Since we are both reborn, of course I would choose the rich woman!

Chapter 418 Lü Yao's Rejection (Mid-Autumn Festival Greetings 6k, Please Subscribe)

Lu Yao had already planned the script for the trip to western Sichuan before he even arrived. His idea was to create a highly immersive personal variety show through a pseudo-documentary format.

At the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, variety shows in China were very popular.

Among them, the one with the largest viewership was "Running Man" from two or three years ago.

Although the concept of Running Man was borrowed from overseas, this novel variety show format quickly attracted a lot of attention on the Internet and on TV stations as soon as it was launched, and the regular guests on Running Man quickly became popular stars with "semi-national" status.

How popular is this variety show? Ever since netizens saw the popularity of this new type of variety show, similar shows have started to spring up like mushrooms after rain.

Variety shows like "Go Fighting!", "Back to Field", "Qipa Talk", "Roast", and "Mars Intelligence Agency" have become increasingly popular, and the domestic entertainment market has shifted from focusing on TV dramas and movies to more short and fast-paced variety shows.

From 2014 to 2020, most of the public traffic in China was occupied by these variety shows. However, after so many years of variety show bombardment, netizens have actually become somewhat tired of this type of variety show.

For four or five years in a row, it was the same few people coming and going on the screen. The key point is that there were so many competing products at the same time. Who wouldn't get tired of it?
In addition, with the numerous scandals surrounding these celebrities and the fan groups stirring up trouble, creating a bloody and chaotic atmosphere in the entertainment industry, many netizens were already looking for alternatives as 2020 approached.

The explosive popularity of short video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou is actually a reflection of people's demands.

Amidst this massive influx of traffic, individual humor bloggers such as Handmade Geng, Three Sheep, and Reasoning Society have emerged. However, these humor bloggers still have a strong scripted feel, and watching them too much can become tiresome. This is a dilemma for artistic video creators.

Until the sudden emergence of the "Crazy Birth Sisters," a new path was opened up for later short video creators.

That is the path of "returning to one's true self and portraying reality" in comedy.

The initial rise to fame of the Crazy Sisters was partly accidental and partly a result of netizens' urgent need for "new entertainment." However, many of the Crazy Sisters' later jokes became increasingly scripted, to the point that the constraints and pressures brought by the "script" became unbearable for both sides, ultimately leading to their disbandment and cessation of updates.

But this approach of "returning to one's true self and portraying reality" is the right one.

This point was once again strongly validated by the "Abao Fangyuan" duo, which became a viral sensation in 2025.

Abao is a blogger on the internet who focuses on humorous anecdotes. He has many memorable moments that have gone viral, but he doesn't actually leave many real memories for netizens.

Fang Yuan is a beautiful woman from Chaozhou. She is indeed very pretty and delicate. Before interacting with A Bao, she had quite a few fans, but most of them were just lewd fans with no real value. People's impression of her was that she was pretty and not bad.

Similarly, netizens don't have any specific memory anchors for "Fangyuan".

But when these two bloggers, who seem to have nothing in common, collided, A-Bao's naturalness and unpretentiousness, along with his innate comedic talent, caused Fang Yuan, who had always presented a "refined and beautiful" image to netizens, to constantly break down and burst into laughter.

It was precisely these genuine displays of emotion, such as breaking down and laughing on cue, that garnered appreciation and praise from netizens. In the short span of half a month since their collaboration, both of them have seen a surge in followers, with A Bao gaining a million and Fang Yuan surpassing ten million.

The powerful combination of these two made many netizens realize that Fang Yuan is not the same as they imagined. She is very real, not a packaged, exquisite vase, not a puppet that moves mechanically according to a mechanism. A real beauty can always evoke people's inner emotions.

As for Abao, she was the catalyst for Fangyuan and a turning point in Fangyuan's internet journey.

However, without the support of a refined beauty like Fang Yuan, A Bao's humor could only be appreciated by herself within her own circle.

So what do netizens need most in the post-Internet era?
The answer is simple -

"reality".

By 2018, many netizens had realized that the so-called Running Man family and the so-called "family" were just a fabricated relationship. In reality, they were not so harmonious in private, and their relationship was complicated due to many entanglements of interests.

While many short video clips have their merits due to the personal qualities of the people appearing on camera and the limitations of the organizations themselves, they are essentially still small-scale products. Small-scale products may use a lot of ingredients, but using a lot of ingredients does not mean they are good.

The only way to compensate for products from small workshops is to present something that is authentic enough.

Lü Yao's current MCN is not a small workshop; his team has professional photographers, directors, lighting, costumes, and props, all assembled as a top-notch team.

