Zhang Jin’an found watching the bullet comments incredibly entertaining. Whenever he spoke, the comments would actively play along—like the part where he and Chen Yi teamed up to tease Jiang Siyang after his entrance.
As Zhang Jin’an said that line, the editors had superimposed red text in the top right corner: 【Live Broadcast】.
“I saw quite a few netizens replying to this question, and I spotted one particular answer,” Zhang Jin’an said, spreading his hands. A blue-and-white graphic spun out from between his palms, growing larger until it settled at the bottom of the screen: 【Comprehensive Explanation by Relationship Expert Professor Zhang. For online consultation, please call our hotline: 6666—666666】.
The bullet comments all agreed that the post-production team was top-tier.
“Oh? What’s the question?” Chen Yi asked.
“Is there anything Jiang Siyang can’t do? He. Can’t. Marry. You.”
Zhang Jin’an watched as the screen, previously filled with "hahahahaha," instantly transformed into a wall of question marks.
—?
—?
—?
—?
—??? You devil.
—? Zhang Jin’an is out for blood.
Zhang Jin’an let out a few hearty laughs; that was exactly the effect he had been aiming for at the time.
Next came the team-sorting segment. When Chen Yi and Jing Shangshu failed to answer the math problems, the bullet comments were exceptionally ruthless, filled with red, white, and green "hahahahahahas." Some users even posted long strings of step-by-step solutions. Zhang Jin’an laughed every time he saw it.
The post-production of *Friday Morning* was one of its defining features. It felt as if someone from the idol fandom world had infiltrated the editing room; the show was packed with internet slang, memes, and even "YTP"-style remixing. The main episode hadn't even been on for twenty minutes, and Zhang Jin’an had already laughed several times.
The bullet comment count for this episode reached a staggering 125,000. Zhang Jin’an suspected at least 100,000 of those were just "hahahaha."
The production team then edited together a few minutes of footage from each of the three groups in their respective cars.
The first segment featured Jing Shangshu and Chen Yi. Despite being on the same team, the two were busy talking smack to each other. The comments were flooded with "Stop fighting, stop fighting, don't fight anymore!" Just as the two were staring each other down, the camera cut to the next group. Jiu Chang and Pan Ming had no physical antics; they were purely chatting—about everything from the weather to family matters, tossing and catching jokes effortlessly. It was a non-stop laugh riot for a few minutes. The comments dubbed them the "Chatty Brothers."
“I’m really curious how Siyang and Big Brother are getting along,” Jiu Chang said with a smile. “Siyang is meeting his idol; he must be incredibly nervous right now.”
“No kidding. Siyang is usually so cautious when talking to guests, and he doesn't say much. With Zhang Jin’an as the guest this time, I bet the atmosphere between them is pretty awkward,” Pan Ming added.
The next second, the scene cut to the car with him and Jiang Siyang.
Jiang Siyang was saying pleasantly, “I feel like when traveling, besides the famous landmarks, you have to visit the alleys where the locals live to really feel the local customs.”
Zhang Jin’an saw himself nod. “Right. If I were abroad and they told me to go out for a day, I’d also choose to check out the residential streets. The prices are cheaper, and the food is better.”
—Hahahahahaha, million-dollar editing!
—Teacher Pan is getting his face slapped so hard, LOL.
—The editors did that on purpose, hahahahaha, I’m dying.
—LMAO hahahaha "awkward atmosphere."
—Pan and Jiu were really overthinking it, hahahahahaha.
Zhang Jin’an noticed that their conversation hadn't been kept in its original order. The editors had moved the earlier part of the conversation to the end and the later part to the beginning. Only then did the part appear where Jiang Siyang asked him about the houses in Xiaonan Mountain.
“Because Xiaonan Mountain has a small population but a lot of land—excluding the sea and the mountains, there’s still a huge plot left—that’s why they thought to build them like this. Building this way makes it feel like there are more people around,” Zhang Jin’an said to Jiang Siyang, his profile facing the camera.
“Then what about your house, Brother?” Jiang Siyang looked at him curiously.
