24: Xiong Jing Performance Site

Lu Jin's filming of "bronze sparrow bridge" was proceeding normally. This web drama had been highly anticipated since its official announcement, and his followers had increased significantly, currently reaching 1.6 million.

Due to the popularity of "Love Journey," Lu Qingyu's current follower count was 530,000. This made Lu Jin wary; it had taken him four or five years to accumulate his fans, and he had even spent money to buy many bot followers when he first entered the entertainment industry. Yet Lu Qingyu had just started; at this rate, the growth speed was terrifying.

Lu Jin suppressed his various thoughts about Lu Qingyu, telling himself that Lu Qingyu couldn't compare to him. As long as he developed well, Lu Qingyu would never catch up.

After calming his emotions, Lu Jin continued filming.

PD Zhao had been pulling his hair out these past two days. Having produced so many variety shows and handled so many unexpected situations, he never expected to encounter someone like Lu Qingyu.

He even added many rules to the program, but he still couldn't restrict Lu Qingyu.

During the subsequent recordings, Lu Qingyu was like a wild donkey off its leash, completely uncontrollable.

He chose sheep herding, but ended up borrowing a sheepdog from an old man in the village. Once the dog was out, he wandered off elsewhere. When checking the sheep at night, not a single one was missing.

He chose tree planting, but ended up borrowing a trenching machine from an old lady. While other guests were struggling to dig holes with shovels and managed to plant five trees in a morning, he planted fifty by himself.

The cake baking was the most excessive. While other guests sought refinement, he set up an assembly line.

In short, he seemed to find a loophole in every activity.

By the time Lu Qingyu had gone through all the activities provided by the show, PD Zhao had written a full A4 sheet of prohibitions specifically for him. Consequently, Lu Qingyu stopped going out to do tasks—he had earned enough money.

Lu Qingyu calculated that his accommodation was already settled. The money he was earning now was just for daily meals. Even if the daily food cost was 400 yuan, he could easily last until the end of the show.

PD Zhao was dumbfounded!

The other guests were stunned!

They were envious and jealous, but it was useless.

PD Zhao let out a long sigh. He had been tormented by Lu Qingyu these past few days to the point of losing all spirit. Finally, he thought, forget it. The show is popular and has high ratings; what more could he ask for?

Lu Qingyu's livestream had the highest traffic and generated the most discussion every day. If these stats could be maintained, there was no problem even if he stayed a "salted fish" until the end.

Thus, in the mid-to-late stages of "Love Journey," while the other guests were huffing and puffing through tasks, Lu Qingyu sat in the house, enjoying the air conditioning and leading everyone in studying.

The style of the "love sect" had completely shifted. Many viewers who clicked in were stunned by the sight.

"I wanted to see sweet romance, but you're urging me to study."

"Hey, this variety show has such class. It's using practical actions to tell us that studying is better than romance."

"Following Little Brother in his studies, my Second-class Constructor certificate finally came through."

"Is Little Brother a lucky koi? I studied along with him, and the certificate I couldn't get for three years finally came through."

"Love Journey" held a team-building activity in the village. It was actually a large-scale male competition scene where the four male guests would hold a contest, with prize money for the winners.

Each male guest needed to perform a program with no restrictions on content—musical instruments, cross-talk, singing, dancing, anything was fine.

Twenty uncles and elders from the village were invited to watch, each having one point. The four female guests also had one point each.

First place would receive 500 yuan, second place 300 yuan, and third place 100 yuan.

Kaluo helped the Program Production Team tally the male guests' performances.

"Brother Lü, what are you planning to choose?"

Lü Qing was a lawyer, but he also sang in bars in his spare time. He was quite confident in his deep, resonant voice.

"I choose singing."

Kaluo's eyes were filled with admiration: "I didn't expect Brother Lü to be able to sing."

Lü Qing began to be modest: "I usually perform a set in a bar when I'm free. If you're interested, I can invite you to listen."

Being invited by a lawyer with a million-yuan annual salary, Kaluo naturally wouldn't pass up the opportunity.

"That's great, Brother Lü. It's a deal. Next time you go to a bar to sing, you must invite me."

He Chenguang felt secretly indignant listening to the conversation between Kaluo and Lü Qing. He was the professional singer, okay?

He Chenguang leaned in: "Kaluo, I also choose singing."

Kaluo nodded and signed He Chenguang up.

As for the remaining Su Jing and Lu Qingyu, Su Jing chose to play the piano; he couldn't sing and was mainly participating for the sake of it. Lu Qingyu was a singer, so he also chose singing.

After the programs were reported, the Program Production Team prepared a music room for everyone to use if needed.

He Chenguang was the first to speak: "Can I use it first? I plan to rearrange the song, so I might need more time."

The others had no objection. Lü Qing had a live music accompaniment ready.

Lu Qingyu said: "Leave one hour for me."

Normally, an hour wasn't enough to do much, but if one was just searching for a backing track online and importing it into the system, it was plenty of time.

"Alright, then the time from 9 AM to 1 PM is for me, 1 PM to 4 PM is for Brother Lü, and 4 PM to 5 PM is for Qingyu. Any problems?"

Su Jing chose to play the piano and didn't need the music room; he could practice outside.

The team-building activity prepared by the Program Production Team was at 6 PM. Lu Qingyu had no objection; he planned to use a guitar for a few chords, which wouldn't take long.

"I have no objection."

The other two also had no objections. Seeing this, He Chenguang went to the music room with full confidence. Comparing singing? Wasn't this his absolute forte? Now it was his time to shine.

Lu Qingyu was a singer, but he was a newly debuted one with no works yet—just a kid. He Chenguang didn't take him seriously at all; only Lü Qing could somewhat compete with him.

Su Jing had no desire to win; he knew he was just there to make up the numbers.

Lü Qing didn't really take He Chenguang seriously either. Even if he wasn't a professional singer, he had been a top student since childhood and was always number one in everything he did. His singing in bars had attracted many girls. Conversely, what level could hip-hop even have?

Lü Qing and He Chenguang were secretly competing with each other, while Lu Qingyu and Su Jing were like "salted fish."

"Love Journey" currently had good ratings, so He Chenguang wanted to promote his own song as well. Thus, he chose his most popular song. Lü Qing chose a piece of music completely opposite to He Chenguang's style—a soothing blues style.

In the evening, the performance site was set up in the small garden behind the villa. Twenty elderly villagers were seated. Semi-open tents were propped up on the terrace, with strings of atmospheric small lights hanging above. As the sky darkened, the lights immediately turned on.

The audience in the livestream was full of anticipation for this competition between men.