Chapter 145: On Stage and Off, It's All Drama

After the launch press conference ended, Dilireba was happily and eagerly taken aside by a senior executive of Jiaxing for a scolding.

Because today was the launch press conference, even Zeng Jia, one of the founders of Jiaxing and also the producer of this drama, was on site.

Directly letting classmate Reba enjoy a wave of "admonishment" from her top boss.

Zeng Jia was indeed a bit unhappy, feeling that Dilireba wasn't quite following the company's arrangements. Of course, it could also be that someone at the company hadn't done their job properly?

After all, Reba is Jiaxing's most capable player besides Yang Mi. A head-on dressing-down was absolutely out of the question, but gentle words laced with a few pointed jabs were certainly unavoidable.

Originally it was supposed to go like that, no doubt about it.

But when a curious capybara waddled over clutching a handful of sunflower seeds, looking like it wanted to join in on the fun, Zeng Jia found she couldn't bring herself to say some of those things.

Not only couldn't she say them, she also couldn't cold-shoulder Bai Liang—she had to make small talk with him.

After all, she had time right now, the perfect moment to build a good relationship and find a way to lure him into Jiaxing.

"Xiao Bai, if you have any needs later on, just tell the crew. Whatever we can fulfill, we'll do our best to fulfill."

"For real?" Bai Liang was stunned, wondering if such a good thing really existed.

Looking at his "dumbfounded" appearance, Zeng Jia couldn't help wondering—who was it that said Bai Liang was hard to deal with?

At first glance, he seemed pretty easy to fool!

He looked exactly like the kind of pure-hearted young guy who, if her Yang Mi crooked her finger, would come trotting over like a little puppy.

"Really, I drop by the set every now and then. From now on, just call me sis when you see me. Filming is important, but life is important too. Our Jiaxing has always cared about the all-around physical and mental well-being of our artists, and we offer the best treatment."

"Then can I eat eight dishes in one meal?" Bai Liang said, suddenly interested.

Making demands~

Of course he'd boldly ask. If the other party was just being polite, then forget it.

Not getting it was fine too.

This left Zeng Jia oddly choked up, thinking to herself that this strange request really was strange!

"Sure~ why not! But Xiao Bai, as an artist you still have to pay attention to every aspect. Some things should be kept low-key—if word gets out, the media will twist it."

Zeng Jia felt her performance as the "understanding big sister" was a smashing success. Sure, she didn't have Yang Mi's gift of making even a glance electric, but fooling a clueless fresh-faced boy? More than enough.

"Thanks for caring, Sis Zeng, but it's fine, I'll keep it secret. I've even driven my RV to the set."

Keep it secret?

Zeng Jia: Is that what I meant?

"RV? You bought it yourself?"

Once those words left her mouth, Zeng Jia was going to pay for it for the next hour.

Showing off his big toy—Bai Liang was more than happy to do it.

Back on the set of "Princess Agents," he'd lost count of how many times he'd recommended his RV to his bros, and the clever designs on it had them all shouting "freaking awesome."

When Bai Liang enthusiastically demonstrated that his RV really could fit eight dishes, Zeng Jia felt the corners of her mouth twitch.

He really wanted to eat eight dishes?

Bai Liang said: I don't eat alone—I can bring Reba along~

Reba's eyes lit up: Really?

But the next second she got a death stare from Zeng Jia: Don't you dare!

No matter what, the "admonishment" of Reba clearly wasn't going to happen today. They'd just have to have someone give her a heads-up later.

After getting down from Bai Liang's RV, Zeng Jia mulled it over, unable to quite figure out this kid's angle.

But overall, he didn't seem like a particularly difficult type—she could give it a shot.

So she merely glanced over, as if on purpose, and didn't call Reba down from Bai Liang's RV.

Most of the crew were Jiaxing's people anyway—those two couldn't cause any real trouble.

Besides, within Jiaxing's roster of artists, not everyone was convinced that Dilireba should be the second sister.

"Mi Mi, that Bai Liang—"

"Quite an interesting little guy. You're still thinking of signing him? He's a bit hard to handle."

In front of Zeng Jia, the person who'd hustled alongside her from Rongxinda, Yang Mi spoke quite directly.

Although she'd habitually given Bai Liang a casual feel-out, basically testing the waters with this younger brother.

But she kept feeling something was a bit off.

"Hard to handle? That's because we hadn't put in the effort before. I see Reba seems to be getting pretty close to him."

"Getting close is a good thing. Getting too close isn't." Yang Mi said thoughtfully.

