Chapter 273: Three Folds—No Matter How You Fold It, She's There

Regarding the matter of voice dubbing for an animated film, after Bai Liang learned that his mother had agreed to it without hesitation, naturally he had no reason not to accompany her.

It had nothing to do with the thing being "Nezha"—if his mom was interested, even if they asked him to dub Pleasant Goat, he'd still have to go.

But the dubbing matter wasn't urgent for now—at least it didn't need to be tackled immediately.

The top priority was to play mahjong first. Oh wait, no—to hurry up and film "Joy of Life" first.

Because Bai Liang still needed to take leave later; when "How Long Will I Love U" hit theaters, he'd inevitably have to do some road-show promotions.

At the same time, capitalizing on the buzz after that episode of "Longing for Life," Xu Zheng also had Su Lun strike while the iron was hot and release the behind-the-scenes footage of Miss Jing Tian "sticking out her tongue like a venomous snake."

Even when Bai Liang himself went back to rewatch that segment, he had to admit—the young lady really kissed with total immersion!

And the footage of her voluntarily sticking out her tongue, then being kissed until her legs went weak and she sat down on the ground—watching it made anyone's heart race.

There was one rather blunt comment online, but it got a lot of likes: "She's definitely wet."

That topic was a bit too adult-oriented; the person involved obviously couldn't respond to it.

And as for what actually happened back then, Miss Jing Tian said she'd already forgotten; in any case, rewatching it now gave her quite a strong reaction.

Especially when she lay in bed at night secretly savoring it.

Likewise, regarding this question, Bai Liang couldn't answer either—he hadn't reached out to check at the time, how impolite would that be.

"Just tell me, I definitely won't get mad."

"Meng Jie, that line of yours reeks of trap—any normal person wouldn't fall for it~"

Bai Liang blinked, thinking to himself that Meng Jie actually knew how to set traps now?

But she didn't actually mean it that way. After snuggling in Bai Liang's arms for a while, she suddenly muttered: "She's a top-tier actress, I really can't compare, that's all."

Huh? She's feeling inferior now?

Bai Liang quickly fired up his super brain—what words should he use to comfort this Miss at a time like this?

Think, brain, think!

Two seconds later, his super brain produced what seemed like a very reasonable answer.

"A top-tier actress—you are one too~"

Meng Jie naturally frowned at those words, then suddenly recalled some of the dirty talk between them in bed.

Her face turned bright red; she reached out and pinched Bai Liang, "If you bring up that 'top-tier sky actress' thing again, I won't call Tongtong over."

Bai Liang:???

Hold on!

Everything else doesn't matter—that last sentence is very important.

"Call who over?"

Meng Jie suddenly froze, "Huh? Who?"

The two locked eyes, as if some supernatural phenomenon had just occurred, causing one person to hallucinate, or the other to lose their memory.

When in doubt, turn her into a big frog~

But Meng Jie's mouth was really tough—no matter how he "interrogated" her, she played dumb, and even dared to turn the tables and question Bai Liang: What naughty things are you thinking about? Not allowed!

Bai Liang:???

So, during the few days he was away, what ruthless tricks had these Misses prepared for him?

When he comes back tomorrow, there won't be an evil little kitty appearing in this room, will there?

Cherishing such wonderful anticipation, Bai Liang quickly drifted off to sleep.

But when he was sleeping in a daze, he seemed to hear the sound of a door opening—probably Meng Jie getting up to use the bathroom.

After she came back, Bai Liang felt a warm, smooth body press into his arms, though her little feet were a bit chilly.

Out of habit, he lowered his head and kissed her, then reached out and held her tight.

He even pressed her feet against his own legs, wanting to warm them up for her—all purely instinctive actions; Bai Liang hadn't woken up at all.

"Even when you're asleep, you're a central air-conditioner."

After a soft teasing remark, the "Meng Jie" who had come back from the bathroom seemed to be in the mood again. Affectionately tilting her head up, she nestled against Bai Liang's neck, kissing from his chin all the way down to his collarbone, leaving a trail.

A bit ticklish, a bit chilly.

Just like that, Bai Liang gradually loosened his grip on her, allowing her to take things further.

The late spring chill seemed to have passed completely; early summer was about to arrive.

When the first ray of morning sunlight filtered through the gap in the curtains and spilled into the room, Bai Liang's biological clock woke him right on time.

Normally at this time he should be going out for a run to exercise.

But today, after opening his eyes and taking a look at the situation, he chose to obediently close them again.

Sleep a little longer~

After more than an hour had passed, Bai Liang, lying there with his eyes shut, bored enough to roll his eyeballs around, finally heard some rustling sounds.

