Chapter 254: The Feeling of Going Against the Whole World (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

Shipping a CP is a relatively subjective thing for fans.

As long as you're willing, you can actually ship whoever you want.

Even if your taste is a bit heavy, shipping Optimus Prime and Avatar is not out of the question.

After all, human preferences are diverse.

Shipping male-male CPs is actually a relatively normal category—at the very least, those fujoshi are just fantasizing about two handsome guys.

And shipping CPs of young handsome guys and beautiful girls naturally feels even more normal.

Having co-starred in a drama, filmed an ad together, performed on the same stage—any and all kinds of formats can create an opportunity for a CP to appear.

And Shuangzi writing Bai Liang into her book, and elevating his image to such an exaggerated degree, naturally met these conditions too.

If it were just small-scale self-entertainment, honestly nobody would care.

But when Sister Yanzi discovered that a bunch of marketing accounts started setting the rhythm, large numbers of fan-fic short articles began appearing, and even some "fans" started "spontaneously" mass-producing edited photos to force a CP—

That weird smell became very obvious.

During this period, Sister Yanzi did nothing, letting this trend and phenomenon run wild and grow on its own.

Of course, during this period, she first had to give Bai Liang himself a heads-up.

"About Little White Bro—"

"Do whatever you want to do." Bai Liang said to Sister Yanzi with a smile.

She was stunned for a moment. "I thought with your good temper, you'd rather just swallow this loss yourself."

Bai Liang tilted his head. "When have you ever seen me take a loss?"

Sister Yanzi was about to give examples, because she felt she had plenty of such cases in her head.

But thinking carefully, she was surprised to find that her Little White Bro really hadn't taken any losses.

Some things were just her own assumption—but as soon as she sorted through them slightly, she'd find that others might have profited, but Bai Liang at the very least broke even, and sometimes what he earned was actually even more.

For example, Wolf Warrior 2.

Many things had similar effects, including Shuangzi from the very beginning.

Without her making things difficult, Bai Liang really wouldn't have landed his first male lead so easily!

"One more thing." Bai Liang paused, reached out and patted Sister Yanzi's head. "There's no logic in letting you feel wronged and upset just to accommodate others. Does our Yanzi not have feelings?"

Holy crap, the emotional value here—

Sister Yanzi squirmed. "I'm not an industry female star after all, and I'm not some great beauty either, Little White Bro. You've always been quite the one to cherish the fair sex, haven't you?"

"That has nothing to do with being pretty or not—it's about affirmation of value. Your work realizes part of your own life's value, and that's also very worthy of affirmation. Though I don't really understand it that well either, I can just cheer you on~"

"Being able to cheer me on is already amazing!" Sister Yanzi almost leaped up.

At this moment, she felt like she was in a state of being completely pumped full of adrenaline.

Earlier, when she'd been sweet-talked by Guo Fan, she thought that guy was genuinely eloquent, and she'd been worried about her Little White Bro.

But now it seemed, it was simply that Little White Bro had never used these kinds of moves on her before.

No wonder the young ladies were all completely smitten.

Actually, Bai Liang still didn't know the specific situation even now, but at a time like this he of course trusted Sister Yanzi unconditionally~

A capybara doesn't need to understand—he just needs to give Sister Yanzi his attitude of support.

Being a good-luck mascot that cheers you on, how nice~

You can't have the front lines go into battle while the people calling the shots in the back are frantically holding them back.

Sister Yanzi: Without the slightest hesitation, ready for war!

"Keep a close eye on the CP-fic keyword replacement rate on Lofter, the dynamic semantic analysis on Douban's Goose Group, and the age structure of fans in related super-topics. None of these three high-risk data pools can be missed."

"Wasn't there some young actress caught smoking before? Prep a hot search for her 'true-natured big heroine' persona, and guide the fans on both sides into a clash."

"Go over all the prepped Little White Bro materials one more time, then release them in batches when the time comes, and have the marketing accounts ready to interpret and hint."

"Is that article on delusional projection written yet? Get in touch with Sister Xiaoshui's side, and we'll do a targeted drop."

"."

In the era of traffic, an attack-and-defense war actually involves many different aspects.

But Sister Yanzi right now is like an armory stocked full of all kinds of weapons and equipment.

No matter how the other side wants to fight, she can blanket them with equal firepower.

All that money spent, all those people kept on—weren't they exactly for moments like this!

Of course, using so much preparation just to deal with Shuangzi does give off a real "using a cannon to kill a mosquito" vibe.

But Sister Yanzi didn't mind.

This time, she was going to let out that breath she'd been holding for two years!

Bai Liang is a man, he can choose not to fuss over these "little things," but Sister Yanzi says she's a girl, and she holds grudges very well.

Oh wait, she's just petty!

"Sister Nazha, let me tell you something—mm-hmm, thanks~ muah!"

"Sister Reba, are you busy right now? There's something I'd like to trouble you with~"

Without a doubt, what Sister Yanzi wanted to do received unconditional approval from Nazha's and Reba's sides.

Even though each of them knew they'd probably have to coordinate with the other side, they all tacitly didn't bring it up.

