Chapter 397: The Legendary On-Camera Couple?!

What a great "I insist on forcing it!"

But this phrase is actually not auspicious, since Zhao Min has apparently been waiting for Zhang Wuji in Dadu for over twenty years now?

Still, it's better than Zhou Zhiruo's line: "What if I feel guilty?"

And right now, Chen Duling's vibe really does feel just right.

No wonder she passed her second audition.

Although Bai Liang isn't quite sure how she uses her science-student mindset to handle acting, he's not in a hurry—it's only just started, so there's time to learn slowly.

If she hasn't fully figured it out yet, no need to worry—Bai Liang will step in naturally~

Giving people lessons like this, he's gotten increasingly skilled.

Girl stays, boy strives~

Besides, Chen Duling is a top student; giving her a little White Teacher mini-lesson would probably be very efficient.

Bai Liang glanced at her and noticed that Chen Duling had seemingly lost even her previous reserve and slight shyness—she stared straight up at him without blinking.

At that moment, a flustered figure rushed in, apologizing.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

Zhou Ye seemed to have run all the way—her hair was slightly disheveled, and she stood there awkwardly trying to fix it for a long while, but nothing worked.

Above her head, a stubborn cowlick seemed determined to rebel at just this moment~

This was the consequence of Zhou Ye lying in bed, head propped up, frantically scrolling through her phone.

There was no help for it—this was her first time topping the trending list, and she really couldn't resist checking how everyone was talking about her.

But for her, this "first time" experience was quite pleasant.

Not uncomfortable at all.

Maybe because she was with Bai Liang—he's an old hand, with too much experience.

After all, Bai Liang has nearly grown tired of topping trending lists—he used to find it amazing, now he thinks it's just ordinary.

This is a fairly typical player mentality.

If topping the trending list is like chasing a goddess, then the goddess others can only dream of has become almost routine for him.

But Zhou Ye is different! She probably won't even sleep tonight!

So this is how it feels~ So wonderful! Now that she's had one, she wants another—she couldn't help biting her lip and stealing a glance at Bai Liang, all while frantically fixing her cowlick.

Bai Liang: This girl is truly two-dimensional, especially that cowlick.

But it also makes her look a bit dim-witted—right now, she resembles a scruffy little puppy.

"Come sit down, you're not late—we're the ones who came early." Chen Duling invited Zhou Ye, sounding very much like an older sister.

In age, she truly is—the 1993-born senior and the 1998-born junior are five years apart.

Still, when filming begins, it'll be Zhou Ye bullying Chen Duling—but the way they interact now makes it feel strangely off, or rather, after this kind of interaction, will there even be any bullying left?

But Bai Liang was overthinking—it wasn't even Chen Duling's turn yet.

Zhou Ye's biggest problem right now isn't that—it's

"Oh my, how did you get trending again?" Chen Duling said, surprised.

"I don't know," Zhou Ye groaned, covering her face.

She didn't know why, but now she felt almost habitually flushed—just seeing Bai Liang smile at her

"Feels like an allergy~" Chen Duling touched Zhou Ye's cheek—smooth, warm, surprisingly pleasant—then turned to glance at the "allergen," her eyes slightly mischievous.

Bai Liang:???

Allergen? Me?

Chen Duling nodded lightly, mimicking Bai Liang's habit with a little bear shrug. "Obviously, Senior! Think of a solution—how's she supposed to act like this?"

Indeed, if Wei Lai blushes every time she sees Xiao Bei, this movie shouldn't be about bullying—it should be retitled "Street Hoodlum Flirts with Top Student Girl," and make it two of them!

Pure yellow-hair drama.

So this problem really needs solving.

Bai Liang thought for a moment. "My dance teacher once taught me…"

"Senior, you've never learned to dance," Chen Duling said outright.

Clearly, she'd done her homework—she knew Bai Liang well.

"It's Song Qian. I briefly studied with her before, cramming—she has a whole 'desensitization' method, but it's not suitable for her."

Not just unsuitable for Zhou Ye—even for Bai Liang himself, it'd be deadly.

Desensitization isn't the issue—but no man can handle constant desensitization! The last time he danced on stage without his legs going weak, he truly was a legendary warrior!