A few minutes later, once the sounds had completely faded, he opened his eyes again.

"Meng Jie, morning~"

A perfectly ordinary greeting, yet it startled Meng Jie, who had been trying to sneak back under the covers.

"You're awake~"

"Where are you going?"

"T-to the bathroom."

Bai Liang sat up, pulled back the covers and took a look at the sheets inside, indicating that this thing would probably have to be changed.

After all, he was a top-tier idol~

When he's at his peak, he keeps flowing.

Let alone it was double the amount.

In response, Meng Jie stated that without any witnesses or physical evidence, she wouldn't confess a single word!

The result was that Bai Liang didn't ask at all — he wasn't stupid.

Some things can only be done, not spoken of; saying them outright would only ruin them.

If you insist on showing off just to gain a petty verbal advantage, there will always be a place where you end up paying for it.

What if next time they stop doing it that way? That would be no fun at all.

Only it was a pity that Li Xin had nearly finished off her champagne over there without figuring anything out.

As for Jin Cheng telling a ghost story — during the few days Bai Liang was out running publicity, Jin Cheng's measly few scenes actually got filmed, and she wrapped and got lost.

Her part was too small; there was no way to linger.

And compared to staying behind in the crew to sleep with men, Jin Cheng really did need to seize this window while Cai Yi still had no interest in targeting her.

Otherwise, once Old Cai came to her senses and wanted to deal with her again, but she'd wasted all her time on playing around — she'd regret it and it would be too late.

Obviously, Jin Cheng was still quite clear-headed; she was no lovesick fool.

Otherwise, how could she have become Tang Ren's traitor?

But before leaving, she didn't forget to give Bai Liang a call and run her mouth again, saying something like "Next time we meet, I'll come with Li Yitong."

Pure, empty bragging — not a shred of sincerity.

Still, it did give Li Yitong a new label: the triple-fold — no matter how you fold it, she's in it.

Bai Liang expressed his heartfelt admiration for this: this young lady really does know how to handle her connections!

Li Yitong: I suspect they don't like you — they probably like me.

In the few days back at the crew, besides bonding with the young ladies, Bai Liang naturally also did his best to satisfy Chen Daoming's wish to "get wrecked."

Then the other party indiscriminately vented his anger on the entire crew.

That Emperor of Qing really did play it with overwhelming pressure.

Who could have guessed that behind that unreadable emperor's face, he was actually reviewing last night's mahjong game? Let alone beating Bai Liang — he was now repeatedly getting the short end of the stick even against Meng Jie.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Someone, turn Mei Zhili into a bandit ambush victim!

Damn it, what the hell.

—

One of the climactic scenes in *Joy of Life* naturally includes the famous moment of Fan Xian composing a hundred poems after drinking in the great hall.

This thing is basically the well-known "literary plagiarism" flex from web novels.

It's practically a must-have cheat for every transmigrator.

Bai Liang rubbed his chin: seems like I never opened that one.

Of course, perhaps that's because he never closed it either.

But because of that, Bai Liang had never actually pulled off that "literary plagiarism" flex, and while acting he couldn't quite find the feeling for a moment.

He simply thought it over later — forget about the literary plagiarism thing, bro, just pretend he's playing Li Bai or Cao Zhi.

Once his mindset shifted, it immediately flowed smoothly and naturally.

Oh right, thanks to Arthur's old man.

Not a single error, every chapter, every release, all content, all here!

Bai Liang actually referenced the film *Legend of the Demon Cat*.

Mainly because the Li Bai in that film was very interesting.

Both a golden silhouette of High Tang splendor, and a silver needle that punctured the bubble of that golden age.

As he staggered out of the palace, behind him were the illusory fireworks of the Feast of Ultimate Bliss, ahead the bloody storm of the An Lushan Rebellion.

Sober amid the drunkenness, lonely amid the revelry.

Without a doubt, this state could absolutely be used to describe Fan Xian in *Joy of Life*.

Once that sense of loneliness was established, it greatly helped shape the character's image and soul.

However, this was the hardest part — but for Bai Liang, it was also the easiest.

This scene made Xin Zhilei, who had just joined the crew, quite amazed. Whoa, this young man...

Then she couldn't help herself, and during a phone call that night, she mentioned it to her boyfriend, saying:

"Young actors these days are fierce! You need to work hard too~"

Originally, Xin Zhilei only wanted to use Bai Liang as an example, to keep her boyfriend — who had been getting a bit full of himself lately — grounded, so the two of them could work hard together for the future.

Thanks to last year's *Advisors Alliance* and *Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon*, plus the variety show *The Birth of an Actor*, her boyfriend had gained quite a bit of attention.

