Chapter 30

With this lineup, the show was definitely going to be a massive hit once it aired!

She had genuinely looked forward to it, even timing the premiere and preparing snacks and fruit.

At first, things had indeed gone just as she expected. The show blew up the moment it premiered, but its later direction became increasingly baffling.

This actor was good! So good! So emotionally compelling! Though he was a newcomer, he was incredibly talented and would definitely advance smoothly!

Then what? How had he been eliminated? Those comments were completely nitpicking—they were bullying a newcomer!

Ah, she knew this young actor. He had always played supporting roles before, but his acting was amazing. He would definitely advance!

What? His acting was formulaic? Lacked originality? His movements were off? Did they even hear what they were saying? The audience all thought he was good, but they alone thought he wasn't??

Tch, although she really liked the character XX had played, why was his performance on this variety show so terrible...? Was he crying? Wasn't he actually laughing? And he wasn't serious at all. It felt like he hadn't even been acting earnestly.

...Someone with that kind of attitude actually advanced?!

There were plenty of other things that made Lou Xiaoxiao complain and feel dissatisfied.

Unfortunately, no matter how much she voiced her opinions beneath the official blog posts, the show's development was never something a mere viewer like her could control.

She had barely managed to finish the first season of The Actors. The final champion had been thoroughly underwhelming and wasn't the person the audience had wanted at all.

By the second season, Lou Xiaoxiao had opened it with the hope that things might change, only to find it utterly bland.

She felt that these people had created the show not for viewers like them at all, but purely to amuse themselves and feel good about themselves. It was like a workplace—old hands bullying newcomers, slick people bullying honest ones, those with connections bullying those without backing, while the higher-ups protected one another...

Uh, what was even the point of continuing this show?

Thus, Lou Xiaoxiao had no expectations whatsoever for the third season of The Actors.

But when she learned that the third season had set an air date, she couldn't resist clicking into the official blog to take a look.

And what did she see?!

Lou Xiaoxiao's eyes widened as she blurted out, "A livestream? Audience voting? They're inviting back popular actors from the first and second seasons who didn't advance to compete again, giving out the scripts and prompts in advance, using a random draw format, with limited preparation time and immediate performances for scoring, and... President Cai and Vice President Xuan are coming as judges too?!!"

"Ahhh!" Lou Xiaoxiao instantly jumped to her feet and screamed, leaping onto the bed and bouncing around. "That's fucking awesome! My President Cai and Vice President Xuan invested in this show and are even coming as judges! Ahhh! This time, it's definitely going to be a hit!"

Immediately afterward, Mother Lou grumbled as she pushed open the door. "You little brat, are you trying to get yourself killed? What are you yelling for? And you're jumping on the bed..."

Before she could finish, Lou Xiaoxiao rushed down and hugged her, saying happily, "Hehe, Mommy, watch it with me when the time comes!"

Mother Lou was utterly confused. Watch what? Was something wrong with this girl?

Not long after The Actors' official blog released its statement, the internet exploded as well.

Then Cai Jinbai and Xuan Yu once again shot up the trending searches.

Those actors who wanted to trend but couldn't: "..."

Comparing people really could drive one to death.

[What am I seeing?! The third season of The Actors actually got President Cai and Vice President Xuan to be judges?! Is this real? Two big-shot CEOs coming to your crappy show?]

[They weren't invited. According to reliable sources, President Cai took the initiative to invest in the show and made being a judge one of the conditions. But the director's ancestors must be smoking with pride—he hit the jackpot. With Jinbai Entertainment and President Cai's popularity, even if they hadn't invested and had only come as judges, the director would have welcomed them with open arms. After all, the second season was such a mess. Tch, there was really nothing worth watching. This time, I finally have something to look forward to.]

[I hope the third season of The Actors can make some breakthroughs and changes. It was such a good variety show concept—actors competing with one another through their acting, while audiences got to enjoy it. But what the hell happened after it aired? Capital interfered whenever it wanted, the production team's shady dealings never stopped, ugly ducklings advanced without a hitch, while the actors we liked were eliminated. I really want to curse the director to death. Though maybe that wasn't the director's intention and he couldn't resist capital, this show was your hard work! Were you really going to let people ruin it like that? Or were you willing to accept any amount of garbage as long as there was money?]

[I think the third season will definitely be different. Didn't they switch to livestreaming and audience voting? Although President Cai is capital too, looking at everything President Cai has done, every single thing deserves praise. Anyway, I'll watch the third season. Even if it's still just as terrible, I'd be willing to stare at the screen just for President Cai and Vice President Xuan's faces, hehe.]

[Me too! You normally can't even find photos of President Cai and Vice President Xuan. This time, I'm going to get my fill!]

[All I can say is, don't get your hopes up too much... The higher your expectations, the greater the disappointment. If the third season is still like the first two, then even with President Cai and Vice President Xuan bringing in traffic, no one will watch if no one wants to watch.]

