Chapter 480: You

When it comes to the cinematic portrayal of Yang Jian, most people's minds immediately conjure up one actor.

I'm Jiao Enjun.

The Yang Jian he portrayed in the 2005 series "The Magic Lotus Lantern" made nearly everyone believe that Yang Jian should look exactly like this!

Back then, he was a classic case of the second male lead overshadowing the protagonist; over time, many people nearly came to believe that Jiao Enjun's Yang Jian was the main character.

After him, every cinematic portrayal of Yang Jian has been compared to his version.

From this perspective, only a father can truly bury his son~

Fortunately, this is just a game, and Bai Liang quite enjoys playing the big boss—he even wants to suggest they raise Yang Jian's difficulty level, the higher the better!

When this character, wearing his face, defeats all players into confusion and babbling.

The scene, just imagining it, brings joy~

Thinking of this, Bai Liang suddenly gained much more enthusiasm for a task he originally wasn't very interested in.

Before Bai Liang brought Li Yitong and Dou Xiao Tian over, Li Xin and Meng Jie had already arrived earlier.

This left Evil Kitten somewhat dissatisfied; she had strong complaints about those who jumped the queue and couldn't help muttering: "Have they already taken all the good roles?"

"Good roles? You really think this is acting? The role I'm doing as a face model? I'll end up getting beaten up by a bunch of players later~"

"Aren't we going to get beaten too?" Li Yitong asked curiously.

"I don't think so—there aren't that many beautiful female bosses needing face models."

If nothing unexpected happens, the main face models among the girls will be the Spider Spirits; the rest will be Kang Jin Xingjun, Iron Fan Princess, and the Fox Spirits.

Li Xin seems to have gotten the role of Iron Fan Princess; she privately complained to Bai Liang, saying the game studio kept pushing her to make her expressions more sorrowful—she clearly realized this character's fate would be grim.

Meng Jie and Chen Yao are both Spider Spirits; Meng Jie took the role of the Fourth Sister.

Meng Jie wasn't even satisfied—she wanted to play the Fox Spirit, probably because she got carried away from playing a courtesan.

She also said the studio wouldn't let her smile.

Overall, the experience of being a face model still felt quite novel to them.

Xihu District, Yichuang Small Town, Xiangshan Art Commune.

As one of Zhejiang Province's distinctive small towns, it gathers cultural enterprises like Light Chaser Animation, Youke Interactive, Yigao Culture, Himalaya, and Time Coordinates, attracting a large number of leaders in the cultural industry.

Entering the Xiangshan Art Commune, after turning a few corners, you'll see a cluster of light-colored buildings.

Youke Interactive Technology Co., Ltd. is located here.

As you approach, there's no prominent company name, no signposts—the most noticeable thing is the bamboo grove outside the windows.

A middle-aged man in a gray T-shirt and blue jeans, dressed like a typical IT guy, stood there waiting~

Bai Liang's eyes lit up—he recognized the man as Feng Ji, founder of Youke Interactive and producer of "Black Myth: Wu Kong."

Before he could greet him, however, Li Yitong beside him quickly adjusted her clothes, plastered on a wide smile, turned her eyes into crescent moons, and exclaimed warmly: "Uncle, hello! I'm Li Yitong! You can call me Tongtong!"

Feng Ji:???

His first reaction was to touch his hairline—his heart sank.

Of course, he'd researched the profiles of these artists who'd be working for free.

If he remembered correctly, this Li Yitong was born in 1990.

Damn it—he was born in 1982, only eight years older than her.

This "uncle" really threw him for a loop—was he really this worn out from gaming?

Fortunately, Bai Liang quickly stepped in to explain: "This isn't my dad—this is Feng Zong, founder of Youke."

"Oh?! Sorry~"

Li Yitong was mortified—she'd been too eager, seeing a middle-aged man and immediately assuming he was Bai Liang's father.

"White Boss is currently fishing by the river in the garden nearby—he should be back soon," Feng Ji added.

"Hello, Mr. Feng~" Li Yitong blushed and greeted again.

Dou Xiao Tian beside her followed suit.

"Again with the fishing? Can he even catch fish?" Bai Liang rubbed his chin—he had a very clear understanding of his father's fishing skills.

To be precise, it wasn't necessarily about skill—he'd fished for so many years, his technique should've been solid by now.

But he just couldn't catch anything.

No matter how expensive the gear or bait he bought.

"Haha, never caught a single fish—his nickname is Air Force One." Feng Ji couldn't help chiming in on this topic.

"That's it! That's definitely him!"

Just then, Feng Ji was about to add something else, but a voice came from behind.

"Son!"

Bai Liang's father finally appeared—a refined middle-aged man; though aged, it was clear he'd been a handsome man in his youth.

Now he carried fishing gear and a fish basket, his face beaming with pride.

"Huh?"

Bai Liang stared at his father's heavy fish basket—thoughts raced: Did the sun rise in the west?

"Uncle, hello! I'm Li Yitong—you can call me Tongtong." Li Yitong repeated her greeting as if the earlier awkwardness had vanished.

"I'm Xiao Tian~"

"Hello, hello."

