Chapter 163: Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Double Vote Beg for Monthly Tickets)

After Bai Liang officially joined the variety show "Grade One," he did vaguely sense a certain amount of "scrutiny."

There might even be a hint of disdain.

Most of the trainees participating in the recording of this show were professionally trained actors from the Central Academy of Drama, Beijing Film Academy, and Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Some had even debuted years ago and were older than Bai Liang.

In a certain sense, they could all be considered his seniors.

Yet the entertainment industry seems to work this way: after a sudden explosion in fame, unless there's truly a generational gap, everything comes down to clout.

Fortunately, Bai Liang really didn't have the habit of throwing his weight around, nor did he feel all that impressive just because he'd gotten popular.

Because whether he's popular or not, he's still pretty impressive~

But his habitually mild attitude put some of the more prideful male trainees at ease—especially those older than him.

For example, Cheng Yi, who could be considered the central figure of this show. That guy is two or three years older than Bai Liang and debuted five years ago.

When a Bai Liang suddenly pops up and plants himself right in front of him, even if the guy does nothing at all, the pressure is like a mountain.

Not enough to feel utterly inferior, but still leaves a bit of a sour taste in the heart.

Plus a touch of unwillingness to accept it.

Hmm?

Bai Liang seemed to smell something in the air.

Capybara turned his head, locked eyes with Cheng Yi—whaddya say, young man, you not convinced?

Not convinced? Then just stay not convinced~

Figure out a way to get over it yourself.

This big cotton ball of a Bai Liang has never had any interest in hotheaded young men who refuse to accept things.

He didn't come here today to bully male actors his own age anyway—just standing on the sideline and showing support for Meng Jie is enough.

After all, he can "bully" Meng Jie, and she's always willing to play along shyly—isn't that way more fun than bullying some guy?

Oh right, he can also "chase a star" on the side.

He's a huge fan of this show's mentor Chen Jianbin—a fan of the man's singing.

The moment he sees that big "orange cat" look of his, his brain seems to echo with that line—"Huanhuan, zhen, emo le!"

Compared to old acting veterans with truly excellent craft, Bai Liang is even more interested in old acting veterans who are fun and meme-worthy.

Life, after all~ being interesting is too heavy!

Chen Jianbin: Hmm? That kid's gaze is a little weird—I'll turn the intensity up on him later.

Bai Liang briefly joined Mencius and the others in recreating some of the hosting bits from "Happy Camp," then immediately ran off.

Hurriedly led onstage by the staff, he prepared to present the audience's favorite actress award to Sister Xiao Zhao.

This thing was a double-yolk egg—both male and female categories.

Let's just call them the Golden Eagle Best Actress and Best Actor. For Best Actor, it was Hu Ge from "Nirvana in Fire," plus Wang Lei from "The Ordinary World."

For Best Actress, it was Sister Xiao Zhao from "The Journey of Flower," and Tong Tong Liya from "The Ordinary World."

What surprised Bai Liang a little was that his going up as the award-presenting guest was a last-minute arrangement—he hadn't even mentioned it on his Weibo.

But when he stepped onstage and the big screen gave him a close-up, there was actually a fairly loud wave of screams from the audience.

It seemed like plenty of people were shouting "Xiao Nai" too.

"Weiwei" is still going strong! The power of a hit idol drama is plain to see.

Bai Liang naturally wouldn't freeze up, and he didn't forget to wave at the audience members shouting his "name."

That signature gentle smile drew yet another fresh wave of screams.

This commotion made quite a few industry artists in the audience glance over, and many took a few extra looks at Bai Liang, as if committing him to memory.

A display of popularity.

This seems to be the same logic as what Sister Yanzi said about why traffic stars need all that online data.

Popularity, traffic—these things all need to be shown through certain channels, so that everyone can more intuitively see your "value."

With just Bai Liang's brief appearance today, Sister Yanzi's side will be able to receive more commercial resources and scripts.

"Congratulations, well-deserved."

Taking the trophy from Bai Liang's hand, Sister Xiao Zhao habitually shot him a look. "Quite the popularity, huh~ Your eyes keep drifting toward the audience—who are you looking for?"

At that moment Tong Tong Liya was giving her acceptance speech, so the two of them whispering at the back had zero pressure.

Bai Liang was very straightforward: "Looking for where Sister Mi is~"

"She left ages ago. The lady is married now. Take it easy, kid."

Hmm? Fully evolved Zhao Little Dagger?!

Compared to her flat, cold demeanor when they first met, Sister Xiao Zhao now has a mouth as venomous as a western diamondback rattlesnake.

The key thing is she doesn't give Bai Liang a chance to explain—after saying her piece, she gracefully took over from Tong Tong Liya and went up to give her acceptance speech.