[Holy shit, hurry and look! The official blog posted more news! This time, it really looks like they're going all out—they built a bunch of new soundstages and sets!]

Upon hearing this, netizens hurried to open the video.

—It showed the production staff building the sets.

The first two seasons had both been filmed in a studio. They weren't livestreamed, but prerecorded. They specifically selected classic scenes from formerly hit television dramas for the actors to perform. Though the costumes and styling were faithful and exquisite, the sets were crude.

This time, because they had chosen a livestream format, the time for styling had to be reduced. So they had flipped the arrangement around: the styling was simple, but the sets were faithful and elaborate.

The first two seasons had also provided the scripts in advance, allowing the actors to practice before taking the stage.

This time, although the scripts were also provided in advance, they weren't handed out one by one for each round. Instead, all the possible competition scripts and prompts were given out at once. The actors all had to prepare beforehand, then the livestream would randomly draw one, and they would perform on the spot, testing their ability to adapt.

Some of these scripts were classic scenes, while others consisted of only one sentence or a title. How they would be performed depended entirely on the actors' own abilities.

[This method may reduce the chance for shady manipulation, but it feels even harder than the first two seasons. If a scene isn't an actor's specialty, it's easy to lose points. And if they don't perform well on a randomly selected prompt, that's another way to lose points.]

[I like the livestream format. Prerecorded shows can use nonsense editing to fool the audience, or splice clips together to mislead them. This is much better.]

[I strongly demand more camera time for President Cai and Vice President Xuan!]

[Don't be so obsessed. This is The Actors, not CEO Show. We're here to watch actors compete with their acting.]

[Don't be ridiculous either. Without those two presidents, what you'd be watching wouldn't be actors competing with their acting, but capitalists sending out ridiculous ugly ducklings to debut. And the popular actors who regretfully left in the first two seasons wouldn't have been invited back.]

[Hehe, and those two aren't capitalists themselves? I'll just wait and see what they do after the show starts.]

Opinions online regarding Cai Jinbai and Xuan Yu serving as judges were mixed.

But that didn't stop the third season of The Actors from repeatedly trending after its official announcement, with its discussions and popularity soaring to the maximum.

Even passersby who had never watched The Actors before couldn't help becoming interested this time.

Not to mention the viewers who had followed the first two seasons. This time, they were determined to see what was so special about the third season.

Amid widespread attention and anticipation, the third season of The Actors began livestreaming across the internet as scheduled.

"Ahhh, it's started, it's started! Mom, hurry and watch! President Cai and President Xuan will be coming out soon!" Lou Xiaoxiao dragged her parents to wait with her in front of the television. Seeing the show begin, she was beside herself with excitement.

Mother Lou said, "What's so good about this? I don't want to watch. Change the channel."

"Come on, just watch for a little while. President Cai and President Xuan are especially handsome, and some actors you like are in it too."

Mother Lou said dismissively, "The actors I was fans of back then were what you called good-looking. These young people nowadays have greasy hair and powdered faces. No matter how handsome they are, how could they possibly—"

Before she could finish, Mother Lou stared at the screen and began to stumble over her words, unable to get the rest out.

Because Cai Jinbai and Xuan Yu had appeared. The high-definition camera thoughtfully gave them a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree, no-dead-angle shot, displaying their handsomeness from every angle. The show's set design had clearly been carefully considered. Against the backdrop, the two walked in relaxed, casual postures, yet looked as though they were striding down a high-end runway. Combined with the music and lighting, it was dazzling and intoxicating, making people's hearts race as they stared unblinkingly at the screen.

Lou Xiaoxiao lowered her voice, as though afraid of disturbing something, yet she couldn't suppress her excitement. "Ahhh, aren't they handsome?!"

Mother Lou came back to herself. "...Ahem. They're... they're alright, I guess."

Lou Xiaoxiao thought, She was clearly captivated too. Hehe, just keep pretending otherwise.

Father Lou thought, No one was going to ask for his opinion?

When Cai Jinbai and Xuan Yu appeared, countless viewers couldn't help sucking in a breath in front of their screens, because those two faces were simply too perfect.

Then they thought of their identities—wealthy men, CEOs, deeply rooted backgrounds, an entire office building of their own... Hiss, their lives were flawless too.

When the show began, Director Zheng had arranged for Cai Jinbai and Xuan Yu to make the final entrance.

These two were the biggest sponsors. How could they possibly come out before anyone else?

Director Zheng had been watching the data the entire time. The early growth had been steady, but the moment the two presidents appeared, both the number of online viewers and every other metric instantly surged dramatically. Topics began to emerge as well, and the buzz rose rapidly.

The assistant said in delight, "Director, the livestream has exceeded one million viewers!"

Director Zheng hurriedly said, "Keep an eye on it. Whatever happens, don't let the livestream lag."