Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore-Chapter 478: Industrial Saccharin — Recording the Show
"Sis, no need, I think things are fine as they are now. Everyone can just get along as a team. If we can't form this CP pairing, it's no big deal. The content is still more important."
Xiao He immediately expressed his polite refusal.
Not only did he say this, but he even straightened his posture, his expression so resolute he looked ready to enter a battlefield at any moment.
It was hilarious. Sister Liu was still in Beijing right now. If she found out he was involved in some CP marketing stunt over here, she'd probably rush back immediately and give him a tongue-lashing that would leave him utterly humiliated—of course, that was an exaggeration. Xiao He had never actually been scolded by Sister Liu before; at most, she'd just make a few sarcastic, insinuating remarks.
He was currently in his rising period. Getting involved in CP marketing would have a huge impact on his future career.
Furthermore, he was only the second male lead here. If even the official main pairing wasn't being marketed, what use was there dragging him into it now?
"Got it, don't be so tense. I was just asking casually," Yu Xuezheng stared at Xiao He for a moment, noticing his firm attitude, then shrugged somewhat regretfully. "Just as you said earlier, 'Cangyue Calamity' is an especially important project for many people. So, no matter what, they will still market this CP when the time comes. At most, they'll just lean more towards promoting the characters within the drama itself and reduce the interactions between the actors."
In other words, the two parties likely wouldn't have much offline contact. However, related topics and the heat for the drama's CP would definitely continue to be stoked later. This would also make it more convenient for the actors to attract fans.
No one knew exactly when this entire process became the basic operation for drama promotion. Basically, production teams, big and small, all followed this pattern: first market the CP, then hype the heat, finally attract fans, transferring the character's popularity and image onto the actors themselves. Then, they'd dissolve the CP, detach from the character, detach from the plot, each taking their share of drama fans and leaving the battlefield, heading towards the next promotional campaign...
In these CP marketing schemes, Yu Xuezheng was undoubtedly the one who stood to lose the most easily. After all, in the idol drama arena, she was considered one of the top-tier young actresses. Yet, not only did she have to carry an official pairing, but also several other romantic subplots. The actors she had to cooperate with included people like Jiang Chifei, an idol-turned-actor artist, which was essentially letting the other party come over and directly leech off her popularity. It could practically be described as tragic.
So, for a moment, Yu Xuezheng genuinely wanted to market a CP with Xiao He. At least Xiao He's status had already risen, his name recognition was high, his heat was strong, and his future looked promising. The role of Senior Brother, the White Light Moon, was also quite appealing to casual observers.
Unfortunately, Xiao He was extremely vigilant and resistant.
Seeing this, Yu Xuezheng felt it was inappropriate to bring it up again and could only say, "Among all the young guys I know, you're the only one who's truly one of a kind."
In the current domestic entertainment industry environment, those who could still persist in not marketing CPs were already very few.
Xiao He responded frankly, "Thank you, I think so too."
Yu Xuezheng finally fell silent.
-
That evening, the recording for 'Daily Happiness' officially began.
Just as Yu Xuezheng had said, Le Yuanbai and Jiang Chifei had both returned to their character states, showing no obvious signs of avoiding Yu Xuezheng for propriety's sake.
Furthermore, perhaps because Qiu Hua had noticed the "awkward" atmosphere between Yu Xuezheng and Le Yuanbai, most of the games chosen were of a more conservative type. There wasn't excessive physical contact or collision; they were more about mental battles and goofy, silly games.
Only during a middle segment involving a two-person team game, similar to what Xiao He had played when he came with the 'Starry Radiance' production team, did things get more physical. It was also the male side carrying the female side across an acupressure mat, then completing tasks together, clearing obstacles, and competing on speed.
This task was naturally the official 'Cangyue Calamity' pairing's moment to sprinkle sugar.
Although this sugar was quite forced, with an extremely high content of industrial sweetener, it couldn't withstand the fans loving it.
Xiao He silently observed and found that these two were actually much better than Su Shengxi and Yi Man'er back then. Back then, Yi Man'er looked down on Su Shengxi, and Su Shengxi, leaning towards his girlfriend-fan image, wanted to "maintain his purity," so playing games was very stiff.
