Chapter 220: A New Iconic Meme Image Is Born!

The first episode of "Divas Hit the Road 3" certainly kept the audience on the hook, but it also drew a considerable amount of criticism.

It successfully created a variety-show CP between Bai Liang and Nazha, but it also made those CP fans absolutely furious.

You freaking dog-fucking production team — I was just getting into it, wanting to keep watching the "little couple" serve sweet moments, and then you turn around and tear them apart?

Sisters, go raid this damn-bullshit production team!

The top-liked, most-upvoted comment under the show's official Weibo was: "This heaven-sent fortune is more than you can handle!"

Yet the "Divas Hit the Road 3" production team put on an utterly shameless, thick-skinned front.

So what if they let you curse for a whole week?

Once the later episodes air, their tune will change~

Jing Boran: Phew, narrowly escaped that disaster.

He had truly steeled himself for a massive wave of abuse.

After all, it was he who "eliminated" Bai Liang, sending the guy off on a solo "exile" to Africa.

The bullet comments at the very start of episode one nearly gave him a cerebral hemorrhage, but thankfully things gradually swung back in his favor later on, and those hot-tempered CP fans let him off the hook.

It was all thanks to the fact that Bai Liang's performance on the show was indeed a bit too obvious, letting everyone see this had been arranged in advance.

But honestly, given Bai Liang's acting skills, Jing Boran didn't think he couldn't pull off that completely-in-the-dark look on a variety show.

So there was only one answer: his good buddy knew about this in advance and deliberately pulled this move to spare him from being cyberbullied.

I'm gonna cry — the Great Immortal is just too thoughtful.

Bai Liang: I figured this was a reality show.

Normally, after an episode airs, they'll do some "previously on" kind of thing for the next episode, usually releasing some highlight footage to lure the audience in.

But "Divas Hit the Road 3" was especially tight-lipped — the lion that appeared in the preview got only a single two-second shot.

They flat-out refused to tell the audience what actually happened~

This is actually quite clever — a bit like some movie trailers.

Some movies put all their best footage in the trailer; once you actually buy a ticket and sit down in the theater, you immediately feel cheated.

While other movies, the trailer is just the tip of the iceberg.

"Divas Hit the Road 3" is clearly the latter — it has zero fear of the audience losing interest.

Hide it! Hide it to the death~

Just that tiny little bit leaked out is more than enough to make the audience tune into the next episode — once they watch, they won't be able to leave!

And during the week between episode one and episode two, Nazha was gaining followers like crazy.

"Sis! You've gained another several hundred thousand followers just today!"

Hearing this from her little assistant, Nazha perked up. "That exaggerated? How far behind Dilireba am I on Weibo followers now?"

Ah—

The little assistant scratched her head. "Still quite a gap — she's almost at forty million followers."

"What the hell, how is she gaining followers that fast?"

"From 'Love O2O' to 'Running Man,' she gained over twenty million followers."

Everyone knows Weibo follower counts have some inflation, but this number is just too ridiculous!

You can only say that as a newly crowned top-tier actress, Dilireba really does stand out head and shoulders above her peers among the younger generation — in terms of traffic among the current 90s-born actresses, not a single one can touch her; she's in a league of her own, far ahead of the pack.

Of course, there's actually one exception — Shuangzi.

Her Weibo follower count isn't particularly high, but her combat ability and team cohesion are exceptionally strong!

She's also firmly secured her spot among the top-tier young actresses.

As for Nazha~

Her current Weibo follower count is only a little over ten million. And that's after shamelessly clinging to and riding Dilireba's coattails every chance she got.

Otherwise, even hitting ten million followers would be a bit dicey for her.

Simultaneously riding the traffic of both Bai Liang and Dilireba — this move was actually quite effective.

All that abuse wasn't suffered for nothing.

But after "Divas Hit the Road 3" aired, the speed at which she gained followers reached the most terrifying surge since her debut.

A variety show that truly breaks out of the circle sometimes brings an artist a boost that's no less than a hit TV drama!

"I'll catch up eventually!" Nazha said firmly, clenching her fist.

"You definitely can!"

Beyond the cheerleading, the little assistant also felt something was off — her Nazha-jie had never had this much drive before.