Zhang Jin’an: “My house? The houses in our neighborhood are all five stories.”
Jiang Siyang: “Then which floor do you live on?”
“Is it crowded with five people living there?”
“I think it’s fine. My room is an attic, so you can go up further. It’s just a bit of a hassle to go downstairs sometimes,” Zhang Jin’an replied.
The camera focused on Jiang Siyang, who nodded thoughtfully. “Oh... that does sound like a hassle.”
—Hahahahahahahaha, Siyang’s reaction is killing me.
—Yang-yang! Big Brother means their house has five floors in total!
—I seriously suspect Siyang thinks they live on the fifth floor, hahahahaha.
—Xiaonan Mountain local here. Real estate is actually cheap there; many people live in entire detached houses.
—I’m dying, Siyang even looks like he understands. Yang, you don't understand at all!!!!
—It’s not what you think, Siyang, hahahahaha.
“Five floors in total...” Jiang Siyang read the bullet comments aloud.
At the time, he really thought Zhang Jin’an was like him—a family of five squeezed into one apartment. Looking back now, it was just as the comments said; he had overthought it. They weren't the same at all.
Zhang Jin’an’s two-story villa had already shattered his worldview. Now, let alone five floors, even if it were fifteen, Jiang Siyang would find it perfectly reasonable.
*Though fifteen floors might be a bit much,* Jiang Siyang told himself.
The camera shifted from inside the car to the outside, slowly pulling back. A drone captured an aerial shot of the speeding vehicle. They passed through a tunnel and finally reached the sea.
So this was what the drone footage looked like.
On the left was the sapphire-blue sea, separated by a line of sandy beach; on the right were the highway and the houses of Xiaonan Mountain. The cars driving on the road looked as tiny as toy cars.
The scene cut back inside the car. Jiang Siyang saw himself staring out the window without even blinking.
Zhang Jin’an looked at the back of his head and said, “I remember you saying you really like the seaside. It seems that’s true.”
He immediately turned his head, surprised. “Brother, how did you know?”
Zhang Jin’an replied instantly, “I saw it... on the show. Didn't you say in one episode that your favorite place to travel is the ocean?”
Jiang Siyang only realized now—he had been too excited then to notice—but watching it again, Zhang Jin’an had clearly paused, as if he had changed his words at the last second.
What had he wanted to say?
“Oh, I do really like the ocean,” Jiang Siyang saw himself nod. “Brother, do you have a place you like?”
Zhang Jin’an said without hesitation, “Anywhere with WiFi.”
“...” His on-screen self fell silent, and his current self, hearing the answer again, fell silent once more.
—Hahahahahaha.
—I can only say, classic you, hahahahahaha.
—That’s literally me, LOL.
—I’m dying, hahahahaha, Big Brother is a logic genius.
Then the camera focused on the car itself—a blatant product placement, obvious to anyone who knew the drill.
The next second, they arrived at Yushu Street.
The editors had trimmed down their conversations, but since everyone knew the deleted scenes could be found in the individual cuts, no one complained about it being "too short."
During the filming, Director Jiang had introduced Yushu Street, but now it was replaced by a montage of the street scenery with the introduction written in the bottom left corner, much more detailed and specific than what PD Jiang had said.
After the introduction, the next scene was the breakfast shop. The cast had already changed their clothes and were sitting in chairs, chatting. The editors split the screen into six parts, lining them up from left to right. The bullet comments instantly filled the screen in a chaotic mess of colors, everyone raving about how good so-and-so looked in their outfit. Each of the six had seven or eight seconds of solo screen time. Whenever it was someone’s turn, the comments would change to a specific color to show support. When it was Jiang Siyang’s turn, the entire screen turned blue.
—Ahhh, Siyang, Mommy loves you!
—Oh my god!! The Double Campus Heartthrobs duo, I’m so here for it!!!!!!!!!!
—Ahhh f*ck!!!! My maternal love has mutated!!!!!!
—National First Love Jiang Siyang! National First Love Jiang Siyang!!
—Siyang Siyang Siyang Siyang Siyang.
