Chapter 344: Young People Don

The first episode of Season Four of 'The Best of the Best' set an absurdly grand tone for the entire season.

Not only did it feature three Spring Festival films promoted together, but even the guest lineup alone was intimidating.

When Bai Liang, Huang Bo, and Shen Teng stood together, the audience below felt the screen was flooded with box office figures.

The combined box office of these three actors' lead roles was nearly equal to half a year's total box office for the entire film industry today.

During the recording, host Shen Tao asked: "Brother Teng and Brother Bo, how many more billions are you short? Will you break a hundred billion after the Spring Festival?"

This question made it hard for the two to answer.

Box office numbers are truly unpredictable—if a film flops, isn't that like opening champagne too early?

Even though every media outlet and institution predicts they'll both become billion-dollar movie kings, who dares to "borrow a hundred billion" this early?

Then both men turned their gazes toward Bai Liang at once: "The only billionaire movie king in the industry is standing right here—we dare not be so bold."

"Exactly, that'd be an act of overstepping."

The two old rascals played along in perfect sync, as if they were setting Bai Liang up on a pedestal.

Bai Liang reacted instantly, looking left and right: "Where are the microphones?"

When they saw the little rascal waving at Zhao Jinmai, Shen Teng and Huang Bo immediately "backed down."

Their smiles were still pleasantly charming.

So Bai Liang switched tactics: "Everyone heard that—these two have admitted the value of the Weibo Movie King award. Is the Weibo CEO here? Send money!"

Weibo Movie King again?

You little brat.

Everyone struggled to hold back laughter, sensing that Bai Liang's marketing accounts were about to suffer heavily.

This was no longer just about the so-called "Bai Liang is Weibo's favorite son."

He was practically Weibo's biological father—constantly chanting "Weibo Movie King."

Honestly, if they don't give him a substantial award soon, as Bai Liang's box office keeps rising—from one hundred billion now, to two hundred billion later—will his title still be "Weibo Movie King"?

By then, it'd be unclear who's really lacking in prestige.

When an actor's achievements reach a certain level, it's no longer about the actor needing an award for recognition.

It's about prestigious, esteemed awards needing to give their prize to this actor to prove they're truly worthy.

The longer Bai Liang keeps the Weibo Movie King title on his lips, the more embarrassed some people become.

Huang Bo immediately jumped in: "Who dares say the Weibo Movie King has no value?! I think its value exceeds the limit!"

During the recording, Shen Teng, the quintessential comedian, went even further.

"If I could get a Weibo Movie King award, I'd gladly trade it for a Golden Horse."

Tsk~

Shen Teng casually threw a dig at the Golden Horse Awards next door.

Earlier, such a dig might've been too harsh, but the 2018 Golden Horse Awards—just a month ago—were a massive scandal.

Any mainland or Xiangjiang filmmaker who still wants to work in the mainland will never attend the Golden Horse Awards again.

Put bluntly, the Golden Horse might become a dead horse.

Hearing this, Huang Bo's face showed resignation as he gently shook his head.

After all, the Golden Horse Awards marked the beginning of his acting career—now it's turned into this mess.

Just as Bai Liang has made the Weibo Movie King feel overwhelmingly present, people truly do respect and remember it.

With the Golden Horse's downfall, actors who once won it and took pride in it now feel their awards have lost prestige—this is a loss too.

After hearing Shen Teng's remark, Bai Liang asked curiously: "Brother Teng, have you ever won a Golden Horse?"

"No, but I think with enough effort, I might have a shot at the Weibo Movie King."

"True—the Weibo Movie King's value is so high, Brother Teng really must try harder."

"Who can argue with that?"

Watching the three grow more outrageous, the production team started to feel a headache coming on.

How are we supposed to edit this?

These three gentlemen are too bold—making the post-production team's job a nightmare.

Fortunately, Shen Teng and Huang Bo now felt they'd gone far enough—they "spared" the production team—and exchanged glances: Time to promote the movies!

