Chapter 0459

The director hadn’t expected things to turn out this way, so he cleverly improvised and changed the script on the spot.

Shutting down the live stream was out of the question—the peak concurrent viewership had already reached an unprecedented 30 million, with total views hitting 3 billion.

And this was just the live broadcast. Once the edited highlights were released, no one could even imagine how explosive the ratings would be.

If he remembered correctly, this was already on par with the viewership numbers of the Spring Festival Gala.

Of course, the Spring Festival Gala couldn’t hold a candle to his show. If he were directing it, he certainly wouldn’t force-feed the audience one pile of garbage after another.

Originally, after dinner, there was supposed to be a vote where netizens would choose what they most wanted the couple to do that day.

But since the two of them weren’t following the script, he had no choice but to make the decision for them.

"Liu Meng, just go ahead with the vote. It doesn’t matter if Young Master Lin and the others aren’t here. We’ll just tell them the results when they return."

The voting options were transparent—all activities meant to strengthen the couple’s bond, though still within the bounds of what was appropriate for broadcast.

After all, anything beyond that wouldn’t be allowed on air anyway.

Even if they dared to film it, they wouldn’t dare to show it.

There were ten options in total, and the one that won the vote was "Couple’s Truth or Dare."

After the vote concluded, Liu Yishou once again demonstrated his exceptional hosting skills, seamlessly weaving in a few ad reads for sponsors who had just reached out to the production team. This alone would bring the show massive profits.

By the time Lin Ran and Luo Yao reappeared, it was already 3 p.m.

[Love Too Deep Is a Sickness]: Damn, they’re finally back? Their lunch break was way too long.

[I Love Working?]: What lunch break? Kids, you’re too naive.

Liu Yishou explained the voting that had taken place while they were resting.

Lin Ran raised an eyebrow. "Couple’s Truth or Dare? Yao Yao, do you want to play? If not, we can skip it."

The director, assistant director, and host all stared at them in bewilderment.

Seriously? We’re filming a show here.

Luo Yao nodded. "I do. It sounds fun."

She rarely played games like this with Lin Ran, so it felt fresh and exciting.

"Alright, let’s do it. Just the two of us?"

Liu Yishou clarified, "Of course not. Two people would be too few to make it interesting. We’ve arranged for four crew members to join you."

The four participants had already been pre-selected: the director, assistant director, host Liu Yishou, and one clueless college student.

The six of them gathered around a coffee table, which was set with snacks, fruit, and the most important prop—a liquor bottle.

Liu Yishou laid out the rules:

"First, for 'Dare,' anything goes, but 'Truth' questions must be related to President Luo and Young Master Lin. Second, once the game starts, no one can back out—play fair. Third, no punishments can exceed broadcast standards—nothing violent, inappropriate, or NSFW."

Everyone agreed. Lin Ran glanced at Luo Yao and asked softly, "You comfortable with this?"

Luo Yao wasn’t used to being in such an atmosphere, especially playing games with strangers.

But with Lin Ran by her side, she suddenly felt at ease.

Lin Ran sat to her left, and Liu Yishou to her right, effectively blocking any other men from sitting too close.

"No problem."

The bottle spun, and the first round landed with the neck pointing at the director and the base at Lin Ran.

Lin Ran gave the director a look, and the man instantly felt an inexplicable pressure.

Lin Ran seemed easygoing—surely he wouldn’t make things difficult, right?

"I choose Truth."

Obviously, he’d pick Truth. And since the question had to be about the two of them, how bad could it be?

Lin Ran: "Director, did you invite us onto this show because the ratings were tanking and you needed us to save it?"

The director broke out in a cold sweat. He thought his little scheme had gone unnoticed, but Lin Ran had seen right through him.

Compared to traditional variety shows, this program was weak, and its ratings had been declining with each episode. The previous record had been broken by Lin Ran, and today, they’d set a new one.

If he claimed he hadn’t had this motive, even ghosts wouldn’t believe him.

"Young Master Lin, you’ve got me. That was part of it, but I genuinely wanted to feature the two of you. I’ll admit it—I’m also a fan of the 'Luo Shen x Lin' ship."

[Don’t You Dare Badmouth My Idol]: Damn, the director just threw himself under the bus to save face?

[One Thought Away from Chaos]: Who says this question isn’t about Luo Yao and Lin Ran? It’s very much about them.

[Chinese Entertainment Reigns Supreme]: Director, we all saw through your little plan. Gotta make money—no shame in that.

Lin Ran nodded. At least he was honest.

The second round began. The bottle spun and landed with the neck pointing at Luo Yao.

Luo Yao: "I choose Dare."

The clueless college student looked lost—he’d already prepared his question.

"Then… then President Luo, could you give Young Master Lin a sl—a sl—a strawberry?" He pointed at the strawberries on the table.

For a moment, he felt like he’d glimpsed the afterlife—like he’d seen his great-grandmother waving at him from beyond.

Luo Yao picked up a strawberry, thinking this guy was probably another clever operator like Shen Jingbing—in simpler terms, an obedient lapdog.

She fed Lin Ran one strawberry at a time, and after he finished, she even wiped his mouth with her fingers—all under the watchful eyes of the entire internet.

[The Subtle Auntie]: Hahaha, this staff member chose life after flirting with death.

[Happy People Can Still Feel Sad]: If he’d dared to make Luo Yao slap Lin Ran, I bet she would’ve just gently caressed his face instead.

[Faking a Fall for Compensation]: Nah, Luo Yao would’ve kissed Lin Ran and then slapped the staff member.

The director shot the college student a glare. "We just said no violence. What were you thinking?"

The student blinked. "Huh? Feeding fruit counts as violence?"

Either way, the round passed without incident.

The next round finally landed on Lin Ran, who chose Truth.

The director smirked. Time for payback.

"Young Master Lin, what’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told President Luo?"

[Love Rises with the Wind]: Holy shit, Director, I salute you. You’ve got guts.

[Fed You Three Days of Sweet Nothings]: Every couple has lies between them. The question is whether Lin Ran dares to say it—Luo Yao isn’t someone to mess with.

Lin Ran stood up and addressed the camera like he was giving a speech.

"What’s the biggest lie I’ve ever told Yao Yao? That’s a profound question. Before answering, let me set the scene."

"It was autumn. I’d gotten my hands on a bottle of aphrodisiac, and I searched the entire estate, but couldn’t find my target…"

Director: ???

Something felt off.

His instincts screamed that this was about to go sideways.