Chapter 9
After filming the Hawthorn beverage commercial, Skye’s manager informed them that they had an additional variety show gig in Mong Kok that required them to fly out that night.
Berlin rubbed his slightly sore arm, surprised. “Tonight?”
Hua Yan deliberately kept a distance from Berlin. Han Yu Zhe, like a boneless puppy, bent over and rested his head on Berlin’s shoulder, giving Hua Yan a provoking smirk.
The smile vanished instantly. Before Hua Yan could jump, Han Yu Zhe lazily retracted his expression, his dark eyes looking at the manager without speaking.
The manager nodded, briefly explaining, “Special circumstances; it’s a program team we’ve worked with before, urgently asking us to fill in.”
They were only guest performers, signed for three episodes, which would be recorded consecutively. The editing cycle was short, and it would air soon, once a week.
This wasn’t the normal process for confirming announcements. Work arrangements were usually negotiated well in advance, from initial contact with the program team, adjusting schedules and times, to confirming the cooperation and signing the contract as the final step. Many relatively cumbersome but rigorous procedures were followed to ensure no problems during filming.
Skye’s original work plan was to return to the company to prepare for a new album. Adding this new job would disrupt their schedule and shorten the preparation period.
Jiang Shu Ran showed disapproval. “Why did we agree? The commercial deals were already signed, that’s fine, but we’re close to our comeback date, we’re short on time, and there’s still a lot to do.”
Berlin lowered his head to check the time on his phone: 21:57.
He had to catch a late-night flight again. His teammates didn’t even need to sleep; only Berlin, feeling slightly melancholic, secretly touched the area of his liver and sighed, cheering himself on.
There were also several news pushes on his screen. After reading the headlines, Berlin rubbed his eyes, guessing something. “Did something happen to Nan Yu?”
“Yes,” the manager took over. “The original guest for this show was Nan Yu. This afternoon, while filming a wire stunt on set, his equipment malfunctioned, and he accidentally fell from a two-story height, breaking his leg.”
Berlin imagined it; the pain was certainly intense, and he might even have psychological trauma. He couldn’t help but ask, “Is it serious?”
Besides Berlin, the other four members were indifferent to others’ affairs.
The manager wasn’t concerned either. “He should be fine; the news only said it was a fracture; it’s fortunate in misfortune.”
Berlin nodded, relieved.
The manager looked at Berlin and softened his expression. As he worked longer, he became colder, but he understood that people like Berlin, without malicious intent, were pure and rare.
The manager liked people who didn’t cause him trouble and could bring him warmth.
So he added, “Don’t worry, he’s fine. But it’s going to take him a hundred days to recover; all his scheduled work will have to stop.”
Nan Yu was indeed a bit unlucky. He was the male lead in a hit drama during the winter break and was recently very popular, rising to A-list status thanks to this highly popular drama; his resources skyrocketed—this variety show was one of them. It was a prime-time variety show with high ratings, allowing for nationwide exposure.
As fate would have it, just before the final scene was wrapped up, an accident happened, and the great opportunity fell to Skye.
Besides the fact that they had worked with the production team before and the team was reliable, the manager agreed for practical reasons. The show itself wasn’t lacking in popularity.
It had a solid viewership base; Skye had high traffic, and they complemented each other, mutually beneficial.
The program invited popular guests; since Nan Yu couldn’t come, Skye’s status and popularity were sufficient. The production team began bombarding Skye with calls and messages as soon as they got the news, preparing for a showdown.
Hua Yan wasn’t fooled. “We already have many invitations for high-quality variety shows; tell me, why did we agree?”
The manager was silent for a moment, looking up at the sky. “…No choice, they offered a lot of money.”
Hua Yan didn’t comment, but her eyes were full of strong condemnation of human nature.
Berlin: “…”
Bro, don’t be so honest; you could’ve struggled a bit more.
#The manager shamed humanity before the supernatural beings again today.#
Skye didn’t waste time, getting ready and heading straight to the airport.
