, the first three rows of seats were already full, so Lu Yanhe could only find a seat in the back.

"Yan He, are you okay?" Miao Yue, who was sitting in front of him, turned around and asked him.

"Huh?" Lu Yanhe looked puzzled, not understanding what Miao Yue was asking. "I'm fine, what's wrong?"

Miao Yue said, "We've seen a lot of people online criticizing you."

"It's okay, they're mostly Mengli's fans."

"Are you really okay? If you're unhappy, you can vent to us. Don't keep it to yourself. You're our classmate, and we'll definitely support you."

"It's alright, I expected this before the show aired," Lu Yanhe said. "It was to be expected that this would happen."

Miao Yue was very surprised and said, "You're amazing! We thought you would be very upset and were thinking of taking you out to eat and sing karaoke to cheer you up."

Lu Yanhe: "Eating and singing is fine, I've never eaten with everyone before."

"When will you have time? I heard you haven't been at school these past few days except for classes. Are you very busy?"

"Yes, we were recording a show the whole time, and we just finished recording last night," Lu Yanhe said. "Just these last couple of days? I have other work scheduled for October."

"Okay, I'll ask everyone and see if tonight is okay."

"good."

At that moment, the teacher entered. Miao Yue ended the conversation and turned back. Lu Yanhe took out his textbook and notebook, preparing to listen to the lesson.

The sun is shining brightly today, streaming in through the window; it feels wonderful.

(End of this chapter)