Chapter 378: You

Has the rain stopped?

Chen Daoming looked up and realized it wasn't quite over—only that the cloud layer above seemed to have been burned through by a hole.

Gold-foil sunlight poured down through the tear in the clouds.

Like a stage spotlight, it landed precisely on Bai Liang, following him all the way.

The remaining raindrops around him sparkled with tiny rainbows, as if someone had upended crushed diamonds across the sky.

This beam of light was strange—the typhoon's outer circulation should have been impenetrable, yet now it looked like a cake precisely sliced.

Chen Daoming, who had just instinctively taken a step forward and immediately gotten drenched, hurriedly retreated under the eaves.

When he looked up again, Bai Liang, who had already opened the car door, seemed to nod at him, as if bidding farewell.

Though obscured by the rain curtain, blurred as if filtered through some strange lens, for some reason, one still sensed an unusual grace and quiet confidence.

This feeling was deeply disillusioning—the young man who had just been chatting with him now felt like he existed in another world.

By the time the car drove off, the hole in the clouds had closed, and everything that had just happened seemed like an illusion.

Chen Daoming was still dazed, even slapped his own cheeks, wondering if he hadn't woken up yet.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

In his sixty-four years of "shallow" life, he had never seen such an extravagant scene.

"Holy shit."

Ascended to immortality?!

Bai Liang didn't know what Chen Daoming was thinking—this old man had "seen it all," his experience spoke for itself; he shouldn't be so shocked.

"Bro, I just took a photo."

Xiao Qi turned around from the front, his tone oddly strained; Bai Liang glanced at him and noticed a flicker of fervor in the boy's eyes.

But he only smiled and asked, "Did it turn out cool? If not, I'm docking your pay."

"It's not about whether it's cool—it looks like it was edited."

"Then let Sister Yanzi give you a raise."

As soon as he mentioned Sister Yanzi, she called.

"Bro Xiao Bai, aren't you heading to Yanjing?"

"Does our General Yan even need to weigh in on something this small?" Bai Liang teased her.

"Oh no."

The title "General Yan" made Sister Yanzi embarrassed—others calling her that was one thing, but why was her own Xiao Bai doing it too? How awkward!

She quickly shifted back to the matter at hand, "The weather's bad right now—you might not be able to go."

"No problem, I'll take my chances."

"The originally scheduled flight has been canceled."

"Really?" Bai Liang's tone wasn't surprised—he seemed to be waiting for Sister Yanzi to continue.

Seeing she couldn't fool her own Xiao Bai, Sister Yanzi didn't drag it out, "But I had someone rebook you—only a few flights remain, though they might still get canceled."

"Which airline's got such guts?"

"Shandong Airlines."

—

At the airport, the display screens showed numerous flight status columns in red, marked with delays or cancellations.

Simultaneously, the PA system kept broadcasting:

"Passengers on flight 【xxxx】 to 【xx】, please note: We regret to inform you that your flight has been canceled due to weather conditions. Please proceed to the 【xx】 counter to reschedule or request a refund. For assistance, contact staff. Thank you for your understanding."

"."

All canceled or delayed flights repeated this announcement every 10 to 15 minutes after the scheduled departure time or until passengers were evacuated.

The frequency of these announcements now clearly indicated how many flights had been canceled or delayed.

And due to extreme weather, the airport had activated emergency broadcasts and deployed extra staff for guidance.

Bai Liang held his boarding pass, tilting his head to study the flight info—and sure enough, the Shandong Airlines flight to Yanjing was the only one among all "canceled" flights marked simply as "delayed by thirty minutes," standing out like a lone crane.

It was the only one stubbornly refusing to cancel, wasn't it?

Extraordinarily stubborn!

Bai Liang nodded, indicating he liked this kind of headstrong airline.

It reminded him of Russian flights.

When he filmed "The Wandering Earth," there was a scene where a Russian brought vodka into the space station.

