Chapter 65
Whether or not to release the meteor shower—this was a question.
In fact, the production team had already been agonizing over this question for several days.
But now, hearing Goat ask it out loud, Sun Xinping still looked pained and conflicted.
This feeling of being threatened by a guest and remotely commanded was awful!
And what made it worse was that he was not even sure if it was actually a threat, or if everything was just his own imagination.
Goat jutted his chin, signaling for everyone to look at the screen. Shen Jinfeng and the others had already finished dinner and were slowly walking toward the beach.
The bullet comments had already started flooding the screen, all of them looking forward to the meteor shower.
Unable to bear it, he said, “Director, can you really bear to disappoint the guests and the tens of millions of viewers waiting for the meteor shower?”
And in the end, it might be more than just tens of millions.
Because ever since Shen Jinfeng released the news that there would be a meteor shower, it had trended that same day.
And today was the day he had predicted the meteor shower would happen.
Starting around five in the afternoon, the topic #WaitingForTheMeteorShower had already climbed onto the trending list again.
After three days of buildup, it was obvious that the closer it got to the time Shen Jinfeng had predicted, the more traffic flooded into the livestream room.
By now, the number of viewers had already surpassed yesterday’s same-time viewership by several million.
But it was still actually an hour away from eight at night.
It was foreseeable that in the end, if no meteor shower appeared in the livestream, the production team would probably shoulder most of the scolding.
Sun Xinping looked at the screen, then lowered his head to look at his phone.
It was 19:01.
He was still somewhat hesitant. Clearly, he was the director of this show. He had set up the virtual world and even implanted false memories and personas into the guests.
It could be said that in this variety show, he was the absolute authority.
Now, that authority was being challenged and was visibly on the verge of collapse.
But before finally compromising, he still had to struggle a little more.
Sun Xinping clapped his hands. “Come on, everyone, put down what you’re doing first. Let’s have a short meeting and analyze the pros and cons.”
Goat quietly rolled his eyes before raising his head to report, “Director, you guys have the meeting. I have to watch the livestream and stay ready at any moment. Once you have a result, tell me.”
Sun Xinping waved his hand. “Go.”
A group of resentful working people gathered in a circle again for a meeting.
It was already seven in the evening. The most annoying thing was exactly this kind of last-minute meeting.
Originally, once their work was done, they could just wait to get off work.
For the rest of the time, they could slack off a little, watch the livestream, and later watch the meteor shower and even make a wish!
If they had never seen a real meteor shower, fine. Were they not even allowed to watch a cyber meteor shower?
Therefore, the group called over for the meeting was not very enthusiastic. They only wanted to perfunctorily get it over with as quickly as possible.
After all, as ordinary working cattle and horses, they did not have the same sense of discomfort or desire for control as the director.
To a certain extent, they even knew a little more inside information than ordinary viewers and liked the guests a little more.
Anyway, liking the guests was better than liking the director.
So the core meaning they expressed was roughly:
“Forget it, Director. Whether we compromise early or late, we’ll have to compromise sooner or later.”
“Big Boss Shen is so amazing. Even if Big Boss Shen has noticed something is wrong, it’s fine if we just cooperate with his performance!”
“The guests are all such big names. In the future, everyone will still meet in the entertainment industry. Isn’t it better to build a good relationship first? Maybe we’ll be begging them to cooperate with us later.”
“I don’t understand or know what Big Boss Shen means either, but we’re already riding a tiger and can’t get off. Why make things hard for ourselves? Of course, if you want to gain traffic by letting the production team get scolded, that’s also possible.”
The head of the publicity team led his group in making contingency plans. “If we don’t release the meteor shower, based on the recent video views, topic discussion levels, guest follower growth, and heartbeat-value voting across various social platforms, our official account is estimated to receive over a million private messages full of curses and abuse every day for the next week. The colleague in charge of operating the official account will need to take some anti-stress medication in advance. However, for this situation, there is a good solution. We can set it so that users who don’t follow the account can’t comment. Then our official account has hope of breaking through ten million followers within the next week…”
He pushed up his glasses and analyzed everything calmly and systematically.
At first, Sun Xinping even nodded and listened to a few sentences.
But after a few sentences, the more he listened, the more wrong it sounded…
“Enough, enough, Old Qian. Are you supporting not releasing the meteor shower?”
