Chapter 200: Some people, just by standing there, have already won

After finishing a phone call with Sister Zhao, Bai Liang felt like something was off in the hotel room.

But for a moment, he couldn't put his finger on it.

What exactly was wrong?

It wasn't until his phone rang again—still Li Qin calling—that he realized.

This time, she only said two words: "Open up!"

Bai Liang slapped his thigh. Right, they were recording the show tomorrow; Li Qin was bound to have arrived early too.

As soon as he opened the door, a face struggling to hold back laughter came into view.

Li Qin, while trying to stifle her giggles, walked into his room naturally and sat on the sofa. "You really are an idiot! We're recording the same episode, did you think I was still in Yanjing? Our flights were probably one right after the other."

Bai Liang naturally responded calmly to this "unfounded accusation": "I bet you didn't think of that just now either."

Li Qin's face froze, and then she started acting shamelessly. "I'm a girl, being a bit of an idiot just makes me look cuter."

"Don't go down that path; it's too crowded. You can't compete with those who are naturally gifted at it."

It was unclear whether this was a compliment or an insult, but Li Qin decided to forgive Bai Liang because she had a much more interesting topic:

"Warrior!"

A high-held thumb, combined with a look of admiration, seemed to explain exactly where her fun lay.

Regarding this high praise and affirmation, Bai Liang opened a bottle of champagne from the wine cabinet, deciding to play along.

"You're not bad yourself. Sister Zhao just commented that you aren't afraid of death, daring to join in on any drama."

"She said that about me? It feels weird... I don't get involved in your messy fights, I just watch the fun."

Staring straight at the bottle of champagne, Li Qin forced herself to look away, simultaneously recalling the fun from the Weibo Night.

Honestly, she had never thought that being an artist had such perks.

Eating melons at super close range.

This time was about the same; just thinking about what kind of scenes she might see tomorrow made her unable to stop smiling.

It was as if Bai Liang had pinched her "joy beans."

Of course, ordinary people couldn't enjoy this kind of fun, but she had "paid for the ticket."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't bring that over."

"Huh? You don't like this brand? I'm the spokesperson." Bai Liang showed he was an extremely reliable spokesperson; even in this situation, he didn't forget to promote the champagne he endorsed.

Li Qin's face flushed. "I'm not targeting the brand; I just don't like champagne."

"You liked it quite a bit before..."

"Alright, don't say it. Going crazy once in a while doesn't mean I want to go crazy every time. I'm not the kind of... forget it, it's too hard to explain. Anyway, just don't bring it over."

It was still that classic question.

What do girls really mean when they say yes or no in different situations?

In this regard, Bai Liang had exceptionally sufficient experience.

For example, right now: she wants it! But just not in a rush at this very moment.

After all, if she were really that resistant, she should have spoken up to stop him when Bai Liang was opening the bottle, not wait until it was already open to say so.

It was like cooperating by taking off your pants, and then righteously declaring you aren't willing.

That's just ridiculous.

However, Bai Liang respected a girl's "pretending," as this was inherently one of the joys of getting along.

The champagne was opened and set aside for later.

Then he sat on the sofa. "How are we going to promote the drama tomorrow? Is there a plan?"

"Just be blunt about it. Give the production team a heads-up and do a direct live broadcast. It feels a bit strange, though... the lead actor and actress aren't coming to promote it, and we, the second lead actor and actress, are the ones putting in all the effort."

"Well, we did take the paycheck~" Bai Liang said, not really caring.

The male and female leads? Those two didn't dare to come at all.

On the contrary, Li Qin, this "second lead actress," always had no psychological pressure and hopped over to watch the fun.

"How come my attempts to hype a CP never have the same effect as yours?" Li Qin complained casually.

"Huh? You tried to hype a CP?"

"See, it really had no effect! You didn't even know?!"

Bai Liang spread his hands. "You know, I went to Africa recently, so I'm not too up to date on domestic affairs."

"It was a show I recorded last year." Li Qin looked at him, the corners of her mouth turned down, looking bitter.

