Chapter 33 Conflict

Since Ling Wei joined the TV station, this budding connection has been temporarily put on hold due to their respective busy schedules.

But some things are ultimately different.

Just like how she hadn't contacted Lu Yan these past few days, only sharing a post on her WeChat Moments before the show aired today to promote it, yet he took the initiative to contact her.

Lu Yan quickly replied: [Yeah, I saw you shared it on your WeChat Moments. Perfect timing, take a look and relax.]

In a flash, something seemed to go through Ling Wei's mind.

She immediately made a video call to Lu Yan.

The ringtone lasted for a while before being answered. The camera shook twice before freezing, showing Lu Yan's jet-black hair falling neatly across his forehead, as if it had been carefully combed. The top button of his dark gray loungewear was undone, revealing the faint lines of his collarbone.

As soon as the call connected, Ling Wei couldn't wait to ask, "Lu Yan, what do you think of this variety show?"

On the other end of the screen, Lu Yan pursed his lips, thinking of the right words to praise the person in front of him clearly without seeming too deliberate.

A warm halo fell on his profile, casting a faint, floating shadow on his neck as his Adam's apple moved silently.

But before he could even form a complete sentence, Ling Wei pressed on, asking, "Do you feel relaxed?"

"……have."

Lu Yan answered, but his eyes flickered for a moment.

He recalled the scene when he watched it and felt a little guilty because he knew from his WeChat Moments that Ling Wei was the male star's cameraman. His attention was almost entirely focused on evaluating Mr. Shen's performance.

However, putting aside that personal motive, watching something during a break from a busy workday is a form of relaxation, isn't it? He tried to convince himself.

"Really?" The girl in the mirror seemed completely unconcerned about her image, holding her phone casually, revealing only half of her face and her beautifully shaped jawline, but her voice came through clearly, "Then let me ask you another way, did you laugh out loud when you looked at it?"

Lu Yan looked at her, thought about it seriously for a moment, and then honestly shook his head.

"Phew—" Ling Wei breathed a long sigh of relief, a look of clear understanding appearing on her face. "I understand now, I finally know where this incongruity lies."

She spoke to the camera in a lighter tone: "Thanks, I have to go now, good luck to you."

Seeing her instantly regain her energy, Lu Yan's lips curved into a barely perceptible smile: "Hmm... Keep it up."

The call has ended.

Ling Wei held her phone, her eyes shining brightly.

She found the key.

Zhou Han creatively constructed the rules, and she worked hard to explore the charm of people, but they may have both overlooked the fact that the most original attraction of a variety show is to make the audience laugh from the bottom of their hearts and to provide pure emotional value.

During the subsequent recording of the program, Ling Wei took the opportunity of confirming the route to lean close to Shen Yicheng and whispered a suggestion: "Teacher Shen, if necessary, you can try to break the rules."

Shen Yicheng was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then smiled knowingly and nodded gently to her.

When the task required the guests to escort a basket of lively koi from the east of the city to the lotus pond in the west, everyone hurriedly picked up the basins and rushed out. However, Shen Yicheng was splashed with water by a leaping koi. By the time he finally scooped the fish back into the basin, everyone else had already disappeared.

He glanced at the swaying basin of water in his hand, then looked at his distant destination, and decisively walked to the roadside, took out his phone, and scanned a shared bicycle.

When the production team hesitated for a moment, they added, "They didn't say you couldn't ride a bike, did they?"

Then the production team followed, watching him leisurely overtake everyone, leaving those he left behind completely bewildered.

The first to react was comedian Feng Nuo, who yelled "Teacher Shen is cheating!" and lunged at the car to try and steal it.

Two men, both of considerable age, were locked in a struggle over a shared bicycle on the street, but in the end, Shen Yicheng managed to protect the bike.

What's even more amazing is that the younger guests followed suit.

An elderly man watching the spectacle became very eager to appear on camera, patting his covered tricycle with a cheerful smile: "Come on, young man, I still have a seat here!"

The scene then shifts to several glamorous celebrities crammed into the back of a dilapidated tricycle, churning forward to the background noise of Feng Nuo's exaggerated "wailing".

When Ling Wei saw this scene, she smiled with satisfaction, already imagining the different reactions that would follow the broadcast.

However, as soon as the recording ended, Zhou Han called her aside.

"Did you let Teacher Shen ride a bicycle?" Zhou Han's emotions were unreadable.

"Yes, Director Zhou," Ling Wei said with a smile, "the effect wasn't quite..."

"This is a variety show! Not your film set! You expect the guests to act according to your expectations?"

That's a rather harsh statement.

Ling Wei's smile faded, but she still patiently explained, "I didn't let him ride the bike directly; I told him that he could break the rules if necessary."

"Huh?! If rules can be broken, are they still rules?"

What's wrong with this guy?! Did he eat gunpowder?!

Ling Wei also got angry and spoke bluntly: "A rule that cannot be broken without a warning is not a rule, it's a clause!"

Zhou Han was taken aback. "Who's playing word games with you!"

The afternoon sun slanted in, casting a deep shadow on his sharply defined profile. A few stray hairs fell across his forehead, trembling gently with his excited breathing.

"Listen carefully, the core of 'City Chase Order' is challenging yourself and never giving up! Not this kind of opportunistic trickery!"

Clever tricks?

Ling Wei was provoked: "Teacher Shen's physical strength isn't as good as the younger generation, so how can making up for it with intelligence not be a challenge? The audience is laughing out loud, the comedic effect is off the charts, isn't that more entertaining than just running headfirst?"

"Highlights? What I want is a passionate and inspiring message, not this cheap comedy!" Zhou Han took a step forward, his tall figure appearing particularly imposing in the sunlight.

His tightly pursed lips formed a stubborn curve, and his usually languid, half-closed eyes now burned with an almost obsessive light: "You're denying the very foundation of the show!"

"That's not the foundation of the show! That's your foundation!"

Ling Wei retorted without holding back, "On Friday nights, are you all dragging your tired bodies here to pump yourself up? Yes! This show was a huge hit ten years ago because its segments were outstanding, but now so many variety shows are imitating it, and the audience is getting tired of it. Do you still need to force yourselves to feel pep talk?"

As if stumped by her question, the person in front of him stopped speaking, but his chest heaved violently.

Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Zhang Tao, who was watching from a distance, quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Alright, alright, it's all for the sake of the show, let's talk this out..."