About 30 minutes into the show, the other nine groups of guests were still putting in their best effort to make calls.
In order to compete for the top three spots, they had completely humiliated themselves.
They had already given up on considering those who were worth billions. After all, those people saw them as fools.
Three groups of guests managed to invite those with a net worth of 300 to 400 million, while the other six groups could only invite people who were worth tens of millions.
Not only was their cash used to calculate their net worth, but assets like properties, cars, and stocks under their names were all included as well. Only then were did they have a net worth of tens of millions.
According to some, the winners had already been decided because having the capability of inviting people who had a net worth of more than 100 million was basically a sure win.
Hence, these guests did not carry much hope. All they did was call over a few of their close friends, who had a net worth of one million, to support them.
Since they could not compete with the top three, they might as well take the 200,000 dollar prize money and leave instead of humiliating themselves.
That was the mindset they had.
Not long after, many friends of the guests came onto the stage, one after another.
They then took out the items that the program team wanted them to buy and handed them over before they followed the program team backstage to clarify their assets.
In this digital era, anything could be found.
As long as the information was recorded, anyone could find out how many properties, cars, or money one had in their name.
Therefore, the program team was not worried that these people had faked it.
After all, no one would help a friend and then had someone else transfer the ownership of a car, house, or stock over to them.
Just like that, about 40 minutes of the program had passed and a set of data appeared on the screen.
In the first place, the guest was worth 1.7e.
In the second place, the guest was worth 1.2e.
In third place, the guest was worth 0.84e.
The top three contenders were very terrifying.
That was because this show was not like what it was before, which only needed a supporting video.
In the previous seasons, the 'supporting video' round was very different. The supporting videos consisted of, for example, the CEO of XX listed companies, the richest person in XX state, and an overseas financial tycoon.
It was no longer about what these guests did not have but what they could do.
There was even an international superstar in one of the seasons, and she added one billion dollars to the net worth of the guest.
At that time, the ranking of the second round averaged around several billion dollars. They had seen ten billion dollars in the show before too.
This time, although the first place's connections only amounted to a few hundred million, the connections were real.
That was because the friends they had invited had to help them with running errands. Those who were willing to help them with such a small matter were definitely considered their friends.
Hence, being able to break a hundred million under such circumstances was enough to prove that the guests of this episode were capable.
When it was 50 minutes into the program, a Mercedes-Benz arrived outside the television station.
The audience no longer paid attention to the other nine guests. In fact, they were restless.
"How boring. I really want to see our artist, Little Gates."
"I'm shocked. The program team has spent a lot of money to invite Gates... I mean, Little Gates!"
"I'm really looking forward to the artist, Little Gates here."
"I can't wait to see Little Gates."
"The program team really did put in a lot of money this time. I know that the fee for Little Gates is 50,000 dollars per appearance."
"50,000 dollars? Tsk tsk, the program team is really rich!"
"To be honest, I think instead of calling Little Gates here, you should call artist Gateson here. He looks more like Gates."
"You guys can mock him all you want, but when our artist Little Gates gets here, your jaws will drop. Hahahahaha!"
...
Endless taunts bounced back and forth, and the venue roared with laughter.
Upon seeing this, the director was helpless.
Even he could not help but mock. "This Thomson is really evil. Why did he have to mention Gates? Even if he made up a CEO of a company, I could immediately get the staff to sort it out. No one is really going to investigate it anyway!"
The staff members around could feel their head ache as well.
This Thomson was too much.
"Director, he's coming!"
Just as they complained, a staff member suddenly ran over and shouted.
As such, the director immediately gave an order. "Okay, quick! Send someone to escort him over."
As soon as he said that, a few staff members headed straight for the entrance of the city's television station.
The artist, Little Gates was then led to the live show.
However, a few minutes later, a Rolls-Royce pulled up at the television station while Jack Ma was walking into the building under the protection of his security personnel.
If it were any other time, Gates's arrival would definitely have attracted the attention of countless people. However, because the fake Gates was one step ahead today, the staff member thought that the real Gates was the artist, Little Gates, so they did not care at all. A staff member said nonchalantly, "Little Gates, the artist, right? Go to the recording studio on the 14th floor. The director has been waiting for you guys for a long time. Also, why do you need to make such a big fuss? Don't you want to save some money? How much does he earn for your company?"
The staff member looked at the Rolls-Royce and the various bodyguards and subconsciously thought that it was fake.
Gates thought it to be a little strange. His secretary and bodyguards were about to scold the staff too, but he stopped them.
"Let's get down to business first." Without wasting any more time, Gates took the elevator and then went to the recording studio on the 14th floor.