"Cough, cough... A CP from the show? That must be the show's fault for not being popular."

It wasn't that the show wasn't popular; it actually had quite a lot of viewers.

Li Qin indicated that she had indeed "dated" someone on the show.

And the result?

She just happened to share a frame with Bai Liang at the Bvlgari gala, and her show CP was directly wiped out... making her Bai Liang's "pendant," an absurd CP endorsement.

The reason was simply that she accidentally appeared in one of Bai Liang's viral photos.

But one photo destroying a CP created by a show was indeed too absurd.

"Forget it, one must look forward. I'll just act well in the future and never bother with tricks like hyping CPs again; it's simply not for me!"

Li Qin complained while changing into a prone position, as if she had lost all hope and turned into a salted fish.

There was no problem with the action of lying on the sofa.

The only problem was that her orientation was a bit off.

Looking down at Li Qin, Bai Liang felt a bit puzzled: was this young lady in a rush, or not?

"I haven't showered yet."

The other party didn't look up, just mumbled a reply: "I haven't either."

The champagne seemed to have found a brand-new use at this moment.

After more than half the bottle of champagne was used up, Li Qin asked in a muffled voice: "When are you going to see Dilireba?"

"I'm not going~"

This answer seemed to exceed her expectations; she froze for a moment, then put in more effort.

Bai Liang felt that if he said, "I'm planning to give Reba a surprise tomorrow," this young lady might smash the champagne bottle on his head.

So he shut his mouth, looked up, and studied the patterns on the ceiling and the style of the chandelier.

Not to mention, Bai Liang quite liked the decor style of this hotel.

The dark tones seemed cold, yet there were a few bright spots—that touch of playfulness and sweetness was the finishing touch.

A long time passed.

"If you and Lu Han get into a fight tomorrow, should I help you hold back Dilireba?"

"Hey, who are you looking down on? I can take on ten."

"Ip Man?"

"Yeah~"

——

Taking on ten was, of course, Bai Liang bragging; it was mainly because there were a lot of people in this recording of *Running Man*, and he actually had a total of over ten.

Besides the seven resident guests, there were several guest stars this time, and except for Bai Liang, they were all women.

The production team didn't arrange it this way on purpose, and Li Qin appearing on the show wasn't because they remembered their CP endorsement.

It was purely a coincidence.

Because the *Running Man* production team had been sending invitations ever since they knew Bai Liang had returned from Africa and hadn't joined a new project yet.

But they weren't sure which episode Bai Liang would come to, or even if he would come at all; it was all a question mark.

If it weren't for Deng Chao saying, "This kid will definitely come," the production team wouldn't have had much hope.

However, Bai Liang's participation was uncertain, but the production team's planning had to proceed as normal.

In the end, they could only use a compromise: no matter which episode he comes to, just squeeze him in!

As a result, they bumped into a bunch of female guests.

As for the duration and screen time... just record a bit more and edit it into two episodes.

The production team originally had this idea, and now that Bai Liang was here, they had to seize this opportunity even more.

"The theme of this episode is male vs. female. Zheng Kai is absent from this recording due to scheduling conflicts..."

Listening to the director introduce the situation for this episode's recording, the light in Dilireba's originally focused eyes dimmed slightly.

They're all female guests~

Because of her schedule, she arrived relatively late, unlike Deng Chao and the others who had already met the female guests yesterday.

However, precisely because she didn't know, that's why she looked forward to it every time~

What a pity.

As for why Zheng Kai didn't come, Reba wasn't very concerned.

Deng Chao, who was calm and composed on the side, knew very well. There was no help for it; there were too many people this time, and they couldn't find a suitable female guest to come at the last minute.

They just decided to let one of the *Running Man* team members take a break.

So to be precise, Bai Liang's addition didn't actually affect the guest stars; instead, it "crashed" one of the resident guests.

Zheng Kai: Forced to have a scheduling conflict.

On the other side, Bai Liang was already trapped in the Kingdom of Women.