Though Bai Liang's father had anticipated this, the fact that his son brought two girls along still slightly stunned him.

Had his son become this brazen?

But that wasn't important—what mattered was

"You're in for a treat today—big blue carp! I'll have the cafeteria cook it up."

"Bought from the market, right?" Bai Liang said calmly.

"Bullshit! How could that be!"

"See, you're getting flustered~"

Feng Ji couldn't help but say: "Boss Bai, you're doing well—recently you've caught fish every time."

"Just lucky, just lucky~"

Now Bai Liang understood!

Damn, if nothing unexpected happened, every time his dad "caught a fish," it was because a Miss had come to be a face model.

Li Yitong clearly understood too—Uncle had specially prepared this for her!

The girls' lips are truly sealed! Not a single word was said in the group chat!

Now the group chat has turned a bit sour; no one talks openly anymore, everyone watching each other like thieves.

And at this moment, Bai Liang noticed another "blind spot."

"You call my mom 'Jie' and my dad 'Shu'?"

Li Yitong stole a glance, her expression like a haughty little cat: "Hmph~ What's it to you~"

"Then what do you call me?"

"What if I call you 'husband'? Will you dare to answer?"

As she said this, Bai Liang almost thought Li Yitong was holding a Purple Gold Red Gourd.

But it was nearly the same—if he truly answered, he might just get "swallowed up" for real.

It fit the theme IP of this one perfectly.

Unfortunately, though she said it with great arrogance, she immediately sped up and ran off before Bai Liang could answer.

Dou Xiao Tian looked at Li Yitong's back, then at Bai Liang's face, which showed no sign of discomfort, and fell into deep thought.

Something felt off.

But before she could think more, Bai Liang called out to her: "Little Watermelon~"

"Yes!"

"Let's go~ Time to pick roles."

"Got it~"

Shaking her head, Dou Xiao Tian stopped overthinking—these matters were still too complicated for her now, and she couldn't figure them out yet.

She ate the biscuit Bai Liang fed her and trotted after him happily.

When other girls came to Youke, they seemed quite popular—after all, these tech nerds liked looking at pretty girls too.

This time was no different; compared to previous ones like Li Xin, Meng Jie, and Chen Yao, Li Yitong and Dou Xiao Tian were more popular.

Because their looks leaned toward the cute style.

They seemed more approachable.

Unlike Li Xin, who was cool and distant, Meng Jie, who was gorgeous, or Chen Yao, who was intellectual.

And cute style naturally had an advantage in closing distances.

As for Bai Liang and his tech nerds, though most didn't chase stars, they didn't dislike him either.

On one hand, they knew his dad was an investor; on the other, he wasn't just some brainless pretty boy.

After all, tech nerds were mostly former college kids.

Indeed, some interns or tech nerds at Youke who hadn't gone bald yet were Bai Liang's fans—maybe even left comments under his Weibo.

That was the sense of recognition from genuinely taking the postgraduate exam and ranking first in the preliminary test at Peking University.

Under circumstances of academic and intellectual snobbery, they didn't have the usual "star filter" toward Bai Liang—meaning the bad kind of filter.

"Since we're here anyway, how about I do a building sweep?" Bai Liang suddenly suggested to Feng Ji.

"Building sweep? What's that?" Feng Ji asked, confused.

"It's a kind of promotional activity stars do for drama promotion—advertising, basically~"

Building sweep is a relatively new type of promotion.

Compared to traditional promotion formats, building sweeps bring stars closer to ordinary people, have no script, and make the star seem more "approachable."

And it's usually done via live streaming.

It originated from corporate needs.

China's internet companies are labor-intensive, with huge numbers of employees working in the same location at the same time.

Therefore, to build corporate culture and soothe employee morale, these companies regularly invite stars to meet staff, hand out gifts, and interact with them.

To invite stars for building sweeps, internet companies usually provide promotional resources—Douban users joked that when a star goes to Sina for a building sweep, it's "getting free trending topics."

Meanwhile, since building sweep scenes usually draw large crowds, employees' spontaneous promotion also achieves certain publicity effects.

When Rocket Girls went to Sina for a building sweep, it was packed so tightly people said "the building itself was shaking."

Also, the main battlegrounds for building sweep promotion are WeChat Moments, Weibo, Douyin, and other public opinion platforms—information from the scene syncs instantly to fan groups, making it more immediate than other promotions.

Feng Ji: Huh? There's such a good thing?!

He was just worrying how to "smoothly" promote the fact that Bai Liang brought girls to be face models for the game—he could ask media friends to issue press releases, but it always felt too stiff.

But Bai Liang's approach was thoughtful.

It was essentially to promote his recent TV drama, but in practice, it also helped promote "Black Myth."

Though the game was still far from release, leaving some impression was always good.

Besides, it was fine for female stars to be face models—but Bai Liang being a face model was something else entirely!

Last time he "distracted himself" by voicing characters in "Ne Zha," he achieved an absurdly huge box office in the animated film industry.

Feng Ji said he wanted to catch some of that luck too.

This is far more important than just borrowing Bai Liang's fame or his handsome face!

"Borrowing good fortune?" Bai Liang, while contacting people to come film, glanced curiously at Feng Ji. "You game folks actually believe in this stuff?"

