Survival Game (Part 1)
Since their last separation, Zheng Ruoqian has been in high spirits.
He devoted himself to the studio and the stage with utmost focus.
At the same time, Anita Mui and her own team gradually got on the right track.
The first job the studio received was a recording of the variety show "Survivor Game," which Mei Jie helped secure.
Before the first recording, he asked the studio staff to help him find information on several other senior artists so he could familiarize himself with their personalities in advance.
When Zheng Ruoqian was in South Korea, he had participated in variety shows before, but he felt that this first show back in China was of great significance to him, so he naturally wanted to put more effort into it.
The first episode of "Survivor Game" was filmed in Nan'an, and he arrived at the Forest Wetland Park about twenty minutes early.
As I got off the bus, I heard a chorus of screams.
I thought everyone was there to follow their seniors, but I didn't expect there to be fans holding up his banner and shouting his name.
"Zheng Ruoqian, you are the best!"
"We're here to cheer you on. Believe in yourself."
...
He thought there was no one behind him, but it turned out that he was surrounded by so many people who liked him.
Zheng Ruoqian maintained excellent facial expression control, smiling and greeting everyone. Some fans even prepared handwritten letters for him.
He took two steps forward, heard it, and then turned back to collect the fans' letters one by one. He also called his assistant to bring milk tea to everyone, telling them not to wait for him and to go home early.
Following the advice of his agent and Anita Mui, they were helping with public relations to control the online public opinion, but he himself also needed to have a representative work that he could be proud of.
For this variety show, which was being filmed in the country for the first time, we naturally had to give it our all.
Arriving at the recording venue early, they greeted the fans outside, and the staff naturally couldn't afford to have a bad relationship with them.
Under the guidance of his agent and assistant, he first signed a recording contract with the director and other relevant personnel, and after discussing some recording details, he got to know the makeup artist and the person in charge of filming him better and built a relationship.
Besides him, there are five other veterans in the industry.
The first one is Lan Xiao, a well-known female host in China. She acts as the director's mouthpiece, responsible for issuing tasks to them, and occasionally participates in their survival games.
She arrived after Zheng Ruoqian and was already familiar with the format of the variety show. She took the program card from the director and began preparing for the recording of the show.
The other two, who are quite prominent in the entertainment industry, came together.
One is Wang Lei, who recently won the Best Actor award. He is over forty years old and this is his first time appearing on a variety show. Like Zheng Ruoqian, he is also a rising star in the variety show scene.
The other is Li Kanan, who has won the Best Actor award for two consecutive years and also holds a professorship at a university. His drama "Our Family," which aired at 8 pm in prime time a couple of days ago, topped the ratings. It is understandable that the director invited him to participate.
The last two are also old friends of the director, with whom he has collaborated several times. After proposing the idea for "Survivor Game," these two veteran variety show personalities were the first people he approached.
Several people came in one after another and bumped into Zheng Ruoqian, who had just finished his hair and makeup.
Two veteran variety show hosts, Yuan Ming and Qiu Tianpeng, stepped forward and gave each other a big hug before the other person could even react.
This action stunned not only the person being hugged, but also the other seniors present, who were completely taken aback. Several pairs of eyes fell on Qiu Tianpeng and Zheng Ruoqian.
He heard someone say, "Sister Mei told me to take good care of you, a newcomer to variety shows." He immediately put his hand around the back of the man.
No one knew how he got this brain syndrome. They just assumed it was because of the recent uproar about his return to China that they were using him as a gimmick. So they only glanced at them a couple of times and didn't pay much attention to them anymore.
The director didn't think so. He immediately had several cameras film it, edited it into a pilot episode, and released it, hoping it might boost their popularity. Besides, he knew how big Champion's fanbase was, so why not take advantage of it?
The first day of recording was quite demanding. The main storyline of the show revolves around the Monopoly game we played in our childhood, which is divided into faction battles and individual battles. Today, we're recording the first half of the faction battles.
The game starts with a small game called Capture the Flag in a maze. Players search for flags in a dark, unlit cave and then return to the starting point. The color of the flag represents the player's identity on the Monopoly board, and whether it says "Survivor" or "Destroyer" determines which team the player is assigned to that day.
Zheng Ruoqian took the lead and ended the battle in just ten seconds, returning to the starting point of the giant carpet chess game and planting the yellow flag in front of the survivor team.
Among the few who returned one after another, only another rising variety show star, Wang Lei, was also a member of the survivor team.
The remaining three stood on the opposite side, in the Destroyer team.