He can communicate with the team to find the corresponding process to present any effect he wants.

This time, what Lü Yao wants to present is a sufficiently authentic account of his trip to Western Sichuan. Therefore, in this personal variety show about his trip to Western Sichuan, there will be many camera angles from Lü Yao's first-person perspective. Combined with scripted guidance and the natural scenery of Western Sichuan, a relatively authentic Western Sichuan will be presented.

At the end of 2017, the domestic tourism industry was indeed booming. An article titled "I hope to find someone like you. Like a refreshing breeze in the mountains, like the warm light of an ancient city" made the book "I Belonged to You" a bestseller and also boosted the popularity of Daocheng Yading.

Lijiang, Dali, snow-capped mountains, grasslands, and other famous scenic spots in China have become new favorites among urban elites.

After decades of rapid development in China, the emerging elite class has begun to no longer yearn for or yearn for the clean and grand urban life. They are starting to seek new happiness outside, with self-driving tours and couples' trips becoming more fashionable consumption patterns.

When Lü Yao was studying abroad, he started traveling around in 16. In 17, he traveled all over southern China. In 18, he witnessed the rapid rise of the tourism economy. The tourism economy was booming until 19, and even in 2020 and the following years, the tourism economy was still doing well.

Ma Hongyun only became a sensation in 2020. Since then, Ganzi has generated a tourism economy of up to 35 billion yuan just from Ma Hongyun's influence.

If Ma Hongyun had been discovered earlier, and the Hongyun Qitian Gu had been discovered and refined earlier, how much traffic would he have brought to western Sichuan over the course of two years? Lü Yao didn't know, but this outcome would have been achieved under his management.

Once the team was ready and all the cameras were in place, the accompanying director gave Lü Yao a thumbs up.

So Lü Yao picked up the camera, took a selfie with it, and walked around while filming, saying, "Hello everyone, I'm Lü Yao. Let me show you where I am now."

As he spoke, Lü Yao flipped the camera around to show the surrounding area full of Qiang ethnic customs. After filming the scene, Lü Yao flipped the camera again and said to the camera, "That's right, I'm back in western Sichuan."

As Lü Yao filmed himself with the camera, he chatted with the camera like an old friend: "Before the Lunar New Year, some fans and netizens asked me if I had encountered some trouble in western Sichuan, and there were also rumors that I had experienced heartbreak there. Here I want to clarify—"

Lu Yao stared at the camera and smiled, "That's not a rumor."

“I did experience some emotional ups and downs here before the Lunar New Year, but that experience also allowed me to witness the magnificent beauty of western Sichuan. So this time, I returned to western Sichuan to make a personal travel vlog to show everyone how beautiful this place is.”

This concludes this section.

Lu Yao stopped recording and looked towards the team director.

The director on the team was carefully selected by Lü Yao. His name is Lei Xiaoguang. He has hosted the filming of many official media geographical and scenic documentaries and also has experience in humanistic filming. With Lü Yao's script and control over the visuals, I believe they will definitely be able to produce a good program.

Director Lei gave Lü Yao a thumbs up again, affirming, "OK! The effect is very good! Wow, Mr. Lü, you're really something! Your expression is natural in front of the camera, your speech is fluent, and even your breathing is perfectly controlled! You're awesome!"

Lü Yao smiled and said, "You get used to cameras after facing them often."

After that, the group drove their SUV to the scenic spot to find Xiao Ayi.

Director Lei was busy throughout the journey.

He kept directing the accompanying photographers through the walkie-talkie, shooting aerial views of the off-road vehicle driving across the plateau, the beautiful scenery of the distant snow-capped mountains, the bumpy ride of everyone inside the vehicle, and Lü Yao's occasional words to the camera.
These video clips will be edited and mixed together in post-production to better present the scenery and customs of western Sichuan through the lens.

When Lü Yao and his convoy arrived at a nearby scenic spot from the village, Lü Yao spotted Xiao Ayi in the crowd at a glance.

Little Ayi, dressed in local traditional clothing, her hair styled in flower braids, leads a white horse and smiles warmly in the clear, bright sunshine of the plateau, taking photos with different passing tourists.

As the story was about to unfold, director Lei immediately put the cameras on standby, and they quickly began to move into position.

Some were taking pictures of people at the scenic spots, some were taking pictures of natural scenery, some were focusing their lenses on Xiao Ayi, who was interacting with tourists, and others were focusing on Lü Yao's back.

After Xiao Ayi finished taking photos with a group of tourists, Lü Yao called out to Xiao Ayi, "Ayi, I've come to see you."

