Chapter 361: Unchanged Maternal Love

After the fashion gala, Bai Liang naturally returned to continue filming "Daylight Meteor."

For some reason, after just going out once, he felt many people on set had become friendlier toward him.

He originally thought Arthur had pulled some shenanigans—maybe blowing smoke up someone's ass or something.

But it didn't seem like it~

"Bro! You're number one now!"

"What number one?" Bai Liang asked instinctively.

"Box office record!"

Oh~

Only then did Bai Liang realize that "The Wandering Earth" had surpassed "Wolf Warrior 2" in box office—right when he left the set.

Sixty-seven billion yuan.

Although there was still some time left in the screening period, the final box office would top out at around sixty-eight billion.

This was even after exhausting every possible boost, using nearly all viable methods without inviting criticism.

On the day it topped the charts, the previously revived box office surge plummeted straight down.

It was basically over, and with "Avengers: Endgame" about to release, there was no more box office space left.

Some media claimed the domestic box office ceiling was just over sixty billion, impossible to break seventy.

This judgment wasn't entirely wrong—after all, who could've guessed an animated film would later reach such absurd heights?

Jiao Zi was also coming out of retirement—the movie was finished, just waiting for market validation in a few months.

But some media were particularly... odd.

They began hyping "Avengers: Endgame," and within the industry, some filmmakers even spoke up saying, "I believe 'Avengers: Endgame' will break 'The Wandering Earth's' record."

It was as if they were saying, "Little brother, you can't hold onto that record."

Really expecting Hollywood to "restore justice"?

But such voices were impossible on this set.

Bai Liang had become the single-male-lead box office champion; everyone's gaze toward him seemed to burn with heat.

It made him instinctively want to hide his hands behind his back for protection.

Among them, Arthur's attitude was the most fucking bizarre.

But he wasn't just excited about the box office—the damn fool slipped aside and whispered to Bai Liang: "I think I got one."

He seemed to believe Bai Liang Sect's methods actually worked.

Bai Liang:????

Is it really something to be proud of for a young, handsome male star to successfully "fuck his fans"?

Is this thing that hard?

There's a ridiculous saying in the fan circle:

If your favorite idol is willing to fuck his fans, isn't that the same as God?

From this, you can see the mindset of some female fans.

Bai Liang seriously suspected this was concocted by Wu Moufan's team, given that this guy had previously caused scandals over exactly this.

Of course, he had no evidence—just wild speculation; he took no responsibility for it.

But some female fans never think: if an idol is willing to fuck fans, at least they should be good-looking—put bluntly, they wouldn't even make it to the end of the line.

Yuwen the General is better—General, make the boys line up.

As for Arthur~

These past few days, he probably had no chance to go out and sleep with fans—at least not while on the "Daylight Meteor" set.

His parents were here, watching him.

After Bai Liang returned, Arthur's strict father still treated Arthur harshly, often scolding him like a dog, overflowing with paternal love.

But Arthur's mother didn't give him full maternal love—she'd split a good portion of it with Bai Liang.

Asking after his warmth, checking on his well-being.

Today, after staring at him for a while, she suddenly asked: "Dou Xiao Bai, are you wearing thermal underwear?"

"Huh?"

"Boys sometimes stubbornly refuse to wear them. My son won't wear any—I've told him a hundred times, but making him wear thermal pants feels like asking him to die. But tell me, where's the charm in shivering from cold?"

"Makes sense, so I wore them."

"Really? I don't believe you."

Okay okay, so she was waiting for him?

Bai Liang chuckled, thinking: Who am I? The hexagonal warrior of the entertainment industry, the commercial value anchor, the super treasure god of the stage—the nickname "Nine Hundred Million Girls' Dream" was about to be snatched from him.

Someone like that, asked if he wore thermal underwear?

Ridiculous!

How could he not wear them!

Bai Liang: Hmm—because the filming location really was cold, he was practical, wouldn't pretend for unnecessary show.

At this moment, Chen Hong had already pulled up Bai Liang's pant leg, glanced, and joyfully spotted two pairs of thermal underwear!

"Good boy!"

Damn it, isn't this maternal love?

Not a single bit corrupted.

Luckily it's an anthology series—if this were a long feature film, Bai Liang would worry they'd try to adopt him as their son.

No choice—he really does appeal to wealthy women.

This trait is innate.

Arthur felt a bit unbalanced; though the script had been changed, he still couldn't escape his father's "paternal love" baptism.

And right over there, his own mother was showing concern for Bai Liang.

Isn't this also a kind of NTR?

Last night in his dream, he even saw Bai Liang smiling and saying: "Arthur, your mom is amazing!"

Something felt off. But right now, he really did need a bit of maternal care.

Bai Liang: This kid liking older sisters isn't without reason.

But this kind of manipulation seems to have actually helped him align his mindset with the role.

What are they playing? Orphans.

Isn't Arthur right now just like a "orphan"?

The shooting progress suddenly became smooth.

Calculating the time, it shouldn't delay Bai Liang joining the next film.

