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

Three hundred meters outside the south gate of the Bird's Nest, there is a Beijing-style copper pot hot pot restaurant.

The production team booked the largest private room on the second floor.

The eight people, along with Zhang Lei, Ma Li, and several core creators, filled a large round table.

The copper pot was already bubbling and boiling.

The first thing Chen He did after sitting down wasn't to eat hot pot.

He stood up, pointed at Deng Chao across from him, and spoke in a loud voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I have a formal complaint to file!"

Deng had just picked up a piece of mutton with his chopsticks when he paused.

"here we go again."

Chen He cleared his throat, his expression as serious as if he were making a final statement in court.

"Deng Chao, at around 10:40 this morning, near the inflatable ramp in Olympic Park, deliberately pulled on my waistband, causing my pants to fall down in public."

"There were no fewer than two hundred people watching."

"My cactus-patterned shorts were seen clearly by everyone present."

Wang Baoqiang almost spat out his soup.

He quickly covered his mouth, his shoulders trembling.

Deng Chao dipped the mutton into the pot without batting an eye.

"First, I pulled on your waist. Second, your pants were loose. Third, you wore those cactus-patterned shorts yourself, what does that have to do with me?"

Chen He slammed his hand on the table.

"It's my freedom to choose what underwear I wear! But exposing it to the entire nation is an infringement!"

Shen Teng sat next to Chen He, slowly picked up a piece of tripe, and dipped it in sesame sauce.

"Hehe, your pair of shorts might become a fashion milestone in the history of variety shows."

Chen He suddenly turned his head to look at him.

"What?"

Shen Teng chewed on the tripe, his expression serious.

"A cactus paired with a small sun – this color scheme is quite bold."

"Being seen by audiences across the country for the first time on an inflatable ramp was a very impactful way to make an entrance."

"I suggest you frame these underwear."

The private room erupted in chaos.

Liu Xiang was drinking water and almost choked.

Baby laughed so hard she lay on the table, dropping her chopsticks.

Zheng Kai pounded the table, laughing so hard he was hiccuping.

Li Chen held the bowl, unable to suppress the smile on his face no matter how hard he tried.

Wang Baoqiang laughed so hard he slumped into his chair, slapping his thigh repeatedly.

"Cactus! Frame the cactus! Hahahaha!"

Chen He was so angry that his face turned red.

He pointed at Shen Teng, his lips trembling.

"Shen Teng, you're my teammate! You're taking his side?!"

Shen Teng picked up a second piece of tripe.

"I'm not taking his side."

"I'm helping you plan your business value."

Chen He plopped back into his chair, picked up his chopsticks, and began to vigorously cook the meat in the hot pot.

One slice after another, after being cooked in the broth, I stuffed them into my mouth.

Deng Chao looked at him from the opposite side and smiled.

"Hehe, take it easy, don't choke."

"Mind your own business."

Chen He said vaguely.

"Only meat can comfort me now."

He swished seven or eight slices of fatty beef in one go, then scooped up two spoonfuls of vermicelli, and ate them with three sesame seed cakes.

Zheng Kai was stunned.

"Hehe, you're turning your grief and anger into a craving for food."

"right."

Chen He didn't even look up.

"Only when you're full will you have the strength to beat Deng Chao to a pulp in the second round."

Deng raised his teacup and offered a toast from afar.

"Wait for you."

Before the laughter had completely subsided, the topic naturally shifted to the morning's competition.

Li Chen put down his chopsticks and looked at Liu Xiang.

"Brother Xiang, was there any special technique to how you went up the slope this morning?"

Liu Xiang smiled and shook his head.

"No, it was all improvisation."

"But there is a basic principle: the faster you go, the greater your inertia, and the longer you can maintain your orientation on a wet and slippery surface."

"So the key isn't how you climb, it's how you rush."

Wang Baoqiang listened attentively and nodded vigorously.

"Brother Xiang is right! The first time I tried to climb, I just kept slipping and sliding, and I couldn't make it up at all."

"Later I tried to rinse it, but the mud was too slippery, so it was just a little bit off."

Liu Xiang patted him on the shoulder.

"Baoqiang, your skills are already very good. To be honest, today's game was more interesting than many of the physical training sessions I've participated in."

He glanced around at the people at the table.

"Real competition, real rivalry, not just going through the motions."

"This kind of program is completely different from sitting in a studio and chatting."

Deng Chao added a sentence.

"Brother Xiang is right. I've been acting for so many years and have been a guest on variety shows a few times, but I've never felt so energetic as I do today."

He paused for a moment and glanced in the direction of the door.

"I didn't quite understand what Director Chen meant by Variety Show 4.0 before."

"After running that race today, I think I understand a bit better."