Before the two sides fight each other, taking out the other "suicidally clueless" ones first—that's basic operating procedure.

Even from a purely commercial interest standpoint, both teams absolutely didn't want to let Shuangzi's unhinged fans in to cause trouble.

Fight as they may, argue as they may, the big war between Reba and Nazha has never stirred up any weird rhythms.

But Shuangzi was clearly the wildcard.

The three teams began making contact and coordinating, about to form a fan-circle annihilation showdown.

The horn of "war" began to blow the moment the hashtag #Bai Liang, Shuangzi CP Past and Present Lives# shot into the top three of the trending searches.

This war without gunpowder tore open a wormhole in the data abyss, and the entire Chinese internet turned into a quantum-entangled Asura battlefield!

The first to charge out, of course, were the CP fans.

Open fire!

"Where did this classmate come from, it's an illusion, just which room is it in~"

"Shut the phone, let the whole thing play out"

"A fragrant, sultry night, drift along with whatever comes"

"The moon sets, the raven cries, frost fills the sky; a thousand li to Jiangling in a single day~~"

The first time Bai Liang heard this song, he thought the lyrics were weird, but then he found them oddly addictive and wanted another listen.

Now Hu Yanbing was singing this thing right in front of him, having knocked back a bit of liquor and riding a pleasant little buzz, and somehow the whole thing came out smelling like a man well over the legal blood-alcohol limit.

And~

An ancient-style tune, modern-style lyrics, a foreign-style name — this song was like someone who'd eaten wild mushrooms.

Bai Liang curiously looked it up on his phone.

He discovered the lyrics had actually been written by Ning Caishen.

No wonder it was a total mess, like the An Lushan Rebellion.

Luckily the melody was strong enough to let a person ignore the lyrics entirely.

But today Bai Liang actually wanted to hear Hu Yanbing sing that one, "See a Pig, Feed It."

Still, considering his current mental state and situation, that unhinged song might suit him even better.

"Brother, why don't you dodge it?"

Hu Yanbing: "Didn't I dodge right over to your place?"

In Shuangzi's book, it wasn't only Bai Liang who got written in — this guy didn't escape either.

The details of their romance and the contents of their text messages even got published.

It's just that because Bai Liang drew the bulk of the fire, nobody paid much attention to his portion of it.

At first, poor sap Hu Yanbing even posted on Weibo: "Never imagined someone would write me into a book. At this moment I forgot who I am — I only want to support you."

Then he found out he'd been used as a stepping stone again — and this time it was the most outrageous yet: they actually used Bai Liang to step on him.

Shuangzi's dad even liked the post!

Dammit!

He felt like the ultimate sucker.

It just so happened that Bai Liang had recently recommended a singer to the crew to perform the theme song, so Hu Yanbing simply came over to "take refuge."

After finishing the song, he picked up his drink and gulped down several big mouthfuls, then looked at Bai Liang: "Aren't you going to have any?"

"I can freeload off your concert, why would I bother singing it myself?" Bai Liang said, utterly shameless. He refused to spend a single cent on a concert ticket, just stood less than two meters from Hu Yanbing and had him sing it to him directly — the experience was insanely good.

Way better than that time he went to karaoke with Meng Jie.

A professional singer is a professional singer.

"Great immortal, why does dating for me feel like I've got a criminal record on my back?"

"You're fine, aren't you — the other guy doesn't even have the right to eat beef noodles anymore," Bai Liang comforted him with solid reasoning.

They were all brothers in the same boat, and the former was definitely worse off.

Hu Yanbing at most got roasted for being ugly, okay — the intensity felt about the same, this kind of very direct personal attack, the strength was also kinda… you know.

"You're going to get unlucky this time too, don't rush~" Hu Yanbing suddenly thought of something and actually sounded a little gleefully schadenfreude-y.

"So you're not comfortable yourself, so you want to watch someone else get dragged down too?"

"Yep."

No errors in any chapter, no missing content — read it all here!

"And you actually admitted it. Are singers really this shameless?"

"You actors are the more outrageous ones! What you act in a drama might not be that great, but online you're way too slick!"

After taking turns roasting each other using the other's profession, the atmosphere actually got even more heated.

Still, Hu Yanbing was curious — how would Bai Liang handle this kind of situation?

Bai Liang: I don't handle it~

"What the hell? You actually agreed to let her write you into the book?" Hu Yanbing gaped, seeming almost impressed by Bai Liang's courage.

"Being written into the book is actually no big deal."

"The problem is her team's moves, right?"

They both ran in entertainment circles, so Hu Yanbing was perfectly clear on that, and he kept on with his gleeful schadenfreude.

Seeing your bro unlucky right alongside you — isn't that also something worth being happy about?

They say a man is a boy till he dies; it's just like getting punished to stand in class back in school.

One person dragged out to stand in the hallway — panic plus shame.

But once your own bro gets dragged out too, the two of you exchange a glance, and a smile just can't help but appear on your faces.

Hu Yanbing said he really needed a fellow sufferer right now, but he didn't know why Shuangzi treated them so differently — she only wrote about her ex and Bai Liang, who counts as the white moonlight, I guess.