Here, although this CP pairing—Le Yuanbai, following company regulations, deliberately kept a distance from Yu Xuezheng—when it came time to do the task, to get things done, he absolutely wouldn't be sloppy. His action of picking her up was very swift and clean; he wouldn't do things to deliberately make things difficult for the actress.
And Yu Xuezheng also kept a smile on her face, exchanging glances with him from time to time. Xiao He felt that if he were a CP fan, he might really be indulging in heavy shipping right now.
After all, the scene before him was of a handsome man and a beautiful woman, their gazes tangling with each other, as if everything around them had dissolved into nothingness.
Just like in 'Cangyue Calamity', the intertwined love of the male and female leads as they faced death together in the final cycle.
However, the reality was that he, having already seen through everything, stood to the side, cooperating with their performance, being a qualified member of the atmosphere crew. From time to time, he joined in the teasing led by the host beside him, creating a sweet, cozy, ambiguous atmosphere for the scene.
On this grand and hypocritical stage, everyone was a lucid actor—
After they came down, Yu Xuezheng even asked with concern about Le Yuanbai's condition.
Le Yuanbai smiled, a trace of arrogance on his face, deliberately similar to his 'Cangyue Calamity' character's persona, his tone slightly proud: "Sister Xuezheng, I'm fine. This muscle is meant to be used at times like this!"
Yu Xuezheng covered her mouth with a light laugh, her gaze falling on Xiao He.
Xiao He: ...Don't come over here!
"Xiao Xiao, I heard that last time you came to 'Daily Happiness', you directly carried Teacher Zhang across the balance beam with one hand. Is that true?"
Yu Xuezheng asked with a curious expression. "When Brother C.C. told me earlier, I didn't really believe it."
Brother C.C. was also a permanent host of 'Daily Happiness', possessing a naturally talkative personality and being able to take a joke well. So, many times when people wanted to throw out a topic or deliver a punchline, they'd use Brother C.C. as the vehicle.
As soon as Yu Xuezheng's question came out, Brother C.C. immediately and aptly picked it up: "Haha, Sister Xuezheng still doesn't believe it? Actually, even we here still can't quite believe it! Last time, Teacher Qiu was so startled by Xiao Xiao he almost reached out to catch the person."
Qiu Hua also chimed in at the right moment, letting out a bitter laugh: "Ah, later I realized I was being rash. Xiao Xiao is truly amazing. With my old arms and legs, if I had really tried to catch them, it probably wouldn't have been of much use."
"So, can you give us a demonstration today?"
Yu Xuezheng asked with a smiling, cheerful tone.
Xiao He fixedly looked at the woman before him, helplessly let out a light chuckle, pinched his own arm, and said with great regret, "Let's skip it this time. I've been frantically dieting recently, don't have much muscle left. It wouldn't be good if I ended up making a fool of myself. Better to leave my highlight moment back in that previous episode of 'Daily Happiness'."
Dieting? The dieting reason was naturally true.
Xiao He was going to join a production team later. The costumes there required him to be even thinner, which would make him more photogenic and less likely to appear chubby on camera. Otherwise, when wearing mechanical-type clothing later, it would look bulky and wouldn't allow for flexible movement during fight scenes.
Moreover, Xiao He had no desire to join their CP game.
So, faced with Yu Xuezheng's invitation, he could only say sorry.
Yu Xuezheng also seemed not to have expected Xiao He would so readily refuse an opportunity to show off his muscles. The smile on her face remained unchanged, but she followed up with regret: "That's really such a pity."
Another host immediately picked up the conversation with high emotional intelligence and showed off his own muscles: "Sister Xuezheng, I volunteer to demonstrate! Look at me! Today, these muscles were trained just for you!"
Yu Xuezheng laughed, making an astonished expression at the right moment: "Really? Then I'll have to take a look."
And so, the topic was smoothly moved past.
The rest of the program recording proceeded very smoothly.
A little over a week later, 'Cangyue Calamity' officially premiered, releasing four episodes on the first day. The latest episode of 'Daily Happiness' was simultaneously released on Saturday.
