Chapter 36 Part 2

Although platform heat calculations always contained some inflation, “Where Are the Cubs Going?” still broke Bai Yong’s own record for the premiere of a variety show.

But his heart didn’t ease much. After all, the first episode’s explosion was largely thanks to the anonymous forum serving up a freebie. Whether the ratings could be maintained was another matter; he needed to remain highly vigilant until the first season was completely over.

The first episode’s highlight version was split into two parts, airing Saturday and Sunday respectively. In the first half that went live, besides the father-son daily life of Ji Nuo with the cub, it also included a segment answering questions about Lu Ao’ao’s “big family.”

Even though the exposé thread meant almost everyone knew the child came from an orphanage, the official Weibo had announced it in advance. So, after losing its shock value, a short clip was still included.

The segment showed the production team’s pre-show visit to the orphanage, filming the orphans’ daily lives and footage of the orphanage auntie helping Lu Ao’ao pack his bag.

Pairs of curious, envious eyes flickered, sneaking glances at the camera. Some bolder children asked the staff: “If we’re on TV, will a dad and mom come to pick us up?”

Adoption for normal children from orphanages was actually relatively easy. Those who stayed long-term were often children with various disabilities.

Situations varied by region, and Cloud City Welfare Institute indeed faced such problems. So, the Dean agreed to let Little Friend Lu Ao’ao join the live variety show and cooperated with appropriate exposure, hoping to attract more kind-hearted sponsors and provide better conditions for these children destined to grow up in the institution.

Faced with these pairs of innocent, bewildered eyes, the staff didn’t know quite what to say. Lu Ao’ao, however, was a different case.

The child looked too much like a mixed-race kid. Although he was physically healthy, intellectually normal, and didn’t carry defective genes, when given a choice, ordinary families typically chose children who appeared purely Asian.

Because many families, after adopting, to avoid future rifts, would directly claim the child as their biological offspring.

A child like Lu Ao’ao, with gray-blue eyes and facial bone structure already hinting at future chiseled features, would make hiding his origins very difficult once taken home. The gossip and whispers from the environment would also be a test the small family would have to face.

After the kindly-faced Dean briefly explained the situation to the staff, the viewers before their screens couldn’t help but feel a pang in their hearts.

To exist in this world, family is the initial root system of every young life, yet these children were born like duckweed, drifting rootless…

Before the audience could lament further, the scene quickly switched to the room of Little Friend Lu Ao’ao.

The honest-faced orphanage auntie was rummaging through the children’s clothes in the cabinet. Kids’ clothes were good quality nowadays; they rarely wore out. Over the years, quite a few hand-me-downs had accumulated.

The orphanage had limited resources, but she still tried her best to find some presentable clothes for the child to take. Children have self-respect too, especially when facing other kids raised in luxury in celebrity families.

However, Little Friend Lu Ao’ao clearly had his own unique requirements: “I want this, this, and that. Not the black shoes, want the green ones with Tiga…”

Although the auntie had limited aesthetic sense, she knew that this little black potato, Lu Ao’ao, wasn’t well-suited for brightly colored clothes. But this child was new and had a strong personality, so the auntie decided to reason with him.

She laid the slightly fluorescent green T-shirt against the child’s arm, instantly making his already dark little arm look even darker. She smiled and asked: “Does Ao’ao think this looks nice?”

Comments immediately floated across the screen via danmaku:

[Wow, now I get why this cub looked so shiny black on the preview day—it’s this fluorescent green making it stand out!]

[Fluorescent colors are absolutely savage. Even pale skin looks bloodless in them. My wheatish complexion would look like I’m ready for burial the second I put it on /smile/ peaceful.jpg]

But unexpectedly, Lu Aotian admired it seriously for a while, then nodded with full satisfaction: “Nice! I’ll wear this tomorrow!”

The orphanage auntie and the danmaku fell silent together.

In the end, although the auntie allowed the child to dress like a fluorescent green little frog with a red-and-green mini suitcase, she still made an effort to stuff in some normally colored clothes.

After all, the orphanage’s stock of fluorescent clothes was limited. And she understood the Dean’s intention: even if being on TV didn’t help the child’s birth parents find him, it would be best to attract some well-off adopters who didn’t mind the child’s unusual looks.

Though the child’s skin was a bit dark, his features had a good foundation. But he couldn’t just be completely unrestrained!

Little Friend Lu Ao’ao’s unique aesthetic successfully dried the viewers’ moistened eyes. Immediately following, the scene shifted, jumping past the impromptu meeting between the intern father and son to the preparations made last Friday before departure.

It was clearly evident that compared to the prickly, bristling little pufferfish from the preview who resisted everything, Ji Nuo had already quickly captured half of Little Friend Lu Ao’ao’s heart with his cooking skills.

However, success and failure come from the same source. When the little dumpling learned they could neither bring his beloved pots on this trip nor were such pots provided locally, he instantly puffed up into an angry little pufferfish and turned to storm out, slamming the door.

Not only did he provide his own sound effects, but when facing another cameraman, he sternly demanded the man delete that segment. Of course, this whole process was left completely uncut, faithfully preserved by the chubby follow cameraman. The production team even mischievously added some villainous laughing animation effects.