Supposedly, even in terrible weather, Russian Airlines would still shout "Ura!", down a shot of vodka, and blast straight into the sky.

At that moment, the Shandong Airlines pilot, a retired Air Force officer, glanced outside and called out: "Tower, can we fly?"

"No, there's rain."

"No hesitation?!"

"Takeoff prohibited!"

"Proceed with takeoff?"

"."

After the joke ended, the tower finally replied: "Weather conditions have slightly improved—now meet takeoff standards."

"Let's go! We've already wasted over ten minutes—fly fast now."

Smooth boarding, smooth takeoff.

Bai Liang didn't waste a few minutes after arriving at the airport—he boarded the plane and flew straight to Yanjing.

"Sis, Xiao Bai's flight seems to have been canceled."

Assistant Lingling said she had already checked, and within an hour there was actually only one flight taking off from Bai Liang's side.

She had seized a window when the weather conditions were just right and secretly "slipped out." The others, slower to act, some had even taxied onto the runway, but in the end the weather turned bad again and they had no choice but to cancel.

After waiting and waiting, this was still the only news she got.

This made Reba pause for two seconds, then break into a smile instead: "Alright then."

But once her own assistant left, she immediately gave him a call, only to be told, "The number you have dialed is powered off. Please try again later."

"Huh? Is his phone out of battery?"

Humans really are strange creatures—knowing full well the call won't go through, they still can't help dialing again and again.

And before long, the birthday party officially began, and in the end she still hadn't been able to get through.

"Thank you, just a glass of water for me is fine."

Right now Bai Liang was on the plane flipping through a magazine, and had sneakily given an autograph to a flight attendant who was biting her lip, looking thrilled but not daring to make a sound, and along the way asked for a glass of water for himself.

This trip had been a bit too rushed—he hadn't even had time to buy Reba a birthday present.

A few months ago, when it was his own birthday, she had given him a piece of very moist, white Hetian jade—to be precise, it should already be called mutton-fat jade.

Bai Liang didn't really know the stuff, so he asked if it was expensive, and she said it was a specialty of Xinjiang, everywhere you look.

That made him so curious he even wanted to grab a hoe and head to Xinjiang Hetian to dig for some himself.

After all, the stuff really is quite pretty.

"Is there anything else you need?" the flight attendant asked, leaning slightly forward.

"What time does our flight get to Yanjing?"

"It should be about twenty-something minutes later than the normal arrival time."

Hearing that, Bai Liang scratched his head. "Can the captain fly a bit faster? I'm in a real hurry."

If anyone else had asked that, the flight attendant would have been complaining inside, but the person in front of her… she actually really wanted to go urge the captain on his behalf.

But in the end she could only give him a helpless smile.

Fortunately, Bai Liang wasn't about to make things hard for the flight attendant, and he cheerfully satisfied the other flight attendants who had quietly slipped over wanting autographs.

Because he was sitting in the first row of first class, separated by a curtain, he could still hear a few flight attendants letting out suppressed cheers.

But little notes with phone numbers on them were a no-go—too awkward to accept.

After all, he couldn't exactly bring that stuff over as a birthday present.

When the time came, if Reba asked him what it was, would he say, "It's the contact info of a few very striking, very hot-bodied flight attendants"?

It has that kind of "I might just drop dead tomorrow" vibe.

Still, can't the plane speed up just a little?

Bai Liang rested his chin on his hand, gazed out the window, and muttered.

At that moment, the captain suddenly received another notice from the tower: "Shandong Airlines xxx, fly faster, the one behind is rushing you."

Captain:??? What kind of nonsense is "rushing me"—is there someone up in the sky drag-racing planes?

"Who? Some lunatic?"

"Lekima."

"Which airline?"

"Typhoon Lekima, number nine."

". Shit! Next time just say typhoon straight up!"

Tower: If I said typhoon straight up, you former Air Force guys might just assume there's a typhoon fighter jet catching up behind you.

