Chapter 215: Is this the kind of thing that belongs in a reality show?

The broadcast of the subsequent episodes of *Flowers and Youth 3* did not disappoint the production team or the sponsors.

Although Bai Liang had turned the show into a solo survival challenge, to the point where the segments of the others exploring Brazil were barely discussed at all, overall, the benefits definitely outweighed the drawbacks.

That's just how the world works; no one cares about the thoughts or feelings of the "flops."

Starting from the third episode, the production team even went back for some "re-editing."

A little extra editing here and there—it was only reasonable.

They were perfectly clear about who was driving the ratings and the buzz.

Aside from the lions stealing the show at the very beginning with an explosive wave of popularity, the most popular wild animal in the Africa segment turned out to be that shameless honey badger.

As an animal famous for its stubbornness and refusal to back down, the fact that it was "bribed" by Bai Liang with a few egg yolk pies made for truly explosive television.

Screenshots of the little creature with an egg yolk pie stuffed in its mouth went viral, and it was turned into all sorts of memes.

Unfortunately, aside from Bai Liang himself, no one else could really capitalize on the traffic that thing generated.

After all, it wasn't a domesticated pet like a kitten.

Nowadays, Naza's Weibo feed didn't even feature photos of herself anymore; it was all pictures of her holding the kitten, or just photos of the kitten alone.

Her follower count was skyrocketing, and it was hard to tell if they were coming for her or the cat.

After all, that kitten even had its own super-topic, for heaven's sake.

Li Yitong, the kitten, was quite envious and jealous, specifically sending Bai Liang a few voice messages of her mimicking a cat's meow.

She then remarked that she wasn't even doing as well as a real kitten~

Her "meow meow meow" sounds were actually quite interesting; Bai Liang felt that while it didn't sound very much like a cat, it had a certain charm to it.

He could almost see her tilting her head with an innocent expression.

Next time they met, he could have her meow like that to his face.

As the buzz for *Flowers and Youth 3* remained high online, the *The Story of Minglan* crew welcomed their first "guest" since filming began.

Wu Jing had come to visit the set.

The moment they met, he started taunting: "Haha, I heard you got taken down by some fake booze? Is that for real?"

Bai Liang rubbed his nose. "It should be real. Or maybe someone drugged me."

"Drugged you? That sounds pretty plausible. Aren't there a lot of girls who like you? I searched online earlier and it gave me a shock. I thought it was just Naza before~"

"Given your current style and appearance, it's hard for me to explain why." After pondering for a moment, Bai Liang decided to retaliate against the guy for mocking his fake alcohol incident.

Wu Jing's expression stiffened instantly. *You son of a...

He quickly brushed past the topic; he couldn't be bothered to get involved in the romantic entanglements of young people. After all, he only knew Naza, and he had previously thought the young couple's relationship was quite good.

Now, it was hard to say.

"Tell me, there's a surprise in this episode? Translate that for me~"

"Is that why you came?" Bai Liang asked, surprised.

Wu Jing was matter-of-fact. "Yeah~"

"Can't you just watch TV at home? Why come all the way here to find me?"

"If you were lying to me, I could curse you out on the spot."

That logic... actually held up. Bai Liang thought it was reasonable.

Face-to-face was indeed the best way to start a zero-frame attack.

However, when he saw Wu Jing moving bottles of alcohol from his car, Bai Liang knew tonight would be a brutal battle!

*Damn it, Moutai in cases? It's either you die or I die!

Having just taken a small tumble because of alcohol, Bai Liang's first instinct was to refuse.

People, when hurt by wine and women, always have the same first reaction: quit drinking!

But between men, all it takes is a single look.

Wu Jing: Can you handle it?

Bai Liang: If you can walk back to your room on your own tonight, I lose!

Tonight's meal was definitely going to be in the hotel, with various takeout dishes prepared in advance as snacks.

Originally, he had thought about calling some people from the crew, like Sister Zhao, to join them.

As it turned out, Bai Liang failed his "sobriety," but Sister Zhao seemed to have truly quit drinking; perhaps her psychological trauma was even greater.

As for the others... well, although Bai Liang didn't care about crew hierarchy or celebrity status, others cared quite a bit.

Rather than having people over to act as sycophants and walk on eggshells, it was better to just keep it casual between the two of them.

They didn't even need chairs; they just sat cross-legged in front of the coffee table and drank.

However, the show didn't start until ten o'clock, so the two of them didn't drink too aggressively right away.

"I saw you trending for donating money when I arrived? You're quite generous, nearly three million~"

"Donating money? To whom?"

"African wildlife, I think~" Wu Jing didn't seem to remember clearly, but he found it strange. "You donated it yourself, don't you know?"

"I don't know. My manager asked if I wanted to do some charity, so I arranged for her to donate some money. But it couldn't have been for African wildlife; it must have been domestic."

Wu Jing pulled out his phone and checked; it was indeed domestic.

"Cheers."

Yanzi suggesting Bai Liang do some charity wasn't about being generous with someone else's money, but about building an image.

