The contestants displayed different reactions to the recording while they were on the road. Fan Jialuo spent the entire time resting with his eyes closed, not saying a word to any of the staff around him. This caused the cameraman who was following him around to almost fall asleep as well. Yuan Zhongzhou and the others either meditated or sank into thought, seizing the time to cultivate. The other players with less outstanding abilities were “acting out a scene” and chatting endlessly with the staff around them. They made various predictions about the content of the test and seemed extremely excited.
After the car arrived at the destination, they were led by the staff to the front of Jinluan Hall, where they came face to face with Song Wennuan and the people from the Cultural Relics Conservation Bureau. They were wearing blindfolds, but they could already sense a strange aura, so they turned their heads to “look around.”
“They can see?” Old Liang, the head of the Cultural Relics Conservation Bureau, asked in a low voice.
“They can’t see, but they can sense it.” The corners of Song Wennuan’s lips hooked up. Her expression was still very relaxed, but her eyes shone with pride.
“What about him? Is he unable to sense anything?” Old Liang pointed to the silent young man standing at the edge of the crowd, appearing as though he was isolated from the outside world.
Song Wennuan really wanted to yell at him for being blind, but held back in time and said with a fake smile, “He is the kind of person who can walk the world even if he is blindfolded, so he doesn’t need to sense anything.”
“Well, your participants are very interesting.” Old Liang’s smile was even more fake than Song Wennuan’s. Who could walk the world blindfolded? Did they think they were filming a tragic youth film?
On the contrary, Mr. Lu asked cautiously yet eagerly, “That’s Mr. Fan Jialuo, right? My daughter described him to me, saying that he’s the one who you spot at first sight in a crowd. It’s great, I’ve finally seen him with my own eyes! After the program is finished filming, can I meet with Mr. Fan alone? I have a gift for him.” He rubbed his hands together with a nervous expression. He was so old, but he acted like a young fanboy.
Song Wennuan felt that he was being very respectful, so Song Wennuan nodded happily. “Of course, he is very kind.”
“I know, he is indeed a good person. I have heard my daughter talk about him many times, as she says it every day when she calls me.” Old Lu nodded repeatedly, speaking with a grateful tone.
Old Liang didn’t know what to think, but he didn’t ask any more questions. However, it was precisely these people’s excessive praise for Fan Jialuo that left a bad impression of this young man on him. He thought that he was impetuous, with his biggest advantage being his good looks. He was probably good at communicating with others, but had no real skills. He heard that the other had invested the most money in this program, so the entire program team had to support him.
What psychic, seeking help from ghosts and gods, or unraveling the curse. He must have been out of his mind to be persuaded by Old Lu to participate in such a shameful thing. Before the program had even started recording, Old Liang already regretted it.
Hearing the participants bluffing, the rest of the old men also showed awkward but polite smiles. They’d hurry up and record it, and let them finish making a fuss so they could get back to work. Those who were still lying in the hospital must have inhaled poisonous gas and fallen ill. After wood rots, it would become moldy, and the moldy fungus would emit spores and an unpleasant odor. After brewing for thousands of years, it must be very toxic. This was likely the real cause of their comas.
Everyone had their own guesses in mind, so they were even less hopeful about this spiritual channeling.
While the other participants were engrossed in the brilliant regal aura and magnificent breeze emanating from the ancient palace city, Fan Jialuo’s toes pointed unnoticeably in the direction of Jinluan Hall. Song Rui was the only one who noticed his subtle body language and slowly walked over to him.
Today, Song Rui was wearing a chic black shirt, slacks of the same color, and a snake-skin belt. His overall image was very ascetic, but his shoulders were wide, his waist was narrow, and his legs were long, appearing very athletic. He had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and his hair was messy from the wind, causing him to appear very free and unrestrained, yet his thin, shiny gold-rimmed glasses and faint smile appeared gentle and elegant, just like a walking contradiction.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Dr. Song, don’t be naughty.” Fan Jialuo’s smile was also shallow and uninhibited.
“This is the first time someone has described me as naughty, isn’t that a bit too childish?” Although he said that, Song Rui’s smile was very pleasant. He didn’t know why, but in front of this person, he felt relaxed and at ease, as if he was a human being with a completely normal mind.
“Then you will have to get used to it in the future, Dr. Song.” Fan Jialuo let go of the man’s hand and said sincerely, “You smell good.”