One could say his career had finally taken a very nice turn, reaching the peak of his life.

But because of that, the other party had also become a bit arrogant, thinking himself a true talent, looking down on this and that.

Well, Xin Zhilei's words made her boyfriend a bit unhappy — what man can stand hearing his girlfriend say another man is fierce?

Oh, talking about acting skills~

That won't fly either!

"Wait until I'm taking photos in my doctoral graduation gown, I'll trend on the hot search, and then I'll show everyone who's the best~"

Xin Zhilei:

No, the entertainment circle isn't a place that runs on academic credentials.

That Director Bi who made *Dream Plug* is also a PhD in Film and TV from Peking University — did that stop people from dragging him out for a whipping every now and then?

Still, the academic genius persona really is pretty good — very positive, and it does attract fans.

Didn't Bai Liang market that same thing? The effect was quite outstanding.

So many college students ran to his Weibo to pray and give thanks — it really did have a lot of energy.

It set a good example for plenty of people in the entertainment circle; now quite a few are mulling over building an academic genius persona or something.

But this act is far harder to pull off than personas like the "true to herself" type, the "tomboy," or the "foodie."

If you want to fake being an academic elite, but don't have the real substance in you, the odds of a spectacular crash are way too high.

Forget academic elites—even the broader "cultured" persona has people crashing and burning.

Just last year, a certain "old cadre" style actor, in an interview with a magazine, mentioned that to prepare for a role he would read "little articles by Nobel Prize winners in mathematics," and claimed this content helped him understand the character.

Instant crash landing. Mainstream media all ran pieces criticizing the entertainment circle's "fake culture" phenomenon, stressing that public figures should watch their words and conduct.

Still, Xin Zhilei was quite confident in her boyfriend. Although the two hadn't been together for even a year yet, he had already been working on his PhD when they first got together.

The academic-elite persona—he can hold it up!

"You'll be getting your doctorate this year, right~ Amazing!"

"Not bad, I still have to do a postdoc at Peking University after that, that's even more impressive~"

"Then I feel like you and Bai Liang might really hit it off. Didn't he just say on a show that he's going to take the Peking University exam? When the time comes, you'll be his senior."

"Let's talk after he actually gets in. Is Peking University that easy to get into?"

Dr. Zhai expressed disdain. Dr. Zhai warmly called out "junior."

These two events were separated by no more than three days.

Because Zhai Tianlin had come to the "Joy of Life" set to visit, of course he was here to visit his girlfriend Xin Zhilei.

But when Xin Zhilei finished her makeup test and came out to find him, she discovered this guy smiling ear to ear, making small talk with Bai Liang, calling him "junior" over and over, all chummy as hell.

"I haven't even taken the exam yet."

"I haven't gotten my acceptance letter either. You're definitely going to get in. The moment I saw you, junior, I knew we were the same kind of people. See you at Peking University!"

The same kind of people?

Bai Liang scratched his head oddly. Uh, this big brother, you sure about that?

But the guy was still pretty fired up at the moment, so Bai Liang didn't really want to rain on his parade.

Next year would be the first year of Tianlin. He could still be happy for at least half a year or so.

Xin Zhilei saw this scene and for some reason felt like laughing. Hey, why are you so different from how you are on the phone? Two faces?

Of course, during the honeymoon phase, everything about your partner looks like a plus.

That's not called having two faces, being two-faced—that's called knowing when to advance and when to retreat, understanding the gains and losses, knowing how the world works.

Love is blind, after all.

"Chatting~"

"You're here. I'm just sharing some tips with my junior here. We'll all be Peking University alumni soon. How many Peking University grads are there in the entertainment circle?" Dr. Zhai said with a beaming smile.

Xin Zhilei shot him a look. Keep pretending~

But looking at the gentle, handsome Bai Liang, she couldn't help adding: "Don't take it to heart. He just likes to show off."

"Who's showing off? Come on, let's take a photo together. I'll wish you success on Weibo first, and help promote your movie on the side. It's coming out soon, right~"

Hey~ Dr. Zhai is pretty thoughtful.

However, after the photo was posted by him, Bai Liang felt that when the CNKI incident comes, he probably "won't be able to escape involvement" either.

Netizens have way too good a memory!

Luckily his undergraduate thesis could still be found, and it really was written by him, so he wasn't worried.

Besides, he really was planning to take the exam properly, and had to score high too—otherwise how would he write the strategy guide?

When the time comes, that photo... might very well turn into Li Kui and Li Gui! —

Third watch, asking for monthly tickets, muah.

(End of chapter)