Chapter 374: Helpless Like a Man

Tonight, although Li Xin wasn't drunk, she was pretty tipsy.

After washing up, her cheeks rosy, she burrowed into the blankets.

She didn't go straight to sleep, because right now she was still a bit warm and dizzy, and looking at Zhang Zifeng sitting in front of her, she couldn't help but let out a soft hum.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Sis, I'll sleep in a bit."

"Go to sleep now. Early to bed, early to rise—that's what a good baby does."

That made Zhang Zifeng a little embarrassed; she's eighteen already, and still being called a baby.

But at this point she didn't think anything was off, at most she just felt Li Xin's voice was a bit too soft.

By now Zhang Zifeng had already washed up too, but Li Yitong hadn't come over yet. As the resident guest, she felt she ought to wait for the visitor.

She waited and waited, but the person still didn't show.

Then at that moment Li Xin started up again, "Are you asleep?"

"Asleep, asleep." Zhang Zifeng burrowed into the blankets and hurriedly said.

"I can't really fall asleep. Tell me a story~"

Zhang Zifeng: Huh???

She looked up then and saw that Li Xin's eyes were already closed—could she be talking in her sleep?

"Why aren't you saying anything? I want to hear a story."

That aggrieved tone left Zhang Zifeng completely flustered. "Sister, what story do you want to hear?"

"Hehe, you called me sister~ Call me that a few more times."

"Ah?"

At this very moment, Zhang Zifeng had a very strange sense of déjà vu.

It was as if Li Xin was treating her like someone specific, humming and acting coy—she was throwing a tantrum for affection!

That left Zhang Zifeng in a flurry, at a complete loss.

Some tricks work not only on boys, but on girls just the same.

"Do you not like me or something?"

"No, no!"

Right now, Zhang Zifeng felt as helpless as a man.

"Then tell me that story about the little duck from last time."

Last time?

Help!

What is the story about the little duck?!

Luckily, Li Xin finally fell asleep. That whole episode nearly broke Zhang Zifeng out in a sweat on her forehead.

At the same time she glanced at the other bed, still empty, and felt like both guest sisters this episode were a bit off—what were they up to so late at night?

By now Li Yitong had already started "dai xia hu," driving along and humming a song.

About ten minutes earlier, Bai Liang had found the production crew, said he had something very important and urgent to deal with right away, and that he needed to leave for a bit that evening.

The crew naturally couldn't refuse him, just asked that if possible, he try to come back tomorrow morning.

As for Li Yitong, naturally there was no need to come up with any excuse.

After all, she was that important and urgent matter.

"Little kitty, why are you so excited?"

"Huh? Am I?"

"Once your eyes turn into crescents they don't go back."

Indeed, Li Yitong also felt her looks were at a disadvantage in that regard.

The moment she smiles, her eyes curve up—even wearing a mask doesn't help.

Still, she thought it was pretty cute, that's all~

And she was also quite sure that the capybara beside her liked it very much too. From some of the things he did, you could tell this guy really liked her face.

People really can change.

Before, the evil little kitty had been totally disgusted by some of Bai Liang's behavior, unable to stop scolding him with a "so gross" kind of disdain.

Later on, she gradually started feeling it was actually fine.

If he did that, it must be because he liked her.

Ah geez, just thinking about it makes her feel like she's getting perverted too!

"I don't know why either, I just feel pretty happy."

Hearing that, Bai Liang thought for a moment and understood.

"The evil little kitty loves to sneak a bite."

The other person didn't say anything more, but the way she pressed the gas pedal gave her away. Bai Liang wasn't worried this young lady would drive the car into a ditch—after all, he was sitting in it.

After they arrived at the hotel, the evil little kitty could no longer hold back.

One hungry-cat pounce.

But when she reached out and pulled at something, she suddenly discovered something fun.

"What's with this hickey by your collarbone?"

"The little kitty bit me." Bai Liang said very honestly.

Little kitty? No "evil"?

The evil little kitty said nothing, just gave the hickey on Bai Liang that was already about to fade one fierce bite.

Continue!

——

The next morning, when Li Xin woke up, for some reason, the first thing she did after sitting up was to turn her head and glance beside her.

