Rebirth 09: Starting from taking charge of Running Man on CCTV

In Beijing in June, at 10 a.m., the sun is so scorching that it can make the asphalt roads shine.

Outside Exit B of Fuxingmen subway station, Zhang Lei stood at the top of the steps, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and four black plastic bags clutched in his hand.

Behind him were two cameramen carrying equipment, a sound engineer, and a production assistant holding a reflector.

It wasn't a large-scale operation, but it was sufficient.

Deng Chao led Baby, Wang Baoqiang, and Liu Xiang out of the nanny van, their faces looking as if they were going to the execution ground.

Deng Chao was the first to rush forward, looking around.

"Zhang Lei, where's Director Chen?"

"I'm home."

"What does 'going home' mean?"

Deng Chao's voice rose half an octave.

Zhang Lei stubbed out his cigarette and handed over four plastic bags without expression.

"Director Chen's exact words were: I won't participate in the punishment segment. Zhang Lei will be in full charge. Just make sure they don't escape."

Deng Chao took the bag, looked inside, and his face turned green.

Bright purple.

Tight-fitting.

The chest bears a huge, unflattering close-up photo of himself covered in mud.

Next to it is a line of large, gold-plated characters: "Run, China!" (CCTV Variety Channel).

"Where is he? Call him! I need to talk to him!"

Zhang Lei shrugged.

"My phone is off."

Baby pulled her own shirt from Deng Chao's hand, unfolded it, and saw that it was bright red, with a picture of her hair covered in water after being splashed at the Water Cube.

She held the clothes up to her eyes and remained silent for three seconds.

"Brother Zhang Lei, could you... choose a different photo?"

"cannot."

"Would you like to wear a jacket?"

"No. Director Chen explained that there is a thick lining inside, so it's not see-through."

Baby pursed her lips into a thin line and didn't say anything more.

Liu Xiang pulled out his shirt, which was fluorescent green with a classic image of him crawling out of a mud pit, his face covered in mud, on the chest.

He looked at it for two seconds, and then actually laughed.

"Fine, I'll go for it."

Wang Baoqiang was the most straightforward; he simply put the clothes on.

The purple bodysuit clung to his body, outlining his not-so-muscular physique, and paired with his extremely simple face, the visual impact was comparable to a circus poster.

He looked down at himself and scratched his head.

"I feel... pretty energetic."

Deng closed his eyes.

"Baoqiang, shut up."

10:40 AM.

Fuxingmen Station turnstiles.

Four people lined up and swiped their colorful cards to enter the station.

In 2009, the main color scheme of the carriages on Beijing's Metro Line 1 was gray, blue, black, and white. Office workers wore dark shirts, older men and women wore plain short-sleeved shirts, and the most fashionable thing students wore was a printed T-shirt.

The four people stood on the platform.

The entire platform fell silent for half a second.

Then everyone's eyes turned to look at them.

An older woman carrying a shopping basket was the first to speak.

"Which acrobatic troupe is this?"

Wang Baoqiang turned his head and showed the old lady a mouthful of white teeth.

"Sister, I'm not from a circus troupe, I work in television."

He took a stack of flyers from the canvas bag at his waist and handed them over with both hands.

"This is a flyer for our new program, from CCTV. Please take a look."

The woman took it with some skepticism and glanced at it.

"CCTV? Really?"

"Really!" Wang Baoqiang pointed to the logo on his chest. "Look, it says so on here."

The woman stared at his face for several seconds.

"You look familiar, young man."

"Hehe, I might have seen it on TV."

The woman suddenly realized what she meant and slapped her thigh.

"Aren't you the one... who played that simple-minded guy?!"

"Yes, yes, that's me!"

Wang Baoqiang's eyes narrowed into slits as he laughed.

The woman instantly became ten times more enthusiastic, grabbed his arm, and turned to shout towards the other side of the platform.

"Old Liu! Come quick! Shagen! Shagen's here!"

Within three seconds, six or seven elderly men and women carrying groceries surrounded them.

Surrounded by people, Wang Baoqiang smiled sheepishly as he handed out flyers one by one.

"You take one, and you take one too."

"Watch me on TV then!"

Zhang Lei squatted behind the pillar and made a gesture to the cameraman.

The camera quietly zoomed in, capturing a clear shot of Wang Baoqiang being surrounded by middle-aged women, earnestly handing out flyers.