—So handsome, what kind of heartthrob face is this, ahhhhhhh.
—I used to just think of Siyang as a son, but today!!! Today is the first day of my romance with Siyang!!!!
And when it was Zhang Jin’an’s turn, the comments all turned orange.
—Top Star of the Industry Zhang Jin’an! Top Star of the Industry Zhang Jin’an!
—So handsome, I’m down, I’m down, I’m down.
—Give Big Brother some respect!!! I’m so down!!
—Double Heartthrobs, I’m so here for it!! So here for it!!!!
—Big Brother, stop looking at Weibo! Look at me! Look at me!!!!
—Ahhhh, why are there so many rivals!!!!!!
Jiu Chang suddenly said, “Hey, Siyang, Big Brother, is it just me? Are you guys wearing that school uniform? Why do you two look so handsome in it?”
Pan Ming took one look and replied, “Jiu Chang, trust me. It’s not the uniform; it’s the face.”
—Hahahahahaha.
—Too real, f*ck, hahahahahaha.
—The completion of fashion depends on the face, hahahahahaha.
—Zhang-Yang is really too handsome, damn, ahhhhh.
—If I had classmates this handsome, would I still hate going to class!?!!!!
“It really is. Not gonna lie, Siyang, you really suit this look,” Pan Ming said to Jiang Siyang.
Zhang Jin’an saw Jiang Siyang lower his head slightly, saying shyly, “Really?”
Then he saw himself smile and say, “Don't be shy. Our 'Visual' needs to have some prestige.”
Jing Shangshu joined in the teasing, “Right, the Visual, Siyang! Show some prestige!”
Jiu Chang even winked at the camera. “See? The bullet comments must be blowing up right now. I bet you guys are all typing the word ‘Prestige.’”
The comments were indeed very cooperative, filling the screen with the word "Prestige." Seeing the uniform wall of text, Zhang Jin’an couldn't stop laughing.
Next was the part where they were just chatting. When Jiu Chang mentioned that Zhang Jin’an looked like a student who skipped evening self-study every day, the comments started calling Jiu Chang a romance novel enthusiast.
After chatting for a bit longer, PD Jiang began introducing the game. The editors had thoughtfully added animations to help the audience understand better.
—Ahhh, the level-clearing setting is amazing.
—Interesting, interesting, interesting.
—This is actually pretty cool!!!
—Am I the only one who wants to see them chugging bitter melon juice? Hahahaha.
Once the game was explained, breakfast time began, along with the first round of the game—Rock Paper Scissors. Jiu Chang forgot the rules in the first round; his reaction—jumping for joy even though he lost—was mocked by the comments for a long time, everyone calling him a big dummy.
When it was the turn for Jiang Siyang and him to win through strategy, the comments all called them the "Intelligence Duo."
After breakfast, the game truly began. The camera first followed him and Jiang Siyang as they set out.
Zhang Jin’an remembered their conversation and where they went next very clearly, so there was no need to watch it again. He dragged the progress bar to the part where he figured out the answer.
Zhang Jin’an watched himself sitting at the piano, saying, “Ha, it’s this song!”
Jiang Siyang, standing beside him, asked hurriedly, “You solved it? What song?”
“It’s a piece I played a long time ago, called *Childhood*...” On screen, after saying that, he smiled at the camera. “No way? You guys are good. You even dug up the video of my high school performance?”
“They do that a lot. They can even find elementary school videos,” Jiang Siyang told him. “You performed this in high school?”
“Yeah. Whatever you do, don't watch it. It’s dark history.”
Zhang Jin’an sighed. Those words were useless. He could guarantee that Jiang Siyang would definitely watch it.
And Jiang Siyang indeed watched it—very seriously, in fact, replaying the archival footage three times.
The video quality was a bit blurry, showing its age. It filmed a stage where a single spotlight shone directly onto a piano in the center. After a few seconds, a boy in a black formal suit walked onto the stage with a confident stride and sat at the piano. The camera focused on him. When the boy’s handsome face appeared on the screen, the audience below erupted into a commotion. Many voices could be heard saying "so handsome." As the piano music began, the audience gradually fell silent.
