Chapter 434: Value Has Nothing to Do with Price

After the rehearsal for this side's Star Sea Youth Actor Program ends, everyone disperses on the spot.

But everyone must stay in Xiamen, because tomorrow is the Golden Rooster Awards.

So tonight counts as a pretty nice dinner opportunity.

Those who get along well form their own groups.

Bai Liang had already promised Chen Duling he'd have dinner with her tonight.

Back then, he'd given her a heads-up, saying he might not be the only one coming over for dinner.

At the time, Chen Duling thought it was no problem, perfectly normal—Zhou Ye, that happy little dog, was now a watchdog, so he'd definitely come along to crash the party.

Plus, Bai Liang had brought Zhao Jinmai along this time, and he couldn't possibly leave behind a minor girl.

Zhao Jinmai's boss, Dong Zijian, was also here—he was also Bai Liang's friend, so he might show up too.

And you couldn't forget Meng Jie; everyone here knew Meng Jie was Bai Liang's "henchwoman," their relationship was obviously close. Chen Duling figured Meng Jie might even eat more than she did~

And beside Meng Jie always trailed Jin Cheng, who also seemed quite familiar with Bai Liang.

As she thought about it, Chen Duling's face turned black—was she setting up a whole banquet tonight?

The academically gifted girl's math skills were fast; she quickly calculated nearly everyone.

But math couldn't solve every problem—here it was, her calculation was excellent, yet she'd still missed some cases.

Like those shameless guys, A Shi and the others.

And the Ziwei Stars who'd had a minor direct clash with them earlier, plus others who wanted to invite Bai Liang to dinner or do something else.

Bai Liang: Hmm, so two tables then.

As he prepared to leave, he turned around and found himself no longer followed by just one little kid, Zhao Jinmai, but by a whole string of "kids."

Someone who didn't know might think he was the principal of Shuangye Kindergarten~

Or the captain of Wang Wang Team.

But Meng Jie was unconvinced—she declared she was the captain of Wang Wang Team! All the little dogs had to be led by her~

Zhou Ye, holding her hand: Huh? I'm not supposed to sit with Chocolate, right?

This dinner tonight was also the strangest one Bai Liang had ever eaten.

He himself drank a little wine normally, chatting and joking with everyone.

The girls also paid attention to their image now, no more conflicts—earlier's drama had already released some of their inner resentment.

Most of them were still young, not yet at that old-savvy stage where they could smile sweetly and speak sarcastically.

Whether arguing or fighting, it required real emotion and energy.

And they were still very conscious of their image—little girls, after all, worried about leaving bad impressions.

But they came up with a new trick!

"Dudu-jie, where are you going? To the bathroom? Take me with you." Zhou Ye saw Chen Duling rise to leave the private room and hurried out after her.

But Chen Duling waved her hand, saying she didn't need to pee, "I'm going to pay the bill—this dinner was my invitation to my senior."

"Huh? But I just saw Meng Jie go pay earlier." Zhou Ye sounded uncertain.

"Really?"

Whether true or false, she'd know by going to pay herself.

Zhou Ye, curious, followed along.

It turned out Meng Jie really had paid—she was always very proactive about this.

Meng Jie: This dinner was supposed to be paid for by Little Hedgehog, so of course I had to pay~

"Dudu-jie, let's go back."

Seeing the bill had been paid, Zhou Ye suggested.

But Chen Duling stomped her foot—and did something that truly stunned her!

She paid again!

And with a serious face, she told the restaurant manager, "Cancel the previous payment."

Manager:.

He tried reasoning with her, but a girl who had worked herself up wouldn't listen to reason.

This money, she was determined to pay!

"Come on, Xiao Ye, let's go to the bathroom."

"Oh okay~"

The moment these two left, Zhang Ruonan arrived, giving the manager another round of "torment."

But by now, the restaurant manager was already calm—paying? Fine, take as many as the guys paid today.

The cashier girl beside him looked at the manager with a strange expression, "Manager, you're not trying to pocket the money, are you?"