There were no staged photos, no script.

This natural, grassroots appeal works better than any carefully crafted variety show segment.

The train is arriving at the station.

Four people squeezed into the carriage.

The moment the train doors closed, at least twenty pairs of eyes were staring at them from inside the carriage.

Deng Chao stood by the handrail, forcing himself to maintain the dignity expected of a movie star.

But the ugly photo of a face covered in mud on the chest of the bodysuit shattered all dignity.

A middle-aged man sitting in a seat looked up at him, then looked at him again, and then silently looked away.

Those eyes were filled with four words: unbearable to look at.

Baby stood in the corner, her arms crossed in front of her chest, wishing she could shrink herself into a ball.

The bright red bodysuit made her skin appear radiantly white, and her delicate features made her seem completely out of place in such an outfit.

The stark contrast between her appearance and her clothing drew several glances from female office workers in the carriage.

One of them took out a Nokia flip phone, hesitated for a moment, and then secretly pressed the shutter button on Baby.

The shutter sound wasn't loud, but Baby heard it.

She didn't dodge, but simply turned her face slightly to the side, revealing a helpless, bitter smile.

That expression was captured by the phone's blurry camera lens.

Jianguomen Station.

The car door opened, and a group of students carrying backpacks rushed in.

The boy in the lead had just steadied himself when he caught a glimpse of Liu Xiang out of the corner of his eye.

He was stunned for a full two seconds.

Then a scream pierced the entire carriage.

"Liu Xiang!! It's Liu Xiang!!"

The train carriage exploded instantly.

Seven or eight students swarmed around, not even bothering to put down their schoolbags.

"Brother Xiang! It really is Brother Xiang!"

"Oh my god, why are you dressed like that!"

"What kind of program is this?!"

Liu Xiang was surrounded, smiling helplessly.

On his fluorescent green bodysuit, his unflattering photo, covered in mud, was magnified to be larger than his face, causing students to laugh every time they looked at it.

"Brother Xiang, did you fall into a mud puddle in that photo?"

"Yes, I dropped it while filming the show," Liu Xiang nodded, his tone calm.

"What kind of TV show can make you fall into a mud pit?!"

Liu Xiang pointed to the logo on his chest.

"Run, China!" is a new program on CCTV.

He took a stack of leaflets from Deng Chao and distributed them to the students who had gathered around.

"Take it, watch it on TV later."

The flyers were snapped up in ten seconds.

Several students who didn't manage to grab a ticket pulled out their phones and started snapping pictures of Liu Xiang and the unflattering photo of his chest.

"Wait, wait, wait, you can take pictures of me, but don't just take this one."

Liu Xiang tried to cover his chest with his hand.

But the bodysuit was too tight and didn't cover anything.

The students burst into laughter.

"Brother Xiang! You're hilarious!"

"I'm going to post it on Tieba when I get back!"

Liu Xiang turned his head and glanced at Deng Chao.

Deng Chao returned his gaze expressionlessly.

That look meant, "Welcome to the Social Dead Club."

Dongdan Station, Wangfujing Station, and Yong'anli Station.

People boarded the train at every stop, and people gathered to watch at every stop.

Zhang Lei squatted in the corner of the connecting area between the carriages the entire time, with the cameraman standing behind him carrying a small camera, and the camera was never turned off from beginning to end.

He didn't shout slogans, didn't arrange the blocking, and didn't hand out lines to anyone.

Just watch.

Just keep taking pictures.

Deng Chao went from being completely stiff at first, to being able to strike up conversations with passersby at Wangfujing Station.

"Hey bro, grab a flyer and come watch our show later."

"Thank you for your support. It's CCTV, so you can watch it without worry."

His captain's instinct kicked in—since he'd already lost face, he might as well make the loss worthwhile.

Baby was surrounded by a group of female office workers who had just started their jobs at Yonganli Station.

They don't care about the show, they only care about one thing.

"How come your skin is so good? What skincare products do you use?"

Baby paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Thank you... I don't know, maybe it's innate."

That smile was genuine, soft, and carried a hint of shyness from being praised.

The office workers took out their phones to take pictures, and some immediately sent the photos to their colleagues via QQ.

"Look, there's a super pretty girl in a red bodysuit handing out flyers at the Guomao station!"

"What program? CCTV?"

"I don't know, but she's really good-looking."