Chapter 319: Then You're in for Some Real Suffering!

Regarding an actor's so-called "signature song," aside from a small portion who actually sing quite well, a considerable number of people tend to have some connection to ghost videos.

For example, Huang Xiaoming's "Nai Tai Tao," Guan Xiaotong's "Ni xx," and Chen Xuedong's "Harry Potter flying on a broomstick."

Oh right, there's also a super heavyweight contender.

Ah Kun.

He's actually a singer... right?

That song "Ji Ni Tai Mei" is so maddeningly catchy that, in a certain sense, it's far more powerful than all the ones above combined.

Being able to make the entire Simplified Chinese internet "rise and dance at the crow of a rooster"—that kind of skill, even Wu Moufan who came up with "Big Bowl Wide Noodles" couldn't pull off.

Now that's what you call a true top-tier celebrity!

Even though he was banned for his scandals, the person is gone but the memes remain; just the little haters alone can hold up the sky for him—this is what a true top-tier celebrity is!

But Bai Liang doesn't quite understand why he himself got dragged into Ah Kun's orbit.

They've never met, never known each other, and bear no grudges either.

Even though Bai Liang, when playing around privately with the young lady, secretly used Ah Kun's basketball dance moves... but no one else knows about that.

Then he realized, oh~ so it turns out "This! Is Dunk" finally aired.

Bai Liang really likes watching the dramas and movies he's acted in, but he almost never watches the variety shows he's participated in.

So he genuinely has no idea when these things air.

Hmm... the production team still showed some mercy.

Or rather, the production team very naturally showed some mercy.

That was also within expectations.

For that celebrity showdown match, they mainly cut together footage of Bai Liang playing, basically making him look as cool as possible.

Those dunks—they couldn't wait to give him slow-motion shots, add some replays, every angle covered.

Jiang Jinfu played his heart out the whole game, yet in the end barely got any screen time.

Zhou Jielun and Zhu Yilong, who were slacking off the entire time, got more screen time than him.

At the same time, for Li Yifeng and Wu Moufan who got "beat" pretty badly, the production team also did their best to save their dignity.

The only somewhat undignified moment was that initial dunk that knocked him over, but you have to admire the editing's masterful craftsmanship.

That moment when Li Yifeng slid all the way across the floor was actually made to look a little bit cool in post-production.

Add in some special effects and subtitle explanations, and it really didn't look that undignified.

His positioning was even: having the courage to face a strong opponent head-on.

They somehow manufactured a sense of resilience and perseverance.

Awesome!

As if Bai Liang had become some kind of "final boss."

As for Wu Moufan, he didn't get much screen time—after all, Jiang Jinfu, who was matched up against him, got little screen time too.

But he'd probably not mind either; if they really released everything, that would just be too embarrassing.

You can tell the production team really craves ratings, and at the same time they're very keen on self-preservation.

Bai Liang isn't afraid of those two's fans charging in, but the production team is!

So their choice was to elevate Bai Liang!

As long as they elevated him high enough, isn't it perfectly natural that the other two couldn't beat him?

The rest could be left to their own fans—fans always know how to save their idol's dignity.

So when the show aired, you could hear various voice-overs, mainly from other contestants' evaluations of Bai Liang.

This also included Lin Shuhao and Guo Ailun.

In short, they just blew him up to high heaven, blowing until they went numb.

Bai Liang: I've become Jordan?!

Dunks aren't that rare—so many people in China play basketball, even among amateurs there are plenty of skilled players, and naturally there are tons who can pull off all kinds of cool dunks.

But in the entertainment industry, it's rare~

Let alone for a top-tier celebrity.

Precisely because of this, Bai Liang became prime "material" for the little haters to mock Ah Kun with.

Ah Kun must be pretty regretful too: once I thought basketball was my specialty, until I learned it was just my hobby.

He just likes playing basketball—what's his crime?

In this regard, Bai Liang is rather "cunning"—not only is basketball just his hobby, even acting is just his hobby.

Moreover, at this point Ah Kun isn't only facing the little haters.

The fans of Li Yifeng and Wu Moufan, eager to save their brothers' dignity, also couldn't wait to jump in and grit their teeth while hyping up Bai Liang.

"Fengfeng already did great, his basketball level is already pretty good, but the opponent is Bai Liang after all—anyone else wouldn't have done any better!"

"Bai Liang and Fengfeng's relationship isn't as bad as the outside says; he even went to pull up Fengfeng when he fell, and the expression on his face clearly shows they have a good relationship~"

"Our Fanfan performed great too, it's just that the production team gave him too little screen time, that's too much!"

"Ahem, new fans upstairs shouldn't talk nonsense, Fanfan wasn't feeling well that day, didn't perform much, that's why the screen time was low."

"Any one of these three could go out and crush Ah Kun, right? Now anyone can be a top-tier celebrity~ hehe."

"."

Such a scene is truly rare.

Anyway, Bai Liang's fans were all rendered speechless, now truly turning into capybaras—not one of them moving, full of bewilderment.

Ah, they don't even know what to do.

