The broadcast of "The Flavors of Life" caused a huge response.

This is a highly popular variety show with a very consistent audience. Every Friday night at 8:00 PM, families gather in front of their televisions to watch. Recent seasons of "Human Flavors" have enjoyed remarkably stable ratings... but the latest episode is a first in its history, surpassing all other variety shows of the same period in both ratings and buzz, even dominating the top ten trending searches.

That evening, on the famous gossip forum in the industry, a post appeared high on the front page:

"Have you watched the latest episode of 'Human Flavors'? It's about agricultural planting. Ahh ...

Huh? Isn't that my dad's favorite variety show? It's well-made, but I just don't really want to watch it.

[2l: Ahhhh]

3l: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Chi Yan!!!

[4l: Holy shit, this is actor Chi's first time on a variety show, right? Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit... The moment I saw him appear, I was completely stunned. I almost thought the production team had 3D-printed a dummy for the show's effects.]

[5l: Hahahahaha 3D printing?! You guys are always good at crosstalk. No announcements, no new movies, no new movies. I thought Actor Chi had become a monk... Wait, Actor Chi and Wen Xingze...]

[6l: Actor Chi and Aze...]

7l: …Ah ...

…

Chi Yan is a somewhat unrelated figure in the Chinese entertainment industry, practically deified. Some even speculate he's some kind of perfect robot crafted specifically for filmmaking. Netizens could fill hundreds of threads just discussing Chi Yan, and there's plenty more to discuss in this episode besides just his appearance.

Don’t mention it, there are quite a lot of highlights in this episode.

Xiaonan hadn't originally had much interest in "Human Flavors." While it was certainly a good variety show, she preferred talent shows or entertaining reality shows to science and agriculture programs. But since she'd recently become a fan of Wen Xingze, Xiaonan set her alarm early. Of course, she was just there to show her support for her idol.

It starts with a scene of a handsome guy farming.

Nowadays, all kinds of variety shows are keen on having celebrities farming, doing farm work, going to the countryside, and so on, but honestly, there are only a handful of people who can farm as professionally as Wen Xingze. Originally, everyone was just watching for fun, but soon they were completely shocked.

This looks delicious!

The first small climax was also set off in the barrage:

Professor Guo lectures his graduate students, "Learn more about how Wen Xingze farms." Hahahahahaha, why does this sound so funny?!

[Um, let me share my personal experience. I'm studying Horticulture and Agronomy at a 211 agricultural university. Our advisor just ordered all of us to come here and observe Wen Xingze's planting process. We're to reflect on it and write an 800-word review... He also suggested editing this video to be used as a demonstration video for the lab class??]

【???】

Aze never lets me down

Xiaonan watched with great interest. Although she had known for a long time that Wen Xingze could farm, it did not stop her from admiring him. Besides, Wen Xingze was good-looking, so even if he farmed...

Well, Xiaonan looked at the mud, the fertilizer, and the simple yet precise movements. Although not gorgeous, there was a kind of persistent cuteness in them.

What happened next was what completely shocked everyone, including Lian Xiaonan.

Everyone knew that there was a mysterious guest in this episode, and there were many different opinions about the identity of the mysterious guest. But until this moment, when the mysterious camera slowly focused and the person in the picture had cold eyes and was incredibly handsome... they finally realized that the mysterious guest was actually Chi Yan!

Because of the shock and surprise, even the barrage of comments paused for a moment.

Before anyone could even catch their breath, Wen Xingze, who had just finished his farm work, spoke proudly in the crowd, as if he were a boss: "Look, this is the kingdom I planted for you!"

Now not only the barrage, but even the shooting scene fell into a blank.

The main reason why the editor finally decided to keep this entire segment without cutting a single thing was two seconds after Wen Xingze said this sentence.

Chi Yan glanced sideways, looking seriously in the direction Wen Xingze pointed. After a moment, he slightly curved his eyes and smiled.

“…”

The barrage of comments completely exploded, filled with "Ah ...

