Chapter 103

Soon, Dilireba came to understand what Bai Liang's pace of life was like.

Lazy, competent, efficient, approachable.

He usually looked sluggish and loved to zone out.

He could chat with anyone, even the frantic staff from Jia Xing's team seemed to unconsciously slow down around Bai Liang.

At the same time, his efficiency on set was terrifyingly high—he almost never made mistakes.

Dilireba tried hard to match his efficiency, but frankly, she couldn't manage it.

At first, the gap in her professional skill was visibly obvious.

Later, Lin Yufen had Bai Liang continue the "old tradition": one-on-one, precise coaching.

Even though Dilireba improved and could easily slip into character under Bai Liang's careful teaching, she still couldn't match his speed.

Because while it became easier for her to get into character, she couldn't snap out of it as quickly as Bai Liang could.

Sometimes, when the emotional continuity of a scene broke, small problems still arose.

It felt like hitting a dead end.

The acting profession really is fascinating—some actors genuinely fall in love with a person because of a role they played, and can't shake it off for a while.

Of course, this doesn't include those actors who just go through the motions and stay superficial.

At first, Bai Liang was a little curious, since Dilireba was destined to earn the title "Water Queen."

Teaching others had become simple for Bai Liang now.

After doing it so many times, he was practically seasoned at it.

Guiding someone into character? Easy as pie—unless they were truly a block of rotten wood no amount of coaxing could awaken.

So far, Bai Liang hadn't met such a student—not even Dilireba.

She took acting seriously, just like those class underachievers who work hard but are genuinely lacking in ability.

"Underachiever" might be too harsh—she wasn't that bad, it was just a matter of who she was compared to.

Her company always piled pressure on her, and now Bai Liang stood right there on set—even without any intention to pressure her, his mere presence was already a form of pressure.

So every day, she could be seen hunched over her script, frowning.

Sometimes after finishing a scene, she'd just stand there staring blankly.

But the most unbelievable thing was that after two weeks of filming, she took two days off.

When asked where she went, it turned out she'd been doing promotional appearances.

"Her company is so cruel—they know she's on set filming, yet still schedule promotions! I heard she came back past midnight the day before yesterday, slept two hours, then rushed straight to set. No wonder she looked so drained."

Sister Yanzi, the gossip queen, always brought Bai Liang little rumors she claimed to have gotten from who-knows-where.

But they were always reliable.

Because fatigue is visible at a glance—no amount of masking can hide it.

"How pitiful~"

"What can you do? Her company's boss, Yang Mi, leads the charge—rumor has it she's so exhausted she's nearly vomiting blood! The artists under her naturally get maxed-out workloads and crushing KPIs."

Bai Liang nodded thoughtfully, thinking of all those office slaves stuck in 996—or even 007—schedules.

When the bosses are still working overtime, who dares or even wants to leave first?

Same principle.

But her company's internal affairs had nothing to do with Bai Liang—he could only offer Dilireba a little extra food within his limited means.

Her figure was certainly nowhere near fat, yet she was said to still be dieting to lose weight.

Dilireba herself had said: "Among all the female artists in my company, my legs are the thickest."

Hearing this, Bai Liang wasn't happy—obsessing over thinness was a distorted aesthetic; girls should be full where they're meant to be, and graceful curves are far prettier than bony sticks.

He'd fed Na Zha the same way back then, literally making her gain several pounds.

If Na Zha had been that size back then, she could've played Bei Weiwei.

But after she stopped filming with Bai Liang, she quickly slimmed back down.

"Dou Xiao Bai~"

"Director, what's up?"

"I want to talk to you about something—how's your relationship with Dilireba?" Director Lin Yufen asked with a mysterious smile.

"Pretty good."

"Are you two dating?"

"Pfft!"

He hadn't expected the old baby to be so playful; Bai Liang just sighed and waved his hand, "Of course not."

"It could happen~" "It definitely doesn't!"

"Oh come on, that's not what I meant—I just want you to help her even more."

"Is she having any trouble lately?"

Bai Liang felt he'd done his job thoroughly—he'd earned every penny the production paid him.

He tutored her, fed her snacks.

And honestly, Dilireba had a big appetite—she didn't eat much of any single snack or fruit, but she sampled nearly every single thing Bai Liang bought.

Lin Yufen raised an eyebrow—this kid was surprisingly tenderhearted.

But she wasn't trying to trick him.

"I think you two need more interaction—Dilireba's been distracted lately. Have you been bullying her?"

Bai Liang blinked. "Director, just say it straight—you're worse at acting than I am."

Please... collect... 6... 9... books....!

"Cough, cough, cough"

Lin Yufen felt slightly awkward, but she didn't get angry at Bai Liang for speaking so casually.

The longer she spent with him, the more she found him likable—there was nothing to be done about it.

She gave up pretending altogether and joked: "Go flirt with her a bit—that's your specialty."

"Huh?"

Bai Liang immediately suspected Li Yitong had started spreading rumors about him on a large scale.

Has it even reached this set?

"Let me put it another way—Jia Xing has assigned her far too much work; our crew definitely needs to apply pressure, but we also want her to handle her own responsibilities. If this drama turns out well, it'll benefit her, but if she keeps acting recklessly on her own..."

"Why don't you just talk to her directly?"

"We think you're the most suitable person—she relies on you," Lin Yufen said, hitting the nail on the head.

Talk about the script, feed her some food, and she develops reliance?

Bai Liang thought this sounded dubious—it felt like something his old dorm mate Xiao Liu would be assigned to do. The best people for dealing with moody rich women were definitely male escorts.

Oh right, Dilireba isn't really a rich woman yet—she's only been famous for how long? She's probably still getting the smaller share from her company.

Thinking of this, Bai Liang even considered becoming a "traitor."

What's wrong with a girl working hard to earn money?

How can you become a rich woman if you don't earn more?

Na Zha is now pushing herself to the limit to earn money—though not to the extreme of Yang Mi, who nearly collapsed from exhaustion, she's like a spinning top.

She's working hard toward becoming a rich woman; who knows, in no time she might even be able to "support" Bai Liang.

But she's driven by her own ambition, not because of her company.

Tang Ren's company is pretty slack—lots of artists, but few jobs.

As for Dilireba, Bai Liang didn't really know her situation.

This girl is complicated, and relatively introverted.

Unlike Na Zha, who always blabs every thought to Bai Liang right away—she can't keep anything hidden.

"This job needs extra pay!"

When Bai Liang told Sister Yanzi this story, her eyes instantly lit up.

"Extra pay?"

"Of course! Definitely extra pay!" Sister Yanzi said firmly. "Big Brother Dou Xiao Bai is already so generous on set—you're always buying things to reward everyone, feeding everyone fruit and drinks, helping guide other actors—that's extra work!"

Bai Liang thought Sister Yanzi had a point.

Seeing his expression, Sister Yanzi continued: "Now this? When did the male lead start handling the female lead's psychological issues? Extra pay! Must get extra pay!"

In fact, Sister Yanzi thought this was basically free money.

Big Brother Dou Xiao Bai and Dilireba had already been "together" for a while—she'd seen them sneaking kisses in the makeup room!

She'd seen it with her own eyes!

Now this whole setup was just giving them an excuse to get together and do something naughty.

Since things were already like this, Sister Yanzi, as her boss's agent, naturally had to fight for more benefits for her own boss.

So she even said boldly: "If Big Brother Dou Xiao Bai goes too far and talks her into bed, that should count as a work injury!"

Bai Liang:???

I never thought you were this kind of Sister Yanzi!

(End of Chapter)