Chapter 372

"It's definitely the most popular one!"

Huang's first words upon meeting left Bai Liang momentarily stunned.

What's the most popular? What kind?

Is Mushroom House even into keyboard politics now?

If it's about entertainment, the two most popular these days should be Wang Yuan.

This kid got caught smoking and earned the nickname "Furongwang."

Once Ding Zhen, the "Sugar King," emerges, the two will be dubbed the conservative and reformist factions respectively.

Smoking isn't a big deal anyway—Bai Liang once discussed "smoking" techniques with Yang Mi on a hotel rooftop~

If not for his "never hungry" trait, he might have become Cao Cao back then.

But for fans who grew up watching her, seeing this top idol of the nurturing system so effortlessly light up like this might bring some disillusionment.

There's a reason this kid ended up the least successful of the trio—it's not entirely about his face.

For Bai Liang, Huang as an "old acquaintance" wasn't interesting at all.

When he heard a Hong Kong-accented Mandarin, he turned his head—and saw the number one female cop in the national server!

Whoa! One of my enlightenment teachers.

Bai Liang still remembers that in 2008, a female classmate mysteriously called him into a small grove, saying she had something good to show him.

Back then he was about fifteen or sixteen, and seeing those pictures and videos on her phone was truly

an unforgettable impression!

Bai Liang, with tremendous self-control, politely nodded to Zhang Bozhi, keeping his expression perfectly neutral.

Even his gaze was utterly clear—even though his mind was full of lewd thoughts, basic manners still mattered.

Not to mention she's a victimized female star; even those Japanese teachers, once dressed, deserve basic respect.

Their arrival coincided exactly with the moment Zhang Bozhi, Ren Xianqi, and others were leaving.

So they merely exchanged greetings; the two groups had little interaction.

As for this guy Arthur, he really wanted to stick around and chat more with Bai Liang about his sister-flirting techniques.

Especially after seeing him with Li Xin on one side and Li Yitong on the other—two sister contestants who looked so alike?!

His inner admiration surged like a flooded Yellow River, unstoppable!

So strong, bro!

Although Bai Liang was just casually bringing the two lead actors for promotion, in Arthur's mind, saturated with sister-flirting fantasies, any sister near Bai Liang was automatically assumed to be "taken" by Brother Liang.

Normal people wouldn't think like that—only a young guy like Arthur, full of blood and big-sister fantasies, could harbor such "stupid" notions.

The ironic part? He was accidentally right.

When leaving, he feigned a meaningful, lingering glance at the two girls' faces, then turned to Bai Liang—this gesture had no real meaning; Arthur just did it out of habit.

Young guys love pretending to be profound for no reason.

Sometimes they don't even know what they're pretending at—they just act mysterious and pretend to be awesome.

But it made the "sister duo" feel a sudden jolt.

Did this kid figure it out?!

The director's son is this sharp? Is he born with seven holes in his heart?!

They trusted Bai Liang completely—he definitely didn't brag or gossip about it.

Bai Da's reputation on this front was rock-solid!

Li Yitong had already verified it long ago.

He's a man who can keep secrets even in bed.

So… we need to stay far away from Arthur! This kid has a dangerously sharp eye~

When the future Arthur realizes his romantic luck in the industry keeps dwindling, he might never recall this meaningless glance he gave today.

Two people whisper in a small group, the small group passes it to a smaller circle…

Sometimes, strange rumors are born exactly like this.

And no one knows how they'll twist by the time they reach the end.

After being randomly stared at by Arthur, the evil little kitten grew annoyed, found a quiet moment, and quietly elbowed Bai Liang—her expression was oddly strange.

"Fox, what were you just thinking about?"

They were sitting in the courtyard pavilion; Bai Liang looked at her with innocent eyes: "What could I be thinking? It's a slow variety show—just clear your mind, zone out… they'll give us something to do in the afternoon, we'll eat dinner and chat in the evening, and the episode's over."

"I'm not talking about that—you just saw Zhang Bozhi—"

"Ah~ Don't bring up her wounds; she's still a mom." Bai Liang waved his hand.

Li Yitong spread her hands: "I didn't say anything."

"You wrote it all over your face," Bai Liang replied calmly.

