Chapter 338: Half the Entertainment Circle's Paparazzi Showed Up

After chatting with the production crew about a few things, Bai Liang came out and found that everyone had actually cleared off.

Zhao Jinmai did send him a message, saying her guardian had taken her back to the hotel and she'd left first.

"Where's Li Yitong?" Bai Liang looked at the only "lone seedling" Jin Cheng, asking curiously.

Jin Cheng was quite blunt, looking like she'd given up: "She got her period, didn't want to ruin Young Master Bai Da's mood, so she went back to the hotel to hole up."

Bai Liang:... That blunt? This Jin Da Xi is getting wilder and wilder.

But at that moment he noticed the thing in Jin Cheng's hand. "What's this?"

Just that one sentence made Jin Cheng shiver inexplicably~

"Ahem, uh, bedding supplies."

"A pillowcase?"

Huh?

Bai Liang's reaction, which didn't seem faked, made Jin Cheng freeze for a moment.

They hadn't planned this together?

"H-happy birthday." She shoved the box into Bai Liang's arms, directly using Li Yitong's line.

"My birthday isn't here yet."

While complaining, he opened it for a peek, and Bai Liang instantly understood why Jin Cheng was acting so dead.

Some things, even if you'd tried them before, doesn't mean the person actually likes them.

Everyone has moments of impulse.

"I'm not in a great mood today, give it to me next time." Bai Liang said with a smile.

"Huh?" Jin Cheng froze. "When's next time?"

Bai Liang reached out and pinched her cheek. "When you're in a good mood."

Jin Cheng stared at him for several seconds, then started sighing.

This reaction made him a bit surprised. "What's up now? Could it be your bones itch by nature? If so, I can play along."

"No, no, no, I was being dramatic for a sec." Jin Da Xi didn't give Bai Liang any sappy stuff, but rather waved her hand very dashingly, acting like a heroine.

Of course, her type tips just a bit into female lunatic—that's her comfort zone.

So—

"Let's not go out to eat either, let's go, back to the hotel! Find Tongtong~"

"Didn't she say—"

"That's what makes it fun! Tease her!" Jin Cheng winked at Bai Liang, a mischievous grin on her face.

Hearing this, although he felt it was a bit improper, Bai Liang couldn't help wanting to know what stunt she was planning.

At this moment, having already arrived at the hotel, Li Yitong—who had simply eaten a bit and taken a shower—had her cheeks all steamed pink.

If not for today's special situation, she would have wanted to soak in the bath a bit longer, that way she'd come out even softer~

But no choice, that pool was already red, soaking any longer would be impolite.

She pinched her own cheeks in the mirror, feeling like a little Tang Yuan.

Deeply satisfied! Who could tell she was already twenty-eight?

Being a bit on the cute side is like this, the apparent age looks younger than the actual age.

After amusing herself by acting like a little kitty for a while, Li Yitong muttered in her heart: What evil little kitty? Where's the evil? Clearly very cute~

Just as she was wrapped in a bath towel, brewing herself a cup of tea, about to grab her phone to ask Jin Cheng how things were going now and whether her itch was still there, she suddenly heard a flurry of urgent knocking.

Who'd come looking for her at this hour?

Li Yitong tugged her bath towel up, covering more of her chest, then leaned over to the peephole for a look.

Hey!

She opened the door in annoyance. "You're not off enjoying the belt, what are you doing at my place?"

Jin Cheng scratched Li Yitong's chin with a grin. "We took your body feeling unwell into consideration, came to check on you~ I even brought a gift."

"Gift? What gift?"

"Birthday gift."

Li Yitong:

This boomerang, it came right back and hit her again.

At this point Jin Cheng reached to the side, and just like that, smoothly pulled Bai Liang out.

"Ta-da~ Here, didn't bring anything else, just brought a top-tier male god, like him?"

Bai Liang had a strange feeling of being transported back to his male model days, and naturally played along with this bit of fun.

So right now he was being quite obedient.

Li Yitong:

Her reaction was quite fast, she immediately tried to close the door.

But Jin Cheng had prepared in advance, slapped a hand on the door, and the two immediately launched into a bout of tug-of-war.

From Bai Liang's perspective, the muscle lines on Jin Cheng's arm were popping out—this girl looked thin, but was never actually frail.

