Chapter 341: I Stand in Mortal Enmity with Evil

After the tax evasion team and the affair team had both scored big, the prostitution team members completely surged in points by year-end.

This year's entertainment industry has been truly tumultuous, and the key figures who "fell" weren't any minor players.

Female top streamer, uncle circle top streamer, male top streamer.

When these people "died," it felt to many in the industry like heavenly rain had descended.

Each time, it fed a whole batch of people.

Bai Liang: Legal mini-lesson, class is in session!

In our country, although prostitution is not a criminal offense, it may result in administrative penalties.

Those who engage in prostitution or solicitation shall be detained for more than ten days but no more than fifteen days, and may also be fined up to five thousand yuan; if the circumstances are relatively minor, they shall be detained for less than five days or fined less than five hundred yuan.

However, if public figures engage in such acts, they are almost always punished to the maximum extent.

The only way to survive if caught by higher-ups is to immediately burst into tears, repent, and claim you're just a child, naive and foolish.

There might still be a chance to return to the scene and make money again someday.

As for those who stand their ground? They're already dead.

Take that short, big-tight guy—he was caught for drunk driving, and because he's a celebrity, he got the maximum penalty: six months in detention.

But his attitude inside was excellent—he performed a great show of "drunkenness clouded my judgment, take me as a warning," and public opinion turned around.

After emerging, he kept a low profile for a while, then resumed hosting shows as usual.

But if public opinion turned back again afterward, that's his own problem.

Even Wu Jing got caught in this— he merely moved his car a few meters, then was arrested and detained for ten days. These "black history" details were just dug up these past two days.

Afeng's fans are frantically searching for this kind of information, demanding: Why should our brother be kicked out of the entertainment industry just for spending some money and getting detained?

Unfair!

This unlucky guy Wu Jing has become a tool for their fans to "save" Afeng.

But that was over a decade ago, when public figures didn't have nearly as much influence as now.

Moreover, even though they were detained, they didn't touch the red lines of drugs, gambling, or prostitution.

The last unlucky soul caught for prostitution also vanished from the entertainment industry.

And because this incident was settled so quickly, the reactions from Afeng's brand sponsors were naturally terrifyingly fast.

By afternoon, mere hours after the morning announcements, a pile of brands—Prada, Jingdu Niancian, Liu Fu Jewelry, and others—had successively released statements terminating their collaborations.

Afeng's good brother Wu Moufan also reacted quickly.

Even though the two had rekindled their "brotherly bond" after last year's basketball game and had been actively interacting on Weibo recently.

But the moment this happened, he immediately declared he wasn't his brother: "Though I'm a gangster, I stand in mortal enmity with evil—I don't know him. Does a legal-type even qualify as my brother?"

Just surface brothers—I've hated him for a long time~

His fans quickly chimed in: "Fanfan is truly a pure-hearted boy! We don't play with beetles— we were definitely tricked before. Good riddance!"

Fans helped affirm Fanfan's satisfaction: "Yeah, spending money? Everyone in this world relies on charm anyway!"

From this perspective, he felt he and Bai Liang were on the same level—Afeng was far behind.

But after looking at the latest photos of his female fans, he felt a bit disappointed.

What's going on? They're all over twenty?!

Replace them!

Are today's female fans even any good? Is this the quality? Where are the beautiful female fans?

Bai Liang: Huh? My followers just jumped again.

Seeing their brother's so-called "good friend" disown him so quickly, Afeng's fans flew into a rage and immediately launched a full-scale attack on him.

The battle was chaotic, but one side was organized while the other had no leadership—all the fan leaders had fled, leaving only underage fanatics whose combat power was nowhere near equal—they were utterly crushed.

Wu Moufan ended up pulling off a comedy act of "representing the moon to destroy you."

According to rumors, this guy moved incredibly fast to reach for Afeng's "legacy."

Last time with Fan Fan Bingbing, he missed the hot opportunities—all the quality resources suitable for him were already fed straight into Bai Liang's mouth.

But this time, it's his "good brother's" legacy—he's entitled to take a few extra bites.

Unfortunately, when he happily went over to set up his feast and claimed his territory, he saw the two female top streamers from Jiaxing glaring at him with hostility.

Though they're women, their combined combat power—except for that capybara—leaves no one in the entire entertainment industry daring to claim they can withstand it.

One-on-two? He's completely outmatched.

