Chapter 308

"Hello everyone, my name is Meng Zi Yi."

On the set of "Chinese Captain," Meng Zi Yi smiled warmly and greeted everyone politely, playing the role of a sweet, well-behaved newcomer.

After greeting everyone, she naturally drifted over to stick close to Li Xin.

Acquaintance, after all~

Although during the "The Longest Day in Chang'an" set she wasn't the closest to Li Xin—Li Xin was closest to Li Yitong—Meng Jie was always skilled at socializing, so her relationship with Li Xin wasn't bad either.

Even if they weren't best friends, they were still friends.

But this time, Meng Jie's role was even smaller than Si Si Lili's to Lin Wan'er.

Li Xin was a bona fide lead actress in the film; although her screen time was less than Yuan Quan and Zhang Tian'ai, she still had a named character with a proper introduction.

As for Meng Jie's role, she didn't even have a name—she was simply called "Female Passenger in Business Class."

Even without a name, her presence was still noticeable.

Du Jiang, who played the second pilot, had a scene with her where he flirted with her on the plane.

She was basically the eye candy among the passengers—a beautiful background prop.

But today, when Li Xin saw Meng Jie, her expression turned slightly odd.

Cough, cough, yesterday they'd all collectively complained about Meng Jie in a group chat—mainly about her "hitchhiking on trends."

Called complaining, but really it was envy.

Envy of this little unknown's courage at times.

She really had guts!

Sure, Meng Jie got some traffic, but she also took plenty of flak.

Ultimately, it was because she was a little unknown.

The entertainment industry is like that—even if you want to "uphold justice," sometimes you still need to check whether you're qualified enough.

But right now, Li Xin didn't notice anything off about Meng Jie—she was full of emotion, optimistic, cheerful, radiating pure positive energy.

That pair of big eyes, though—no matter how you looked at them, they seemed to be flirting~

This made Li Xin smile and tease, "You've really become famous these past few days~"

"Oh no, my boss scolded me already, Li Xin, don't bring this up again!" Meng Jie seemed a bit embarrassed, glancing around, then noticed Zhang Tian'ai watching her with clear interest.

Meng Jie naturally smiled back at her.

"You're calling her 'Li Xin' now? You should call her 'Sister'!" Li Xin lightly tapped Meng Jie.

"It just sounds friendlier, and haven't you seen that episode where Fan Fan Bingbing and Zhang Zhang Ziyi were together? That was terrifying—I'm too scared to call you 'Sister,' what if you think I'm secretly mocking your age?"

Li Xin was defeated, giving her a thumbs-up. "You're really thoughtful."

Come to think of it, Meng Jie had a point—who says she's dumb? She's clearly smart!

Li Xin couldn't help sneaking a glance at Zhang Tian'ai.

Before joining the set, she'd looked up the other's profile—it originally said born in 1990, meaning the other was one month younger.

But after joining the set, Li Xin was stunned.

The other's birth year had suddenly changed to 1992. Huh?!

Now she was two years younger than her?

Wait, does this trick even work?

Honestly, Li Xin was a little tempted—but she debuted too early, and her resume was too well-documented.

She'd been watched growing up by audiences, so she couldn't pull off something like that.

Otherwise, who wouldn't want to stay in their twenties forever?

As thirty loomed closer, every female star felt the pressure.

Once a female artist reached a certain age—especially after thirty-five—the roles suitable for her became fewer and fewer.

Put bluntly, why do Yang Mi and others still market their "girl-next-door" vibe after having children?

Because many dramas still cast girls as the female leads.

If one day every film and TV project suddenly switched to middle-aged women, everyone would start marketing "mature woman" vibes instead.

Probably even girls under twenty would claim they had a "mature woman's charm."

All for the resources!

And yet Zhang Tian'ai just changed her age fast enough to never face the "midlife crisis" of a female star, right?

Sometimes you couldn't tell whether her trick was just thick-skinned, or whether those who forced a "girl-next-door" image were even thicker-skinned.

Now that Meng Jie, a '95, had shown up, Zhang Tian'ai better not suddenly become a '95 too—that'd be ridiculous.

So here's the question: how do you address someone whose age keeps changing after you get familiar?

Li Xin: Obviously, call her "Xiao Ai."

Calling her "Sister" might just trigger conflict.

In a way, it's no different from slapping her face.

That's why Meng Jie has great wisdom—unless someone's clearly much older, she always uses an intimate form of address.

Of course, only after getting slightly familiar.

Before that, calling them "Teacher" is a good choice.