"I think whether we succeed this time depends mostly on Brother Liang's mood—I watched the trailer for his 'The Wandering Earth,' and after seeing it, my spine went cold."

"No no, 'The Crazy Alien' is the one—"

"I think 'The Wandering Life'—whether in theme or cast—"

Without prior coordination, after a single glance, they began promoting each other's films, starting with Shen Teng.

This turned the dull, stiff movie promotion segment into a wonderfully entertaining show moment.

At least the live audience was genuinely laughing.

The game segment afterward was equally effective—whether participants could relax and play freely mattered a great deal.

For regulars like Shen Teng, it was fine—other regulars dared to joke with him, even push boundaries.

But with someone like Huang Bo or Bai Liang, if you asked a magician or Wang Yuan to do something weird—say, splash water on their faces—

They'd probably apologize first before doing anything else.

If you can't loosen up during games, it's no fun.

So when Bai Liang nearly shoved Shen Teng and Huang Bo's heads underwater together, the effect was explosive.

Of course, he didn't escape unscathed—he stood there dripping wet all over.

After this episode aired, the three collectively dominated trending topics.

The movie promotion effect? Achieved—a 1+1+1 > 3 result.

The promotional teams of all three films subtly coordinated a joint hype campaign around the "billion-dollar movie star" topic.

Although they were competitors, the actual tension wasn't that intense.

Bai Liang was the male lead of *The Wandering Earth*, but he also made a cameo in *The Wandering Man*, delivering a scene so iconic that Han Han refused to cut a single frame of it.

He also had a very good relationship with Han Han, and still remembered his Subaru to this day.

Meanwhile, Guo Fan also got along well with Ning Hao, director of *The Crazy Alien*; Ning Hao himself made a cameo in *The Wandering Earth*, and many props used in *The Wandering Earth* were borrowed from the *The Crazy Alien* set.

Under these circumstances, the three films could never resort to bizarre tactics aimed at destroying each other to boost themselves.

Thus, under this strange atmosphere, the three parties actually joined forces in promotion, as if collectively building momentum to expand the entire Spring Festival box office pie.

Besides the chemistry and mutual praise among the three leads on variety shows.

Outside the shows, the directors of all three films were also engaging with each other.

Guo Fan directly posted a Weibo: "Mutual encouragement, united in heart, forging ahead together!"

He also showed screenshots of his chats with Han Han and Ning Hao—what is this if not the spirit of filmmakers?

The other two promptly reposted, tagging each other's films and posters to help promote them.

This move warmed up the comment section.

The bottom was filled entirely with encouragement.

One of the biggest common traits among these three was that they were all relatively young directors.

But ironically, when the official Weibo Movies account came to join the trend, a flood of netizens started mocking it.

"Pack your bags, get ready for promotion."

"Take down the Golden Horse Awards—your moment is Weibo Movie Night."

"You really owe the Great Immortal a bow—he's elevated the prestige of the Weibo Movie Star to an unprecedented height."

"Certified by Shen Teng and Huang Bo—who still dares say the Weibo Movie Star isn't a real movie star?"

"From now on, if you haven't won the Weibo Movie Star, you're not a movie star in my book—how dare any backwater award try to piggyback on the Weibo Movie Star?"

"A joke award, yet the Great Immortal turned it into such a huge deal—what exactly is a top streamer?"

"."

Under this atmosphere, it seemed the Spring Festival box office had become a united front.

But that was only true if the Spring Festival lineup consisted only of these three films.

In fact, this year's Spring Festival lineup was terrifying.

Besides these three most prominent films, there was also Zhou Xingchi's *The New King of Comedy* and Da Ge Cheng's *Detective Pu Songling*.

A true all-star lineup—almost all the most box-office-drawing figures in the Chinese entertainment industry since its inception seemed to have gathered for this Spring Festival.

Yet the "remnants" of the old era might no longer have a ship large enough to carry them—no need to elaborate on *Boonie Bears* and *Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year*.

