Just a job, nothing more than a clown.

What is preferential treatment?

It means that during the recording of a variety show, the host constantly engages with you, and everyone's focus remains on you. That is what preferential treatment is.

Take tonight's recording of *Tonight's Drama Show*, for example.

At the beginning, when Minnie made her introductions, she first singled out Zhao Yining for a dedicated introduction, and then proceeded to give each of the five main cast members of *The Correct Way to Be Independent* their own self-introduction.

Immediately following that, Shang Wei had the two main leads of *It's Tough to Be a Good Man* briefly introduce themselves, while the cast of *Hunting the Portrait* was glossed over in a single breath.

In short, *The Correct Way to Be Independent* was the brightest star of the night.

Lin Xing, Zhou Wei, and Ning Rong all remained rather calm.

This was expected all along.

On today's episode, *The Correct Way to Be Independent* was the protagonist. Whether it was *Hunting the Portrait* or *It's Tough to Be a Good Man*, the five people from these two crews were merely supporting players.

During the team-forming segment, the initial phase was essentially a drama crew PK round.

Basically, Cao Zhiming, Yao Xue, and Zhou Yundong ended up together with the crew of *The Correct Way to Be Independent*.

Then, Fang Juan and Zeng Yuanfu were added to the *Hunting the Portrait* crew.

Finally, the remaining three people were added to the *It's Tough to Be a Good Man* crew.

The first half-hour of recording indeed revolved entirely around the crew of *The Correct Way to Be Independent*, because whether it was the setup or the so-called script, Zhao Yining and Xu Tong essentially hogged all the spotlight.

Lin Xing, Zhou Wei, and Ning Rong did not even get a single solo shot.

They were complete foils.

Yet, as the saying goes, Lin Xing, Zhou Rong, and Ning Rong had already analyzed this last night: since they were merely accompanying the princess to study, it was impossible for them to receive solo camera time.

At a time like this, personal connections were useless.

No matter how righteous Minnie had seemed yesterday afternoon—even going so far as to introduce Lin Xing to some behind-the-scenes staff and asking the director to give Lin Xing some camera time, a request the director had agreed to—

That was merely the polite pleasantry of adults; you must never take it seriously.

And sure enough, during the half-hour or so of interactive segments, everyone was essentially playing minor extras.

Fifty minutes later came the rest period.

The audience could take this opportunity to use the restroom.

As for the guests on set, they could similarly use the restroom, grab a bite to eat, or touch up their makeup.

They would rest for twenty minutes before officially resuming the recording.

By this time, Zhao Yining and Xu Tong had long since returned to their dressing rooms, escorted away by their personal assistants.

As for Shang Wei, Cao Zhiming, Zhou Yundong, and the others, they had also retreated to their respective dressing rooms.

Lin Xing, Zhou Wei, and Ning Rong, however, sat off to the side, chatting.

"Teacher Lin, hello."

To Lin Xing's surprise, Han Long actually took the initiative to greet him.

"Teacher Han, hello."

Lin Xing hurriedly replied.

Compared to Han Long, Lin Xing was very much a junior.

Fifteen years ago, Han Long's career was at its absolute peak, and he was consistently cast as the undisputed male lead.

Now forty years old, Han Long's career was not what it used to be, and his acting range had become somewhat narrow, generally limited to the role of the domineering CEO.

Moreover, domineering CEOs tended to be cut from the same cloth.

Even so, Han Long still possessed genuine acting skills; the domineering CEOs he portrayed were entirely devoid of greasy charm.

"I previously heard Ren Yi constantly praising you. When shall we get together for a chat..."

Han Long was evidently quite polite toward Lin Xing.

"That's just Brother Yi being overly generous with his praise," Lin Xing said with a touch of modesty.

"What's your WeChat? Let's add each other..."

As Han Long spoke, he took his phone from his assistant.

"Sure."

Lin Xing also took his phone from Xiao Nan's hands and quickly added Han Long as a contact.

Han Long smiled and said, "Alright, we'll chat later."

After adding Lin Xing on WeChat, Han Long departed, leaving Lin Yu and Wei Hai in the distance looking rather astonished.

"Brother Long, was there really any need for you to proactively add this Lin Xing on WeChat?"

Lin Yu had a closer relationship with Han Long, so he lowered his voice to ask.

