Chapter 342: How Many Stars of Social Death?

As it turned out, although Song Qian had once felt like a green recruit before Meng Jie.

But in reality, she quickly realized the other woman simply spoke faster than she thought.

It seemed Meng Jie herself might not even realize whether some of the things she said carried ambiguity.

This one was so easy to fool~

Bai Liang watched Meng Jie scamper off, "accepting the mission," utterly baffled.

"Where is she going?"

"Oh, I secretly told her your bra straps were about to snap, and asked her to buy me a new pair."

"Where's your assistant?" Bai Liang asked.

Song Qian didn't answer right away; instead, she glanced at him twice and smiled: "Seeing me boss her around, you feel bad?"

That remark—

But before Bai Liang could speak, Song Qian added: "My assistant is going with her. Hurry up—how are you going to perform tonight looking like this? It's live-streamed nationwide; you don't want to be seen lifting up, do you?"

Bai Liang thought about it: if that really happened, how many stars would the social death level reach?

When Meng Jie returned, she saw Bai Liang practicing dance with a stern, upright expression.

Eyes straight ahead, as if the woman in his arms were merely a skeleton draped in rouge~

Yet Meng Jie couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

"Sis, I bought the clothes for you~ Try them on, see if they fit."

"Little brat, you want me to change right here?" Song Qian tapped Meng Jie's nose. "Alright, he's all yours now—practice well. I'm going to take a bath and rest."

"Mm-hmm~"

Bai Liang also took a shower, then, with the mindset of someone about to be executed, prepared to rehearse "Zhi Fu Zhi Fu" with Meng Jie.

He had braced himself for Meng Jie to belt out Xiao Jinteng's two "Zhi Fu~ Zhi Fu~" notes.

But he never expected—

"Last night, rain fell sparse, wind blew sharp."

"Deep sleep couldn't dispel the lingering wine."

"I asked the one rolling up the curtain: 'Are the crabapple blooms still there?'"

"."

Watching Bai Liang's face shift from "ready to die" to stunned disbelief, Meng Jie couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

"Wasn't that great?!" Her expression gleamed with pride; she tilted her face up, clearly expecting praise.

Bai Liang naturally didn't stint on compliments, showering Meng Jie with lavish flattery until she was thoroughly pleased, then voiced his question:

"Did you secretly take lessons?"

"I'm a born songstress!" Meng Jie grinned.

Clearly, she was just blowing smoke.

If she were truly a born songstress, her singing wouldn't have been so unbearable before.

Yet under Bai Liang's calm, silent gaze, her grin slowly faded.

She muttered softly: "I didn't want to embarrass you."

"Embarrass me?"

"You insisted on bringing me out in public. I don't have the qualifications to perform on stage with you—Song Qian-sister reportedly struggled for ages to get approval. If I really sang off-key up there, netizens might roast me, but they'd roast you too."

Pouting, sulking, mumbling pitifully.

All bundled into something adorable.

"But now you sing better than I do—you've overshadowed me. Won't netizens roast me even harder?"

"Is that true?" Meng Jie blinked, confused.

Bai Liang nodded solemnly: "We're both non-professionals. We picked you specifically to highlight me."

"Little hedgehog, I'm not actually stupid—I'm smart!" Meng Jie rolled her eyes at him, then grinned again: "If you want to feel sorry for me, just say it outright~ I'll gladly accept all your cute pouting and begging."

"I do feel bad for you. When my mom watches the New Year's Eve show and hears you singing so well, then remembers how you tortured her at karaoke, she'll probably think you did it on purpose."

Bai Liang offered his "rational" analysis.

Recall that time Meng Jie took her mother to karaoke—when they returned, Bai's mother's expression was off, and she quietly told Bai Liang: "Little Meng is pretty and a bit clueless, and she's nice enough, but she absolutely cannot sing—my blood pressure shot up."

Born songstress?

Death-bringer songstress!

Clearly, Bai Liang's remark had finally clicked for Meng Jie.

Her eyes widened; she grabbed Bai Liang's wrist. "You have to explain this for me!"