Li Yitong was clearly no match, couldn't close the door at all.

Being crushed in strength was one thing, but watching the bath towel wrapped around her body about to slip down too.

Bai Liang: How could he allow that?

The door was still open, although there seemed to be no one outside, this was still a bit too dangerous.

So the helpful capybara reached out and gave it a tug.

The result was that just this one tug made Li Yitong, who could have held out a few more seconds, lose all her strength in an instant.

The last straw that broke the camel's back.

Looking at her somewhat indignant and embarrassed gaze, Bai Liang touched his nose with an innocent look.

And Jin Cheng, who had the upper hand and wouldn't let the evil little kitty off easy, dragged Bai Liang inside the door, kicked the room door shut with one foot, and then gave Li Yitong a kabedon.

At this moment, the difference in strength truly showed.

Jin Cheng could pin both of the other's hands with one hand, and even lifted her up against the wall.

"Armpit, the armpit is cold. Aiya!"

Hearing this, Jin Cheng wore a wicked grin, glanced over, and said: "Who told you to shave it so clean? Little beauty, today you just have to give in to me~"

"Jin Da Xi, you female hooligan."

"Hey! The way you say that, it's not like we haven't played around before, why are you acting like some little girl?"

"I am a little girl!"

Bai Liang: Continue, this show, this plot is too good!

He even wanted to clap for Jin Da Xi, she's way too good at this~

In the end, the two of them only horsed around a little like that, and there really wasn't much exciting follow-up.

Seeing that Bai Liang seemed a little disappointed, Jin Cheng started spilling the beans directly: "Because you're right here, so she's putting on an act over there. Normally at this point she'd just kiss right away. Before it was always me afraid of her, she's the real female hooligan, didn't expect that, did you?"

"Shut up!"

Li Yitong's defenses broke on the spot, both eyes glaring at Jin Cheng, thinking: what's the benefit of you spilling all these "little secrets" between girls?

Jin Cheng: Of course it's to get back at you, evil little kitty~

Bai Liang: I can tell, every single one of you is hiding some serious skills!

Just as the drama inside the room was full of twists and turns and精彩纷争, the paparazzi outside and inside the hotel had already prepared to have a go at each other first.

Previously online there had already been a vague trend of building Bai Liang up only to destroy him, with multiple forces tacitly entering the fray.

Originally the Golden Eagle Award Best Actor was a pretty good opportunity, but then Weibo shamelessly activated its permission-granting dog mode, and a wave of operations left a bunch of people dumbfounded.

But that doesn't mean certain people are going to pack up and quit, on one hand waiting to see if "The Wandering Earth" will stumble and blow up, on the other hand for contestants like Bai Liang, the easiest place to put in work and cause trouble is, of course, his private life!

Because almost everyone knows that Bai Liang isn't the type who especially cherishes his reputation, keeping his distance from female artists for the sake of his career.

On the contrary, his scandals are as numerous as fleas on a damn cow.

Without a doubt, going after him through his private life is the simplest, most crude and direct approach.

It's not that no one had tried this before, but they just never managed to catch Bai Liang with any dirt.

Even though there were paparazzi in the circle swearing up and down: that they personally saw Bai Liang being unusually intimate with some female artist or other.

Time, place, people. They described it in such detail, even describing how long Bai Liang and Dilireba hugged and kissed, and where his hands were touching.

But without pictures, what's the point of talking?

Everyone here is a paparazzo, not a marketing account.

Marketing accounts can make stuff up, but paparazzi have to talk about "evidence."

The last paparazzo who tried to make a name by transitioning into a marketing account caused a huge embarrassing blunder, and that incident is still fresh in everyone's memory.

Some story about Bai Liang and a beautiful rich older sister... turned out they had photographed his own mother.

But this incident also broke the bizarre urban legend that "Bai Liang is completely unphotographable."

It gave the paparazzi a bit of encouragement, now they were even more determined not to buy into the superstition.

So it's not that he can't be photographed!

It must be that the previous colleagues weren't skilled enough, or that this Bai Liang guy does his covert work too well, with pretty strong counter-surveillance abilities.

It had long been found out that Bai Liang's cousin who drives for him is some retired special forces soldier, it must be this guy scheming behind the scenes.