Zhang Zifeng was sound asleep on the adjacent bed, but the other bed was empty.

Li Xin could no longer sit still; she threw off the covers, stood up, slipped on her slippers, and walked over to touch the bed—there wasn't a trace of warmth.

"Sis, you're awake?"

Zhang Zifeng was startled awake by the noise, rubbed her eyes, and greeted her.

"Zifeng, did you see Tongtong last night?"

"Uh… I don't think I did."

To be honest, Zhang Zifeng wasn't quite sure—she'd been utterly exhausted by Li Xin's antics the night before.

At such a young age, she'd somehow come to understand what it felt like to be a boy.

The helplessness she felt when faced with whining and pouting—though the other girl seemed to have forgotten it all~

Upon hearing Zhang Zifeng's reply, Li Xin immediately concluded in her mind: Damn evil little kitten, sneaking off to eat—and eating alone!

Just as she was muttering inwardly, Li Yitong walked into the room: "Oh, you're finally awake?"

"You slept here last night?" Li Xin scanned her up and down, as if searching for evidence.

Li Yitong spread her hands. "Of course I did. Where else would I sleep? The other room is full of guys."

"What time did you get up?"

"Six. I went out to exercise." Li Yitong spoke without blinking.

"The sheets are cold."

"It's already eight. Of course the sheets are cold—who told you to sleep so late?"

"You have a habit of waking up early to exercise?"

"Nope."

Li Yitong admitted openly, "I'm on the show, so I tagged along with the Master for a run—got more camera time, right? I'm drenched in sweat now. I'm going to change and take a shower. Move over~"

She really had sweated a lot that morning—tired and a little drowsy.

Honestly, Zhang Zifeng found the two sisters' conversation strange.

Li Xin seemed to be interrogating Li Yitong, yet the other didn't get angry—she answered each question calmly.

This odd scene left Zhang Zifeng stunned.

But inwardly, she thought: The Li Xin from last night, before falling asleep, was much gentler—her cooing and clinging had overwhelmed even this little girl.

Now she was just fierce.

Fortunately, Li Xin was only "fierce" toward Li Yitong; when she looked at Zhang Zifeng, she smiled.

After taking a shower, Li Yitong crawled back into bed, as if planning to catch up on sleep.

Li Xin felt something was off, so she changed clothes and stomped downstairs.

Bai Liang and Master He were drinking tea in a small pavilion.

"Xin Xin, good morning~"

"Good morning, Master He. Did you go running this morning?"

"He went running—he's too disciplined. Peng Peng still hasn't woken up."

To Li Xin, Master He's words sounded like he was vouching for Bai Liang—as if to say: He slept in the Mushroom House last night.

But he knew perfectly well Bai Liang hadn't been there—yet the cameras were rolling; how could Master He say otherwise?

The matter seemed to have been brushed off.

Nope!

After Li Yitong woke from her nap, she found Li Xin sitting at the edge of her bed, watching her.

"Xin Xin… you're scaring me like this…"

"Hmph! That evil little kitten did something bad last night—don't you think I should scare you a little?"

"Who did something bad? Don't accuse me!"

"Come on—your changed clothes are covered in that guy's scent. Do you think I can't smell it?"

Li Yitong froze. "You're that pervert? You smelled my underwear?!"

She looked down—her suitcase zipper was indeed half-open.

She was overwhelmed—her face flushed crimson.

Li Xin: That's not true—I lied.

She'd never go through Li Yitong's suitcase—that'd be way too invasive.

She'd just used it as a bluff, based entirely on her reasonable deduction from Bai Liang's habit of "urinating anywhere."

And Li Yitong taking a shower right after waking? Too many red flags!

Of course, she'd deliberately left the zipper half-open—play the whole scene out.

And sure enough, the evil little kitten fell for it.

"Admit it?" Li Xin pressed again.

But Li Yitong's demeanor was odd now—she'd pulled the covers up, leaving only her eyes visible. She blinked, then asked: "Xin Xin… did you really smell it?"

"Yeah, of course I did," Li Xin replied, forcing herself to hold firm, though something felt off.