Lin Zhilin, Joey Yung, Charlene Choi, Tang Yixin, plus a Li Qin—five big sisters and young ladies were staring straight at him.

As if they were observing some rare animal.

Bai Liang: Others are fine, but Li Qin, what are you doing?

Li Qin: Integrating into the collective, you idiot!

Her positioning for herself today was: a melon-eating spectator.

Anyway, it was impossible to get close to Bai Liang alone, just like at the Weibo Night.

"Hello everyone~" Bai Liang greeted them obediently, not daring to act out.

Because he understood one principle: women, as a species, when gathered together, their boldness increases exponentially. If you tease one or two girls, they might be shy.

But when the number goes up, who is teasing whom is hard to say!

"Wow! So handsome!"

"I've watched your drama~ I really like you!"

"..."

The sudden burst of enthusiasm left Bai Liang only able to barely cope.

Fortunately, his memory was truly good.

He could clearly remember what each of them had said.

And then he replied to them one by one.

Oh right, Lin Zhilin's voice was indeed very distinctive; one could clearly feel that difference among the crowd.

Lin Zhilin, Joey Yung, and Charlene Choi were all quite old; the youngest was thirty-five, so the scene wouldn't be too... that.

The big sisters had reached the age of pursuing elegance.

(Content omitted)

Only Li Qin and Tang Yixin were in their twenties.

So after the initial warmth, they quickly split into two groups.

The big sisters chatted together, while Bai Liang looked at the two young ones~

He was too familiar with Li Qin; there was no need for pleasantries.

As for Tang Yixin...

She was also a semi-acquaintance; Bai Liang had just recorded a show with her husband.

Oh right, they were still just boyfriend and girlfriend now.

This girl's temperament was the exact opposite of Li Qin's; she was sweet~

While Bai Liang was sizing her up, she didn't shy away, blinking her eyes. "You seem to know me."

"Yeah, I've heard about you from someone."

"Who?" Li Qin couldn't help but interrupt.

"Her boyfriend. When we were chatting in Africa, her boyfriend was showing off, saying something about how he got into a car accident and then picked up a partner..."

Li Qin listened with great relish; gossip about others was just interesting!

However, Tang Yixin felt a bit embarrassed. "That big mouth..."

"It's quite romantic," Li Qin offered an opposing opinion.

"I didn't say it wasn't romantic, it's just too childish to show off like that."

"Boys are all very childish, let me tell you..."

Alright, Bai Liang was comfortable now.

As Li Qin and Tang Yixin chatted, they even held hands, despite having just met.

Bai Liang, having freed up some space, flipped through the script and found it was just some show flow; he didn't see the so-called "Running Man script" mentioned online, like having to agree on who wins when tearing name tags.

It was fine if there wasn't one; Bai Liang was quite willing to play the little games on the show seriously.

But it was like playing cards; if the outcome was decided in advance, the silly little games really just remained silly.

Oh right, tearing name tags was actually quite fun; he quite liked that.

It had the joy of being able to "beat up" others openly.

In other places, you couldn't just press people to the ground and rub them like that.

Soon, with the entry of the college student audience in the gymnasium, the show recording was about to begin.

It was different from the past.

In previous recordings, the resident guests would appear first and then wait for the guest stars to arrive.

Occasionally, they would have to make some exclamations for the show's effect because of the "beauty" of certain guests.

This time it wasn't; instead, they came in turns, staggered.

Fortunately, the college students on site made up for the cheering part.

Whoever came out, they would applaud and cheer, each one full of enthusiasm; it was unknown if the production team gave them a labor fee, or if they tricked college students into working for free in the name of "seeing stars"... the probability of the latter was extremely high.

Soon, only three of the dozen or so guests had yet to appear.

When Dilireba walked out of the gymnasium passage, the cheers on site seemed to go up a level compared to before.

This was the most intuitive manifestation of popularity.

Other female guests watching this scene would have more or less some emotions...

However, when Lu Han appeared, everyone saw what a true top-tier star was!

"Wow! Xiao Lu's popularity is really high!" Deng Chao said in an exaggerated tone.

