Chapter 258: The Stage Really Is Slippery!

"Did you just twist your ankle up on stage?"

After coming off stage from the Spring Festival Gala performance, Bai Liang looked at Yang Yang, whose expression seemed a little odd, and asked curiously.

That single sentence instantly shattered Yang Yang's "bravery." His whole face scrunched up, he bit his lip, and his eyes seemed to glisten.

Holy crap!

Bai Liang instinctively deployed the backward-step ultimate move he'd learned from Miss Jing Tian, and at the same time recalled the intel Miss Li Xin had once given him: this guy had loved crying ever since his debut, his eyes were like a faucet, tears came whenever he felt like it.

Bro, you're really gonna do it?!

Looking at Bai Liang, who had zero "sympathy" and had swiftly retreated several steps—hey hey—Yang Yang immediately "recovered."

Tears, off!

He scratched his head helplessly, then glanced at his own ankle, wincing in pain.

He'd set his height-increasing insoles too high, and gotten too "into" his "performance" on stage—one moment of carelessness—

Luckily his reflexes were quick, and he steadied himself.

Otherwise, if he'd taken a tumble in front of the whole nation, that would've been one hell of a spectacle.

Of course, the blame for that had to fall on Bai Liang.

Because he was so tall, Yang Yang needed the height-increasing insoles; because he wore the insoles, he twisted his ankle on stage. The root of it all was Bai Liang—what's a big dummy gotta be so tall for?

Yang Yang felt that from now on, if he had any choice in the matter, he absolutely could not share the stage with Bai Liang again.

He felt that Huang Xiaoming was a very good partner~

Sure enough, the other party was already waiting over there; his program was just a few slots after Bai Liang and Yang Yang's.

However, Yang Yang glanced at Huang Xiaoming and noticed the other man's shoes also seemed a bit off.

Their program had even more people—besides Huang Xiaoming, there was Zhong Hanliang, Yan Chengxu, and Xia Li'ao.

The shortest among them was one hundred and seventy-eight centimeters.

Brother Xiaoming's under a lot of pressure too!

Unable to hold back, Yang Yang offered a reminder: "Brother Xiaoming, be careful on stage, don't twist your ankle—the stage is a bit slippery."

Gift a rose, and the fragrance lingers on your hand.

Today he'd been helped out by Bai Liang, so he was just passing along a bit of that goodwill in turn—perfectly reasonable.

Bai Liang: I really am infinitely meritorious.

But upon hearing this, Brother Xiaoming's expression stiffened for a moment, that roguish smile vanishing, as he looked at Yang Yang in exasperation: "Why do you say that?"

"Because I just twisted my ankle."

"Pfft!"

Unable to keep a straight face, Brother Xiaoming patted Yang Yang on the shoulder, the roguish smile returning to his face: "You're just too young. Don't worry, I definitely won't twist my ankle."

Yang Yang gave a thumbs-up: Truly a senior—has he built up experience from wearing insoles? He could ask him for some tips later.

A little over ten minutes later, Huang Xiaoming came down from the stage wincing.

He'd twisted his ankle too.

Seeing Yang Yang still standing there poking fun, his expression stiffened, and he finally said helplessly: "The stage really is slippery!"

Yang Yang:... Why you putting on such a front?

"What are these two doing?"

Wu Jing, not far off to one side, looked at this twisted-ankle duo with some exasperation and muttered a complaint.

"Probably exchanging notes. Hey, why don't you get some height-increasing insoles too?" Bai Liang glanced at Wu Jing, thinking he actually needed the things too.

The other party gave him a look of exasperation. "I'm performing with Big Brother Cheng together—what's the point of insoles!"

"Fair point~ But you've actually worn them before?" Bai Liang said, somewhat surprised.

Wu Jing:... Nonsense. The entertainment industry has all kinds of occasions; sometimes you're forced into it.

At this point, Huang Xiaoming and Yang Yang seemed to have finished exchanging notes on the use of height-increasing insoles, and the two of them came over limping.

Judging by the way they walked, anyone who didn't know would think Uncle Benshan's "Selling the Crutch" sketch had been performed backstage at the Spring Festival Gala.

Still, Huang Xiaoming was indeed a senior—even though he was a bit awkward at the moment, it didn't stop him from greeting everyone with a face full of smiles.

Yang Yang, on the other hand, still seemed a bit "green," still fretting over his twisted ankle~

He seemed very worried that netizens would dig up the fact that he wore height-increasing insoles, which was the only reason he looked just a little shorter than Bai Liang.

Regarding this, Huang Xiaoming, as someone who'd been through it, offered his opinion: Don't worry, little bro—those people online can dig up anything!

How did those bastards slander him? Saying he wasn't even one-sixty—that was really a bit too much.