He interrupted the publicity team leader’s analysis, so angry that his tone rose by three degrees. “Are you deliberately mocking me here?”
The publicity team leader smiled, his expression innocent.
“I’m not giving an opinion. I’m only providing data analysis for reference.”
“Director, you were the one who said that black-and-red popularity is still popularity. If our official account can gain ten million or even tens of millions of followers, we won’t have to worry about publicity for the next few seasons.”
“It’s just that I suggest you stay off Weibo during this period. It would be best not to go on at all. Because according to data analysis, your Weibo will receive…”
“Stop. Don’t say it!” Sun Xinping angrily called a halt.
“So all of you agree with releasing the meteor shower?” He looked around at everyone.
Not a single person disagreed?
The workers looked at one another, and no one spoke.
In the end, Xiao Li, the boldest one, opened his mouth.
“Director, mainly, I kind of want to see it too. From a viewer’s perspective, I don’t understand why we wouldn’t release it. A meteor shower falling over the beach, with the guests making wishes together—maybe it’ll become another famous scene.”
As a young artsy person, he already had the image in his mind, alright!
“With our guests’ looks, it’ll be more idol-drama than an idol drama.”
Sun Xinping could not help imagining it along with him, and he almost wanted to nod.
Old Qian slowly spoke, finally expressing a bit of his true thoughts. “From the production team’s point of view, releasing a meteor shower won’t cause any loss. It’ll just help Big Boss Shen build a little more divinity.”
Moreover, Big Boss Shen predicting the meteor shower correctly—
That was only the divinity seen from the viewers’ perspective.
Only they knew that if Shen Jinfeng’s true purpose was to test them, then his divinity had climbed at least another two steps.
Too terrifying.
Sun Xinping was a little persuaded.
Actually, he knew better than anyone that this meteor shower could not possibly not be released.
It was just that he felt unwilling.
This feeling of not being in control, of being manipulated by someone else—
He was a controller with the God’s-eye view, yet he had been hard-controlled by a player who was supposed to be completely kept in the dark!
Time ticked by, minute by minute, second by second, until it reached 19:58.
Goat turned back again to ask for an opinion, his eyes eager to try. “Should I start it right at 20:00?”
Sun Xinping closed his eyes. “No. Wait. Listen to my command.”
He opened both eyes, which shot out a sharp light. “Only start when I tell you to start.”
Only, no one appreciated his decisive authority.
Goat puffed up angrily and turned his head back around to continue watching the livestream.
“Oh.” His cold single syllable was left hanging in the air.
On the livestream screen, as the time reached exactly eight o’clock—
The bullet comments had already gone crazy.
At the exact minute of eight o’clock, all the netizens seemed to have agreed in advance and flooded the screen with the same adapted lyric:
[Watching the meteor shower with you, falling on this deserted island~]
The same sentence flooded the screen for a full minute, and then—
Not a single meteor appeared.
[Uh, pause for a second hahaha.]
[MD, got excited too early. It hasn’t started yet!]
[Calm down. Let’s listen to Big Boss and the others chat first.]
[Hahaha, they’re so comfortable. They’re all lying on the beach. I specially went to steal my grandpa’s lounge chair, and now I’m lying down watching the livestream too. Later, I’ll lie down and watch the meteor shower in sync with Big Boss and the others! Awesome!]
On screen—
Everyone lay on the beach. The night sky was a dark blue-black.
The moon hung high in the sky. The unpolluted air was fresh and sweet. Looking up, what entered the eye was a dazzling river of stars.
In real life, although with the development of technology, air pollution had been controlled to an extremely low level and the negative effects of light pollution had almost been eliminated—
Most people had still never seen such a brilliant galaxy.
Not only had the viewers watching the livestream never seen it, even the people on-site had never seen it.
Qi Xiu stared unblinkingly at the night sky. “When I was little, my master and I wandered from place to place. We stayed in all kinds of remote rural corners, but I’ve never seen this many stars.”
Gu Shengsheng nodded repeatedly. “Me too. I’ve never seen this before. It’s so beautiful! And because there’s going to be a meteor shower later, tonight’s sky is especially bright.”
He Erwang had a little more experience. “My grandpa’s house has an astronomical telescope. Even through technology, it’s not this clear.”