That ex-ex was simply never mentioned at all.

Dammit, not fair!

"I'm not the same as you," Bai Liang said, looking at him with eyes full of pity.

"How am I not the same? If you dated her you'd be in trouble too!"

"Not that kind of not the same — what's my profession?"

"An actor, of course~"

"Wrong. When it comes to dealing with these people, I'm top-tier." Bai Liang said with a smile.

He was putting what he'd learned into practice — those were Sister Yanzi's exact words from earlier today.

In the era of traffic, a top-tier star who held the moral high ground could truly command wind and rain in the fandom world.

The moment his words fell, his phone suddenly buzzed with a message.

He glanced down and broke into a grin.

Hu Yanbing saw his expression and couldn't help making a bold guess: "Don't tell me it's from her?"

"You read people well!"

"What did she send?"

Just three simple words, but those three words completely broke Hu Yanbing's defenses.

I'm sorry.

Unwilling to give up, he pulled out his own phone, refreshed several times, waited several minutes, but never received a reply.

He couldn't help sending a question mark over, only to discover he'd been blocked.

Honestly, Bai Liang almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

The comedic effect of this whole bit was even better than the skits he'd seen at the Spring Festival Gala rehearsal.

This guy's "doomed sucker" label really couldn't be shaken off.

"Cross~ing~the~bridge~of~love~~who~dare~~break through!"

"Gazing~at~the~moon~~heart~turns~cold!"

Here we go — this guy finally started singing with his tail between his legs!

And Bai Liang, back when he was a male model, already knew how to play wingman for others.

Back then, when he and Huang Jingyu were showing off fruit platters at the KTV lounge, it was his talent for hyping people up that kept them from getting called out and kicked out on the spot.

Today's concert he absolutely had to hear — nobody could stop him!

On the other side of things, Shuangzi's side was having a great time. A miserable time!

Hmm. From her expression, you really couldn't tell whether she was enjoying it or not.

But watching her own team get pushed back step by step, even her notoriously tenacious fans couldn't withstand the combined assault of three top-tier stars' fandoms — they were nearly wiped out the moment they clashed.

No matter how crazy or tenacious, against an absolute numerical advantage, they couldn't stir up much of a wave.

On top of that, Nazha and Reba's fans were truly a "veteran army" — those two groups had been at war for who knows how long, their combat power terrifyingly fierce.

By comparison, Bai Liang's fans were over there doing their Makabaka thing, looking exactly like capybaras watching a spectacle.

They had a bit of presence, but not much~

After all, from a certain angle, Bai Liang's fans didn't actually hate Shuangzi's moves all that much.

She just likes our big star — doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with that~

Besides, plenty of people like the big star.

Fortunately, the mastermind behind the scenes, Sister Yanzi, understood this well. She knew what Bai Liang's fans were generally like, so she didn't expect them to play a big role at this moment.

Plus, it could mislead the opposition — maybe some clueless fellow male top-tier would think Bai Liang was "easy to bully"~

When the time comes, she could give them a big surprise!

A celebrity team's control over their fans varies — the strong ones point and the fans strike, the weak ones can't direct them at all.

And Sister Yanzi's control over Bai Liang's fans... could be very strong, or you could say fairly average.

Because the real "command authority" over Bai Liang's fans wasn't in her hands, nor in those of the professional fan leaders.

It was in the hands of a rather mysterious group — they even had their own internal chat.

Sister Yanzi had only learned about this through Editor-in-Chief Xiaoshui. She joined using Bai Liang's agent identity, but basically never spoke — just lurked and watched the Bai Fumeis chat and shoot the breeze.

Our side promises not to be the first to use weapons of mass destruction.

A mere Shuangzi wasn't worth alerting that group.

Nazha and Reba's teams alone could already run circles around the opposition.

However, faced with this situation, Shuangzi herself actually showed a strange smile, as if she wasn't feeling that bad — even though her team was frantic.

She turned her head and — damn — Shuangzi was actually over there admiring Bai Liang's stills.

They were just released from the "The Story of Minglan" side.

The stills were of Bai Liang and Sister Xiao Zhao together, a domestic scene, looking unusually harmonious.

Sister Xiao Zhao's hairstyle in the photo was especially neat, and she seemed to be gazing at him with a bit of "shyness"~

Yet beneath that shy, reserved expression, no one would forget that she is currently one of the most formidable post-'85 actresses around!

In a certain sense — no "one of" about it!

Shuangzi: Sure enough, I've poked a hornet's nest.

How thrilling! Feels like going against the whole world~

She simply turned to her team and said: "If it's not working, forget it. We'll try again next time."

The team:???

Wait — we were just about to fight to the death, Your Majesty, why do you surrender first?!

But even they couldn't really figure out what was going on with Shuangzi — they had no idea what was going on in her head.

She used to just be crazy; now she seemed to be getting a bit "twisted."

She's not actually starting to enjoy being "bullied," is she?! —

Third watch — fourteen thousand words.

A new month has begun, time to charge up the monthly ticket rankings again! Begging for monthly tickets!

(End of chapter)