"Oh no, don't call me that, Xiao Meng. Just call me Xiao Ai like Li Xin does—we're the same generation," Zhang Tian'ai laughed.

"Same generation? No way—I call her Meng Jie," Li Xin bit back a laugh.

"Huh?!" Zhang Tian'ai froze. "How old is she?"

"I'm twenty-three by lunar age," Meng Jie answered quickly.

"... Then your seniority's pretty high."

Zhang Tian'ai held back for two seconds, realizing she could only rely on seniority—otherwise, Li Xin kept calling Meng Jie "Sister Meng," leaving her thoroughly confused.

Hmm. It probably has nothing to do with seniority.

When Li Xin first met Meng Jie, Li Yitong and the others all called her that.

She didn't know why they called her that back then, but she just followed along.

Of course, back when they played mahjong on the set of "Qing Yu Nian," even Chen Daoming called her "Sister Meng."

My Sister Meng is so prestigious!

Her seniority is simply too high.

She's only slightly below that chess master next door, but the Master of War is still painfully grinding away at his board, not yet embarked on her abstract path.

So for now, on this track, Sister Meng holds the top spot.

Whoever comes must call her "Sister!"

Her standing in the jianghu is plain to see.

"Oh come on, I can't hold back—who was the first to call you that?"

Li Xin covered her mouth and laughed, then asked curiously.

Hearing this, Meng Jie felt a little embarrassed, her cheeks flushing, yet her delivery remained steady:

"Dou Xiao Bai."

Zhang Tian'ai didn't react right away, asking casually: "Who's Dou Xiao Bai?"

She genuinely couldn't connect Dou Xiao Bai with the Bai Liang she knew.

He's a top-tier star, a hundred-billion-box-office Mr., and in front of him, several girls were all minor nobodies.

How could such a reversal of cosmic order make her think of him?

"Dou Xiao Bai? It's just Dou Xiao Bai~" Meng Jie still remembered how, when she'd asked Bai Liang why he called her that, he'd left her utterly flustered, making her feel deeply embarrassed.

May we bestow upon His Imperial Majesty of the Great Tang the noble title: Tiankehan!

Correct—Meng Jie's case is the same. Understand the honorific.

Yet after her embarrassment, she happily accepted this "honorific."

Watching Meng Jie sway her head proudly, Li Xin decided not to tell her yet that Bai Liang would be making a guest appearance in a few days.

She was genuinely curious to see whether Meng Zǐyì would blurt out "Dou Xiao Bai" then.

Gossiping from behind is nowhere near as fun as hitting them square in the face~—

The tax scandal's impact is still ongoing.

Fan Fan Bingbing and Bai Liang have become two utterly distinct "archetypes" right now.

After the shockwave, the film and television industry is about to enter a period of "retreat."

Many are busy auditing themselves now; before mid-next year, they'll likely have to sell off assets to pay the owed taxes.

!

This portion of money is far greater than Fan Fan Bingbing's fine.

Sister Yanzi's marketing strategy can be said to have succeeded fully, but the resulting "consequence" is a flood of New Year's Eve gala invitations, countless ceremony invites, plus numerous interviews and program offers from central government outlets.

This left Bai Liang stunned—how did a little marketing turn into so much work?

Sister Yanzi: I was aiming for these mainstream resources all along, Brother Bai! I wanted exactly this wholesome, upright comrade vibe!

Bai Liang: I still prefer the CMG Spring Festival Gala~ The Spring Festival Gala allows lip-syncing.

And now, Hunan TV's New Year's Eve invitation actually wants him to sing live.

The outside world still misunderstands Bai Liang slightly, assuming he takes everything seriously and excels at everything.

He certainly isn't the type who'd lip-sync.

True experts are always proud!

They said solo or duet is fine—no matter which female guest he pairs with, Hunan TV will book them for him.

Like Miss Jing Tian, Na Zha, Little Zhao Sister, and so on.

Pick whichever you like.

They'll even prepare his hotel and candlelit dinner for New Year's Eve, and lay out a whole pack of condoms.

Very sincere, right?

Bai Liang: If you insist on live singing, just call Sister Meng for me~

Adding some trouble on New Year's Eve wouldn't be bad.

And Hunan TV actually contacted Kaiyue Entertainment and reached out to Jia Shikai.

They said that although Meng Zǐyì's status is a bit lower, as long as Bai Liang likes it—

Jia Shikai:???

Bai Liang is messing with you!

Can Meng Zǐyì's "Jade Voice Broadcast" really be staged on New Year's Eve? That thing would get him lynched—

Clearly, Jia Shikai still hadn't grasped Meng Zǐyì's true marketing path—he was still fixated on the perfect persona.