When leaving the stage, she very naturally reached out and looped her arm through Bai Liang's. "Long legs, don't walk so fast—one step of mine doesn't go as far as yours. If I fall, I'll just take the chance and pull your pants off."

What could Bai Liang say? He gave a thumbs-up to Sister Little Dagger.

While slowing his pace, he also sighed, "Jie, you're way too good at spraying venom!"

"Why are you so twisted?"

"Huh? How is that twisted?"

Seeing his expression that didn't look faked, Sister Little Dagger's furrowed brow actually eased a bit.

But just then Bai Liang suddenly caught on. "Oh~"

"Shut it! You're not allowed to say it."

"You really do love Tukou~"

Spitting?

Oh this!

Little Zhao Jiejie felt quite the jolt of realizing she'd been the one with the dirty mind, assuming this female rogue had been thinking too ill of the guy—only to find the yellow heart inside was her own.

Fair point—venomous snakes really do spit venom from their mouths.

She'd genuinely thought Bai Liang was making a dirty joke at her expense~ she'd wronged him.

Hmm?!

This time Bai Liang truly got it! Even someone as unflappable as him couldn't help but mentally curse.

Good lord, the older-sister contestant really is fierce—he hadn't even thought of that angle.

When she starts driving the car, she goes full set after set~

Yang Mi had never traded such bluntly explicit flirtation with him. Perhaps it's also because Bai Liang still hadn't seen what Yang Mi was like at full power, guns blazing.

So he scurried off quickly, hurrying over to the "Grade One" side to find some young Misses to "purify" his soul.

But no matter how he ran, once the Golden Eagle Festival wrapped up here, Little Zhao Jiejie and Hu Ge would head over to "Grade One" too to join the fun.

"Meng Meng, he's so good to you."

Hearing Yu Shuxin's words, Meng Ziyi's first reaction was naturally smugness.

But considering the current setting, she just put on an affected act: "Mm~ it's alright, I guess."

"Are you two together yet?"

Seeing the gossip-hungry look in the other's eyes, the corner of Meng Ziyi's mouth twitched slightly as she forced out: "No."

"Still not? You make the first move!"

"Career comes first, lah." Even as she said that, naturally some feelings stirred within her: mm, she wanted to nibble on the old flame again.

No—this time she could take a proper bite.

Little Hedgehog treated her so well, she ought to return the favor!

Just as her brain had completely abandoned the show recording, thinking only of tonight's old flame, Yu Shuxin chose this moment to give her a wake-up call:

"Later, quietly tell the male god—I was eavesdropping on the mentors' discussion just now. Teacher Chen Jianbin said he wants to test his mettle, might have him come coach us." "What mettle? What male god?"

"The male god part doesn't matter, just make sure you give him the heads-up."

"Mettle?" Meng Ziyi naturally thought of the actor's core fundamentals—form, performance, lines—and nearly burst out laughing.

Yu Shuxin's thinking was actually quite reasonable; Bai Liang's age was right there, and he wasn't even formally trained.

A hit drama didn't mean his professional skills were necessarily stronger than those of them who'd come out of proper drama schools.

Just among the male trainees recording today, there were probably several who refused to accept him.

The female trainees were slightly better. After all, he was the freshly crowned head of the domestic-entertainment looks faction—the 85 Flowers had all been "fighting over him" backstage just now, let alone these young girls.

If Meng Ziyi hadn't been clinging to Bai Liang like a plaster earlier, with Yu Shuxin serving as "bodyguard" on the side, someone would've already glommed onto him long ago. The entertainment circle was always like that.

After Bai Liang came back, Yu Shuxin discovered her good sister hadn't given any reminder at all.

Still that same smiley, lovesick-fan look.

This book's latest updates are at ##!! Update!

But Chen Jianbin wouldn't really make things hard for guest Bai Liang either—he first asked Bai Liang's own opinion; if he wasn't willing, that was that.

Bai Liang: Sure~

At once, the male trainees of "Grade One" had their fighting spirit surge.

If the one standing here today were some "veteran" traffic star who'd been hot for a while, probably no one would dare poke the tiger.

But Bai Liang happened to be a freshly risen contestant, his debut too recent.

Then not only did they have the nerve, they had it in spades!

Skills would speak on the stage!

If Bai Liang talked nonsense or failed to express himself clearly while coaching acting, then the "trainees" couldn't be blamed for playing the "disciple who challenges the master."

Just like how Meng Jie had utterly outshone Lin Shiner back then.

Backlash from the traffic was certainly terrifying, but the possible benefits were truly mouth-watering!

However, when those pairs of ignited eyes collectively turned to Bai Liang, they found the guy merely let out a heh-heh laugh.

After that, his expression was utterly calm—just a tiny hint of playfulness?