The corners of Song Rui’s lips turned up quickly, but were suppressed by his strong willpower. He coughed, turned his head in the direction of Jinluan Hall, and asked in a quiet voice, “You sensed it long ago, right?” A serious question came from his mouth, but in his heart, he was placing the other’s reply on an operating table and dissecting it word by word: he would get used to it in the future, which was to say, after recording the program, they would still meet in the future. To get accustomed, wouldn’t they have to meet often…
For some reason, his heart skipped a beat, and the corners of his mouth, which he had barely suppressed just now, rose unconsciously. However, before he could contemplate deeper, Fan Jialuo raised his voice and asked, “Did He Jinglian come today?”
Song Wennuan immediately replied, “Yes.”
“Teacher Fan, I’m here.” He Jinglian’s arm trembled as she raised it while enshrouded by darkness, and impatiently groped in the direction where the voice came from. She was just wondering where Mr. Fan was, and how to find him. Without him, she was about to panic.
“Careful, walk slowly.” A gentle voice sounded by her ears, and immediately afterwards, her thin arm was held by a large hand, and a slightly higher than normal temperature was continuously transmitted to her.
“Ah! I, I won’t move, I’ll just stand here!” He Jinglian exclaimed, and then shrank back her head and shoulders, standing still without daring to move. It was that man, the one who could swallow all light and darkness like a black hole! But it was so strange, because he was actually very happy today. It was as if he had a little bird living in his chest and constantly singing, and a little light hanging in his heart! She just saw it!
He Jinglian panted lightly as the other party’s chuckle entered her ears. “So well-behaved.”
This was clearly a compliment, but He Jinglian grabbed the hem of her clothes and almost cried. When this person was here, she couldn’t approach Mr. Fan!
Fan Jialuo didn’t know about the little girl’s “tragic experience” and continued, “He Jinglian, I suggest you withdraw from this test.”
“Why?” He Jinglian turned her head and asked without any negative intent.
However, Mother He, who was standing outside the shooting venue after insisting on accompanying her, got angry and rushed out immediately, pointing at Fan Jialuo’s nose and questioning, “Are you Fan Jialuo? You are the one who persuaded my daughter to retire? So you look like this, no wonder you can coax my daughter to come home and argue with me every day! My daughter is young and easily deceived, but I’m not a fool! Don’t think that I don’t know what you’re up to. You see that my daughter is very capable and has a high chance of winning the championship, so you want to get rid of a strong competitor, right? You’re even capable of seducing a minor, you are really dirty!”
Before Fan Jialuo could get annoyed, Song Rui had already grabbed Mother He’s impolite index finger and said frostily, “Madam, I can sue you for slandering others for no reason.”
Mother He felt as though her index finger was about to be broken, and immediately grimaced in pain, but before she could cry out, she was shocked by Song Wennuan’s words, “What’s the matter with you? We are shooting well here, what did you rush out for? If you act so uncooperatively, we have the right to withdraw your daughter from the competition. It’s written in the contract that anyone who disturbs the shooting will be expelled unconditionally and will have to compensate the program! Do you want your daughter to withdraw? If you want to, then just say so, and I’ll let her go right away!”
“No no no, I’ll get out right away! My daughter can’t withdraw from the competition!” Mother He was anxious, but her finger was being pinched by Song Rui, so she could only shout while huffing, “Lian Lian, don’t listen to this Fan Jialuo! You should participate in the competition properly. Mom will accompany you, so don’t be afraid! Your brother’s tuition fee for next semester hasn’t been paid yet, but he got first place in the exam this year. You have to think about him! Without you, your brother can only follow your father’s path in the future, having to work hard for the rest of his life. Can you bear that?”
He Jinglian could imagine the chaos happening on set and almost cried as she begged, “Mom, Mr. Fan treats me as a junior and takes good care of me. It’s not as bad as you think, so please don’t say anything else! I’m begging you! I will participate in the competition properly.”
They got paid per recording, and they’d lose tens of thousands of yuan if they didn’t participate once. Naturally, Mother He wouldn’t agree. What was more, her son spent 80,000 yuan just to attend an international summer camp in the past two months. Where could she, a housewife with no income, get so much money? It wasn’t that she was using her daughter, she had no choice!
He Jinglian could feel her mother’s worry and helplessness, but how much of these emotions were for her? She was probably just a money tree in her parents’ hearts, right? If the tree withered and fell, no longer dropping coins, who wouldn’t be nervous? Whether or not the tree itself was happy, human beings probably wouldn’t empathize or care, right?
He Jinglian cried, but her tears were absorbed by the thick black cloth, and no one could see them.
Song Rui let go of Mother He, took out a wet tissue, and carefully wiped his hands. His gentle expression was gone, replaced by one of disgust and impatience, as if he had touched something particularly dirty.
Mother He knew that he was a powerful judge, so she withdrew from the filming location without saying a word.