Li Chen held the bowl and remained silent for two seconds.

"Me too."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was very earnest.

"Once you're on that track, no amount of acting skills or a persona will help."

"Pain is pain, tiredness is tiredness, winning is happiness, losing is resentment."

"It's all true."

Zheng Kai nodded vigorously beside him.

The private room was silent for a few seconds.

Shen Teng spoke slowly.

"So, Hehe, you prepared those cactus shorts especially for today, didn't you?!"

Chen He slammed his chopsticks on the table with a "bang".

"Shen Teng!!!"

The whole table burst into laughter again.

......

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Business hotels near the Asian Games Village.

The MC and guest stars went back to their rooms to rest.

Chen Yang's room is at the end of the corridor on the fourth floor.

He leaned against the headboard, eyes closed, his mind racing with plans for filming at the Water Cube that night.

"Knock knock knock".

The knocking was urgent.

Chen Yang got up and opened the door.

Chen Xi stood at the door, holding a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop in her arms, her expression tense.

"Director Chen, something's happened."

"Come in and speak."

Chen Xi plopped down in the chair in front of the desk and turned on the computer.

Two browser windows are open on the screen.

One is Tianya Forum.

One is Baidu Tieba.

"Director Chen, look."

She pointed to the pinned post on the Tianya Entertainment Gossip section.

Post title: [Breaking News] What program was filmed at Olympic Park this morning? Wang Baoqiang was covered in mud! And a young man's pants fell down!

The post was made around noon.

The post contained seven or eight blurry photos taken with a mobile phone.

The resolution isn't high, but you can still make out the outline of Wang Baoqiang, covered in mud, as he crawled out of the pit.

There is also a blurry profile of Chen He with his back to the camera, his cactus-patterned shorts barely visible.

The comments section has already scrolled through six pages.

"Hahaha, is that clay figure Wang Baoqiang?"

"What is CCTV doing? This is hilarious!"

"What show is this? Is it called 'Run, China'? It seems to be new."

"Who's that guy in the pants? That's hilarious!"

Chen Yang glanced at it and his lips twitched slightly.

"These are normal Reuters reactions, why are you so anxious?"

Chen Xi turned to another page.

"this."

It's Sina Blog.

A blogger whose profile identifies him as a "senior media commentator" has the ID "Guardian of Beijing Culture".

Title: CCTV's Decline: Making Olympic Champions Roll in the Mud—Is This a Variety Show or a Circus?

Chen Yang glanced at the main text.

The article is full of classical allusions, criticizing the new CCTV program for "undermining the national image with vulgar entertainment" and saying that "making Asian sprinters roll in the mud is a desecration of the Olympic spirit."

The post concluded with the line: "We earnestly request that CCTV leaders stop this program and restore a clean aesthetic space for the public."

Chen Yang didn't say anything and continued scrolling down.

There are already over two hundred replies in the blog's comment section, most of which are just following the crowd in criticizing.

"Well said! CCTV cannot produce vulgar content!"

"Has this director gone mad to send Liu Xiang into the mud?"

"I strongly recommend stopping the broadcast!"

Chen Xi looked up at him.

"Director Chen, this blog post has been reposted on several forums and is spreading very quickly."

"Knock knock knock".

The door rang again.

Zhang Lei pushed the door open and came in, his face looking grim.

"Director Chen, I just received a message."

He lowered his voice.

"Ma Qianshi from the editorial office somehow found that blog post and has already printed it out and sent it to the channel's senior management."

"What did you say?"

"They said we were making vulgar recordings in the Olympic Park and that we were involving Olympic champions, so the station should pay attention to the social impact."

Zhang Lei rubbed his hands together.

"Director Chen, my suggestion is to quickly use the public relations budget to contact the administrators of Tianya and Tieba to take down the Reuters post, and see if we can find connections to get the blogger to delete the post."

"Put out the fire first, so as not to affect the approval of the subsequent recording."

Chen Yang leaned against the table, his expression unchanged.

He glanced at Zhang Lei.

He glanced at Chen Xi again.

"Delete the post?"

"To reduce the heat?"

Chen Yang chuckled.

"Brother Lei, remember one thing."

"Free popularity is something that money can't buy."

"If anyone manages to extinguish this wave of popularity, I'll fight them."

Zhang Lei was stunned.

"What should we do then? What about Manager Ma...?"

Chen Yang raised his hand to interrupt him.

"I'll handle Ma Qianshi's matter. Listen to me first."

He turned to Chen Xi.

"Chen Xi, how many active Tianya and Tieba IDs do you have?"

Chen Xi thought for a moment.

"There are fifteen accounts on Tianya that have been nurtured for more than half a year, and more than twenty on Tieba."

That's enough.