——

Ssslllurp~

Ssslllurp~

Two boys with messy hair, looking somewhat like members of the Beggar's Sect, poked their heads out from the grass.

At first glance, there was even a touch of comedy.

One had a shifty gaze, constantly darting around—except when he gazed at the starry sky, where he seemed to find a sliver of calm.

The other was slightly more dull, as if his reactions were half a beat slower.

The brothers were here to steal things.

"You just stay here. I'll be out soon."

"I'm coming too." The foolish younger brother stubbornly insisted, just like some creature known as a "stubborn type."

*Slap! * "I'm a thief, but I want my brother to never become one."

"Cut~ Good."

"Xiao Bai, you hit pretty hard just now."

Chen Hong's words made Arthur, who was clutching his face, feel surprised—was Mom finally going to love me? Come on! Scold him hard!

But she immediately switched tactics: "Does your hand hurt? His bones are pretty hard."

Arthur: Shit!

Look at me! It was ME who got slapped, Mom!

He tried to awaken her maternal love, but it didn't respond. After briefly checking his face and confirming it was fine, she said nothing.

Indeed, Arthur's acting was terrible—he needed external stimulation.

Right now, his state was holding up decently; he could at least keep from dragging Bai Liang down.

By the way, the current script changes were quite unexpected for Bai Liang.

Chen Kaige didn't perform any of his own "magic rewrites" on the script; instead, he focused on visuals and composition.

Even Bai Liang casually added: "The brother and brother don't both have to be thieves—otherwise the later twist will feel forced."

And the screenwriters actually listened to him.

Honestly, being coddled like this was Bai Liang's first time.

He'd never once changed anyone's script or lines when joining a shoot—but now, on Director Chen Kaige's set, he'd become the "script tyrant"!

Who'd believe that?

To be fair, the title of "top box office record holder" really worked—Bai Liang felt his words carried much more weight.

He even dared not speak casually anymore—what if they actually listened?

He wasn't a professional director or screenwriter; he wasn't really good at this stuff.

Even the idea that only one brother should be a thief came from a real case he remembered seeing on "Today's Legal Talk."

It was so touching, even a tough guy like him couldn't help but cry.

So he mentioned it, thinking that aside from the age mismatch, everything else fit well.

The script's changes also included the legend of the "Daytime Meteor"—if you see a meteor (falling meteorite) in broad daylight, barren land will become prosperous. This story was told to him by Old Li, who took in the two brothers; similarly, one brother believed it, the other didn't.

With the script changed this far, Bai Liang finally wrote character bios—he'd never bothered with this before.

The essence of the brother he played was now more like a man trapped in mud, convinced his future held no hope, yet determined to help his brother escape the mire.

So while he stole himself, he forbade his brother from stealing.

As for the final redemption and hope, it was mostly the younger brother's hope.

This shifted the later transformation away from hard-to-empathize "divinity" and toward "humanity."

As for scenes like rushing into the landing site—those clearly wouldn't exist.

Helping astronauts? Can you just randomly help them?

Just watch from the perimeter.

Watching professionals work methodically made them truly realize that many people in this world use technology to create miracles.

The ending would surely involve developing animal husbandry and escaping poverty.

Though the combination of spaceflight and poverty alleviation still felt a bit forced, at least it wasn't cringey anymore.

As a tribute film, the usual goal was simply to avoid failure.

As long as Director Chen Kaige didn't inject any "fantasy" elements, the rest could be compensated by Bai Liang's acting.

By the way, I wonder how the episode "Daytime Meteor" will rank among the final segments' evaluations.

He glanced at Arthur, who seemed to be questioning reality itself.

!

If he still ranked last, it would feel like a betrayal of all the suffering Arthur endured.

Although his main purpose in suffering was simply not to hold anyone back.

——

"Ding-ding-ding~ Ding-ding-ding~"

"Little hedgehog, what are you up to?"

"I'm the tyrant on the set of the great director's drama," Bai Liang blurted out.

This made Meng Jie on the other end of the line freeze for a moment. Huh?!

She understood every word, but together they made her feel like her brain was cracking—could it really be that extreme?

Yet after thinking it over, she actually accepted the claim, then exclaimed in awe: "You're so amazing!"

"Not bad~"

Bai Liang said he couldn't get cocky—this job would probably only happen once, but it was definitely worth bragging about.

On Chen Kaige's set, he single-handedly turned the dual male leads into himself as the sole protagonist, made Chen's own son the supporting actor, and even rewrote Chen Kaige's script. If you told someone this, they'd think you were talking about Jiang Wen.

But even if Jiang Wen himself showed up, he could bully Lu Chuan—he couldn't bully Chen Kaige.

Didn't Jiang Wen once want to play Cheng Dieyi in Farewell My Concubine, only to be rejected by Chen Kaige?

He could still be controlled.

Bai Liang mainly got lucky, and Chen Hong lent a helping hand—sure enough, life is full of wealthy women offering support.

And Meng Jie's reason for calling was also quite interesting.

She spent the whole time building up, chattering with Bai Liang for ages, then began subtly bringing up Gu Li Naza.