Everyone was watching the drama, including the blindfolded participants. Their strong desire for gossip caused them to perk up their ears and their brains were full of a lot of “tantalizing, glamorous, emotional, and shocking” plots. Fan Jialuo, who was speculated about or even misunderstood, looked in the direction of He Jinglian and sighed silently. A short while later, he seemed to have made up his mind and looked at Song Wennuan, asking, “In that case, can I act behind He Jinglian in the test later on?”
“Of course you can.” Song Wennuan nodded without thinking.
The rest of the contestants were unhappy and immediately objected, “Director Song, aren’t we going to draw lots later? How can we draw lots if their positions are both bound together? Could it be that they’re jumping the queue?”
“That’s right, every test is conducted individually, and afterwards we are isolated and forbidden to communicate with each other. Is this to prevent us from cheating, or to make it easier for you to fake scenes? Is it true that Fan Jialuo’s performance on the program was really done on the spot? You didn’t rehearse it in advance? Why am I so unconvinced!”
“Yeah! We didn’t know how he performed at all. When people ask us about it on the internet, we’ll tell them the truth!”
These few contestants’ doubts about Fan Jialuo also represented the majority of the netizens’ doubts regarding the program. The closed recording indeed made it very convenient for the program team to fake anything. Whoever they wanted to promote, they could just let that person rehearse the relevant plot in advance, which was no different from filming a normal show.
Old Liang and the others stood to the side and watched, their expressions a bit subtle.
They were all well-known historians in the circle, similar to the Yangchun Baixue, while the participants they selected were like a group of peasants jumping up and down and making jokes. This unbearable scene made Song Wennuan feel angry and humiliated. She was about to use a strong measure to calm down the scene when she heard her cousin say with a smile, “Since you aren’t satisfied, then we can alter today’s recording. We will arrange the order of your entry without the lottery, and those who have finished the test don’t need to be isolated. They can take off their blindfolds and watch the rest of the participants from the sidelines. You will be able to see your respective performances in person.”
“I agree.” Yuan Zhongzhou, who had always remained silent, was the first to step forward.
“I also agree.” He was followed by Zhu Xiya.
Ah Huo: “I have no objections.”
He Jinglian gulped and said, “I, I also agree.”
Ding Puhang raised his hand and spat out a mocking sentence, “A bunch of idiots!”
The remaining four participants didn’t know how to make trouble even if they still wanted to. The minority had to obey the majority, and the cameras were rolling. They had gotten their desired result, and it would look bad if they continued to fight. They pretended to think about it and then nodded happily. The corners of their mouths were all raised high, thinking that they could see Fan Jialuo make a fool of himself later.
“Wait a minute! Even so, you can still help Fan Jialuo cheat! You could have brought him to rehearse before the show was recorded, allowing him to know the entire process, while us fools are still kept in the dark.” The participant dressed like Harry Potter had an unknown amount of hatred for Fan Jialuo, and refused to let go of this point.
Song Rui glanced at Old Liang and chuckled. “Don’t worry about that. The venue we’re recording at today is very special. Before today, no one could even get close, let alone enter early. After taking off your blindfolds, you will naturally understand.”
Old Lu, who was already a little anxious, quickly smoothed things over for Mr. Fan. “Yes, yes, this venue was previously sealed off and no one could approach.”
Song Rui added, “The one who just spoke is one of our clients. We cannot disclose more details to you. If you ask again, I will judge that you have cheated and subsequently allow you to withdraw from the competition.”
“Harry Potter” originally wanted to question Old Lu’s identity, but upon hearing Song Rui’s cold words, he could only dispel the idea of following up. He could feel that this Dr. Song seemed gentle and refined, but in fact, he was not easy to mess with. Others said that Song Rui was unfriendly, but only they, the psychics, could vaguely detect that Dr. Song was probably the cruelest person in the world.
The farce finally came to an end. Old Lu breathed a sigh of relief, but Old Liang couldn’t hold back, pulling Song Wennuan aside and asking quietly, “This, this, Xiao Song, let me ask you, is it too late for us to back out? We don’t want to record the program anymore. Your participants began to fight before beginning to sense anything. I’m afraid they will tear this place down.”
“Yes, yes, the more you look at them, the less reliable they seem!” There were quite a few scholars who agreed with him. After waking up from their feverish state they began to realize what a stupid decision they had made. The day the episode aired, they were afraid that the entire academic world would laugh as they made fools of themselves, right?
Song Wennuan: !!!
Damn it, you’re obstructing my path! I’m so angry that I want to hit someone!
Thank you for the chapter!
There has to be one or more bad seeds every time😪
This mother, wonder how dar will she go to push her daughter? Until something bad happen to her.
Poor Song Wennuan there’s always something 😂😂😂
No rest for the wicked, really!
Thanks for the chapter!! ❤️❤️❤️