Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

At the end of January, He Xu finally began recording the so-called "dating" variety show, "Hello, Fated Person".

On the first day of recording, at 7:30 a.m., He Xu had just finished drinking his first dose of traditional Chinese medicine for the day.

He screwed the lid on the thermos, placed it on the table, and glanced down at his suitcase.

The box lay open beside the bed, already mostly stuffed with toiletries, a change of underwear, a few changes of clothes, a charging cable, a laptop, earphones, and a pillbox.

The cameraman was a young woman in her late twenties named Luo, with a ponytail, standing at the dormitory entrance holding a handheld camera.

She turned it on the moment He Xu unscrewed the lid of the thermos.

She was actually prepared to wait a while—when filming a variety show, which guest doesn't take at least half an hour? Putting on makeup, changing clothes, and tidying themselves up in front of the mirror for ages.

When the door opened, PD Na paused for a moment.

He Xu was squatting on the floor folding clothes. He was wearing an ordinary black long-sleeved T-shirt, and his hair was unkempt with stray hairs casually falling over his forehead.

But the moment he looked up at the doorway, only one thought came to PD Na's mind—this face, no wonder he said "doesn't need any editing to look good on camera."

The face in the lens had a clear and sharp outline, with the curve of the brow bone casting a faint shadow in the morning light, and the lines from the bridge of the nose to the jaw looked as if they had been drawn with an extremely fine pen.

Because he had just taken his medicine, he frowned slightly; that expression would probably only look like impatience on someone else's face.

But when he did it, the slight upward curve at the corner of his eye gave that frown a kind of indescribable, vivid quality.

"Mr. He, please say hello to the audience first." PD Luo's voice came from behind the camera.

He Xu squatted on the ground folding the dark gray hoodie, without even looking up: "Still asleep."

PD Na chuckled: "So, do you usually wake up around this time?"

"I usually finish my run and shower by this time." He Xu folded his hoodie and stuffed it into the side pocket of his suitcase. He stood up, dusted off his hands, and said, "I canceled my morning run today because of the show recording, so I'm not feeling too clear-headed."

As he stood up, PD Na's camera panned upwards, from the suitcase on the floor to the defined waistline of the T-shirt hem, and then to his shoulders and jaw.

PD Na silently gave this shot a perfect score in his mind, and then continued to ask, "So, what are your expectations for the next three weeks of living together?"

He Xu walked to the table, picked up the bottle of perfume, twirled it in his hand, and thought for a moment: "My expectation is—that my roommates will be more normal."

"How so?"

"Otherwise, I might lose my temper and say something sarcastic." He stuffed the perfume bottle into the compartment of his suitcase, and added two more packs of magnesium aluminum carbonate and a box of newly prepared Chinese herbal medicine powder—Dr. Meng had specially changed the type for him so that he could drink it while recording the show.

PD Na's camera followed his hand, landing on the box of traditional Chinese medicine powder: "Teacher He, are you feeling unwell?"

"It's for regulating my stomach." He Xu neatly arranged the medicine box and zipped up the inner zipper of his suitcase. "I had a gastroscopy done before, and the doctor said that the mucosa was a bit atrophied. He prescribed Chinese medicine for me to slowly recover."

"So you'll continue drinking it even during the recording of the show?"

"Yes, just rinse it with boiling water."

PD Na pushed the camera towards the suitcase: "I see you brought perfume in your suitcase?"

He Xu paused for a second.

He glanced down at the light pink bottle he had tucked into the compartment, then looked up at the camera with a blank expression and said, "This is a necessity."

Why?

"...because the smell of Chinese medicine is too strong."

PD Na couldn't help but laugh out loud: "So you're trying to cover up the smell of medicine?"

"Yes." He Xu closed the lid of his suitcase, zipped it up, and leaned it against the wall. "Otherwise, I'll smell like I just came from a pharmacy."

PD Na continued, "So, what do you know about the guests this time? Did the production team introduce you to each other beforehand?"

"No." He Xu pushed his suitcase to the door, picked up the black windbreaker draped over the back of the chair and put it on. "I only know that there are five others besides me, from different industries, and I know nothing else."