Han Long replied, "I thought Lin Xing's role in *Anti-Mafia Fury* was quite good. He genuinely has acting chops. Besides, Ren Yi doesn't praise people lightly; since he praised him, Lin Xing must have some extraordinary qualities. In the entertainment industry, having a few more friends is always a good thing."

Lin Yu, however, remained noncommittal.

Talk about friends in the entertainment industry?

Just like when Han Long was at the height of his fame and had given a helping hand to quite a few people—yet now, how many of them were willing to lend Han Long a hand?

"You don't still think Lin Xing is going to blow up big in the future, do you? Not to insult you, Brother Long, but some of the people you helped back then did become huge stars, yet not many of them were willing to help you out in return."

After pondering for a moment, Lin Yu offered another remark to Han Long.

Han Long chuckled softly, "When I helped others back then, I never expected anyone to help me in return. It was simply because back when I was still unknown, senior colleagues had helped me, and one of them told me, 'When you have the ability, remember to help the younger generation.' Put it this way, those seniors didn't help me so that I would help them in the future either..."

If one always helped others while expecting future returns, Han Long would have fallen into depression long ago.

He helped people purely because he currently had the ability to give the younger generation a leg up.

Nothing more than that.

As for adding Lin Xing on WeChat, it was simply out of an appreciation for Lin Xing's talent.

Expecting Lin Xing to skyrocket to fame and help him out later?

Are you kidding me?

I, Han Long, am not that worldly and calculating.

"A-Xing, how's it going?"

Minnie hadn't gone back to her own dressing room; she walked over to Lin Xing with a smile and asked, "Between recording this variety show and doing reality TV, which one feels more exhausting?"

"Neither is exhausting,"

Lin Xing said with a smile, "It's all just work. How can you call work exhausting?"

"I knew you'd say that."

Minnie chuckled, "The upcoming segments will all be game segments. If there's anything you don't want to do, just let me know. We won't deliberately haze the guests."

In this regard, *Tonight's Drama Show* was much better than many other variety shows.

Look at some other shows—they didn't even bother to mask their snobbery.

If you had high popularity, you would be pampered and enjoy all sorts of exaggerated preferential treatment.

But if you were a washed-up nobody, you would be subjected to all sorts of humiliating tasks.

No matter how differently *Tonight's Drama Show* treated various guests, compared to its peers, it was genuinely considered quite decent.

After all, this was an industry of comparing oneself against the least terrible.

As long as you didn't sink to a bottomless depth of shoddiness, you were considered excellent.

"Thank you, Sister Mi, I'll be fine," Lin Xing said cheerfully.

Minnie glanced at Lin Xing and said, "Alright, that's good."

For some reason, Minnie noticed that Zhou Wei and Ning Rong standing nearby looked a bit peculiar; those two seemed almost overly excited.

"I must be seeing things," Minnie thought to herself.

As soon as the break time was over, recording resumed.

First up was the water-splashing segment.

Sure enough, Zhao Yining and Xu Tong were exempt from participating. Naturally, the show wouldn't explicitly say it was giving them special treatment; instead, they were asked to cosplay as princesses.

Zhou Wei felt a silent urge to complain inwardly.

So it really had turned into accompanying the princess to study, damn it.

As for the re-teaming segment, the show didn't do an 8-versus-8; instead, it was a drama crew PK battle.

That's right.

A drama crew PK battle.

For *The Correct Way to Be Independent*, Han Long and Lin Yu formed one team, while Wei Hai was paired up with Yao Xue to form another.

Cao Zhiming and Zhou Yundong did not participate.

Next, from the *Hunting the Portrait* crew, Zhou Wei and Ning Rong formed a team, while Lin Xing was paired with Fang Juan. Zeng Yuanfu did not participate.

As for *It's Tough to Be a Good Man*, they also fielded four people, while the rest sat out.

Then, the water-splashing competition officially began.

Everyone drew lots to determine the order.

As it turned out, Zhou Wei and Ning Rong went first, pitting themselves against Han Long and Lin Yu from *The Correct Way to Be Independent*.

And subsequently, Zhou Wei and Ning Rong suffered a crushing defeat.

Every single time, Zhou Wei pointed in the exact same direction as Han Long.

And every single time, Ning Rong was a beat too slow in blocking the water for Zhou Wei.

Consequently, Zhou Wei got splashed three times and was directly KO'd.

Following that, Wei Ying and Hu He from the *It's Tough to Be a Good Man* crew were also KO'd.

They were defeated by Lin Xing and Fang Juan.