But ever since she started going head-to-head with Dilireba, her career ambition had really kicked in.

Strange — a love-struck brain and career ambition actually appeared on her simultaneously, achieving a quantum equilibrium state, entangled with each other.

So... is jealousy the number-one driving force for girls?

However, Nazha's momentum here needs to pause for a bit.

Because Bai Liang is about to stand entirely alone, beginning his solo ascent to the top.

Of course, this doesn't mean Nazha is going dark — pulling the fist back is to strike harder.

Starting from episode two, this season of "Divas Hit the Road" absolutely blew the audience's minds!

Damn — a travel show can actually be filmed like this?

Wait, no! This is actually a travel show?

Some busybodies even copied over the show description for "Divas Hit the Road 3": a youth-partner self-guided travel reality show.

That description sounds so fresh and wholesome.

Of course, the trip that Nazha and the others took together in Brazil did indeed have that kind of vibe.

But the moment it got to Bai Liang's side, the whole vibe instantly "shattered."

From the moment he ran into that lion, the show's plot started slipping out of control and went into overdrive!

As soon as the second episode aired, the topic #Bai Liang and the Lion# exploded instantly.

A sea of crimson!

"Wait, what the hell?! Bai Liang got out of the car? He actually got out?!"

"He even smacked that lion twice. If I were that lion, I'd be totally lost too—who the hell are you, hitting me twice the moment we meet? You think that's polite?"

"Although from Bai Liang's wild racing style before, I already knew this guy who always smiles so gently actually has a fierce side inside, but I never imagined he could be fierce to this extent."

"Uh, is this lion an actor? But why does it look like there's bloodstains by its mouth? Seems plenty wild."

"Bai Liang only dared to get out because he knew the lion was full? Wait, just because it's full you dared to get out?"

"Reversing heaven and earth—he even threatened that lion. Bro, are you a druid or something?"

"When the lion roared at him, I was even a little scared through the screen, but for him it was just 'a dog barking'? Absurd."

"."

Throughout all these years of human development, the topic of courage has never gone out of fashion.

However, everyone felt that what Bai Liang did was way beyond just having courage.

He's just plain fierce!

Why isn't he afraid?

The key was that calm, serene expression on his face, making people suspect that lion was just photoshopped onto the scene by the production team.

But if special effects could reach this level, then "Divas Hit the Road 3" really went all out!

Of course, the production team's "will to survive" was still very strong.

Even if it affected the picture, they still slapped on bold black text saying "For show effect, do not imitate."

If the audience thinks that lion is an actor... then all the better!

Right, it's an actor, you're absolutely right!

Debunk the rumor? Absolutely not debunking.

Whether it's wild or not, just put a fully grown adult big cat in front of you and see if you dare to play around like Bai Liang did.

Actually, Bai Liang's behavior isn't all that shocking in this world.

Many people who have extensive contact with wild animals actually have similar "druid"-like abilities.

Some can even mingle and play around inside a pride of lions.

But those people are all "professionals" in some sense, while Bai Liang, a celebrity, playing around like this—the impact is just too strong.

The last person who played around like this was in the 1998 TV drama "Water Margin."

Wu Song's portrayer Ding Haifeng, while filming, actually "fought" a real tiger.

During filming, he was even swatted to the ground by the impatient tiger with one swipe, though luckily it was only a minor injury.

Of course that tiger definitely wasn't wild—no matter how wild the crew got, they wouldn't dare catch a wild tiger for filming; it was definitely tamed.

But the cold sweat and twisted expression on Ding Haifeng's face during filming weren't faked.

Whether tamed or not, when that thing stands in front of you with no cage between you, just locking eyes is enough to make cold sweat pour down.

Almost twenty years later, this scene still gets pulled up for discussion by netizens from time to time, its popularity undiminished.

Bai Liang's case is a different take on the same idea.

Honestly, when some celebrity said before that "acting is a high-risk profession," they got mocked to oblivion.

But at least when it comes to Bai Liang and Ding Haifeng, their jobs really are high-risk!

If all the celebrities in the domestic entertainment industry started competing by this standard, the number of celebrities would probably drop by more than half.

