Chapter 428: A Beauty Is Only Worthy of Being Owned by the Strong

When being interviewed, Bai Liang had only just learned he'd somehow been nominated for an award.

It left him momentarily baffled.

But the female host with her cosmetic face, while showing off her cleavage, subtly dropped a few hints.

After a slight shift of his Super Brain, Bai Liang roughly guessed what was going on.

So the Koreans had actually created an award just for him!

Kinda interesting.

To be fair, they knew how to flatter well—they'd hit exactly the point Bai Liang found appealing.

An award created specifically for him—doesn't that count as a limited edition? The kind you can only win once, after which no one else can.

That makes it somewhat collectible.

As for its prestige or value, Bai Liang didn't really care about that stuff.

Seeing Bai Liang's interest clearly perk up, the host thought he'd taken a personal liking to her, and worked even harder to show off.

Still, while Bai Liang didn't discriminate against cosmetic faces—as long as they looked good and natural, he could appreciate them just fine—

Too template-like a look tended to make him face-blind.

This was completely different from the similar-looking Xiao Ji sisters; Li Xin and Li Yitong each had very distinct features, just some angles that resembled each other, making it easy to tell them apart.

But right now, he genuinely couldn't tell them apart.

Still, he'd taken the business card she'd secretly slipped him—he never refused such things outright, to avoid hurting feelings.

So after accepting it, he even smiled at her.

It made the female host blush a little.

As if she'd already begun imagining a wonderful night ahead.

Bai Liang entered the venue quite late; most of the nominated idol groups and today's guests had already taken their seats.

The award ceremony was lively, with the audience seats packed full.

Possibly due to the hyper-competitive nature of Korea's entertainment industry, its limited market size, and the sheer number of idol groups, many groups shift to Japan after debut to ease competition and expand their fanbase.

So companies like SM and YG typically let groups build popularity in Korea first, then enter Japan to broaden influence—usually around two and a half years.

Two and a half years after debut, strike for the Japanese market.

So it was perfectly normal for Japanese fans to show up; most of the audience here were Japanese.

Of course, what Koreans coveted most was the neighboring Eastern giant—1.4 billion people~ They drooled at the thought, and with the real money offered by China's entertainment industry, before the Korea ban, these Korean artists were called "gold diggers" when they came to China for promotions.

Inside the dome stadium now, stars glittered; the Japanese fans' cheers were fierce, wildly waving colorful glow sticks and shouting the names of the boy and girl groups.

Excellent! Very impressive!

Bai Liang, led by staff, strolled in slowly—he still had quite a distance to walk.

Because his seat was at the very front.

As he walked this way, he naturally drew attention; occasional muffled gasps and murmurs broke out.

And then—the Idea King arrived, albeit late!

Wang Jia'er, after entering, kept glancing back, and when Bai Liang finally drew near, suddenly stood up.

"Brother Liang!"

"Oh shit."

Bai Liang was startled—he'd suddenly stood up?

But the ones truly startled weren't him—it was the entire cluster of Korean idol group members around Wang Jia'er.

He led the charge, and a wave of people instinctively stood up with him, like a chain reaction.

First his own groupmates, then others, seeing them rise, stood up too; a few who didn't want to stand, seeing the situation, to blend in and not stand out, reluctantly rose as well.

Xu Minghao, another Chinese boy group member who reacted a beat late, could only sigh: "Seniors really are seniors—this speed is insane."

He'd just been about to stand up himself, but got beaten to it.

It happened!

The standard Korean entertainment industry bowing greeting.

Bai Liang had assumed he'd debuted too late to ever experience Korea's seniority culture.

Many of these idol artists here were probably his seniors.

Even just moments ago, he'd been secretly wondering: Would some Korean jerk force me to stand and bow like in those stupid novels?

But under Wang Jia'er's lead, this entire group of Korean male idols gave him a full bow.

Private Second Class! Loyalty!

The commotion nearly made Bai Liang reach for his pocket.

The scene looked exactly like when his younger siblings and nephews/nieces begged him for red envelopes during Lunar New Year.

