Chapter 426: He Won

Everyone who has seen the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" knows the best way to sell a pen is to create a need for writing.

Bai Liang really likes this movie, and now recommends it to everyone.

Suitable for all ages, remember to watch it with the whole family.

Oh right, it must be the uncut version.

So if there's no demand, create demand.

Selling women's clothing to Yakuza members seems absurd, even provocative.

The effect is nearly identical to the Northeastern Chinese phrase, "What are you staring at?"

But consider the current state of Yakuza development in today's era.

Severe population aging!

Japan's youth no longer wish to pursue this ancient profession; this "intangible cultural heritage" seems destined to vanish.

To adapt to the new era, the Yakuza must evolve their tactics and rebuild their underlying logic.

Women's clothing is a crucial prop!

Bai Liang says his inspiration wasn't made up out of thin air—he has "reference materials."

It's a manga called "Gokusen," created by a Japanese genius himself.

The story follows three gangsters from rival yakuza organizations who, after committing offenses, are ordered by their bosses to undergo gender-reassignment surgery and debut as a girl idol group.

But unexpectedly, after becoming idol singers, they actually became popular with many fans—yet they still struggle daily, clinging to their tough-guy identities.

Whether gangster or idol, everyone wants to fall in love~

Bai Liang: Bring out the cute little skirts for the Yakuza!

Zhao Jinmai: Though she's known Bai Liang for a long time and knows he sometimes goes abstract, she never expected him to go this far today.

I wonder if this is the kind of show effect the production team wants?

Huh?!

Zhao Jinmai suddenly froze, thinking: Could these Yakuza be planted by the production team?

Commonly known as: stooges~

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed—this was too clever.

So, realizing this, she wasn't afraid anymore and bravely picked up the little skirt, beginning to demonstrate it to these Yakuza.

To them, her behavior was utterly absurd; their facial muscles twitched visibly.

Other guests couldn't help but remark: Student Student Mai Mai is so brave!

Even Wu Moufan muttered under his breath: I seem to have underestimated this little sister—does she have this much guts?

Doesn't she fear provoking the Yakuza?

If one slap or punch came down, this little girl would surely be knocked rolling on the ground.

But seeing Bai Liang standing beside Zhao Jinmai, smiling warmly and translating for her, everyone understood where her courage and sense of security came from.

Do they trust him this much?

Yet the most shocking thing happened—the Yakuza actually bought them.

Though these men looked fearsome and untrustworthy, they tried to "resist" a little.

One even said to Zhao Jinmai: "Can we buy some men's clothing instead?"

But Bai Liang turned and translated: "They love little skirts~"

Zhao Jinmai: Really?

She immediately pushed harder, gesturing with unwavering determination.

She looked determined to sell these little skirts to these Japanese gangsters no matter what.

The situation reversed completely: a little girl had left these fearsome Yakuza utterly baffled, their tongue-clicking now confused and incoherent.

At that moment, a weary voice came from behind: "Hey, Brother Liang, you can't treat people like this—have you said one true thing in your translation?"

Xiao Liu, who had been hiding behind wearing a mask, finally couldn't hold back and spoke up.

His voice startled everyone—Mandarin?

Is there a Mandarin speaker among these Yakuza?

No—such standard Putonghua clearly means he's Chinese!

The "Brother Liang" also made everyone realize this was Bai Liang's friend joking with him.

The tension in everyone's hearts finally eased.

Bai Liang: I saw you from the start~ Wearing a mask and sunglasses to hide?

But~

You still have to buy the little skirts!

"Who cares if your translation's accurate? Just go settle the bill."

"I'll buy a few more, okay? The skirts—"

"Student Student Mai Mai, give him a few more skirts."

"Got it~"

Big order!

While Zhao Jinmai was busy processing the order, Bai Liang glanced curiously at the Yakuza and asked Xiao Liu: "Do Japanese Yakuza still take gigs like this? As extras?"