The phrase "This is the kingdom I planted for you" became one of the most popular lines of the year, even featuring in a meme during the Spring Festival Gala. Chi Yan's promotional Weibo post for "A Taste of Life" also referenced this line... Before Chi Yan posted this post, many people couldn't believe he'd actually be on a variety show.

Yes, it’s Chi Yan’s Weibo account, which has never posted anything since registering, and even his profile picture is a cool default one, but he has tens of millions of followers just by being a red V:

"Chi Yan v: The Jiangshan grown by the children is delicious. //@人人百味v: The latest episode is online~ Did you guess who the mystery guest is? [狗头][链接]"

Chi Yan's forwarding undoubtedly added fuel to the heated discussion that night.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!" Xiaonan couldn't help but hold her face in her hands in ecstasy. She was a fan of Wen Xingze herself, and almost no one would dislike Chi Yan. These two people together were so cute and well-matched. "What should this couple be called? Words (Yan) Actions (Xing) Match? I guess a lot of people like them both, right?"

However, the facts were completely opposite to what Xiaonan thought.

[So cute, such a touching…teacher-student relationship]

Xiaonan: “?”

[This is the legendary friendship between people of different ages]

Xiaonan: “???”

[Actor Chi also taught Aze how to act. Does Actor Chi also like to play the raising game? Hahahahaha]

Xiaonan: “???”

Whether it is the barrage or the forum, there is a very unified view of the relationship between the two people - it is a teacher-student relationship, a pure teacher-student relationship, the kind without any impurities.

The mentality of Wen Xingze's fans is easy to understand. While Aze is already incredibly popular, hyping him up with actor Chi Yan is... well, forget it. And hyping him up with actor Chi Yan is way too much. While Chi Yan's fans are generally quite gentle, he's still Chi Yan after all. A misstep could lead to serious consequences. Wen Xingze has the talent and luck to thrive, so he can just take things one step at a time and not try to capitalize on the hype.

Apart from that, the atmosphere between the two people is indeed warm, like that between a teacher and a student. Even the people in the program crew think so!

Public opinion thus developed harmoniously and steadily in this direction. Even if someone even said something like, "It would be cute if these two were in a relationship," they would be attacked by everyone, urging them not to tarnish the pure teacher-student relationship.

Xiaonan really didn't believe it, so he opened a fan fiction website and checked the number of tags...single digits.

"It's over, I'm shipping Arctic Circle again," Xiaonan banged his head on the table, covering his face and crying, "Woo woo, big grain producer, I'm hungry, food."

“…”

After calming down and putting aside the issue of CP, Xiaonan continued reading.

The further I look back, the more my heart settles. Especially towards the end, when the guests sit in a tube-shaped building from the last century, the autumn night breeze has a warm and quiet flavor, and they enjoy a delicious hot pot and a few drinks with a few old friends...the flavor of life is fully realized there.

The "Botanical Garden" seemed to be a boring place that was out of date, but this episode completely changed the views of many young people.

And, most importantly—

At the same time as the program is broadcast, the crops grown by the guests are officially launched on the official website of "Human Flavors", and all the proceeds from the sales will be donated to charitable organizations and research institutions.

This chili pepper was launched on the official website yesterday. Wen Xingze grew a lot of it, and Xiaonan also bought some. It was delivered today. Her mother is using this chili pepper in the kitchen to stir-fry spicy chicken. However, Xiaonan didn't have high expectations for the taste of the chili pepper...

Even if Wen Xingze's planting looks professional, he is an actor after all, not a farmer. How delicious can the food he grows be?

Moreover, her mother's cooking skills are really not good enough, and calling her mother's cooking the same is an insult to dark cuisine.

Just as the variety show was coming to an end and Xiaonan was filled with emotion, she smelled a scent at the tip of her nose.

...right from their kitchen.

Xiaonan felt something was wrong.

It is no exaggeration to say that the dinner that day was the most delicious dinner Xiaonan had ever had in his life.

