Chapter 649

Now, Dad Where Are We Going has reached episode 13 of season 3, with a total of 15 episodes, leaving only three more to air.

That means the entire season will finish by the end of this month.

The guests are no longer the original few, but have been replaced by Hu Jun, Wang Baoqiang, Zou Shiming, Liu Ye, and their sons and daughters.

The number of celebrity guests is enormous, including Liu Tao, Ning Jing, Fan Shaohuang, Wang Zulan, and others.

If this show dies, it will damage the interests of a large group of artists who relied on it to make a living—now they have nothing left to rely on, including Mango TV's interests.

Just this season, advertising revenue reached 1.5 billion, while the total cost for the season is around 100 million, covering celebrity fees, filming, and production.

There is also the online copyright sale price, valued at 150 million, plus overseas copyrights in South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, and licensing for mobile games, books, toys, and more.

Just this season can earn hundreds of millions; the entire franchise including derivative content can generate billions in profit, with each of the two parties able to split over a billion.

Such massive profits make everyone envious, naturally drawing countless people to try and destroy this show.

Of course, Mango TV wants to kill Huayi's heart!

Currently, public criticism of Dad Where Are We Going is intense; a reporter asked Mango TV's deputy general manager Zhang Huali: "Some say entertainment is the least cultural and least profound—do you think making entertainment is meaningful?"

"A Tsinghua professor said it ended the dominance of Chaoji Nüsheng-style stage competition variety shows and ushered in a golden decade of documentary-style reality TV—isn't that meaningful? Elite culture lost the battle against mass culture; it is the elites themselves who need to reflect, not just blame their opponents," said Zhang Huali.

He is one of Mango TV's leaders, the fourth leader after Ouyang Changlin and Lü Huanbin.

He is also a staunch reformer at Mango TV.

When he took office, it was also when Long Danni left.

His response was a firm endorsement of Dad Where Are We Going: even if you dislike it, this show still exists.

His response pushed the show further into the eye of the storm.

Many experts and professors came out to criticize; sociologist Lan Peijia argued: "Dad Where Are We Going intensifies ordinary families' anxiety over 'elite education,' driving explosive growth in early education institutions and parent-child tourism industries."

Professor Yin Hong of Tsinghua University said: "The rural experience segments are packaged as hardship-adventure reality TV, satisfying urban viewers' exotic fantasies about the countryside while avoiding the real issue of urban-rural resource allocation."

Professor Ye of the Agricultural University said: "The countryside is still poor—it's not the picturesque natural scenery some imagine; that's just an urban fantasy, sharply disconnected from the complex reality of targeted poverty alleviation."

Professor Huang Han of East China Normal University cited the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: "The show places children under intense filming, advertising endorsements, and public scrutiny, which is suspected of violating the principle of 'the best interests of the child.'"

This means exploiting children as "commodities."

More experts and professors said the show generates anxiety—for example, Lin Zhiying customizing a race car room, Wang Yuelun sending his daughter to an international school, implicitly transmitting the theory that parenting success depends on capital.

It intensifies ordinary families' panic over the starting line!

Terms like ethics, anxiety, commodification, and wealth disparity followed one after another, causing Dad Where Are We Going to be labeled "entertainment unto death."

The deputy general manager might have been better off staying silent—once he spoke, it was like poking a hornet's nest, and all the experts and professors came out.

It's as if they're saying: Look, can the elites really do anything to you?

The impact is huge; what they say isn't without merit—it has already triggered negative social sentiment.

And the authorities are seriously considering "child limits"!

Due to the intense social discussion, the General Administration posted an article on its official website, roughly stating: "In response to recent child rights controversies sparked by multiple variety shows, all TV stations should balance entertainment innovation with social responsibility!"

In plain terms: don't over-entertain, don't generate anxiety, and guide the audience correctly.

As soon as the article appeared, a renowned researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences immediately stated: "The government has realized that capital is systematically exploiting children's privacy dividends, and must set policy boundaries."

This was merely a trial balloon article—no policy had been issued yet—but it already caused major TV stations to reduce children's appearances.

Even CCTV's parent-child programs began adjusting, replacing children with teenagers—for example, Extreme Teens!

Many are seeking online platform broadcasts.

For instance, Mom Is a Superwoman is now seeking online distribution.

Afraid that airing on Satellite TV would get it banned.

Online platforms' content is still largely unregulated, making them a policy-risk hedge.

Of course, many parent-child shows have already aired this season; whether they'll produce another season depends on the authorities' direction.

But Dad Where Are We Going cannot be adjusted—it's a variety show fundamentally centered on children; without children, viewers won't watch.

This is undoubtedly a major reshuffling of the entire variety market.

Of course, the authorities haven't issued any formal documents yet—this is just a trial balloon, giving them a grace period to adjust gradually, to finish airing existing episodes; but if the policy is eventually issued, it will be a total ban, no exceptions.

