Chapter 5: Good News from the Variety Show

Lu Zhou stayed in his hometown for nearly half a month this time, becoming the subject of idle chatter among some of the more laid-back villagers during their mealtimes and tea breaks.

“That son of Old Lu’s family seems to have quit his job; he’s back home now, spending his days with some kind of instrument, singing and dancing on the rooftop. The village girls all love to climb up and watch him.”

“You just don’t know, do you? He’s a celebrity. There’s no such thing as a regular job for people like him. Do you think he’s like your son, reporting to the office every morning?”

“Celebrity? It’s just his parents bragging, and you believe it? He’s not even a little bit famous. My grandson looked him up online and couldn’t find a trace of him.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s not that easy to be a star. Is that world something regular folks like us can get into? Old Lu poured so much money into his son growing up for nothing. He’d have been better off letting the boy study properly and take a proper path, not sending him off to learn art.”

“Exactly…”

“But I’ll admit, Old Lu’s son is really good-looking. Doesn’t matter if it’s the old married women or the young ones, their eyes don’t leave him when he walks by.”

“What’s the use of good looks? Can’t make money, twenty-five and still living off his parents…”

“Haha, what’s that phrase—beauty is a curse? No, blue-eyed disaster!”

“Look at you, Er Gou, using fancy phrases like ‘blue-eyed disaster’…”

Rumors travel a thousand miles.

The ridiculous gossip about “Lu Zhou living off his parents, doing nothing, and seducing the respectable women of the village” soon reached the ears of Qin Fang and Lu Zhenkun.

Qin Fang was so amused she laughed out loud. After finishing her work and passing by the village entrance, she stood tall and made a pointed remark within earshot of the busybodies.

“Not every family has the means for their child to live off them, you know.”

“Some kids are just born with good genes—nothing you can do about it.”

The gossipers fell silent—who was this woman hinting at?

Back home, Qin Fang couldn’t hold back her anger any longer and shouted at the group of gossips, scolding them soundly.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but laugh and cry as he listened.

The trouble with rural life is that it’s hard to escape gossip; everyone knows everyone, and any small incident quickly becomes public knowledge.

It was an undeniable fact that Lu Zhou was handsome. After all, if he didn’t have the looks, Jinhua Entertainment would never have signed him to be an idol.

Still, Lu Zhou was a bit frustrated. Sure, he was good-looking, but not to the point of being some irresistible tempter of respectable women, was he?

At home, he hardly bothered with his appearance—how could that be called seducing anyone?

It could only be said… the women in the village simply hadn’t seen much of the world. In the entertainment industry, men as handsome as him were a dime a dozen.

Because of the rumors, Lu Zhou didn’t stay any longer in his hometown and returned to Jinghua City.

A couple of days after his return, Lu Zhou unexpectedly received a message from Zhao Xing, the producing PD of the show:

[Good news for you]

[After our production team’s unrelenting efforts, Li Jiayan has finally agreed to join the show with you as a former couple!]

It was indeed good news.

Previously, after Zhao Xing obtained Li Jiayan’s contact information from Lu Zhou, he’d soon informed him that she refused to appear on the show with him. Since then, the production team had gone quiet.

Lu Zhou had assumed that the show was definitely off the table, and had given up hope.

Who would have thought that, just after arriving back in Jinghua City, there was a sudden reversal.

What had changed Li Jiayan’s mind? Lu Zhou was a little curious, but after a moment’s reflection, he realized it didn’t really matter.

[Thank you, PD Zhao, and thanks to the whole production team for your hard work,] Lu Zhou replied.

Zhao Xing: [No need to thank us, it’s our job.]

Zhao Xing: [By the way, when are you available? We’d like to schedule a meeting at the production office to go over some important details about the show.]

Lu Zhou: [Tomorrow works for me.]

Zhao Xing: [Great! How about 10 a.m.? I’ll send you the address.]

Lu Zhou: [No problem.]

Zhao Xing: [Perfect, see you tomorrow! Oh, and remember to bring your ID card. If everything goes smoothly, you can sign the contract on the spot.]

Lu Zhou: [Understood.]

The next day.

Lu Zhou arrived punctually at the location agreed upon by the “Shall We Swap, Exes?” production team—the Orange Light TV building.

“Shall We Swap, Exes?” was a major new romance show launched by Orange Light TV, and the core team was based here.

The person who greeted Lu Zhou was Zhao Xing, the producing PD—a man two years older than Lu Zhou, but who looked at least a decade older.

After chatting in detail, Lu Zhou learned that each participant in the show was assigned their own dedicated PD, with no overlaps.

Zhao Xing would be his exclusive producer; throughout the show’s run, Lu Zhou could approach him with any issue.

Once they were acquainted, Lu Zhou started to address Zhao Xing more warmly as “Brother Zhao.”

Zhao Xing introduced him to other staff members, and together they held a small meeting.

In truth, the purpose of today’s meeting was to lay out the show’s rules—what participants absolutely could not do—and to ensure Lu Zhou could abide by them.

It was, in effect, the final qualification check: if both parties agreed, they’d sign the contract; if not, they’d go their separate ways.

After an in-depth discussion, both Lu Zhou and the production team agreed they could work together and signed the contract without hesitation.

“Lu Zhou, congratulations on officially becoming a cast member of our show,” Zhao Xing said with a smile, shaking his hand.

“For the recording, we may need you to provide some information or personal items related to your relationship with your ex-girlfriend before filming begins. We hope you’ll cooperate.”

“Of course, no problem,” Lu Zhou agreed.

“Are you free this afternoon?” Zhao Xing asked. “If you are, since you’re already here, why not do a preliminary interview for us? That way you won’t have to come back again.”

“That’s fine…” Lu Zhou glanced down at his clothes. “Do you have any requirements for appearance?”

“Nope, the closer you are to your everyday look, the better. You look great today, honestly. Or, if you’d prefer, I can ask a makeup artist to help you out?” Zhao Xing grinned.

Lu Zhou waved him off, laughing. “No need, I’m not an idol with an image to maintain. If you don’t mind, let’s just do it as I am.”

And so, Zhao Xing took Lu Zhou directly to the interview room.

Zhao Xing couldn’t help but appreciate how cooperative Lu Zhou was—working with him was an absolute breeze!

Compared to his colleagues, Zhao Xing found handling Lu Zhou to be smooth sailing—almost too easy.

Yet, perhaps it was this very ease that made Zhao Xing a little uneasy. Lu Zhou was so calm and agreeable; participants like him often ended up being rather unremarkable on screen, sometimes barely even making it into the final cut…