Marry a female star at a bargain price

Chapter 316, Section 317: He was severely scolded.

The following day was Friday.

I went to work in the morning, had lunch, and then took leave in the afternoon to go to my "new home" in Dafeng Village to record a program.

Last weekend, Lin Xiao and his wife named their new home "Huanxi Residence".

The name originated from a rather haphazard conversation.

At that time, Han Xixi suggested first, "Let's give our new home a name?"

"Okay!"

Lin Xiao, lying down, casually replied, then asked, "What's your name?"

"I have no idea."

"Then don't get up!"

"Hey, how can you be so lazy?"

"I'm not lazy, and I don't have any ideas!"

"No, you do!"

"I……"

Lin Xiao looked up and met his wife's fierce gaze, swallowing the rest of his words.

I had to use my brain cells and think about it seriously.

"How about we call it Dafengju?"

"Strong wind? A strong wind is blowing?"

"What? Dafeng Village's Dafeng!"

"..."

Xi Xi was speechless. "No way, you've gone completely mad to get advertising rights, haven't you?"

Lin Xiao grinned: "How is this advertising! What's wrong with calling our new home in Dafeng Village Dafengju?"

Xi Xi frowned.

"Of course there is a problem!"

"what is the problem?"

"It doesn't reflect the unique characteristics of our home. We can call it Dafengju, and the other two groups of teachers' homes can also be called Dafengju!"

"Hmm...that makes sense!"

Lin Xiao nodded, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly snapped his fingers. "I've got it! Call it Happy Forest!"

"Happy Forest?" Xi Xi frowned, finding the name rather frivolous. "What does it mean?"

"We're very happy in our new home. My surname is Lin, so my name is Happy Lin!"

"Shouldn't it be called Happy Forest?"

"Isn't Happy Forest more retro, with a martial arts vibe!"

"why?"

"because……"

Lin Xiao wanted to explain, but then realized that there was no Gu Long in this world, so he swallowed his words.

He chuckled and said, "Because 'Happy Forest' sounds better than 'Joyful Forest,' don't you think?"

Han Xixi nodded in agreement.

"That's it?"

"Hmm...no!"

"why?"

"It's... really strange! Who would put the word 'happy' in their family name? It sounds so inappropriate!"

"Where is the inappropriateness? It's you who's inappropriate!"

Lin Xiao sat up, lecherously putting his arm around his wife's shoulder, "Tell me, what's on your mind? Share it with your husband..."

These were just casual banter between the young couple.

But now, in front of several cameras, and in the future, in front of tens or hundreds of millions of netizens, how can Xixi be embarrassed to say such outrageous things?

She immediately blushed, grabbed a pillow, and started hitting the pervert.

"Ah...ah...ah..."

Lin Xiao was beaten so badly he cried out in pain, and he was really happy now!

"You're talking nonsense!"

Xi Xi threw down her pillow in annoyance, "I said no, and that's final! You better think it over again right now!"

"Just think about it... why be so violent..."

"Think quickly! It not only needs your element, but I also need to be in it!"

"Oh……"

"No dinner if you can't figure it out!"

Xi Xi angrily rebuked him, saying that after being provoked like that, he had revealed his true nature and was simply throwing caution to the wind!
Han Xixi: Now this is what you call Happy Forest!
Lin Xiao lay on the bed, looking aggrieved. After thinking for a long time, he finally came up with a third proposal: "How about calling it Lin Xi Ju?"

"Lin from Lin Xiao, and Xi from Han Xixi?"

"That's right, simple and straightforward, how about it?"

"Hmm...it's not impossible, but it doesn't seem to capture the unique character of this house!"

"How is that not reflected? There's a mountain behind the house, and there are trees on the mountain!" Lin Xiao tried to argue.

"What about Xi?"

"Xi... there's a stream ahead!"

"It should be called Linxi Residence!"

"I have no objection, but then you'll say that my name was used instead of yours?"

"That's right..."

Xi Xi nodded seriously, thought for a moment, and then smiled and said, "Let's call it Huanxi Residence!"

Lin Xiao was taken aback: "Why did you remove my 'Lin'?"

Xi Xi's almond-shaped eyes flashed: "Are you that important?"

Lin Xiao immediately shrank back: "Insignificant, insignificant!"

Xi Xi immediately laughed.

"Huanxi Residence sounds better than your Linxi Residence, and it has a more antique feel. Plus, it doesn't include either of your names, which is fair!"

"Hmph, smuggling in personal agendas!" Comrade Lin Xiao was very indignant!
"Where did I include my own agenda?"