In the back seat of the business car, Wu Heng Yao listlessly touched his stomach. Noticing Berlin, he turned his head and instinctively touched his stomach as well.
They had been filming all day, and except for the meal on the boat that morning, they hadn’t had time to eat.
The two exchanged glances; Berlin silently rummaged through his bag, taking out a flattened piece of bread. He broke the bread in half and gave it to Wu Heng Yao: “Have a little something to tide you over.”
Wu Heng Yao wrinkled his nose, not interested in this kind of whole-grain food; his seemingly invisible wolf ears drooped dejectedly. “No beef jerky?”
Berlin searched his bag again, nodded affirmatively. “No, you ate the last piece of beef jerky this morning.”
Wu Heng Yao reflexively turned his head. “…How do you know I ate it?”
Berlin blinked at Wu Heng Yao without speaking.
The two looked at each other for a moment, afraid of the sudden silence.
Berlin, whose snacks were often stolen: It goes without saying.
Wu Heng Yao nonchalantly looked away.
Jiang Shu Ran silently facepalmed; Hua Yan looked at him with contempt, and Han Yu Zhe fell asleep as soon as he got in the car, without any reaction.
#Wu Heng Yao shamed supernatural beings before humans today.#
The manager used the travel time to briefly introduce the show’s content.
“Challenge the Impossible,” currently airing its third season.
The show’s premise was interesting; it wasn’t the kind of boring variety show that puts a bunch of popular stars together to play house and chat according to a script; the planning was excellent.
The production team invited many talented individuals from various fields, including but not limited to magicians, non-legacy acrobatics inheritors, world champion speedcubers, world record holders in extreme sports like rock climbing and skydiving, and parkour masters known for their death-defying stunts…covering various industries and various projects that challenged the limits of physical and reaction speed, including brainpower, physical ability, and courage.
In short, only the unimaginable didn’t exist for the production team.
The guests had to try to solve the puzzles set by these talented people, attempting to complete the challenges and see if they could turn the impossible into the possible.
The guests had no idea what challenges they would face on the show; there was no advance notice to allow the guests to practice and cheat.
The show highlighted: The most real reactions, the most exciting and direct challenge process.
The promotional slogan perfectly hit what viewers were interested in: Is there really a gap between you, as an ordinary person, and those with abilities? Does the human limit truly exist? Can you overcome obstacles and achieve success?
The guests invited as “ordinary people” for comparison were all popular artists.
Several elements overlapped, and the ratings were high, maintaining a high level of discussion since its broadcast, attracting a large audience.
Viewers wanted to see popular stars make fools of themselves in front of talented people and to see handsome men and women unexpectedly display extraordinary talent, and vice versa, watching the talented people’s shocked reactions.
The production team would select tasks; they wouldn’t let the guests complete dangerous projects, and professional staff were on standby, and there had been no problems in three seasons of filming, so safety wasn’t a worry.
The manager had accepted the job; his only concern was that the members would resist filming this variety show, as it required courage; they would either fail or succeed brilliantly.
He carefully observed the members’ reactions and found…none of the five members reacted. Those who were sleeping slept; those who were eating ate; he didn’t see any tension or pressure.
The manager: “…”
The members didn’t take it seriously; he should have been relieved, but now he had a headache again.
Although failing the challenges wouldn’t affect Skye’s development, passersby would just laugh, and it wouldn’t make people question Skye’s abilities, and fans wouldn’t mind.
But shouldn’t they have some sense of crisis?
The manager hesitated, finally sighed, and said nothing.
The car stopped at the airport, and Berlin nudged Wu Heng Yao. “Let’s go, let’s get some late-night snacks.”
Author’s Note:
Confidently talented people: Achoo.
Thank you to the little angels who threw me king bombs or irrigated nutrient solution between 2022-11-13 21:41:26 and 2022-11-14 19:38:17!
Thank you to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Xingchen 10 bottles; & 5 bottles; Polaris, An! 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support; I will continue to work hard!