Huang Xiaoming was the entertainment circle's acknowledged "social butterfly"—seemed to get along with everyone, a total good guy.

Although his reputation went up and down, he'd always remained standing in the entertainment circle; when people did roundups of mid-generation pillar actors, his name still occasionally came up.

As long as he didn't reward himself by going off to play domineering CEOs, the audience actually quite recognized his acting.

Being able to achieve that was already quite something.

After all, for an actor's reputation to have such extreme polarization across different types of films—and the key thing was, the audience really were still willing to watch him when he acted properly.

After a few pleasantries, Wu Jing had to rush home for the New Year's Eve dinner and slipped away first—his wife and kids were waiting at home.

Huang Xiaoming, meanwhile, warmly called out to Bai Liang: "Xiao Bai, you're from Jiangsu, right? Are you heading back later, or just having New Year's Eve dinner here? Want to join us? My wife was just talking about you the other day."

Yang Yang, listening from the side, felt something was off—your wife was talking about him?

That's not something to be talking about!

If this were before, hearing that, he would've thought it was perfectly normal.

But now, ever since witnessing Bai Liang's "You came at just the right time" incident, Yang Yang clearly had developed a "prejudice" against Bai Liang.

Bai Liang, of course, declined Huang Xiaoming's polite invitation.

Still, the Yang Tianbao the other party mentioned did give one some感慨.

She's way too fierce!

She made her comeback just three days after giving birth.

Originally I thought she wouldn't appear on this season's "Running Man" at all this year — after all, she ought to take some time to rest after having a baby, right?

Turns out the woman popped right back out onto Running Man like she'd just unloaded some cargo.

In the last few episodes of this season, she actually recorded alongside Dilireba, the two regular female guests.

Obviously, next season one of them is bound to drop out.

So the question is: can Dabeibi still hold her own against Reba now?

So, regarding the question of who stays on next year's Running Man, there's still no answer for now.

No matter how you handle it, it doesn't feel quite right.

And Reba still has several endorsement deals sponsoring Running Man on her — if she leaves, the endorsements and sponsors might just run off too.

A top-tier female star's commercial value is an enormous boost for any variety show.

Of course, Yang Tianbao is no slouch either — she's got Sect Leader Huang backing her.

In a certain sense, even though her "representative work" is just one Running Man, she really does sit at the same table as the 85 Flowers — Yang Mi, Zhao Liying, and the rest of them~

The show's production team has been given the happy problem.

But in just over a month, the new season of Running Man will start recording, and then this matter gets tangled up with Bai Liang.

Will Bai Liang come to Running Man in 2018?

The production team: regardless of whether it's drama promo or movie promo, come for two episodes, will you? That way we'll have a much clearer picture of who to pick.

Because of the production team's attitude, Yang Tianbao really did get nervous.

Even though Sect Leader Huang is backing her, going up against a combo of Bai Liang and Reba — she actually feels like she can't quite win. Hmm. To be precise, it's Sect Leader Huang alone going up against Bai Liang plus Reba, and he still has to "press on while carrying the weight."

Anyone in his shoes would be drenched in sweat.

So Yang Tianbao even gave Bai Liang a call, beating around the bush to ask about the situation, in the sweetest tone.

Bai Liang: Huh? I had no idea~

That line sounded exactly like playing dumb — Yang Tianbao on the other end of the line clearly thought so too.

Then after two seconds of silence, she instinctively resorted to the trick she was best at back when she was still a young model.

She actually acted cute.

Bai Liang: Sis, don't do that~

It made him feel super awkward.

He of course earnestly said he really didn't know, that he could look into it later and give her an answer.

Yang Tianbao was a bit unsatisfied at the time, even suspecting Bai Liang had gotten a little too bold — was he really trying to have a taste?

That won't do — she just gave birth, the whole thing would be a bit too twisted.

No errors, one chapter, one post, all content in one place to read!

But that very evening, the situation took a huge turn!

Because Reba voluntarily dropped out.

Bai Liang: Got nothing to do with me, bro — I was still looking into it~

But Yang Tianbao clearly didn't see it that way; she even wanted to treat Bai Liang to dinner.

Bai Liang decisively turned her down on the grounds that he didn't have time.

Otherwise he was a little afraid that if he showed up to the dinner, what would be waiting for him would be half a goblet of leftover wine.

The matter of the Golden Horse Best Actress getting her hair done is still fresh in memory!

So the reason Sect Leader Huang has been so nice to Bai Liang — hobbling over on a sprained foot just to come chat and be polite — seems to have been found.

When Yang Tianbao called Bai Liang, he definitely wasn't standing right there.

Otherwise his attitude couldn't possibly be this good — he'd definitely be suspecting that Bai Liang had gotten a taste of his sister-in-law~

After Spring Festival comes Lantern Festival.

