Chapter 289: He's Got a Real Short Fuse Right Now

"Are you okay?"

"Don't move, let me lean on you for a bit—I almost passed out just now~"

The aftereffect of "Dying to Survive" hit pretty hard; Sister Xiao Zhao said she needed a moment to recover.

Still, she did contribute some pretty good clip material.

Xu Zheng even brought it over to show Bai Liang. Apart from a few gestures that were a bit too indecent and needed to be edited out, it felt genuinely heartfelt.

Of course, if you pulled out all the bits that needed editing on their own, it could probably pass for a saucy piece of gossip.

Speaking of which, movie theaters really are one of those places where certain things tend to happen. You see similar stuff all the time in all sorts of not-so-serious novels, anime, and films.

But if you actually tried that in real life, the security cameras in the theater would teach you a lesson.

In response, Xu Zheng and Wen Muye expressed their thanks to Sister Xiao Zhao—damn, she really played along!

As for how Bai Liang was doing, it actually didn't matter; he was just the "prop" Sister Xiao Zhao used to play along.

Though Xu Zheng did quietly give Bai Liang a thumbs-up: Bro, you're the man!

Bai Liang's face was full of question marks: he felt like this bald guy was up to something sneaky, but he didn't quite get what it meant.

After the movie, Xiao Shui also did a quick interview with Bai Liang.

The questions had little to do with the film; instead, she asked about how he'd been "named and shamed" earlier over the yin-yang contract issue.

That evening, a fun trending search popped up.

#Bai Liang: Need Legal Aid? #

It instantly turned the whole yin-yang contract incident around him into something absurdly funny.

"I'm dying—handing a yin-yang contract to a tough guy who passed the bar exam? He'd probably be able to tell you exactly which law you broke~"

"I just knew the Great Immortal wouldn't fall for that trick. No wonder he's been so relaxed lately, totally unaffected by this."

"This guy's already donated so much money. I really can't see him going along with that kind of corruption. If he wanted money, he could've just donated less, right?"

"Bai Liang only has one company under his name—his studio. He didn't run off to Khorgos to cancel any shell companies, so haters can save it. He can't even be bothered with you lot."

"Dou Xiao Cui liked it. Damn, does that count as a kind of 'endorsement'?"

"."

Building a persona~

Sister Yanzi happily set about doing marketing for Bai Liang, though deep down she was a little annoyed—why hasn't anyone come to audit his taxes yet?

She felt her own Little White Bro was a top-tier star, such a big "target," and yet nobody rushed over to audit him so she could push her marketing along more smoothly.

It just felt like he had no face value. What, isn't Little White Bro as big as Fan Bingbing?

Why did they audit her first?

*Slap! *

Sister Yanzi smacked her own head, hurrying to chase that fan-circle mindset out of her brain.

This was the aftermath of spending too long in the fandom world.

She was a little annoyed, but she'd soon be able to take it out on someone!

Tsk tsk, Li Yifeng~

Without a doubt, the start of "Dying to Survive"'s screening period directly blew up Li Yifeng's "Animal World."

The screening period box office exceeded 160 million, and Douban opened at 9.0—that result left the freshly released film completely dumbfounded.

It directly formed a significant suppression of "Animal World" in terms of word of mouth, buzz, and screening resources.

At the same time, because the attendance rate during the screening period reached as high as 25%–30%, far surpassing other films of the same period, theaters were forced to gradually cut "Animal World"'s screenings.

Friendly fire—maximum effect!

It made up for the regret Li Yifeng's fans had felt at the very beginning—namely, that Bai Liang's film hadn't been released alongside "Animal World."

In front was Bai Liang's phenomenal romance-genre film, behind was Xu Zheng's phenomenal realism-genre film. Sandwiched in the middle, "Animal World" had no chance unless it had foreseen this in advance and simply chosen to run—delaying its release—because no matter what, it was dead.

Between these two films there was only a fairly narrow release-window gap that could give other movies a little breathing room.

"How about it, bro? That's all? That's it? You call that trying to take on the Great Immortal? You don't have the chops, you know~"

"Remembering how Li Yifeng's fans were jumping up and down before is kind of funny now. His film's budget plus marketing was at least over 200 million, right? At this rate of box office, he probably can't even recoup the cost."

"When the tide goes out, you see who's been swimming naked. They really thought just because the Great Immortal rose, every young star could carry a box office?"

"The Great Immortal's gold content is still rising—this guy really hasn't flopped once! Speaking of which, the TV drama 'The Story of Minglan' that just started airing seems to have pretty high ratings too!"

"'The Story of Minglan' opened at a 1.5 rating, with good word of mouth and high scores. Clearly another hit drama. The genre's pretty interesting too—a household intrigue drama."

"The Great Immortal went in a bit heavy-handed. This basically snapped Li Yifeng's transformation path in half. Bro, go act in a couple more years of idol dramas—that's your real lane."