Li Yitong studied him for a moment, sighing: "You know, you're really different dressed versus undressed…"

As soon as she said it, she realized it was inappropriate—this kind of comparison wasn't suitable.

After all, if this were ever recorded and watched later, even she wouldn't believe she'd been so open back then.

It applies to both men and women.

So it's not fair to talk about contrasts.

But after thinking carefully, Li Yitong complimented Bai Liang: "You're quite respectful toward girls."

Bai Liang:???

You know how many people are yelling for me to stack you two seductive sister duo? Don't believe me? Have them type '1'.

So he couldn't help asking, "Where did you get that idea from?"

"Some things you don't want to do. You never force me, even though you're so strong."

He could tell—she didn't ask for much.

Bai Liang thought for a moment, "Are you hinting that you like being forced? I remember you once did something that made me scold you."

"Did I?" Li Yitong played dumb on the spot.

"That time when I was cursing antis online with Lin Genxin, you watched the whole battle from the RV, and afterwards your face was all red and you asked me to scold you a couple of times too, right, Little Egg?"

She went red in the face!

Red in one second flat!

Li Yitong was truly impressed—how on earth could this guy's memory be that good?

Cause and effect, time, place—even the nickname "Little Egg" he'd jokingly given her back then, he still remembered.

"I can't go on. What an outrageous piece of black history."

"At the time I already felt you were a bit off, but looking at it now—"

"Now you've realized I'm actually pretty normal, right?" Li Yitong hurriedly said, trying to save face.

"No, even more off than I imagined." Bai Liang said with hidden meaning.

Unfortunately, Li Yitong thought he was just messing around and didn't read into it.

She just pouted and glared at him, then said the exact same thing as back then: "You—you're not allowed to tell anyone."

Time really flies. That was already something from 2016.

She really hadn't changed a bit, except for picking up a little hobby of getting close to girls.

Bai Liang couldn't help it—just like when they first met—he ruffled her head.

"So heartwarming~"

Oh no! The evil gardenia has arrived.

And at this moment the crew's cameras and mics came over too, so some things couldn't be said carelessly.

"This is my little sister—how could it not be heartwarming~" Bai Liang got into character, playing up that Tongtong was his good little sister.

He He He He Laoshi let out an "Oh~," indicating he understood everything, and that today's intimate interaction belonged to Li Xin.

She was the official pairing for Bai Liang in *Joy of Life*.

But at this moment Li Xin was in the kitchen with Teacher Huang studying cooking.

Nothing wrong with that, and it's not like she can't learn. Teacher Huang's home cooking definitely has real skill—absolutely much better than many a female star who never lifts a finger in the kitchen.

As long as she doesn't pick up some weird stuff, that's fine.

Those two youngsters came out now too—they'd finished putting away the luggage.

Bai Liang, the type who enjoys blessings and never makes life hard for himself, wouldn't deliberately say he had to find some work to do even in front of the cameras.

That just doesn't happen.

This kind of thing mostly comes down to the editing.

Some guests come on this show, work their tails off all afternoon, take a half-hour break, and the editors might just cut in that half-hour break.

The audience sees it and—wow! Lazy bum!

Last time Bai Liang came he didn't do much work either; he took Miss Jing Tian fishing, and later helped them plant rice seedlings for a bit.

But in the final edit of the show, it somehow felt like he was everywhere.

The bullet comments were full of praise for him being down-to-earth and hardworking.

That's variety shows for you—what matters is the selling points, the show effect, and the traffic.

Knowing all this, Bai Liang slacked off with a clear conscience.

"Every time I see you, it feels like I have to refresh my understanding all over again. After all these years as a host, this is the first time I've dared to call an artist the most popular on the show." He He He He Laoshi said, sighing as he brewed tea.

"Sure enough it's He He He He Laoshi's bit."

"Haha, by the way, how much more do you need to hit twenty billion at the box office?" He He He He Laoshi suddenly asked curiously.

"I know!" Peng Yuchang raised his hand right away and reported the exact figure, "Bro's cumulative box office is exactly eighteen billion right now!"

"So impressive."

As the straight man, Zhang Zifeng's skills still seemed a bit lacking.

But that little-girl look of admiration on her face was pretty good—could give her a close-up and cut it into the show.