He could only turn to other resources—and it went smoothly. The ones he snatched were the ones Zhou Dongyu had been negotiating for.

After a showdown, Fanfan easily won.

His team found it strange: What's going on? It felt like Zhou Dongyu's side had no fight in them at all.

It made their victory feel hollow.

Even less satisfying was that while fans celebrated their brother's career advancement, some capybara fans were smirking and giving advice:

"Obey the law, or you'll end up making someone else's success."

"Don't work your ass off only to end up enriching some lazy bastard who just waits with his mouth open."

Capybara fans are masters of passive-aggressive trolling.

Fanfan's fans, having been scolded many times, can at most retort—but they've temporarily lost the courage to fight back, because they truly can't win.

As for Zhou Dongyu… she's throwing a tantrum.

She's smashed a lot of stuff.

Fuck it—Bai Liang's trying to screw her over, and Wu Moufan dares to join in? Fine, let's fight!

The clip from "The Founding of an Army" where he screams echoes in her head, making her want to explode along with those two bastards.

Fortunately, her team remained calm: "We can't win—we can't beat anyone."

Zhou Dongyu: So I'm just supposed to let them bully me? Isn't this outright bullying?

Honestly, she really nailed the vibe of being bullied.

Everyone on her team felt their artist truly had some real acting chops.

But they couldn't help whispering a reminder: "That Bai Liang thing—we were the ones who got involved first."

Zhou Dongyu's eyes were welling up with tears, but upon hearing this, she instantly swallowed them back, looking utterly confused: "Is that how it is?"

"Yes, it is."

Her team members were speechless, thinking: You're really acting now? We're all on the same side—stop performing.

Due to scheduling conflicts, after several attempts, Zhou Dongyu genuinely didn't want to wait for Bai Liang anymore—not even for the Spring Festival slot.

So when Afeng started stirring up trouble with his "reward," she gave a little support, just a light touch.

Just a little.

After that, everyone knew what happened: Afeng was immediately arrested. The top-tier idol vanished in such a way—it was almost comical.

Zhou Dongyu, who had thought she'd stay clean, suddenly found people sniffing around her door.

That Sister Yanzi was incredibly aggressive, wielding Bai Liang's name like a weapon and running rampant.

The original female lead for "Youth" was always Zhou Dongyu—so much so that, exaggerating slightly, the project only existed because of her!

Now they want to replace her?

Ridiculous! A colossal joke!

Yet this joke was about to become reality.

But she dared not stir up trouble—who would dare stir things up now? Afeng, a top-tier idol, was gone—was he really arrested during a police raid?

Nonsense!

Something's definitely going on inside.

Just like a few years ago when Huang Haibo was arrested for prostitution—many believed something was off, that he'd been framed.

This case is the same.

So the question is: Who framed Afeng?

Zhou Dongyu: Do you even need to guess?! That damn capybara—mouth full of fangs, dripping with blood.

Meanwhile, she and her team couldn't just sit idle—they'd been bullied right to their faces.

As one of the leading 90s actresses in the film industry, aside from that lucky Guli Nazha, Zhou Dongyu was also a major player.

They had to strike back!

After staring at Bai Liang's name for a long time, Zhou Dongyu, having figured it out, decided to go head-to-head with Wu Moufan.

Her team fully supported it—who else would dare charge straight into the gun barrel?

No choice: you go for the softest target.

Bai Liang's side was just too weird; Zhou Dongyu and her team felt uneasy inside.

Her team quickly comforted her: "Let's look on the bright side—at least now it's over. The other side probably won't target us again."

"Really?"

"Uh… probably." Her team members weren't sure themselves.

After all, Sister Yanzi was now wildly famous.

Like a pit bull—once it bites, it never lets go.

The capybara might really be a capybara, but that sister beside him? He's the one with full fangs.

Sister Yanzi: Hehe, guessed right~ Come on, let me see what dirt you've got—I'll help everyone remember.

Unfortunately, regarding the female lead of "Youth," Sister Yanzi could at most push Zhou Dongyu out.

But she couldn't easily dictate who should replace her.

Still, the producers were headachy—Zhou Dongyu's uniqueness lay in her truly distinctive niche in the entertainment industry.

This role was genuinely tailored for her.

Of course, before capital and profit, there's no such thing as "tailored"—everything can be changed, everything can be replaced.

As long as the value is high enough!

But replacing her was easy; finding a suitable replacement? That was genuinely hard.

