Chapter 42: Fooled by a Little Miss (Please follow, please vote monthly)

The audition for "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was in Shanghai, and Bai Liang felt right at home the moment he got back.

After all, he "owned a place" in Shanghai too, even though that place was rented by Nazha.

"It's fine, just stay there."

He called Nazha, saying he wanted to go pick up a couple of changes of clothes, but Nazha wouldn't let him stay at a hotel—said it was a waste of money—and insisted Bai Liang stay at her place.

Of course, she herself wasn't in Shanghai at the moment, and no one was home.

At home you rely on your parents; out and about you rely on a rich woman.

Nazha still hadn't given him her supplementary bank card by this point—probably because all her money had gone into buying the house.

Hopefully she'd work hard, earn a bit more, and upgrade to a bigger place.

Bai Liang didn't make a fuss about it either—no one was home, so it wasn't cohabiting, just crashing at someone's place.

After arriving, he even helped tidy up, restocked the fridge, and put in plenty of soda water, juice, and the like.

That counted as "paying rent."

Once all that was done, he checked his phone—there was still an hour until the scheduled audition time.

But Mencius had already sent him over a dozen messages, all of them urging him, checking in periodically to ask where he was.

Bai Liang casually snapped a photo of the doorway to show he was putting his shoes on and heading out, and the other side immediately went silent.

After stepping out and getting in the car, Bai Liang felt something was a bit off.

Just now she'd been chirping away like a little sparrow, pestering him nonstop—how come she suddenly went quiet?

He thought it over, then pulled up the photo he'd sent and took a careful look.

Sure enough, the problem was that photo!

He'd snapped himself opening the door to leave, but had accidentally caught the shoe rack, which was lined with women's shoes.

Nazha did have quite the "collection" in that department—piles of clothes and shoes.

Even the room that was now empty had originally been full of assembled clothing racks, hung with garments.

He had no idea where Nazha had stashed them all afterward.

It wasn't that Bai Liang couldn't bear to part with those very pretty little dresses—he was purely curious.

Besides, if her clothes had nowhere to go because of him, that'd be pretty embarrassing.

So he hoped Nazha's new place would be renovated soon—then there'd be a lot more space.

It's a three-bedroom after all: one as the master bedroom, knock one through into a walk-in closet, and there's still one left...

Even though she'd gone quiet on her phone, the moment he arrived and had just stepped out of the cab, he spotted Mencius on tiptoe, craning her neck to look around.

"Over here~"

Hearing his voice, Mencius immediately brightened up, but quickly reined in her expression and started pretending to be stern.

She wasn't very good at the act—if anything, it came off a bit two-faced~

"Finally here, you're almost late."

"That can't be right?" Bai Liang pulled out his phone again to check. "It's set for two o'clock, there's still ten minutes or so."

"You dare show up to an audition right down to the wire?!"

In the span of those two lines, the cool, stern expression Mencius had just put on crumbled—she was so surprised her jaw nearly dropped...

Mm... Bai Liang immediately realized his mistake: as a "rookie little actor," it really didn't seem proper to arrive right on the dot.

So he decided to "subtly" change the subject: "Why are you here? I thought your role was already locked in? You came all this way just for me?"

"Pfft! I'm here to practice some martial arts moves... don't you dare change the subject!"

"Oh~ I dropped my luggage off at a friend's place earlier, and going there ate up some time."

This time the subject change was much smoother. Mencius caught the keyword, and without a second's hesitation, immediately began "probing":

"Dropped off luggage? You don't have a place to stay?! How pitiful~"

She even pitched her voice up on those last three words.

At first listen it sounded almost passive-aggressive.

Actually, Mencius knew her way of talking came across as a bit too "aggressive," but she just couldn't help it.

Especially when faced with the likes of Bai Liang—mainly because looking at that calm, dumbfounded face of his just made her want to get a jab in.

But from filming together before, Bai Liang did know this Miss's "little squeaky voice" nature, so he didn't take it to heart.

"If you feel sorry for me, introduce me to some pretty, rich women—ideally with a big house in Shanghai. I'd be happy to just move in, bags and all."

To his surprise, Mencius actually took that in, looking thoughtful.

Only her "thinking" expression made her look even less bright—nowhere near as sharp as when she was in her "little squeaky voice" mode.

Once they arrived, the Miss suddenly clapped her hands. "I'll introduce you to one tonight, but you're treating me to dinner."

Bai Liang blinked. She's serious?!

"Sure~"

This audition was the most proper one Bai Liang had experienced since "debuting."

The lineup was pretty impressive too: producer Guo Jingyu, director Jiang Jiajun, plus a casting director, first assistant director, executive producer...

Several people sat there staring at him.

Just staring at him, not a word.

Those middle-aged uncles just fixed their eyes straight on Bai Liang, looking him up and down for quite a while.

Just as Bai Liang figured this audition would be just as simple as before—show your face and it's over, or get passed—suddenly the lead producer, Guo Jingyu, laughed and said:

"Young man, your résumé is quite impressive! This is the first time I've seen such an interesting new actor."

"Résumé?"

"That's right, the one you had Xiao Meng pass over. When we first saw it, we were all stunned!"

Bai Liang:???

To be honest, even he was a little curious!

He had never made a resume before; the audition registration had been fully entrusted to Mencius Yi.

That time was essentially an open casting; this was the second round.

God knows what Mencius Yi had written in that so-called "resume."

Or rather, what nonsense she had made up.

He hadn't known before, but he would know soon.

Execution on the spot!

"Master of horsemanship, Kung Fu patriarch, Weaponry master, extraordinarily handsome, Academy Award–caliber acting..."

It was clear the older brothers were barely holding back their laughter.

Bai Liang himself nearly couldn't hold it in either.

Put yourself in their shoes—if he saw such a resume, he'd be curious too.

Who would describe themselves as "extraordinarily handsome" on their resume?

How shameless!

He had to see what kind of "monster" or utterly shameless "cow" this was.

In fact, Guo Jingyu and the others had little doubt about this description—they'd seen the photos.

The young man was indeed very handsome!

Besides having a photo of the two of them on her phone, Mencius Yi had dug up some costume stills from "The God of War Zhao Zilong."

As for those other outrageous claims... they certainly didn't believe them.

No normal person could believe them!

But what if someone vouched for it?

Mencius Yi swore emphatically that everything she said was true!

Of course, the standard was her own—she truly believed Bai Liang had that level of ability~

Plus, she really wanted to act with him, so she exaggerated just a "little bit."

To be honest, even Guo Jingyu, a veteran producer, was taken in by this girl.

A girl this beautiful, looking you dead in the eye and saying: "I'm not lying."

It really did dispel a lot of suspicion.