Xiao Liu waved his hand: "Pfft, they're not Yakuza—my most intimidating employees. Most real Yakuza are old men now; their tattoos are sagging, and there are hardly any young people. Better to hire employees as stand-ins."

"But I saw they all have tattoos~"

"Tattoo stickers."

Immediately, someone reached up and rubbed his neck—the once-imposing tattoo instantly degraded from 1080p to 360p.

As Bai Liang's friend, Xiao Liu received warm hospitality from the other guests on the show.

But when Yang Tianbao saw Xiao Liu, he always felt something was off.

It seemed as if he recognized some quality about the other person.

And strangely, even after jokes had been exchanged, Xiao Liu never took off his mask.

This behavior was slightly impolite, yet the gifts he had arranged were clearly those of a very courteous man.

Like Bai Liang, he was odd in certain ways.

After exchanging pleasantries, Xiao Liu pulled Bai Liang aside for a private chat and to catch up.

"Brother Liang, how many days are you staying in Japan? Leaving right after filming?"

"Originally planned to leave tonight, but I've got a few things to handle, so I'll stay two more days."

"In Tokyo? I'll take care of it!"

"No, to Nagoya. Can't drink with you then."

"Who said we can't? I've got a shop in Nagoya too~"

"."

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing! How come you're sneaking around like a ghost?" Yang Tianbao grumbled.

Unlike Unlike Unlike Ni Ni gave him a suspicious look. "Were you eavesdropping just now?"

"I wasn't eavesdropping—I just came to grab something." Yang Tianbao held up the coat hanger in his hand, proving his innocence.

Then she immediately changed the subject: "Are you leaving today?"

"Yeah, the typhoon's passed too. I'm flying to Shanghai, he's flying to Zhejiang. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering if we could take the same flight back."

"You're going to Zhejiang?" Unlike Unlike Unlike Ni Ni suddenly grew alert.

Luckily, Yang Tianbao shook his head. "I'm going to Beijing."

Good then!

After Unlike Unlike Unlike Ni Ni turned away, Yang Tianbao pondered—he felt he'd just grasped a crucial opportunity!

Though he didn't know why Bai Liang was staying two more days in Japan, clearly Unlike Unlike Unlike Ni Ni wouldn't be around to interfere this time.

This was his best chance to win her over!

Change the ticket—skip Beijing, fly to Nagoya.

Funny enough, at that moment, a beautiful girl in Shanghai was also confirming her flight.

"Sis, is Xiao Bai really in Japan? What a coincidence?"

"Yes! If I hadn't seen it online, I wouldn't have known—I've caught him now~" Na Zha grinned brightly.

She had already finished today's shoot and was about to head to the airport.

Direct flight to Nagoya, Japan.

There was an Mnet Asia Music Awards event, and she'd been invited as a presenter.

It was a music award show organized by Koreans, likely to expand into overseas markets—they loved holding these ceremonies in foreign cities.

Last year they came to China and held it in Xiangjiang.

Na Zha originally had no interest in accepting; she was already hugely popular and didn't need such events to boost her visibility.

The invitation only came because one of her endorsed brands sponsored the award.

Only after seeing online that Bai Liang had gone to Japan to film did she remember the invitation.

When she checked, the dates were so close!

Using work as an excuse to meet up—would that be too much? ~

It's been half a year since they last saw each other—she missed him!

She could've visited him on set, but Na Zha had a small obsession: she wanted to show their closeness while pretending not to. Such direct visits were better avoided if possible—she preferred a respectable reason.

Like previously filming together or attending events together.

Of course, the best scenario would be both of them off-duty, staying home together.

Unfortunately, popular artists always had packed schedules, especially someone as red-hot as Bai Liang.

He had to join several projects a year; even doing anything else required taking leave from the production team.

Na Zha's thinking was a bit twisted, but Bai Liang always respected it.

If she had a logic that convinced herself, then as long as she was happy, that was enough.