Whoever can't beat *Boonie Bears* looks foolish—it's the Wall of Masterpieces, after all.

Of course, the two animated films faced no such pressure; they had their own unique niche, and even their competition with each other wasn't that fierce.

Because many kids, after watching one, would beg to watch the other too~

But *The New King of Comedy* and *Detective Pu Songling* were in trouble.

The momentum of the first three was already terrifying—now they're even teaming up? Are today's young people really this ruthless?

Da Ge Cheng and Zhou Xingchi exchanged a silent glance, then quietly looked away.

How could they possibly team up? Not a chance.

They could only rely on "reputation" and "audience favor" to compete with these young kids.

Zhou Xingchi planned to bring in Zhang Baiyi to maximize the nostalgia factor.

Meanwhile, Da Ge Cheng arranged an even more packed promotional tour schedule—just like how he made his films: charge ahead and that's it.

—

Before the Spring Festival box office battle officially began, Bai Liang also launched a frenzy of appearances.

Tencent Starlight Awards, iQiyi Scream Night, and others—he showed up, gave support, collected trophies.

The enthusiasm of these organizers left Bai Liang feeling genuinely overwhelmed.

!

What's going on? Why are they sucking up so hard?

Even the girls aren't this good at sucking up.

Someone online revealed the reason: "Hah, they're all counting on the Great Immortal to keep mentioning their awards on Weibo, just like he does with the Weibo Movie Star."

Coincidentally, the final stop before the Spring Festival launch was Weibo Night.

Even before it started, Bai Liang and Weibo Night both trended together.

The comments below were all: "Weibo, your movie star has arrived."

And Weibo's official account didn't disappoint—they jumped in to join the meme, replying "We've swept the floor and waited," fully matching Bai Liang's prestige.

When Bai Liang appeared on the red carpet, he was signing autographs when he saw the CEO walking out with a smile—old acquaintance Xiao Shui, the editor-in-chief, even served as host.

Okay okay, I thought others were too eager—turns out the biggest one was waiting till the end.

But this time, Weibo tried something new—they didn't arrange his "good sisters" and "good sisters" around him like before.

Instead, they focused their energy on the live performances.

The first act was Song Qian's *The Roof Is on Fire*.

But this time, she performed alone.

Honestly, without Bai Liang "dragging her down," this sister danced even better, more professionally.

But if you're talking about stage impact and visual shock value, the duet version still wins.

While Song Qian was singing and dancing, the camera initially zoomed in on her—then, in a flash, it swung sharply to a smiling capybara watching her performance.

"Aaaahhh!"

The venue erupted in screams!

After all, it hadn't been long since New Year's Eve, and everyone still remembered Bai Liang and Song Qian's stage performance.

It would be weird not to go wild and cheer now.

The most outrageous part was when the interviewer leaned right in and asked Song Qian: on the previous New Year's Eve stage, was her final move meant to kiss Bai Liang? Had it been rehearsed? Was Bai Liang embarrassed?

Big sister didn't flinch at all in this moment—she simply replied: No rehearsal at all~ I just couldn't hold back, I mean, he's Bai Liang—who wouldn't want to kiss him if they got the chance?

After she pulled off that bold move, the entire venue went absolutely wild.

The director frantically cut back and forth between the two of them.

This was just the first highlight of tonight's Weibo Night.

When Meng Jie stepped onto the stage and opened her mouth, Bai Liang was stunned.

Wait—she's actually going to do it?!

He didn't mean Meng Jie was bold—he meant Weibo really had the guts to do this. Had these people ever heard Meng Jie's "true power"?

And she wasn't even singing "Zhi Fou" or "Summer Fruit," so he quickly turned his gaze and scanned the crowd, locking onto his target.

"Sis, quick, lend me a tissue."

"Huh? Okay~"

Tang Yan, sitting behind Bai Liang, happened to be clutching a small pack of tissues—used to wipe away facial oil.

