Chapter One: Unfulfilled Ambition

  Zhao Qingya and her group passed through the crowd of onlookers as if no one was there, walking out calmly.

  "It's simply too much! Does he think our variety show is inferior?! Wang Jue Ming glared at the seven figures entering the elevator, stomped his foot and shouted to the people around him "What are you looking at? Get back to your own posts! She didn't come, that's it! From today on, Happy Camp will absolutely not invite any artist related to her again! Anyone who spreads news about her, pack up and get out! Other guests, touch up your makeup! Prepare to go on stage!"

  "Big Brother Wang? This will offend Tian Guang and Zhao Qingya!" A fat man wiped a cold sweat and whispered, "Even if you're angry, forget it. Look at them, except for Zhao Wei, what can they compare to Zhao Qingya?"

  "Should we put them on the blacklist?" Another staff member of the production team whispered, glancing at Lin Xiao and others "Boss, we also know that Zhao Qingya did something wrong. We are angry too, but it's not worth offending a first-line star for this matter. How many big-name stars have been playing tricks in recent years? She is a guarantee of ratings. Can they guarantee us an additional 0.1% (percentage point) of ratings?"

  Wang Jue Ming glanced at them and said, "Old K, Fatty, you two have also been working here for several years, one in charge of ratings and the other in charge of camera work. You're both veterans! Although Hunan TV is a local station, it's not just anyone can come and mess around! If she gets away with this once, there'll be a second time! All in all, it's still not a big deal, otherwise even if he's a first-tier celebrity, he'd have to weigh his options. Would CCTV dare to do something like this?!"

  Fatso said reluctantly, "Or, let's make them look ugly? Let He Jiong and others have fewer topics to talk about. If Zhao Qingya sees it, she'll also know our sincerity."

  Wang Jue Ming's face turned cold. "Sincerity? This time, do as I say! No room for discussion!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked towards the scene.

  Watching him leave, Old K frowned "Relying on a few newcomers to boost ratings? Is the boss crazy?"

  "Yeah, it's all about fame. Who can compare to Zhao Qingya?" Fatso also sighed and said "In my opinion, this matter is settled if Zhao Qingya apologizes. Which TV station hasn't been played by a big shot? What can a few newcomers do?"

  "Yes, look at those people who were watching the commotion at the entrance earlier. They were shouting loudly, but later they will still advise Zhao Qingya to make amends. Such things are common in the entertainment industry. Harmony brings wealth, after all."

  "In this way, I'll try to take a slightly biased shot, so that when the truth comes out later, we'll have a way to retreat."

  "Xiao Ge, are you okay?" The crowd had just dispersed, and Li Hao and Chen Kun immediately walked in. Without Zhao Wei's leadership, no one gave way to them.

  As the crowd dispersed, he and Chen Kun immediately squeezed in.

  "No big deal, what's there to be a big deal about? But Little Swallow might have some trouble on her hands." He chuckled and said to Zhao Wei.

  "It doesn't matter, the relationship between our company and Tian Guang is already at its worst, losing one more person won't make a difference." Zhao Wei said indifferently "Hurry up and reapply your makeup, there are only fifteen minutes left before recording starts."

  "Well, I'm going. Today's matters, I remembered them. If in the future I can help you with anything, just let me know." Lin Xiao nodded seriously and walked into the dressing room.

  Zhao Wei just smiled, she became famous overnight, Little Swallow's natural performance was a stroke of luck. However, in the entertainment industry with millions of people, only she had such good fortune. Lin Xiao didn't know how many years or even tens of years it would take to reach her current status, so how could he possibly help her?

  After Li Hao left, Lin Xiao went in to touch up her makeup. Chen Kun then asked Zhao Wei, "How did you end up here? This incident will definitely be widely publicized by Hunan TV, and Wang Jue Ming's decision to ban all of Zhao Qing Ya's programs is set in stone. Why bother stirring up trouble?"

  Zhaowei said faintly "You think Zhao Qingya brought a new person onto Happy Camp, what about your matter?"

  Chen Kun didn't say a word, and the two of them slowly walked towards the front desk. After a long while, his low voice was heard, "There's no need to offend Zhao Qingya either. Let's wait until we've truly reached her level in the future, then we can take it back one by one."

  Seven fifty, producer, host, all behind the door, in front is just the front desk, and you can already hear the cheers of the Happy Camp audience.

  "Remember? Tell everyone the number of guests at the beginning, but don't mention why Zhao Qingya isn't coming. There should be fans of hers on site, don't stir up their mood." Wang Jue Ming once again informed everyone, then fiercely said "As for her reason for not coming, tomorrow's entertainment magazine and next week's Happy Camp will 'detailedly' explain!"

  Li Xiang and He Jiong immediately nodded in agreement. As the hosts of the same program, although they were not on the scene, they also felt the same way at this moment.

  "There's no Zhao Qingya, the ratings will inevitably be lower. Don't mind everyone, after all, there are very few programs like ours that maintain a 1% rating nationwide now. And this time it's live on site, relying on everyone's temporary performance..."

  "Lao Wang, I don't think this episode's ratings will drop." He Jiong suddenly said with a smile.

  Li Xiang also smiled and said "I think so too, at least it's a tie."

