In late July, after the evening rain, the whole city was cloaked in a humid and hot breeze that permeated everywhere.
The "Love Hunter" show deliberately started filming in the afternoon, and by 7 p.m., the evening rush hour was at its peak, with fog blanketing everything and car tires rolling over the damp road surface and neon reflections.
The camera suddenly switched to a long shot, a black business van cutting through the night over the bridge, slowly entering the brightly lit island city.
The camera zoomed in, the light inside the van was dim, and the humid air grew warm with every breath.
Xu Qingyan was still in his just-awakened pose, his phone buzzed, and the screen lit up, instinctively squinting his eyes, his vision gradually sharpened, showing a string of unread message notifications.
The avatar at the top was a pink lotus in a lotus pond, with a rigidly composed message.
"The surgery costs 600,000, mom is fine, we won't treat it for now, you live your life."
"/Smile/"
The interior of the car was spacious and clean; he rubbed his face and looked around with bloodshot eyes. He first transferred some money, then he stiffly typed a reply.
"The medical bills are paid in advance, it would be a waste not to stay. I have a project at my company, after finishing this month, there will be a bonus of several hundred thousand."
"Mom, I'll figure out the money, I'll call you tomorrow."
He had no bonus; the day before yesterday, he had just been downsized by his company, hastily resigned with compensation. While he was scrambling to gather money, a call came in.
The person on the phone claimed to be the director of "Love Hunter," and after several rounds of selection based on the materials received, they had chosen him.
The director promised him one million, with a confidentiality contract, as long as he could participate in the recording of "Love Hunter," under the condition that he must play the part of an unlikable male guest according to the script.
At that time, he couldn't quite remember whether he had indeed applied to the show, but he knew he was out of options.
So without hesitation, he boarded the high-speed train bound for Xinghai City. Fortunately, the other party wasn't a scammer, Xu Qingyan caught the program team's car in Xinghai City and headed to the island city to record the variety show.
On the highway, half-asleep and half-awake, he had an absurd dream where a self-proclaimed time traveler with blond hair arrogantly stated that he wanted to take over his body.
Of course, Xu Qingyan refused. He had already been under severe mental stress these past few days, and without much provocation, he couldn't help but unleash all his anger on that person.
Engulfed in a blood-fueled rage, he fought with the lunatic, and in the end, unable to hold back, he smashed him to bits with a punch.
The next second, a barrage of unfamiliar songs and movie scripts flooded his mind.
He was a bit stunned, it took a while before he realized what had happened—had the yellow-haired young man triggered a Gold Coin explosion?
Although the quality of the songs flashing through his mind was indeed high, Xu Qingyan wasn't particularly surprised; after all, the entertainment industry in his world was also highly developed, with divas and movie stars as common as carp crossing the river.
Twenty years ago, Xia Country implemented a tiered movie-watching system and strengthened copyright laws, becoming a pivotal event marking the era in the entertainment industry. Thereafter, songs, movies, and variety shows flourished, ushering in the entertainment era.
Especially the love-themed reality shows, which had almost been completely played out.
"Ex-Change" involved going on a love-themed show with an ex, flirting with someone else in front of the ex, truly combining the taste of bitterness, sweetness, and wearing a green hat, where being serious means losing first.
"King of the Sea Island" featured a bunch of kings and queens rearing Gu, a competition between human viruses at the peak of the Forbidden City, and the victor of the Holy Grail War belonged to the King of Gu.
"Spicy Mom Villa" was about dating a friend's mother, truly living up to eating lemons and acting in unison, saying you're eating lemons while actually eating them, and showcasing how to steal from your old home while always protecting your mom.
"First Kiss, Then Love," get on board first, then buy a ticket, or better yet, dodge the fare and switch trains—life is too short to cause any suffering to our brothers and sisters.
A dazzling array of quirky love-themed reality shows, where anything you can imagine is possible.
That's exactly why the production team had to explore new tactics for stirring up drama. They not only adopted a live broadcast followed by editing approach but also released a series of jaw-dropping teasers in advance.
In plain terms, they first attracted attention, then brought on some extremely conflicting, high-valued handsome men and beautiful women to fall in love. Next, they added some ordinary people into the mix to stir the pot, provoking controversial discussions and stirring up emotions online.
When Qingyan woke up, the crew's vehicle had already left the highway, and through the window was the night cityscape with drifting rain, while soothing instrumental music played inside the car.
For some reason, just after waking up, Qingyan couldn't help but hum a melody that popped into his head, although he had never heard it before.
"Forgive the rain that took you away, on a night I suddenly awoke in darkness."
The driver in the front glanced at him through the rearview mirror, and Qingyan himself was stunned, because he couldn't sing at all. He was tone-deaf in singing, without any exception since childhood.
Taking a deep breath, he clicked on the second red-dot message.
Assistant Director: [Welcome to our show, "Love Hunter" is a program where..., the rules are four women and five men living together for seven days. Before meeting, the guests will choose to become a Love Hunter or a Gold Coin Hunter.]
[Your role is a special invitee Gold Coin Hunter. Please keep this hidden; the selection process will not affect your identity card.]
[If a Gold Coin Hunter successfully pairs with a Love Hunter, the Gold Coin Hunter can take home a one-million prize, and both parties will end their love journey and leave the show.]
[Note: If Gold Coin Hunters pair with each other and it's successful, it's still considered a loss. During the show, there will be a voting segment targeting Gold Coin Hunters, and those with the most votes will be eliminated.]
Qingyan glanced through it and thought, there's voting too?
However, he had signed an internal contract; win or lose, he would get one million. His task was to play a sharp-tongued male guest, who stayed on the variety show to take the heat.
The production team deliberately made the competition fierce, with four female guests and five male guests; it was already a case of too many wolves and too little meat.
Moreover, the exact number of Love Hunters and Gold Coin Hunters was unknown, and one had to wait for the guests to make their own choices before finding out. For a regular Gold Coin Hunter looking to grab the prize, the difficulty was way beyond average.
Not only did one need to hide their identity but also had to seduce a sincere Love Hunter.
The other guests either wanted to experience a sweet romance or were looking to form a 'couple' with a naive and gullible guest, aiming to take home the one-million prize.
Qingyan didn't care about winning or losing, getting a guaranteed one million, with a daily pay adding up to a hundred thousand. From the start of the broadcast, his job was to verbally spar with others, holding onto the hated-by-thousands script firmly.
Win? There's no chance of winning at all!
The director gave him a million, which was meant to create difficulties and topics for the other guests. Others might fear losing face, but Qingyan was only afraid of not putting in enough effort, which would make the money feel unearned.
As for the show's prize money?
If the director pocketed me, could I kick the director into a ditch?
This prize money, buddy couldn't get a penny, argh! If there was even a sliver of greed, one could be expelled from humanity!
The car soon arrived at the location for the filming of the show's teaser, a towering luxury hotel by the seaside.