—F*ck, how is this dark history? Ahhh, my god, he has so much class.
—The School Heartthrob is here, make way for him, ahhhh.
—I’m so jealous, I’m so jealous, I wish I knew Big Brother in high school too!!!
—With Big Brother’s looks, he really has no dark history, right?! He was so f*cking handsome even then!!!!
—I’m down, I’m down, I’m down.
The archival footage was only a minute long. Once it ended, the scene cut back to the present-day Zhang Jin’an, the piano music transitioning perfectly. After the piece finished, the camera switched to Jiu Chang and Pan Ming’s team.
The two of them went to a general store, with Chen Yi and Jing Shangshu following close behind. The rule at the general store was that whichever team’s total purchase price was closer to the price quoted by the NPC would win. All the prices in the store were covered with white tape, so they had to blindly guess.
Since it was a competition, a scramble naturally ensued. Chen Yi put a washbasin on his head and had a water gun fight with Pan Ming at the entrance. The bullet comments saw right through them, saying the two just simply wanted to play.
In the end, Jiu Chang and Pan Ming won and successfully moved to the next destination.
The camera cut back to him and Zhang Jin’an. They went to a bookstore, and their task was to find a book. The editors sped up their search, but a clock in the bottom right corner still tracked the time. Fifteen minutes later, they finally found the diary.
The scene shifted to an individual interview. Zhang Jin’an said to the camera, “I was a bit surprised then. I didn't expect the production team to recreate my diary. I was thinking if it was my actual diary, I’d be doomed—it’s all dark history. Later, I secretly opened it to check and found it wasn't. Thank goodness.”
—Hahahahahaha, Chuunibyou Youth Zhang Jin’an.
—Big Brother was such a chuuni back then.
—Is that the legendary diary his sister mentioned that recorded the 'Dark Hidden Dragon'?!
—His sister once posted on Weibo that the diary was super chuuni, hahahahahaha.
—This is true dark history.
Jiang Siyang looked at the comments, a bit confused. He didn't quite understand what "Chuunibyou" or "Dark Hidden Dragon" meant. But judging by the comments, Zhang Shuyu had posted about it before. He’d go look for it after he finished watching; then he should be able to understand.
With that thought, Jiang Siyang fast-forwarded through his and Zhang Jin’an’s segments. He remembered their conversations; he was more curious about what happened to the other teams, especially where Pan Ming and Chen Yi went afterward.
Jiang Siyang soon found the answer. After Jing Shangshu and Chen Yi left the general store, they went to the next stage—a jewelry shop. After a round of games, they followed a card to find a "lost plant."
The hint was very directional, pointing to either a garden or a flower shop. As soon as Jiang Siyang saw the words, those two places flashed through his mind.
Chen Yi and Jing Shangshu thought of those places too, but... they lost their way at a crossroad.
Jiang Siyang remembered that crossroad; it was the one Zhang Jin’an had called the "Clash of the Titans" intersection.
Chen Yi and Jing Shangshu stood in the center, looking at each other.
Chen Yi: “Which way should we go?”
Jing Shangshu: “Don't you have the map?”
Chen Yi: “I can't read it!”
Jing Shangshu: “...Then why are you holding the map?”
Chen Yi shoved the map at him. “Here, you take it. If you can read it, you lead the way.”
Jing Shangshu pushed it back. “I can't read it either.”
Chen Yi: “...Then you’re just talking out of your ass!”
The two argued for a while and finally chose to go left based on their sixth sense.
—Hahahahahaha.
—Two people with no sense of direction, hahahahahaha.
—Meanwhile, a certain Big Brother passes by, hahahaha.
—Isn't this the 'Clash of the Titans' street Zhang Jin’an mentioned? Hahahahahaha.
—I’m dying, gagmen are really so funny.
Jiang Siyang finally understood. “Oh... so they were lost.” No wonder he hadn't seen them.
After that, each group appeared on screen in turns, each for about ten minutes. The more interesting parts were given slightly more time, but the distribution was very even. Not a single comment complained.