The investors scoured the market but couldn't find any standout substitute.

They could barely spot a few candidates.

Chen Duling, Liu Haocun, Zhang Zifeng, Guan Xiaotong.

Among them, Liu Haocun was even a newcomer—she hadn't even released any work for audiences yet—but she carried the label of the new-generation "Mou Maiden," supposedly heavily backed by Old Mou.

Labels like "Star Maiden" or "Mou Maiden" in the industry were actually quite reliable—sometimes they served as a quality certification.

These girls were chosen partly because of age—there were almost no other female actors in their twenties who could portray a high school student as naturally as Zhou Dongyu.

And on the other hand, because Bai Liang's own traffic and attention were so high, the requirement for the female lead's fame could be lowered considerably.

After all, Sister Yanzi never insisted on a famous name—she knew fame and the "high school student" label were fundamentally incompatible.

As for who exactly to pick—

Guan Xiaotong was immediately ruled out—she looked like a school official, utterly incapable of appearing bullied.

Sister Yanzi: Good thing I don't have to sweat over this—so long as the producers pick someone who satisfies me, that's fine.

My energy? I'm saving it for stirring up trouble~—

Everything's chaotic, the entire Jinxibei region is in total chaos.

One of the four top idols has fallen, and all the big players have launched into feast mode, joining the spectacle.

Even if it's a whalefall, it can't satisfy a pack of great white sharks—all of them will inevitably clash.

The most violent clash was between Zhou Dongyu's team and Wu Mofan's team, both acting as if they intended to kill each other.

Blackmail and dirt flew between them—not petty squabbles, but real, brutal warfare!

This left everyone else utterly bewildered.

What the hell is going on?

It's just "having dinner," how could it come to this? Why ruin a perfectly good meal by flipping the table?

Did someone get possessed by Crow Brother?

Zhou Dongyu: Fuck, not only did they provoke us, but they came at us with such brutality? You're covered in shit and still dare to play like this? I'll destroy you!

Wu Mofan: How the hell did this bitch explode so easily? She came straight for the kill! Fine, I'll fight her to the death!

The mastermind behind it all, Sister Yanzi, smiled silently. She found this situation oddly entertaining—no wonder so many people loved being the shadowy schemer, pulling the strings while others fell into the pit.

The feeling of pulling off schemes from the shadows was simply too satisfying.

And all the marketing accounts truly feasted during this year-end wave! The material was so abundant they couldn't post even a fraction—updating multiple times a day still wasn't enough.

Like fans of the Seine River idols, who loved watching them brawl and tear each other's hair out.

The feuds and hair-pulling among the top young stars of the domestic entertainment industry were clearly far more entertaining!

But it was brutal for the working class—forced into crazy overtime.

The first to suffer was the New Year's Eve gala that had invited A Feng—this nearly blew up. They scrambled to find a replacement.

So, that Zha mysteriously got another New Year's Eve gala gig—six New Year's Eve galas!

This wasn't the TV stations' limit, but it was her limit.

Her neck felt like it wasn't even hers anymore—even a Xinjiang person couldn't twist their neck this much; it ached terribly.

Though singing and dancing were exhausting and miserable, getting paid was genuinely joyful.

If she weren't considering buying a massive villa in a prime location all at once, she could've already upgraded to a bigger house by now.

But no rush—her old place was still quite comfortable~ Bai Liang didn't mind.

Beneath this feast where "everyone had a share," whether good or bad, some suddenly realized: Wait? Where's the biggest player?

While others either gorged themselves or fought bloody battles, Bai Liang remained calm, serene, as if time stood still.

Today he even cheerfully attended a brand launch event.

When reporters asked him about A Feng, he gave them a legal lecture.

!

The media, stuffed full of knowledge, said they were overfull, overwhelmed—there was simply no way to handle this guy.

Some female reporters even said: He smiled at me like that—forget it, the ladybug got caught, she deserved it. Why bother picking on him?

He promotes nothing but "positive energy"—a man who constantly urges his fans to study hard and leads by example. How bad could he possibly be?

Why not ask him how his postgraduate entrance exam went?

Bai Liang: "I did pretty well. I'll share my problem-solving methods and insights on Weibo later."

Media: This tone suddenly became so lofty—should we grab a notebook and take notes?

Because of this, the long-awaited "Bai Liang entering the fray" did indeed happen.

But not at all how most people imagined.

So damn positive!