This time, she was truly panicked~

"I feel like you're not being sincere."

That made Meng Jie's cheeks flush; she bit her lip and glared at Bai Liang. "Are you trying to trick me?"

"I was joking," Bai Liang quickly waved his hands.

But now Meng Jie refused to let it go; suddenly she said: "I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"When you practiced dancing with Song Qian-sister—you had a reaction. You…."

"Cough cough~"

Seeing his reaction, Meng Jie immediately regained her confidence, beaming as if a little tail were wagging behind her.

Her smile grew even brighter.

"I can help you out—if you're sincere."

"Help? Sincerity?" Bai Liang said, somewhat puzzled.

"Um… do you know about desensitization training?"

Bai Liang:???

He knew — someone had just brought it up moments ago.

And Meng Jie at this point showed him her phone search results.

No one knew which clickbait account said it, but the gist was: since male-female dancing involves a lot of physical contact and easily causes reactions, usually the female dance partner helps the male partner "release" before going on stage, to avoid any awkwardness up there.

Bai Liang, a non-professional dancer, wasn't really sure if such a thing actually existed.

Anyway, since Song Qian said so, he believed it.

But the probability of an older-sister type contestant lying was very high. When it came to being tricked by older sisters, Bai Liang had a wealth of experience.

One could say he'd been tricked from childhood all the way to adulthood.

Things like "I'm poisoned, I need a kiss to get better," or "I fell and can't get up, carry me" — those were still relatively normal.

Some of the outrageous ones would pull stuff like: "I'm poisoned, bro, help me suck the poison out."

Back then, the young Bai Liang didn't know where he was supposed to suck, but he'd always been happy to help.

Too bad that older sister had only gotten her pants halfway off before suddenly feeling embarrassed and giving up.

Obviously, Meng Jie, being an outsider, didn't know about this stuff either, so when she saw a clickbait account say it, she believed it too.

So… then let's do it~

Meng Jie: This should be fine now!

As night fell, the Mango New Year's Eve Gala began right on time.

His and Song Qian's act was scheduled fairly early, so by now they'd both changed into their performance outfits.

Song Qian glanced at him several times, her gaze drifting slightly downward — clearly still a bit uneasy.

But Bai Liang was actually in pretty good shape right now, and felt quite confident about the upcoming stage.

He didn't ask for merit, only that there be no mistakes.

Just then, a knock came from outside the dressing room, and Meng Jie's little head popped in. "Sister, can I borrow him for a bit?"

"Sure, but bring him back early, okay? Our act is pretty early — once it's over, he's all yours." Song Qian said with a grin.

Meng Jie was a bit embarrassed, but she still pulled Bai Liang away.

"What's up? You want me to run through it with you a few more times?" Bai Liang assumed Meng Jie was nervous and prepared to soothe her a bit.

But the little girl said with burning eyes: "Just to be safe, let's do it one more time! After all, it's been a while since the last one — your body's so healthy—"

No man would deny that his body was healthy at a moment like this.

Bai Liang was no exception.

When he returned to Song Qian's dressing room again, he felt his current state was incomparably calm — let alone having any reaction, even if Song Qian tried to seduce him right there on stage later, he wouldn't bat an eye.

Absolutely rock-solid, absolutely still as a placid lake!

But the moment he got back, Song Qian came out with: "Time is tight, the mission is heavy — one more desensitization round!"

Bai Liang:???

Wait, does this even make sense?

Did you two plan this together to prank your bro?!

Again? What if my legs go soft on stage later?

Seeing him silent and dazed, Song Qian raised an eyebrow: "Huh? You don't need it? Looks like I was overthinking — I thought with a body that solid, your fire would be especially strong."

Bai Liang: C'mon, bring it on!

After this, he was probably going to have a slightly… unusual take on the word "desensitization."

Luckily his body really was healthy enough, otherwise he might have developed psychological trauma.

An ethereal, flowing white long dress, paired with a pair of high-top studded boots.

This wonderfully contradictory combo, with all its visual impact, made Song Qian's entrance spark screams from the entire venue.