Even Lü Bu could be weakened by wine and beauty~

Hearing the word "desensitization," Chen Duling instinctively felt something was off, but since she wasn't a dancer, she didn't understand.

"Big Sister Du, I have a solution."

Zhou Ye interrupted, barely adjusting her tone.

"What solution?"

"Uh…"

Honestly, Zhou Ye felt this was Chen Duling's fault.

Who told those wolfish phrases like "fuck till dawn"? Zhou Ye realized what she needed wasn't desensitization—it was disenchantment!

The perfect opportunity arrived immediately!

After the launch event, filming didn't start right away—there were still preparations, actor bonding, script readings, and so on.

So Bai Liang and Chen Duling naturally wouldn't miss this rare chance!

After rehearsing scenes with the script during the day, they planned to meet in the RV at night.

Extremely "brazen," making the appointment right in front of Zhou Ye.

It left her stunned and bewildered.

Wow~

Don't they even avoid people? Are they the legendary filming-couple duo?!

Clearly, these two were going to fulfill their promise of "working till dawn."

Zhou Ye: Curious puppy, deploy!

That RV was parked right beneath the hotel; she could easily stroll over and see it.

Meanwhile, she had prepared in advance.

Earlier that day, she had gone up, checked in, and taken photos—completing a minor entertainment industry achievement.

Then she quietly opened one of the air vents. The window wouldn't let anyone see inside, but listening to the sounds was definitely fine.

Yet, when she crept over in the dead of night like a thief to eavesdrop, she heard a bunch of bizarre things.

"I'm leaning on you, I'm in a hurry."

"Big him, he's dead!"

"Can you solo kill?"

"."

What a "work till dawn"—she was truly impressed!

Why not just say "play games till dawn"?

This was just something she didn't understand about their way of communicating.

Bai Liang and Chen Duling could have even more abbreviated "language."

"Work?"

"Come!"

"Do it?"

"Good~"

If Zhou Ye heard this, he'd be even more confused about what the two were up to.

After all, when a young, handsome guy and a beautiful girl say such things, it's naturally easy to misunderstand.

And in truth, they didn't actually play games till dawn—they returned to the hotel and slept by two a. m.

Yet the next day, they were both still energetic, leaving Zhou Ye with two dark circles under his eyes.

Zhou Ye: I'm going to kill everyone spreading rumors!

Her imagination was so vivid partly because she'd overheard whispers claiming Chen Duling landed the female lead role through some form of quid pro quo.

Who did the favoring? Obviously obvious!

Either Bai Liang, or a senior executive at Bai Liang's company—because in the end, someone from Bai Liang's side pushed for the final decision.

It naturally invites speculation~

This was even after Bai Liang's schedule was extremely transparent, and he hadn't met Chen Duling at all in the first half of this year.

Perhaps to patch this up, they added the detail about Bai Liang's company executive.

But the problem was, that decision-making executive at Bai Liang's company was a girl~

Sister Yanzi: Huh? I did a quid pro quo on Chen Duling? That's nonsense—I'm not some evil little kitten.

But the reason rumors are rumors is precisely because they're false.

And since Chen Duling ultimately got the role, paying some price was only natural.

The price here refers to the rumors.

Someone was spreading negative dirt on Chen Duling.

Honestly, it's hard to say who exactly wanted to do this—there were probably many people who did, too many to catch.

It wasn't even intentionally targeted at her; whoever landed this role would inevitably face this.

Whether it was a rival preparing in advance or a loser bitter about defeat, this situation was bound to arise the moment the competition for this role began.

The reason they blackened her was exactly the same as why everyone fought for the role.

Female demons all wanted to eat Tang Sengrou; the winner would inevitably face that monkey—yeah, the black monkey!

After the premiere press conference, this rumor appeared as a trending black热搜.

When it surfaced, Zhou Ye's trending red-hot topic was still number one.

This move was truly damn nasty~

Besides blackening Chen Duling, it also seemed meant to pit the female lead and second lead against each other.

The second female lead hit number one on trending, then immediately the female lead was hit with this black热搜—it was hard not to suspect Zhou Ye's team was behind it.

Of course, Chen Duling herself didn't think that way.

She was even grateful to Zhou Ye's team, and she'd genuinely seen how red-hot he became—had she been able to control this herself, it would've been a superpower!