That spicy chicken, even though her mother's cooking skills were very simple, even though the chicken was overcooked and the chili peppers were mushy, still couldn't resist that rich and spicy aroma. Pour a spoonful of hot red chili oil on it and sprinkle a layer of white sesame seeds on it, and suddenly even the soul seemed to be about to leave the body through the top of the head along with the hot steam.

“…Aaaaaaaaaah!!!” Xiaonan regretted that the peppers she bought were only enough for one meal. She belatedly opened the official website, but all the crops were shown as sold out - apparently other netizens were also gradually realizing the magic of peppers.

Xiaonan was so sad that she could not even cry, and she went to check the official Weibo of "Human Flavors" and Wen Xingze's Weibo.

As expected, the comments that originally had all sorts of praise, lamentations, and discussions about Chi Yan… now were completely unified, all becoming: "The peppers are so delicious! As expected of a botanical garden, as expected of Professor Guo!" "One hundred million people have written in blood, begging for peppers!!" "One hundred million people have written in blood, begging Aze to switch careers and specialize in growing peppers!!!"

Xiaonan: “?” That’s not necessary.

At two o'clock in the morning that night, Wen Xingze quietly changed his self-introduction on Weibo to: "Farmer".

Some netizens: “Great——”

Wen Xingze's agent Jiang Ye: "???"

Wen Xingze’s fans: “??????????”

On a planet after the recording of "The Taste of Life" was completed, Wen Xingze received the official admission notice of "Dust Planet".

In the following half month, Wen Xingze continued to hone his acting skills at home.

Originally, he was supposed to go to the company, but because his family had the best teacher, he saved some time on the road. Wen Xingze had also studied acting with Chi Yan before, but before, he studied "acting in a play", while this time he was mainly learning "acting in a movie".

Movies and TV dramas are different after all. They require a lot of time and effort, especially for a director like Li Mingzhou. It is possible for a scene to take more than half a month to shoot.

The casting for "Dust Planet" was completely completed at the end of the month, and Wen Xingze stayed at home for most of the month. At the end of the month, he finally had to go out to run for notices - he received a public service announcement about environmental protection.

Wen Xingze is in a good mood today.

Because he can finally go out on a date with Teacher Chi in the evening!

As the king of another universe, Chi Yan would go to that universe for half a day every week. Wen Xingze didn't know the specific method - because the speed of time in the two universes was different, half a day a week was enough to govern all the needs of the country.

This morning, Chi Yan came over to give Wen Xingze a good morning kiss, and told him that he was going to Utopia for half a day and wanted to go on a date with Wen Xingze when he came back, and then he left.

...To be honest, this good morning kiss contains quite a lot of information.

Wen Xingze then happily went to film the public service announcement, like a kindergarten student who had suddenly received an autumn outing notice. In stark contrast to Wen Xingze's joy, the photographer had a gloomy face.

"We must shoot enough footage today," the director said, holding the speaker. "Yes, yes, yes, Aze is in great shape now, very good-looking. Have we filmed this part?"

The photographer trembled his lips: "..."

The director held his glasses with shaking hands, excitedly saying, "The light right now is absolutely amazing. We've waited half a month for such good weather. Let's try to finish filming in two hours! I'll fight anyone who delays the shoot!"

The photographer and assistant's faces turned even paler: "......"

Wen Xingze: “?”

Wen Xingze was keenly aware of something, so he walked over during a break and asked casually, "Are there any problems with the filming?"

"No, no, everything went smoothly, woooo." said the photographer.

"..." Wen Xingze felt that this scene was familiar and thought for a moment, "Battery? Memory card?"

The photographer and assistant both put on masks of pain.

They covered their faces: "Wow... memory card."

Sometimes you may encounter this situation when shooting. You may get up too early and rush to shoot in the mountains for five hours, but when you get to the mountain you realize that you forgot to bring the memory card or the battery is not charged.

And there is also a director who says, "I will fight anyone who delays the filming."

"If we don't shoot enough material, the director will come and chop me with a knife tonight," the photographer said. "He's definitely capable of doing that."

