Without the interference of outside noise, Chi Yan felt much more at ease.
Earlier, Duan Jing had been chasing her around, trying to step on her feet to make her fall, but Chi Yan had tolerated it all.
But this time, the other woman outright pushed her onto the inflatable platform!
It was hard enough to get up from lying flat on such a bouncy surface. Chi Yan struggled for a long time but couldn’t manage to stand.
Originally, Duan Jing had been standing off to the side watching. But for some reason, she suddenly tilted her body and fell right on top of Chi Yan!
The sudden impact knocked Chi Yan back down just as she was about to get up.
With Duan Jing’s full weight and the bulky costume she was wearing, Chi Yan started doubting her life choices.
She couldn’t get up at all!
To make things worse, Duan Jing even adjusted her posture to lie flat on top of her.
But even so, He Min still didn’t stop Duan Jing.
Chi Yan quietly gathered her strength and finally caught a moment when Duan Jing relaxed—then flipped her over!
In one swift motion, she reversed the position and pinned Duan Jing down using the exact same posture Duan Jing had used on her moments ago.
Unlike Chi Yan, Duan Jing couldn’t endure it for long. Chi Yan silently counted to twenty in her head before Duan Jing began yelling, “Too heavy! I can’t breathe! Get off me!”
He Min quickly stepped in, “Alright, alright, you two have had enough fun. Let’s get up now. Duan Jing still needs to get her makeup done, and Chi Yan needs to fix hers…”
“I’ll get up when I count to two hundred,” Chi Yan said coolly. “She was on top of me while I counted to three hundred in my head.”
He Min’s face instantly flushed. Chi Yan’s subtle jab at her double standards left her speechless.
“Haven’t you finished counting yet? How can two hundred take so long?” Duan Jing complained.
Chi Yan, dragging out the count on purpose, replied, “Almost there. I’m at around one-seventy-something.”
When she finally reached two hundred, she got up immediately.
“I keep my word.”
Duan Jing, with He Min’s help, got to her feet and turned her head away, clearly not wanting to look at Chi Yan at all.
After changing out of the costume, Chi Yan and Ye Jiawen went back to the dressing room to touch up their makeup.
On the way, Ye Jiawen said to her, “Lady Chi, you have my utmost respect. I never thought you could actually flip her like that. I was stunned.”
Chi Yan shook her head. “Stay away from me for now—I’ve probably offended He Min. Who knows if she’ll start making things difficult for me.”
“If I were worried about that, I would’ve snuck off a long time ago.”
When they returned to the dressing room, Yang Yueyi and Qi Kerong were already there.
According to the final ranking, the more skilled makeup artist was assigned to Qi Kerong, while the less experienced one did Yang Yueyi’s makeup.
Chi Yan and Ye Jiawen entered just in time to see Yang Yueyi clinging to Qi Kerong’s arm, acting all coy.
“Kerong, the makeup artist assigned to you would go so much better with my outfit. Can we switch, just this once?” she pleaded.
The makeup artist, clearly used to this kind of scene, gently said, “Miss Yang, please don’t make this difficult for us. We have set assignments, and we don’t want to risk having our pay docked.”
Yang Yueyi ignored her and continued to plead with Qi Kerong, “Kerong, just this once, please?”
Qi Kerong looked hesitant but eventually caved under pressure.
“Um… teacher, is it possible for us to switch?”
Chi Yan had always looked down on Yang Yueyi’s kind of behavior—pretending to be friendly while actually just taking advantage of her friends.
“What a strong scent of white lotus,” Chi Yan fanned the air in front of her face. “Teacher, don’t trouble yourself. Our makeup got messed up, so please fix ours first.”
Yang Yueyi was outraged. “Chi Yan, how could you? I was here first!”
“You still owe me that one million yuan,” Chi Yan said, sitting down in the chair Qi Kerong had just vacated. “When are you planning to pay me back?”
“You—!” Everyone in the dressing room turned to stare at Yang Yueyi. Unable to take the pressure, she ran out the door.
Qi Kerong wanted to chase after her, but Chi Yan timed it perfectly, grabbed her, and pushed her back into the chair.
“Teacher, you’d better finish her makeup first. Otherwise, who knows what kind of scene that one will make when she comes back.”
Qi Kerong was stunned. “You—” She didn’t even finish her sentence before Chi Yan walked off.
Everyone finished their makeup about an hour later. At 2:30 PM, the rehearsal officially began.
The purpose of the rehearsal was to help the contestants get familiar with the show’s flow and understand the game rules, so they wouldn’t make mistakes during the actual recording and could deliver the best performance.
The contestants were supposed to be somewhat familiar with each other, having spent over two months filming the livestream together. But at best, they were just acquaintances.
During the games, they had zero chemistry, which made the host incredibly anxious.
During a break, Li Xuebo spoke privately to He Min: “This won’t work. We need them to be more engaged. If it’s still this awkward tonight, we won’t be able to get anything usable.”
He Min looked troubled. “The main issue is that there are too many female actors. They can’t even pretend to be polite to each other on the surface.”
“We’ll just have to slowly guide them to loosen up,” Li Xuebo said, rubbing his temples and leaning back in his chair. “I’ll take a quick nap. I stayed up way too late yesterday—wake me up later.”
“Alright,” He Min replied. She hadn’t taken on other work the day before, so she wasn’t sleepy at all. Instead, she began thinking about how best to host the show later.