So the scale of impact and the breadth of damage were beyond anyone's expectations.

Many celebrities have been affected, their interests damaged; especially those with children, all major TV stations have tightened restrictions.

"You say Yutu and Huayi are competing—what does that have to do with us? Can't they just fight it out offline and decide the winner?" Jia Nailiang complained.

"Exactly—get it over with quickly, so we don't suffer and can't earn money," Li Xiaolu also complained.

They're on Dad Is Back, a Zhejiang Satellite TV show, which is rumored to be canceled and won't be filmed next season.

"Ah, who isn't saying that? I finally had a chance to revive my career through my son, to keep surviving in this circle—then this happened. It's too hard," Dong Bailian sighed, deeply discouraged.

Since that incident, she's been completely down; acting is out of the question. She had hoped to regain some popularity through variety shows with her son, to keep making money—it's faster than acting.

Who would have thought that the competition between two giants, driving a clash of capital, would end up affecting all of them.

"Now this industry is hard to survive in, especially for us who are older and have children—we can only survive on variety shows. We're too old to play leading ladies anymore; even getting into drama productions is hard," Huo Siyan sighed.

In the entertainment industry, female stars' age is a fatal flaw; once they reach a certain age and can't transition, they can only play mothers or elders.

But such elder roles are rarely lead roles.

To play supporting roles for younger stars, they can't bring themselves to do it—and there are many competitors, older female actors with better acting skills.

What do they have? They're already past their prime.

"I really wish they'd just fight it out—then we wouldn't be suffering so much," Huang Shengyi also sighed.

She even has to beg her abstract husband for money—it's enough already.

She also appeared on the show; she had a son a few years ago.

Now, married female stars who've had children can only rely on their children for consumption—no drama productions will hire them; the entertainment industry never lacks young, beautiful girls who are more youthful and energetic.

Many entertainment industry stars and artists hope they'll just fight it out already and stop causing trouble.

As for netizens outside, they were just watching the show, unable to understand the stars' troubles—how could they still be so greedy when they already made so much money?

Even those who earned more spent more—luxury homes and cars needed maintenance; to be specific, Li Xiang's family spent over ten thousand yuan just on breakfast—her daughter's truffle scrambled eggs cost five hundred yuan per serving.

Qi Wei used mineral water costing three hundred yuan per bottle to mix formula.

Huang Shengyi's trash cans were all six-ten-thousand-yuan LV brands!

Lin Zhiling was exposed for spending one hundred thousand yuan monthly on bird's nest, with custom organic fruits and vegetables delivered directly.

Lin Xinru spent four hundred thousand yuan on clothes for her dog!

Guo Jingming's house had a single desk lamp worth five hundred and sixty thousand yuan!

These were only their daily expenses—clothing, accessories, transportation, and entertainment hadn't even been counted.

Imagine how absurd their daily spending was—such extravagant consumption must have sources; stopping work for years meant living off savings, so they needed constant income.

Where did the money come from? Naturally from variety shows, films and TV, fans, and capital.

If all else failed, they could do live-streamed product sales—that's why so many stars later turned to live-streaming. You think they really had money? They were just falling apart, trying to maintain appearances, compete, and socialize.

It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to return from luxury to frugality!

If they had no roles, no events calling them, and were forced to live poor lives, it would be harder than climbing to heaven.

Of course, this wasn't absolute—some stars who made money still lived ordinary lives: take roles when available, relax when not.

Because some actors, after landing one role, could eat off it for three years—whether lead or supporting.

So now, with Yutu and Huayi competing, their livelihoods threatened, they started cursing and demanding they fight it out.

But they dared not say it face-to-face—only whispered behind backs!

Xie Bazi specifically called Fang Hong, trying to cozy up: "Little brother, you're making things really hard for us!"

He thought he had a good relationship with Fang Hong—they'd talked before, met in person.

Even though he'd been scolded a few times by the Principal, he still fancied they had some connection—it was all very abstract.

"Aren't you a rich second-generation? Why are you upset?" Fang Hong said bluntly.

"You don't understand—times have changed. I used to have some family wealth, thought my looks and talent could shake up the film industry, but every project lost money, and now my family's main business is losing too," said Xie Bazi.

You have looks? You have talent? Fang Hong couldn't even bring himself to mock this guy—he was too self-confident and narcissistic.

It was the film industry that dragged down his family's cash flow, causing other business segments to malfunction and incur losses.

His family started with rigging equipment—specifically, the steel cables used on suspension bridges.

A few years ago, when China was a construction beast, his business naturally boomed—he even had the strength to challenge Xing Ye.

But in the past two years, domestic infrastructure slowed, and international competition caused overcapacity—naturally, things went downhill.

