Chapter 259: Fireworks and Firecrackers Are Prohibited

"Sister Tian Tian, what do you call what we're doing, following him around like this?" Miss Jing Tian's assistant asked helplessly from inside the car.

It's New Year's Eve, and she's neither going home for the reunion dinner nor gathering with a few close friends.

Yet here she is in Yanjing City, acting like a sasaeng fan.

What's the point of sneaking around? She might as well just join his New Year's Eve dinner~

If she did that, her little assistant would actually respect her as a real tough guy!

Jing Tian: I'm already a girl, why on earth would I want to be a tough guy?

Actually, she was purely torn about it, and then got roped into this situation.

Her team members were already on holiday, all the red envelopes that needed to be sent had been sent, and she had originally bought a plane ticket back to Xi'an, planning to head home for New Year once the show wrapped.

But in the end, as if possessed, she refunded it. Mom, Dad, I'm performing on the Spring Festival Gala this year, so I won't be coming home for New Year.

This excuse worked perfectly! Her parents said they completely understood, and that their precious daughter had worked hard~

By now, the family reunion dinner back home was probably already finished.

Yet after finishing her Spring Festival Gala performance, she had drifted around outside CCTV like a ghost with her little assistant, waiting for Bai Liang's car to come out.

She didn't dare stay in the backstage lounge, afraid of being asked: Why aren't you going home for New Year~

She was mainly afraid Bai Liang would ask her that.

What would she even answer then?

And now, following his car like this, in the end Jing Tian probably still doesn't have the courage to follow him into the hotel.

Most likely she'll slink away in defeat~

Little assistant: Although I know it's not great to say this, but Sister Tian Tian's whole series of behaviors here is basically a vivid illustration of two words: underdog!

That Nazha only has one nose and two eyes, what's there to be wary of?

After New Year passed, she got one step closer to thirty.

She's already a contestant who's almost thirty, yet she's indecisive like some teenage girl.

Of course, this might just be Jing Tian's little secret to staying young overall~

She really does live her life like a little girl, as if time itself has slowed down on her.

True girlish charm.

Definitely not the Yang Mi type, forced into shape through makeup and styling.

And then— knock knock knock~

The light turned red, the car stopped, and Jing Tian and her assistant watched in stunned disbelief as Bai Liang got out of the car ahead and walked over, smiling as he knocked on their window.

He seemed to be saying something, but the window wasn't open, so they couldn't hear.

But Jing Tian read from his lip movements exactly what he was saying.

It was clearly:

"Caught you!"

Tonight's New Year's Eve dinner gained two extra guests: Jing Tian and her assistant.

As for why these two weren't going home on New Year's Eve and insisted on wandering outside acting like sasaeng fans, Bai Liang didn't ask.

After "catching" them, he only asked one thing: Are you hungry?

Jing Tian almost burst into tears: So hungry.

Obviously, there couldn't be a better way out.

So she was just here to freeload a meal.

Nazha didn't say anything about it either—it's New Year, and you're already here.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, you can't keep staying though!

The hotel suite is big, sure, but there's only one bed, which can only sleep two people.

Even if it's the sofa— the kitty needs to sleep there.

Bai Liang and Nazha's respective team members, who had all been working overtime on New Year's Eve, were completely dumbfounded when they saw Jing Tian.

Bai Liang's side handled it a bit better, at most sighing internally: As expected of Brother Xiao Bai... way too bold! Even on New Year's, he's daring enough to take two along.

But Nazha's staff were a bit unhappy.

It's a family dinner, so why are there two unrelated contestants here?

Sister Nazha is just too easygoing.

Of course, in the eyes of her team members today, Nazha was absolutely the most beautiful presence.

"Before we eat, come get your red envelopes— Sister Nazha is handing them out personally~"

Once everyone was gathered, Nazha's little assistant pulled out a thick stack of red envelopes from her bag, clearly well-prepared.