She felt Li Yitong had revealed a crack—she had to press harder, shatter her侥幸.

Then Li Yitong said: "Do you… like girls too?"

"Huh?!"

At this moment, Li Xin noticed that the evil little kitten's eyes had turned into crescents again.

——

Bai Liang, you're pretty good at training dogs~

At noon, when the guests for the new episode arrived, they saw exactly this scene.

Brother Liang has already set it all up.

Here, it refers to the four dogs of Mushroom House.

They lined up behind him, swaying, each one tilting their head up, sticking out their little butts, trotting after him happily.

The key was, these four little things actually managed to form a half-decent line, tail to tail, making people unable to hold back their laughter.

But Lu Han said he had a very important question he wanted to ask Bai Liang.

"Last time I went to the College Film Festival, I lost ten yuan. Any idea where it went?"

"How the hell would I know?" Bai Liang shrugged with a little bear gesture, then asked him if Mixue Bingcheng was good to drink.

Lu Han: Sweet drink? Of course it's good.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that the money he lost had been picked up by Bai Liang—no special reason, just pure sixth sense.

Ten yuan isn't important, but the meaning is different.

The guests for the episode after Bai Liang's were three people: Chen Chichi, Lu Han, and Teng Teng Teng Huatao.

Bai Liang knew the first two fairly well; Lu Han didn't need explanation—they'd already paid each other's friend fees two or three times and was a strong contender for second place on Bai Liang's side.

There was no help for it: Yang Yang at first place still led by too wide a margin; it was hard for anyone behind to catch up.

As for Chen Chichi, Bai Liang considered him a friend of a friend—they'd recorded shows together, drunk together, and played games together.

Men's ways of interacting are always the same.

So every time they met, they could chat for a while.

As for director Teng Teng Teng Huatao, Bai Liang didn't know him at all—only heard of some of his works, like "33 Days of Losing You," "Naked Marriage Era," "Snail House," and so on.

He'd never interacted with him personally and figured he probably wouldn't get the chance now either.

That's what Bai Liang originally thought.

But Teng Teng Teng Huatao was surprisingly enthusiastic—when he saw Bai Liang, his eyes lit up, grabbed him, and started talking about the sci-fi movie "The Wandering Earth" and so on.

Then, very "casually," he mentioned "The Shanghai Fortress."

Bai Liang gave Lu Han a slightly amused look; Lu Han scratched his head and lowered his head, a little embarrassed.

Oh come on, are you pouting at me like a boyfriend? Go do that with your Guan Xiaotong!

Still, Bai Liang always felt Teng Teng Teng Huatao's gaze at him was "off"—not that weird Sichuan-style weirdness.

But a kind of "regret."

Even now, as he raved about how choosing Lu Han for "The Shanghai Fortress" was because he was so perfect, in reality, back when casting, it was purely because Lu Han was then a cut-above top idol.

He probably never imagined Lu Han would immediately announce a relationship—and that someone like Bai Liang would emerge as a top idol at the same time.

Had he waited just a little longer, the one playing "The Shanghai Fortress" might have been this very man.

Teng Teng Teng Huatao even fantasized: helping Bai Liang break 20 billion in box office, both sides winning together.

The scenario made him feel utterly secure just thinking about it!

Not now, relying on Lu Han's last flicker of traffic heat.

And sure enough, Lu Han had been mocked just a few days ago.

In his interview with "Southern Weekly," he said: "If you ask me to shape a character from start to finish—including traits, personality, small gestures—I'm sorry, but this is the plain truth: at this stage, it's impossible for little fresh meat; for current busy idol stars, I swear it's impossible—how could they have time?"

Then the comments section was flooded with copy-pasted Bai Liang memes—Lu Han was so frustrated he couldn't believe he'd forgotten this monster.

Teng Teng Teng Huatao felt the same: Why didn't I think of him during casting?

In fact, even if he had thought of him, Sister Yanzi would have killed him—she thought even Guo Fan was a fraud.

But people are like this—they love to retrospectively replay: "If only I'd done X back then, things would've been Y."

Yet, while talking about sci-fi films, Teng Teng Teng Huatao actually said: "We have special effects, high-tech, planes and warships, aliens—so we're sci-fi."