After this episode aired, some of Bai Liang's industry "rivals" who watched were completely dumbfounded. Bro, are you out of your mind? You're just in the entertainment circle, why do you keep pulling these life-threatening stunts?

Who can out-crazy you?

His most recent "opponent," Lu Han, couldn't hold back and even liked a related post.

At the same time feeling relieved that he hadn't gone up against Bai Liang before—turns out that was the right call.

Thanks to Brother Chao for playing "peacemaker" back then.

Competing on looks and popularity is the track for traffic stars, competing on acting is already extra work, and this guy still wants to compete on fate itself.

Lu Han felt his old teammate really lost fair and square.

Deserved to lose!

Facing an opponent like this, whose heart wouldn't skip a beat~

Na Zha: Aaaaaaaaaa!

She didn't just skip a beat—she let out a full groundhog scream! Her defenses completely shattered on the spot.

The production team hadn't told them beforehand that this was how Bai Liang "played" with the lion.

How dangerous!

Not just her—every other artist participating in the filming of "Divas Hit the Road 3" couldn't hold it in either, and they all opened fire on Weibo.

Not a single one missed—not a single post—every single one was on point!

Jing Bairan: Bro, you really got out of the car? I was even thinking about queuing up in the wilderness with you—good thing I didn't go.

Jiang Shuying: So scary! The production team tricked us, they didn't tell us everything, they only said we ran into a lion.

Song Zuer: Brother Bai Liang is so brave~ The production team is so mean~

The reactions of these show guests made the audience feel something was off too.

It can't really be a wild big cat, right?

The key was Na Zha bouncing all over the place and posting several Weibo posts in a row, looking like she was about to charge at the "Divas Hit the Road 3" production team—that didn't look like acting at all.

She even wanted to defy heaven itself and go head-to-head with the production crew! She wasn't even afraid of the giant that was Mango Channel standing behind them anymore.

Then the production crew's official Weibo even ran over to Na Zha's Weibo to apologize.

Heh heh! You f*cking—!

Bai Liang's footage was that dangerous, and you went and apologized to Na Zha, huh?

Good, good, good.

This wave of leading the charge to ship the CP, acting like they're giving an account to the "family," truly sent the CP fans into ecstasy.

Honestly, Na Zha's boss Cai Yinong has already started admiring this girl.

This works too?

Clearly from the second episode on, she separated from Bai Liang, but through absurd operations, she still managed to snag that much traffic.

Oh no, who can even tell the difference between a love-brained girl and a career-focused one now?

At least on Na Zha, the two have already overlapped.

Love is career, career is love! Having both, complementing each other.

Oh right, and that's not all~

Bai Liang wasn't "going it alone" — he also brought a little cat.

The key is, the kitty isn't just for companionship, it also has a very strong presence.

Though it might have been forced.

"The kitty is so awesome! It even dares to hiss at a lion~ I've become a fan of this kitty!"

"My cat at home only picks on the weak and fears the strong, only dares to be fierce with me, doesn't dare to be fierce with anyone else."

"LMAO, Bai Liang let such a tiny kitty go slap a lion? How could he even say that out loud!"

"Cats are like that — no matter what you are, they'll dare to give you a slap."

"The kitty is scared, but the kitty pretends to be brave."

"Wait. The cat Bai Liang brought, seems to be Na Zha's~ She often posts all kinds of cute photos of this kitty on her Weibo, but it looks a bit thinner and smaller than in the photos."

"Hadn't grown up yet when the show was filmed? Anyway the markings look exactly the same, it's definitely the same cat!"

"Comparison pics are here, it's the same one. Using this method to drop sweetness, I really didn't expect it."

"The closeness between that kitty and Bai Liang definitely means frequent contact, tsk tsk~ Could it be contact at home? Whose home?"

"A pet's reaction is the best at exposing the relationship between a man and a woman. Na Zha's cat is so familiar with Bai Liang, these two can't be innocent at all."

"."

Now it's great, the pet has connected the two again.

Netizens are always so sharp-eyed, of course, Bai Liang really wasn't planning to hide it either.

At this point, even Uncle Yu jumped out to "claim" it, saying the cat was one he lost to Na Zha in a bet while filming Wolf Warrior 2.