Dapao: I raised pigs in the cooksquad

And the fact that Bai Liang came to participate in this "Super Star New Sports Meet" was, in the eyes of many, a pretty good opportunity.

A hundred and fifty artists? And among them quite a few female artists who had crossed paths with Bai Liang?

Even without any prior connection... so many young men and women gathered together, because they're artists, they're almost all good-looking, once the hormones get going...

What damn sports meet!

Sports meet by day, bed meet by night, right?!

Paparazzi from all sides caught wind and mobilized.

Some wanted to challenge this bizarre high-difficulty dungeon that was Bai Liang, while others simply took money to do the job.

However, when the paparazzi arrived at the location, they found things a bit awkward.

Damn, too many colleagues!

They're all paparazzi, how could they not smell another colleague's presence.

Just the cars around the hotel's perimeter, the traffic police in Yangcheng were about to come over and ticket them.

The traffic police were quite puzzled, this hotel is pretty upscale, so why are there so many minivans and beat-up commercial vehicles parked around it

Whatever, just ticket them and be done with it!

However, the paparazzi on the perimeter clearly weren't the main force in the "siege of Bai Liang."

Their line of work already operates in a gray area, occasionally crossing the line is perfectly normal.

Each shows their own magic.

How was the previous glow-in-the-dark script incident photographed? That mainland China's number one paparazzo's methods definitely weren't clean either.

And it was even shot inside the hotel... this thing is definitely not legal by any stretch,

"Holy shit! So many people!"

When yet another paparazzo snuck into the hotel's fire escape like a thief and arrived at a certain floor, he looked up and was stunned.

Somewhat unable to believe it, he even rubbed his own eyes, as if he thought he was hallucinating.

There are so many people here, they're about to hang from the ceiling.

Are you guys holding a press conference?!

"All of you are colleagues?"

"Pleasure to meet you. New Probe Studio."

"Zhao Wu Studio."

"Superpower Team."

"Fuck, you're introducing yourselves? Really doing a team-building thing? I'm a solo operator."

"Holy shit, another one? So many people want to photograph Bai Liang?"

"Of course! You think this is a good opportunity, but others don't? I saw him come back with Jin Cheng—I knew this would be big!"

"Jin Cheng? My source says Li Yitong."

"Keep your voices down!" A middle-aged man with a camera turned and glared at the bunch of greenhorns. "You haven't even gathered intelligence yet, and you're out here playing paparazzi?"

"What intelligence?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Who the fuck are you, acting so high and mighty?"

The middle-aged paparazzi snorted: "Fengxing Studio."

Holy shit, that's famous!

Other paparazzi looked shocked, as if hearing a legendary name, but some questioned: "Wasn't Fengxing disbanded? Zhuo Wei was banned."

"New Fengxing Studio," the middle-aged paparazzi said flatly.

Huh… what's with this aura of strength?

Indeed, after this "industry big shot" stepped forward, the paparazzi who had been about to brawl temporarily reached consensus.

Either way, they needed to get results first.

But still~

With this many people, making money won't be easy! Some had come on a bounty, primarily to expose Bai Liang—fine, more people meant more strength.

But most of them still hoped to capture a major scoop and make a fortune off Bai Liang, the top superstar.

How much is a solid scandal involving a tier-above superstar worth?

What if it's not just one woman, but something like a three-person affair—the real dirt? How much is that worth?!

Absolutely a astronomical sum!

Of course, no one would directly demand money.

The paparazzi's own game: euphemistically called "consulting fees."

The New Fengxing Studio guy didn't plan to extort money from Bai Liang.

That kind of money isn't easy to get, and who knows if Bai Liang would even pay.

A guy with balls this big, this unkillable, who doesn't even fear death—would he fear paparazzi threats?

Wu Xiubo could send a mistress to jail—Bai Liang, who's smart enough to pass the bar exam—couldn't he find a way to send paparazzi to jail?

Smart and ruthless, especially toward himself—how could you possibly threaten someone like that?

So the priority was to take the bounty from Bai Liang's rivals, expose the story, and rebuild New Fengxing's reputation.

Earn a steady profit and restore their name.

!

But still—he glanced at the crowd behind him and felt a headache coming on.