However, his thoughts were wonderfully strange. “Boss, lying here like this, I feel like the stars are about to fall right in front of me. If I climb that twenty-something-meter-tall coconut tree from before, when the meteor shower streaks past later, would it feel like I could pluck stars with my hands?”
Mo Fan laughed helplessly. “Wow, you really dare to think. We’re only thinking about looking at the stars, and you’re already thinking about picking them.”
Shen Jinfeng did not echo him.
After all, he had once stayed in a cultivation world. In that magical plane, one could reach out and grab a star.
When he had nothing to do, he had even created a river of stars.
He Erwang tilted his head. “That’s not strange, is it? Who hasn’t heard the saying growing up: wanting the stars instead of the moon? My dad often says: If you cry once, your mom would practically want to pick the stars from the sky and give them to you.”
“These adults all talk nonsense. They’ve said since I was little that they’d pick stars for me, but they never actually did. I took it seriously when I was a kid.”
Qin Ye teased him, “So when you wanted stars before, you often cried and fussed?”
He Erwang awkwardly touched his nose. “Damn. A hero doesn’t boast of past bravery. That was when I was ignorant.”
“Now, everyone around me praises me for being polite and sensible.”
Shen Jinfeng’s wandering thoughts suddenly froze for a moment.
“Polite and sensible?”
He Erwang suddenly looked a little guilty.
It seemed like he did often accidentally swear.
“Boss, I only swear occasionally because I’m too happy with you guys. I’m usually very polite.”
Pfft.
Qi Xiu and the others beside him could not help laughing.
“Hahahahaha, this is toxic! He Erwang, the people around you are totally fooling you! Although we haven’t known you for long, isn’t your personality completely the opposite?” Qi Xiu complained mercilessly.
Mo Fan’s voice trembled with laughter. “They can say whatever they want, but you don’t have to take it seriously hahaha.”
He Erwang’s expression froze.
“I’m not polite and sensible?”
Shen Jinfeng turned his head, looking at his incredulous expression.
He silently nodded.
He did not understand how someone could have such a factually inaccurate understanding of himself.
He Erwang’s family spoiled him too much. The people around him were also too good at lying with their eyes open, right?
He Erwang was struck as if by lightning.
[Hahahahaha, another day of laughing myself dizzy in the bathroom because of Little Purple Hair.]
[Who labeled Little Purple Hair as polite and sensible? The production team.]
[Laughed to death. Little Purple Hair actually still believes in his persona: polite and sensible. Did he forget that every other sentence, he often “accidentally” says damn? Did he forget that he makes a fuss every day about climbing trees, then asks Big Boss Shen to carry him down? Did he forget…]
[Stop wronging Little Purple Hair’s people. I believe even his parents can’t go against their conscience and say he’s polite and sensible! The reason he has these two persona traits is because his manager hoped he could transform a little on the show hahaha.]
[The funniest thing is Big Boss Shen and the others’ confused faces: Bro, are you kidding me?]
Gu Shengsheng also laughed twice, then suddenly said with some emotion, “Your memories are really good. I don’t even remember my parents saying things like that to me.”
“I don’t remember what my parents often said to me when I was little.”
Shen Jinfeng’s gaze sharpened. “You don’t remember at all?”
Gu Shengsheng hummed, then shook his head.
“It’s just a very vague impression. Maybe what they said most often was for me to study hard?”
He looked a little ashamed. “But I wasn’t very good at studying either. I was average since I was young.”
Shen Jinfeng asked softly, “Aren’t you preparing to go abroad? The pressure this past year should have been pretty high too, right?”
Gu Shengsheng froze. “It seems okay. I just went to class normally. My parents were the ones worrying and preparing all these things for me.”
Qin Ye also sensed something was wrong and was about to ask.
Gu Shengsheng’s eyes lit up. “I know what wish I’m going to make later!”
“If my parents could give me a little less money and instead tell me that if I cry once, they’d want to pick the stars from the sky for me, that would be great.”
He smiled a little embarrassedly and emphasized again, “My acting is pretty good…”
No, the last time he showed his acting, Shen Jinfeng, Mo Fan, and Qin Ye had practically all criticized him.
He changed his words. “My acting is average, but it’s still easy for me to cry.”
[Pfft, my tears were halfway down my face and then I laughed.]
[Sob, my Shengsheng. Even in the virtual world, he still wants care from his parents. But they don’t deserve it! That couple doesn’t deserve to be your parents!]
