Ch 72: Nobody is Perfect
That evening, while Yin Chang was taking a shower, Shao Junling put on his Taekwondo uniform and hurried to the village entrance.
At the same time, Xue Ziwen slipped away from Wang Chen's side, and the two met at a crossroad.
In one corner of the screen, the cameraman appeared, carrying the camera discreetly and secretly following to shoot.
Soon, the twin brothers approached from a distance. The four of them exchanged a cool glance and walked together towards a tree.
Shao Junling, dressed in the white taekwondo uniform, walked with a fluttering hem, and exuded a domineering aura. They didn't notice the unmanned aerial vehicle rotating 360 degrees above their heads, capturing the scene of the two sides meeting with alternating fast and slow shots, accompanied by a symphony of rhythmic drums, erhu, pipa, and sheng. It created a tense atmosphere as if a great battle was about to begin. Especially when Shao Junling struck a pose preparing to fight, the effect presented by the show was comparable to a martial arts blockbuster. Truly exhilarating.
Until Yin Chang appeared.
When Yin Chang lifted Shao Junling up like a little chicken, the powerful martial arts background music abruptly stopped, replaced by a comedic tune.
Then, Yin Chang exchanged a few words with the kids and took Shao Junling back with him.
During this segment, the show did not record the guests' voices, as Shao Junling had removed his microphone when changing clothes, and Yin Chang had just finished showering and changing. Therefore, the audience didn't know what they were talking about.
However, the relevant storyline was presented through one-on-one interviews with the parties involved in the program.
The scene shifted to the interview studio, and the first to appear on the screen were Lang Chizhi and Guo Yiheng.
Staff: "What if Xue Ziwen and Shao Junling, who are both younger than you, couldn't beat you and got injured?"
Guo Yiheng immediately replied, "We didn't actually want to fight, we just wanted to have a friendly competition with Shao Junling because Xue Ziwen said that he's really good at Taekwondo."
Lang Chizhi nodded, "Yeah, we wouldn't actually fight him, it was just for fun!"
Staff: "Weren't you afraid after hearing that Shao Junling is skilled in Taekwondo?"
Lang Chizhi: "Nope."
Next, Yin Chang appeared.
Staff: "Why were you in such a hurry to stop them? Were you afraid that Shao Junling would get hurt by Lang Chizhi and the others?"
Yin Chang smiled, "No, I was afraid he would cause trouble."
Staff: "Just how skilled is Shao Junling in Taekwondo?"
Yin Chang: "He just passed his green-blue belt test in early July."
Staff: "What level is the green-blue belt? Is it impressive?"
Yin Chang thought about the sparring session he had with Shao Junling that night and objectively replied, "It's decent, I would say it's at a basic self-defense level."
This part matched Yin Chang's memory accurately, but then, subtitles appeared in the center of the screen:
"To understand how skilled Shao Junling is, the staff went to the dojo where he trains for an interview."
Yin Chang was taken aback when he saw this segment; it was something he didn't know.
He sighed bitterly. The production team was really "dedicated," going all the way to the dojo just for this small segment...
The staff found Shao Junling's coach and asked in the interview, "Is Shao Junling skilled?"
The coach replied, "Among his peers, he's quite good."
The staff continued, "Can he defeat kids three years older than him?"
The coach chuckled, "There's a kid four years older than him in the dojo who got beaten badly when sparring with Shao Junling. This is something that can't be measured by age."
The staff then interviewed several children who had sparred with Shao Junling before, and they all said, "Shao Junling is really impressive."
Of course, to protect their privacy, the interviewed coach and his martial arts buddies had cartoon faces covering their faces, and the name of the martial arts gym was blurred out.
The screen cut back to the temporary interview set, and the next person to be interviewed was Shao Junling himself.
Staff: "What were your thoughts when your older brother forcefully took you away?"
Shao Junling lowered his head and said with a stern face, "I was unhappy."
Staff: "Was your older brother angry?"
Shao Junling: "Yeah."
The staff paused for a moment and deliberately asked, "I heard... your brother hit you when you got home?"
Shao Junling raised his head and denied, "No, he didn't hit me. He asked me to hit him."
Staff: "Why did he ask you to hit him?"
"Because I was unhappy. He told me to vent," Shao Junling lowered his head again and muttered, "But I couldn't beat him anyway."
The staff couldn't help but chuckle, "So, did you feel better after venting?"
"Yeah," Shao Junling replied while fidgeting with his chair, whispering, "When my brother got home, he made a small cake for me."
As Shao Junling said these words, his voice was soft, and in post-production, they added a blush to his face, indicating that he had forgiven his brother.
In this episode, Yin Chang made Shao Junling sit on the couch with him to watch it together, just to teach him a lesson.
But when Shao Junling saw the scene where they added a blush to his face in post-production, he felt so embarrassed that he couldn't bear it and scrambled to escape again.
Yin Chang, instead of sympathizing, sat on the couch and laughed maniacally.
Fiona was in the kitchen making fruit tea for Yin Chang. Hearing the laughter, she secretly glanced out and couldn't help but smile.
For the past half year, whenever Fiona saw Yin Chang with a furrowed brow and a look of desolation, she felt heartbroken and didn't know how to comfort him.
But since these two brothers started filming that variety show, Yin Chang seemed to have become much more cheerful, especially after this last time. Fiona felt like he had transformed... It was as if he had finally emerged from beneath the shadow of his father's death and was willing to open his heart to the world again.