"What are you talking about?" The manager glared at her. "I'll ask you this—who's the biggest star in these two private rooms tonight?"

"Of course it's Bai Liang."

"So I'll go find him later~"

He didn't mediate guest conflicts—he just passed them off.

Of course, before that, he needed to know who had paid—luckily, they were all entertainers; even if the male manager wasn't a fan, he didn't know everyone, but it was easy to check.

The list would be delivered to Bai Liang for real.

That way, whoever ended up paying would still earn goodwill—no matter who finally paid.

Not stubbornly refusing when someone insisted on paying.

Every angle, absolutely handled perfectly!

The cashier girl's eyes lit up: No wonder he's the manager! Learned something~

The manager, originally called over to handle this matter, just stayed at the payment counter instead, feeling there was more to come.

As expected.

But there were indeed some "fools" here.

When Arthur remembered this matter, he'd originally come to show off—"Hey, I'll pay for Brother Liang!"

But after arriving, he learned it had already been paid for, and his face fell with disappointment.

He hadn't even noticed the manager had already prepared the payment code, waiting for him to "struggle."

Then Arthur walked away, dejected.

Manager: Suddenly no one follows the script anymore—you've thrown me off my game.

Clearly, those few girls weren't "smart" enough.

"Who is he again?" the manager asked the star-chasing cashier girl beside him.

She actually knew them all—saving him the trouble of searching online.

"He's—"

Before the cashier girl could speak, the manager waved his hand. "Never mind, no need to know."

After a full meal, Bai Liang in the private room also prepared to pay.

He thought Doudu had originally only wanted to treat him to dinner, but now it had turned into a group gathering—how could Doudu be the sucker paying?

But the restaurant manager smiled at him and asked for his payment code.

Bai Liang: Payment code?

"Teacher Bai, before you came to pay, several girls already paid. They insisted, so I'm refunding you the excess amount they overpaid."

Bai Liang: Ah~ A familiar yet strange feeling.

As the manager smiled slightly, his expression appropriately showed a touch of admiration and shock: "Eight in total: Zhao Jinmai, Menciusyi, Chen Duling, Zhang Ruonan, Liu Haocun."

The above list is arranged in payment order; ranking is not sequential.

So don't fight over the order~

Bai Liang:.

So, after one meal, eight girls paid for me?

This was undoubtedly the peak of his "soft meal" career—a new record.

Previously, he'd only ever encountered rich women paying for him in public, but never anything like this.

For a moment, he was speechless, but by then the manager had already transferred the money.

Later, Bai Liang wanted to return the money to the girls, but how could that possibly succeed?

This meal made him earn more than the restaurant did!

One girl even said something clever: "Think of it as an early sponsorship for Dou Xiao Bai's victory celebration~ There'll definitely be a victory banquet later!"

Bai Liang found this premature champagne-opening behavior highly inadvisable.

But he didn't scold the girl—after all, she was wishing him well~

As for celebrating what victory? Naturally, this year's Golden Rooster Best Actor.

Though the competition was especially fierce, Bai Liang was indeed a top contender, with many online discussing whether Bai Liang could finally shed his "Weibo Movie King" label.

The Immortal deserves a real Best Actor award~

A more common view emerged: if Bai Liang won the Golden Rooster Best Actor, he might finally shed the "traffic star" label.

Other top flows: Really?! Deal!

If not for the extraordinary buzz around this year's Golden Rooster Awards—with countless eyes watching and control firmly in the hands of the "Ministry of Rites"—there might have been some farces.

For example, Bai Liang himself just "slacking off," going with the flow, while other top flows tried to PR for him, lifting him out of the "traffic artist" category.

You need to level up, bro!

Sister Yanzi let out a cold laugh—these people didn't realize that as long as Bai Liang carried the "top flow" label, he was single-handedly raising its standard.

If he truly quit, future marketing accounts would find it much easier to launch broad attacks!