[Shengsheng’s wish is: less money, more love… But reality is, there’s no money and no love. Sigh. Getting stuck with such an original family is really something.]
[Gu Shengsheng, listen. If you still hold expectations for your parents after coming out of the show, I’ll rush in front of you and scold you awake!]
[Alright, let’s be a little happier. He listens to Big Boss Shen and the others a lot now. I’ve been an old fan for years, and it’s been many years since I last saw Shengsheng this happy. Big Boss Shen and the others are all clear-headed. If Big Boss Shen and the others speak up to persuade him, Shengsheng should listen and completely break away from the swamp.]
[Exactly… After hearing those people comment on his acting, Gu Shengsheng doesn’t dare say his acting is good anymore hahaha.]
On the deserted island—
After hearing Gu Shengsheng’s wish, He Erwang turned his head and shook his shoulders hard.
“Are you stupid? You’re making that wish to a meteor?”
“That’s such a simple thing. Are you too embarrassed to ask your parents for it? After we get out, I’ll go home with you. I’ll hint to Uncle and Auntie so they’ll say it to you.”
Gu Shengsheng was dumbfounded. “That works too?”
He suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment.
He Erwang did not think much of it. “Of course it works.”
“If your parents won’t, I’ll have my parents say it to you.”
He patted Gu Shengsheng on the shoulder and said proudly, “Anyway, you call me brother.”
Outside the screen, He Erwang’s parents, who heard their son suddenly find work for them: “…”
Ah, no.
When their son said this, had he considered whether they could say something so mushy to a stranger?
But, sigh.
Mother He thought of the information she had previously asked her secretary to look into, Gu Shengsheng’s experiences…
She sighed. “He’s also a pitiful child.”
Clearly, Gu Shengsheng had not heard anyone say they would pick stars for him, but after hearing He Erwang’s words, he was still moved enough that his face quietly flushed.
“Then I’ll make a different wish later,” he murmured.
He somewhat unnaturally turned his head back to look at the sky and urged, “Why isn’t the meteor shower here yet? Isn’t it eight o’clock yet?”
In reality, it was already past 8:40 p.m.
Hearing Gu Shengsheng’s urging, Goat jolted, and his program almost started.
He turned back eagerly again. “Director, can we start now?”
Xiao Li chimed in to assist. “The atmosphere is perfect right now. As soon as Gu Shengsheng finishes speaking, the meteor shower streaks by!”
“Netizens who think Big Boss Shen is amazing will praise even the meteor shower for having such good timing. Perfect time, place, and people. Famous scene!”
“Netizens who think our production team is secretly controlling it will definitely also think we’re really humane and know how to make things lively!”
Sun Xinping thought this made sense and was just about to agree.
On the screen, Shen Jinfeng suddenly spoke. “It should almost be nine. Let’s wait another hour.”
What he had said before was that the meteor shower would appear between eight and ten at night.
Sun Xinping’s movement froze. The words at his lips were swallowed again.
“Wait a little longer.”
Xiao Li could not hold back anymore. He roared irritably, “Stop waiting, stop waiting! Do we have to wait until the atmosphere is gone and everyone is disappointed before releasing the meteor shower?”
Old Qian, the publicity team leader, echoed, “Opportunity knocks but once. Once the guests and viewers are all disappointed, it won’t be interesting anymore.”
“Release the meteor shower while Gu Shengsheng still hasn’t decided on a wish yet, hahaha!” A staff member who liked watching drama without fearing chaos said.
Goat warmly reminded them, “The meteor shower can last a very long time. I set it for the whole night, but the main period is two hours, about one hundred meteors per hour!”
The team member beside him quietly muttered, “If we start now, it ends exactly two hours later. The guests can go to sleep, and today’s livestream can end too.”
The tide was hard to resist.
Sun Xinping’s tightly furrowed brows suddenly loosened. “Release it, release it, release it!”
“Goat, make a countdown. Let’s give it some ceremony too. When three, two, one ends, everyone makes a wish together! We’ll be even more punctual than the guests!”
“Yeah!”
“Long live the director!”
Goat took two seconds to react before turning back to operate things. He started the program.
“Coming, coming. Three, two, one!”
The instant the countdown ended—
On the deserted island, beneath the low-hanging night sky filled with twinkling stars—
Several meteors as bright as daylight abruptly streaked past, swift, sudden, beautiful, and dazzling!