The Seine River idol's story had been dug up.

More accurately, Tencent Video directly inserted it into the trailer for "Super Nova Games," no acting needed—it was truly their shameless move.

But netizens didn't mind, because this was genuinely inspiring!

The idol had successfully passed the civil service exam through her own efforts.

Everyone exclaimed: Is this even possible in the entertainment industry?

Theoretically, it was feasible—but no one had ever done it before, since the industry's overall education level was frankly low.

Well, now they'd seen it.

And the Seine River side was also good at riding this wave—even though they'd lost the idol and hadn't received the breach penalty, it didn't stop them from capitalizing on the trend.

They immediately came out and confirmed it: the idol was indeed Bai Liang's fan, and had passed the exam using the materials and insights he shared.

Now Bai Liang was almost starting to smell like a "Sage Teacher."

He'd already had a crowd of college students treating him like a lucky charm, constantly praying to him and making vows.

Now, who even knew which one was the Star of Literature anymore?

Combined with Bai Liang sharing his insights and online experts estimating his scores based on his answers…

A wave of "studying" momentum began to spread.

The chaotic entertainment industry hadn't felt this much positive energy in a long time—many official media outlets couldn't resist joining in to push it further.

With all these buffs stacked together…

You could say that for at least the next six months, hardly anyone would dare to plot anything.

Hmm… maybe just six months. After all, Fan Fan Bingbing's scandal was brutal, yet still couldn't stop some people's petty schemes.

They'll still steal when they can.

But Guo Fan was ecstatic!

He realized that since he'd teamed up with Bai Liang, everything had gone smoothly.

He'd never had such a lucky streak in his life!

From the initial investment, to later promotion, now it was directly improving public perception—online negativity toward "The Wandering Earth" had dropped sharply.

He'd always worried about a cold reception before release—now he felt as if heaven and earth were all working in his favor!

Damn, my forehead itches—I really want to kowtow to Bai Liang.

Wu Jing, Xu Zheng, Han Han: Right? ~ Just give it a try, and you'll fall in love with this feeling just like me!

Unfortunately, although this wave of positive energy was highly popular, few in the entertainment circle could ride it.

His good buddy Yang Yang, his head foggy, idly liked and supported it while eating off Ah Feng's "legacy."

He ended up making a fool of himself—what does this have to do with someone who dropped out of elementary school and went straight to military arts vocational school?

He accidentally revealed he himself was a nine-leak fish.

Zhai Tianlin: Can you people even ride this kind of hype? Huh?!

He proudly displayed his Ph. D. from the Beijing Film Academy and his acceptance letter as a postdoctoral fellow in Business Administration from Peking University's Guanghua School of Management.

It had to be him!

He directly tagged Bai Liangyibo on Weibo, affectionately calling him "junior."

He also announced he would go live when the graduate entrance exam results came out, and added to his fans:

"I'll see if I can invite Bai Liang to join me live—our relationship is great."

Sister Yanzi noticed his move and thought nothing was wrong—there were indeed few in the entertainment circle with such high academic credentials; he could ride the hype, and she could cooperate too.

This kind of positive promotion benefited everyone.

After all, their own Xiao Bai Ge was genuinely talented; he wasn't faking the livestream at all.

She believed he felt the same.

Probably?

Douyin, smelling the opportunity, came knocking: Come livestream with us! This time the stream room will be rock-solid!

Last time, Sister Tian Tian and Bai Liang impulsively did a livestream link-up, and the massive traffic completely crashed the room—Douyin got mocked hard.

The old-school livestream platforms said: Can you even do this, little bro?

The loudest among them was Wang Sicong—he went on Weibo to mock relentlessly.

Douyin: This time, I'm not trying to prove I'm great—I'm taking back everything I lost!

To show sincerity, they even offered an appearance fee.

Of course, only Bai Liang gets it.

As for Zhai Tianlin, he was already thrilled just to ride such massive traffic; money meant nothing to him.

Bai Liang: There are still experts?!

—

"Open up! FBI~"

"Water meter inspection!"

"If you don't open the door, we'll take forceful measures!"

Hearing the commotion outside, Bai Liang had no choice but to get up from the floor and open the door for Meng Jie.

Otherwise, with her attitude, who knew what other nonsense she'd come up with next.

But if Ah Feng's remaining fans saw this behavior, they'd probably storm her.

No point in cosplay stuff.