Suddenly, Ayi heard a familiar voice in the crowd. She looked up, somewhat startled and surprised. The small girl began to look around in the crowd. Then, little Ayi quickly mounted her horse and saw Lü Yao outside the crowd.

The moment Xiao Ayi saw Lü Yao, it was as if she had seen a ray of light; her entire face instantly shone brightly, and even in front of the camera, it seemed as if a ray of light was bursting from her face.

"Brother Yao!"

Xiao Ayi exclaimed in surprise, then skillfully pulled on the reins, nimbly maneuvering the white horse out of the crowd, and then galloping past Lü Yao.

What a scene that was!

A young girl rides her horse, and a thousand mountains seem to recede into the distance.

With a joyful expression, the young girl, untouched by the dust of the world, spurred her horse forward, her clothes billowing, the cold wind whipping against her face as she charged toward Lü Yao.

When Director Lei saw Xiao Ayi galloping on horseback on the monitor, the hairs on his entire body stood on end. His bio-electric current surged wildly through his body, and his wildly expanding mental perception made his eyes even more focused on the girl on horseback.

This scene is so beautiful!

So much so that Director Lei couldn't help but let out a series of strange screams in the car! "Wow! Holy crap!! This is so amazing! Damn, this scene alone deserves an award!"

As Xiao Ayi galloped up to Lü Yao, she leaped off the white horse and, propelled by the momentum, fell directly into Lü Yao's arms.

This scene.

Naturally, this was also captured perfectly by Director Lei's camera.

Lu Yao hugged Xiao Ayi and laughed, "It's been a year since I last saw you. You seem to have grown taller and become even more beautiful."

Xiao Ayi's face has the typical dark reddish-brown color typical of people from the plateau region. Her healthy complexion, enhanced by her extremely happy smile, greatly enhances Xiao Ayi's charm.

She has grown into a very beautiful young woman.

A shy smile appeared on Xiao Ayi's face. After her initial joy, she shyly stepped back and asked Lü Yao, "Brother Yao, why are you back?"

Lu Yao smiled and said, "That's a long story, but the main reason I came back this time is to help you realize your wish."

A look of surprise flashed across Xiao Ayi's face, but the expression quickly faded.

……

Nighttime, in the warm room by the hearth.

Lü Yao and Lin Yongzhen invited Xiao Azhen's father to the greenhouse to discuss matters, and Director Lei's filming crew was also there.

They gathered here mainly to talk about Xiao Ayi's journey to live and make her way in the big city. Regarding Xiao Ayi's move to the big city, Lü Yao said that he could fully support Xiao Ayi's life outside, and even guarantee to provide her with a job, accommodation, and development funds.
However, Xiao Ayi's parents strongly opposed the idea.

Xiao Ayi's parents only speak some basic Mandarin, and they use Tibetan for daily communication. So when they get emotional, they start to express their thoughts and emotions in Tibetan at a very fast pace, gesturing wildly.

As Xiao Ayi, who was acting as the translator between the two groups, spoke to her parents in Tibetan, the more distressed and distraught she became. Eventually, she covered her forehead and face with her hands to hide her tears.

Her shoulders just kept heaving with each sob.

This scene is heartbreaking and saddening to watch.

The tense and silent demeanor of Xiao Ayi's parents made the atmosphere even more suffocating, creating a sense of oppression for those present.

Lu Yao couldn't help but ask, "Ayi, what did your uncle and aunt say?"

Ayi still covered her face with her hands, and a muffled voice came from under her hands: "They said I have to get married first, otherwise I can't leave here."

Lu Yao frowned slightly. Just as he was about to say something, before he could speak, Xiao Ayi's parents suddenly jumped up and yelled at Lu Yao and his parents in Tibetan. This left Lu Yao completely bewildered, while Xiao Ayi immediately stood up and stopped her parents.

At this moment, Azhu, who was the manager of the guesthouse, stepped forward and stood in front of Ayi's parents to protect Lü Yao and the others.

After a brief period of chaos, Ayi's parents were finally persuaded to leave.

The oppressive, heavy, and conflict-ridden scene was faithfully captured on camera by Director Lei.

Lu Yao, Lin Yongzhen, and Miss Azhu arrived outside the guesthouse. A new pavilion had been set up outside the guesthouse, with a fire pit inside. People could sit here to warm themselves by the fire and enjoy the night sky and stars on the plateau.

It's just that the weather is very dark today, with almost no stars.