In fact, Teng Teng Teng Huatao's resume was stronger than Guo Fan's—before "The Wandering Earth" released, one major reason so many online people doubted it was because they dug up Guo Fan's resume.

It made people go blind.

Sure, having few films under his belt was fine—but what the hell was "Our Youth"?

So hey, guess what? Now audiences had "learned their lesson," and quite a few actually looked forward to "The Shanghai Fortress."

But Lu Han and Teng Teng Teng Huatao had reminded Bai Liang.

"By the way, I've got another movie I might as well promote with you guys—I almost forgot."

"You forgot your own movie?" He He He He Laoshi couldn't help exclaiming, looking at Bai Liang with a strange expression.

"I voiced an animated film: 'Ne Zha: The Rise of the Devil Boy.' Wait a second, let me check the release date."

"July 26th," Teng Teng Teng Huatao suddenly reminded him.

"Yes! July 26th!" Bai Liang nodded quickly and thanked him.

But he felt something was off—his eyes were puzzled.

Teng Teng Teng Huatao smiled. "Our two movies are releasing on the same day."

"Really?"

Bai Liang hadn't paid much attention to this year's summer movie lineup or researched "Ne Zha"'s competitors—apparently, luck was on his side~

"The two of you promoting your competing films together feels kind of weird," He He He He Laoshi added.

Bai Liang just waved his hand. "Back on 'King of Comedy,' I, Brother Teng, and Brother Bo promoted three competing Spring Festival films together—also competitors."

"Exactly! Healthy competition—let's all have big box office!" Teng Teng Teng Huatao laughed.

His smile now was so bright.

Hopefully he can stay this cheerful from now on.

—

When this episode of "The Yearning Life" aired, the results were naturally quite delightful — this time not only because of Bai Liang's boost, but also thanks to some "off-field assistance."

That guy Wu Yifan was spotted holding hands in private with a Miss named Qin Niuzhengwei, and their romance got exposed.

This guy had just said on the show that he felt a sense of loneliness in his life, and the very next moment the paparazzi caught him.

What a wonderful "sense of loneliness."

This thing directly sent his fanbase into an uproar — in some fans' eyes, an idol dating is far worse than screwing fans!

The guy himself kept playing dead, but the woman actually jumped out to deny it.

That move was actually pretty useful — as long as you stubbornly refuse to admit or respond, the fans will come up with excuses on their own.

After a while they'll just "forget," as long as it's not like Lu Han officially announcing it.

Then Bai Liang's hand-over-mouth laughing meme popped up in every corner of this story, including the comment sections of those two people.

Oh right, there was also the photo of the dogs lining up behind his butt, which got turned into a meme too.

Caption: "It's fine, I'm just strolling~"

At the same time, the frame in this episode showing Bai Liang leaving and Lu Han arriving at the Mushroom House also got hyped up like crazy.

The matter of the two of them competing at the box office somehow gained a huge amount of heat.

As if two top-tier stars of completely different tiers, one before and one after, were about to settle who's better right here and now.

This made Director Jiao Zi unable to resist giving Bai Liang a call to thank him.

This marketing is way too powerful!

Especially the moment when the release date of "Ne Zha" actually came out of Teng Huatang's mouth — it felt exactly like the two sides had coordinated to play off each other.

Director Jiao Zi even felt a bit embarrassed — he was already riding Bai Liang's traffic, and now he'd somehow also latched onto the traffic of "Shanghai Fortress," the film that took over the sci-fi movie baton.

In response, Sister Yanzi looked completely baffled: Huh? We didn't do any marketing on that front~

Who's out there doing good deeds?

But the topic really did get hyped up, and a bunch of people insisted on pinning "Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child" onto Bai Liang.

Saying this counts as a movie he starred in too!

Even though some people pointed out how can a dubbed animated film count as starring?

Even Bai Liang himself and his fans thought so — isn't this just purely having some fun and helping out, how did it turn into him starring?

Nope, it counts! It counts!

Bai Liang: Fine then~ as long as you're happy, that's what matters—I'm not just slapping gold on my own face, okay?

(End of chapter)