Chapter 211: The Foundation of a Beautiful Love

After two seasons of Run for Love, the popularity of Bai Liang and Reba's CP naturally declined gradually.

After all, without follow-up topics to sustain it, fans could only occasionally reminisce about Xiao Nai and Bei Weiwei, as well as Feng Jiu and Donghua Emperor.

However, for actors, being able to portray a character that audiences remember and occasionally mention is already quite successful.

It proves the actor has created a character that deeply resonates.

Precisely because of this, viewers who felt unsatisfied hoped the characters' bond could move from online to offline.

If the acting is terrible, even if they truly get together, it's merely "love born from the drama."

Only when the characters and their CP chemistry are successfully crafted can viewers obsess over them endlessly.

And after The Three Lives Three Worlds ended, it delivered an astonishing result.

Within just 12 hours of release, total online views reached 600 million; within fifteen days, it surpassed 10 billion; by the finale, total online views exceeded 30 billion!

Meanwhile, its viewership rating on Eastern Satellite Television soared past 2.

Jia Xing immediately opened champagne!

Fulfilling the bet agreement was within reach! It could even be completed ahead of schedule and beyond expectations.

"Jia Xing threw a celebration banquet—why didn't you go?"

Hearing this, Bai Liang looked at Miss Jing Tian with slight exasperation, "Because I'm filming with you."

"Oh right!"

Miss Jing Tian chuckled awkwardly, then hugged her script and quietly slipped away.

Bai Liang, seeing this, wasn't surprised—he began counting down in his head.

Just as he reached ten, a faint fragrance came from behind him, followed by a slightly nervous voice: "Um… let's run lines?"

"Sure. I've drafted a character profile for Gu Gu Xiaojiao lately—let's discuss our interpretations together."

At this moment, Bai Liang radiated only two words:

Professional!

The way he shone nearly blinded Miss Jing Tian.

Uwuuu~ Moved!

This was the first time she'd encountered an acting partner so thoughtful, so kind to her.

But she couldn't shake the feeling that Bai Liang was acting strangely—was he harboring some weird thoughts about her?

Miss Jing Tian: I need to be more cautious around you.

Bai Liang: That's Meng Jie's line!

In fact, Miss Jing Tian had been wary of Bai Liang since joining the set.

Sometimes she even forgot about it by accident.

Only then would her "true self" emerge: a girl who was a bit slow to react but genuinely warm and approachable, who loved to smile~

Her age didn't quite match her demeanor—Bai Liang often unconsciously treated her as a peer, even someone younger than himself.

Her more mature side appeared only rarely.

That was when she paid the bill—she truly radiated that senior sister vibe~

"Actually, Gu Gu Xiaojiao suits you well, because when she first appears, she's a gold-digging social climber—if you overdo it, you'll make her instantly unlikable. Even if her backstory is tragic, you still need restraint."

"Mm-hmm, how was my performance?"

"It was average, but your expressiveness was cute—I think it's fine."

Miss Jing Tian tried hard to stay serious, but couldn't help smiling—ah, I got praised~

She returned the compliment with a sincere remark: "I think you're pretty cute too!"

"Yeah, I deliberately played him that way."

"To distinguish him from the successful Lu Shiyi later on?"

"Not entirely—I just wanted this character to have his own charm. Otherwise, how could he fall in love with you?"

Bai Liang thought he'd said this perfectly normally.

He'd even subtly flattered Miss Jing Tian, implying she was a stunning beauty—if the male lead were too low-class, how could they possibly fall in love?

But she ran off again after hearing it!

What the hell—always running away!

In this film, Bai Liang had to play two roles.

Besides the disillusioned youth Lu Ming from 1999, there was also the time-displaced "Lu Ming," named Lu Shiyi—Shiyi, amnesiac.

One was a young man from the last century; the other, a successful real estate tycoon—two nearly opposite roles, which posed a real challenge for Bai Liang.

Still, he'd accidentally taken a shortcut.

For Lu Ming in 1999, he thought about it and infused half of Capybara's personality into him.

The effect was phenomenal! The director slammed his palm on the table in delight—this was exactly what he wanted.

Bai Liang: Half a self-portrait, huh~

He'd never played a role like this before, but the time-displacement premise was genuinely fascinating—making a different choice, walking a different life path.