Their company absolutely couldn't have any love-brained artists right now, especially the popular ones.

"That's fine, I've already made arrangements. I asked Zhu Xudan and Huang Mengyin to keep an eye on things."

"Are they reliable?"

"Zhu Xudan is close with Reba, and Huang Mengyin just finished filming a drama with Bai Liang. I asked her, and she said they're pretty close."

"How close?"

Good question!

For a female artist like Dilireba who's already famous and has breakout potential, after enjoying the CP红利, it's best not to have anything real happen.

Shipping a CP is fun and games, but if the CP becomes real, it probably won't have much positive impact on career development.

Best to keep it forever at the "shipping" level, and occasionally swap in different people to ship.

But if it's an artist who isn't famous, whose career is just so-so, then being tied to someone with a bigger name is basically all upside.

They could even "siphon off" the popularity in reverse.

"I'll go talk to Huang Mengyin again later, see if she's interested."

"Definitely. If I were in my twenties, at that prime age, I'd like a guy like Bai Liang too~" Yang Mi said with a grin, joking around.

Zeng Jia smiled without a word, not taking the bait.

——

For Bai Liang, the role of the Eastern Hua Emperor was quite a breakthrough since he started acting.

It mainly came down to the character's look:

A figure in a purple robe, noble and elegant, with hair as white as the frozen snow of Qingqiu, cascading like a flowing spring, eyes that outshone the starlight, bearing unmatched in grace. The silver long hair resembled the snow atop mountain peaks, and also the glow of a silver moon. On ordinary days, when there was expression on his face, the occasional languidness made his features appear softer. When his eyes were closed in sleep, his brows and eyes seemed carved from ice.

If ancient-romance dramas are already picky about an actor's looks, then silver-white hair amplifies that demand to the extreme.

This hair color is just way too damn hard on the looks.

Fortunately, Bai Liang pulled it off!

When he first put on the wig, he felt like he was doing cosplay, about to play a two-dimensional character.

The young ladies from the crew doing his makeup all seemed oddly excited for no reason. Bai Liang could swear that a few of them had already started getting a little handsy.

His styling had never required an entire team of makeup artists, yet somehow these crew makeup girls insisted on taking turns coming over to "give pointers," as if checking off a打卡 list.

The very first scene after that made the crew insiders understand why, despite the rumors that the deal had fallen through at the start, they still brought Bai Liang in and forcibly bumped his role up to second male lead.

This was Jiaxing's official line: that Bai Liang was simply too perfect a fit for the role, no one else would do.

They just said it offhandedly—everyone in the industry does this. Very official, very reasonable.

But at this very moment.

Inside the great hall, the dragon pillars were carved with floral patterns, yet not overly gilded; instead they carried a certain otherworldly air.

The screen in the background had finely detailed carvings, full of classical beauty, and with touches of gold, it created a sense of nobility.

Yet all these carefully arranged background elements now seemed somewhat dimmed.

Because a figure in a purple robe was on that golden chair, reclining slightly to one side as if weightless, his expression seemingly cold but in fact relaxed, only a hint of weariness and disdain lingering between his brows.

He slowly turned his face, and the next instant his gaze turned icy.

Like a black hole, it firmly drew every gaze in the room.

Even that head of silver-white long hair was now merely an accent.

As if the word "banished immortal" was somehow not quite worthy enough at this moment.

Many in the audience thought: Holy shit, the crew's explanation was actually true!?

A born ancient-romance saint body?!

On the ancient-romance male immortal track from now on, he's probably going to crush everyone under a mountain.

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Crew:??? We didn't know either, we were just making stuff up.

But one can already foresee that god knows how many ugly ancient-romance male actors will be brutally compared to Bai Liang by the media in the future.

It's not just the looks—that vibe on him is just too on point!

"Cut~ that's a wrap."

The instant that voice rang out, the Eastern Hua Emperor's expression instantly "collapsed," and Bai Liang unconsciously broke into a smile, eager to see how his look turned out.

But for some reason, he clearly saw looks of "disappointment" on some faces.

What's going on?

Did I not act well? That can't be right~ the director already called cut.

He instinctively looked at Reba, who was staring wide-eyed, still seeming to be in a daze.

At this moment Reba was trying hard to overlay and compare the Eastern Hua Emperor just now with Xiao Nai.

They're both the cold-and-distant type after all, so at first she figured Bai Liang should handle it easily, and the result should be about the same, nothing off.

