Chapter 113: War on the Brink

The first episode of *Life We Yearn For* concluded amidst a storm of criticism. However, after Li He updated his Dou-Shou short video to clarify the situation, the audience’s ire shifted toward Ding Zhong.

Ding Zhong, driven to tears at home, spent the night calling his friends to vent. With the tide turned, the PR department of Shengshi Entertainment seized the opportunity to strike, linking Ding Zhong to Brilliant Entertainment and gradually shifting the focus onto the yet-to-be-aired *Slow Rhythm*.

This move infuriated not only Ding Zhong but the entirety of Brothers Entertainment and Brilliant Entertainment as well. They felt that Shengshi Entertainment had abandoned all professional ethics, resorting to shameful tactics to smear their reputation. Throughout the night, the PR departments of Shengshi and the alliance of Brothers and Brilliant engaged in a back-and-forth battle.

The next day, *Slow Rhythm* officially premiered.

Having *Life We Yearn For* as a benchmark, the audience suddenly felt that the guest lineup of *Slow Rhythm* was underwhelming and unworthy of the half-year of preparation. Among the permanent guests, almost all were newcomers who had emerged in the entertainment industry in recent years; there was only one veteran, who was not particularly famous. Despite the disappointing guest selection, audience expectations remained high, especially among the fans of those guests.

Li He and He Luo returned to the apartment rented by the company and turned on the television right on time to watch their rival show, *Slow Rhythm*.

The opening segment of the program was set on the balcony of a high-end hotel. The permanent guests sat around a white dining table, which was laden with enticing cakes and desserts.

"This looks so delicious! Where was this filmed? I really want to go and run into them."
"My idol is the most handsome!"
"My idol is so polite."
"Xia is the prettiest."
"..."

The screen was flooded with comments filled with praise and obsessive fan adoration.

He Luo remarked, "Starting with afternoon tea? Isn't the positioning of *Slow Rhythm* a bit too high-brow?"

Li He replied, "The concept of *Slow Rhythm* is to 'enjoy every day.' I suppose the producers think that chatting over afternoon tea counts as enjoyment."

The opening of a variety show essentially defines the tone of the entire program. As Li He had predicted, the first half of the show consisted entirely of guests sitting around the exquisite white table, chatting and making snide remarks. The premise wasn't inherently bad; Li He remembered similar variety shows from his past life where people would sit together to talk and share their hearts. However, such a program requires at least two guests capable of controlling the flow, guiding the conversation to avoid awkward silences, and, most importantly, providing entertainment. If a variety show lacks entertainment, what are viewers supposed to watch? Are they there to watch the guests wallow in misery?

*Slow Rhythm* had a decent premise, but unfortunately, the invited guests had popularity but lacked the ability to drive the rhythm of the show, leading to multiple instances of awkward silence. With *Life We Yearn For* as a comparison, the flaws were particularly glaring.

He Luo sat with his legs crossed. "Old Li, I think *Slow Rhythm* is far inferior to *Life We Yearn For*. The fans in the comments are just blindly praising; it’s truly shameless."

"That's an overstatement," Li He said testily. "Actually, the planner's idea for *Slow Rhythm* is good, and the angle is precise. It's just that the invited guests aren't quite up to the standard of the show."

If there had been stars with strong variety skills among the guests to manage the atmosphere, Li He believed the viewing experience of *Slow Rhythm* could have been quite good.

He Luo stretched his arms. "Old Li, I heard that An Chuxia wasn't originally on the guest list. Brilliant Entertainment forced someone out to add her in."

This kind of situation was common; programs often replaced people on the fly, let alone in advance. Li He remained silent.

He Luo continued, "I heard the person squeezed out by An Chuxia was the rising singer from Brothers Entertainment, Yin Mengna."

Yin Mengna? Li He had some impression of her. Her music video had left quite an impact on him, and it had boosted the sales of her song by at least a fifth. If that song hadn't been of decent quality itself, it would have been difficult for Jiang Qi’s *Bubbles* to secure the top spot on the June charts.

"Brothers Entertainment would let Brilliant’s artist replace their own?" Li He was puzzled. Normally, a company would kick out someone from another firm, not the other way around.

He Luo said with disdain, "Rumor has it that because Yin Mengna’s popularity wasn't picking up, Brothers Entertainment had essentially given up on her. Plus, they were planning to collaborate with Brilliant on *Slow Rhythm*, so they couldn't easily refuse the request to replace her."

Did Brilliant Entertainment value An Chuxia that much? Li He found it strange. From her debut, where she was intercepted and crushed by a shameless rival, to her movie theme song being schooled by He Xi'er—failing to take the top spot twice—it was surprising that she still commanded such high-tier resources. Brilliant Entertainment was certainly over-investing in her.