A clueless, impoverished kid versus a calculating real estate tycoon.

Oh right, there was a third role.

The poor kid impersonating the tycoon.

Playing three roles, yet making the differences unmistakable to viewers.

Beyond makeup and costume, it truly tested an actor's skill.

The most accurate thing Miss Jing Tian said on set was: Bai Liang has a face that no one—man or woman—can dislike.

Xu Zheng strongly agreed with her, telling her: This is the foundation of audience appeal.

Su Lun, this new director, really doesn't have enough skill yet, so Xu Zheng has been coming to the set more and more frequently lately.

Having paid such a big price and made so many concessions to "get" Bai Liang, he absolutely will not allow this film to fail.

He's just one kick away from kicking Su Lun aside and doing it himself.

But that doesn't mean Su Lun is really that bad either; a female director's perspective and sensitivity do indeed add a lot to many aspects of the film.

Take romance, for example.

"How to Love," stripped of those fantastical elements, is essentially just a love story—one room, two people.

So Xu Zheng's idea coincided with Su Lun's; he also quite hoped the male and female leads could spark some chemistry.

Especially since Bai Liang already has so many CPs.

He felt that if this film could create a combination that pushed down all his previous CPs, just that alone might already recoup the cost.

For the sake of that buzz, he also hoped these two could get together.

"But these two don't seem to have any special relationship between them. No progress?" Xu Zheng scratched his big bald head, seeming a bit anxious.

At this moment, Su Lun was the one who smiled instead, watching Sister Tian Tian who had just run off in a hurry, a mysterious smile on her face: "Director Xu, you're wrong~ What do you think love is?"

Xu Zheng:. You women are so troublesome!

He waved his hand, "I'm not a youngster anymore, I can't pull that off."

Su Lun choked up for a moment, thinking to herself why she had to discuss this kind of topic with him.

At Xu Zheng's age, he's already reached that greasy level of throwing money around in nightclubs, hugging girls twenty years younger than him, and grinning as he tells them "You look like my first love."

Now look at Bai Liang.

Sitting there, calm, gentle, refreshing, with clean eyes—that's the foundation of a beautiful love story!

At least in the audience's eyes, that's how it is.

As for our male and female leads.

Two people who had never met before sat together, and then what.

Then, of course, comes love. Xu Zheng: Ridiculous~

Love your freaking head!

Sometimes he really can't stand female directors—always so stream-of-consciousness, always love to over-imagine things.

So that very evening he invited Bai Liang for drinks, trying to sound him out.

Bai Liang: Huh? There's really nothing going on.

Xu Zheng: There could be!

Sister Yanzi: Pay me extra! Count it as a work injury!

Xu Zheng: Goodbye~

Handling Xu Zheng with ease—it's got to be Sister Yanzi.

If managers could be divided into different types, Sister Yanzi would be the type best at haggling.

What a coincidence, a perfect match for the job.

She specializes in dealing with mercenary businessmen like Xu Zheng.

However, Sister Yanzi actually has some little worries of her own.

No errors, no missing chapters, no duplicate content—

"Brother Xiao Bai, you wouldn't really give Miss Jing Tian—"

"There's really nothing like that~ But I've spent quite a bit of her money." Bai Liang said, slightly guilty.

But Sister Yanzi didn't seem to mind at all. "There will always be pretty young ladies spending money on you, that's perfectly normal."

"Huh?"

"I'm used to it. But, Brother Xiao Bai, if your long-term CP count keeps growing like this, it's not really a solution either—it's started another war online."

"Nazha and Reba?" Bai Liang thought, aren't those two fighting just part of the daily routine? He's used to it.

But Sister Yanzi shook her head: "It's Li Xin and Reba. Bvlgari has bumped her tier up another level and announced that this year's ad film will star her and you together—adding fuel to the fire."

It can only be said that in this gluttonous feast of overflowing traffic, the brands are also unwilling to sit on the sidelines.

Besides Bvlgari seizing the traffic from the ad CP of Li Xin and Bai Liang, some other brands have approached Sister Yanzi wanting to put together a joint endorsement for Bai Liang and Reba.

This one carries some real weight.

Some brands even said it very bluntly: if the two could make it official, the endorsement fee could go up another fifty percent.

