81: Chapter 81: Lin Chen, the "Fragment Dog," has angered everyone this time.

Lin Chen actually quite enjoyed this high-class treatment. He pillowed his head on his arms and chuckled, "Where did I leave off yesterday?"

"The Japanese Kwantung Army underground fortress!"

Guli Nazha's eyes lit up; she remembered it more clearly than anyone else.

Lin Chen nodded slightly. As his Grandmaster-level Qi Cultivation circulated within him, his voice instantly shifted into the deep, husky rasp of an old smoker:

"I slumped onto the ground, gasping for air, and grabbed the flashlight to sweep it around. This underground warehouse was absurdly huge, with all kinds of military supplies piled up like mountains. I really don't know how those devils managed to wipe away all traces on the surface back then..."

He lay there comfortably, head resting on a thigh as he spoke. The three women beside him had long forgotten about the massage, each propping their chins in their hands and leaning in close, listening without even blinking.

Lei Jiayin and the others in the car ahead were in the same state. The four actors were twisted into all sorts of strange positions in their seats, but their ears were glued to the speakerphone.

It wasn't just them; even the cameramen in the cars and the millions of viewers in the live stream were completely entranced.

At this very moment, Yang Mi, who had just finished filming and was resting, and Dilraba Dilmurat, who was sitting in her van preparing to head to a mall for an event, were both glued to their screens.

The story of "ghost blows out the light" needs no introduction; in his previous life, it was a top-tier masterpiece that took the nation by storm.

Now, combined with Lin Chen's god-like line delivery and versatile Ventriloquism, the audio-visual experience was a thousand times more thrilling than simply holding the book and reading it.

The one-hour rest period passed in a flash. When Lin Chen dropped his voice and reminded everyone it was time to move out, the members of the Divas Hit the Road Group woke up as if from a dream, immediately followed by complaints of dissatisfaction.

These usually picky superstars didn't even want to go to that damn forest park anymore.

They just wanted to sit right where they were and listen to Hu Bayi continue his adventure in the underground fortress.

The official live stream chat was in total chaos.

A rain of scrolling bullet comments blotted out the sky, and gift effects of all sizes flashed crazily across the screen.

"I'm really done with this damn streamer! He always cuts off at the most critical moment just to keep us on edge, right!"

"Forget that crappy park! Hurry up and bring Teacher Lin a stool, let him sit on the grass and keep telling the story until dark!"

"You rebellious son, listen to the people! If you dare to leave us on a cliffhanger again, believe it or not, Daddy will unsubscribe from your channel tonight!"

"Is the Production Team just sitting around doing nothing? Can't you see the public opinion on the screen? We want to hear about grave robbing, not look at trees!"

"Doesn't this show claim to put the audience first? Everyone wants to listen to the story, yet you insist on dragging us to look at the scenery. Are you doing this just to annoy us?"

"I'm out, I'm out. This pretty boy gets a little popularity and doesn't know his place anymore. He really thinks he's something special."

...

The atmosphere on the live chat was thick with hostility. The two young stage managers monitoring the data on a tablet backstage immediately broke out into a cold sweat.

If they really pissed off these millions of financial backers, and the show's reputation collapsed, they would truly be responsible for its failure.

Variety shows, to put it bluntly, are just about milking the fans. Without these benefactors supporting them, they wouldn't get a single cent of sponsorship money from the brands later on.

The young staffers felt their shoulders were too narrow to carry such a heavy burden, so they sprinted to fetch the Executive Director, who was drinking tea in the rest area.

The Executive Director maintained his calm, rock-steady demeanor. He walked slowly to the main console backstage, took a glance, and raised an eyebrow. "Has the real-time viewership dropped?"

The stage manager wiped away his sweat, stared closely at the data feed, and was momentarily speechless:

"That hasn't happened... It's weird. Not only has it not dropped, but it's actually gone up by one hundred thousand for no reason. It was just five point two million, and now it's five point three million."

The Executive Director lit a cigarette and scoffed, "There you have it. Keep your seat, the numbers are rising, so why are you worrying about nothing?"

