Chapter 155: What is Wrong with Modern Audiences' Tastes? [First Update]

After teaching music for two or three hours, Yu Ziluo and the others strolled around, led by the children, soaking in the fragrance of the rural fields.

Looking at these children, Qin Haiyu was reminded of her own childhood. There was a trace of her former self reflected in these kids.

"Honey, when I was little, I also loved going to the pond with my friends to catch fish. But then Grandma scolded me, saying there were water ghosts that ate people, and that several children from the neighboring village had been eaten by them! So after that, I never dared to go again!"

Speaking of it, a wave of nostalgia washed over Qin Haiyu.

Holding their daughter in his arms, Yu Ziluo looked at his wife and said, "That must be why you loved catching fish so much back then—so that when you grew up, you could catch a big fish like me!"

"Pfft!"

Qin Haiyu laughed. "That's true! We were destined for each other even back then! So when I grew up, not only did I catch this big fish of yours, but I also caught our little fish, our baby!"

With that, she reached out to tease the baby in her husband's arms, poking the little one's chin with her index finger. The baby happily stretched out her tiny hands, trying to grab her mother's mischievous fingers, but her reflexes were too slow, and try as she might, she couldn't catch them.

Suddenly, Mrs. Zhou shot a glare at Zhou Jian. Her look seemed to say: Look at that couple! How loving and romantic! Now look at you? Never mind, I can't bear to watch!

At that moment, Yu Ziluo watched the children digging for loaches and swamp eels in the irrigation ditch, and suddenly recalled a children's rhyme he had learned in his youth.

"You kids be careful," he warned. "There are leeches in there."

Hearing this, Qin Haiyu's mind drifted elsewhere, and she quickly chimed in, "Honey! When I was a kid, Grandma told me a story about a little girl from the neighboring village who loved playing in the ponds and catching fish, and then her belly grew huge!"

Curious, Yu Ziluo asked, "She went to play and catch fish in the pond, so why did her belly grow? Did she catch feelings for some boy out there?"

Qin Haiyu playfully slapped her husband's shoulder in mock annoyance. There were quite a few children around! He needed to behave and stop corrupting the kids!

She explained, "Grandma said it was because that little girl went to the pond to play and catch fish all the time, so a leech crawled inside her from behind. After that, she constantly had stomach aches, and her belly kept getting bigger and bigger until she died in agony. When people cut open her stomach, it was full of blood-sucking leeches!"

"Stop, wife! Just imagining that scene makes me sick to my stomach!"

Yu Ziluo couldn't bear to hear another word. Fortunately, the baby was too young to understand a single word of what her mother was saying. Little Zhou, however, understood enough to feel rather frightened; the thought he had harbored about going down to catch loaches instantly vanished.

Having finished her tale, Qin Haiyu herself found the thought rather repulsive!

Just then, one of the children piped up, "It's a lie! My grandma told me that story too!"

Qin Haiyu laughed awkwardly and said, "Well, even if the story is made up, leeches are genuinely dangerous! If one bites you, you'll bleed a lot!"

The child insisted, "I'm not scared!"

Eager to join in, the baby stretched out her little hands and chanted, "Daddy, catch fish-fish!"

Yu Ziluo pulled her little hands back and said, "No catching, it's dirty!"

"Dirty-dirty~"

The baby echoed, noticing how the hands and feet of the older boys were caked in muddy sludge.

They were all digging tirelessly into the thick mud. Several children had already caught loaches, which for them was not just a game, but also a way to earn some pocket money.

Eels, in particular, were not cheap for these children.

After a tour of the countryside, Yu Ziluo and the others leisurely headed back to prepare lunch. Before leaving, Qin Haiyu reminded the children, "Don't play for too long, make sure you go home on time for lunch, you hear?"

The children acknowledged her, though none seemed in any hurry to leave.

Zhou Jian sighed with emotion, "It's so good to be a carefree kid! When I was little, I was just like them in the village, and I was even the leader of the pack back then!"

Mrs. Zhou scoffed, "If I recall correctly, weren't you just the one with the biggest head, so they made you the leader?"

Zhou Jian rolled his eyes. Suddenly, his son asked, "Dad, did you used to catch loaches when you were a kid?"

"Of course!"

Zhou Jian began to boast, "The biggest loach your dad ever caught was as big as your arm!"

Curious, Little Zhou asked, "Did it bite people?"

Continuing his tall tale, Zhou Jian said, "Of course it bit! And it hurt like crazy! See this scar on Dad's arm? That's from a loach bite when I was a kid!"

Mrs. Zhou couldn't bear to listen anymore, yet seeing her son and husband interacting so closely and chatting so easily brought a deep sense of relief to her heart.

She had originally strongly opposed her husband's suggestion to bring them to the countryside to record this show, but now, she suddenly felt that this slow-paced rural life was actually much more comfortable than living in a big city.

Most importantly, her son had changed; he had started talking endlessly with his husband. For her, that was the greatest harvest of participating in this show.

After lunch, Yu Ziluo asked Xu Ling, "Now that the ratings are out, there must be quite a few advertisers coming to us for cooperation, right?"

Xu Ling replied, "They exist, but based on the price you set, not a single advertiser can accept it yet."

Yu Ziluo said, "No rush. This is only the first episode. When the second episode airs, not only will they accept it, but they'll also regret not cooperating with me sooner!"

"You're overthinking it!"

Xu Ling retorted, "The premiere ratings were only 1.18%. While it's not a flop, it's a far cry from *The Masked Singer*! With ratings like that, apart from Mengniu Group being foolishly rich, who else would be willing to sponsor your show at *The Masked Singer*'s advertising rates?"

Yu Ziluo argued, "That's where you don't understand! Mengniu Group isn't foolishly rich; they simply have good vision, alright? Premiere ratings don't mean everything. Anyway, I bet you that within three episodes, this show will leave all of you with your jaws dropping in shock!"

Xu Ling scoffed, still believing Yu Ziluo was overthinking and overestimating himself. Although the show's premiere ratings were quite impressive, she had always felt that for a variety show of this genre, achieving ratings above 1% was already exaggerated, making any higher breakthrough impossible.

However, by evening, Xu Ling suddenly felt that something was amiss. Why were the online view counts for this show soaring so high?

In less than 24 hours, the show had actually amassed 63 million views?

At this rate, wouldn't the views for this single episode surpass a hundred million by the end of the week?

This year, apart from *The Masked Singer*, only *I Am a Singer* had achieved a hundred million views for a single episode among variety shows!

Could it be that the tall tales Yu Ziluo had spun were actually coming true?

Could the ratings of a daily lifestyle family show really go toe-to-toe with *I Am a Singer* and *The Masked Singer*?

That was simply unbelievable!

What on earth was wrong with the audience's taste nowadays?

How could they actually enjoy watching such an uneventful family show?