"Hello hello, you're all doing well~"

After greeting them, Bai Liang couldn't help muttering to himself: "I wonder if this kid's gonna get beaten up in a sack later."

Yet Wang Jia'er's act, though it might earn him some silent curses, sparked the second Idea King of the night.

There's another master!

Oh~ So you can do it like this?

Just now, Song Yuqi had been discussing Bai Liang with her teammates.

Her teammates asked if she knew him, so this girl boldly claimed she did—after all, she was a regular guest on China's Running Man, with wide connections!

This made her teammates look envious.

She felt proud, but also realized she'd bragged too far, and was wondering how to fix it—when she saw Wang Jia'er demonstrate it for her.

Song Yuqi: Whoa! Good bro! So you can do it like this~

Learned it, learned it—she copied it right on the spot and used it.

Just now was a male idol group; this time it's a female idol group.

"Teacher Bai!"

A bold shout rang out, with a slightly raspy edge to it~

A whole sea of people stood up again with a rustling sound.

This time Bai Liang couldn't help but twitch his lips twice—two Chinese people, leading a bunch of Koreans, bowing to greet him?

This scene felt so weird.

Looking at Song Yuqi, who wore an expectant yet slightly shy expression, Bai Liang didn't let the girl's wish go unfulfilled—he smiled and nodded to her in greeting.

"Can you win an award today? Maybe I'll be the one handing it to you."

After kindly saying this to Song Yuqi in Chinese, he also remembered to repeat it in Korean.

The result left the members of her group both flattered and slightly embarrassed.

Hmm. Not much hope, huh~

Why are we so weak?

The commotion from the two "Loyalty!" performances finally drew the attention of the live audience and the cameras.

When the camera zoomed in and Bai Liang's face appeared on the big screen, the male and female idol fans in the crowd froze for a moment—then, after about a second's pause, their cheering volume surged another level.

Get to know an Asian superstar~

But Bai Liang now regretted knowing Japanese—damn it, why did those cherry-blossom girls still shout out those absurdly otaku nicknames? Always starting with stuff like "Emperor of the…"—it made his skin crawl with awkwardness.

And yet those cherry-blossom girls had incredibly loud voices; they were masters at cheering, moving in perfect unison, as if they'd rehearsed it all beforehand.

"What are these Japanese girls yelling? Any translators? Sounds kinda cool."

"Stuff like 'Film Emperor,' 'President of the Girls'—so ridiculously otaku, kinda like our domestic 'Nine Hundred Million Girls' Dream'~"

"Big Immortal really has face—so many people stood up to bow to him, and many were older than him too~"

"Get to know an Asian superstar—this guy's movie box office is heading toward thirty billion RMB; the top movie stars from both countries combined don't even match his numbers, and his documentary is blowing up overseas—they all call him the god of extreme sports, totally exploded beyond the wall."

"Go for it, Big Immortal! Bring the Italian cannon into Seoul and Tokyo!"

"What nonsense—look who's sitting next to him, that guy's staring right at him. Kimchi and sushi? He can't touch either."

"Then what can he eat?"

"Hmm. Naan."

"What the hell is naan? Say melon at least!"

"."

The 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards was livestreamed on iQIYI; originally only male and female idol fans paid attention, but once news spread that Bai Liang was attending, more curious onlookers and his fans tuned in.

Everyone was very satisfied—excellent, very prestigious!

Seeing their own artist enjoying such status abroad gave them a quiet sense of pride.

The counterexample was Du Haishao, who knelt to the Koreans back then and created a lifelong black mark for himself—no one knows what he was thinking.

Whenever someone mentions kneeling—

Bai Liang remembered: Yang Tianbao and Ni Ni each still owed him a head-bow.

Yang Tianbao's seat wasn't far from Bai Liang and Na Zha—just a few people separated them.

After glancing at Yang Tianbao's expression and Na Zha's slightly smug look, Bai Liang quickly reached a conclusion.

"You pissed her off again?"