If that's not enough, there's still room to talk—doubling it isn't necessarily out of the question.

The age of traffic is one where all these capital-backed stars are chasing traffic.

But regarding the joint endorsement, Sister Yanzi was relatively cautious.

Because she knows very well that outsiders think Bai Liang and Reba are the real deal—of course, the two really are the real deal.

But the problem is, her own Brother Xiao Bai isn't only "the real deal" with Reba!

So this matter must be cautious.

Sister Yanzi's opinion was: at most, only one high-end luxury brand for a joint endorsement.

And Jiaxing's side held the same attitude.

The two leads smooching or getting intimate is a small matter, but once interests are involved it's a big matter—both teams must be careful.

Currently, the highest bid and most sincere offer comes from Dior.

But as for when exactly it can be finalized, it will probably still need some time for negotiation.

Sister Yanzi needed this buffer period to observe the fans' reactions.

Because "Princess Agents" is about to premiere soon, followed by "Divas Hit the Road."

Li Xin is clearly a restless one, and has already shown such a tendency—fortunately, Sister Zhao has never gotten involved.

But after that, the commotion will be enormous!

Sister Yanzi, who had already seen part of the show's edited footage, knew this perfectly well.

When the time comes, her own Brother Dou Xiao Bai can't possibly team up with each of them to endorse a brand, right?

That would just be too improper~

"Want to watch today's Running Man together?"

Sister Yanzi:.

She looked at Miss Jing Tian, then at her own Brother Dou Xiao Bai, and let out a long sigh in her heart.

It seemed that in the not-too-distant future, there might be one more "trouble."

But Bai Liang didn't seem to mind, still holding to the philosophy that everything works out in the end. "This episode has you in it, right?"

"Yeah, my variety-show sense has never been that great. They all said your variety-show sense is really good, so I wanted to ask for some advice~"

Miss Jing Tian's expression was quite earnest—she genuinely wanted to ask for some advice.

Sister Yanzi: Here it comes, the familiar sense of dependence

But she actually quite liked Miss Jing Tian too—this older sister spoke gently, and was cute.

Compared with the other two older-sister contestants Bai Liang was familiar with, Miss Jing Tian's whole vibe was completely different.

Yang Mi would constantly throw out bold, flirty lines, loving to tease the younger guys, while Little Zhao-jie was a bit like a real older sister at home who'd actually hit you and scold you.

By contrast, Miss Jing Tian was simply like a little angel, constantly pulling off some otaku-style moves, then legging it as if frantically stacking up her own cuteness stat.

And she really was super cute!

Sister Yanzi said that she liked Miss Jing Tian so much definitely not because the other woman, upon meeting her, had gifted her a set of cosmetics worth over ten thousand yuan.

It had nothing to do with money or not—mainly, the person was just good.

At the same time, she felt that her own Brother Dou Xiao Bai seemed to quite fall for the rich-woman type.

When he first joined the group, he was even frustrated that he couldn't spend his own money.

After that, he started spending Miss Jing Tian's money with a clear conscience, so naturally at that.

Eating off her now, bro?

As a result, Miss Jing Tian—whether truly naive or simply happy to—sometimes forgot to "pay tribute," and would even apologize very apologetically.

Bai Liang: It's fine, just don't forget next time.

In this kind of filming environment, the crew of "Chrono-Drama Cohabitation" welcomed a guest of rather special status.

At the same time, Sister Yanzi was about to face the biggest "crisis" of her career, and the most formidable "opponent."

At first sight of the other person, Bai Liang honestly didn't sense anything particularly special.

There wasn't a beam of light shooting out from the crown of this person's head.

The whole person looked a bit disheveled—although he'd deliberately shaved, there were still some unshaved stubble on his face.

His smile was actually quite approachable, but after he tucked it away, there was an aura that could hold people in check.

What was rather special were those eyes—a bit like a college student's, yet with vigor and spirit practically bursting outward, as if he'd been injected with chicken blood.

He was the director of "The Wandering Earth."

Guo Fan.

—

Three watches, twelve thousand words. Today I'm hitting the highway to drive back to my hometown, not in great shape, sorry.

Two new character cards are online again—if you're interested, go give them a like.

(End of this chapter)