Chen Chichi immediately followed up, quite indignantly: "Why didn't I have such loud cheers when I came out just now?"

"Xiao Lu is a top-tier star, and you are?"

"Aba aba..."

And when Lu Han was guided to stand next to Dilireba, the jeering on site went up another level.

However, by the time their voices gradually faded, the last guest still hadn't appeared.

Deng Chao still started to lead the rhythm, pretending: "Director, did you make a mistake? Everyone is here, right?"

"Today is male vs. female, do you think the number of people is enough?"

"One boy short, who is going to replace Zheng Kai?"

Listening to these two pretending to be ignorant, the others had different thoughts, but they still had to cooperate on their faces.

Curious~

Only Dilireba was truly curious!

Or rather, she seemed to have a premonition, because Deng Chao's eyes had glanced at her several times.

Her heartbeat started to accelerate! No way...

Similarly, Lu Han next to her also showed an expression that was hard to read... it was weird.

Oh right, he even moved a little bit to the side without leaving a trace.

This guy clearly still knew what "emergency avoidance" meant.

Comparing fans and traffic, he certainly wouldn't say he was afraid of Bai Liang, but compared to being "cursed," who could be sure?

Wu Moufan wasn't worse than Bai Liang at the time, and was even a step ahead of him.

And the result? He was pressed down hard and almost nailed to the pillar of shame.

The performance of *Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back* basically announced that this guy had bid farewell to the film industry.

If it weren't for the fact that his foundation hadn't been lost, this year's top-tier spot might have been kicked out by this guy; Yang Yang, Li Yifeng, and others wouldn't miss the opportunity to beat a drowning dog.

Until the scene almost returned to silence, smoothing out the commotion caused by Lu Han's appearance.

A tall, straight figure finally walked out of the passage.

When the first audience member craned their neck to see who it was, a scream resounded through the entire gymnasium.

Followed by a commotion even more terrifying than when Lu Han appeared just now.

This was the advantage of a "sneak attack."

In another setting, Bai Liang couldn't possibly surpass Lu Han in this regard.

But today, all the audience knew Lu Han would come, but no one knew he would also come.

A surprise is naturally greater than anticipation.

Moreover, he had a "bond" bonus.

Bai Liang, Lu Han, and Dilireba in the same frame on the show?

No need to wait for this episode to air; this matter would be on the hot search today!

Many people on site didn't focus their attention on Bai Liang; they couldn't help but observe Dilireba's reaction.

Hmm... the reaction was too big!

Visible tension, and the expression on her face was almost unable to hold back.

Those few female guests who didn't know the situation exclaimed internally: Holy crap, is her acting really that good?!

Production team: This is the effect we wanted!

Keeping it from her was indeed the right decision.

If they had told Dilireba in advance, she probably wouldn't have been able to show such a feeling, that visible impatience.

It was simply amazing!

Bai Liang didn't greet the audience like other guests when he appeared.

His pace was steady, his speed didn't decrease at all, and his goal was clear...

Lu Han: Holy crap, is he coming for me?

The next second, feeling something was wrong, he moved another step to the side, finally leaving Bai Liang's "attack range," and subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

Now there was only one person on Bai Liang's target path.

And at this moment, many people were already shouting internally: You should spin now!

This exclusive program for Bai Liang was always something their CP fans loved to bring up.

It belonged only to him; others didn't have it.

Reba didn't let everyone down; as Bai Liang was about to walk in front of her, the smile on her face completely bloomed.

As always.

Time to spin~

In an instant, the screams on site almost blew the roof off the gymnasium.

Deng Chao and the others who were better at performing had looks of horror, covering their ears.

Of course, this time it wasn't pure performance; was it really that surprising and scary?

"I suddenly understand what the lethality of a 'white moonlight' is." Deng Chao suddenly started reciting lines, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

He could only say sorry in his heart to Xiao Lu; you really aren't the protagonist today.

"Some people, just by standing there, have already won."

——

Three updates, fifteen thousand words, see you tomorrow, mwah.

Asking for monthly tickets.