Host Lan Xiao continued to explain the game rules, telling them that after completing two rounds of the Monopoly game, the survivor team must build five houses or one hotel to succeed, while the destroyer team wins by destroying all the houses or hotels built by the survivors.
The game board has 30 squares, and the dice have only four numbers: 1, 2, 3, and 4, with 12 sides. The Survivors team starts with a house that can be placed anywhere, while the Destroyers team starts with an excavator that can destroy houses.
The team with fewer players will receive double the initial funds. The initial funds are distributed according to the order in which they acquire the flag: 10,000 for the first player, 8,000 for the second, 6,000 for the third, 5,000 for the fourth, and 3,000 for the fifth.
In other words, Zheng Ruoqian and Wang Lei together had an initial capital of 15,000 yuan, which doubled to 30,000 yuan because of the small number of people involved.
The Destroyer team started with only 17,000 in funds.
Before the game begins, both sides have one opportunity to purchase items from the shop. Survivors can buy a house priced at 1,000 or a hotel priced at 3,000, while destroyers can buy an excavator priced at 1,000. One excavator is needed to destroy a house, while three excavators are needed to destroy a hotel.
Other items in the shop will be randomly unlocked during the game, and the team can choose whether or not to purchase them.
Wang Lei wasn't really good at these kinds of brain games, and he was already confused when the rules were explained. So he said, "Well, I'm not very bright, so you can decide. You can have all the money."
Before Zheng Ruoqian could respond, the Destroyer team followed suit, presenting all their money to Li Kanan, a man known for his cunning, old fox-like nature. They then had the host, Lan Xiao, hand them the microphone, giving everyone a chance to speak.
Wang Lei genuinely treated the young man in front of him like a junior, and when the host handed him the microphone, he steered the conversation toward him, "Without further ado, let's launch an attack on the Destroyers. Ruoqian will be in charge of formulating our Survivors' team's tactics. Lan Xiao, don't take sides and bully the weak by revealing our tactics."
Lan Xiao responded with a smile, knowing that he was giving the newcomers more screen time. Following his lead, she asked Zheng Ruoqian, "Brother Lei is so humorous. I'm always the fairest person, so why would I secretly reveal your tactics? Ruoqian, why don't you tell us about your Survivor team's strategy?"
"Literally, it means to build more houses in order to survive."
Then, someone covered the camera lens with one hand and shouted, "Come on, Brother Lei, let's devise a strategy."
When the camera switched back to the Destroyer Team, they didn't have much to say. They just uttered a couple of harsh words to the Survivor Team, indicating that they wouldn't hold back, and then they started fighting.
Because the survivors had more initial funds, they had the first chance to roll the dice. They rolled a three and built their second house on the first empty space on the board.
However, they must choose to accept the game challenge before they can build this house; otherwise, they cannot build a house here.
The game can be divided into three categories of choices: physical, strategic, and psychological.
Having heard from senior Wang Lei that he wasn't mentally sharp, the two of them decisively chose to give up strategy games, struggling with the decision both psychologically and physically.
Senior Wang Lei asked him to go and test the waters first. It wouldn't matter if he didn't win, so he chose the physical game.
Lan Xiao asked him to pause the game that appeared randomly on the big screen, and then challenge whichever game he paused on.
He silently counted three, two, one, then said, "Stop."
The words "carrying rice raw" appeared prominently on the big screen.
The game itself isn't difficult; it mainly tests the willpower of the challengers.
Members need to complete a 300-second challenge of carrying 20 kilograms of rice. Every 30 seconds, a 5-kilogram brick will be added to the load until the end.
After Lan Xiao confirmed with the survivor team that the challenger was Zheng Ruoqian and that she understood the rules of the game, she asked the staff to bring up the necessary props.
Press the timer to begin the challenge.
At first, he could still straighten his two hands as he held up the rice, but when the first brick was pressed down, Zheng Ruoqian's hands also dropped a little.
Another thirty seconds passed, and brick after brick came crashing down. He looked down at the rice and his hands, and his vision suddenly blurred.
These 300 seconds are passing so slowly.
The host and the guests on the show continued their explanation, but he couldn't listen to a word they said.
There was only one thought in my mind: I can do it, I can persevere.
With the last brick added, his legs almost gave way, and he swayed.
Wang Lei cheered him on from the side, "Hang in there, Ruoqian, it's only twenty seconds left."
As the host began counting down the last ten seconds, he looked down at his sweat dripping down his face, awaiting the final verdict.
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