Yet Meng Jie, who had just been threatening him, instantly switched to a puffed-cheek, cute expression the moment she saw Bai Liang, blinking her big eyes, "Miss me?"

Bai Liang sized her up—no uniform? Bad review.

With all those lines, she should've at least worn the top-ranked female police skin~

"It hasn't been long since our last meeting, has it?"

"A day without seeing you feels like three autumns!" she said seriously, imparting knowledge, then glanced at his white T-shirt soaked in sweat, "Why are you sweating so much? Did Song Qian abuse you?"

"Zi Yi's here?"

At that moment, Song Qian poked her head out and waved to Meng Jie.

This gave Meng Zi Yi the strange shame of being caught red-handed while gossiping behind someone's back.

All three were now at Hunan TV in Xingcheng—today was the New Year's Eve live broadcast.

Oh right, yesterday Bai Liang had also recorded a solo vocal performance for the CCTV New Year's Gala.

He couldn't refuse—it was necessary, partly because Ah Feng's absence needed filling.

And partly because he'd become so "positive" lately; it was no surprise CCTV came calling.

Fortunately, he'd turned down everything else—he wouldn't end up like Zha, hopping between multiple satellite channels.

Of course, the biggest challenge remained at Hunan TV.

As for dancing, no need to elaborate—he'd only practiced twice, but his good memory let him memorize all the moves.

How the stage effect turned out, however, still depended on his live performance.

As for singing, though he had to sing live—not as easy as the lip-syncing at CCTV—having Meng Jie watching over him was enough to put him at ease.

Meng Jie: You underestimate me!

She was nothing like Bai Liang—she'd secretly practiced for a long time, even had Jia Shikai find her a professional vocal coach!

She was waiting to stun everyone, to make Little Hedgehog look at her with new respect~

So now, watching Bai Liang and Song Qian sweat through their dance practice, Meng Jie quietly suggested: "Why don't you come sing with me in the next room? Relax a bit?"

"Little sister, we've got to respect first come, first served," Song Qian chuckled, pinching her cheek.

"Sister, we can share it~" Meng Jie blurted out without thinking.

Song Qian fell silent for two seconds, thinking: these little girls these days are terrifying.

Forget it, forget it—this is not my game; I'm an old fossil.

Before Meng Jie's wolfish words, Song Qian felt like a green recruit.

"I'll practice with him another half-hour, then hand it over to you—don't worry, I won't hog it forever."

With those words, Meng Jie still wasn't entirely at ease.

Since she had nowhere to go either, she simply stayed here to watch the two of them practice.

As she watched, her eyes grew wider and wider—this dance, is it really this suggestive?

Where are you touching? And where exactly are you patting?!

She finally understood now why people say some couples who dance together tend to break up or get divorced—this thing really can't be done unless you're a couple.

Meng Jie didn't have time to feel jealous; instead, she imagined something strange first: good thing I'm not a dance student, otherwise the little hedgehog would get jealous too, right?

*Slap! *

"You patted a bit too hard, my hip bone even hurts a little now, your hand really is—"

Song Qian hooked her arm around Bai Liang's waist, pressing right against him to study his large hands, and even rubbed them a little. The slightly rough texture told her why her hip bone hurt so much.

"The force doesn't seem easy to control. I just patted lightly, and you said there was no texture." Bai Liang said innocently.

Song Qian thought for a moment, her expression very serious.

She really did seem to be considering the dance moves and the issue of texture.

This made Meng Jie feel a bit ashamed—is this what dancers are like? Was it her own mind that was too dirty?

But do these two really have to hug each other to think about the moves? Is it easier to get inspiration that way?

Bai Liang: This way you can help block it a little for me.

No choice, young guy, firepower is too strong.

Actually, just imagine it a little and you'll know—a Miss with a nice figure and some softness twisting around you, all kinds of physical contact, sometimes even touching sensitive areas.

How much willpower would it take to have absolutely no reaction?

Bai Liang isn't some professional dancer either. He completely couldn't keep his mind purely on the task.

Song Qian: No choice then, do you know about desensitization training?

Bai Liang: That's not appropriate, Meng Jie is still here.

"Ziyi, help big sis out, will you?"

"Sure, sure~"

Because last month's monthly tickets broke into the top twenty, this month's fan titles total thirty.

Everyone can participate.

Oh right, last month's haven't been issued yet, they're under review, please wait a moment.

(End of chapter)