Everyone gets one.

Sister Yanzi also smiled and had someone bring over a bag, inside which were, naturally, red envelopes she'd prepared.

Nazha and Bai Liang's team staff were absolutely thrilled today— these red envelopes had nothing to do with overtime pay or year-end bonuses during the Spring Festival period.

They were purely a New Year's Eve benefit.

And they got to collect double!

The red envelopes looked especially thick, definitely five figures or more.

"Thank you, Sister Nazha!"

"Thank you, Brother Xiao Bai!"

"Happy New Year~"

"May you be together forever."

"May you have a child soon!"

"."

The auspicious red envelope greetings grew more and more outrageous, but Na Zha was laughing happily, her cheeks slightly flushed, feeling this money was really well spent!

Seeing this segment, Miss Jing Tian's eyes lit up, immediately feeling like she was back in her comfort zone.

She poked her little assistant, "Go quickly and find out how much red envelopes they're giving."

The assistant was very efficient, and found a fairly reliable contestant to ask.

"All eighteen thousand." Bai Liang's cousin Dapao answered directly without even opening the red envelope.

He was also puzzled in his heart—how did his own cousin know the other party would come ask.

Bai Liang: How could I not know what Princess Tian Tian is thinking?

Dapao was arranged by him to be there, waiting for Jing Tian to send someone to ask.

Sure enough, when the New Year's Eve dinner was halfway through, Jing Tian's assistant also came back carrying a bag—going to withdraw money late at night really wore her out.

If Bai Liang hadn't arranged for Dapao to accompany her, a girl going out alone so late at night to withdraw that much cash would probably have been scared.

Fortunately, Bai Liang has always been very thorough in this regard.

Moreover, Jing Tian's assistant could also receive three red envelopes—regardless of whether it was Bai Liang or Na Zha, neither forgot to prepare one for her.

With this, the motivation to work shot right up.

"Wow! There's more too?!"

"Thank you, Sister Tian Tian!"

"Long live Sister Tian Tian!"

"."

Once the red envelopes were scattered, everyone immediately stopped looking at Jing Tian through any colored glasses!

Even Na Zha's team members were a bit "defecting," feeling that Bai Liang letting Big Tian Tian participate in this New Year's Eve dinner was perfectly fine!

Actually, they wouldn't mind Bai Liang inviting a few more young ladies either.

A few more, and maybe in just one night tonight they could earn over a year's salary. Damn, that feels amazing!

After seeing this scene, Na Zha couldn't help but secretly ask her own little assistant how much red envelope Jing Tian had given.

"Sis, only sixteen thousand, two thousand less than what you gave!"

"That's more like it~" Na Zha raised her head and said with satisfaction.

The little assistant quickly added: "You're still the most generous, sis!"

"Of course~" Na Zha seemed a little pleased with herself. Although the "victory" gained from suppressing the other party in this aspect was a bit strange, she really enjoyed this feeling.

If Jing Tian's red envelope had been more than hers, she really would have gotten angry.

Mm. That's just human nature.

However, what puzzled Na Zha a little was that Jing Tian disappeared the moment the New Year's Eve dinner was finished.

She always felt this older sister was a bit elusive.

She curiously went to ask Bai Liang, but Bai Liang said this was normal—after all, Jing Tian's retreat step had now been practiced to a divine level.

One moment of carelessness, and she'd retreat right out of sight.

However, just before midnight, Bai Liang still received a message from Jing Tian:

"See you next year~"

The second after receiving the message, the Year of the Dog arrived.

This comedic timing made Bai Liang almost think Jing Tian was hiding in the suite he was currently in.

About to jump out and "catch an adulterer" the next second. Reality of course wouldn't be that abstract—she wasn't really a sasaeng fan, she was next door.

At the same time, as the New Year arrived, Bai Liang's phone received a flood of New Year blessings.

Just as he was busy replying, the master bedroom door opened.