The result was a surprise—the effect was indeed great, but Bai Liang had somehow managed to play these two similarly-styled characters in a way that felt completely different.

Bai Liang didn't interrupt her daze, and wandered over first to check the playback.

It was clearly pretty good!

So he rewarded himself with a slice of watermelon, and just as he was about to bite in, a "little rabbit" popped up beside him, wearing a pitiful look and trying to stop him: "Nooo~"

"Huh? You want some too?"

Although the watermelon was bought by Bai Liang—he never shortchanges himself when it comes to后勤 creature comforts—he's also very generous.

He grabbed a slice and stuffed it to Zhu Xudan, saying everyone should share~

But she replied: "You're ruining the illusion like this, can you be a little more cold and aloof?"

Though it sounded a bit rude, Zhu Xudan purely felt that just now he was an otherworldly, unparalleled cold-and-handsome guy, basically an immortal straight out of a painting, and then the next second he was sitting there with his legs spread wide, no image to speak of, holding a watermelon and chowing down.

The contrast was just too huge! Hard to accept!

"No, this is fine~"

Reba finally snapped out of her daze at this point and quickly raised an objection.

That look just now was too immortal-like, she still preferred "Daibai"~

Soft and squishy, very healing.

So Bai Liang rewarded her with a slice of watermelon too, and she very naturally sat down and started chowing down with him.

But Zhu Xudan clearly hadn't given up yet, and while munching on watermelon, started egging Bai Liang on to do a photo set in this style later, promising to buy several copies to support him.

Reba: "Don't you prefer pure cotton"

Zhu Xudan: "Ahem! I'll let you in on a little secret~"

"Huh? What is it?"

In just a few words, Zhu Xudan spilled every last detail of the "little task" the company had assigned her.

If she hadn't kept glancing at Bai Liang every couple of sentences, it might have looked more like a deep best-friends moment.

But after hearing her out, Dilireba wasn't all that surprised either—her own assistant had actually been given a similar heads-up.

Mm. She did feel that the company didn't need to be so nervous—she knew what she was doing.

Also, the watermelon really was sweet!

Too bad she couldn't eat too much of it—too much sugar.

Dilireba was quite restrained this time, only taking a few small bites.

But under Zhu Xudan's surprised gaze, she very naturally handed the rest of the watermelon to Bai Liang.

He, too, continued the fine tradition of not wasting food—taking it and digging right in~

Ah, this—

At that moment, Zhu Xudan understood—the company's worry wasn't wrong at all!

But since she'd already become a little traitor, she definitely couldn't go "tattling" anymore.

"Xiao Bai-ge~"

Huang Mengyin had also arrived.

Zhu Xudan subtly poked Dilireba, signaling: "the newcomer means trouble!"

Whether it was those with strange ideas, or those likewise tipped off by the company to act as "spies," classmate Reba really did need to keep her guard up around them.

And Huang Mengyin's behavior seemed to prove exactly that.

She sat directly on Bai Liang's other side, lowered her voice to whisper a few lines, and after finishing gave Dilireba a meaningful glance—successfully scoring a share of Bai Liang's watermelon as well.

During this whole process, even though little rabbit Zhu Xudan tried hard to perk up her ears to eavesdrop—

Because of the distance, she still didn't catch a thing.

She could only frantically shoot Dilireba meaningful looks: ask him~

Dilireba returned a look: wouldn't that be weird?

At this moment, watermelon-eating Bai Liang felt this film crew was really something!

No—more accurately, this company Jiaxing was really something~

Huang Mengyin had just come to "tip him off."

Whatever Zeng Jia had told her, she relayed to Bai Liang verbatim.

This little girl didn't hesitate a bit when selling out her direct superior, and at the end even remembered to add: she could help provide cover, so he should get along well with Reba.

So one really should do more good deeds.

Good people get good rewards—that saying really isn't without reason.

But Bai Liang also genuinely found it a bit funny, because he'd also heard Zhu Xudan's earlier "tattling."

Damn it—Yang Mi and Zeng Jia's little scheme hadn't even started yet before it was sold out clean by their "own people."

This made Bai Liang think of the previous Tang Ren Pictures.

Over there, Tang Ren was full of defecting ninjas; over here, Jiaxing was crawling with moles—these two companies were practically a Crouching Dragon and a Young Phoenix.

Staying in this film crew, both on and off screen, everything was drama!

Bai Liang couldn't help but get a few mischievous ideas: should he play along with them? —

Four chapters, fourteen thousand words, see you tomorrow, muah~

(End of this chapter)