"But... but people are cursing pretty harshly in the comment section. They've even insulted our ancestors up to the eighteenth generation."

The Executive Director patted the young staffer on the shoulder and chuckled,

"This just goes to show that Lin Chen's story has hooked everyone's soul. This is what you call 'tough love.' On the internet, this is called 'controversial traffic.' Just you wait, in twenty minutes, these people will find their own way down from the ledge."

With that, the Executive Director walked away, hands swinging, leaving the stage manager to stare at the screen, half-believing.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the hostility in the live chat dissipated completely.

The netizens who had just been threatening to unsubscribe were now back to joking around, spamming the "rebellious son" meme and sending gifts even more aggressively than before.

...

Hailar National Forest Park covers a total area of 210,000 mu and is a famous national 3A-level scenic spot beyond the Great Wall.

Facing such a massive forest that stretched beyond the horizon, if they had to measure it on foot, they would surely break their legs within ten days or half a month.

Therefore, the Divas Hit the Road Group drove along the main roads throughout the journey, getting out to take photos whenever they saw a pleasing view.

In reality, almost all forest parks in China are carved from the same mold. No matter how much you talk them up, it's hard to come up with anything unique or novel.

Once you've seen one, you basically know what to expect from the rest.

The mountains and fields were full of big trees. No matter how nice a pine tree looked, it was still just a piece of wood; it wasn't going to start wiggling its hips in front of the camera for you.

However, the Divas Hit the Road Group had a very pleasant time on this trip. After all, what everyone valued more was the fresh air here, unpolluted by the city, rather than any specific man-made scenery.

The feeling of complete clarity from immersing oneself in a natural oxygen bar was something the steel-and-concrete forests of the city could never provide, nor could it be compared to the few hundred ornamental trees in a residential green belt.

The pine trees here couldn't be counted by the "individual tree"; they had to be measured by the "grove." Looking out, one saw endless green waves; turn around and look again, and it was another boundless sea of trees.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the Divas Hit the Road Group finished their visit to Hailar Forest Park.

Just as they drove to the main entrance and were preparing to leave, the accompanying director from the Production Team suddenly stopped everyone and proposed taking a group photo in front of the stone monument at the main gate.

Taking a souvenir photo was actually just a cover; the core purpose was to fulfill the mandatory quota set by the sponsor.

"Let's use this flagship phone from [Brand Name], with its 20-megapixel front and rear cameras for clearer photos, to record this wonderful moment."

Tong Liya skillfully took the selfie stick handed to her by a staff member, leaning half of her delicate body to the very front of the lens, and recited the stiff advertising lines with her red lips.

This kind of forced commercial insertion was naturally the result of the "money power" of their financial backers. This phone was the primary sponsor of this trip for the Divas Hit the Road Group, and Tong Liya happened to be one of the official brand ambassadors for the Chinese region.

The Production Team had specifically reserved this prime time purely to let the advertiser show their face in front of millions of viewers.

"Divas Hit the Road, let's go!"

With a unified cheer from everyone, accompanied by the crisp sound of a shutter, a visually striking group photo was captured.

On the screen, which glowed with a cold light, Lin Chen stood tall and imposing, slightly to the left of the center.

In front was Tong Liya, wearing a tight miniskirt and half-squatting as she held the selfie stick. Her rounded hip line, taut beneath her clothes, was enough to make one's heart race.

Lin Chen's right arm was held tightly in Guli Nazha's fair, delicate hands, her proud chest pressed firmly against his elbow.

On the left, Liu Shishi rested her pure, delicate face directly on his shoulder, her slender, white fingers raised high in a V-sign.

Even more striking was the scene behind him: the youngest member, Song Zuer, had boldly jumped onto Lin Chen's rock-hard back. Her smooth, flawless, long white legs were clamped tightly around his waist, and her arms were wrapped around the front, hooking his neck. She was stuck to his back like a koala.

The entire itinerary in Hailar officially concluded at this moment.

The Divas Hit the Road Group's battered jeeps roared to life once again, speeding toward the next legendary destination—Morigele.