Even though Fang Juan lost every single round, Lin Xing blocked every single splash of water for her.

"This is way too fast!"

"Wait, how on earth did Lin Xing anticipate those moves?"

"Yeah, and the way Lin Xing splashed water back at Hu He was steady, precise, and ruthless."

...

The audience on site grew fascinated watching the water-splashing on stage.

The atmosphere could only be described as heated.

From this aspect, one could also see why *Tonight's Drama Show* managed to sustain its run as a variety show.

This water-splashing segment was the main attraction.

In the end, Lin Xing and Fang Juan had the last laugh.

The two of them even KO'd the crew of *The Correct Way to Be Independent*.

Fang Juan was already jumping up and down in excitement.

Although she had been recording *Tonight's Drama Show* for over half a year, she had always been the one losing during the water-splashing segment, and her partners were never able to successfully block the water for her.

Was there a script involved, you ask? To some extent, yes.

But most of the losses genuinely boiled down to a lack of competence.

So much so that some audience members had previously commented: "Fang Juan, can you stop acting so fake? Why do you always lose?"

At that, Fang Juan had almost wanted to cry.

I'm not acting fake; I genuinely suck at this.

Now, though, it was different.

I've proven myself.

At the very least, the comedic payoff of this water-splashing segment was exceptionally good.

During this segment, the *Hunting the Portrait* crew had a strong presence and managed to salvage some pride.

Next up was guessing celebrity names.

Lin Xing had Ning Rong make expressions while he did the guessing.

In the end, Lin Xing guessed every single celebrity correctly.

"A-Xing, I'm starting to suspect you're cheating," Minnie said with a smile at that moment. "On our show, during the name-guessing segment, a lot of people have gotten them right before, but getting all of them right—especially with so many messy expressions involved—is just too hard."

In his heart, Lin Xing admitted that he had indeed cheated, because he had pre-calculated some of these expressions and had also discussed some game strategies with Ning Rong beforehand.

Still, this could only be considered a clever utilization of the rules.

Originally, everyone felt Lin Xing was simply too overpowered; whether it was the water-splashing or the celebrity-guessing, his competence was ridiculously high.

Yet in the "You Act, I Guess" segment, Lin Xing, Zhou Wei, and Ning Rong completely redefined the concept of mismatched nonsense.

Just as Lin Xing had told Zhou Wei, he just needed Zhou Wei to play the game seriously, and that alone would be hilarious enough.

Lin Xing didn't believe for a second that Zhao Yining and Xu Tong would be able to cut loose in a game like this.

"This Zhou Wei used to be quite smart, how did he turn out so dim-witted?"

"Hahaha, how on earth did he manage to misinterpret every single lyric completely backward, yet still solemnly tell Lin Xing that everything was completely fine?"

"True, Zhou Wei's brand of unearned confidence is hilarious. He's a total goofball."

...

After these few games concluded, everyone wrapped up the morning recording session.

While a typical variety show might take a single day, some could take two, especially a show like *Tonight's Drama Show*, where many of the game segments were extremely physically draining.

During lunch, Shang Wei said to Cao Zhiming, "Old Cao, what do you think?"

Cao Zhiming was taken aback: "Think about what?"

"I'm asking how you think this Lin Xing performed,"

Shang Wei said, "When Minnie said earlier that this Lin Xing was quite unique, I didn't think much of it, but looking at it now, Lin Xing genuinely has some ability."

"Someone who twists a variety show into all sorts of weird tricks isn't worth much; he's nothing more than a clown,"

Cao Zhiming said dismissively, "Just like that Lü Hui, he can only ever become a variety show hack with no real future ahead of him."

"That is true."

Shang Wei nodded slightly.

At the same time, Zhou Wei and Ning Rong were filled with excitement.

"A-Xing, everything really went just as you predicted," Zhou Wei said excitedly, "When we were playing those games, we really did get the most applause."

Ning Rong chimed in, "Right, I believe our *Hunting the Portrait* will have a very strong presence in this episode."

"Don't get your hopes up too high just yet,"

Lin Xing looked at Zhou Wei and Ning Rong, saying with a smile, "The production team isn't going to focus all their editing on us for these three games; otherwise, that would be stealing the spotlight from the main guests."

Hearing Lin Xing's words, Zhou Wei gradually calmed down: "That's true."

Ning Rong, on the other hand, took it quite well: "At least they can't edit us out entirely, and that's enough."