As for what "leveling up" could even mean for Bai Liang? Win a major award, then change his Weibo bio to "Actually, I'm an actor"?

Taking off your pants to fart.

When he joined "The Awakening Age," his line—"A drama needs actors, and I happen to be one"—utterly destroyed that label.

No matter how prestigious the award, giving it to Bai Liang would merely be frosting on the cake.

It couldn't grant him better resources, because none existed.

So now, Sister Yanzi's task was to preemptively undermine it.

The Golden Rooster Awards are just for fun—just don't let this stir up any messy momentum.

The studio's official Weibo simply posted: "Dou Xiao Bai, have fun~"

That settled their stance.

Weibo, however, wanted to suppress discussion about the Golden Rooster Best Actor—wasn't the "Weibo Movie King" label good enough? They thought it was fantastic!

But after thinking it over, they ultimately chose not to suppress it.

Suppressing Bai Liang's trending topics? They'd have to fight among themselves first.

This guy is the only one who doesn't pay a single cent in "protection fees" to Weibo—and still manages to pluck something from them whenever he feels like it.

Yet Weibo never felt they were losing.

Even if Bai Liang posted more on short videos and less on Weibo, they could only gently remind him.

It was like a romantic relationship—extremely clingy.

Every now and then, they'd ask: "Hey, Immortal, you there? Still love me, Immortal~"

This year's Golden Rooster Awards guest lineup was simply unprecedentedly extravagant.

Lao Mouzi, Chen Kaige, Da Ge Cheng, Chen Daoming, Wu Jing, Li Bingbing, Huang Bo, Deng Chao.

One breath can list dozens of names everyone knows by heart.

Among them, stars like Re Ba and Na Zha, those top female idols born in the 90s, can't even crack the top rankings—mentioned offhand, barely registering any presence.

Of course, they're just here to show support, like Yang Mi and Liu Shishi—they have zero nominations, their whole point is just showing up.

After all, attending this Golden Rooster Awards signals a stance.

It's a direct challenge to the Golden Horse Awards across the way.

Whether nominated or not, just come!

Who showed up might be forgotten, but who didn't? If you didn't come here, and didn't go to the other side either, you're a slacker—we'll keep an eye on you.

But if you skip the Golden Rooster and go to the Golden Horse instead, you're in big trouble~

The viewers watching live know this well!

They mainly watched the Hong Kong and Taiwan artists, and quickly spotted three glaring absences.

Peng Yuyan, Zhao Youting, Gui Lunmei—these three are regulars in mainland films, yet they didn't show up at all this time.

Everyone else can wait, but these three—even without nominations or awards—still had their films displayed on the Golden Rooster's exhibition booths.

Caught them!

At 6:30 p. m., the red carpet segment officially began.

This segment had little novelty, because due to the special nature of this year's Golden Rooster Awards, all those female stars who usually competed for attention with outrageous outfits or stunts had gone quiet.

Strange costumes and overly revealing outfits vanished—everything aimed for elegance, no mistakes.

Simply put, it was boring to watch.

Bai Liang stared for a long time, and all he saw was a bit of cleavage. This red carpet doesn't feel right!

Guo Fan: Hey! How could it feel right~ Don't you know what kind of event this is?

Fortunately, at this moment, Zhao Jinmai gently poked Bai Liang. When he turned back, she quietly lifted her dress slightly, revealing her soft, pale legs.

Big brother, don't be disappointed—I'll show you~

Honestly, the little girl wasn't much to look at, but Bai Liang felt her intention.

Then he slapped her handback without hesitation.

Slap!

"Who taught you that?"

Zhao Jinmai winced, pulling her hand back, looking wounded~

Do I really get scolded for this? I was just being nice…

Guo Fan gave Bai Liang a thumbs-up: Good job! That's solid character~

Still, he really wanted to ask: When Jinmai turns eighteen, will you still be able to just slap her like that?

Bai Liang: Of course I'll press the Furtu point for her.

Guo Fan: Where's the Furtu point?

He wouldn't get an answer to that question now, because it was time for the Wandering Earth cast to walk the red carpet.