Bai Liang: Our Lantern Festival eats Tang Yuan, not dumplings.

—

Most of the artists who performed at the Spring Festival Gala basically vanished the moment their own segment was done.

Yang Yang limped his way out at top speed, rushing home for the New Year's Eve dinner.

But Bai Liang had to wait a bit longer, because Nazha was on later.

Nazha: Super urgent! Want to finish tonight's performance in a flash.

One thing that's a bit of a pity — she didn't know whether Dilireba had watched tonight's Spring Festival Gala. Nazha said she's also great at spinning.

And spinning on the Spring Festival Gala stage, no less!

If the other party hadn't already blocked her, she really would have wanted to send a message to give her a heads-up.

"Bye, Nazha-jie~"

"Bye, happy new year!"

"."

After saying goodbye to her co-performers, Nazha couldn't wait, hitching up her skirt as she ran toward the lounge.

Of course, it was Bai Liang's lounge.

But when she got there, she found no one inside. Her face, which had been a little excited, instantly fell. "Where did he go?"

She never imagined Bai Liang would sneak off without waiting for her — purely because she didn't see him the first moment, she felt thoroughly wronged.

Fortunately, at that moment Bai Liang came around the corner of the hallway, talking on the phone.

Nazha, who had been about to call out to him, saw the phone in his hand and immediately shut her mouth again, only unable to help putting on a little pitiful, wronged look.

However, the moment Bai Liang hung up the phone, his very first sentence successfully diverted her attention.

"That call just now was from my grandma."

"Huh? Your grandma watched your show?"

"No, she watched your show."

The moment those words left his mouth, Na Zha instantly grew a little nervous, and at the same time a little expectant. She pressed her lips together and looked at Bai Liang. "Um… does your grandma know me?"

"She probably didn't before, but she definitely does now. To be precise, all seven aunts and eight aunts in my whole family know you now."

Ahh~

Na Zha suddenly didn't quite know what to do. The whole family knows?!

No way—she had to go back and rewatch the Spring Festival Gala replay. Her performance tonight shouldn't have had any mistakes, right?

Oh right, and her stage outfit wasn't that revealing either.

Just thinking about the absurd antics of his younger brother and sister, Bai Liang couldn't help but feel a bit speechless.

Grandma knew way more than just Na Zha—those rascals had recommended every single one of his scandalous partners to grandma, one by one.

She's already started picking one out at home~

As for Na Zha, she was wondering whether she should prepare a New Year gift for grandma.

Bai Liang, though, came up with a great idea. "You two could team up and game together later. My grandma's Yasuo is getting slicker and slicker."

"For real? That game is super hard. Honor of Kings on mobile is a bit easier…"

Na Zha had also been learning to game for a while now. At first she wanted to play together with Bai Liang, but sadly her skill level had always been just so-so.

Even with something simpler like Honor of Kings, she wasn't that great at it.

That made her feel a bit挫敗~

But her skill level might not be enough to keep up with Bai Liang in games, but to game with Bai Liang's grandma? That would be just right!

Chatting about these weird and adorable topics, the two of them walked outside.

Oh right, some of the team members were waiting for them outside, and some had already headed to the restaurant first.

They had agreed to have New Year's Eve dinner together, after all.

However, the thing Na Zha had mentioned earlier about bringing her mom and older sister along never actually happened.

It wasn't that Bai Liang was unwilling—it was that Na Zha herself thought it over and felt it wasn't quite appropriate.

In the end, she gave up on that plan.

However, on the drive to the restaurant, Bai Liang kept feeling like he had somehow overlooked something.

His super brain quickly provided the answer: where did Miss Jing Tian go?!

It felt like after she finished her performance, she just vanished!

Did she run off without saying goodbye?

Something just feels off somehow.

"Bro, there's a car following us~"

"Bro?"

Na Zha was startled by those words and didn't really care about some car following them or not. It was only then that she noticed Bai Liang's driver had a face she didn't recognize.

"Oh, my cousin, named An Dapao. He came over to be my… driver, bodyguard, assistant, chef…"

That string of titles coming out one after another made Na Zha's mouth twitch.

Because he's a cousin, you have to work him to the bone?

"He just got discharged from the military. My family asked me to find him a job, so I figured he'd come over and make do for now."

"A special forces soldier?!" Na Zha instantly started fantasizing.

"The cook company's pig farmer~"

"Ahh."

Getting back to the topic of the car following behind them, cousin Dapao's judgment was pretty accurate—it really had been secretly tailing them.

"Paparazzi?" Na Zha felt grateful she hadn't brought her sister and mom along.

But Bai Liang furrowed his brow, feeling that the car behind them looked oddly familiar somehow?

(End of chapter)