"Although it doesn't use any characters from our names, the character 'Xi' sounds the same as your name, so this name clearly favors you! Isn't this just a veiled compliment?"

Lin Xiao stood with his hands on his hips, clearly unconvinced.

Han Xixi smiled and spread her hands: "Well, there's nothing I can do about it, my name has so many homophones!"

"I also……"

"Um?!"

"Um, Huanxi Residence is great, exceptionally great!"

"Is it okay if I force you?"

"Not at all, not at all!"

Lin Xiao sat up straight, his face resolute, and said in a booming voice, "This name is both classical and elegant, and it even complements the babbling brook in front of our house. It's both refined and relevant to the theme, reflecting the author's profound literary cultivation. It makes me, a Chinese literature student, feel utterly ashamed of myself. My admiration for my wife is like a surging river, endless and boundless, and like..."

"Okay, okay, that's enough!"

Xi Xi quickly stopped, laughing triumphantly, "That's enough, or I'll fly away!"

Lin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, finally escaping with his life!

That's how the name was decided.

The name was decided last week, so the first thing to do when we started recording this week was to make a plaque by hand.

The production team has prepared the wood.

Han Xixi learned calligraphy from elementary school. He first used a brush to write the three characters "Huanxiju" on a piece of wood, and then Lin Xiao took over the rest.

He dabbled in carving with the village carpenter when he was a child.

Now I picked it up again and painstakingly carved out the words with a chisel and awl.

This is a delicate task.

Lin Xiao was working with great enthusiasm and didn't feel tired at all; in fact, he enjoyed it very much.

This is similar to why middle-aged men love fishing.

As people get older, they rarely have time for themselves. If there is something that they can do with complete focus and clear their mind, even if it requires some physical exertion, it is a very enjoyable thing.

Lin Xiao had this kind of mentality when he was carving the plaque.

His wife would come over from time to time to wipe his sweat, add water, and feed him fruit, which made him even more enjoyable. In a daze, he imagined: it would be nice to quit all my jobs and live here in seclusion with my wife and children.

However, I should just let this thought go.

It is precisely because of the hustle and bustle of the secular world and the rampant materialism that this occasional retreat from the world feels relaxing.

If it were like this every day, it wouldn't feel enjoyable; instead, it would be torture!

Lin Xiao quickly dismissed this delusion.

……

Lin Xiao spent the entire afternoon at his temporary workstation by the door, busy with his work.

Xi Xi then spent a very leisurely afternoon.

At five o'clock, she went into the kitchen and started preparing dinner.

After dinner was ready, the plaque carving was finally completed. Carpenter Lin even added his own touch by carving a simple sketch of a family of three in the upper right corner, with a little girl in the middle wearing two little pigtails and smiling broadly.

"Hmm, not bad... I give you a thumbs up!" Han Xixi said with satisfaction.

"I've been busy all afternoon, and all you do is give me a thumbs up?" Carpenter Lin was not very satisfied.

"Then what else do you want?"

"You should ask, what do you want me to do to like this post?"

"Hmm, what's the difference?"

"The difference is..."

Lin Xiao smiled slyly, then suddenly leaned in and gave his wife a light peck on her cherry-red lips.

The sudden noise startled Xixi, who instinctively glanced at the camera and her face flushed red.

"That's what you call a thumbs up, you know?"

"..."

She playfully punched Lin Xiao, too lazy to engage in his underhanded tactics, and knowing she was no match for him.

After fidgeting for a while, Xixi finally managed to suppress a blush and a barely concealed smile, and said leisurely, "Time to eat~"

The young couple went inside and sat on the floor in the living room.

It was exactly 7:30, and the first episode of "Longing for Married Life" was about to premiere on Hunan TV's prime time slot.

This is a moment that everyone has been waiting for.

At least that's how it is online.

As a non-celebrity top star, Lin Xiao's first foray into variety shows, and the several controversies he stirred up in the two months leading up to the show's recording, made it hard for busy working netizens to ignore.

The anticipation for the first episode of the show has reached unprecedented levels.

"Rebirth" will be broadcast simultaneously on TV and online.

Moreover, the TV station broadcasts it at 7:30, while the official website goes live at 10:00.

So, in order to see it for the first time, netizens actually stayed in front of their TVs to watch Lin Xiao and Han Xixi's variety show debut.

This is destined to be a Friday with everyone's streets deserted.

Lin Xiao and Xi Xi happened to be recording a program, and since they had nothing else to do, they watched the program with everyone, which was a way of sharing the joy with the people.

Five minutes after the commercial break.

The program started promptly at 7:35.