The funniest part was that because Chen Yi and Jing Shangshu were lost, they would occasionally appear as a transition for a few seconds.
For example, while Jiu Chang and Pan Ming were in a jump rope competition, Jiu Chang suddenly mentioned Chen Yi’s team.
The next second, the screen cut to Chen Yi and Jing Shangshu with a line of text: 【At this moment, they are still lost】.
Later, when he and Zhang Jin’an were sitting in a milk tea shop, competing against an NPC in a game of "Sea Turtle Soup."
Jiang Siyang had a strong impression of the Sea Turtle Soup game; he and Zhang Jin’an had almost gotten stuck.
Sea Turtle Soup is simple: the riddle-giver tells an incomplete story, and the guessers ask questions. The riddle-giver can only answer "Yes," "No," or "Irrelevant." The guessers must use the clues to deduce the beginning and end of the story and piece it together.
The difficulty of Sea Turtle Soup lies in the fact that the initial story might be just a single sentence, while the full story is a long paragraph. You have to be on the same wavelength as the story to solve it, and the show only gave them ten minutes.
The riddle they faced was: “Xiao Ming is a child who greatly admires his father. One day, Xiao Ming killed his mother and said one sentence to his father. His father then committed suicide. Why?”
They asked question after question, such as, “Did Xiao Ming kill his mother because of something she did?” “Was the father’s death due to guilt?”
The bullet comments were guessing along with them, typing out questions on the screen.
In the end, it was Zhang Jin’an who first asked the key question: “Does it have to do with the father’s profession?” After that, they locked their focus onto the father. After several more rounds of questioning, the two deduced the correct answer.
The answer was actually quite bizarre.
“Xiao Ming’s father was a magician who performed the 'sawing a person in half' trick. Xiao Ming thought the magic was real. One day, while his father was away, he tried the trick on his mother. Naturally, the mother died. But Xiao Ming thought his father could put her back together, so he told his father to 'change Mommy back.' Seeing his wife’s corpse, the father committed suicide out of guilt.”
Jiang Siyang watched as his on-screen self finished speaking and stared intently at the NPC. The camera cut between him and the NPC before finally stopping on the NPC’s face. The NPC nodded, indicating the answer was correct.
The two of them immediately jumped up and high-fived.
—This riddle is so wild, hahahaha.
—So impressive, I couldn't figure it out at all.
—Damn, how did they think of that????
—Those two are too strong, oh my god.
—Seriously strong, f*ck.
Zhang Jin’an took the card and suddenly asked, “How are the other groups doing? Where did Chen Yi and Jing Shangshu go?”
His on-screen self shook his head. “I don't know...”
The next second, the scene cut to Chen Yi and Jing Shangshu walking on the road.
【At this moment, they are still lost.】
—Hahahahahaha, still lost, I’m f*cking dying.
—I was wondering why there was no footage of them. Still lost, f*ck.
—Hahahahahaha.
—Lost for a whole day, LOL.
—Hahahahahaha, this is too much, damn.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
后期 | Post-production / Editors | Refers to the staff who edit the show and add captions/effects.
弹幕 | Bullet comments / Danmu | Real-time comments that crawl across the screen in Chinese video platforms.
校草 | Campus heartthrob / School hunk | Literally "School Grass," the most handsome boy in a school.
门面 | Visual / Face of the group | The member of a group considered the most attractive.
排面 | Prestige / Grandeur | Slang for having a grand appearance or being given a lot of respect/face.
中二 | Chuunibyou / Chuuni | "Middle School Second-Year Syndrome," referring to delusional or cringey behavior, often involving fantasies of having secret powers.
海龟汤 | Sea Turtle Soup | A type of lateral thinking puzzle or situation puzzle.
黑历史 | Dark history | Embarrassing or cringey past events one would rather forget.
神仙打架 | Clash of the Titans | Literally "Gods fighting," used here to describe a confusing or high-level chaotic situation.
硬广 | Hard sell / Blatant ad | Obvious product placement.
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