Everything was proceeding very smoothly for the production team of Back to Field.
All the camera angles had been properly arranged, the show's schedule was fully set, and the official Weibo account had already announced that the broadcast would stream live on the Douyin platform.
It was a case of everything being ready except for the east wind; as soon as the guests arrived, filming could begin at any moment.
However, the problem arose precisely with the guests.
Upon hearing that the broadcast format had been changed to a live stream without any editing or filters whatsoever, the originally scheduled guests declined the invitation one after another.
At first, the Back to Field team did not take it to heart and extended invitations to guests who had previously recorded the show.
To their astonishment, though, after six seasons of Back to Field, only two people accepted the invitation, while everyone else turned it down for various reasons.
This made Wang Zhengyu rather panicked; they certainly could not keep milking these two accepting guests as if they were permanent cast members.
Even if the first episode successfully aired, what would they do about the subsequent eleven episodes?
"Director Wang, what should we do now?"
The staff member in charge of casting asked Wang Zhengyu in a panic.
The premiere date of the show was right around the corner, and yet there were no guests coming!
Wang Zhengyu remained silent, his brow furrowed into a tight knot.
Seeing that he stayed silent for a long time, a staff member nearby cautiously spoke up: "Director Wang, why don't we ask Yun Mu if he has any ideas?"
Hearing this, Wang Zhengyu's eyes lit up, and he jumped up and ran outside.
"Wait here for me to come back!"
Meanwhile.
Yun Mu and Murong Shuang had finalized the final design plan.
Yun Mu was extremely satisfied with this proposal; it was much better than the sketches he had drawn previously, perfectly aligning with the vision in his mind.
Once the material selection was completed, Murong Shuang quickly calculated the itemized lists of all required materials and arranged for logistics to start transporting them to the site.
The on-site construction team had also begun working on the foundations based on the design drawings.
"Yun Mu, Yun Mu."
At that moment, Wang Zhengyu ran over, panting heavily.
Having run too hastily, he was already covered in sweat.
Yun Mu looked at him in puzzlement.
"Director Wang, what brings you here?"
Wang Zhengyu grabbed Yun Mu by the arm and pulled him aside, saying urgently: "A serious problem has come up with the show, so I hurried over to ask you for advice."
Without waiting for Yun Mu to ask, he spilled the whole story from beginning to end like pouring beans out of a bag.
After listening to him, Yun Mu looked at Wang Zhengyu with a strange expression.
"Is that it?"
Hearing his words, Wang Zhengyu's eyes instantly lit up.
"You have a way?! Tell me quickly, I'm dying of anxiety!"
Yun Mu chuckled softly.
"Actually, you've been overcomplicating this matter; it's really quite easy to handle."
"Think about it, isn't the person who accepted your invitation usually a very down-to-earth individual? Someone who always does things earnestly and doesn't mess around with miscellaneous nonsense."
As Yun Mu spoke, Wang Zhengyu's eyes grew brighter and brighter. He seemed to understand what Yun Mu was trying to convey.
"Go on."
"Even though the vast majority of stars in the entertainment industry care deeply about their personal image, there are also many who are completely different people in public versus behind the scenes."
"If you want to expose such people completely and authentically under a live broadcast camera, they will naturally refuse outright, because once their true nature is accidentally exposed—"
"Then the carefully constructed personas they worked so hard to build will be ruined, and of course they won't come."
"However, the entertainment industry also has some stars who are genuinely authentic. They don't deliberately maintain a flawless persona in front of the public."
"If you invite people like that and they have the availability, there is a high probability they will agree."
"After all, for them, this kind of live stream is no different from recording a variety show, except that the unpredictability of a live broadcast is much higher, which puts their adaptability to the test."
Having heard Yun Mu's explanation, Wang Zhengyu wore an expression of intense excitement.
Having no time to speak to Yun Mu, he simply gave him a thumbs-up, shook it vigorously a few times, and then turned and ran toward Mushroom House.
...
The next day, the official Weibo account of Back to Field and the Douyin platform simultaneously released a live broadcast teaser.
Back to Field: "Dear Back to Field family members, the guests for the first episode of the seventh season have been decided. They are a male-female duo who have their own songs and are widely loved by everyone. Saturday at 8:00 AM, please look forward to the official live broadcast room of Back to Field on the Douyin platform."
As soon as this post was published, the comment sections on both the official Weibo and Douyin exploded.
"A male-female duo, singers, widely loved by everyone—do we even need to guess?! It's definitely Phoenix Legend!"
"Yeah, that's right, it's most likely them!"
"To the person above, please delete 'most likely'."
"Not necessarily, though?! Why couldn't it be Vocal Force?"
"Hey? Do you guys think there's a chance it could be Fairyland Band?!"
"Stop right there, upstairs. A Fairyland Band without Zhan Wenting is not the Fairyland Band."
"That's right, that's right! Without Zhan Wenting, Fairyland Band is like a body without a soul!"
As more and more people joined the discussion, the impending premiere of Back to Field and the confirmation of the guest lineup became trending topics.
Many netizens even rushed over to the Weibo accounts of their guessed targets to ask questions.
Back to Field director Wang Zhengyu watched with a smile as the show's popularity grew higher and higher.
When he saw the discussions in the comment section, a mysterious smile gradually appeared on his face.
"Keep guessing. I don't believe you guys can figure it out."
Time quickly arrived at the premiere day of Back to Field.
Since it was streamed live from start to finish, the broadcast basically ran all day, in order to allow as many people as possible to watch.
Therefore, the live streams were scheduled to start at 8:00 AM every Saturday and Sunday.
At a little past 7:00 AM on Saturday, even before the official Douyin live stream of Back to Field had started, more than 50,000 people had already poured in, waiting online for the broadcast to begin.
Time ticked away second by second, and when the clock struck 8:00 sharp—
The official live stream room of Back to Field instantly opened, and simultaneously, the Douyin platform pushed notifications to the entire platform.
In an instant, less than 10 seconds after the broadcast began, the number of online viewers in the live stream room broke 100,000.
At this moment, the video feed in the stream was inside a car, showing a total of two people—just as the announcement said, a man and a woman.
However, the live camera did not show their faces, and even their voices had been specially processed.
Making it impossible for anyone to identify the true identities of these two people through their voices.
"The show is simply inhumane! I guessed for several days and finally made it to the premiere, only for them to pull a stunt like this!"
"True, true! Is anyone up for sending razor blades to the production team together?!"
"Hey? Look at the figures of these two people—doesn't it give you an inexplicably familiar feeling?"