Fuck, these guys are truly starving.

Did half the entertainment industry's paparazzi show up?

How many people actually want Bai Liang dead?

He didn't dwell on it—New Fengxing's middle-aged paparazzi hesitated, wondering whether to find a way to deal with these colleagues first.

Funny enough, quite a few were thinking the same thing.

Before these paparazzi had captured any real scoop, they were about to face internal conflict.

Just as gossipmongers eagerly await rivals' deaths, paparazzi aren't much different.

As a sudden, synchronized silence fell, the motion-sensor light in the fire exit went out—with a soft click.

Immediately, shouts erupted down the corridor.

"What the fuck?! Who stole my camera?!"

The light came back on—someone's camera lay on the floor, somehow knocked over.

He stared at the people around him, his eyes red with fury!

"Keep your voices down."

Soon after, the light went out again—another click.

The middle-aged paparazzi who had arrived earliest, crouched right by the door, went numb.

Holy shit, Werewolf?!

They just went straight to "Nightfall, close your eyes"?

After years in the business, he'd never seen such an absurd scene.

They hadn't even touched a hair of Bai Liang's, and the paparazzi were already fighting—could this guy really be that cursed?!

Just then, the middle-aged paparazzi suddenly sensed faint rustling outside the door.

He quickly peered through the crack—and saw a shadow out there, doing something unknown.

"Shh, don't make noise—someone's there."

In less than ten seconds, when the middle-aged man heard a click, his expression suddenly changed.

"Fuck!"

"What's wrong?"

"Some bastard locked the door from outside with a U-lock!"

"What the hell? Are you guys in the same business? Don't you know this is illegal? What if there's a fire?"

"You're surprisingly thoughtful—thinking about fires first. Let's figure out how to get out first."

"Can't we just exit through the door below? The problem is, once Bai Liang comes out of which room, we won't be able to film him."

"."

The door below? The door below is locked too~

Click.

Bai Liang fastened his belt, looked down, and nodded—everything was fine.

He paid attention to these details and rarely left zippers undone.

But Li Yitong, her face flushed red, said: "Get her off me!"

Her face was flushed partly from the stimulation—she hadn't eaten, and being teased like this was unbearable.

And Jin Cheng was hanging on her like a noodle, pressing down on her uncomfortably.

"Aren't you two good friends who often sleep together?" Bai Liang asked, puzzled.

"Then get me out too—how are we supposed to sleep on this bed?" Li Yitong complained.

True!

This showed the advantage of booking a standard hotel room.

You could separate wet and dry areas.

But Bai Liang naturally wouldn't refuse Li Yitong's request.

"Don't you want to change clothes? Going out wrapped in a towel?"

"No one will see anything if I'm wrapped in a towel—I'm too lazy to change. I'll do it tomorrow morning after I wake up. Also, help me up—I'm weak in the legs and my knees hurt."

For Bai Liang, carrying one in each arm was no problem.

He could even carry both girls like he was lifting chicks.

But the pose was too suggestive—if anyone saw or filmed it, trouble would erupt.

By the time Li Yitong realized this, it was too late.

Click.

It wasn't that her hearing was that sharp—she couldn't hear the shutter—but the sudden flash of white light in front of her made it impossible to miss, unless you were blind.

Fuck! They even turned on the flash?!

At that moment, Li Yitong and Jin Cheng froze in shock.

Their only thought: We're done!

The paparazzo who took the photo ran off at top speed, vanishing in a flash.

"What was that?" Bai Liang only realized it now—he clearly wasn't as sensitive as the two girls.

"Paparazzi?! Oh no, we got photographed?!"

"I'll go check."

Hearing this, Bai Liang didn't panic like the girls, but he still ran over to take a look.

Of course, there was nothing left—the guy had run off fast.

Since it was already happened, they could only enter the room first.

And as fate would have it, misfortune never comes alone.

Just as they reached Jin Cheng's room door and swiped the keycard to open it, noise came again from afar.

This one didn't use a flash, but the shutter clicked rapidly, as if trying to capture every single frame.

Jin Cheng and Li Yitong were utterly numb—was today really this cursed?

The second paparazzo ran just as fast, but after circling around and heading for the emergency staircase, he suddenly found the door locked.