"Are you sure you want to keep looking at your phone, instead of coming to unwrap your New Year gift?"

Na Zha's slightly coquettish voice came through, accompanied by the room's heating, as if it could ignite everything in an instant.

The moment Bai Liang looked up, he immediately knew why Na Zha had been so eagerly pushing him to eat more oysters tonight—this was going to be a fierce battle!

Ordinary cosplay clearly wouldn't warrant such a description.

But she really was a bit too good at this. Christmas little reindeer???

At first glance, how could you bring Christmas stuff into Spring Festival? Isn't this a betrayal of traditional festivals!

Simply turning heaven and earth upside down.

But Na Zha said today's theme wasn't Christmas, but rather "doing hair"~

Bai Liang sucked in a cold breath.

Normal people doing cosplay just do anime or game characters or something, but Na Zha had brought him entertainment industry hot news—an immersive experience!

This works too?!

No errors in any chapter, every hit, every release, all content in one place—check it out!

Incredible imagination! That's our girl~

"Do you like it?"

"Hold on, I'm thinking..."

Bai Liang switched his phone to vibrate mode, then rubbed his chin, looking pensive.

Na Zha blinked, "Thinking about what?"

"If we're doing roleplay, do I need to call you 'sister-in-law'?"

"Aiya, you don't have to take the roleplay that far! Brother~~"

That one "brother" was drawn out with lingering aftertaste~

Faintly, vaguely, it seemed to carry a hint of "chun-hah."

Oh right, Nazha hasn't shouted that word yet at this point in time.

Buzz~ buzz~ buzz~

The phone kept vibrating nonstop, and Nazha was a bit annoyed by it, wanting Bai Liang to toss the thing aside.

Fortunately, Bai Liang found a balance between the two.

Though it was a bit strange, after Nazha gave it a passive try, she figured it wasn't bad—just the range was still a touch too small.

Still, a rather odd thought popped into Bai Liang's head: the ones nonstop messaging him right now were basically all sorts of big sisters and young ladies—did that count as them having a sense of participation too?

"Brother, are you a rapper?"

"Am I supposed to be?"

"Yes!"

"Then I should next—"

"Rappers all do freestyles, right?"

Lantern Festival is for eating Tang Yuan, but Bai Liang figured Spring Festival was a fine time to try some dumplings.

As well as dumpling wrappers.

After all, today he's a rapper.

On New Year's Eve, the accumulated snow on the eaves of countless households was tinted the color of honey-pickled cherries.

The indoor warmth leaked out in wisps of white mist, carrying the salty fragrance of cured sausage and the sweet-sour tang of sweet-and-sour abalone, condensing into hazy cloud-flecks in the minus-ten-degree air.

Bang!

Outside the window, fireworks shot skyward, like a burning flower, its petals unfurling outward without pause.

Each burst of firework made the air ripple, colliding and weaving at the clouds' edge

weaving into a single syllable, as if squeezed out from the throat—

"Ah~~"

Too bad the guy setting off fireworks didn't hold out long before getting nabbed on the spot by the hat-wearing uncle.

This is Yanjing City, Second Ring Road.

Fireworks and firecrackers are prohibited.

—

The new year had begun.

Yang Yang, waking from a night's sleep, found that netizens truly hadn't let him off the hook after all.

Damn it—last night on stage he'd accidentally twisted his ankle, and that incident had been turned into a GIF.

The mischievous netizens were still over there analyzing away: just how many height-boosting insoles had he stuffed in, to twist his ankle so easily?

Fortunately, Little Ming-ge was there keeping him company—and netizens hadn't let him off either.

His mood was already bad, and now first thing in the morning he'd received a message from Bai Liang, making it even worse.

Bai Liang: "Careful now, another young gun is charging at the top-tier spot—can this goalkeeper of yours hold the line?"

Underneath that message was also a capybara-watching-the-spectacle GIF sticker.

