108: Chapter 108 The Internet Celebrity's Entrance Left Everyone Speechless
Three days later, Luohu Fire Station, Shenzhen.
At 8:50 AM, the live broadcast signal went live.
A large red tag was pinned to the homepage recommendation spot on the ByteDance platform β [Brave Blue Friends Β· Premiere Live Broadcast].
The main camera was set up directly in front of the Fire Station garage, with a row of gleaming red fire trucks in the background. The arm of the largest ladder truck extended into mid-air, sunlight reflecting off the metal surface.
A secondary camera was deployed on the roadside outside the Fire Station gate, aimed at the parking area.
The number of viewers in the live stream broke 200,000 the moment it started, and the chat screen was flooded β
[Who's coming? Who's coming? Who's coming!]
[My idol said he would participate in a new variety show but didn't say which one!]
[A Fire Station? Are they going to make the idols put out fires???]
[The Production Team's security is amazing; not a single whisper leaked.]
No one knew the full lineup.
At 8:56 AM, the secondary camera captured the first figure.
A young man wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, dragging a huge suitcase, stood at the Fire Station entrance looking around. The suitcase was unreasonably large.
He looked left and right, confirmed the house number, puffed out his chest, and stepped into the camera's frame.
Ji Shen.
The chat exploded.
[Ji Shen!!! That ping pong player Ji Shen!!!]
[An Olympic champion!]
[Wait, the show starts at 10:00, and you arrived at 8:56???]
[I suspect the live broadcast started so early because Ji Shen arrived first!]
Ji Shen clearly realized he had arrived early. He stood in front of the main camera, his suitcase upright by his feet, looking left and right β there was no one. No Firefighter came out, and there wasn't a shadow of any other guests.
In the entire square, he was the only one.
Ji Shen froze for two seconds, then grinned at the camera and pressed his palms together in a bow.
"Hello everyone, I am Ji Shen, a retired table tennis player. I'm here to participate in 'Brave Blue Friends,' and I hope everyone will..."
He looked back at the empty square.
"...hope more people will show up."
The chat laughed like crazy.
[Hahahaha, a solo press conference.]
[Ji Shen, did you set your alarm an hour early?]
He started chatting with the camera β
"Mainly, I gained fifteen pounds after retiring. My coach said if I don't move around, I won't even be able to lift a racket later. I figured experiencing life as a Firefighter should be pretty good for weight loss β"
At 9:12 AM, Tao Qianzhi arrived.
Thirty-eight years old, a second-tier actor. He got out of a taxi; no business car, no assistant, just a regular backpack.
Ji Shen rushed over in two steps and gave him a bear hug.
"Brother Qianzhi!"
Tao Qianzhi was knocked off balance slightly and patted Ji Shen's back: "Hey, little Ji."
The two walked to the main camera. Tao Qianzhi gave a brief self-introduction, polite and thoughtful.
The style of the chat changed β
[He's coming to a Firefighter variety show? He's thirty-eight, right? Can his body handle it...]
[Brother Qianzhi has courage!]
The two chatted for a bit, but the conversation went cold. Ji Shen had a bright idea: "Brother Qianzhi, what did you bring? Just one bag?"
Tao Qianzhi patted his backpack: "A change of clothes, toiletries, a book. That's enough."
He pulled it out of his bag β γFire Safety Knowledge Manualγ.
Studying in advance.
Chat: [...What a top student.]
At 9:21 AM, two black business cars stopped at the entrance one after the other.
The door of the first car opened, and Gu Zeyan got out. Sunglasses, functional-style jacket; standing there, he looked like he was walking a runway.
"Hello everyone β"
Before he could even take off his sunglasses, the door of the second car opened.
Jiang Shiyu stepped out of the car, wearing a suit and casual trousers, his hair meticulously styled. He walked directly past Gu Zeyan to the camera.
"Hi, I am Jiang Shiyu, very happy to come to 'Brave Blue Friends' β"
Gu Zeyan's sunglasses were stuck on the bridge of his nose, his hand suspended in mid-air, half of his self-introduction abruptly cut off.
He turned his head to look at Jiang Shiyu.
Jiang Shiyu didn't look at him.
The chat smelled gunpowder β
[??? Did he steal the spotlight?]
[Zeyan hadn't finished speaking yet, brother.]
[Look at Gu Zeyan's expression, hahahaha.]
Gu Zeyan didn't lose his temper. He took off his sunglasses, tucked them into his collar, and greeted Ji Shen and Tao Qianzhi with a smile.
At 9:35 AM, He Manzhou arrived.
The taxi stopped, the door opened, and a pair of white sneakers stretched out first, followed by a long leg.
He Manzhou stood up, dragging a small suitcase. Bare-faced, ponytail, sports tank top paired with cargo pants.
The four men in the square went silent for a second simultaneously.