"Hmph! She started it!" Na Zha proudly declared she wasn't afraid of trouble—and loved to stir it up; every time, she'd do it again!

"Did you win?" Bai Liang asked as he sat down.

"Of course!"

Na Zha adored Bai Liang's attitude—never asking anything else, just immediately caring whether she'd won.

Bai Liang: Good that you won~

"Beauty" belongs only to the strong—this was already demonstrated long ago by Yan Ying, Nie Feng's mother, in "Feng Yun."

Seeing Na Zha's fierce combat power, Bai Liang felt reassured.

Truly, a person changes after thirty days—you must look at them anew. But it felt like this was entirely shaped by Sister Reba.

The big screen was still showing Bai Liang's face, as if the camera had been welded onto him before the award ceremony even officially began.

But Na Zha's appearance alongside him in the frame also caused quite a stir.

Domestic viewers naturally fell into fangirling mode—they were used to it.

But the Korean livestream viewers were all marveling: Who is she? So beautiful!

She disliked the first half of that, but the second half? They had good taste.

Yet when Lin Wuer finally arrived, Na Zha felt she'd have to fight again!

Dammit, were the Koreans doing this on purpose? She'd wondered why the seat next to Bai Liang was still empty.

This trip was supposed to be a sweet date, but now she's just cleaning up every little bitch!

Angry.

But even as she was angry, she was already preparing to strike.

Ready to fight at any moment!

Yang Tianbao cast an expectant glance: Are you good at fighting? Even if you are, what good is it? In this world, you need power and connections—this is a Korean award show; can you really bully Lin Wuer?

Lin Wuer:???

Sister, don't drag me into your bluffing.

She'd witnessed the terrifying scene where Na Zha and Sister Reba nearly spat fire at each other—even though she'd only been an observer, not a participant.

But it was already enough to make her raise a white flag: behave myself, and you'll be let off, I'm just going to rub up against it.

"Oppa, long time no see~"

Lin Wen'er warmly greeted Bai Liang, then even more warmly greeted Na Za.

You don't hit a smiling face; Na Za's attitude made all that built-up momentum seem pointless.

Uh. Little pickled cabbage is being this sensible?

Fine, fine.

At this moment, the ones most uncomfortable weren't Yang Tianbao, who missed seeing an "intense fight," but rather the members of the Korean boy bands present.

Bro, share some of the camera, won't you?

Yet this wasn't even the most absurd part.

The truly absurd part was the award presentation.

As the presenting guest, Bai Liang handed a boy band an award he himself had no idea what it was.

Still, he politely stood there smiling and applauding.

The boy band members, who had been on the verge of joyful tears, had just gotten emotional when they turned their heads and saw that the big screen's image wasn't pointed at them, the winners, but was still pointed at the applauding Bai Liang.

Wait, who exactly won the award?

Perhaps this is the real worth of being named the world's most handsome face of 2019.

This was something the host had mentioned earlier during introductions; even Bai Liang didn't know he had such a thing.

Apparently it had just been decided not long ago.

Na Za said the ranking was very authoritative, and that she had been following it for a long time.

Asked when exactly she started following it, she said last week.

In any case, since Bai Liang was ranked first, it must definitely be very authoritative.

Na Za firmly believed this.

What a coincidence—second place was also at the scene today, a member of some Bulletproof Boy Scouts, named something like Jeon Jungkook.

After Bai Liang and Na Za curiously glanced at him, they suddenly felt... this first place didn't seem all that impressive.

Their group also had one ranked fifth, and Xiao Zhan was ranked seventh too.

Bai Liang's review: not as good as Weibo Best Actor.

"I'm going to present an award too~"

When the staff came to find Na Za, she set off full of confidence.

Ready to show off her English skills.

Meanwhile, Bai Liang also began his preparations, half-covering his chin, brewing up some sorrowful emotions inside.

No choice—otherwise he was afraid he might accidentally laugh out loud later.

At this point, Lin Wen'er finally took advantage of Na Za's absence to try chatting with Bai Liang for a bit.

But the moment she turned her head, she met a pair of unusually "melancholy" eyes, and was stunned.