"Number one at the box office, number one in fans, number one in traffic. I don't think it's wrong to say you're the most popular, right?" He He He He Laoshi gave his reasoning.

Honestly, he'd really never seen a terrifying all-rounder like Bai Liang.

Luckily his singing is average and his dancing isn't much either, otherwise he'd truly have no weaknesses at all.

Faced with such praise, an ordinary person would probably feel embarrassed, but Bai Liang somehow found a bizarre angle: "When Wu Moufan came the other day, how did you praise him?"

"Pfft!"

He He He He Laoshi had just taken a sip of tea and sprayed it all out at once.

He couldn't help but point at Bai Liang, his expression seeming to say: You really won't let that guy off, will you.

"Let's not talk about how I praised him for now. He's two years older than you—do you know what kind of insight he's come up with now?"

"That guy working and eating can come up with insight? Wrote another 'Big Bowl of Trotters'?" Bai Liang said, stunned.

"Pfft! Big Bowl of Trotters, what the hell is that"

Not long ago, Wu Moufan had put out a song called "Big Bowl of Wide Noodles."

Setting aside its musical merits for now—after all, Bai Liang doesn't know either.

But in terms of PR, it absolutely counts as a textbook case.

It topped the charts on multiple music platforms and sparked a wave of derivative creations on Bilibili, Douyin and other platforms, with plays quickly breaking a hundred million.

Many netizens praised him for "expanding his vision" and having "high EQ."

It was definitely a key "image repair" event in his career.

The main thing was that Kun Kun was there helping Wu Moufan "self-deprecate," and Kun Kun sent a lawyer's letter.

Which directly caused the entire internet to start spreading an electronic plague.

Otherwise, even though the "Four Top-Tier" talk hadn't faded yet, this year might have been enough to kick that guy Wu Moufan out.

Now he really had risen again, all because of just one song.

Yang Yang, who had been working so hard filming, could only regret that he couldn't rap.

Otherwise he wouldn't have to get "beaten up" by Bai Liang every single year—almost never missed, except for the year Bai Liang debuted.

It was all bitter tears when you got down to it.

What bullshit Four Top-Tier—he was the only one seriously "resisting Bai."

The rest were all poseurs; lose once or twice and they slinked off. Li Yifeng had basically vanished from the internet entirely.

And at this moment, just as helpless as Yang Yang, was the production crew of "Longing for Life."

The production crew was truly torn.

This lord right in front of them really did have great variety-show effect, and his guts were enormous.

But their show's guts weren't necessarily that big—they didn't dare cut it. What to do?

Director Chen Gezhou and producer Wang Zhenyu were both on set today, the two of them sitting there scratching their heads.

At this moment He He He He Laoshi, after failing to hold back his laughter for a while because of the "big bowl of pig's feet," didn't pick up the thread either, and directly changed the subject: "Xiao Bai, you're twenty-seven this year too, right?"

"Yeah."

"Fan Fan is already twenty-nine. The day before yesterday he was sitting right here looking for a wife."

"Him? Looking for a wife?"

"Yeah, he said he's almost thirty and really can't find anyone, he's genuinely panicking, feeling a kind of loneliness in his life." He He He He Laoshi said very seriously.

Bai Liang reached out to prop up his own chin, and conveniently covered his mouth—mainly because he was afraid he'd laugh out loud.

Honestly, even when he'd met Zhang Bozhi before and his mind automatically recalled those tiny little flutterings of adolescence, he hadn't been this unable to hold it together.

At this point He He He He Laoshi actually asked: "What about you?"

"Me? Sister Tong Tong is twenty-nine too, let's interview her first."

"You little fox, what did you just call me?" Li Yitong's eyes went wide, her face full of surprise.

She had never heard such an address from Bai Liang's mouth before, so much so that she accidentally blurted out the "endearing term."

"Hold on! What fox? What little?" He He He He Laoshi's eyes instantly went wide too, and he immediately entered his evil gardenia state.

Peng Yuchang and Zhang Zifeng were also pricking up their ears nearby, feeling like they'd just gotten a huge piece of gossip.

Li Yitong was also very quick-witted, and immediately came out with: "His nickname isn't Bai Daxian, right? Northeastern immortal, fox, little fox, that's right, isn't it?"