Before he could wonder why, the next second he was kicked to the ground.

Then his camera was snatched away.

The attacker pulled out the memory card and tossed the camera back.

Fuck!

That memory card was worth a fortune!

"Who the hell are you?! Give it back!"

The attacker ignored him completely and ran off with the card.

As he passed a corner, he accidentally stepped on something and looked down.

Huh? A hidden camera placed in advance?

Grabbed it.

——

The next morning, the incident of numerous paparazzi being locked in the emergency staircase at one of the hotels for "The Super Nova Games" trended online.

In the end, it was the hotel staff who discovered them and called the police and fire department to rescue them.

Of course, after being rescued, they were taken straight to the station for a chat.

This spectacle gave netizens a good laugh.

"Awesome! Who were they trying to photograph? So many paparazzi?!"

"Who could it be? Only the Immortal, of course~ Only the Immortal has this kind of clout to get so many paparazzi moving."

"I just want to know if they got any photos! Did the Immortal actually do something wrong at that hotel?"

"Leaked photos are already out—the Immortal was with little Zhao Jinmai promoting the show, and the little girl had a guardian with her. What could she possibly have done? Don't spread rumors about minors—the Immortal will fight you to the death over this."

"Wait, that show had tons of artists, and the Immortal knows plenty of them—how many Rocket Girls are there already?"

"The Rocket Girls didn't stay at that hotel. What are you imagining?"

"Found two more acquaintances—Li Yitong and Jin Cheng. They're pretty close to the Immortal, right~"

"Enough already. Soon the CP fans of Na Zha and Re Ba will come after you."

"A marketing account just blew the lid off—holy shit, this is intense! Double flight!"

"Huh?!"

"."

A marketing account did jump out and spin this nonsense, but unfortunately, it dared not mention the Immortal's name—only used aliases or initials.

There were no photos, no proof—just some so-called paparazzo claiming, "I've got the shots!" Then added that his memory card was stolen, and his colleagues tried to monopolize the story.

Onlookers: "No photo? What the hell are you talking about?"

Every day, shady marketing accounts invent these stories—some sound like they hid under the bed and eavesdropped.

Some even claim precise details about male artists' timing and duration, or female artists' "unspoken secrets" and sexual preferences.

Even the artist's doctor, partner, or spouse might not know these things—yet the marketing accounts know everything.

Almost every famous artist faces this kind of false rumor—this isn't new for Bai Liang.

Last time, a marketing account claimed he slept with every female artist in "The Longest Day in Chang'an."

But this time, Sister Yanzi stared at the marketing account's leak, arranged for it to be added to the next batch of lawsuits, and broke out in cold sweat.

At this moment, her experience as an agent had finally reached "perfection."

The artist is in trouble!

Big trouble!

After Bai Liang called her to describe last night's situation, Sister Yanzi broke out in a cold sweat.

But strangely, her Dou Dou Xiao Bai Brother remained unfazed—even his tone was calm, and he still had the energy to joke with her.

If she hadn't known him so long, Sister Yanzi would've thought he'd lost his mind.

But she didn't understand: with everything this bad, how could there still be a turnaround?

At least one paparazzo definitely has the big scoop!

She already knew from Bai Liang what state Li Yitong and Jin Cheng were in.

One was wrapped in only a bath towel; the other's clothes were disheveled, her silk stockings torn—though not as extreme as bed photos, it was still enough to cause massive shock.

It wouldn't just blow up the entertainment circle—it would make every year-end marketing account go wild with joy. Traffic would be no lower than when Lu Han and Han Xu announced their relationship.

Just imagining it made Sister Yanzi feel terrified; for a moment, she was so flustered she didn't know how to plan the PR response.

Because the paparazzo—or the studio behind him—hadn't contacted her yet.

She looked at the capybara figurine on her desk—Bai Liang's merchandise, selling quite well.

Sister Yanzi rubbed her temples and idly fiddled with it.

The next second, the little thing swayed, making a tinkling sound.

The sound sounded—

Sister Yanzi smiled bitterly: If only this were Dou Dou Xiao Bai Brother's so-called "resonance of strong luck."

And just then, her long-awaited studio email finally received the awaited message.

(End of Chapter)