This was Han Xixi's first time recording a variety show, and she wasn't very confident about her performance last weekend, so she was very nervous sitting in front of the TV.

Lin Xiao, however, remained calm, appearing confident in his performance.

Xi Xi found this appearance quite strange.

"Brother, aren't you worried at all?" she asked curiously.

"worry about what?"

"I'm worried you won't perform well."

Is there any need to worry about this?

Lin Xiao looked completely calm.

Xixi was about to give him a thumbs up when he added, "My performance last weekend was definitely going to be condemned by everyone and the internet would be full of insults. There's no suspense at all, so what's there to worry about?"

Xi Xi was stunned for a long time: "...Huh?!"

She initially thought her husband's guess was an exaggeration.

From her perspective, apart from being late for most of the first day of filming and taking leave to work overtime on the second morning, her husband performed perfectly, calmly and without any problems.

As a newcomer to variety shows, or even to the entertainment industry.

Xi Xi was puzzled. Her husband's performance was excellent, and even if he took leave, it was understandable. Why was he being criticized by netizens?

Unbeknownst to her, she had made a mistake called "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and that the performance of Lin Xiao that she saw was completely different from the performance presented after editing by the program team.

With these questions in mind, the program began on television with the appearance of three groups of guests and cross-interviews.

Of course, there are only five people in the three groups of guests, and the most anticipated and popular guest, Lin Xiao, has taken leave.

The production team did not give any clear indication of this matter at the beginning.

Xi Xi was somewhat surprised.

If the TV had subtitles, the viewers' questions would probably be filling the entire screen by now.

Let's continue reading.

The rest of the content was relatively normal. The editing team adhered to the principle of "natural recording and authentic presentation" from the first three seasons. Lin Xiao's absence was also mentioned in Han Xixi's interview.

Lin Xiao didn't appear until about half an hour into the show.

Then, the couple presented the absurd scene of "door gods sitting quietly"—the two sat on either side of the door, barely saying a word, making the scene look strange no matter how you looked at it.

Xi Xi frowned.

She felt very strange: when she was recording the show, she didn't feel anything about this scene, she just felt relaxed and calm, but now that she was watching this scene from the audience's perspective, she subconsciously felt that the two people on TV seemed to have no feelings at all.

She found it outrageous, experiencing for the first time the coldness and distortion of cinematic language.

Now I understand a little better what Lin Xiao just said.

As the show progressed, Han Xixi lost all interest in watching the other two groups' performances and focused entirely on herself and her husband.

For the next half hour, Lin Xiao's performance could only be described as disastrous.

Of course, this is from the audience's perspective.

When he comes home from work, he sits down like a king and lets his wife cook for him.

After finishing his meal, he didn't even wash the dishes; he just lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep.

I slept until almost dark.

They get up and eat, but after eating, they still do nothing.

A completely healthy but useless person, or an old man who doesn't do any physical labor.

This image would be sure to get criticized online.

The key point is that Han Xixi went through the whole process without feeling that there was anything wrong with taking care of her husband. In fact, she was very willing and happy to do so, since her husband usually takes care of her more often, and it was a rare opportunity for her to take care of him.

However, netizens can't see their private lives; they only see these few tens of minutes captured on screen.

It's naturally difficult for everyone to make a fair assessment.

That's fine.

In any case, it's just a couple's way of getting along; one is willing to give and the other is willing to receive. No matter how angry netizens are, they can't really criticize anything.

But Lin Xiao's behavior at the six-person gathering the next day was the real disaster.

At the heart of this disaster was his head-on confrontation with rock legend Jiang Feng.

Han Xixi watched the whole thing and her face was filled with panic because the right and wrong presented on camera were completely different from what she felt on the day of the recording, and were even somewhat reversed.

During the recording, it was obvious that Jiang Feng was causing trouble for no reason.

However, in the broadcast, Jiang Feng's expression and tone did not seem so aggressive. This may be because this pioneering senior has always had this temperament. As a trainee and audience member, Han Xixi was already used to it, and netizens were naturally used to it as well.

Faced with Jiang Feng's questioning and provocation, Lin Xiao's response was "disrespectful," "arrogant," and "who does he think he is!"
When it's time to wash the dishes after the meal.

Lin Xiao abandoned the two male guests to make tea and chat with the female guests, a scene that even Xi Xi couldn't bear to watch.

The first episode ended amidst laughter and joy after the dinner.

Xi Xi's heart sank completely, and she had only one thought in her mind: It's over, I'm going to be cursed to death for the next three days!
……

Han Xixi's guess was absolutely correct.

