After Meng Xu posted the filming schedule for the second episode on Weibo, there has been no further news.
There was no official announcement of new guests, no reveal of filming locations, and no trailers released.
That Weibo sat alone on the homepage, with hundreds of thousands of comments below urging him to update, but he didn't reply to a single one.
This has sparked considerable discussion online.
According to the common practice of variety shows nowadays, once a show becomes popular, new guests will definitely join in the next episode.
Even if they're not regulars, they have to be frequent guests, and each guest is a big name, as if the show wouldn't be worthy of its popularity without inviting a few heavyweights.
Many programs have gradually declined in popularity following this logic.
Big-name guests arrive, fans demand more screen time, then demand changes to the program's segments, and then the program's unique characteristics are lost.
Viewers came for the show, only to find it wasn't the same show anymore, so they left.
The celebrity guests' fans also left after the celebrities left.
It pleases neither side.
This has led to many programs initially having excellent ratings and novel content, but their quality declining after featuring big-name celebrities.
The popularity of " Travel to Those Little-Known Places " is undeniable.
Everyone thought Meng Xu would capitalize on the momentum in the second episode by officially announcing several high-profile guests, pushing the hype to another level. But he didn't.
The guest list for the second episode is exactly the same as the first episode, with no one added and no one removed.
This was truly unexpected by everyone.
In fact, those speculations online are not entirely unfounded.
Indeed, many artists' agents have been contacting Meng Xu. Some asked others to make the connection, some called the company directly, and some even flew to Meng Xu's city to invite him to dinner.
Meng Xu's WeChat friend request list contained dozens of strangers, each with an exquisite profile picture and an increasingly polite nickname.
He didn't pass any of them.
In fact, Meng Xu didn't mind adding people.
But he only judges people based on whether they catch his eye.
Whether a guest is popular or has a large following is not the most important factor.
Pei Yubai is already on this show. No matter how big the other celebrities are, can they be as big as him?
Moreover, the most popular person on this show right now isn't Pei Yubai, but Qiguan Yuan.
An ordinary person who doesn't even have Weibo, can't even use a mobile phone properly, and has never said in any public setting that he would appear on a TV show again.
But this ordinary person has fans who spend every day monitoring the show's official accounts, waiting for even the slightest chance of hearing any news about him.
Qiguan Yuan has only participated in this one program, and his fans can only watch it on this one program.
Moreover, Pei Yubai is also there.
Pei Yubai is Qiguan Yuan's publicly acknowledged boyfriend, so Qiguan Yuan someday.
The Xiao Yuan Grains can't run away; they don't want to. If they run away, they'll never see Qiguan Yuan again.
Therefore, Meng Xu is not in a hurry; he will only choose guests who catch his eye.
As for why there were no new guests in the second episode, the reason is quite simple.
It's simply because he's too busy and doesn't have time to deal with the polite exchanges and probing of those agents.
Moreover, in his view, if someone really wants to be on his show, why not come to him in person?
Sending a message or making a phone call doesn't show sincerity.
What Meng Xu hadn't considered was that it wasn't that the artists didn't want to come, but that they couldn't.
Young Master Meng usually lives a secluded life and his whereabouts are unpredictable; it's harder than climbing to heaven to see him.
Meng Xu wasn't particularly active in upper-class circles.
He's the kind of person who only gets interested in things for a short time, but he's also curious about everything.
You'll do what interests you.
Besides love.
Meng Xu seems to be naturally allergic to this stuff.
Meng Xu was indeed quite active in Pei Yubai's inner circle.
But it's only within that circle.
Outside of that circle, even if you're only one social class away, getting close to Meng Xu is incredibly difficult.
Those agents tried to get through several layers of connections but couldn't get a word in, let alone get to him directly.
The weather was great on the day the second episode was filmed.
The moment the live stream started, viewers flooded in like a tidal wave.
The screen remained black with a line of white text. "Live stream is about to begin, please wait."
The comments section was scrolling by incredibly fast.
[Here it comes! Here it comes! Here it comes!]
[The second phase has finally started]
[I waited a week, do you know how I spent that week?]
[ Pei Yubai, Pei Yubai ]
[ Shen Yuzhou's mom loves you]
[ Cheng Yanqiu!!]
[ Teacher Ji!!]
[Sister Lin Yanru!!]
[ Wantang!!]
[ Xiao Yuan Grains reporting for duty]
[ Xiao Yuan Grains reporting in +1]
[ Taro Balls reporting for duty]
[ Taro Balls reporting in +10086]
The scene changed.
The camera focused on the interior of the bus, where a few people were scattered around the seats.