Ji Shen reacted first and ran over to grab the suitcase. Gu Zeyan followed closely, and Jiang Shiyu was half a beat slower but also reached out. Tao Qianzhi didn't move; he stood in place and nodded with a smile.
He Manzhou smiled and waved her hand: "No need, no need, it's very light β"
The suitcase had already been taken by Ji Shen.
The chat boiled over β
[He Manzhou! The diver!]
[Bare-faced??? Is this bare-faced???]
[Does this face really exist?]
At 9:44 AM, Shen Jue's business car arrived.
The door had just opened, and before Shen Jue had even put a foot on the ground, Gu Zeyan's voice pierced through the entire square β
"Yo! The 'wet-pants' handsome guy is here!"
Shen Jue pulled his foot back halfway.
He gritted his teeth, got out of the car, and walked toward Gu Zeyan, speaking from three meters away.
"Can't compare to the 'no-camera' idol from the Dating Reality Show."
Gu Zeyan was stunned, and the two bumped shoulders.
The chat was amused to death β
[These two have a grudge, hahahaha.]
[What's the story behind 'wet-pants' handsome guy? Please educate me.]
[What's 'no-camera' idol from the Dating Reality Show about???]
[Haven't you watched the variety show 'Dating in Travel'? Have you been disconnected from the internet for two months?]
At 9:51 AM, Su Nianzhi.
The trunk of the business car opened, revealing two large suitcases.
Su Nianzhi stood by the car and reached out to drag the first suitcase, but couldn't move it after two tugs. Her fingers slid on the suitcase handle, and she turned to look at the male guests, pursing her lips without making a sound.
Ji Shen and Jiang Shiyu had already run over. Gu Zeyan also reached out.
Su Nianzhi waved her hands repeatedly: "No, no, no, it's too heavy, don't tire yourselves out β"
The more she said not to help, the more she let go of the suitcase handle.
Ji Shen picked them up, one in each hand: "It's fine, it's very light."
Su Nianzhi clutched her chest: "Thank you, thank you, I'm really sorry."
He Manzhou stood to the side, looked down at the suitcase she had dragged away herself when refusing help earlier, and said nothing.
The chat split into two camps β
[So obedient, so soft, so cute!]
[Hmm... how should I put it, a bit deliberate?]
[What's wrong with her not being strong?]
[Was the way He Manzhou dragged her own suitcase earlier implying something about someone?]
At 9:55 AM.
The last business car stopped.
The door opened, and Qi Wanyin stepped out.
Black baseball cap, white shirt, jeans, canvas shoes; a thirty-six-year-old first-tier singer standing at the Fire Station entrance like a college student on a spring outing.
Everyone went up to greet her.
Except for Tao Qianzhi.
He stood where he was, nodding to Qi Wanyin from afar. The movement was very small, polite but distant.
Qi Wanyin nodded back; there was a distance of seven or eight meters between them and a sort of tacit boundary.
Shen Jue ran the fastest and exclaimed when he got close.
"Sister Qi! Why are you here! Do you know this show is very exhausting!"
Qi Wanyin pulled at the brim of her hat.
"Just wanted to be a bit more exhausted."
The chat scrolling speed reached a new high β
[Qi Wanyin!!! Oh my god!!!]
[Half of the Chinese music scene has come to the Fire Station!]
[Sister Wan is here to put out fires? Her singing is enough to put out fires, alright.]
[This lineup is too absurd.]
[Why isn't that silver ring Qi Wanyin always wears on her finger?]
Eight people stood in front of the garage, and the live stream had over three million viewers.
Gu Zeyan looked around and rolled his eyes.
"Since Sister Qi is here, there shouldn't be anyone bigger than her, right?" He looked at the camera, "Shouldn't we move on to the next segment?"
The chat echoed β
[The lineup is fierce enough.]
[Eight out of nine people are here, one is missing.]
[Who is the last one?]
A voice-over sounded; Director Pei Zhao's voice came through the broadcast, unhurriedly.
"There is one more, who should be here soon."
Gu Zeyan raised an eyebrow and turned to make an exaggerated expression at the others.
"Yo, is there someone with a bigger name than Sister Qi? Let's wait and see."
Shen Jue frowned. No matter how you listened to it, this was stoking the fire, deliberately tying "being late" with "big name." He glanced at Gu Zeyan and didn't respond.
The chat was guessing wildly β
[Who??? Who else could it be???]
[Could it be some top celebrity?]
[Bigger name than Qi Wanyin, is this show crazy?]
It was quiet for about forty seconds.
The secondary camera captured a moving shadow on the road.
A blue shared bike, ridden wobbly, swayed over from the road in front of the Fire Station. The person riding it was carrying a black backpack, moving neither fast nor slow, turning his head left and right β
He rode past.
Then he turned back.
