Chapter 904: "A Wandering Journey Through Mountains and Rivers," a side story, is now officially online!
Yanfei, whose online name is Hehe, is a member of the veteran Xiaohe fan group.
Although she has gradually shifted her focus from entertainment and idol worship to her career, she still watches Xiao He's movies and TV shows to pass the time in her spare time. On weekends, she also opens group chats to chat with her longtime fans, gossiping and talking about Xiao He's recent situation.
She hardly ever goes to meet her idol in person anymore, but following Xiao He online and continuing to support his work has become a part of her daily life.
The only slight regret for her is that Xiao Ge is still too passionate about acting.
Besides watching dramas, Yan Fei's favorite thing to do is probably to watch variety shows while eating.
Unfortunately, his idol participates in very few variety shows. Unless it's to promote his work, he's rarely seen on popular variety shows.
A while ago, a variety show called "The Book of Ancient China" on CCTV, which promoted traditional culture, came out. Xiao Ge, as a publicity assistant, went on stage to introduce the history of antiques and cultural relics and interacted with the host and audience through games. He did a pretty good job. However, CCTV programs are inherently very popular science programs, and much of the content is quite professional, making people feel like they were back in their high school history class.
So after Yanfei watched the episode featuring Xiao Ge in a drowsy state, she never watched it again.
And without a doubt, her favorite variety show right now is the one that Xiao Ge participated in, "Wandering Through Mountains and Rivers".
Yanfei would often find the scene to watch again and again, savoring it repeatedly, especially the breathtaking scene of the young man leaping off the snow-capped mountain. Yanfei felt that she would never get tired of watching it, no matter how many times she watched it.
Moreover, Xiao He's sense of humor in variety shows is also a pleasant surprise. He can catch jokes when talking to other guests, and his behavior is neither greasy nor pretentious. Even when he repeatedly demonstrates his snow mountain skiing skills, it is more of a natural composure rather than a deliberate display of arrogance.
Ahem, I have to thank Wu Chuyi, who loves to show off, for making this possible.
In particular, an emergency occurred on the snow mountain in that episode, and the director specially edited out an extra 40-minute bonus featurette for members, which detailed the entire process of Xiao He operating the drone to find the trapped people.
High IQ, composure, calmness, and unwavering reliability in crucial moments... This short behind-the-scenes clip once again showcases Xiao He's unique personality and abilities.
After watching that video, it's hard not to feel moved. Xiao He's rise to become a top actor and TV star with both popularity and acting skills is entirely predictable.
He is capable enough to succeed in any field he enters.
Moreover, as the saying goes, the most charismatic people are those who can solve problems.
It was definitely the right decision to like such an idol.
However, Yanfei was also very resentful about this.
So why doesn't Xiao He go and record some variety shows?
One episode isn't enough! Let's film a whole season!
The production team of "Wandering Through Mountains and Rivers," are you guys really that bad?!
As the only outdoor variety show that successfully invited Brother Xiao, why can't you guys pull something together? You managed to get him for one episode, why can't you just invite him for the whole season?! If you don't have the money, we fans can crowdfund it!
If I don't see Xiao Ge on variety shows again, I'm really going to throw a tantrum!
Finally, in September, Yan Fei received some amazing news—they actually managed to get "Travels Through Mountains and Rivers" going! In the "Special Side Story of Hong Kong City," they successfully invited Xiao He to appear on screen again, recording a variety show with everyone.
Although the production team specifically stated in the promotion that this was a special invitation, implying that Xiao He's appearance time might not be long, it still made Yan Fei, who had been looking forward to it, happily open the group chat and cheer with other group members.
Even on the day the extra episode was recorded, Yan Fei went to the live stream to see Xiao He's performance in "A Journey Through Mountains and Rivers".
Unfortunately, Xiao Ge walked the red carpet alone that day, not with the other guests from the show, so he didn't appear in the live broadcast. Furthermore, to ensure more suspense in the recording, the live broadcast was shut down shortly after boarding the ship.
Yan Fei, who had been staking out all night but hadn't even spotted Brother Xiao, was like:???
What the hell? I waited all night for this?
Afterwards, Yan Fei could only comfort herself, since the extra episode of "Travels in the Mountains and Rivers" was self-made and the overall production cycle wouldn't be too long. She could probably see Xiao Ge officially appear on the variety show in two or three weeks, so there was no need to rush.
So the next day, when Yan Fei woke up and saw that the Xiang Sheng had an accident, she felt like the sky had fallen.
What did you say?
Is the spin-off of "Wandering Through Mountains and Rivers" also likely to be canceled because of this?
Another variety show that everyone has been looking forward to is gone?
Yan Fei:...
Closing my eyes, I didn't know whether to worry about Brother Xiao first, pity the production team, or hug my own pitiful and helpless self.
It seems like we'll probably never see any more variety shows featuring Xiao He this year.
Yan Fei could only regretfully give up and pray that her idol would continue to have a successful career in the entertainment industry.
But no one expected happiness to come so suddenly.
...
That day, as soon as she got home and turned on her phone, she discovered that the latest spin-off of "Wandering Through Mountains and Rivers" had been released on a video platform!
And this sudden appearance immediately went viral across the entire video platform, instantly becoming the top recommendation on the trending list, and viewership skyrocketed!
The video's cover is also quite interesting. Two-thirds of it features the regular and guest stars of "Wandering Through Mountains and Rivers," while the remaining third features Shu Han, Xiao He, and two special guests.
There is a small line dividing the two sides.
The overall title at the bottom of the variety show is "A Journey Through Mountains and Rivers: Side Story," while the top left corner of the video promotion cover also adds the words "【Includes exclusive DLC for popular guests】."
Yan Fei's eyes widened on the spot.
What's this?!
It's a side story!
It's a freshly released bonus chapter!
Did the production team have a fight with the censors? They actually released the Hong Kong episode!
How did they manage to do that?
And what constitutes additional content for popular guests?
Was there a separate reshoot in post-production?
Without any hesitation, Yanfei immediately ordered her favorite takeout, ready to enjoy this wonderful weekend.
As expected, this bonus episode included two videos. The first video was titled "【The Traveling Guest's Adventure on the Ship: A Battle on the Sea】", and the second video was titled "【Popular Guest Returns, Suffers a Huge Failure】".
I must say, as expected of the production team of "Wandering Through Mountains and Rivers," the name they came up with is incredibly catchy and makes people very curious just by looking at it.
Yan Fei was initially puzzled as to why the extra episode was divided into two video parts, but after looking at the comments section below, she almost burst out laughing.
Netizen: 【High EQ: We added extra behind-the-scenes footage featuring popular guests as a bonus for everyone. Low EQ: Something went wrong, and we couldn't get the cast and schedule right. Cutting Xiao He would be a shame, so we simply created a separate, enhanced version.】
Yan Fei: Pfft—
I understood what was going on in a second!