Shen Yuzhou sat by the window, his head resting against the window, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open, fast asleep.
Cheng Yanqiu sat next to him, wearing headphones and holding a book, which she hadn't turned to in a long time.
Lin Yanru sat on the other side of the aisle, a notebook spread out on her lap, a pen in her hand, the nib resting on the paper, motionless.
She looked out the window, where the view changed from the city to the suburbs.
Jiang Wantang sat in the last row, holding a book with the cover facing down, so the contents were not visible.
Ji Shiyu sat two rows in front of her, holding a script in her hand, flipping through the pages intently.
The chat started counting the number of deaths.
[One, two, three, four, five, six... six people?]
[Where is Pei Yubai?]
[Why isn't Pei Yubai?]
[Is Pei Yubai not here?]
[No, Pei Yubai isn't recording for the second episode???]
The Xiao Yuan Grains are also searching.
[Where is Yuanyuan?]
[Without Pei Yubai, Yuanyuan would never have existed.]
[No, where did Pei Yubai go?]
Meng Xu's voice came in from off-screen; it wasn't loud, but it was very clear.
" Film Emperor Pei joined the crew a week ago. The new movie is about to start filming, and he needs to prepare in advance."
The live chat was filled with question marks again.
[You've joined a group? Which group?]
[It's a movie Director Song, right? Didn't they say he was filming one of Director Song's movies?]
[Isn't Director Song's film still in production?]
He always arrives at the set early; it's a habit.
This is an explanation from Pei Yubai's Imperial Fans.
Pei Yubai takes acting seriously.
[So Pei Yubai won't be in the second episode?]
[Without Pei Yubai, Yuanyuan would never have come.]
[Waaaaah, my Taro Balls!]
[The second episode of Taro Balls features a long-distance relationship]
[Long-distance relationship is hilarious]
Cheng Yanqiu took off her headphones and turned to look in Meng Xu's direction. " Teacher Pei isn't coming?"
Meng Xu's voice came through again.
"He's on set. Once everything's arranged there, he'll come directly to the filming location to meet us. Our episode is also being filmed there."
Cheng Yanqiu nodded and put the headphones back on.
Meng Xu's voice rang out again, this time addressed to Ji Shiyu: " Teacher Ji, you'll be going to the audition soon. Director Song has already made the arrangements; just go straight there when you arrive."
There was a moment of silence in the carriage.
The others glanced at Jiang Wantang, then looked at Ji Shiyu.
Shen Yuzhou woke up sometime earlier, rubbed his eyes, and mumbled, "Go for it Brother Ji."
Cheng Yanqiu and Lin Yanru also cheered for Ji Shiyu.
Ji Shiyu responded and then looked at Jiang Wantang.
Jiang Wantang lowered her eyes, then whispered to him, "Keep it up."
Ji Shiyu nodded. "Okay."
The car turned onto a side road.
The road is narrow, and the trees on both sides are dense, their branches and leaves intertwined, forming a natural arch overhead.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling the car window with a shimmering effect.
At the end of the road was a lake, its water so blue it seemed unreal.
The trees along the lake are reflected in the water, and the water's surface is ruffled by the wind, causing the tree shadows to sway.
A cluster of buildings sits on the lakeside, mostly two or three stories high, with white walls, gray tiles, and upturned eaves, looking as if they had been taken out of a traditional Chinese ink painting.
The car stopped in front of a white building. Meng Xu's voice came from the front, "We've arrived."
The car door opened, and fresh air rushed in, carrying the moisture of the lake and the fragrance of grass and trees.
The guests disembarked one after another.
Shen Yuzhou stretched lazily by the car door, almost hitting the person next to him with his arm, and quickly pulled it back.
Cheng Yanqiu stood behind him, patted him on the shoulder, and told him to move forward and not block the way.
Ji Shiyu the last to come down. His hand was still clutching the script, his knuckles white; he was somewhat nervous.
The comments section was filled with discussions about the filming location.
[Where is this? It's so beautiful!]
[There's a lake, trees, and white houses.]
[It seems to be a film and television base in Jiangcheng.]
[It's not a film and television base; I've lived in Jiangcheng for so long and have never seen this place before.]
[It's a newly developed tourist attraction, a less-known spot in recent years.]
A person wearing a hat walked towards the building complex.
The hat was made of straw with a wide brim, and a light blue ribbon was tied to the brim.
She wore a white cotton-linen shirt, a dark long skirt that reached her ankles, and flat cloth shoes. The skirt swayed gently as she walked.
She walked slowly, but her steps were light.
She stopped in front of the guests, pushed her hat brim up to reveal her entire face.
The comments section went silent for a moment.