Wearing the most ethereal outfit, going the wildest on the dance floor!

Her on stage was very different from her as an actress.

That confidence radiating from the inside out — incredibly infectious.

And when Bai Liang took the stage, the even more exaggerated, heated screams from the crowd said it all — it wasn't about skill, it was pure damn popularity and hype.

Unquestionably, in terms of stage performance, Bai Liang was left in the dust by Song Qian by a mile.

At least at first, that was the case.

But as the music's rhythm took hold and he gradually let loose, Song Qian thought to herself that this guy being called a "hexagonal warrior" really wasn't without reason.

Not a hint of stage fright — on the contrary, he was getting more and more "in the zone."

!

His dance skills wouldn't suddenly skyrocket on stage, but there's something called stage presence, which is actually far more important than skill.

In plain words — he had swagger.

Just standing there made people feel he was a pro.

Bai Liang: On stage, going up against a pro idol in a battle, I definitely don't stand a chance — but when it comes to playing it cool, that's Bai's specialty too.

The camera work at the venue really knows what it's doing.

The camera almost never gave the two of them a shot of their feet, keeping the lens fixed on their upper bodies.

So even when Bai Liang accidentally kicked Song Qian, it seemed no one noticed at all except for her.

Song Qian even felt that this bastard Bai Liang probably hadn't noticed it himself.

The camera work at the venue really knows what it's doing.

She couldn't help but glare at Bai Liang, but the moment their eyes met, Song Qian looked away first.

That fiery, scorching gaze was especially searing.

This guy has started his "performance"?!

"Oh my, this handsome young man dances so well! I always said when he was little that he had a talent for dancing. I told you to send him to learn, but you insisted it was useless for a boy."

Bai's mother sat at home watching a TV drama while nagging her husband.

Useless? It's incredibly useful!

You get to hold girls while dancing~

But on second thought, for Bai Liang, it really did seem useless — he didn't need to learn it to hold a girl.

But Bai Liang's father had a different take: "These two are just about to start fighting on stage."

"What? I think that girl looks pretty passionate."

"Haha, look closely — they're getting competitive~"

Indeed, in the first half of the stage performance, Song Qian was passionate as fire, every glance rippling with provocation.

But in the second half, an inexplicable stubborn streak surged up in her.

You think I'll let some rookie outshine me on stage? And using this kind of "underhanded trick" at that?

Not a hint of flirtation — her eyes were full of the intent to dance her opponent into the ground.

Bai Liang: If this were even a slightly more complex dance, bro would have been exposed on the spot~

Song Qian, this girl, really does have a competitive streak that's a bit too strong.

Still, in the eyes of most of the audience, the bold and intimate dance moves between the two felt especially pleasing to watch — an absolute thrill.

When Bai Liang lightly caressed Song Qian's waist and she swayed gently, she looked just like a seductive serpent.

That "dangerous" gaze, as if the next second she'd bite down on Bai Liang's neck.

Ambition and seduction played out one after another, tenderness and wildness crashing into each other in turn.

But what truly set the whole venue ablaze was when their figures crossed — Song Qian straightened her upper body while pressing her waist down, making a stepping, hip-thrusting move, and Bai Liang reached out and gave it a pat.

"Ahhhhh!"

The scene erupted! It was as if the place had exploded.

The host team led by Teacher He couldn't hold it together either — each of them wore wildly unrestrained smiles, only able to cover their faces.

One female host was so excited she was about to stomp her feet.

The trending search rankings were skyrocketing!

At the same time, Mango TV's viewership ratings saw a massive spike — barring any surprises, this was probably tonight's ratings peak.

Not much technical skill, but the exaggerated stage presence was maxed out.

However, at the very end of the dance, Song Qian was originally supposed to hook her arm around Bai Liang's neck and pose.

But whether she got carried away or wanted to give Bai Liang a kiss, she couldn't help but rise on her tiptoes, trying to bring her lips toward him.

Bai Liang: This doesn't seem to be part of the rehearsed moves.

So he instinctively tilted his head and gave her a hug.