Once outside, the guesthouse manager, Azhu, took out an e-cigarette, took a deep drag, and said, "This is how it is here. Ayi's parents don't have a son, so they have to make Ayi get married before they'll allow her to travel the world. And according to the customs here, Ayi can only marry someone from her own clan."

"Actually, they have already found a family for Ayi. That family has a lot of yaks and the people are very reliable."

Miss Azhu said through gritted teeth, "I never imagined that in this day and age, arranged marriages would still exist. Sigh!"

Lu Yao and Lin Yongzhen remained silent upon hearing this. Although arranged marriages were not good, life is full of various disappointments. Even in the relatively open-minded Jiangzhehu region, many families still valued matching social status when it came to marriage.

Girls from Suzhou will only choose boys from Suzhou or Dahai City.

Even daughters from wealthy families only glance at people within their own social circle.

The pursuit of matching status and wealth in marriage is one of the fundamental rules rooted in human nature.

This is life; it seems like anything is possible, but in reality, destiny is everywhere.

After thinking for a moment, Lü Yao said to Miss Azhu, "Azhu, could you go and call Ayi over? I'd like to talk to her some more."

Miss Azhu: "Okay."

Soon, Ayi was called over by Azhu.

Ayi still looked downcast, with tear stains still visible on her face. Looking at Ayi, Lü Yao said, "Ayi, you know me. I have the ability and the means to help you go out and live. What you lack now is your own determination."

“You’re an adult now, and you can take responsibility for your future. Whether you go abroad to study, learn something else, or start working now, I can help you arrange it. As long as you want, this world is your freedom.”

Lu Yao's words were very clear.

But Ayi remained silent with her head down.

Lu Yao continued to persuade him, "You don't need to be afraid of the outside world. I know many friends who can help you get to know the outside world. Once you are familiar with the outside world, you will know how big the world is and what kind of life you should choose."

After remaining silent, Ayi finally said with a mix of grievance and conflict, "I know what you said is true, Brother Yao, but my parents are here. If I leave, there will be no one to take care of them. I can't just abandon them like this."

Upon hearing this, Lü Yao's heart sank further; he realized that there was no point in saying anything more.

But Lu Yao still said in the end, "Ayi, our parents gave us life and raised us, and their kindness to us is as heavy as a mountain. But you must understand one thing: there is more than one way to treat our parents well. Although we were born and raised by our parents, we are not a continuation of their lives. We all have our own lives to live."

Ayi raised her head, her large, watery eyes glistening with tears and confusion.

She was too young and inexperienced to understand what Lü Yao was saying.

Lu Yao sighed and stopped insisting: "When you've thought it through, you can come find me anytime. You have my phone number."

After finishing his conversation with Lü Yao, he told Xiao Ayi to go back and rest early. Then he told Azhu and Lin Yongzhen to go and rest early as well, while he himself wanted to take a walk around.

Walking in this cold and desolate area, breathing in the frigid air, Lü Yao felt as if his chest was being cut by invisible, cold knives.

His footsteps rustled on the gravel ground.

In the remote, high-altitude pastoral village with almost no streetlights, his figure appeared so lonely.

After walking to the only streetlight in the village, Lü Yao stopped and found a relatively clean spot to sit down.

Throughout this process, director Lei directed the camera to follow Lü Yao, feeling that this solo journey perfectly matched the theme of today's filming.

Just as Director Lei was directing the camera to pan around and film Lü Yao, Lü Yao suddenly muttered to himself, as if speaking to the camera, when several people came to his side: "They say that all men are born free, but that sounds simple, and it's really too difficult to do. On this land, even if I can provide everything that people need for living outside, the people who were born and raised here can't let go of their ties to this place."

Tonight's experience made Lü Yao understand even more clearly what it means to "defeat the bandits in the mountains, but defeat the bandits in one's heart."

At Lei Dao's request, the camera was positioned to the side of Lü Yao, and at that moment Lei Dao was almost in sync with Lü Yao.

Lu Yao turned his head to the camera and said, "Perhaps my strength alone is limited, or perhaps it is easier to change the people's perceptions and ideas by letting people and information from the outside in. So, if there are people who want to make a small change to this world, please leave a message and speak out so that Ayi can see it."

After saying this, Lü Yao raised his hand to cover the camera, and at the same time, Director Lei shouted "Cut!" from behind the monitor!
All the footage shot today is perfect!
He was very satisfied!

Unlike Director Lei's smugness, Lü Yao was genuinely heartbroken. He was also a little angry at Xiao Ayi's hesitation. However, as he sat there and said those things, Lü Yao quickly came to his senses.

This is not Xiao Ayi's fault.

That's the fault of the world she lives in.

(End of this chapter)