The viewers nearly died laughing:

[Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha this cub is too hilarious, he even does his own sound effects! What kind of quirky little treasure is this!]

[hhh +1, and he really looks so much like Han Cheng! Ji Nuo seems so soft-tempered and huggable. Whether it’s natural looks or not, he’s genuinely handsome. How does every single one in this family of three hit all my buttons? I even want to watch the livestream now!]

[LOL, this intern father-son pair feels like real father and son after just two days. Meanwhile, next door at the Chu family, after a year of being related by adoption, they’re still like strangers. Seems like people really need a special fate to click~]

[The follow cameraman is so cheeky! Rewatcher here to drop a hint: this guy tricks the cub again later and films a super embarrassing moment!]

…

Because the anonymous forum smear post had generated such massive gossip interest, even viewers who hadn’t watched the livestream had some awareness of the cub’s luck after the post’s reversal.

But seeing the cub’s effortless operations paired with Ji Nuo’s culinary artistry in the highlights, contrasted horizontally with the miserable predicaments of the other three guest teams, they truly gained a deeper appreciation for the Koi Fish Baby.

Coupled with the trending topic Bai Yong opportunely bought—#CubGo ate a million-dollar Melo Pearl#—it instantly went viral across the web for its supreme luck. Even netizens uninterested in kid variety shows encountered related edited images and topics on their homepage.

#Repost this Ao’ao Cub for guaranteed wealth this year#

#Pray for Ao’s blessing!!#

#Ao’ao Sticker Pack#

#Little Chef Nuo’s House is worth having#

#Han Cheng your wife is fine, in a sec mine#

#Heavy reward for Thelephora ganbajun info#

#Non-experts advised not to watch Where Are the Cubs Going? late at night, easy to get so hungry your stomach can’t take it#

…

After getting the real-time online feedback, Bai Yong felt extremely conflicted.

Han Cheng, the trump card, hadn’t even appeared in the first half of Episode 1. Merely with Ji Nuo and Lu Ao’ao—one a scandal-ridden star, the other an ordinary little orphan—they had already achieved sky-high popularity.

He should be happy, of course. But in making shows, he always preferred a hundred flowers blooming. Even if perfect balance among four teams was impossible, one team couldn’t be allowed to dominate alone. This would be very disadvantageous for the subsequent advertising tie-ins and recordings supporting the program.

After all, he’d encountered too many force majeure incidents over the years. If something went wrong on Ji Nuo’s end, given their team’s current viewership share, the entire show would be ruined.

But what could he do!

This father-son pair was a walking heat-generating machine. Forget the audience—despite all his obstructions as the head director, they could still unexpectedly create viral sensations.

Take the mundane washing-up segment: first, Lu Ao’ao resisted, their father-son dialogue charmed everyone; then Ji Nuo sprained his waist and Han Cheng princess-carried him… Balancing the heat was too difficult.

At the very least, they needed to boost another team to match them. Initially, he’d favored Kang Feier and the wealthy young master, but things went completely opposite to his hopes. Xu Chengyi threw a rich boy tantrum and outright quit. Whether he’d come back to record was still uncertain.

Bai Yong always thought several steps ahead. So, before agreeing to let William substitute, he’d already prepared a backup plan.

He had high hopes for the flying guest scheduled to go online on Day Three. If the show’s effect was as satisfying as he wished, he planned to do some maneuvering and see if he could free up a fixed guest spot…

~

Under the careful watch of the big one and little one, Ji Nuo slept exceptionally well that night.

Part of it was the philosophical charm Marx brought, and another part was the natural white noise of the distant waves, which was also remarkably sleep-inducing.

The only drawback was not changing position all night, making his body feel a bit stiff upon waking. However, he did notice that the twisting, pulling sensation that had coiled in his flesh the previous night was almost gone.

“Bend to this degree, is it okay?”

Ji Nuo nodded: “Doesn’t hurt.”

Han Cheng wrapped an arm around his shoulder and slowly helped him up. Beside them squatted a sleepy-eyed cub, rubbing his eyes to look at Ji Nuo’s face. Confirming he wasn’t suppressing pain, the cub nodded too.

Han Cheng gently pressed Ji Nuo’s shoulder, gradually decreasing the angle between his waist/back and legs: “Tell me if it hurts.”

He pressed until the normal ligament tolerance limit for an adult male, and Ji Nuo still felt no significant pain. Han Cheng then tried helping him stand.

Ji Nuo carefully felt it out. Standing straight, he smiled: “Seems like it really is fine. Doesn’t hurt at all. Must have just been a sudden twist last night. After lying down all night, the muscles realigned themselves.”

Han Cheng nodded slightly: “To avoid habitual sprains, be more careful when exerting your waist these next few days.”

Lu Aotian squinted, glancing at Han Cheng. Did Stinky Little Brother really twist it? Or was he just cooperating with Han Cheng to fool him? Looking at the bath towel draped over him, probably not… He’d never seen him sleep wrapped in a towel before. Fine, he’d temporarily believe the trashy little star.