He thought Meng Zǐyì's singing was so terrible that if he sang live on stage, he'd be so badly criticized he might not even survive the next Spring Festival.

If he actually went on stage, he'd be forced to quit the entertainment industry on the spot!

Not everyone can be Yang Chaoyue—poor skills but still wildly popular with the masses. Wait a minute~

Jia Shikai felt he'd just grasped a spark of inspiration.

Fleeting.

He caught it—but couldn't fully hold onto it.

Then Song Qian jumped out: "Boss, me! It's me!"

"Huh?"

"I'm going to Mango TV's New Year's Eve concert this year, so get Bai Liang to come with me."

"You sure do dream big."

Jia Shikai thought to himself, your boss is that awesome? He can boss around someone like Bai Liang?

Still, Song Qian really is proactive enough — every time Mencius shows a little sweetness, she wants to be there to catch it. Of course, she's the well-meaning catch — not trying to steal the deal.

For example, last time it was because Mencius had another drama, so she figured if Mencius couldn't take it, don't let someone else get the bargain.

Same deal this time — they're all from the same company, how could she not know what that little girl Mencius sounds like when she sings?

In that case, better to let her get the bargain than a stranger~

"Song Qian, face reality for a second."

"Huh, am I not worthy?" Song Qian said, a bit unconvinced.

"It's your boss who's not worthy — is this something I get to decide?"

Song Qian's expression suddenly turned strange, and she looked at Jia Shikai as if she wanted to say something but held back.

Mm. A bit of disdain.

How are you so useless?

Jia Shikai:

Luckily, there's still some time before the New Year's Eve gala — after all, this thing isn't the Spring Festival Gala, there aren't that many rehearsals, and it's pretty last-minute.

He still had enough time to sit down with Bai Liang and Mango TV and hash things out properly.

Still, Jia Shikai couldn't help but sigh — Bai Liang really is good to that little nobody Mencius, he thinks of her for everything.

It's just that this lord is being a bit reckless — never mind whether it's appropriate, he just shoves it down Mencius's throat?

Never mind whether she can swallow it.

Meng Jie: At first I really couldn't swallow it, but after a while you get used to it and it's fine.

Not everything that comes out of a man's mouth is a lie — what Bai Liang told her before, "once you get used to it, it won't hurt," turned out to be true~

These matters didn't affect Bai Liang's filming work on set.

The filming of "The Longest Day in Chang'an" is still mainly centered around Bai Liang.

Concentrate his scenes, try to shoot them as early as possible.

No choice — the schedule given is only so much, and the producers don't really want to provoke Sister Yanzi. Even Guo Fan, that cyber succubus, can't handle Sister Yanzi now — no one can control her.

So the schedule is what it is — one more day, and Sister Yanzi would dare demand more money.

Of course, Bai Liang's mid-shoot leave requests aren't included — strictly by contract, it's not like he's throwing his weight around.

For the "The Longest Day in Chang'an" crew, the past few days really had their emotions going up and down like a rollercoaster.

Luckily Sister Yanzi thought things through pretty thoroughly, otherwise the crew might have shut down entirely over Bai Liang's "tax issue."

For an artist of Bai Liang's caliber, if anything happens to him, the projects and various stakeholders affected are really too many.

At this point Guo Fan, who was about to dry up into a human stick, could probably cry out loud.

How many film and TV projects is Fan Fan Bingbing unable to appear in?

If anything happens to Bai Liang, the projects directly affected — just the costs alone — might add up to over two billion!

The total interests involved definitely exceed ten billion, or even more.

The indirect impact — now that would be exaggerated.

It might even drag down several film and TV companies.

Take that unlucky "Win the World" — right after New Year this year it took that hit from Gao Yunxiang, already miserable enough.

Mid-year it caught Fan Fan Bingbing's mess too.

This thing basically has no hope of ever meeting the audience — an investment of several hundred million.

To put it bluntly, if Bai Liang really had a problem, burning the account books wouldn't have to wait for Sister Yanzi — plenty of people would be willing to do it for her.

Otherwise people would end up on the rooftop.

"Hey, what are you thinking about squatting up on the roof?"

On set, Bai Liang, squatting on the rooftop, was mulling over how many people would be standing somewhere even higher than this if something really happened to him.

Suddenly he heard someone calling him from below.

He glanced at Unlike Ni Ni. "Cool?"

Unlike Ni Ni:???

Whatever she was thinking, ten or so minutes later the director had arranged it for Bai Liang.

All you Bad People, get up on the roof and strike a pose with your Bad Marshal!

(End of chapter)