[Isn't that the girl from Village Above the Clouds?]
[ Su He'an???]
[What is she doing here?]
[Is she a new guest???]
[No, she's holding a tour guide flag.]
[Is she a tour guide?]
Su He'an was holding a small flag with the program's logo printed on it.
She looked at the guests in front of her, smiled, and revealed two small tiger teeth.
"Hello everyone, it's a pleasure to serve you. It's nice to see you again."
Shen Yuzhou was the first to react. "What are you doing here? Weren't you at Village Above the Clouds?"
Su He'an pulled his hat down further to block some of the sunlight. "The Sisters' Festival in Village Above the Clouds is over, so I came out to look for work. Director Meng said we needed a guide here, so I came."
Her gaze shifted from Shen Yuzhou's face to Lin Yanru's face, then quickly looked away.
The camera scanned all the guests, finally landing on Ji Shiyu: " Teacher Ji, you need to go for your audition first. I'll take you there."
Su He'an turned around and walked towards the white building.
The guests followed behind. The photographer carried his equipment at the front of the group, his lens pointed at the road ahead.
The road is paved with bluestone slabs, polished smooth by the passage of time.
The white walls on both sides were covered with ivy, its leaves a bright green.
After walking for a few minutes, we turned a corner.
Viewers in the live stream caught a glimpse of a figure in that instant.
It wasn't that the guests saw anything; it was that when the camera panned around the corner, a splash of red appeared in one corner of the frame.
It happened so fast, less than a second, in a flash, as if something had grazed the edge of the lens.
Most viewers didn't even notice, but those Xiao Yuan Grains who kept their eyes glued to the screen, afraid of missing a single detail, did.
[Wait, what was that just now?]
[On the right side of the screen, at the corner]
[A flash of red]
[What is it?]
[It's not a thing, it's a person.]
[The person wearing red]
[Red clothes???]
Is it Yuanyuan???
[Unsure, it was too fast to see clearly]
[But Yuanyuan just likes to wear red clothes]
[It's not just Yuanyuan who likes to wear red clothes.]
[But that red color is very similar to the color of Yuanyuan's clothes.]
[Can the video be rewound?]
[How to rewind a live stream]
[ Meng Xu, please play the replay.]
[ Meng Xu: I am not your Xiao Yuan Grains's tool]
[Is anyone screen recording?]
[Recorded, reviewed frame by frame]
[Any results yet?]
Not yet, please wait.
The comments section was still buzzing about the red figure.
[That height is about the same as Yuanyuan's.]
[How tall Yuanyuan?]
[When standing next to Pei Yubai, he was half a head shorter, probably around 183 cm tall.]
[The figure appears to be about the same height.]
[But wasn't Yuanyuan supposed to have gone back to Cloud-Hidden Town? How come she's here?]
[He's here to see Pei Yubai, right?]
[Hasn't Pei Yubai arrived yet?]
[That makes even more sense; he came looking for Pei Yubai, but Pei Yubai hadn't arrived yet.]
What an extraordinary love story!
[Can you guys calm down? We haven't even confirmed if it's Yuanyuan yet.]
[I have already confirmed it]
[What you're sure of is what you're sure of.]
[It has been confirmed that the red color is Yuanyuan's color.]
[How come it's not considered certain yet? [doge emoji]]
The Xiao Yuan Grains are going wild in the supertopic.
Someone recorded that fleeting scene, taking screenshots frame by frame, dozens of them, until finally finding a blurry red glimpse in one of the images.
I couldn't see the face or the figure clearly; I could only see the color.
Someone posted in the supertopic: [This color is exactly the same as Yuanyuan's clothes. I saw his clothes at the Village Above the Clouds event, and it was this exact red.]
The replies below were all screams.
Meng Xu sat behind the monitor, watching the barrage of comments scrolling wildly in the live stream, and then glanced at the direction of that corner.
There was nothing at the corner except for white walls and ivy, with green leaves swaying gently in the wind.
He looked at it for two seconds, then looked away.
Su He'an led the guests through a long corridor.
The corridor is made of wood with a transparent glass roof, allowing sunlight to shine down and cast rows of shadows on the ground.
At the end of the corridor was a wooden door with a bronze plaque hanging on it, on which were engraved a few words.
Audition room.
Su He'an stopped, turned around and looked at Ji Shiyu. " Teacher Ji, this is it. Please go in, we'll wait for you outside."
Ji Shiyu at the wooden door, his hands hanging at his sides, his fingers gripping the script tightening and then loosening.
He folded the script, put it in his pocket, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
A familiar voice came from inside. "Come in."
It was Pei Yubai's voice.