Charity is the kind of thing where if you donate, people might not know or remember, but if you don't, netizens will definitely gossip about you.

Bai Liang thought it made sense, so he arranged for her to donate twenty million, letting Yanzi handle the specifics of how to distribute it.

This time, it was likely because of the buzz from the Africa segment of *Flowers and Youth 3* that Yanzi simply decided to donate to some domestic wildlife protection causes first.

It could be considered mutually beneficial.

Our Brother Bai isn't just "bullying" those little animals; he's also putting in the effort to protect them.

Yeah, bullying the African ones, protecting the domestic ones.

Both are "wild" by name, no problem there.

"How much?!" Wu Jing nearly spat out his drink, his voice slurring.

"Twenty million."

The other man gave a thumbs up. "You're really rich!"

"My acting fees are very high. I can't spend it all, absolutely can't spend it all."

Of course, the twenty million wasn't thrown out all at once; Yanzi planned to donate a bit whenever she found a suitable cause, just making sure to exhaust the budget.

"Asking a more personal question, how much money do you have left? You don't have to answer!"

"Aside from the studio's operating costs, maybe ten million or so~" Bai Liang said, not entirely sure.

He wasn't particularly clear about his own income; Yanzi knew more about that side of things.

Bai Liang used to spend whatever he had, and later evolved to spending without looking at the price tags.

Now, he didn't even look at his own balance.

Being a celebrity really is too lucrative.

This year's Forbes Celebrity List was out, and the number one, Fan Bingbing, had an income of three hundred million written right there.

The previously top-tier Lu Han ranked second with two hundred and ten million.

Sister Zhao also broke into the top five, ranking fourth with one hundred and ninety million, just behind Yang Mi's two hundred million.

Don't think this is some kind of massive gap in income; the lead wasn't that significant at all.

In the top one hundred, a bunch of people had incomes over one hundred million, and even the worst-off had at least thirty or forty million.

This is the manifestation of the skyrocketing incomes of celebrities in the era of traffic.

Bai Liang naturally earned quite a bit too; he earned about the same as Wu Moufan, and even after taxes, the remaining figure was quite staggering.

Fortunately, he could earn it and he could spend it!

"Another drink... You're really awesome! Really carefree!"

Wu Jing was impressed, because he knew that although Bai Liang's income was high, he hadn't been famous for very long.

He had only been in the industry for a little over two years. To earn over a hundred million in one year of fame, and after taxes to have tens of millions left, and to still be able to donate twenty million...

"It doesn't matter, people will be sending money my way soon enough."

Bai Liang didn't think it was anything special; it was mainly because the money came too easily. It felt simpler than being a kept man for a wealthy socialite...

Now that he'd spent it, it wouldn't be long before someone sent more his way. Just consider it a brother robbing the rich to help the poor in the entertainment industry~

Oh, right!

There would be a share of the profits when *Wolf Warrior 2* was released...

Of course, savings are actually quite important. For those who don't have Bai Liang's luck and never worry about going hungry, it's not recommended to spend money like this.

As for himself, the young ladies were all quite good at saving money.

Aren't they all just external bank cards?

Speaking of donating money, Bai Liang remembered he had to attend an event in September.

The Bazaar Charity Gala.

It wasn't that Su Mang was pestering him, but the brand he endorsed was sponsoring the event, so he was just going to make an appearance.

He asked Wu Jing if he was going, and the other man gave him a look of sympathy.

Wu Jing: You're going to join in on that kind of alternative "shura field"?

"Cheers!"

Drink after drink, the new episode of *Flowers and Youth 3* finally began.

【Content not to be missed!】

Wu Jing watched with great interest; men, after all, always have some beautiful yearning for the wilderness, one could even say they have filters for it.

This kind of yearning usually disappears after eating a bit of the bitterness of the wilderness.

However, whenever the plot shifted to the Brazil group, he kept urging Bai Liang to fast-forward, which was annoying.

*This is a satellite channel broadcast, not a computer where you can drag a progress bar...

However, the moment the first gunshot rang out in the show, Wu Jing instantly looked as if he had sobered up.

The two had already finished half a bottle of liquor, but the other man stood up with a jolt.

Wu Jing was still very sensitive to the sound of gunfire; on one hand, he had spent a long time in the military, and on the other, he had been constantly on edge because of this very thing while filming in Africa.

Likewise, the gunshot pushed the attention of this episode to its peak!

This stuff was way more exciting than wild animals or whatever!

Wu Jing's eyes were glued to the TV screen. When he saw Bai Liang pull out the small national flag and place it on the rearview mirror, he completely lost his composure.

"You kid... no, Brother Liang! I..."

Bai Liang very understandingly handed him a cushion, the meaning simple:

If you want to kowtow, go ahead. I'm not afraid of losing years off my life.

As it turned out, Wu Jing seemed to have misunderstood, sitting down on it and staring at him with burning eyes.