“Ahhh, I wish to make a fortune this year and use my bonus to pay off my mortgage directly!”
“I wish to get out of singlehood this year. My boyfriend must be 188 centimeters tall, handsomer than Daniel Wu, with a supermodel body…”
“I wish my son passes the college entrance exam smoothly and gets into a 985 university!”
Amid a sea of worldly wishes, Sun Xinping’s wish—
“I wish What Kind of Person Are You has long-lasting ratings, climbs higher and higher and higher, and films for the full two months!”
His wish was so loud and so out of place.
The other staff members who were halfway through making their own wishes almost got stuck.
They all quietly glanced at Sun Xinping in unison, then quickly withdrew their gazes.
Cough cough. Not their business.
They would continue making their own wishes!
On the deserted island, it felt like less than a minute had passed since Shen Jinfeng had comforted everyone.
Everyone’s eyes flashed, and they saw the meteor shower drifting across the sky!
“Holy crap, the meteor shower really came! Boss is awesome!” He Erwang once again forgot that his persona was supposed to be polite.
Gu Shengsheng widened his eyes, closed them, then opened them again. “Oh no, I don’t know. When making a wish to a meteor, do you have to close your eyes?”
Shen Jinfeng stared without blinking at the meteors in the sky. A trace of surprise and understanding flashed through his eyes.
“Either is fine,” he answered.
So some of the others closed their eyes, while others focused intently on the meteors and began making wishes.
He Erwang said, “I wish my parents good health, and all my relatives and friends a long life. I wish Boss, Brother Ye, Brother Mo, Gu Shengsheng, Qi Xiu, and I will be true friends for life. I wish not to surpass my ancestors’ achievements, but to still have a successful career. I wish I get more and more handsome. I wish that after I get out, I’ll also have many true friends and smooth romance…”
His long, rambling list of wishes seemed endless.
[Hahaha, good grief. He Erwang, are you some kind of wish vending machine? I didn’t even dare make this many wishes!]
[Meteor: Can’t take it. Really can’t take it. To fulfill your wishes, I suspect we still didn’t bring enough meteors.]
Seeing the meteor shower, over a hundred million online viewers in the livestream also began making wishes in real life, some with their eyes closed, some staring unblinkingly at the meteors.
For a while, even the bullet comments quieted down quite a bit.
Only after several minutes did the bullet comments become lively again.
[Finished making my wish. I now feel so strong!]
[Finished making my wish. Finally, I can properly watch the meteor shower and enjoy the beautiful scenery.]
[Let’s hear what wishes Big Boss Shen and the others made!]
On screen, clearly, the guests had also finished making their wishes.
The others clearly did not do He Erwang’s bizarre operation.
Gu Shengsheng only made one wish. “I hope all of us will be true friends for life.”
He had changed his wish. He did not direct it toward his parents anymore.
Instead, he directed it toward this group of newly made friends.
It was as if he had changed the place where he placed his hopes.
Mo Fan said, “I hope the rest of my life will be smooth and no longer bumpy. I hope I have work, family, and friends.”
Qi Xiu’s wish was similar to He Erwang’s.
“I hope the old man lives a little longer and doesn’t counter me, so I can take him to enjoy life.”
“I hope I can hold onto Boss’s thigh for life and be lifelong good friends with everyone here.”
After earnestly stating his wish, he asked Shen Jinfeng and Qin Ye.
“Boss, Brother Ye, what about your wishes? Can you say them out loud?”
He Erwang’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. “You two must have wished that we’ll be lifelong good friends too, right?”
Qin Ye nodded and smiled as he looked at Shen Jinfeng. “Little Captain, can you say your wish out loud?”
Shen Jinfeng also nodded, responding to He Erwang and Qi Xiu’s question.
Although, for the matter of being friends, it was not enough to make him specially make a wish for it…
He looked distantly toward the sky. His expression was still relaxed and leisurely, and his tone was also calm and gentle.
Yet it frightened the production team and the viewers half to death.
“I want to leave this place.”
“It doesn’t have to be now.”
He lazily rested both hands behind his head, speaking to the sky as if discussing terms. “Can you give me a definite answer? Think of a way to hint to me how many more days we have to stay in this fake world?”
“Is there anything else you want us to do?”