"Right, that's enough,"

Lin Xing nodded gently, "As long as they leave us a crack of light, it'll be enough."

The afternoon recording started at 2 PM.

This time, Lin Xing once again caught everyone off guard.

First was the tug-of-war competition. Lin Xing directly challenged the resident strongman because this particular match was usually left for the male idols to showcase themselves and was the easiest one to gain promotional mileage from.

Everyone drew four sticks blindly, neither side able to see the other, to see who could successfully pull their stick out.

Initially, everyone assumed Lin Xing had no chance of winning against the contestant.

To everyone's surprise, Lin Xing won not just by raw strength, but by technique as well.

Thunderous applause erupted on set.

In the games that followed, Lin Xing was like a fearless warrior; whether it was the broad jump, kicking the board, or climbing the slide, Lin Xing gave it his absolute all.

The television effect of all this was naturally amplified to the max.

"He really will stop at nothing just to get famous."

Once the recording wrapped up, Zhao Yining's manager muttered with a hint of sarcasm, "Artists who are past their prime are indeed terrified."

"Just a clown,"

Zhao Yining said with a trace of mockery. "While selling some so-called sincere and sensible persona, he's actually scheming every which way to climb up. What was the name of that drama he starred in again?"

The manager replied, "It seems to be called *Hunting the Portrait*."

"Right, that's the one. Just a web drama. I heard Han Long even proactively added Lin Xing on WeChat."

At this, Zhao Yining sneered, "No wonder Han Long's career is going downhill faster and faster; his taste is truly lacking by miles."

...

"A-Xing, was there any need for that?"

Minnie asked Lin Xing with a helpless expression, "We won't be able to give *Hunting the Portrait* too much promotional push on our show. Putting in this much effort might not actually yield that great an effect—you'll just end up with a bit more camera time. Was it worth it?"

"It's just work,"

Lin Xing said cheerfully, "Sister Mi, you're overthinking it. I put in the effort because this is my job. Since *Hunting the Portrait* came onto your show for promotions, I have to do this job well. That's all."

"That's all?"

Minnie was stunned.

"Right, that's all,"

Lin Xing said, "Work is work, after all; you've got to do it right. The promotional resources for *Hunting the Portrait* weren't much to begin with, and now that we're able to appear on your variety show, even if we're just supporting players, we still need to do our jobs properly."

Minnie suddenly had a flash of insight: "I understand."

Just work.

Lin Xing had truly treated this entire matter simply as work. Whether it was recording *A One-Day Trip with Minnie* or *Departing Instantly*, he always approached them with extreme professionalism.

Because this was a job.

For a brief second just then, Minnie's thoughts had actually been quite similar to Shang Wei and the others': it's just a variety show, why risk your life over it?

Besides, if Lin Xing really wanted to get famous, he could easily have taken on other shows.

Yet now, hearing Lin Xing casually utter the phrase "it's just work" and nothing more, Minnie suddenly burst into laughter.

Just a clown.

That was what Shang Wei and the others had whispered among themselves earlier.

But who was the real clown here?

"A-Xing, I might not be able to help you out with much else, but when *Hunting the Portrait* premieres, I'll help you promote it."

Minnie thought for a moment and said.

"Thank you, Sister Mi,"

Lin Xing said, feeling genuine gratitude.

There were some things Minnie hadn't done which Lin Xing could understand, but for the things Minnie *did* help him with, Lin Xing had to be grateful.

"No need to thank me, I didn't really help you that much anyway,"

Minnie shook her head slightly and said, "Come on, I'll take you to try some authentic Tan Province snacks."

That evening, Lin Xing shared a meal with Minnie, and there was a third person at the table—Yao Xue.

During the show recording, Lin Xing had already sensed that the relationships among these ten individuals on *Tonight's Drama Show* were rather subtle.

"Teacher Lin, your performance today was simply explosive,"

Yao Xue said to Lin Xing with a hint of admiration, "Now I can finally understand why Sister Mi has been constantly praising you."

"Sister Mi is just flattering me,"

Lin Xing said hastily, "I merely did some of my basic job duties."

"Just like Sister Mi said, Teacher Lin, are you always this modest?"

Yao Xue said half-jokingly.

"Not always,"

Lin Xing replied, "For instance, *Hunting the Portrait* premieres on March 30th. I think this drama is quite good, and I also think my performance in it is decent. So I'm hoping Teacher Yao will be able to help promote it when the time comes."

Yao Xue: "???"

...

...