In fact, even before the TV program aired, the hashtag "Lin Xiao acts like a diva" had already become a trending topic. It's unclear whether it was because netizens were too eager to criticize and couldn't hold back, or because various shady characters in the entertainment industry were watching from the sidelines and taking advantage of the situation to kick him while he was down.

The topic had already topped the trending searches as soon as the show ended.

Han Xixi didn't click on it because it was completely unnecessary.

At 10 p.m., Lin Xiao fell asleep with a peaceful mind.

She suffered from insomnia and hid in the living room alone, watching the show again on her phone with the subtitles on.

The production team finished filming at 9 o'clock.

Only a few fixed cameras inside the house are still working day and night.

Xi Xi isn't afraid of being photographed; right now, she's only concerned about her husband's position as the leader of the Beggars' Sect—this is something the whole internet is spitting on, and it's no less grand than the Beggars' Sect leader taking office.

The barrage of comments was overwhelming, with eight out of ten directed at Lin Xiao.

This level of prestige and scale is truly befitting of the show's bettor, the most popular contestant.

"Taking leave right at the start of the first phase? That's incredibly arrogant!"

"No, he really thinks he's someone important. Among the six people, who isn't more famous than him... except for Jiang Xiaofei!"

"The big shot is finally back!"

"What happened to your promise of an unbreakable bond? Why are you two so silent?"

"This couple doesn't seem to know each other very well..."

"Holy crap, is this guy treating his wife like a maid, making lunch and then dinner?!"

"Our Xixi shines brightly on stage, she seems so humble at home!"

"Now I know why Han Xixi stopped singing after having a baby. With such a demanding husband at home, how could she possibly have time to make a comeback!"

"Holy crap, this guy has absolutely no manners, he treats his wife like a servant!"

"You don't really think that someone who's single-mindedly focused on getting promoted would be a loving husband and father at home, a model husband, do you?"

"Variety shows are truly a mirror that reveals all; my illusions about this musical genius have been completely shattered!"

"Is Jiang Feng crazy? Why is he targeting Lin Xiao like this!"

"Holy crap, this Lin Xiao is way too arrogant. Jiang Feng is way ahead of him in terms of both status and works. How can he be so rude to a senior like him?"

"To be fair, Jiang Feng was deliberately stirring up trouble, but given the depth of his work, it's normal for him to look down on a pop song like 'Little Apple.' But why should Lin Xiao stand up to Jiang Feng?"

"Jiang Feng is just that straightforward. He's all about being genuine, unlike Lin Xiao, who's clearly unhappy but still fakes a smile and subtly criticizes others. He's really insidious!"

"As the host, she actually abandoned the two male guests to do the dishes and ran off to slack off? I've truly never seen anything like it!"

"Damn, this episode really made me furious!!"

"Lin Xiao is getting way too arrogant just because he has some talent!!"

"You're all too naive. If he were truly a good cadre with ideals, talent, and a deep love for the people, why would he agree to appear on variety shows to make money?"

"I was just too naive!"

"I don't care what kind of person he is, it's just a pity for Han Xixi, she met the wrong person!"

"Han Xixi also had bad luck with men? If it weren't for Lin Xiao, would she have the fame and popularity she has now, and would she have so many representative works?"

"I would rather not have career success that comes at the cost of a subservient family position!"

"..."

The barrage of insults was endless and varied.

Xi Xi frowned and clenched her teeth.

After watching it again, she realized that her legs were numb from squatting on the ground, and her hands had been clenched for an hour and a half, with nail marks all over her palms.

This is just the beginning.

Tonight and tomorrow will be the time when public opinion is most vibrant and intense.

With all netizens flooding in, tens of millions of mouths will join the flame war, and Lin Xiao will surely be thoroughly humiliated.

Xi Xi felt extremely nervous and uncomfortable just thinking about that scene.

This wasn't the first or second time this had happened to the couple.

Xixi had actually gotten used to it long ago.

But people, unless they're completely out of their minds, generally prefer to hear praise and dislike being criticized.

Anyway, Xixi can't stand being scolded even a little bit.

This time, instead of being criticized, many netizens spoke out in support of him.

But her own husband was inexplicably subjected to the relentless barrage of criticism from netizens.

It wouldn't be accurate to say it was inexplicable.

Because Xixi watched the show a second time, she noticed some clues based on her first viewing—her husband's annoying moments on the show were indeed quite different from his usual behavior.

Take cooking as an example.

Sometimes when he works late and comes home, I offer to make him a late-night snack, but he usually refuses.

If I get really hungry, I'll cook for myself.

Xixi knew that he was being considerate of her hard work taking care of the child and didn't want to put herself through any more trouble.