At this point, the initial chatting segment concluded. The camera shifted to the interior of the hotel, where the guests began preparing for a game.

The game was called "Love at the Corner." It sounded rather cheesy, but it was actually just a simple game of hide-and-seek. By giving it a fancy name, it was meant to sound sophisticated. The guests were divided into two groups, and the group An Chuxia belonged to was the "seekers."

He Luo rested his chin on his hand. "This Li Lin is pretty good at finding spots to hide. Crawling under the dining table and covering himself with the tablecloth—who would see that?" Li Lin was a young actor from White Pigeon Entertainment and one of the permanent guests.

Li He disagreed. "Hiding under the table is hard to find, but to stay hidden, he chased away the cameraman following him. He won the game but lost his screen time. Would you say he won or lost?"

He Luo stuck out his tongue and stayed silent.

Li He continued his analysis, "Look at that guy named Wu Yu. He's so smart; he keeps interacting with An Chuxia and Qi Guang because he knows those two get the most screen time."

Although Li He was critiquing the guests of *Slow Rhythm*, he was actually advising He Luo on how to conduct himself on *Life We Yearn For*. While he could use his authority in post-production to increase his best friend's screen time, it was limited; the most important factor was He Luo's performance during filming. For this best friend, who had followed him to sign with Shengshi Entertainment without a second thought, Li He would do everything in his power to help. Furthermore, for the sake of Li He's plan, He Luo had been holding back his debut album, waiting for September—the month of the musical showdown that had been brewing for nearly two months.

At that moment, An Chuxia was the first to find a hidden guest, earning praise from many.

"Xia is the best! Always supporting Xia!"
"Summer lasts forever, Xia is the best!"

The screen was once again flooded with dense comments. It was clear from the content that these were the die-hard fans of An Chuxia declaring their loyalty. He Luo leaned back on the sofa, glancing at his friend to ensure he wasn't bothered. It seemed Old Li had truly moved on.

The second guest found was discovered by An Chuxia, and even that guest acted surprised, marveling at how good An Chuxia was at the game.

He Luo went back into "venting" mode: "That acting is so fake. The person walked right past that spot earlier and didn't see him, but as soon as An Chuxia comes over, she finds him. Such terrible acting."

Li He glanced at his friend, thinking, *As if your acting is any better.*

In the end, only the guest under the table remained, while everyone else was found.

"Hiding under the table—who could have thought of that? Just declare the hiders the winners!"
"Xia is already amazing; she found three people!"
"They are so good at hiding; you can't see them on camera at all."
"They're playing so hard just to win!"

The comments were a mix of praise and criticism, seemingly normal. By the time the clock ran out, the guest under the table had not been found. There were simply too many tables—dozens of them—and searching them all would have taken too much time and effort.

Finally, the game ended. The production team announced the result: "The hiders win."

He Luo leaned back. "That was a bit boring. The process of searching wasn't as interesting as I imagined."

Li He agreed. "It's mainly because none of the guests have likely played hide-and-seek before; they couldn't grasp the fun of the game at all." Hide-and-seek might have been a childhood staple for older generations, but for the new generation of singers and actors, it had long been replaced by video games.

"The reception for the first episode will be polarized. Those who like it will love it, and those who don't will bash it to death," Li He analyzed seriously.

He Luo looked at his friend, agreeing with this view. The fans would blindly praise it regardless. This was a common flaw among the fanbases of the new generation of stars; they would shower the show with mindless praise from the start, damaging their idol's reputation among the general public. He Luo wasn't in that camp, because his own fans roasted him even harder than the haters did.

Meanwhile, as the first episode of *Slow Rhythm* aired, discussions online about the show's content and guests exploded, climbing to the top of the trending lists.

"Is *Slow Rhythm* really just 'slow'? What’s with the half-hour of drinking tea and chatting? Are they really just having afternoon tea?"
"I have to say, watching them chat is so awkward. I felt embarrassed through the screen; I can't imagine how they managed to film this."
"Is An Chuxia the production company's favorite? She has an absurd amount of screen time."
"Lin Lin did great, keep it up!"
"Xia's performance was great. Summer lasts forever, always supporting the best Xia!"
"Summer lasts forever."
"Forever my foot. Living in summer—I hope you roast to death, you turtle's spawn."

Netizens were buzzing, and the discussion began to shift toward comparing *Slow Rhythm* and *Life We Yearn For*. Both shows had similar positioning, aiming to find a relaxing life amidst the fast-paced urban lifestyle. One focused on afternoon tea and conversation, the other on returning to the countryside. Their methods differed, but the underlying concept was remarkably similar. Fans from both sides held their ground, and a conflict seemed imminent.