Bai Liang never forced his own beliefs or logic onto her—after all, being silly was kind of adorable.

Since she insisted on finding a work reason, he had Sister Yanzi check his work email—and sure enough, they found the invitation.

It had been sent a long time ago.

So how many people had these Koreans sent this thing to? Clearly, they were desperate for the Chinese market.

In Sister Yanzi's words: "Brother Xiao Bai, if you hadn't mentioned it, I'd never have found this. It felt like digging it out from some dusty corner."

The Mnet Asia Music Awards organizers suddenly received several surprises just before the event.

So surprised, the organizers' heads spun—they felt like they were dreaming.

Originally, they hadn't invited any major Chinese artists to attend, but now, right before the event, Chinese celebrities began replying one after another, each bigger than the last!

When they saw Bai Liang's name, the coordinator's hand trembled twice.

Holy cow—the biggest star of this award ceremony had appeared!

Bai Liang's popularity in Korea was no lower than in Japan—perhaps even higher.

Lin Yue'er had contributed a lot here—this girl actually did promotional articles when she was asked, and many Koreans even thought Lin Yue'er had played a couple with Bai Liang~

After rummaging for a long time, Lin Gengxin's face finally popped up.

Fuck, there's a dog!

Lin Yuer's team, fearing that Koreans didn't know Bai Liang, hired several marketing accounts to give them a thorough primer on just how awesome this hunk was~

At that time, Bai Liang's personal cumulative box office had already reached nearly three billion U. S. dollars, and now it was surging toward four billion.

Such an exaggerated and explosive achievement placed him at the absolute pinnacle across all of Asia.

Thanks to Lin Yuer, many Koreans had come to know Bai Liang as an Asian superstar—he hadn't even received this kind of title in his own country.

Domestic netizens only called him "Great Immortal" and "Weibo Film Emperor."

Of course, the Japanese had given him an even more exaggerated nickname—one so over-the-top that even Bai Liang, who occasionally indulged in chuuni behavior, found it embarrassing.

After double-checking twice for safety, the Mnet Asian Music Awards organizers completely lost their minds and rushed to arrange everything.

"Send over the seating chart and segment details immediately!"

The staff looked bewildered: "But the seating order and guest list have already been finalized."

"Fuck! Can't you change it?!"

Because of that guy's petty dating request, the final preparations for the Mnet Asian Music Awards turned into utter chaos.

After all, whether it was seating arrangements or guest segments, many elements were interconnected—either replacing someone outright or requiring a complete reshuffle.

They also had to re-coordinate with other groups and artists coming to participate.

The workload was absolutely astronomical.

But they loved every minute of it.

——

The overall filming of "Trend Partners" had just reached the halfway point; the show was recorded in half-season batches, and this episode featuring Bai Liang and Unlike Unlike Unlike Ni Ni marked the end of the first half-season.

As soon as the crew announced filming was over, Wu Moufan bolted away like lightning.

On one hand, he didn't want to be near Bai Liang anymore—he was increasingly convinced this guy was sinister.

Ever since Bai Liang showed up, everything he did went wrong.

Wu Moufan had thought today might be slightly better—he hadn't suffered much misfortune during the long day of filming.

But just now, he got hit with a massive blow.

His agent called him with terrible news.

"Is she insane?!"

Even though he'd taken off his mic and was calling from the bathroom, that uncontained "roar" still reached many ears.

Everyone's expressions varied—they wondered what had happened to make him break down so badly.

Wu Moufan didn't even say goodbye to anyone—he immediately headed for the airport, apparently switching to an earlier flight.

"Brother, do you have any idea what's going on?" Zhao Jinmai, the little girl, relying on her feminine sixth sense, pinpointed Bai Liang and asked curiously.

Bai Liang, however, looked clueless and spread his hands: "How would I know? Maybe his wife gave birth today."

"Nonsense, he doesn't even have a wife."

