Chapter 268: A Powdered Face Harboring Spring, Yet Power Concealed

"Longing for Life" was produced and premiered last year, debuting in the top three of its time slot, with average ratings breaking 1.5%.

Later episodes peaked at nearly 2% in ratings, performing impressively in the fiercely competitive weekend prime-time slot.

One could say this show, 凭借 its unique "slow variety" style, quickly became a phenomenal hit.

At the same time, as the country's first slow variety show focused on pastoral life, its success directly spawned similar programs like "Chinese Restaurant" and "Dear Inn," shifting the industry's direction.

Of course, Bai Liang didn't care about any of this, and he didn't even pay much attention to Guo Qilin's reminders about being "preachy" or anything like that.

Right now his mind was entirely on ordering dishes, though he didn't want to "make things difficult" for Teacher Huang.

Two older sisters were going this time too, and Bai Liang loved eating what the sisters made.

Besides, it would conveniently tie in with promotion—he was always very dedicated to his work.

"Anything I order is fine?"

"Let's not make things hard on Teacher Huang either—let's just order Buddha Jumps Over the Wall~" Xu Zheng rubbed his bald head and grinned mischievously at this moment.

They were currently at a hotel in Zhejiang Province, filming the "ordering dishes" segment.

The production team clearly wanted them to be a bit more dramatic.

And Xu Zheng was obviously well-suited to be the one "making things difficult" for Teacher Huang—they were old friends~

"If you're ordering something that hard, then I'll order something simpler."

"What do you want to eat?"

"Instant noodles—throw in two packs at once, fry two eggs on top, spicy flavor."

Xu Zheng:???

"Isn't that way too polite of you?"

Bai Liang waved his hand. "I want to eat what the female guests cook~"

Xu Zheng: 666!

Sure enough, you kid really know how to play it.

But he was a bit curious, and at the same time made a series of exaggerated facial expressions. "Miss Jing Tian can actually cook noodles? She doesn't seem like the type who'd be in the kitchen."

"Little Zhao sister can."

Hearing this, Xu Zheng instinctively rubbed his bald head, feeling somewhat helpless about Bai Liang promoting both a TV drama and a movie at the same time.

Of course he still hoped Bai Liang would focus on the movie.

What's there to promote about some Bilibili TV drama? Can it compare to a movie?

Well, for Bai Liang there was no such dilemma of choosing between the palm and the back of the hand.

He mainly felt that, whether it was "The Story of Ming Lan" or "How Long Will I Love U," both were quite important to each of those two sisters.

Miss Jing Tian really needed a movie that could hold her up, to wash off the label of being box-office poison.

As for Little Zhao sister, she was even more direct.

Because of "The Kingdom of Women" flopping, she probably wouldn't get any good movie resources for the next two or three years; if the TV drama didn't hold steady either, her foundation would be shaken.

One flop really does affect an artist's career a lot, especially for someone like Little Zhao sister—one wave nearly destroyed her fighting spirit, leaving her somewhat dispirited.

Right now, Miss Jing Tian, sitting in the same car as her, felt this deeply.

Sneaking a peek at Zhao Liying, she felt the other woman's face seemed to have changed somehow.

When she'd previously interacted with Zhao Liying and had meals together, she'd still seemed like a sweet girl.

Round little face, smiling in a way that was both goofy and cute.

But now the fleshiness on the other woman's face had lessened, the youthful look greatly reduced, the visual weight of her features strengthened, her eyes deeper, her overall face much more refined.

Her whole presence had also gained three parts of sharpness.

Her makeup and styling had also leaned more mature, as if she'd completely abandoned the cute style.

A powdered face harboring spring, yet power concealed!

Miss Jing Tian, whose own face was also a bit chubby and overall plump and rounded, was very curious how the other woman had done it, thinking it looked pretty cool.

Zhao Liying:

Honestly, she was the weirder one, okay?

After "The Kingdom of Women" flopped, Zhao Liying really hadn't been sleeping or eating well for a while—her face had thinned just like that.

She'd only flopped once, yet felt like the sky was falling.

But Miss Jing Tian had been flopping with movies all the way until now, yet could still be so plump and rounded, looking like she ate well and had no worries. Did the beatings of her career really not affect her?

Miss Jing Tian: Actually, I'm plenty worried! But it doesn't affect my appetite.

Right now, her interest in "Longing for Life" was clearly much greater than Zhao Liying's—a pastoral, idyllic life sounded really appealing!

Seeing her looking so happy she was swaying her head, Zhao Liying opened her mouth but didn't want to ruin Miss Jing Tian's mood.

Actually, she'd come on the previous season of "Longing for Life" too—that episode also had Xie Na and Sun Honglei.