"Nothing else to say, it's all in the wine. I'll chug one for you!"

*What the hell, chug one?!

The other man was slurring his words a bit, and Bai Liang only heard the last sentence.

Instinctively, he shifted his body back half a meter, ready to kick him away.

Fortunately, at that moment, Wu Jing reached out and grabbed a freshly opened bottle of Moutai, and *glug glug glug*, began his performance.

Bai Liang: *Holy crap! You're replicating the movie scene too?

*Am I going to have to send this guy to get his stomach pumped later...

"That's enough, okay? Let's arrange the promotion stuff first."

"Huh? You don't want me to drink anymore?"

"Drink after we're done arranging it. I can see you're still quite thirsty~"

Wu Jing gave Bai Liang the middle finger and made a phone call.

There wasn't much to explain; just let people watch the trending topics later. Those professionals in promotion and marketing would naturally handle it.

And then, of course, he continued to chug the Moutai!

He had to drink! He couldn't not drink! If he didn't drink, he couldn't get past it in his heart; he really had to kowtow.

To keep Bai Liang from losing years off his life, he chose to trust his own liver~

*You have to hold up!

*Wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo~*

The scene of an ambulance arriving outside the hotel in the middle of the night really scared the *The Story of Minglan* crew.

But seeing the drunken Wu Jing being carried up, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is he okay?" The director, not even fully dressed, rushed to Bai Liang and asked urgently.

After all, if Wu Jing died drinking in their crew, that would be a huge deal.

Bai Liang spread his hands. "He's fine. He just drank too much. It's not safe for him to sleep in the hotel tonight, so it's safer to send him to the hospital."

Wu Jing hadn't actually passed out from drinking; Bai Liang was just being thoughtful, making a preemptive judgment.

Regardless of whether he was actually okay after drinking so much, he would treat it as if he wasn't.

Absolutely no problems there.

The next day, some marketing accounts started up again.

"Wu Jing also taken down by fake booze!"

"Holy crap, I'm dying of laughter. Are you guys taking turns challenging Bai Liang's fake booze? Where exactly does he buy his alcohol?"

"No, why does a top-tier celebrity have to keep messing with fake booze? This time it's even worse, sent straight to the hospital."

"Wu Jing is really unlucky. Maybe it wasn't finished last time, and leaving it for a few days made it even more potent."

"Immortal, you earn so much, buy some real booze. Who in the entertainment industry will dare to drink with you in the future~"

"Didn't someone find out? Bai Liang has already donated nearly ten million this year. This guy is really spending money where it counts! It's just a pity for Wu Jing and Zhao Liying... Fake booze ruins lives~"

"..."

Bai Liang:???

*What fake booze ruins lives? That alcohol was clearly bought by Sister Zhao; what does it have to do with him?

*And yesterday, Wu Jing drank the Moutai he brought himself.

The only thing these two had in common was that they both drank with Bai Liang.

Uh... looking at it that way, he did seem to be a bit of a jinx.

Fortunately, the nonsense from the marketing accounts was just a small interlude.

The content of the latest episode of *Flowers and Youth 3* was the true king of traffic.

Many viewers were dazed after watching it yesterday. *Am I watching a celebrity travel reality show? Did they send me to the military channel by mistake?!

In the history of variety reality shows, there have been many explosive, iconic moments.

But they were usually based on comedy or impressive skills.

Like Reba drawing on *Running Man*, or her and Li Qin spinning around.

*Go Fighting! next door had some more intense scenes, like bombs exploding or guests jumping directly into a lake.

That already made the audience feel... *These people are really outrageous! Good, I love it!

As it turned out, *Flowers and Youth 3* brought out warlords... Even though many things were censored, the released content was still somewhat outrageous and even scary.

*Is this the kind of thing that belongs in a reality show?!

*Dimensional strike, right?!

Bai Liang's previous interactions with wild animals were actually quite exaggerated, belonging to a level of spectacle impossible in other reality shows.

This time, it raised the ceiling by more than a level.

At the same time, the controversy it sparked was quite significant.

It was mainly two groups of people arguing: whether it was real or fake.

Some people thought it was real, as real as it could get.

The production team had previously hidden the staff following Bai Liang to create the image of him "solo" surviving the wilderness.

This time they didn't hide it at all, even though everyone actually knew about it.

The expressions on the faces of the production crew were, for many viewers, quite telling.

They couldn't all be such great actors, specifically hired to perform this scene, right?

And those black brothers had such good acting skills? All of them Best Actors?

Someone had gone through it frame by frame and couldn't find a single "glitch."

Instead, they discovered some blind spots...

*The things with the thickest mosaics, for heaven's sake, aren't those corpses?!

Real or fake, fake or real, at this moment it didn't seem that important.

The buzz was already explosive!

The trending search list was almost completely dominated.

At this moment, Wu Jing, still sleeping in the hospital, turned over and muttered, "It's settled, it's settled~"

——

Three updates, fourteen thousand words. See you tomorrow, mwah.

Please vote for monthly tickets.