With a contented expression, she placed the fruit tea in front of Yin Chang, "What are you so happy about?"
"Shao Junling did something silly on the show," Yin Chang laughed. Pointing at the TV, he invited Fiona to watch it together.
Next on screen was Xue Ziwen, and the host also interviewed him about the challenge.
Xue Ziwen went on and on, just like when he complained to Wang Chen before. Maybe he was just too talkative. In the post-production of the show, they promptly fast-forwarded through this segment and summarized the core content of what he said with the caption, "My heart aches for my melon... my melon... my melon..."
In the WeChat group, the guests who watched the entire storyline burst into laughter.
Qin Jingshan: "Shao Junling was innocently involved in this melon drama... [Sigh]"
Huang Han: "He looked so pitiful when Yin Chang carried him away. [Laughter]"
Wang Chen: "I was actually kind of looking forward to seeing them fight!"
Yin Chang: "Wang Chen, it seems your nephew has a deep obsession with that melon."
Wang Chen: "..."
Lang Chizhi: "Hey, little brother, stop talking about it... Mom and Dad have already scolded us! @Xue Ziwen [Kneeling]"
Guo Yiheng: "Next time we meet, I'll treat you to three big watermelons! @Xue Ziwen [Kneeling]"
After the second episode aired, there was no time for the episode to ferment. It immediately sparked discussions across the internet.
As expected, the segment where the kids failed to fight became the highlight of this episode. The video of Shao Junling appearing in his martial arts uniform and being suddenly carried away by Yin Chang was circulating everywhere on the internet.
All the controversies and criticisms that Yin Chang was worried about never materialized. Instead, almost all the comments were filled with "Hahaha."
When someone earnestly and seriously does something, but it ends up having a comical effect, the audience tends to forget about the actual issue of the event.
However, besides that scene, there were also a few segments that Yin Chang hadn't anticipated that became popular.
One was a photo of him and Huang Han wearing aprons while cooking, praised by netizens as the "ideal homemaking man" and "boyfriend material."
There was also another moment when Yin Chang met Wang Chen on the third morning while picking up breakfast. Yin Chang asked him if he knew about Xue Ziwen being bullied, and Wang Chen's reaction.
At that time, Wang Chen said, "It's just a stupid melon, what else does he want?" Some attentive netizens captured this and juxtaposed it with Xue Ziwen's interview where he expressed his heartache for the melon.
This caused some controversy. People compared Wang Chen and Yin Chang's attitudes towards their respective nephews and brothers, criticizing Wang Chen for not caring enough about Xue Ziwen. They found him annoying as he was only focused on flirting with Qin Jingshan while picking the melon. Furthermore, Wang Chen didn't properly console Xue Ziwen, making him an incompetent uncle.
Wang Chen's public relations team quickly guided the public opinion towards the direction of "Wang Chen being broad-minded" to slightly suppress the controversy.
However, the next day, a popular entertainment marketing account posted a Weibo that triggered Wang Chen's anger.
The blogger compared the images of Wang Chen and Yin Chang from the third morning—despite the torment by the production team over the past two days, Yin Chang still shined brightly and exuded a god-like charm, while Wang Chen looked disheveled like a local villager.
The comments section was filled with netizens making fun of him, and the discussions surrounding it caused Yin Chang's popularity to skyrocket within a day.
Upon learning about this, Wang Chen immediately called his manager, and as soon as the call connected, he launched into a barrage of anger, "What the hell happened? How did that kind of Weibo get released? It even made it to the trending list!"
The manager calmly reassured him and explained that they did it to divert the audience's attention. The criticism against Wang Chen had been escalating rapidly since last night, and they were struggling to contain it, so they decided to make a sacrifice.
That Weibo was, in fact, planned by Wang Chen's team.
Wang Chen was so furious he trembled, "What? You planned such an embarrassing photo?"
The manager explained, "Stay calm. This approach allows some dissenting netizens to find an outlet for their emotions, no longer relentlessly attacking your treatment of Xue Ziwen... Besides, it's called a strategic retreat. By constantly raising Yin Chang's status, it's actually a form of 'promoting while attacking.' It may not necessarily be beneficial for his long-term development."
Wang Chen listened and was taken aback, "Go on."
Manager: "Audiences have very high expectations for a perfect idol, but if you're just an ordinary person, it would be much better. For example, we can juxtapose your photos with Yin Chang's for a humorous comparison, create a bit of sympathy, let others know that you also work hard, and no one will continue to blame you for how you treated Xue Ziwen. Besides, whether it's an older brother, sister, or uncle, they are not 'parents.' You don't have the primary obligation to educate Xue Ziwen, and you shouldn't bear too much responsibility for it. But Yin Chang is different. He is the only relative of Shao Junling, and as his image continues to improve and he is praised more, he will become more exhausted in the future."
Wang Chen: "Are you suggesting that Yin Chang's public image will collapse if things continue like this?"
Manager: "His public image may not necessarily collapse. We have to admit that he is a charismatic idol. But no one can be a 'god' forever, especially considering he is only nineteen years old. If his future capabilities don't match his fame, he will eventually be dragged down by his own reputation."
Wang Chen hung up the phone, still lost in thought. However, after thinking for a long time, he suddenly jolted—his manager's analysis was correct for the most part, but what did he mean by calling him an "ordinary person"!?
Manager: You're an ordinary person.
Wang Chen: ??? I'm clearly a fairy-like guy!!
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