They were still figuring out how to "desensitize" her.

It was precisely because she responded fast enough that her fans didn't go online to harass Zhou Ye.

After posting a photo of the two of them cheek-to-cheek on Bai Liang's RV sofa, she gave a slight response.

The cast is united! No one is dragging anyone else down.

She also teased Zhou Ye's red-hot mode, and the two exchanged playful, affectionate banter.

As a result, fans didn't "launch a campaign," but the black热搜 about Chen Duling being subjected to quid pro quo still remained up.

In response, Chen Duling's team took action.

They actively debunked the claim about Bai Liang's company executive, mainly by informing the public who that executive actually was.

"These days, people making rumors are so ridiculous—Bai Liang's company CEO is a girl, that's Bai Liang's agent, same age as Doudou, what nonsense about sexual favors!"

"Poor miss, who did she offend?"

"She got the role, watching the mad dogs bark—Doudou prepared so much for this part, didn't take any roles for half a year, this is what she deserves."

"Looking forward to 'Youth of the Year' smashing box office records! Doudou, go for it~"

"Why not deny the part about being sexually exploited by Bai Liang? Could it be true?"

"Bai Liang's schedule is so transparent, does this even need denying? He's either on set filming or in front of public cameras—during that missing time, he even went to Zhufeng. Are you saying he sexually exploits actresses above five thousand meters altitude?"

"He's basically Superman—I think he has the ability to do it at Zhufeng Base Camp! Haha~"

"Bai Liang can, but Doudou is so thin, probably can't. Uh, cough cough, this is getting a bit dirty."

"So you mean Doudou single-handedly broke through Gu Li Na Zha and Di Li Re Ba's defenses and successfully stole the base?"

"And Li Xin and others—I studied Bai Liang's schedule for the first half of the year; he's always surrounded by female stars."

"Poor Doudou can't even get a chance at sexual exploitation?"

"Sexual exploitation by Bai Liang? The hell, is there such a thing?!"

"Though I really want to curse the rumor-mongers, I still want to say—though I love Doudou very much, she can't have it all~ She can't grab every advantage."

"."

The fans spoke well—don't say it again next time.

Chen Duling herself watched how her fans "debunked" the rumors for her and couldn't help but feel her face darken.

What does that even mean?!

What's this "wanting it all" business?

Do you think she'll just post a Weibo right now saying she's been sneaking into Bai Liang's trailer every day? Jump right into the fight herself?

Watching other female stars fight over Senior every day, she too felt a bit itchy inside.

Hmm… she doesn't need to post—someone else posted for her!

The paparazzi: Fuck! Finally got it!

These people were practically in tears, filled with the happiness of having waited so long and finally capturing a big scoop on Bai Liang.

Three days after the premiere of 'Youth of the Year,' a "major news" dropped to #1 trending.

Chen Duling and Bai Liang's trailer date.

The details claimed she stayed in Bai Liang's car for six hours that night!

Six hours is enough for three round trips!

"Senior, I didn't post that!"

"Huh? Post what?" Bai Liang, seeing Chen Duling rush over to explain, looked utterly confused.

"That paparazzi leak online."

Chen Duling was indeed anxious, but not because of the online rumors—she was more worried Bai Liang would misunderstand her.

Just from her fans' reactions, you could tell—this collaboration was already climbing a ladder, clinging to a thigh.

Zhou Ye, this little newcomer, only rode the heat of her blushing face at the premiere and already gained recognition as a minor flower.

And Chen Duling, the legitimate lead actress, naturally reaped even more benefits.

She could afford to be even more "greedy."

Not just riding the benefits of working with Bai Liang, but also sucking up his personal traffic—using this scandal to directly bind and drain him!

This kind of thing has happened before in the entertainment industry.

Some artists actually hire paparazzi themselves to take photos—and what Chen Duling wanted to explain to Bai Liang was exactly this.

She didn't do it, she didn't, Senior, you must believe her!

But Bai Liang just shrugged, "Of course I believe you. But even if you really want to stir up hype, just tell me—I'll cooperate and film it with you."

"Huh?!"

Chen Duling was completely thrown off, staring blankly at Bai Liang, nearly turning into a literal little white rabbit on the spot.