Bai Liang was puzzled—did this girl have the heart and guts of a bear and a leopard? Had she really gotten so swollen with confidence she thought she could take on Naza?

What a terrible time to pick.

Even the old Naza could've overwhelmed her; the current Naza was the evolved version after her brutal clashes with Sister Reba.

Though she couldn't beat Sister Reba, she could probably crush Meng Jie with ease.

She could make someone question their entire existence.

But after stammering for a long while, Meng Jie veered into talk about confessions and whether or not one had been made.

It was disjointed, messy, all over the place.

Even Bai Liang's super brain couldn't figure out what was going on.

Then Meng Jie seemed to give up, hesitating but bluntly asking: "When we were filming The Legend of the Condor Heroes, had Gu Li Naza already made a move on you?"

"That's her privacy," Bai Liang thought—he couldn't really say anything.

"She already said it on the show!" Meng Jie said, sounding jealous.

"Huh? What show? When?"

"Check the trending topics!"

He quickly opened Weibo and saw the top trending topic: Gao Yuanyuan is pregnant.

Bai Liang: This has nothing to do with me.

He scrolled to second: Deputy Mayor Guo's second child is a girl.

He hadn't helped with that either.

Only at third did he find the one Meng Jie mentioned: Naza confessed and was rejected.

The content was a clip from the variety show "I Like You, Too," where Naza shared her "romantic experiences."

Below it, a flood of netizens voiced their outrage on her behalf:

"Who would reject Naza? Rejected multiple times? That's insane. If she weren't so serious, I'd think she was making up a story."

"Even someone as beautiful as Naza gets rejected? Now I feel a lot better about myself."

"Two possibilities: either the person she confessed to is insanely amazing, or he's too insecure to accept her."

"If it's the latter, there are plenty of candidates. But if it's the former… the pool suddenly gets very small."

"The pool is so small it's down to just one person, right? We're all familiar—stop pretending. Come on, say his name!"

"After all this buildup—if it's not the Great Immortal, I'll cut off my head and use it as a urinal for all of you!"

"Still surprising—so the Great Immortal rejected Naza? I actually thought they were dating."

"When I watched Little Fresh Meat 3, they were so sweet. Naza clearly wasn't acting—she truly loved him. But I never imagined the Great Immortal could turn her down."

"So here's the question: there must be a reason he rejected her. The Great Immortal couldn't possibly not like Naza—he must've had someone else at the time."

"Come on, stop pretending. Say her hometown girl's name—could there really be anyone else?"

"Not necessarily. The Great Immortal's romantic luck is turning into a romantic curse. Want me to list them all?"

"."

Naza's "confession rejected" stunt was a brilliant way to generate buzz.

Because her and Bai Liang's drama, My Dear, My Honored, was about to start filming. The originally overlapping schedules had finally been sorted out by Sister Yanzi, so My Dear, My Honored wouldn't clash with You Are My Glory.

Though it did boost publicity, clearly that wasn't her real intention.

It was just a twist of fate.

But it did stir up massive attention—within moments, it pushed the other two pregnancy and childbirth stories off the top.

Today's trending topics were unusually pink: pregnancy, childbirth, confessions.

Spring has come—time for all things to mate?

As for why Meng Jie cared so much about this—Bai Liang finally understood her reasoning and logic.

What Meng Jie actually wanted to know was one thing: whether that "confession" from Nazha was right around the time she and Bai Liang "got together."

Put more bluntly: did Bai Liang "reject" Nazha because of her?

That's a great question!

When filming "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" with Meng Jie, Bai Liang was already living in Nazha's house.

The "confession" Nazha mentioned was probably that whole series of "seductions" back then — that pair of unwashed stockings she kept by her side — Bai Liang still remembers it vividly to this day.

Even though he can now easily get his hands on every pair of Nazha's worn stockings, that very first pair is still a little different, after all~

"Yes."

Bai Liang gave Meng Jie a definitive answer.

The timing matches — it was right around then.

"I knew it! Yay!"

On the other end of the phone, Meng Jie literally jumped up, over the moon with joy!

So Nazha, who's supposedly so good at outshining everyone in person, had already lost to her long ago~

That's it?

Meng Jie had always assumed she wasn't the one who "came first," but now it seems... there's real hope!

But she didn't ask — good news doesn't have to be swallowed in one gulp; she could save some for next time and be happy all over again!

"Little hedgehog, I absolutely adore you!"

"Just because of this?"

"Aiya, I just wanted to beat her once, that's all," Meng Jie's tone gradually shifted from coquettish to a soft, confiding murmur, and she confirmed once more: "I did win, right?"

As if especially careful about it.

Bai Liang on this end of the phone smiled and said, "You won long ago."

The second half he didn't say: and you almost won the whole thing.

It's just a pity — maybe in the summer of '15 Bai Liang was indeed very serious, but now it's already the spring of '19.

Anyone standing under the cherry blossoms looks beautiful; a capybara's love burns passionately for whoever it falls on — but he's always been very good at adding a little filter to a girl's heart.

——

Third watch, muah~ not in great shape today, so just 15,000.

But still begging for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)