Zhao Liying had actually been quite looking forward to it back then, happily singing while working during the day, only realizing the severity of the situation by nightfall.

Because Teacher Huang had made a dish of "fake crab," using half a bowl of ginger chunks, plus garlic and aged vinegar—the flavor went straight to the top of her skull.

As a result, after Zhao Liying and Xie Na finished eating, they opened their mouths but said nothing, mentally cursing up a storm.

But Sun Honglei had praised it enthusiastically—maybe acting in "To Be a Better Man" really made him lose his sense of taste.

He He He He Laoshi Jiong also had this same problem.

Search the keyword "pica" online, and the first result is He Jiong.

Meaning He Jiong loved Teacher Huang's cooking so much that netizens suspected he had pica.

Of course, the scariest thing wasn't the fake crab, but the "fake pesticide" made with green beans.

So the question is: how is Teacher Huang's cooking actually?

"He He He He Laoshi~"

"Yingbao's here! And Sister Tian Tian~ Welcome, welcome."

The first to arrive at the Tonglu Mushroom House were Zhao Liying and Miss Jing Tian; He He He He Laoshi came out with Peng Yuchang to greet them.

But seeing her with that gentle, big-wave hairstyle, old friend He He He He Laoshi couldn't help but zone out for a moment. "You've changed so much~"

"People always change, after all." Zhao Liying smoothed her hair and said calmly.

"What about me?" Miss Jing Tian said with a grin.

"Sister Tian Tian hasn't really changed, but I heard you had a great time last year~ You really made your presence felt!"

Seeing the strange smile on He He He He Laoshi's face, Miss Jing Tian felt oddly a little guilty and shy.

Her presence was all built up together with Bai Liang.

Liang Chen Mei Jing, after all~

Peng Yuchang, after shouting 'sis,' naturally became the luggage-carrying tool-man, with no chance to chime in.

At this point he actually missed Da Hua, who was on leave; with him around things felt livelier.

But Miss Jing Tian patted his shoulder and asked curiously, "Has anyone else arrived?"

"Sis, it's just you two so far."

"Late again," Miss Jing Tian seemed a bit displeased.

Zhao Liying helped explain: "He won't be late. Usually he shows up right on the dot, very leisurely."

"You two seem to know this 'he' pretty well~" He He He He Laoshi said with a teasing tone.

Of course he knew the guests this episode were all here for promotion, but he'd really never seen someone like Bai Liang who dragged two others along. The first time he met Bai Liang, He He He He Laoshi already felt this kid's style was different from everyone else's; now he'd mixed his way up to this level, and yet was still just as quirky.

Hearing his words, Zhao Liying spread her small hands. "I've beaten him up a few times, how could I not know him?"

"What about Sister Tian Tian? You've beaten him too?"

"No."

"Venomous snake flicks its tongue!"

At that moment, a call came from afar, instantly making Miss Jing Tian feel terrible all over.

But she subconsciously replied, "No footprints!"

Once the code words matched, He He He He Laoshi couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

Peng Yuchang beside her was also twitching, looking like he had the shivers.

Zhao Liying also looked at her with a strange expression, seeming to want to laugh, the corner of her mouth slightly upturned, thinking: He's trained her to this level?

No errors, one chapter, one release, all content here!

Even Teacher Huang, who was busy with something unknown in the kitchen, poked his head out and said to the camera, "Who's doing the secret rendezvous out there? And with an accent too~"

Miss Jing Tian:.

How much does this guy love this code phrase? Shouting it from the Spring Festival Gala backstage into a variety show.

And he has to announce the tongue-flicking loud enough for everyone to hear?

Everyone looked outside, and sure enough, it was Bai Liang and Xu Zheng arriving.

As the few outside went together to greet them, Chef Huang also wiped his hands, took off his apron, and walked out of his loyal kitchen to personally welcome them.

During the small talk, Miss Jing Tian puffed up her cheeks and silently glared at Bai Liang.

This grudge, she's noted it down!

She has a little notebook in her heart, who knows how many entries it has on Bai Liang.

But the next second she was all smiles again.

Because Bai Liang handed out the puppies.

"Here, one each."

Handing the two little dogs, Chocolate and Meatball, to Zhao Liying and Miss Jing Tian, both young ladies couldn't help but smile; the scene was quite heartwarming.

"For us? I want to give it a name."

"Hey hey hey, not for you, just for you to play with for these two days. I borrowed these dogs from the set."

"Borrowed?" Zhao Liying petted Chocolate while feeling the little thing looked more and more familiar. "Huh? This is Mencius' dog, right?"

Sister Xiao Zhao had even had meals with Mencius, and the two had added each other's contact info. Mencius also loved posting photos of her dog online, so it wasn't strange Sister Xiao Zhao recognized Chocolate.