They'd already prepared for battle, taking on two houses at once, absolutely thrilled.

The other side just went on a wild rant, even started making things up.

Is Bai Liang really close with Li Yifeng? Best buddies?

How dare you say that?

Poor Ah Kun was just dragged in as a target.

Who asked him to like basketball anyway~?

Undoubtedly, this episode of "This! Is Basketball" was a bit chaotic, but its viewership and buzz truly surged wildly.

Though not quite as the production team had imagined.

They originally planned to use the traffic of the three top idols to smash through hard, but because Bai Liang hit too hard, they had no choice but to downplay the other two to avoid being crushed.

Fortunately, although Bai Liang hit hard, the boost and effect he brought were beyond expectations, plus he somehow "accidentally collided" with Ah Kun, another top idol.

Because of this, the production team also gave Sister Tian Tian a considerable amount of screen time.

Unlike Bai Liang, though she was also quite cheerful and somewhat immersed in watching handsome guys play basketball, she never forgot her main purpose for joining the show.

Promoting the TV drama!

At least one out of every ten sentences mentioned "Great Ming Splendor"; her newly met wealthy young woman from Fujian, Chen Yihan, also cooperated fully, acting as her straight man.

"I'm so excited!" "I'll definitely watch on time!" "When exactly will it air?"

This interaction even achieved the goal of "brainwashing" the audience.

Everyone had finally given in: Fine, fine, we'll watch, okay?

Under these circumstances, although "Great Ming Splendor" felt rushed into production, its promotional effect was at least barely pulled up.

Mango TV had also poured in plenty of promotional resources, hoping this drama could help clean up the mess left by "Tiansheng Changge."

At this moment, Bai Liang coldly refused a Miss's small request.

"Under normal circumstances I could help, but this time it really isn't possible."

"Huh? Why not?" Zhang Tian'ai asked, surprised.

Actually, she didn't really need Bai Liang to promote her lead drama—she was just using it as an excuse to chat with him.

But being outright refused still hurt.

"Sister, our drama is a competitor—it's airing on the same day, at the same time."

Bai Liang directly showed Zhang Tian'ai his phone screen.

It displayed his recent chat log with Yang Yang.

Yang Yang: Your "Great Ming Splendor" is moving up its premiere date?

Bai Liang: Yeah~

Yang Yang: Give me back the money for the midnight snack! Monkey reaching out. gif

Bai Liang:?

Then came a barrage of angry emoji packs. Clearly, Yang Yang was genuinely broken, ready to bomb Bai Liang with emojis.

Fuck, like a ghost!

Again?!

He'd been watching the fun between Li Yifeng and Wu Moufan; Yang Yang was the one who most enjoyed seeing Bai Liang "beat up" the other top idols.

He'd been hoping Bai Liang would knock down at least one.

Whoever wants to be the goalkeeper can take it—he really didn't want to be it anymore.

But Li Yifeng and Wu Moufan somehow slipped through with absurdly low profiles—utterly outrageous.

Before Yang Yang could even feel disappointed, another disaster struck.

"Great Ming Splendor" directly collided with his "Wu Dong Qian Kun."

For this male-oriented IP adaptation, Yang Yang originally planned to face off against Bai Liang's next year's "Qing Yu Nian."

A one-year gap meant even if he lost, he wouldn't get crushed again by Bai Liang; even if compared, he'd be grouped with a bunch of other male-oriented IP adaptations.

He just needed to not be the worst.

!

But if he could win—or even tie—Yang Yang: Then you little bastard are in for some serious suffering!

The chance of Bai Liang suffering was extremely low, but Yang Yang could amuse himself anyway.

Then suddenly Bai Liang popped up: Hey hey hey, I'm here!

Even if the drama airs early, I still come to meet you—moved?

Yang Yang: I fuck your fuck

Fuck, he thought Li Yifeng and Wu Moufan were the unlucky ones, but this bastard Bai Liang turned around and came after him again?

Why is he still targeting him?

Among all the top idols, he's been "beaten" by Bai Liang the most!

And he's paid the most "friendship fees."

Pay me back!

Bai Liang: You already swallowed it all—what's the point of asking?

Regarding Yang Yang's plight, he expressed slight sympathy while urging him to reflect.

Have you been acting well these years? Have you seriously improved your craft?

Why do you always come right to me to get beaten? Isn't there something wrong with you?

Yang Yang:???

He felt this bastard Bai Liang had applied all his PUA skills meant for girls straight onto him.

Which girl is this guy PUAing these days?

Bai Liang: Hey! You kid really are something, huh!

"Come on, Xiao Ai Jiejie, let's take a photo together."

"Don't call me Jie. Forget it, call me whatever you want~"

Zhang Tian'ai was a little helpless. Her current age was actually "the same" as Bai Liang's, and her birthday was even later than his.

But she didn't raise any objection to Bai Liang calling her "Jiejie."

After all, it wasn't as triggering as when Li Xin called her Jiejie.

"Suit yourself~"

"Post the photo on Weibo?" Zhang Tian'ai was still very professional, quickly tidying up her hair.