  Wang Jue Ming looked at the two people with doubt, although they were hosting a comedy show, but they would never be reckless in speaking about such things. Since they dared to say so, they must have their own confidence. He looked at them and indicated for them to express their opinions.

  "Old Wang, this time we've really dug up two treasures." He Jun pointed to Lin Xiao and the other person. "Especially Lin Xiao, I think it's a pity if he doesn't host Happy Camp. Many ideas, we didn't even think of them. And his performance has great stage presence, most importantly, the style is completely different from current entertainment programs. Anyway, you'll see later. Unfortunately, I invited him to be a regular guest, but this kid actually refused."

  "Li Hao may not be funny, but we currently lack a 'jinx' role. After discussing with He Jiong, we both think he's very suitable for it. He can just maintain his current image. Li Xiang also added: "Wang Zhi, after watching Hong Kong and Taiwan variety shows, I feel that we're still not open enough. This episode is a good opportunity to push out the old and bring in the new."

  "Both of them?" Wang Jue Ming looked at the two with a puzzled expression "A nationwide increase of 0.01% is already an unattainable amount, originally I estimated tonight's ratings to be around 1.1%. Can these two make up for the 0.1% drop due to Zhao Qing Ya leaving?"

  "I think it's worth a try." Chen Kun, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly spoke up. "Last time, the ad-libbing by everyone on stage, I think it would have a better effect if we did it live."

  Wang Jue Ming hesitated, the other side said so, meaning to give more shots, ask more questions to the other party, and let them take the limelight. This is what they would do when they want to promote a newcomer.

  The effect is very obvious, for example, after a program is finished, many people will remember one or two roles, but can't remember other roles. This is not the audience's memory problem, but the host and editing skills, subtly guiding the audience's emotions and perspective.

  He glanced at his watch, 7:58. He gritted his teeth, "Alright! But if the ratings drop, you're on your own to deal with the TV station."

  "OK." Everyone agreed, and Zhao Wei didn't have any objections either.

  "Come." Wang Jue Ming stretched out one hand. He Kuang and Li Xiang naturally piled up on top of it. Others seeing this, also put theirs up.

  "Happy Big Yard." Wang Jue Ming said a sentence.

  "Every day is a good mood!"

  "Let's start!"

  "Shua la!" The lights changed, and beams of orange-yellow light swept back and forth on the stage. The audience immediately applauded, and everything indicated that this episode of Happy Camp was about to begin.

  "Hello everyone! Have you missed us?" He Hong and Li Xiang emerged from behind the stage with a hearty laugh.

  At that time, Happy Camp had not yet taken shape and was not mainly aimed at students. The style of unlimited spoofing was not as prominent, and there were more audience members over 25 years old on the scene.

  "After a brief opening speech, He Jiong said to Li Xiang: 'As usual, it's time for our guests to appear. This time, which guests will join our happy family?'"

  As soon as the words fell, a wave of cheers erupted from below the stage, "Zhao Qingya!" "Zhao Qingya!"

  Wang Jue Ming sat in a position directly opposite the stage and immediately made a "let it go" gesture.

  After finishing, I looked back and unexpectedly found that the two rows behind were neatly dressed in green uniforms!

  "My god! What a big scene!"

  Receiving Wang Jue Ming's gesture, He Jiong nodded and said calmly "Firstly, let's welcome our handsome classmate: Chen Kun!"

  "That's amazing." Li Hao watched from behind as the two performed. "They just went through that, but now it's like nothing happened."

  "They can't let other things affect their mood, they're hosting a comedy show, if the audience doesn't laugh, it's their failure, so they absolutely cannot mess up. This is the basic skill of any performer." Lin Xiao said calmly "It's your turn now."

  As soon as Chen Kun came on stage, some flower girls immediately applauded warmly. And eagerly whispered to each other. When Li Hao came on stage, some girls even started screaming.

  "So handsome!" "Which star is this?" "I'm almost infatuated with them!"

  Lin Xiao watched all of this from behind the scenes. When he heard his name being called, he also walked out, but the cheers were not as loud as before.

  "First of all, I'm not a handsome guy. I'm just a bit more handsome than Li Xiang." Lin Xiao said with a smile as soon as he came on stage.

  "Oh? I really didn't see it coming, Lin Dashi is actually a woman." Li Xiang naturally hurried to add.

  "Good!" Wang Jue Ming's tightly furrowed eyebrows suddenly relaxed, and the audience below also burst out laughing in delight.

  A brief two sentences, opening remarks are not stiff, dare to interact with the host, but not excessive. Variety shows like such artists.

  "Can this kid really keep the ratings up?" He gestured to the camera crew, and immediately, the lens turned to Lin Xiao.

  "Does the boss really want to support him?!" Photographer Old K frowned, the camera had passed by, but in a place where no one knew, he lightly pressed the machine.

  Sometimes a small angle can make the whole person look like another person. Just like when filming, offending the lighting engineer guarantees that the person will be photographed as neither human nor ghost.

  "Zhao Qingya!" "Zhao Qingya!" The shouts came again. He Jiong was not flustered at all, and smiled as he said, "Next, please welcome the leading actress of this year's most popular TV series, 'My Fair Princess', Zhao Wei!"