The older and younger sisters watching the livestream — and those who would watch the video later — all gave Bai Liang's move a thumbs-up.

For instance, Na Zha, who was the first to perform at another New Year's Eve concert, was watching this scene in the car when the little bit of annoyance she'd been feeling instantly vanished.

Wow~ he's so well-behaved!

Na Zha had actually been a little upset just now, because Bai Liang had clearly performed so brilliantly on stage, yet refused to dance with her. She could dance too~

Dilireba: I dance better than you~

Bai Liang clearly had no idea what consequences agreeing to dance with Song Qian this time would bring.

At this moment, he felt that dancing was really just too tiring, and he never wanted to do it again.

Though he couldn't quite tell whether it was the dancing itself that wore him out, or the crazy desensitization session before it.

But a man would never admit to the latter.

Even Bai Liang would talk tough: I can keep going with the desensitization!

He checked the comments online — surprisingly, no one called him a pervert, though plenty said the two of them were competing on stage.

At the same time, plenty praised the stage effect; overall, this performance could be considered quite a success.

Some even compared their segment to that classic Korean "Trouble Maker" stage.

He knew that duo.

Mainly because of that HyunA person — she left a deep impression.

The other party was very generous, especially generous — after all, few female artists were willing to show everyone the southern hemisphere.

He showed Song Qian, who had changed and was ready to slip away, and she was quite modest: "HyunA is the South Korean wild horse — compared to her, I…"

"Still fall a bit short?" Bai Liang helped fill in.

But Song Qian completely went off-script, raising an eyebrow with a smile: "Ha~ I'm better than her!"

"I vote for you too."

"Pfft. You stepped on my foot on stage, so I won't hold it against you~"

After saying that, the girl left in a cool, breezy fashion — she meant what she said, and now Bai Liang belonged to Meng Jie.

Li Yitong: "Quick, quick, quick! Everyone lock onto Mango TV — Meng Jie is about to sing! First-level air-raid alert!"

Jin Cheng: "Tongtong, are you even human? Was it easy for Meng Jie to get on that stage? This might be the last singing stage of her life, and you're making snide remarks?"

Chen Yao, who didn't talk much in the group chat, couldn't help chiming in this time: "For real? Is Meng Jie singing live or lip-syncing?"

Li Yitong: "Definitely live! I already got the inside scoop — are you guys watching?"

Li Xin: "Been watching the whole time. That stage he and Song Qian just did was pretty infectious."

Li Yitong: "Xinxin, don't worry about all this nonsense. It's perfectly normal for a male fox to livestream kissing someone on stage."

Li Xin: "No kissing, but he got his butt slapped."

Li Yitong: "Huh???! I missed it"

The group chat was buzzing with excitement. Clearly, everyone was quite "looking forward to" Meng Jie's big stage debut.

Go ahead, Meng Jie, show us~

Usually when she goes to karaoke, it's a case of "don't open your mouth, we're all family here."

But today Meng Jie is standing on such a huge stage, so the sisters absolutely have to show her some support.

They'd even discussed beforehand what to say to comfort her if she went off-key on stage.

When she made her entrance, though, she was quite a sight for sore eyes.

Dressed to the nines, today's Meng Jie maxed out her looks and figure — absolutely a striking, bold-beauty stunner.

Add to that a flowing red gown, radiant and commanding, and eyes brimming with autumn waves that never once strayed from Bai Liang from the very start.

But though she looked calm on the surface, inside she was nervous to death.

She didn't dare look to the side, nor look at the audience.

Anyway, just keep her eyes locked on Bai Liang and that's that.

At least looking at him, she wouldn't be too nervous.

But the moment she appeared, people online were already asking: who's the beauty singing with Bai Liang?

As for the sisters' "anticipation."

Today's Meng Jie didn't just avoid a major disaster — instead, with a vocal style that, while not stunningly brilliant, was steady enough, she held the stage.

All the sisters in the group chat were stunned speechless.

The screen was filled with question marks.

In the end, Li Yitong squeezed out: "Has Meng Jie been acting for us all this time?"

(End of chapter)