In short, still no money. For such a physical enterprise, lacking bargaining power over raw materials, they naturally lost market share.

When facing such situations, you must endure—if you can't, you'll vanish into obscurity.

When winter comes, if you can endure and outlast your competitors, your market share will naturally rise—and development always shifts.

"But you're still stronger than ordinary people. Endure a few years of hardship—this kind of life isn't something everyone can experience; some people want it but can't get it," Fang Hong bluffed.

"Principal, you're pulling my leg," said Xie Bazi—he wasn't stupid, even if he was a rich second-generation.

His family business wasn't inherited from his father—it was founded by his older brother, and he'd been poor as a child.

He'd endured hardship during entrepreneurship—it wasn't smooth sailing.

"Fine, just pretend I'm pulling your leg!"

Fang Hong didn't bother arguing further—he hung up the phone.

Everyone with a whiff of trouble came to ask him to stop, not to ruin their livelihoods.

Why didn't they share a bit when they were full?

Even Xiao Wang and Da Wang received many calls—but this wasn't something they could just stop; behind them were piles of capital pushing them forward.

They didn't care what happened to the stars—but if The Dad Where Are We Going died, they'd just create another variety show.

The Martian was still filming normally, unaffected by outside factors—the plot had already entered space.

Liu Tianxian would ride a modified booster into space, where her teammates would meet her.

This scene no longer needed filming in Hami.

It required shifting to the film studio's digital soundstage—space backgrounds and the characters' floating states had to be simulated.

Before leaving, the crew visited the legendary Guaishi Shan, with Fang Hong driving the Rover.

It was the same Rover from the movie—functional, drivable as a real vehicle, just with very limited range.

The distance—about ten kilometers—was still reachable.

Although electric car batteries weren't as advanced as later models, hundreds of kilometers' range could still be manufactured.

This vehicle only had dozens of kilometers because it was designed to be lighter.

Accompanying them were the crew's main creators: Liu Yin, Li Anran, Shen Ao, Wen Muye, Han Jia_nv, and Liu Xiaoli.

A group of them drove these Rovers, a grand procession, dust billowing as they headed toward Guaishi Shan.

"Ohhh!"

The Rover's top was open, like a convertible—Liu Tianxian wore sunglasses, standing upright, arms spread, feeling the vastness of nature.

Her hair streamed wildly—she felt the thrill of high-speed motion!

"Be careful—the ride is bumpy, don't hurt yourself," Liu Xiaoli warned from the back seat.

The desert was full of jagged rocks, making the ride extremely bumpy.

"I'm fine," Liu Tianxian said, patting her own belly.

At that moment, Han Jia_nv in the neighboring car called out: "Tianxian, look here!"

Liu Tianxian turned toward her, giving a peace sign—Han Jia_nv took a photo with her phone.

Then she took photos of everyone else in the other vehicles.

Facing a wind that had already grown a bit chilly, and the endless expanse of the Gobi, everyone seemed in high spirits.

The convoy soon reached Guaishi Shan — this place stretched on endlessly with no one around, hardly any tourists, you could say there were none at all.

In fact, most people had simply never heard of such a place, and it wasn't very famous either; the rocks weren't much to look at, they were everywhere.

Coming to the Western Regions, what people wanted to see was Sailimu Hu, Kanas, Tianshan Tianchi, Moguicheng — places like these.

They had only come here because it was close by, to take a look.

Since they weren't on the main road, there weren't many people — just small Gobi hills, and the few tourists there might as well not exist.

Because they weren't on the main road, and the area here was vast, full of strange little stone hills and caves everywhere blocking the view, their arrival here drew no attention at all.

"Wow, how did this rock get like this, full of holes?" Liu Tianxian hopped out of the car, picked up a stone — it looked just like a honeycomb briquette, holes everywhere.

Not only were the small stones like this, the mountains were too, as if someone had sprayed them with a machine gun.

The others all got out of the car as well; some were taking photos with their cameras, after all it was their first time seeing this; some had climbed up small hillsides, gazing into the distance.

The hills here weren't tall, so as long as you were careful, nothing would happen.

More people were taking group photos, to have a keepsake.

This place was quite peculiar, the mountains all in bizarre shapes; Liu Tianxian and Fang Hong were making their way forward along a gorge, sheer cliffs on both sides.

It looked like a gully, only one made of stone.

"I figure this place was carved out by water — a big stone got split open by the flow, what do you think, hubby?" Liu Tianxian steadied herself against the cliff face as she moved forward.

"I think your observation is very sharp," Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian was tickled into a "heh-heh" laugh, turned her head back and reached out to grab his hand.

"You all slow down, don't walk so fast." Liu Xiaoli was behind, watching as stones blocked the path here from time to time.

"Okay, Auntie."

Han Jia's daughter and Wen Muye were following along too.

(End of chapter)