Without realizing it, she stared at Bai Liang for about ten seconds.

As she watched, her mouth slightly parted open, and she hadn't even noticed it herself.

This moment was precisely captured by the cameras on site, and quite a few of Lin Wen'er's Korean male fans were somewhat devastated.

Bai Liang, for his part, didn't know that his little slip had caused considerable damage to a certain group; even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

Because he had a bad habit of pinching his fingers together to indicate "just a tiny bit."

Making that gesture basically cost him the Korean male market.

"Huh? You're drooling."

"Oppa, don't lie—ya!"

This time, Bai Liang really wasn't telling a little white lie, but was truly an honest, reliable young man.

If you're going to be lovestruck, be lovestruck—why sit there with your mouth open? No wonder you have the nickname Crocodile Wen.

They didn't keep talking about this, because Na Za had already gone on stage.

You could tell she really was quite confident—after taking her place at the center of the stage, she even flipped her hair.

Wearing a side-parted long curly hairstyle and an off-the-shoulder silver floor-length gown, she showed off her wonderfully curvaceous figure, the whole person practically glowing with beauty.

Up to this point, no problems at all!

Then she began her English showcase.

Right from the start it was a bit off—her English sounded like it was being played at half speed.

Paired with her Dou Xiao Nai voice, it actually felt... kind of cute.

But Bai Liang wasn't sure if it was just his bias, because the Korean male star presenting the award with Na Za on stage had an indescribable expression, as if he was holding back laughter.

Bai Liang: I can't laugh, I can't laugh, I can't laugh...

"QIONG HA!!!"

"Pfft—"

Hey~ what are you doing~

The sorrowful emotions he had been brewing for half a day were ultimately destroyed completely by Na Za's sudden shout.

Bai Liang covered his face with one hand, his shoulders shaking; anyone who didn't know would think he'd suddenly fallen ill.

The Korean female star named "Qiong Ha" also seemed completely bewildered, and it took her a long while to realize that what had been pronounced was actually her name.

"I'm done for, I'm done for, I'm done for..."

After coming off stage, Na Za had clearly lost the confidence she had before.

Seeing the strange looks from the people around her, especially from Yang Tianbao, whom she had roasted earlier, made her feel that the shame and embarrassment had broken through the ceiling.

How embarrassing! And to be embarrassed all the way in a foreign country—what are we going to do about this?

At a moment like this, she instinctively looked toward Bai Liang, her eyes pitiful and pleading.

"It's fine." Bai Liang wasn't laughing this time, because Nazha still cared quite a bit about her image in this regard—she was vain, and he couldn't rub salt in her wound.

If he was going to laugh, he'd wait until her mood had recovered, then it would count as a joke.

"It's not fine."

Even though she knew things had already come to this and Bai Liang couldn't turn back time for her, Nazha just couldn't help showing her feelings to him.

Watching her face crumble with defeat and shame, Bai Liang thought for a moment, then said, "I have a plan that will—"

"What plan?"

"You'll know soon enough."

The special award the organizers had custom-made for Bai Liang arrived shortly after, with Lin Wener as the presenter.

One had to say, the organizers knew how to put on a good show.

Bai Liang had just chatted with Lin Wener for a bit and found out she had also been invited at the last minute.

Whether it was voluntary or not, that was unclear.

However, whether voluntary or not, Bai Liang had to apologize to her first.

He had to coax Nazha back to a good mood first.

Earlier, when he went on stage to present the award, Bai Liang had actually spoken in English too—of course there was no problem, his accent was incredibly authentic~

But this time, Master Bai wasn't acting anymore and began his exclusive performance.

He gave his acceptance speech four times!

First in Chinese, then in Korean, and after that in Japanese.

When he spoke Korean, most of the Korean artists on site looked quite surprised, seemingly not expecting his Korean to be that good.

And when he used Japanese, the audience on site got excited.

However, the highlight was the final English.

Everyone noticed that Bai Liang, who had clearly been speaking it so smoothly before, suddenly had his English level plummet.

(End of chapter)