Pfft!

Every year a bunch of random newcomers pop up, each one wanting to be top-tier—as if it were that easy.

Still, Yang Yang instinctively tapped open the video link Bai Liang had sent him.

"I am Cai Xukun, an individual trainee with two and a half years of practice time. I like singing, dancing, rap, and basketball."

"What the heck is all this?!"

Yang Yang stared at the video, dumbfounded. Who? Never even heard of him—Bai Liang really is bored enough for anything.

Studying this nonsense first thing on New Year's Day~

Wait—?!

Something's off, this video is weird, gotta watch it again!

In the end he couldn't resist looking it up a bit, and found out the thing came from a recent show called Idol Producer.

This whatever-Kun guy was a trainee on it.

Boring! Psycho.

"No wait, sent it to the wrong person—I should've sent this to Lu Han, this guy seems to be cut from the same cloth as him."

Bai Liang realized at this point: Ah-Kun was an idol, while Yang Yang and himself were both actors—even if they were all branded with the label of traffic stars, the actual work was still pretty different.

So he forwarded the thing to Lu Han, asking him to appraise it.

Lu Han probably thought Ah-Kun had some connection with Bai Liang, and after studying it, earnestly replied: "I feel he has the makings of someone who could blow up. Among the whole group on this show, he just stands out in every way—it's just that domestically the soil isn't really suited for pure idol development."

This guy was pretty straight-shooting too—almost laid out plainly why their bunch of "Four Returnees" had to go export and then sell back home.

But times are changing—after all, who could've imagined that some people's way of blowing up could be so completely unexpected~

If Bai Liang remembered correctly, this year's talent show would produce two very different contestants.

One was Ah-Kun, who'd appeared in everyone's view at the start of the year; the other was Little Koi, who'd suddenly popped up mid-year.

One male, one female—both had stepped into everyone's line of sight in a very strange posture.

As for the other contestant's New Year greeting text from Fan Fan Bingbing, she'd also taken the chance to plug her younger brother to Bai Liang—saying he'd debuted on the same show as Ah-Kun.

She wouldn't be trying to get Bai Liang to pull votes for her brother, would she?

Probably wouldn't go that far—

Maybe just hoping he'd look out for him if they crossed paths in the industry later?

"You're up so early~"

Just as Bai Liang was boredly examining these things, a pair of fair, smooth arms wrapped around his neck. Nazha, who had just woken up, nuzzled against the slight stubble on Bai Liang's face, seeming to quite enjoy this slightly rough, prickly sensation.

"Does a boy's beard really grow that fast? It's so prickly~"

"Your beard grows pretty fast too~"

"Nonsense, where would I have a beard?" Nazha instinctively rebutted first, but quickly realized something was off.

In the past, she might have blushed first, but now—

"I'm going to prick you one more time right now!"

"No, it's early morning. The taste is strong."

"You despise me!"

"I got an idea!"

Bai Liang suddenly put on a solemn face, which startled Nazha into a daze. She instinctively asked: "What did you think of?"

"I thought of this year's keyword."

"What is it?"

Bai Liang made a hands-outward-spreading gesture, dead serious: "Basketball."

As a result, Nazha, upon hearing this, lowered her head to look at herself, then said with some shy annoyance: "Who could be a basketball? What nonsense are you talking about?"

She was actually quite willing to do certain things in order to please Bai Liang.

For example, cosplay, or beauty treatments and body hair removal, working hard to exercise and train her butt, and even learning some strange skills — like when Bai Liang said her mouth was very sexy.

But basketball is a bit too much; she can't exactly go get surgery for that~

Bai Liang hurriedly waved his hands: "Sister Yanzi told me there's a basketball-themed variety show that wants me to come as a regular guest, and the pay they're offering is pretty high."

Nazha:. She could see it now — this bad guy was deliberately teasing her!

Damn it!

Prick him!

—

There will be another update later

(End of chapter)