Still, this time it really was "floor it all the way."

In the end, not only did they make up the delayed time, they even arrived over twenty minutes early.

When landing in Yanjing, looking at the drizzling rain, the captain remarked with feeling: "I heard this typhoon's impact is especially big, there's heavy rain even up north. I was worried earlier we wouldn't be able to land—how did the rain suddenly get so much lighter?"

"Lekima chased us for a bit, then turned and headed for Japan."

"It can do that? It just took a huge turn! Not bad luck~"

"."

Bai Liang: This captain is just as awesome as the flight attendants! Nice flying~

Give him a thumbs up.

The car here at Yanjing Airport to pick him up had naturally long been ready.

But before he could rush to the birthday party venue, there was clearly one last hurdle—after turning on the GPS, every road in Yanjing was a wall of red traffic.

But Bai Liang's super brain was clearly no decoration either.

He thought for a moment, then happily trotted off to take the subway.

After all, underground doesn't get jammed, it's just a bit cramped. The only issue was that if people recognized him, it might be a bit of a hassle.

Luckily, he happened to run into a sunset tour group—all aunties—and swarmed onto the subway right behind them.

The subway leaving the airport didn't need to be squeezed at first, because office workers weren't getting on at this stop, and with so many aunties, other tourists wouldn't crowd over to this side either.

He even managed to snag a seat.

Not that he snatched it from the aunties—the enthusiastic aunties insisted on waving him down to sit.

The aunties didn't want Bai Liang's autograph or a photo; they just wanted to introduce their granddaughters or daughters to him.

"Young man, you're so handsome! Do you have a place in Yanjing?"

"No."

"Other cities?"

"Nope, I haven't bought a place."

"So do you have plans to buy one?"

"No such plan for now."

"."

Chatting with the older women was still enjoyable, but once they learned Bai Liang was a good-looking guy with "no career," several of them sighed in regret and stopped mentioning their own children.

Even a top-tier superstar would still be looked down upon by these women if he had no house.

Fortunately, there was still one older woman, adorned in gold and silver, clearly elegant and well-off, who continued warmly chatting with Bai Liang.

After thoroughly inquiring about his height, weight, and education, she gave him a satisfied look.

Bai Liang also curiously asked about her situation, mainly where she was from.

Xiaoshan, Hangcheng.

Good good good! Very reasonable!

Unable to resist her enthusiasm, he added her daughter's WeChat.

He had a great time chatting with the woman along the way, and even after adding her daughter's WeChat, he sent a greeting.

"Hi, I'm Bai Liang~ Your mom introduced us."

He also politely sent a photo of himself.

The other side replied with a string of ellipses.

A few seconds later came a message: "Hi, I'm Dili Reba."

Then she sent back a photo of Reba.

Bai Liang found it hilarious—but quickly realized something was off. This looked like a live photo!

At the birthday party!

He sent a video call.

The girl on the other end was annoyed; as "Alice," she was currently having fun at her idol's birthday party, and only replied because she was between performances during a break.

And it was insane that her mom had introduced this guy—he just came out saying he was Bai Liang. Pfft!

Didn't she know she was both Alice and Reba and Bai Liang's CP fan?

But the photo was oddly chosen—not from Bai Liang's Weibo, but looked very casual, like it was taken on the subway.

And he dared to send a video?!

She wanted to see what kind of monster was on the other side. Accept.

"Hi, I'm your mom's introduction. Could you tell me what part of the birthday party we're at now?" Bai Liang asked politely.

The girl immediately hung up the video call.

Bai Liang:??

At that moment, the girl's heart pounded wildly: My mom introduced me to a top-tier superstar?! Does my mom have such wide connections?!

Her second thought: Was that photo really taken just now? Is he on the subway?

When the second video call came through, the girl answered faster than ever.

Thus, Bai Liang ended up watching Reba's birthday party live.

This scene… felt exactly like the plot of the TV drama they were going to film.