He paused, his hand hovering in mid-air as he zipped up his jacket, and glanced at PD Na: "...What are your production team's criteria for finding people?"

"I can't reveal that beforehand," PD Na smiled professionally, "but you can look forward to it."

He Xu didn't press further, but when the zipper was halfway up, he suddenly spoke, his tone a little more relaxed than before: "I'm actually quite curious."

PD Na's camera panned slightly, as if trying to capture the subtle change in his tone: "Curious about what?"

"What would it be like if people from different industries got together?" He Xu zipped up his jacket, turned his head to look at the camera, and thought for a moment. "Lawyers, doctors, teachers—how these people talk and interact is probably completely different from the people I know in my industry."

He paused, then added, "It should be—quite interesting."

PD Na looked through the viewfinder at his face, which had softened slightly from deep thought, and continued, "Have you considered what to do if you encounter someone who's overly friendly and tries to strike up a conversation with you right away?"

He Xu's expression returned to its usual calm and even state, but the curve of his lips did not completely disappear.

"...That depends on how familiar they are with me." He thought for a moment. "If it's the kind of person who sits down and wants to talk to me about life ideals, I might make an excuse to go to the bathroom. But if it's just normal conversation, I'm not against it."

"If they're the quiet type who doesn't like to talk, would you take the initiative to break the ice?"

"Do I look like that kind of person to you?" He Xu pulled out the handle of his suitcase and tilted his head to look at the camera.

PD Na followed him toward the dormitory entrance, and the camera kept filming.

"One last question—what are your goals for this recording?"

He Xu stood at the doorway and glanced at the gray sky outside the window at the end of the corridor.

The sky was overcast, a thin layer of snow had accumulated on the windowsill, and a cold wind seeped in through the cracks in the window, making the corridor chilly.

"The goal is—to avoid stomach problems, stop taking medication, and not go crazy after three weeks." He gripped the handle of his suitcase, turned his head towards the camera, and added, "Also, not to die in front of the camera."

"Social death?"

"My agent told me this show is a social program, but didn't mention whether there's a dating component," He Xu said calmly, pushing his suitcase towards the elevator. "I still don't know what the production team wants us to do. What if we find out we've been tricked—"

He paused, then stopped for a second.

"--Well, I can't back out now, the contract's already signed."

PD Na laughed out loud behind him, and the camera followed his back as he entered the elevator.

The elevator doors closed.

He Xu leaned against the wall of the elevator car and glanced at the camera in PD Luo's hand, which still had a red light on.

"Will all of those shots be included in the final cut?"

PD Na peeked out from behind the camera, his smile professional: "Yes."

"...Did my agent tell you what cuts were appropriate and what cuts were inappropriate?"

"Mr. Zhuang said that as long as you don't swear, you can broadcast anything else."

He Xu leaned against the elevator wall, paused for a moment, then turned his head to look at his blurry reflection on the elevator door.

"Alright then." He tightened his grip on the suitcase handle a little. "Then play whatever you want."

The elevator arrived at the first floor and the doors opened.

He Xu pushed his suitcase out of the dormitory building, and a cold wind blew in from the doorway.

He took a deep breath, took the mask out of his pocket and put it on, then glanced at PD Na's camera.

"Let's go," he said. "Let's go see what the dormitories actually look like."

PD Na carried the camera and followed behind him. The two of them got into the production crew's shuttle vehicle.

He Xu sat in the back seat of the car, watching it drive away from the park.

He had done variety shows before, and had been interviewed countless times during talent shows, so he was already used to the camera.

But this time it's different—this time it's communal living, three weeks, six strangers, sharing a kitchen and living room, and that "romance segment" that he's still not entirely sure about.

He suddenly realized that he might actually be looking forward to it.

He doesn't crave lively or social events; he's not that outgoing.

He was looking forward to the feeling of "not knowing who he would meet".

Six strangers from different industries were crammed into the same villa, sharing a kitchen and living room, cooking, chatting, and occasionally going out together.

It was something he hadn't experienced much of before.

I don't know what those four people look like.