So the question arises.

What was the bet about?

Wu Jing:... The bet was on me, the process was beating me up.

However, using a cat to bring up the movie Wolf Warrior 2 — Wu Jing himself didn't think of this kind of publicity method.

Lost?

Wrong! Won big!

Wolf Warrior 2's publicity team directly threw out behind-the-scenes footage from the shoot at the time, as a rather unconventional "promotional clip" for the movie's publicity period.

It had nothing to do with the movie itself, but Bai Liang and Wu Jing "brawling" on the beach was indeed quite eye-catching.

It happened to ride the wave of popularity from Divas Hit the Road 3, and the stories were both set in Africa.

It all lined up, everything lined up.

Sunset, beach, bonfire, two men with muscular physiques "fighting."

The male hormones practically overflowing, the impact was extremely strong.

Fortunately, Bai Liang and Wu Jing really had no "CP chemistry," otherwise the fujoshi would probably have climaxed first.

But passersby and fans still bought it, discussing the two's skills while teasing Na Zha on the side.

After all, in that behind-the-scenes footage, Na Zha's smug little expression was also caught on camera.

A face full of tsundere~

Full of the sour stench of love.

It's all the kitty's credit!

In a certain sense, isn't the existence of the little kitty just another way for Na Zha to accompany Bai Liang by his side?

At least that's how the audience imagined it.

Especially since Bai Liang was so gentle and doting with this little thing, if you swapped in a girl there'd be zero sense of incongruity~

This episode had too many elements, it truly let the audience watch to their heart's content.

At the same time, they couldn't help but look forward to the subsequent wilderness plot, and the plot when Na Zha reunites with Bai Liang again.

Mango Channel production crew: Fellow colleagues, watch closely, learn well, you're still far behind~

Fellow production crews: What the hell are you showing off for? If you picked up a treasure just keep it to yourself and be happy, was it your production crew's credit that you're bragging about?

With this kind of guest, whichever show you put them on, how could the ratings not explode?

Even for a talk show, just stick Bai Liang and Na Zha down there, frantically tease their CP, and the ratings would probably skyrocket.

And they let these Mango people show off.

Can only say, as the hegemon of satellite channels, the "world" has long suffered under Mango.

Each and every one of them is thinking about pulling the other local satellite channel dragon-head position down.

But let's set that aside for now—later on, I really need to look into Bai Liang's schedule, and how much he charges for variety show appearances.

Once the entire season of "Divas Hit the Road 3" has aired, his variety show fee might skyrocket to an astronomical price!

It might even set a new ceiling for variety show appearance fees—that's entirely possible.

In fact, after the second episode aired, Sister Yanzi's side was already flooded with phone calls, emails, and private messages.

All of them were invitations and inquiries about his schedule.

Sister Yanzi:. There's no schedule available!

Where on earth is there any schedule left this year? It's all fully booked.

Besides, she doesn't plan to let Bai Liang be overexposed on reality shows—her own Dou Xiao Bai is an actor~ not a variety show regular!

After the second episode finished airing, the official Weibo of "Divas Hit the Road" posted a Weibo update.

The image used was a screenshot from this episode's filming footage.

It was the shot with the most feel that the post-production team found from over ten hours of footage.

The frame had no lions or other African wildlife—only Bai Liang and a little kitten.

And it was a back view at that, not even a full face.

In the frame, Bai Liang walked up a small hill covered in sandy soil, and the kitten obediently followed at his side.

Looking down from on high was a vast stretch of African wilderness—an untamed land, with a wave of wildness and conquest rushing to meet the eye.

This photo actually focuses on a sense of atmosphere; at most, Bai Liang only showed a partial profile.

The little kitten's paw prints ran parallel to his footprints, and in the photo the kitten was even looking up at him~

But the caption the "Divas Hit the Road 3" production team used was actually pretty brilliant:

"He measured the wilderness with his footsteps, and later a few little plum blossoms sprouted beside his prints—wherever he walked, the plum blossoms bloomed."

The plum blossoms were the paw prints the kitten left in the sandy soil.

A new viral masterpiece was born!

(End of chapter)