"Last year his 'Criminal Minds' actually ran into 'Wolf Warrior 2' too. How is this guy so damn unlucky~"

"None of these top-tier stars can fight! Oh no—the Great Immortal's running an invincible-protagonist script!"

"Not invincible-protagonist—don't forget that 'Sword and Fairy 5'."

"Haha, Bai Liang's only 'blemish' is that Zhadi drama. Oh no, Reba's fans have found a good angle now! They're about to start flaming each other again."

"."

Li Yifeng: his own failure was painful enough, but Bai Liang's success made his whole body ache.

What kind of monster is this.

Originally he'd been relieved that he hadn't released alongside Bai Liang's "How Long Will I Love U"—otherwise he'd almost certainly have been ground into the dirt.

When you lose a head-on fight, there's really no excuse to be made.

Of course, it's not like there's no way at all.

Just like how an angler who can't catch a fish can blame the water temperature, the environment, the weather—anything but his own skill.

When it comes to making excuses, the fandom world is a pro.

Why, they've already started going off about "Dying to Survive"'s large-scale screening period.

You call this a test screening? Just release it early already!

The Medicine God side: Huh? That's a great idea!

So, after four days of test screenings, they directly announced the film's early release.

This time, "The Animal World" was squeezed to its absolute limit—squeeze it any more and it'd roll right out of theaters.

Unfortunately, the so-called "female lead," Zhou Dongyu, had too little screen time to even serve as a scapegoat; from any angle, this film's box office was carried entirely by Li Yifeng himself.

So fans could only keep blaming the director, the screenwriter—even the original source material.

Fortunately, Li Yifeng himself felt: I'm actually fine.

Anyway, I've already been crushed flat—no point worrying about what position I fell in.

But seeing Bai Liang and Zhao Liying's "Zhi Zhu" gearing up to be another hit, it really made him crack.

Fuck, is this never-ending?!

He was furious right now!

So he picked up the phone: "Get me one."

People have many ways to soothe themselves; rescuing small animals is a very good one, often bringing inner peace afterward.

Commonly known as the sage moment.

"But we're in a hotel—this is risky. What if Animal Protection shows up?"

"Then get one for yourself."

"Huh? Really?!"

"Then I'll come to your room."

"... Fine~"

——

"Hey, this news is kind of interesting: hotel vice raid, a guy ran down the hallway wrapped in a towel and they didn't catch him~ What a pity!"

"Why are you so disappointed?" Xiao Zhao Jiejie chuckled.

"Look at that ass—it's pretty white. Doesn't it look like Li Yifeng's?" "I've never seen his, how would I know? It really is white. Are you as white as him?"

Though he didn't understand why Xiao Zhao Jiejie suddenly wanted to know if his ass was white, Bai Liang couldn't just take it off to show her.

That wouldn't be appropriate.

Oh right, the reason Bai Liang saw that news was because the one finally caught and fined was a film industry worker.

It was basically something that happened within the circle.

But it only briefly surfaced on trending lists and didn't spark any real uproar.

After attending the test screening of "I Am Not a Pharmacist," Bai Liang and Xiao Zhao Jiejie reunited with Zhu Yilong and appeared together on two variety shows.

"Zhi Zhu" premiered exclusively on Mango TV's Golden Eagle Drama Theater, but also launched simultaneously on iQiyi, Tencent Video, and Youku.

So besides promoting on Mango TV's variety shows, they also had to cover the online platforms' original variety programs.

The reason Zhu Yilong was in the promotional team wasn't because he played the second male lead.

If he were just the second male lead, there'd be absolutely no need.

No single word, no single line, no single content is wrong in one look!

Bai Liang and Xiao Zhao Jiejie alone could fill the topic and traffic; only a top streamer could join them and add luster.

The entertainment industry's new top streamer: Zhu Yilong!

Not long ago, a drama called "Zhen Hun" aired.

This drama broke Youku's membership growth records, adding over a million new users in a single day, hailed as "Zhen Hun saved Youku."

A flood of fans called themselves "Zhen Hun Girls," spontaneously forming a "water army" of promoters, spreading the drama's popularity through memes, jokes, and danmu culture—drawing in massive audiences outside the fandom, even attracting many non-lesbian viewers.

This is the power of dan-gai dramas!

It directly propelled Zhu Yilong to the status of new top streamer.

You could say "Zhen Hun" was the "pioneering work" of dan-gai 101.

Huang Jingyu's "Shang Yin" doesn't count—that wasn't dan-gai; it was outright danmei, two men hugging, rolling in bed, kissing—what's that called dan-gai?

Dan-gai can "survive"; danmei gets outright banned and told goodbye.

To this day, if you want to watch "Shang Yin," you can only find pirated resources online.

Hehe, top streamer is good!

If he weren't a top streamer, Bai Liang really wouldn't want to "bully" him.

So after Zhu Yilong joined them, he immediately started charging "friend fees."

He made him buy two bubble teas.

Unfortunately, Zhu Yilong wasn't as fun as Yang Yang's Prince Duan—this guy was actually quite reserved, and he seemed to be nearly thirty.

