Chapter 5: Joining the Show

Chapter 5: Joining the Show

Initially, many viewers tuned into the livestream purely out of curiosity: after all, the announcement of Rita Lenz and Arman Stark's divorce had soared to the very top of the search queries, and everyone was dying to know what kind of story lay behind their breakup.

However, after peeking into this couple's stream, netizens at first thought their sound was broken. While guests in the other rooms were having heartfelt conversations after a long separation, absolute, dead silence reigned here. They silently exchanged glances and maintained a stubborn reluctance to utter even a single word.

The staff member in charge of their stream suffered the most from this. When it came time to report to the director, his voice sounded so uncertain and bewildered that he seemed not to believe what was happening himself:

"Director... Maybe for this group, we should... wait a little longer?"

The director was baffled: "Wait for what?"

Gathering his courage, the staff member laid it all out: "I honestly think they don't even know each other! And I have exhaustive proof!"

In his opinion, even the most casual acquaintances would toss a couple of words back and forth upon meeting! Heck, even sworn enemies would find a reason to take a jab at each other. But these two hadn't dropped a single syllable. At the same time, the atmosphere didn't seem tense or hostile at all—it was so quiet and awkward that it made you want to curl up into a ball and sink right through the floor from embarrassment.

However, the director himself, who believed he knew some inside information, categorically refused to believe it. The two had been married—how much further could "not knowing each other" go?

Yet reality proved that even the most experienced directors have a first misstep. Disbelieving his own ears, he tuned into the livestream himself, and within just a couple of minutes, his hair stood on end.

"Were they... actually married?" the director muttered.

There wasn't a single trace of a shared past in their behavior!

In the end, the director endured another half hour. But when he saw that Rita was already starting to fall asleep sitting up, her lovely eyes drooping as her cute head nodded off in drowsiness, his patience finally snapped. He ordered his assistant to send Rita a message immediately.

Production Team: “Stop sleeping! Get up right now and say something! Find something to do!”

In the next second, Rita felt her phone vibrate beside her. Quickly reading the message, she patted her cheeks with her palms to chase away the sleepiness completely, then raised her eyes toward Arman. She grew curious about what he was up to: a laptop rested on his lap, and he was immersed in work with an intensely serious expression.

Rita wasn't surprised at all—it would have been more surprising if he wasn't working. Besides, interrupting someone while they were working was extremely impolite.

So Rita quickly tapped her fingers against the screen to send a reply, set her phone aside, looked around, and noticed a few books on the coffee table. Picking up the top one, she unhurriedly began flipping through its pages.

The book, titled "Hello, My Love", had been thoughtfully provided by the production team to fit the theme of the show, aiming to steer the participants toward romantic reflection and offer psychological support. But in Rita's hands, the scene took on a completely different flavor: looking at the two of them, one couldn't help but want to rename the show to "Hello, Stranger."

“Rita is going to kill me with laughter! Honest to God, the way she was nodding off was way too cute!”

“Literally me in class: the moment I start dozing off, the professor comes to catch me qwq”

“Hahaha, someone urgently recommend the book 'How to Talk to Strangers' to Rita!”

While the viewers were having a field day laughing in the comments, the director had already read Rita's reply:

Rita: “He's working, it would be rude for me to disturb him...”

Figuring that Rita's argument sounded quite convincing, the director ordered a message to be sent to Arman as well. However, Arman's reaction was far more ruthless: he didn't even glance at the screen, treating it like routine promotional spam. With an entirely impassive expression, the man simply continued working.

Director: “...”I invited you as participants, and you're turning me into an invisible ghost!

Seeing that both of them were completely impenetrable, the director clutched his head. In a way, these two put on a phenomenal duet in the art of silence: if either of them had spoken just a single word, the situation wouldn't have looked nearly as comical!

However, the resourceful director quickly came up with an excuse for them. Unlike the other two pairs, Rita and Arman had gotten divorced very recently. Maybe they were still stuck in the middle of a bitter feud and lingering resentment?

While the director indulged in his thoughts, Rita never let go of her book. The rest of the day passed in quiet reading. At first, viewers doubted whether she was actually reading or just pretending, but by the time they realized it, Rita had already conquered almost half the volume. As for Arman, he sat through his work matters from start to finish—a true workaholic. The viewers were finally convinced that the president was indeed incredibly busy: even after coming onto a reality show, he had simply changed his office location.

Meanwhile, the number of viewers in their livestream practically didn't drop—the flow of people stabilized, and the remaining audience split into three main camps:

The first group ecstatically admired the characters' appearances. Beautiful people are pleasing to the eye even when they're completely silent, and when both were hard at work—even if it didn't quite fit the spirit of a reality show—the spectacle remained exceptionally aesthetic.

The second group considered the resulting atmosphere "very cozy and conducive to studying," which caused them to massively switch to cramming and solving homework problems right there in the chat. Absolute surrealism!

The third group passionately argued over whether this couple would manage to exchange even a single word all day. It got to the point where some dedicated fans were ready to camp out and spend the night in the livestream.

An end to the standoff was, of course, delivered by Rita and Arman, who claimed a resounding "victory" in the discipline of absolute mutual stonewalling. They spent several hours side by side, yet never disturbed each other's peace.

It all concluded only when a staff member with an incredibly gloomy and aggrieved expression walked up to the second floor. He officially announced that dinner was ready and called everyone downstairs.

This prolonged reading-room session had finally come to an end.