"Don't panic, just give me the camera."

Wen Xingze opened his pocket watch and took the camera when he heard the clumsy mechanical voice of No. 015: "Your Majesty, turn the second hand back a quarter of a turn, and then..."

Wen Xingze told the director that he was going to answer a phone call, then went to a secluded place and did as No. 015 said. Soon, the empty storage bar on the camera control interface magically began to accumulate from zero, and accumulated more and more.

Wen Xingze continued to adjust the stopwatch, and the dial made a regular, clicking sound of mechanical rotation - however, just when the storage bar was half full, the stopwatch suddenly could no longer be adjusted back.

All three pointers began to move forward like crazy.

"Hmm?" Wen Xingze looked up to see the people around him, but he felt that the light around him suddenly dimmed, just like dusk.

It is three o'clock in the afternoon. Even in the mountains, the light is very bright and strong, and it is not the rainy season... Then, a very familiar yet unfamiliar feeling of weightlessness suddenly hits me.

Wen Xingze still held the camera in his hand, and the AI-generated mechanical voice rang in his ears:

"Space jump is about to begin. The energy fluctuations of this jump are quite severe and may cause the filter system to activate incorrectly. Please be careful."

"Countdown to plane jump..."

"three."

"two."

"???" Wait, are we going to travel to another universe? Why are there no travel precautions and no advance warnings? Wen Xingze hurriedly said, "Wait, I still need..."

"one!"

“…”

All the voices in Wen Xingze's ears disappeared.

Whether it's the rustling of leaves in the forest, the director's voice conducting with a megaphone, or the sounds of footsteps, equipment, and phone button presses...

Everything returned to calm in an instant.

His five senses became very sharp at that moment, and his skin even felt like it was burning. There seemed to be a mechanical voice in his ear saying something like "Mermaid filter level 5 superimposed on dwarf filter level 1, lasting for one hour"... He couldn't quite make out what it was.

After a period of complete silence, sounds gradually flooded into Wen Xingze's eardrums.

The sound gradually grew louder, like the few moments when boiling water turns away, and soon the sound surged like a tide, sweeping over everything.

The red silk flags fluttered in the wind, and the entire stadium was completely plunged into darkness.

A huge light screen in the air was flashing a countdown. When the number reached zero, all the lights came on, accompanied by overwhelming cheers, applause, and whistles. The host's passionate voice rang out:

"Tonight, we set out on our journey to the pinnacle. Welcome to the planet of Caril, the site of the annual Utopia Athletic League finals—"

"Killing Show!"

Turn back time a little.

Utopian Empire, capital of Caril.

The circular arena is as vast as the ancient Roman Colosseum, with extremely luxurious circular stepped stands extending from the bottom to the top. The circular stage in the center attracts all the light from the entire stadium, and thousands of cameras broadcast live from all angles.

Waiters carrying champagne were walking in a hurry, and the stands were packed with people wearing colorful cheering uniforms, holding small fans or peripherals, cheering for their favorite players.

Killing Show is essentially a game where players can participate in teams or individually, wearing a set of simulators. The fighting on the field doesn't cause any real harm, yet it feels exactly like real combat.

"Utopia is a country born in the smoke of war," a tour guide explained to tourists in the stands. "We worship war. Here, the more powerful one is, the more absolute the say..."

"Whoever wins the championship in the Killing Show will be able to face His Majesty."

There were gasps from the tourists.

...The most powerful person in the entire Utopia is, of course, their monarch.

Unlike the people of Muse who have a loving and doting parental attitude towards their king, the people of Utopia have more of a respectful and even fearful attitude towards their monarch.

The king represents the power that is above everything else.

The final night of the Killing Show was more grand than any festival celebration for the citizens of Utopia. Despite the Killing Show's history, no champion had ever managed to gain even the slightest advantage in their duel with His Majesty.

However, unlike previous years, not all spectators and contestants were paying full attention this year.