He Min and Li Xuebo were both experienced. After a ten-minute break, they returned to the stage to host, and the effect was completely different from earlier.
They cracked a few jokes and organized a couple of small games to help the contestants bond. Everyone’s performance improved significantly, and the awkwardness among them lessened.
Duan Jing was the first to adjust her state. As one of the most famous child stars in the country, she often appeared on variety shows and was very comfortable performing what the show required.
Chi Yan, on the other hand, wasn’t as quick to adapt—but that was okay. After all, this was just the rehearsal.
Whether intentional or not, He Min especially liked to call on Duan Jing, Qi Kerong, and Yang Yueyi, occasionally including Ye Jiawen.
Li Xuebo was more impartial—he called on whoever was appropriate, without favoritism.
Chi Yan found He Min’s behavior ridiculous, but since this was only rehearsal, she held back. Causing a scene now wouldn’t sound good if word got out.
She endured it, but if the evening’s recording went the same way, she definitely wouldn’t just sit back and take it.
The rehearsal started at 2:30 p.m. and ran through the entire process, wrapping up after 5:00 p.m.
The five guest contestants were all relatively new. After the rehearsal, the main director and both hosts kept them behind to go over important notes and things to watch out for.
By the time they finished, it was already 6:00 p.m.
Chi Yan glanced at her phone and figured it was too late to order takeout. She didn’t know if her assistant had brought anything for her to eat.
Luckily, her assistant, Wang Hui, had brought some fruit and a bottle of milk and was waiting for her in the lounge.
“Chi-jie, I checked backstage just now and figured you guys wouldn’t have time for dinner. I asked Ying-jie and picked up some fruit for you,” Wang Hui said. “If it’s not enough, I’ll go get some biscuits or bread.”
“This is good,” Chi Yan nodded. “I shouldn’t eat anything greasy anyway.”
Halfway through eating, Chi Yan asked, “Did you eat yet?”
“I had a can of eight-treasure congee.”
“Good,” Chi Yan said. “In the future, if you’re with me during shoots or recordings and my work delays me from eating, just go ahead and eat yourself. I don’t have that many rules.”
At exactly 7:00 p.m., the show officially began recording.
According to the afternoon’s rehearsal, the opening performance featured the five contestants in costume, each stepping forward to recite a classic line from their most memorable role on Actor’s Journey.
Ye Jiawen went first, dressed as the treacherous minister he had once played, and after delivering his line, he gestured with a polite “please,” signaling Qi Kerong to continue.
Chi Yan, being the champion, was scheduled to appear last—something the Monday Fun director had arranged long ago.
Once the other four finished their lines, they all turned sideways and looked back to invite Chi Yan onstage.
Chi Yan, dressed as a traditional dancer in a qipao, emerged from a cloud of smoke, opening and closing her folding fan—evoking a wave of nostalgic memories among the audience.
“Chi Yan! Chi Yan!”
She heard a roar of cheers calling her name like a crashing wave.
The opening was stunning, and the audience was enthusiastic.
Only then did Li Xuebo and He Min walk onto the stage from backstage.
“The audience reaction is wild—just like me, I bet you all want to keep following Actor’s Journey, right?” Li Xuebo asked with a smile.
“Yes!” the audience responded loudly.
He Min said, “This time, our show has specially invited five contestants to spend this fun-filled week with us! Welcome to Monday Fun—we hope to bring you joy!”
“Alright, I know you all recognize these contestants,” Li Xuebo added, “but let’s still have them introduce themselves.”
Noticing some hesitation about who should go first, Li Xuebo quickly added, “Let’s go from left to right.”
That hadn’t been mentioned during rehearsal, but thankfully the host responded in time.
But that’s the nature of shows—there are always little unexpected things that need on-the-fly solutions.
“Hello everyone, I’m Ye Jiawen, who played the treacherous minister!”
“Hi, I’m Duan Jing.”
“Hello to everyone here and watching at home, I’m Chi Yan.”
The cheers from the live audience grew louder and louder, their excitement was palpable.
After all five finished their self-introductions, Li Xuebo joked, “I’ve hosted this show for so many years and never got cheers this loud.”
Right after he said that, the audience very generously shouted, “Teacher Li!”
Li Xuebo looked pleased and said, “Alright, alright, I’m satisfied now.”
He Min picked up the thread, “I believe the audience loves these contestants just as much as we do. Didn’t that opening performance leave you wanting more? Up next, let’s revisit some of the most brilliant moments from Actor’s Journey!”
“Yes, let’s start with Ye Jiawen’s unique skill—playing three characters in one scene!”
The hosts and the rest took their seats on the side to watch.
Onstage, Ye Jiawen flawlessly reenacted a portion of his famous triple-role performance—just as brilliant as it was during the original.
Li Xuebo led the applause. “Thanks to Jiawen for the incredible performance! Now let’s welcome Duan Jing’s performance!”
One after another, the four performed while the audience remained highly responsive. So far, everything was going smoothly.
Chi Yan’s performance was last—she did a short dance segment from her previous show.
A few spins, then a backbend—when she rose, she had already moved to a different position. Just as she was about to move into the next action, her foot suddenly slipped!
Fortunately, Chi Yan quickly regained her balance and smoothly transitioned into a vertical split.
She pushed herself up from the floor with her hands, subtly shifting sideways as much as she could.
But despite her composure, her foot had already begun to throb in pain.