It was like they'd already rehearsed it in advance.

The girl was now ecstatic, feeling like she was secretly doing something incredibly cool.

She thought if these two were the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, then she was the magpie bridge!

To avoid being noticed, she quietly put on headphones, switched her phone camera to rear-facing, pressed it against her body, then subtly adjusted its position so Bai Liang could see more clearly.

Reba was currently dancing a boy-group routine on stage, wearing a tasseled jacket, a black short T-shirt, jeans, and black leather boots—looking incredibly cool.

Bai Liang gave a fair evaluation: She could debut in an idol group too.

Thanks to this secret "inside agent," Bai Liang had sneakily joined the birthday party.

But whether lucky or unlucky, the girl was selected in the next segment to come onstage and play a game with Reba.

"Wow! Your look is pretty unique—why are you wearing headphones?"

Reba immediately spotted this strangest fan, since everyone else who came up either looked shy and nervous or overly excited.

This girl, however, looked uneasy and awkward.

"Because… my mom introduced me a boyfriend," the girl blurted out, flustered.

Instantly she regretted it, wishing she could slap herself.

Fortunately, Capybara was warm-hearted.

She immediately affirmed: "You're not wrong at all."

Funny enough, Reba even gave a like: "Wow, that's great—is he handsome?"

"Very handsome! No, extremely handsome!"

The crowd below erupted in cheers, turning the girl's face bright red.

"Your phone's been stuck to your body—aren't you video-calling him? Why not say hi together?"

The girl stayed silent, then immediately handed her phone to Reba and pulled out her headphones.

Today, Reba was in ultimate fan-service mode. She smiled, picked up the phone—and froze.

"Happy birthday."

Bai Liang's voice, through the phone's speaker and then Reba's microphone, reached every ear in the venue.

Many people thought the voice sounded familiar—but none thought of Bai Liang.

After all, this was the girl's "boyfriend," right?

Reba nearly broke down, her eyes instantly welling up.

Though she didn't know why Bai Liang had "appeared" before her in such a strange way, girls—how could they not love a surprise like this?

She even quickly imagined that this might be the greatest effort Bai Liang could make under the circumstances of "being unable to come."

She liked this surprise.

So she flashed a bright smile at the phone camera and said, "Thank you~"

But at this moment, when she looked again at the little Miss's expression, it seemed a bit strange.

Tilting her head, a pair of big eyes full of confusion: Are you saying your mom set me up with your boyfriend?!

Little Miss: That's exactly what happened.

Honestly, although she was "Alice," at this moment she really did have the thought of "not wanting to give him back."

"Would you mind letting your 'boyfriend' say hello to everyone here?" Reba asked, holding back laughter.

"Um, actually he's not my boyfriend, I was just kidding."

The fans at the scene were starting to feel something was off by now.

How did a "boyfriend" suddenly pop up wanting to greet everyone?

When the cameraman pushed the lens over and projected it onto the big screen, the venue went absolutely "crazy"!

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Bai Liang!"

"Oh my god!"

"I object to this match!"

"."

Although some rather odd things seemed to have mixed in, they didn't affect the fanatical mood of the scene one bit.

There was a strong air of "if you two don't make it official today, this isn't going to be let go."

And at this moment, Bai Liang had a flash of inspiration: "Hello everyone, I'm Yu Tu, wishing classmate Qiao Jingjing a happy birthday~"

Good, good, good!

The "You Are My Glory" crew that had come to the scene to film material today was overjoyed.

Whether this clip could be used in the TV drama was hard to say, but based on the show's effect alone, it was destined to trend.

They already couldn't imagine how popular it would be when this drama aired.

Crossover with reality like crazy!

Once the TV drama is filmed, even ghosts won't be able to tell which is real.

The only rival was probably the one next door, rumored to be going crazy sprinkling sweet moments while filming.

The two sides next year would probably have a proper showdown to see which one is sweeter!

(End of chapter)