Bai Liang: Back when Huang Jingyu was about to get rubbed into the ground, he was just this confident too.

Half an hour later, when Zhao Liying and Hu Ge arrived at the "Grade One" recording site with their trophies, they got a bit of a shock.

What was going on?

Why were these youngsters all listless one by one? Recording too tiring, wilted?

A few contestants even looked... as if they'd lost a parent?

The hardest hit, Cheng Yi, even had a somewhat dazed look in his eyes at this point.

The boys were wilted, but the girls seemed to have light shining in their eyes one by one... how strange.

At this moment, Bai Liang, chatting with Chen Jianbin, noticed a gaze lock onto him with precision.

He turned his head—sure enough, it was Little Zhao Jiejie, whose little car had been speeding along.

After a round of welcomes and greetings, Little Zhao Jiejie very naturally sat beside Bai Liang, draped her hand on his shoulder, leaned to his ear: "What did you do?"

Bai Liang was a bit puzzled. "Why me?"

"Now, anything even slightly off, I suspect it's you, kid."

"Hiss, Jiejie's read on people is spot-on!" Bai Liang said admiringly.

After Little Zhao Jiejie learned the general situation, she could barely keep the smile on her face.

Acting? Theoretical coaching?

This kid beside me is a monster—what does it matter if he's from a formal school or not?

The director of the production crew says he was born with talent, yet his theoretical foundation is terrifyingly solid.

Xiao Zhao Jie certainly knows the situation—she herself was once a "victim," and knows better than anyone.

He even asked about it directly, and got the answer: actually, doing all this is "not hard at all."

Read books, read more books, read books relentlessly.

It's just that Bai Liang reads with a little bit higher efficiency than others.

Only those truly crushed by him can remember what made Bai Liang famous in the entertainment circle first.

Academic genius! Exam monster!

A ruthless person who can devour the national civil service exam and the bar exam whole.

Compared to true super-genius academics, he naturally falls short—those people drive entire disciplines forward.

But against most of the entertainment circle, whose basic nine-year education is shaky, he can do whatever he wants.

After he became famous, people dug up his gaokao score—though not anything as extreme as top scorer, it was still terrifying.

It didn't even match the university he attended; people wondered how he got admitted to such a "junk" school.

Online netizens even made up a story about him giving up a better school for love.

Bai Liang found this utterly baffling, because the netizens were right.

But the fact that it was close to home, letting him go back daily for dinner, also accounted for a big part.

"Meng Meng, don't get worked up! Calm down! That's Zhao Liying!"

"I-I'm not worked up~"

Meng Zi Yi spoke in explanation, but her eyes never left Zhao Liying's hand resting on Bai Liang's shoulder.

Fortunately, she only looked—her eyes widened slightly, nothing more.

Yu Shuxin beside her sighed in relief, thinking she'd now hesitate to encourage Meng Zi Yi to be more forward.

In truth, Meng Zi Yi simply couldn't control her eyes—she didn't really care that much inside.

She was used to it.

Zhao Liying is just famous and high-ranking—she's seen far more terrifying opponents.

Even today, she couldn't forget the pressure Gulinaiza once gave her.

Terrifying offline beauty domination—no logic at all!

Just pure beauty! Pure dominance!

It made you feel ashamed, unable to withstand even a few rounds.

Later, Dilireba was equally extreme—her atmosphere and offensive presence scared Meng Jie and Li Yitong into a "hasty retreat."

Now seeing Zhao Liying, she just thought: oh, that's it?

It's not that she looked down on Xiao Yuanlian—Zhao Liying had her own charm—but the pressure was simply not that intense.

Besides, her age speaks for itself—a nearly-thirty-year-old woman, no matter how powerful, is already approaching thirty.

Twenty-something youth is invincible—you don't fear it.

"Your little girlfriend?" Xiao Zhao Jie noticed Meng Zi Yi's gaze and suddenly said this.

Holy shit, I'm truly impressed!

Bai Liang thought Xiao Zhao Jie should quit acting and become a cop—stand by train stations and catch thieves, she'd nab one every time.

That golden-eyed perception was insane.

This time Bai Liang said nothing, only looked at her helplessly.

She frowned, then smiled: "Oh, so she's your ex-girlfriend! Brother, you're quite loyal! I get it~ Let's have late-night snacks after this, to celebrate my award today."

Bai Liang: I didn't say a single word.

She somehow deduced all this from Meng Zi Yi's gaze in the crowd? —

Fourth update today, sixteen thousand words completed.

A new month has begun! Seven straight days of double monthly votes!

Brothers, if you can give me yours now, just give them—each vote counts as two.

Little Hippo really needs the monthly vote ranking exposure to hit ten thousand subscriptions!

Happy New Year!

(End of Chapter)