As one of tonight's most anticipated stars, Bai Liang's appearance naturally caused quite a stir.

Too bad, before he could enjoy much cheering or screaming, Wu Jing came over and dragged him off to "stand guard."

When they arrived, he laughed—it was all "old friends."

Wu Jing, Shen Teng, Huang Bo, Deng Chao. Oh right, Wang Baoqiang wasn't familiar—he was still busy with his ex-wife's affairs while everyone else was socializing.

Clearly, this lineup was the group with the strongest box-office pull in today's mainland entertainment industry!

When Bai Liang arrived, he noticed everyone looked exhausted—even Deng Chao couldn't muster energy, and Huang Bo beside him looked half-asleep.

"What's wrong with you two?"

"Don't even ask—we're the hosts today, running nonstop rehearsals. Unlike you, who just did a quick practice, stepped on stage, sang a song, and called it a day—even a duet!" Deng Chao couldn't help complaining.

Wu Jing was eyeing Bai Liang strangely now: "Did you know we'd be 'drafted'? That's why you slipped into the 'Beihai Kindergarten crew' ahead of time?"

"What do I know? I didn't know it was this much work—I haven't seen you these past two days." Bai Liang said, puzzled.

Wu Jing's face darkened—he didn't have to host, but he had to attend every meeting.

Basically, every single event, big or small, during these two days of the Golden Rooster Awards, he had to show up and be seen.

No choice—he's Wolf Warrior.

His director status forced him to take on more visibility duties.

Everyone else had their own troubles and tasks—overall, the guys were being used as "faces."

Yet Bai Liang, the youngest and strongest in stamina, had the lightest workload.

Bai Liang: Nonsense! I'm exhausted! I'm babysitting so many "kids."

Do you know what "desensitization" means?

Especially rotating "desensitization"—which of you old guys can handle this kind of "workload"?

These guys in front of him were all fathers—they knew raising kids was tiring.

But… calling those artists, mostly around twenty years old, "hard-to-handle kids"? That was just ridiculous.

Still, at this moment, Huang Bo and Deng Chao had reminded him.

"Only you two are hosts?"

"There's also a CCTV female host named Lan Yu. What, you know her?" Deng Chao muttered.

To their surprise, Bai Liang nodded.

Then, under their puzzled stares, he pulled a pen from his pants pocket and clipped it onto his suit pocket.

Quite fitting~

"What's this for? Showing off?" Wu Jing asked curiously.

The result was that everyone immediately knew what was going on.

"Teacher Bai, we meet again. Huh?"

Lan Yu, who had just walked over, first greeted Bai Liang, but after he turned around, she froze for a moment, even covering her mouth in surprise.

"Long time no see~" Bai Liang said with a beaming smile, greeting the female host.

"The pen I gave you isn't worth much—it doesn't match your suit." Lan Yu said, staring at the pen pinned to the chest of his suit, her tone unusually gentle, her eyes shining with an unusual light.

"The value of a gift has nothing to do with its price. From that angle, it's worth far more than the suit."

"."

Wu Jing and the others:???

Respect!

No wonder the bastard has such good luck with women! If he didn't, there'd be no justice in the world.

Just now, Bai Liang's silky little combo—honestly, Wu Jing was even a little glad the kid was born a bit later.

His wife was a female host. If he'd run into this guy back in his younger days, there might not have been much left for him.

After the female host finished her greeting and left with a cheerful smile, the way she walked—unable to resist walking on tiptoe—made the whole group of old rascals bare their teeth.

Just as Bai Liang was about to make it clear that he was merely spreading warmth to the world and had no designs on her.

A simple, honest face leaned in front of him, beaming all over.

"Brother Liang! We haven't dealt with each other before, today we really ought to have a good chat."

Bai Liang:???

Treasure Wall Bro, do you actually want to deal with me properly? Or do you want to learn?

This actually depends quite a bit on the modeling, it has nothing to do with money.

(End of chapter)