But once he appeared on the show, he seemed like a completely different person. He readily accepted the request to cook, and even went so far as not to wash the dishes.

Xixi didn't think anything was wrong at the time, thinking her husband was just too tired.

But now, amidst the furious online criticism, she hears her husband's steady snoring coming from the room.

She slowly realized something was wrong.

"Could my brother... he did this on purpose?"

Once the idea came to her, the more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.

And so, the anxiety, impatience, and panic in my heart vanished in an instant.

Back in the room, I lay down next to the man who was sleeping soundly, and soon drifted off to sleep myself.

This place is peaceful and serene.

The online world, however, was thrown into a frenzy by the premiere of "Rebirth".

Following the "Lin Xiao acting like a big shot" incident, within just four hours, eight more topics related to "Rebirth" trended on social media, six of which were directly related to Lin Xiao.

Weibo's traffic has experienced highly unusual data fluctuations.

It's important to understand that under the impact of short video platforms, Weibo has long lost its former glory. Its daily active users are now less than half of their peak level, and the peak of online users is generally around noon and 8 pm, after which the level declines steadily.

To put it simply, when it gets late at night, everyone who's still awake is scrolling through Douyin (TikTok), who has the time to go on Weibo?
But today, the data is contrary to expectations.

As midnight approached, Weibo's online user count and interaction data continued to rise, reaching their highest peak in two years.

And it's not just Weibo.

On other social media platforms, including Douyin, the topics related to the premiere of "Rebirth" have been rapidly gaining attention and attracting a massive amount of interest.

This night was destined to be a night of uproar and sleeplessness for the entire internet.

Of course, it was also a night when Lin Xiao endured a barrage of insults and, symbolically, had his ancestral graves destroyed.

The same is true for other social media platforms, and Hunan TV's official website naturally saw an even more explosive surge in data.

As of midnight.

Just two hours after the first episode of "Rebirth" was released, the show's popularity had already soared to an excellent score of 8000.

This data isn't the strongest among all the classic variety shows on Hunan TV.

But it has definitely reached the level of a "blockbuster".

Maintaining this level of popularity, it's entirely possible for the number of views to exceed 10,000 within 24 hours.

A viewership exceeding 10,000 is the only criterion for a program or drama to be considered a "major hit".

The first three seasons of "Rebirth" achieved this success only after the show was halfway through its run.

And now.

However, it is possible that this could be achieved within just 24 hours of the show's premiere.

The key to this achievement, which can be recorded in the history of variety shows, was a part-time musician who did not belong to the entertainment industry!

While excited, director Rutgers realized this and couldn't help but feel that fate was strange and destiny was playing tricks on people.

The online buzz continues to spread.

The anger of netizens remains strong.

However, what no one realized was that someone who didn't belong to the entertainment industry was changing the landscape of the entire variety show market through his casual actions and innate sense of variety, while simultaneously reshuffling the traffic circle, the music circle, and the variety show circle in an all-round way.

It's just that people don't know it yet.

Having witnessed and observed all of this, Lutdan was incredibly grateful that he had defied all opposition and chosen to sign Lin Xiao and his wife as one of the three guest couples for this season.

At the same time, she was also somewhat frightened, not expecting Lin Xiao's performance to be so amazing.

Lutdan could see that Lin Xiao's "suicidal" performance in the first episode was a way of sacrificing himself to create buzz and drive an explosion in data and viewership for the first episode.

This practice is no secret in the variety show industry.

Almost all variety shows do this, because only by creating drama can they attract attention.

In most cases, the production team writes a script and forces the guests to make fun of themselves and cause trouble, since no one wants to bring trouble upon themselves.

However, in the episode "Rebirth", Lin Xiao deliberately made himself look ugly, using his popularity and attention to provide netizens with a vivid target, allowing everyone to vent their anger and frustration accumulated in life on him.

Netizens vented their frustrations, and the show's popularity soared like an intercontinental ballistic missile, leaving everyone else in the dust and skyrocketing!
Even though Luttdam is a veteran in the variety show industry, she is known as the "female devil".

Seeing Lin Xiao's unrestrained and effortless mastery of uncanny methods, they couldn't help but be shocked and felt an unprecedented sense of awe.

Shocked.

She subconsciously guessed: Is Lin Xiao also the kind of person who is willing to make a fool of himself and bear a terrible reputation for the sake of traffic and popularity?
However, this thought only lasted for a moment before she dismissed it with utter contempt.

"This Mayor Lin, he clearly thinks, 'If I don't go to hell, who will?' His magnanimity is astonishing!"

Rutgers couldn't help but feel a deep sense of respect.

(End of this chapter)