He parked the bike on the side of the road, took out his phone to scan the code to return it, patted the non-existent dust on his pant legs, and walked into the Fire Station gate with his backpack on his back.
Li Li.
White T-shirt, cargo pants, sneakers. A backpack, no suitcase, no business car, no assistant.
He walked to the front of the eight people and bowed slightly.
[Sorry, the navigation went the wrong way, and I took a detour.]
The square was silent for a full second.
Shen Jue exploded first: "Brother Li!!!"
The chat directly crashed β
[Li Li?????????]
[Shared bike?????? HHHHHHHHH]
[Who is this?]
[Don't you know the great internet celebrity? The father of Squid Spy Yanli! The guardian of Jiang Rumu! The war correspondent! The TikTok follower-count king! The welfare home director! Winner of the May 1st Medal! β Comrade Li Li]
[Holy crap, I've arrived in the Game of Thrones world!]
[With 98 million followers, are you serious about riding a shared bike to record a variety show!!]
[The navigation went the wrong way, hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter.]
[Others take business cars, he rides a bicycle. Is this the confidence of a great internet celebrity?]
Gu Zeyan froze in place, his mouth opened and then closed.
The trap he set with his previous sentence "bigger name than Sister Qi" was slapped back at him by a shared bike.
Over four million people were online in the live stream, and everyone was looking at the blue shared bike parked on the side of the road and the man next to it who only carried a backpack.
Su Nianzhi looked in Li Li's direction, her fingers tucking her hair behind her ear.
Li Li didn't notice her; he was fist-bumping with Shen Jue who had rushed over.
"Brother Li, why didn't you say so beforehand!" Shen Jue punched his shoulder.
"Say what?"
"Say that you were coming too! I thought it was just me. That dog Gu Zeyan β that guy has been acting snarky the whole time."
Li Li spread his hands.
He turned to the others and greeted them one by one.
He shook hands with Ji Shen, and Ji Shen shook back with great force β the mutual appreciation between athletes, even though one played table tennis and the other didn't play at all.
He nodded to Tao Qianzhi; Tao Qianzhi was polite, neither close nor distant.
He gave a slight smile to He Manzhou; He Manzhou generously returned a smile.
He fist-bumped Jiang Shiyu; Jiang Shiyu didn't use much force.
To Qi Wanyin β
Qi Wanyin took off her hat and nodded slightly to him.
"Director Li."
"Hello, Sister Qi."
Simple, clean, no extra pleasantries.
Finally, Su Nianzhi.
She took a small half-step forward, hands folded in front of her, head slightly tilted.
"Teacher Li Li, I've heard so much about you."
Li Li looked at her and nodded.
"Hello."
Two words, then he turned to look at the camera.
Su Nianzhi's expression paused for less than half a second, she quickly recovered and stepped back to her original position.
In the chat, some people had already started shipping them β
[The look Su Nianzhi gave Li Li!]
[Don't ship, don't ship, he has Mumu!]
[Wait, does Jiang Rumu know about this list?]
[Whether Mumu knows or not isn't important; what's important is whether Su Nianzhi knows.]
[I don't know what you are shipping. Jiang Rumu and Li Li haven't been on the same stage for two months, what kind of CP is this cold?]
Director Pei Zhao's voice-over sounded again.
"Alright, all nine guests have arrived. Welcome to 'Brave Blue Friends'."
The guests had just clapped in response when there was a sudden commotion behind them.
More than forty Firefighters lined up in two rows on either side of the garage, red fire trucks neatly arranged, engines off, warning lights on the roofs flashing.
Standing at the very front of the team was a man in his forties, crew cut, dark face, shoulders wide enough to block half a fire truck.
Station Chief Chen Tao.
He swept his eyes over the nine people, his gaze lingering on Li Li for an extra second.
Then he spoke, his voice heavy and oppressive β
"Hello, I am Chen Tao, Station Chief of Luohu Fire Station, Shenzhen."
"No nonsense. From now on, you are not stars, not athletes, not anyone."
"You are reserve Firefighters."
No one in the square spoke.
Station Chief Chen Tao raised his hand and glanced at his watch.
"The first Firefighter physical test will begin in half an hour."
He paused and added a sentence.
"Those who don't pass will need extra training! This show has no script; those who don't pass will keep training until they pass before they can officially participate in Firefighter training!"
The smile on Gu Zeyan's face vanished.
Jiang Shiyu subconsciously touched his meticulously styled hair.
Li Li took his backpack off his shoulder and looked at the people around him; it seemed like no one was particularly nervous.
It was as if they were all prepared.
[Ding β Almighty Entertainment System updated]
[Task Name: Brave Blue Friends, the goal is to embarrass friends]
[Task Description: Demonstrate your strength in the physical test, gain rewards based on your final score]
[System Evaluation: Just making friends embarrassed isn't enough, oh]
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