Chapter 33 Unexpected

On a clear morning at Wanghaiyu Island, the sea breeze, carrying salty moisture and the warmth of the sun, awakens the sleeping island.

The first round of competition has come to an end, with nearly half of the teams leaving the stage in disappointment. The remaining twenty teams have been reshuffled and evenly divided into two large groups, with each group still maintaining the configuration of ten teams.

Ling Wei's team was still assigned to Group A. At the group's first meeting, she saw many familiar faces, including Shan Huai's team.

The moment the other person saw her, they let out an exaggerated wail: "How did I end up in the same group as the pros again! We're going to get crushed!"

There are also new faces in the "Morning Star" boy group, consisting of several veterans who debuted in previous talent shows and have experienced ups and downs before starting anew.

Their captain stepped forward to shake hands with Ling Wei: "I've heard so much about you. The performance of 'Noah' was truly spectacular."

Ling Wei also responded politely, saying that the online comments about their debut were "Ferrari is still Ferrari even when it's old", and their strength should not be underestimated.

Bai Wanqing's team was assigned to Group B, which means that they will be in direct competition with Ling Wei's team this week.

Unlike the first round of variety show week, which featured "labor + live streaming", the second round of variety show week was themed "tracing the origins" and began in a soothing and almost therapeutic rhythm.

The production team has clearly changed its approach, aiming to present the scenery and simple folk customs of this island with its century-old lighthouse to the audience through the idols' immersive experience.

On the first day, the groups dispersed and ventured into every corner of the island.

Ling Wei led the members on a bike ride along the winding coastal road. The azure sea shimmered like countless golden scales under the sunlight, and a white lighthouse stood silently in the distance.

They wrote their team's name on the beach and let the tide carry it away; they visited the only guardian of the lighthouse, an old man with wrinkles etched with the marks of time but clear eyes, and listened to him tell how the lighthouse had guided generations of fishing boats home.

These experiences, captured through the live stream, were transformed into tranquil and poetic scenes that flowed into the viewer's field of vision.

The impact of the first performance of "Noah" continues to grow. Ling Wei's powerful high note and the team's complete performance video have been edited and forwarded by countless netizens and spread on various social media platforms, attracting a large number of new fans to Zoothys, especially Ling Wei herself.

Even more noteworthy is that Xia Guo's influential official media accounts also reposted Qinghe TV's report on how the idol competition promoted local culture.

This move not only affirmed the value of the program, but also drew attention from cities across the country to this competition venue located on an island.

Countless new viewers instantly flooded into Ling Wei's team's live stream.

The number of real-time online users and the level of interaction are soaring at an astonishing rate, with Group A firmly holding the top spot in popularity votes.

The screen was almost completely flooded with comments from new fans expressing their amazement and from longtime fans proudly recommending the product.

If this trend continues, Ling Wei and her team seem to have the victory firmly in their grasp in the upcoming competition.

However, this promising situation was interrupted by a sudden official announcement.

Ling Wei's team's live stream suddenly went dark. At first, Xiao Qi, the accompanying cameraman and on-site coordinator, thought it was a signal malfunction. But when Xiao Qi received an emergency call, her face instantly turned grim.

"Sister Wei, something's happened." Xiaoqi hung up the phone, her voice heavy. "It's not our problem, it's Teacher XX's side..."

The incident began when a team deviated from the main mission and boarded a fishing boat belonging to a fisherman surnamed Lin to learn how to identify seafood and experience the hardships of hauling in the nets.

Their engaging interactions brought some popularity to the live stream.

The incident occurred after the team finished their work. Suddenly, the fisherman surnamed Lin spoke to the camera about the difficulties he faced in selling his seafood. His words were earnest, even bordering on deliberately exaggerated and pitiful.

He practically begged and coerced them into hoping that the team and the show's massive audience would help him "say a few words" in the live stream.

There was a brief period of chaos and embarrassment on set. The team was caught off guard, and the production crew tried to intervene, but the fishermen were too agitated and their words were clearly transmitted through the microphones clipped to their bodies.

"Urgent Notice: Due to uncontrollable commercial activities in the live broadcast content, which violated the cooperation agreement with the local authorities, the XX team's live broadcasts are now suspended for internal rectification."

A sudden official announcement shocked all viewers.

This triggered a chain reaction. To prevent similar incidents from happening or being maliciously edited, the production team took the most decisive measure: temporarily shutting down the live streaming channels for all teams in Group A.

In an instant, the massive audience traffic that was originally distributed across the various live streams in Group A lost its target.

Some people flocked to social media to discuss the topic, while many more, still feeling unsatisfied and full of questions, turned to other groups' live streams.

This is undoubtedly a huge disadvantage for the other teams in Group A who strictly adhere to the rules.

When Ling Wei's team arrived at the meeting point, the director of Group A was already surrounded by the captains of other teams.

"This isn't fair!" Shan Huai protested. "That group was the one that broke the rules, so why are all of our live streams being suspended? Wouldn't it be enough to just shut down one of them?"

The director was also at a loss: "This is an order from above, there's nothing I can do about it."

"What about Group B? Why aren't they affected?"

The director pulled up the schedule and explained, "The intangible cultural heritage village where Group B is located is in a different administrative region, and the penalty decision is handled separately for each region. The higher-ups believe that it is unnecessary to implicate other areas in normal filming just because of the violation on Wanghaiyu Island."

The scene immediately erupted in an uproar.

After listening to the director's explanation, Ling Wei understood about 70-80% of what was going on.

For the production team and local officials, the rules are always the top priority. The cooperation agreement is in black and white, and once the red line is crossed, the losses must be stopped immediately. This is a bottom line that is not open to negotiation.

Secondly, there's the promotional benefit. Showcasing local customs and culture through live streaming can boost tourism. As long as this core objective remains unaffected, they won't interfere too much with the specific operation of the program.

As for contestants who find themselves in an unfair competitive environment due to unforeseen circumstances, this can only be considered later in the official evaluation.