Little white rabbits have red eyes, right? If she burst into tears from emotion, she'd enter her complete form.

Bai Liang: I've always been like this~

Otherwise, how did Li Xin and Li Yitong get their endorsements? It's basically the same method.

Just leveraging Bai Liang for a bit of marketing—it's no big deal.

He's always been generous toward this kind of "exploitation."

Girls just want some attention—it's not a crime.

Wow!

Zhou Ye, the eavesdropping puppy, had her mouth hanging open in shock.

She finally understood why her boss always said Bai Liang was such an interesting artist.

And that his reputation in the industry was especially good in some way.

So THAT'S what kind of reputation!

Miss, do you want traffic? Just say the word—take as much as you want.

Capybara had no judgment toward such behavior—he never looked down on girls for it; instead, he turned around to comfort them, telling them not to feel guilty.

Otherwise, why would everyone who used it say it was great? ~

Chen Duling: Maybe I should take off two pieces of clothing?

Otherwise, I feel guilty taking this much traffic.

Zhou Ye secretly nodded—she agreed. Support Doudou-sis taking off two pieces, at least swap for some silk stockings.

Otherwise, it's not sincere enough.

At this very moment, all the boasts Meng Jie had been bragging to her about Bai Liang — about how wonderful he was — seemed to be slowly becoming reality right before her eyes.

However, Chen Duling ultimately still didn't take off her clothes — oh no, to be precise, she rejected this wave of traffic.

This involves a matter of sequence!

Although it actually wasn't that important, she felt it was. Very important!

"Senior, maybe you should still clarify things," Chen Duling said seriously.

"You sure about that?"

"Mm!"

"I can testify for you!" Zhou Ye felt the atmosphere was really nice, so he couldn't help but chime in.

"Dou Xiao Ye?!"

"Ahem, I was just passing by."

Chen Duling gave Zhou Ye a helpless look, seeming a bit unable to do anything about her, but she wasn't doing anything weird with Bai Liang anyway, so it didn't matter if someone overheard — the two of them hadn't deliberately avoided people.

After confirming Chen Duling wanted to refute the rumors, Bai Liang said OK, then called Sister Yanzi.

Sister Yanzi: I'll handle it.

As for the specifics of how to handle it, Bai Liang wasn't clear, but handing it over to Sister Yanzi was the right call anyway.

Sure enough, by evening, the situation took a turn.

"I'm dying laughing — these two played nine games in six hours! From now on, if Chen Duling gets on Bai Liang's RV again, I won't think they're doing anything weird — these two really are gaming addicts!"

"Won seven out of nine games, with that win rate, even I could play for six hours!"

"Yesterday some IG team members were even spectating two games during their livestream — Dudu is so fierce, going on a rampage, snagging four MVPs~"

"Top-tier male star and rising actress spend the night in an RV — turns out they were just gaming?!"

"Can't these two do something adults should do? Really something else."

"Ahem, what if the two of them sneaked a kiss during queue or even got a round in?"

"Who do you think you're looking down on? If it were really like that, could those two newcomers from Xinjiang have played that hard for the Great Immortal? Sneaking a kiss might be possible, but if they really kissed, could they still keep gaming for six hours straight?"

"."

Ranked match records, spectating streamers, all kinds of evidence crystal clear — even Bai Liang was recognized while gaming, and he even interacted with fans in-game for a bit.

He even replied to friend messages mid-game, and there was even voice chat appearing in a certain livestream room — Chen Duling's voice could faintly be heard inside.

The original salacious scandal immediately turned into a bizarre, funny news story.

Pants already off, and you two are gaming?

This round of PR was simply no challenge at all for Sister Yanzi.

Because these two really were gaming on the RV.

If it had been taking off clothes and fighting, it might have been a bit more troublesome for her — after all, you'd have to make true into false.

But this kind of thing that was already righteous and confident — not only was it no challenge, it could also conveniently give Chen Duling a new persona on the side.

She went straight from gaming girl to internet-addicted girl.

Most people generally believed that if she weren't a gaming addict, she couldn't have done something like focusing on gaming while a male god sat right beside her.

It made Chen Duling's fans complain: Dudu, couldn't you at least do a little "proper business"?

(End of chapter)