He felt like a contestant on the top streamer track who had just become popular and already needed to plan a transition.

The top streamer gravy train wouldn't last long.

The other top streamer who emerged this year, A Kun, was only twenty—*he* was the real fit for this track.

"Hey, now that you're a top streamer, have you gotten an invitation for a basketball variety show? I remember you're pretty good at basketball."

"Basketball variety show? No." Zhu Yilong replied plainly.

He'd only just become popular; besides a surge of fans, he mostly got commercial offers and endorsements.

And all kinds of haters.

He debuted in 2009 and had been acting for so long—he'd never been dug up like this before.

A bunch of people rushed to dig into his romantic history; lately it had gotten even crazier, with rumors claiming he was secretly married and had children, followed by a string of dubious birth certificates and wild speculation about his grandfather being a morganatic husband.

Perhaps, this is the price of fame.

Bai Liang: "Do you need legal aid?"

Zhu Yilong's eyes lit up: "Huh? Right! You're a top student, an academic ace."

He really did need a bit of experience from a "top-stream senior" right now—after all, having just become top-stream himself, he was somewhat at a loss.

And although the Bai Liang before him was younger and had debuted later, when it came to how long he'd been popular, he really had been around longer than Zhu Yilong.

At the same time, Zhu Yilong had also heard that Bai Liang seemed to be the top-stream celebrity with the fewest anti-fans; his anti-fans had never been able to stir up much trouble.

So he really wanted to learn some useful methods from him!

Zhu Yilong wore a perfectly sincere expression, eyes wide open, wishing he could pull out a little stool and grab a notebook.

Then Bai Liang recommended a law firm to him, and told him that the lawyers at this firm were extremely professional at suing anti-fans, and ruthless when they struck!

"Have you used them?"

"Haven't had the chance yet. This law firm was opened by my older cousin. When she was little, she bullied people pretty ruthlessly too—anyone who dared say bad things about me, she'd just throw a punch at them. You'd have to admit that's a perfect match, right~"

Zhu Yilong:

"Thank you."

He thought it over for a moment and felt what Bai Liang said actually made quite a bit of sense.

People who said bad things when you were little—weren't those just anti-fans? Felt like pretty much the same nature.

Truly a perfect match.

These two had such weird vibes—Sister Xiao Zhao muttered to herself inwardly.

No need to say much about Bai Liang—he'd always been a bit "off," sometimes adorably clueless, sometimes wildly unpredictable, unlike most stars in the entertainment circle.

Zhu Yilong, on the other hand, was a taciturn guy, the type you couldn't pry a single word out of no matter how hard you tried.

Everyone only got familiar because they'd filmed a drama together, which was why chatting could flow so smoothly.

Without that experience, if Bai Liang had just struck up a conversation with him, his answers would probably have been far more curt.

"That basketball variety show you mentioned just now?"

At this point Zhu Yilong actually took the initiative to ask a question—how rare!

"A variety show called something like Slam Dunk, seems like they also invited Zhou Jielun, Li Yifeng and them. Earlier they wanted me to be a regular, but later it was probably set—they wanted me to be a one-episode flying guest. The producer bragged to me, saying they wanted to get a few top-streamers on the same stage to compete in basketball, so I thought of you."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Zhu Yilong nodded. He really did quite enjoy playing basketball, and had played with Bai Liang on set before—gotten crushed by him.

"Hold on, top-streamers playing basketball?" Sister Xiao Zhao couldn't help but interject. "Are the show's producers that bold?"

"I told them already—add those two from the show, fill out two full teams and just start playing. No idea how the talks with Wu Moufan are going."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yilong had already started shrinking back.

Just listening to it sounded a bit scary.

Four top-streamers, and they want to gather three?

Luckily the other one, Lu Han, seems to play soccer—otherwise it felt like even he could be counted in~

Heard that this year another newly-minted top-streamer, A Kun, also seems to have some connection to basketball. Can this show really gather all these people together?

Sister Xiao Zhao:... Here it comes, this guy's boring, mischievous streak.

From her understanding of Bai Liang, this guy absolutely just slapped his brain and came up with this idea, then casually mentioned it to people.

Of course, if that show really dared to do it that way, Bai Liang would definitely go.

It all depended on whether the show had the guts and the budget!

A bunch of top-streamers getting together to play basketball, and these people were each other's rivals. Setting aside their actual skills, what if during the game a wrench tucked in their waist accidentally fell out.

As an actor, carrying a few props on you—perfectly reasonable, right~

But honestly, setting aside all that messy stuff, from the audience's perspective, Sister Xiao Zhao felt that even she, someone who didn't understand basketball, would really love to see that scene.

Not wrenches falling out, but top-streamers teaming up to play basketball.

She just felt that Bai Liang's "enemies" seemed to be a bit too many—better not go over there and get "gang-beaten," okay?

Of course, the premise was that the show could actually get these top-streamers together.

—

Third watch, thirteen thousand words, begging for monthly tickets, muah!

(End of chapter)