"Nope, sending it to Yang Yang."

"Huh?"

Click—a photo, perfectly freezing the frame of Zhang Tian'ai looking up at Bai Liang.

Yang Yang: Yo, really out here flirting with girls, let me see who it is. Damn! The female lead of my drama?!

From this moment on, he finally thoroughly realized just how utterly inhuman this bastard Bai Liang really was.

"Bro, I'm still in the middle of a scandal with her. Don't mess around."

"Huh? You're in a scandal with Yang Yang?" Seeing the message, Bai Liang first took a step back and asked.

Zhang Tian'ai also suddenly remembered this matter. Oh right!

However, she subtly leaned one step closer to Bai Liang without leaving a trace. "It's fine on set, we're the type to interact from afar—like wearing matching outfits, or stirring up some ambiguity when we appear on shows."

"Still gotta be careful though, we're competitors right now. I'm afraid this buddy of mine will really shut himself in if it goes on."

"Right, he'll cry~ He was a crybaby when he debuted, you know. Dating him, you really hit the jackpot~ You'll have to comfort him properly later."

Li Xin, who had drifted over at some unknown point, quietly chimed in.

Zhang Tian'ai immediately broke her composure: "We're faking it, do you understand what faking it means?!"

Li Xin blinked. "I just feel like you two are a perfect match made in heaven."

"He's a little short, I like tall guys." Zhang Tian'ai said without hesitation.

"How tall?"

"At least one-eighty-eight-five." Zhang Tian'ai glanced at Bai Liang from the corner of her eye and said confidently.

Hearing this, Li Xin laughed, looked at Bai Liang, and said, "Then you've got no chance, you're not even one-eighty-five."

Zhang Tian'ai:???

She stared at Bai Liang in utter bewilderment: "You're not one-eighty-five? I felt like you were at least one-eighty-six or eighty-seven."

"I'm one-eighty-four-point-five barefoot." Bai Liang said very honestly.

Then he added a little bear shrug, half wanting to stubbornly insist that he might really be one-eighty-five now.

After all, height isn't something that stays fixed forever.

He was originally one-eighty-four-point-five—just a measly zero-point-five centimeters, wasn't that something he could achieve with a tiny bit of effort?

Besides, he really hadn't measured his height in a long time.

Zhang Tian'ai quickly corrected herself, saying she meant height with shoes on.

Li Xin chuckled: Yang Yang also reaches that with shoes on, but who knows how many height-increasing insoles he stuffed in there. So you two are still a perfect match~

Zhang Tian'ai: You f***ing—

Wait! How does Li Xin even know such a precise number?

Li Xin: Ha, I know his length, width, and height! I can even calculate the volume of a cylinder!

v=πrh

Meng Jie: Actually, I know that too~

Calculating the volume of a cylinder—basic knowledge like this was something Meng Jie, this little girl with pretty good grades, could handle with ease.

She even had other calculation methods, like container calculation.

But she didn't join in, just quietly paid attention, watching carefully, taking notes seriously.

Fighting again? I'm here to do a live report.

She couldn't even be bothered with Bai Liang now.

From yesterday till today, she had been reporting the progress of Zhang Tian'ai and Li Xin's catfight to the group chat nonstop.

Mainly because Jin Cheng kept @-ing her, hopping around looking very anxious.

Meng Jie had no choice but to serve as a war correspondent.

But it was also her first time witnessing Li Xin being this formidable.

She felt that when Li Xin's lips curled, that disdainful smile was especially three-dimensional—it felt like she was already being looked down on. Having a cool, aloof face really added to her catfighting prowess.

Back on the set of "Joy of Life," I really have to thank Xin Xin Jie for showing mercy~

Of course, Zhang Tian'ai was no pushover either.

If Meng Jie only looked like a green tea bitch but actually fell a bit short, then Zhang Tian'ai both looked like one and was one—an old Longjing!

Whichever of the two it was, Meng Jie felt she couldn't beat either.

But it didn't matter, there were plenty of people she couldn't beat.

Just because she looked like a bad woman didn't mean she had to be good at catfighting. Her main skill points were all invested in making friends.

See, in just one day, she was already on very good terms with Guan Xiaotong.

The two even added each other on WeChat and followed each other on Weibo.

Right now Guan Xiaotong had gone off to film with another crew, but she still made sure to find time to gossip wildly with Meng Jie.

Meng Jie: I love her! She knows so much gossip!

Guan Xiaotong said she was also a huge fan of Meng Jie — whatever gossip you brought her, she'd always respond super enthusiastically~

As for Bai Liang, the way this TV drama had kicked off was honestly bizarre enough.

The fight hadn't even started yet.

It seemed the female lead of his biggest rival had defected first?

Even the eliminated "former female lead," Jin Cheng, had gritted her teeth and contacted Bai Liang, demanding he absolutely make sure Zhang Tianai's TV drama flopped.

As long as the other side could crash and burn

After that Jin Cheng didn't say anything else, just dropped a line: "I picked out another belt for you recently."

——

Third watch, muah muah, begging for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)