"Sis, the Northeastern Bai Daxian is a hedgehog." Peng Yuchang couldn't help but say.

"Huh? I didn't know that~"

At this very moment, Li Yitong delivered the performance of her career's peak.

That look of utter astonishment on her face didn't look acted at all.

Very good, very reasonable.

At this moment Li Xin finally came out of the kitchen too. She didn't know what little cooking trick she'd learned, but she looked quite confident.

"What are you chatting about~ Count me in!"

The chatterbox has arrived!

Don't be fooled by Li Xin's rather cool, aloof face—she actually posts relatively little in their Young Lady's group chat.

But offline, she talks a ton!

"He just called me sis!" Li Yitong pulled Li Xin to sit down beside her, her face full of astonishment.

Li Xin was stunned: "For real? He's never called me that before."

"Really, if you don't believe me, ask everyone!"

Everyone was nodding, indicating: We testify.

Li Xin's originally smiling face immediately turned bitter. "You've never even called me sis."

Bai Liang was completely numb. "Is this form of address really that important?"

"Important!" Li Xin hurriedly nodded, then gazed at him eagerly, her expression full of longing.

Call me, call me quick.

"Okay, you answer He He He He Laoshi's question first, and once you're done I'll call you that."

"What question?"

"You're turning thirty—do you feel a kind of loneliness in your life?"

Li Xin:.

She directly grabbed Bai Liang's arm, then sweetly called out: "Brother~"

"Oh my!" He He He He Laoshi immediately played straight man: "What are you two doing? Making it official?"

"I was properly wedded by my lord Xiao Fan."

At this moment Li Yitong also caught on: "Brother! Brother!"

She said it fast and urgent, as if she was about to lay an egg any second.

Bai Liang looked at He He He He Laoshi, then at Peng Peng, and did a teddy-bear shrug.

The three men exchanged glances, all smiles.

See, neither of those two wanted to admit she was almost thirty—they were both the type who'd rather get a "turn thirty, knock off ten" deal.

But age isn't like a takeout discount—Heaven doesn't issue that kind of coupon.

Since we're going for thrills, let's see it through to the end.

This is something Ellie from the drama *The Temptation to Go Home* taught everyone.

So Bai Liang went straight to the youngest person on set and asked, "How old is Zifeng this year?"

"Eighteen by nominal age."

"Those two are almost a full twelve years older than you." Bai Liang's mouth split into a grin, then he felt two killing auras from behind him, and the next second he reined in his smile. "But they do look about the same age as you."

The on-set cameras recorded this "terrifying moment."

As expected of a man who can take on the African wilderness solo — his survival instincts are just too strong!

At the same time, he's also the kind of blockhead who dares to slap a lion across the face — why on earth bring up age? An enraged older single woman is capable of anything!

Even more "dangerous" than an African lioness.

Still, although it was thrilling and exciting, Bai Liang really didn't have to call those two girls "big sister" anymore.

For some reason, a lot of girls were obsessed with making Bai Liang call them "big sister."

Sister Tian Tian had thrown countless tantrums over this — acting cute, whining, playing rogue, waving money around, every trick in the book.

As for the reason? She just likes it. Women's business, don't ask.

Push further and the answer is: once you call her that, she'll dote on you, love you, give you her life, little brother.

Bai Liang summed it up and figured it was probably that soft-living aura of his, the kind that came from being kept for too long.

The young ladies were looking for excuses to stuff food into his mouth.

Calling them "big sister" was basically the entry fee~

You can't have them playing the doting little wife one moment and the big female lead the next — there's no logic to that.

It's just like how sometimes they couldn't help calling him "big brother" — couldn't hold it back, automatically turning into the doting little wife.

So~

Don't say twenty-seven — even at thirty-seven, there wouldn't be a shred of loneliness in his life.

He could just sit there, perfectly still and quiet, and still never finish eating it all~

He He He He Laoshi watched Li Xin and Li Yitong instinctively reach for the fruit on the table, picking out the best pieces and feeding them to Bai Liang's mouth, and couldn't help coughing a few times.

Production team: Um, this should be okay to edit in, right? Something just feels a little off.

Bai Liang: That's just how it is in TV dramas~ If it's not, then pretend I never said anything.

(End of chapter)