"Right, no wife—now doesn't that make it even worse?" Bai Liang said offhandedly.

Zhao Jinmai scratched her head: Hmm, maybe it does~

The little girl was easy to fool, but the senior contestants weren't so easily tricked.

After all, the current version hadn't evolved to the "we have a child" stage yet.

And they didn't rush to ask Bai Liang—they pulled out their phones and checked Weibo instead.

These were seasoned veterans.

At this moment, a new trending topic was rocketing toward the top ten.

In fact, this trending topic wasn't much different from past scandals involving Wu Moufan's fans being crushed—he wasn't new to this kind of trouble.

But this time, a strange keyword appeared.

Toothpick.

The victim girl directly launched a personal attack on him!

This move was brutal—almost the ultimate humiliation for a man.

But for male idols, there was no way to refute it.

Being called a toothpick was actually the best-case scenario for Wu Moufan—he didn't even have to strip to prove himself; just dig up his old tight pants or swim trunks, and the silhouette could be roughly confirmed.

Bai Liang himself had once been forced into a discussion called "Entertainment Circle Sculptor King" because of this.

He often showed skin on camera and usually wore clothes properly in photos—but one careless moment was caught by sharp-eyed netizens.

Fortunately, he was quite impressive in that regard—being called "Sculptor King" was far better than "toothpick."

Unfortunately, Wu Moufan had left no such traces for people to examine.

Or perhaps the signs were just too subtle.

Oh no, this is bad!

That Korean Rain—Zheng Zhiwen, who starred with Tang Yan and Reba in "Crush Lovers."

He'd long maintained an excellent physique with well-developed muscles, and his wife was Jin Taixi, a very beautiful woman.

This guy constantly performed on stage, flexing his muscles, and netizens had long imagined how happy Jin Taixi must be.

But one day he wore purple pants resembling sweatpants, and accidentally revealed his silhouette!

Cruel netizens immediately said: "Looks like Jin Taixi isn't that happy either~"

Such comments were truly…

Similarly, Liu Shishi's husband, Long Long Liqi, was once criticized by his ex-wife for being "unable."

"Void Erectile Dysfunction" was even harder to prove than size comparisons!

Rumors can kill people~

Take this, for instance: Bai Liang, such a "kind" person, had also couldn't help but imagine: Liu Shishi still remembered him for not accepting her friend request—could this sister really have an unhappy life, making her hold grudges and have a fiery temper?

In short, this kind of thing is devastating to men—more powerful than Wu Youfan sleeping with ten fans!

If only one person said it, that would be fine.

But when this hot search rose to fifth place, a second person jumped out to attack him.

This sister didn't do anything first—she merely confirmed the toothpick was real, then started releasing details.

At this moment, Yang Tianbao and Unlike Unlike Unlike Ni Ni were already feasting on the gossip!

They seemed to have become close friends again, covering their mouths in shock, their eyes gleaming with something unusual.

They occasionally glanced over toward Bai Liang.

You could easily imagine what they were glancing at.

Ignore it.

"I want to see too—what's going on?" Zhao Jinmai looked innocently at her phone snatched away by Bai Liang, utterly confused.

"Why don't you wait until you're an adult to watch?"

"Big brother, do you think that's realistic?" Zhao Jinmai said helplessly.

Then she immediately added: "You're so childish~"

Being called childish by a seventeen-year-old little sister, Bai Liang could only obediently return the phone.

Yet after eating the gossip, Zhao Jinmai's gaze couldn't help but...

There's no helping it—today's internet is so advanced, even little girls already know plenty about these things~

Compared to the past, they're far more mature.

"Where are you looking?!"

"I wasn't looking!" The little girl's face turned red as she hastily denied it.

Then she changed the subject: "The girl who leaked online said something about choosing a girlfriend... but she's still going to record a show with him later—I'm a little..."

"Don't worry—he probably won't be recording any show anymore."

(End of chapter)