"What about mine?" Miss Jing Tian was a little disappointed to hear the dogs weren't being given to them.

"Yours is Li Yitong's."

Hearing that name, Miss Jing Tian almost blurted out a "slutty-chick sister act."

She barely held it back.

Coincidentally, she also knew Li Yitong. That time Li Yitong went offline to crash Bai Liang and Li Xin's Bvlgari launch event, Miss Jing Tian had also gone to watch the fun.

As a result, Li Yitong actually managed to snag a brand-friend title~ which left a deep impression on Miss Jing Tian. Later she watched online the whole time as those two got caught and hammered by those two Xinjiang sisters' fans.

"Wow! So we actually have six guests today~ Peng Peng, go quickly find Little H and Little O, let them come out and greet the guests."

While He He He He Laoshi cheered for the dogs, he also sighed inwardly.

Bai Liang isn't dragging two along, he's clearly dragging three.

So he also wants to sneak in a mention of the unfinished "Joy of Life," right?

His appearance on this show is truly incredible value for money.

But no matter how much Bai Liang wants to promote, the "Longing" production team lets him do as he pleases, just going along with it.

Nowadays, although Bai Liang only has one "representative work" in the variety show field, that episode of "Divas Hit the Road 3" was truly explosive.

One could say it directly created the peak work of this type of show.

Now countless variety shows are waving around huge sums of money trying to invite Bai Liang.

Hmm. "Longing for Life" has also invited him; they're all Mango variety shows, and they're the most "desperate" for Bai Liang.

"Longing For" was already a hit show, and they still wanted to take it from hit to mega-hit!

Besides He He He He Laoshi and Teacher Huang, this season's show also has two young newcomers. Before recording started, if Bai Liang gave the word, those two would either keep just one of them, or both would be out the door.

Of course, Bai Liang's side definitely refused.

But Mango TV didn't really have any objections either, because although Bai Liang refused them, he also hadn't agreed to anyone else~

Moreover, because of their good relationship, plus Bai Liang had promotional needs, coming by as a flying guest when there was nothing going on was pretty pleasant too.

So Peng Yuchang, who knew the situation, was looking at Bai Liang right now with quite grateful eyes.

Thanks, big brother, for the grace of not coming! Big brother, have some tea!

This episode's Mushroom House has a very big courtyard, and in the courtyard there's a small pavilion.

Because it's a slow variety show, there really isn't anything urgent to do at the moment, so everyone just sat together in the pavilion, petting the dogs and drinking tea.

There are four dogs in total, and pretty much everyone gets to pet one — feels like you could pet them for a whole episode/period.

"He He He He Laoshi, you're as dashing as ever. Three years have passed and there's not the slightest change — it's like you don't age."

Hearing Bai Liang's offhand remark, He He He He Laoshi laughed quite happily. "How come you haven't changed at all either? You're a big star now — how are you still the same as before?"

Among those present, only He He He He Laoshi had known Bai Liang back when he hadn't yet become famous and had just debuted.

Even the earliest acquaintance among the others, Sister Xiao Zhao, had met him at a time when Bai Liang was already starting to get popular.

None of them had actually encountered him before he was famous.

Of course, whether they'd met him before or not wasn't important — He He He He Laoshi had already stamped his seal on it: not the slightest change.

"Really?" Bai Liang wasn't too sure about that. "Why does there have to be a big change?"

"They all say fame nurtures a person."

"My mom raised me pretty well since I was little — there's basically no room for improvement."

Whether fame nurtures a person or not, Bai Liang wasn't sure, but luck really does nurture a person — it's on a level who knows how many tiers above fame.

"Instant noodles with two eggs? Raised like that?" Teacher Huang laughed and picked up the thread.

"What instant noodles with two eggs?" Miss Jing Tian asked curiously.

He He He He Laoshi explained: "The dishes he ordered~ Said something about the taste of childhood. Never seen a guest with such low demands."

Xu Zheng silently held back his laughter — bullcrap about low demands. On the way here, Bai Liang had even made a bet with him.

The bet was whether Chef Huang would pour two jin of yellow wine into the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall today.

If he really did that, anyone with a low tolerance would be bubbling over on the spot~

"If all guests' demands were this low, that'd be great — I could enjoy the easy life." Chef Huang stretched lazily, seeming quite pleased about it.

"Then let's make it even easier — sis, cook me some noodles~" Bai Liang seized the chance to make an "excessive" request.

Miss Jing Tian: "Huh? I don't know how~"

"Who asked you?" Bai Liang pushed her face aside and looked toward Sister Xiao Zhao.

"Me? I'll make noodles for you?" Sister Xiao Zhao was stunned for a moment, then broke into a smile. "Sure."

(End of chapter)