From the stands to the waiting area, people would occasionally lower their heads to check the terminal, appearing a little distracted.

"We're a country that values ​​strength, so killing shows are suitable entertainment for us," the tour guide said after coughing. "There's no market for soft-core child-rearing games or money-swindling games here..."

It's self-evident which game this sentence is referring to.

While Utopia and Muse haven't explicitly declared war, there's a subtle sense of antagonism among the Chinese public. The "Child Development Plan," a must-have for every Muse citizen, isn't even available in Utopia's app stores, and many people simply don't bother playing it.

But there are also a small number of people who secretly climbed over the wall to download games next door, raising their cubs secretly every day, and dared not tell anyone.

"What kind of development game is this? How boring... Ah, my new journey has begun. I heard we'll be in Utopia!"

Someone in the audience suddenly jumped up.

The people around him looked at him with strange eyes.

The man's face suddenly turned red, he coughed twice, and sat down.

Time ticked by, and soon the judges entered the arena and took their seats. The contestants also began to move from the waiting area to the competition area. The entire conical competition area began to slowly rise, suspended in the air.

The spotlight went out and the whole place was plunged into darkness.

"Now, let's introduce the two teams in this finals. The red team is the previous champion... The blue team is the newcomer in this region, and their strength is also very strong..."

The red light of the competition area on the left lit up, and a black-haired man from the Titan tribe, wearing armor and holding two axes, saluted the audience with a heroic look.

Cheers rang out.

Next came the blue light on the right. Unlike the contestant on the left, the contestant on the right was wearing a robe that wrapped to her ankles, revealing only the bridge of her nose and the curve of her jaw. She looked very exotic, with a smile on her bright red lips.

Cheers rang out again, accompanied by screams.

After the customary introductions of the judges and contestants, all the lights went out again.

Finally, the game is about to begin.

"The rules of this finals are—grab the 'Water Spirit' in the center of the competition area!"

In order to provide more playability, the terrain and rules of each round of Killing Show are different.

For example, in this competition to snatch the water elves, there will be a circular cylinder filled with blue nutrient solution in the center of the competition area, and the tiny water elves live inside it.

The conditions for victory are to destroy the cylinder first, awaken the water spirit, and survive with the water spirit for the specified time.

Of course, this water elf is just a virtual image. The water elf is different each time, including little dolphins, beluga whales and so on.

…The countdown ended and both players entered the circular competition area.

The red and blue banners fluttered like flags, and the competition officially began.

The war song sounded!

The host took the microphone:

"Tonight, we set out on our journey to the pinnacle. Welcome to the planet of Caril, the site of the annual Utopia Athletic League finals—"

"Killing Show!"

Both contestants entered the arena with a flashy skill, accompanied by drums and horns, and the entire audience was instantly excited: "Ahhh, this is a game for tough guys!"

Then.

The cylinder in the center slowly rose up, and the only beam of light in the entire venue hit the 'Water Spirit'.

The bustling and noisy arena, including the live broadcast channel watched by tens of billions of people across Utopia, suddenly became quiet.

“…”

The camera zooms in from a distance and pauses in front of a transparent glass column wrapped in light.

——Broad, silvery, translucent tail fin.

Its scales shone with a pearly sheen, and its tail fin swayed gently with the waves, each movement tugging at one's heartstrings. Its silver hair reached waist level, and its ear fins, the same color as its tail, drooped downward, swaying in the light and shadow.

The mermaid boy curled up in the water column looked no more than five or six years old. He bit his thumb in a childish manner, and his slightly curly silver hair was extremely soft.

He opened his eyes sleepily and confusedly, his round blue eyes filled with water.

Light from heaven poured down.

Wen Xingze: "... Gurgle?"

“…”

That second seemed stretched out very long.

The live channel is stuck.

As the battle song sounded again, the entire audience suddenly reacted, almost subconsciously moving forward. Then, screams erupted from the audience.

Accompanied by shouts that were countless times more genuine than just now:

“…Ahhhhhhhhh, this is the game a tough guy should play!!!”