Weibo Night lasts a long time; sometimes female stars' makeup can't hold up. Giving Bai Liang a tissue wasn't a big deal.

"What are you doing?" Tang Yan's husband Luo Jin asked curiously.

Bai Liang crumpled the tissue into a ball and shoved it into his ear: "No time to explain—the Death Songstress is coming. I suggest you do the same."

Hey!

The couple declared they weren't buying into this nonsense!

It was like when a terrible movie comes out and everyone says it's awful—but that just triggers some people's rebelliousness: I want to see just how bad it really is!

In fact, after learning what Meng Jie would sing, several others shared Bai Liang's "sense of crisis."

Guan Xiaotong and Zhang Tian'ai over there did almost exactly the same thing—they'd all been to KTV with Meng Jie.

Those who didn't know just thought: Hmm, this pretty girl… she's really pretty, wow.

Na Zha: Hmph, not as pretty as me!

She glanced at Di Lireba beside her, who happened to be looking her way; their eyes met, then both quickly looked away.

Though not seated next to Bai Liang, Weibo still loved pairing them together.

Whenever they appeared in the same frame, they always trended.

Na Zha: Hmph~ What are you looking at? You're not as pretty as me!

Before she could bask in her triumph, Meng Jie on stage fired—no, opened her mouth!

Within a few lines, Na Zha's face twisted into a mask of agony.

What the hell is this?!

Many in the audience reacted like Na Zha—confused, shocked, incredulous, pained! Brows furrowed tightly.

Before the song even ended, #MenciusTunesOffKey was already trending.

But soon after, the topic shifted to #IsMenciusInTune? #

This time, Meng Jie was even hotter than during the previous New Year's Eve!

Still, although Meng Jie bombed on stage, her subsequent interview and explanation won her back a lot of favor.

"Actually, I've never been good at singing. Last time I practiced for a long time, and to this day I only know two songs."

"Then what about this song tonight?"

"You guys picked it for me~" Meng Jie looked at the host with innocent eyes, brimming with sincerity.

Fortunately, the host was experienced and quickly steered the topic toward how Meng Jie had worked hard specifically to learn a song for Bai Liang.

Because Meng Jie's performance had been so shocking, when the director cut to shots, no one paid much attention to Bai Liang.

But online viewers noticed!

"Holy shit, is Big Immortal acting like he's totally enchanted? Seriously?"

"So romantic… everyone thinks you sing badly, but I'm lost in it~ This guy Bai Liang is truly the chosen one of warm-hearted men."

"Is he wearing earplugs? I think he's faking it—he's an excellent actor."

"Weibo did something terrible again. Meng Ziyi already said she only knows two songs—one super simple, one she practiced specially for Bai Liang—and yet they still forced her to pick another one. Isn't this just making her look foolish on purpose?"

"Weibo's always like this—no shame for views, bullying young artists."

"Young artists have no rights. But since Meng Ziyi's close to Big Immortal, I support Big Immortal leading the charge to storm Weibo—let's all switch to TikTok for our next team-building."

"Holy shit Weibo's got another trick! Na Zha's coming on to dance~ Wait, will Di Lireba have a performance too?"

"."

Yes, that's right.

This Weibo Night could just as well be renamed Bai Liang Night.

The prestige of the Weibo Emperor continues to rise.

It felt like this year's event was specially designed to please Bai Liang.

But Di Lireba had no performance tonight, because Na Zha stole her slot.

When Na Zha executed a dazzling spin toward the camera at the end of her dance routine—the venue exploded.

The director, with the speed of a thirty-year bachelor, frantically cut back and forth between Bai Liang and Lireba.

Na Zha: I practiced for two years!

It's just spinning in a circle~ how hard can it be?!

Meanwhile, Reba's expression in the audience nearly slipped, almost losing her composure on camera.

In her heart she was furiously roasting her little hometown buddy—have you no shame? You're copying this too?

(End of chapter)