"Of course you believe in it," Feng Ji said seriously. "You know those robot or intelligent vehicle competitions many universities enter?"

"I've never watched them. What's so special?"

"There is! The most entertaining part is the live kowtowing—seeing who bows most devoutly and fastest." Feng Ji couldn't help laughing.

If your code can't outperform theirs, make up the difference with bowing!

Let the Machine Spirit be delighted, shall we?

Bai Liang: Well, I've learned something new! Someday when I'm free, I'll go watch how today's college kids bow.

The filming crew needed for the building sweep will take a little longer to arrive; Sister Yanzi has already arranged for personnel in Hangzhou.

Luckily it's Hangzhou—if this were some place with underdeveloped media industries, finding people would've taken ages.

They also notified Dou Xiao Tian's team at TikTok, to avoid another incident where the livestream got forcibly shut down due to too many viewers.

"I've decided! I'm the Star Lord Kangjin!"

At that moment, Li Yitong excitedly approached Bai Liang, announcing she had finalized her role as the face model.

"What about Dou Xiao Tian?"

Hearing the question, Dou Xiao Tian scratched her head, then dropped a bomb on everyone present.

"Does Xiang Tian Quan have a human form?"

What the hell?!

In an instant, Bai Liang felt his head buzzing.

Li Yitong's expression changed; she opened her mouth but held back, her gaze toward Bai Liang slowly sharpening with danger.

Bai Liang's father and Feng Ji, however, didn't think much of it—only that the girl had rather unusual tastes.

But unfortunately, they had no intention of giving Xiang Tian Quan a girl's appearance.

After all, this isn't some anime game—maybe someday if Mi Haoyou wanted to make a Journey to the West IP, they might do something like that.

Fortunately, Dou Xiao Tian had only mentioned it as a sudden whim.

In the end, they chose her as the face model for the Spider Demon family's fifth sister.

At least she wouldn't be Bai Liang's pet dog in Black Myth: Wukong.

Still, Li Yitong decided she needed to give Dou Xiao Tian a serious ideological education—clearly, this girl's thinking was seriously off!

Must strike hard!

If this keeps up, what will happen?

Even if she wanted to be one, it should be her, not some male fox!

Bai Liang: What's this taste? Sour?

Once the filming crew arrived, he immediately began his own face modeling work.

For the especially crucial boss character Yang Jian, the entire Black Myth: Wukong team placed great importance on it.

How to put it? It felt just like when Bai Liang went to Jiao Zi to do voice acting.

Oh right—since he was here anyway, he might as well finish the voice work too; after all, he'd done voice acting before.

Besides, a father commanding his son is only natural.

Face modeling mainly involved facial expressions, but their product manager also passed along an extra request: Could he convey a sense of inherent divinity through his eyes and expressions?

Bai Liang: The request is extreme—but you've found the right person!

—

When Sister Reba received Bai Liang's video call, she had just finished recording the new episode of Escape Room with Big Mi Mi and was sitting on a minibus.

So when Bai Liang's first call came through, she hung up immediately and replied: "I'm on the show—cameras are rolling."

It wasn't that she couldn't video call while on the show—she simply wanted to remind Bai Liang: if you're not dressed, put something on, and watch your words.

So when the second call came, she didn't hang up—instead, she patted Big Mi Mi beside her.

"Big Mi Mi, he's calling."

"Huh?!"

Big Mi Mi perked up instantly. "Live connection? Did the production team arrange it?"

"No way~ But I told him I was recording, so this could count as a joint promotion."

Sister Reba felt something was off—she hadn't even said who "he" was yet, yet Big Mi Mi already knew so confidently…

But she had no time to dwell on it; at that moment, Sister Reba and Bai Liang were on the same wavelength—both had thought of a cross-space promotional collaboration.

"Hi, Jingjing, I'm doing a building sweep at Youke!"

"Youke?"

The term was unfamiliar to Sister Reba—building sweeps usually went to Sina, NetEase, Tencent, iQiyi, etc. —what the heck was Youke?

But she reacted quickly, waved hello, and introduced the others on the minibus to Bai Liang.

Building sweep interactions were simple—just greetings, casual chats, some showmanship.

Overall, it wasn't particularly interesting.

But the livestream viewers were highly engaged, especially since both of them had other celebrities nearby—counting celebrity heads was always a popular pastime.

Shouting "Jingjing is beautiful!" or "Yu Tu is handsome!" to boost the livestream's heat was their main "job."

But some viewers spotted a blind spot: "What's Youke?"

For fan circles, Youke was indeed obscure—their name clearly wasn't as well-known as Sina or Tencent.

But many of Bai Liang's fans, upon hearing he was "slacking off" again by becoming a face model for a game, suddenly became interested.

"Quick! No matter what game it is, release it next year! I want to beat up the Immortal inside!"

"Didn't that guy from the boss's side mention it just now? The role the Great Immortal plays is the final boss~ Then we absolutely have to play it!"

"Holy shit, Game Science?! *Black Myth: Wukong*? How did this thing end up doing a collab with Bai Liang?"

"Feng Ji, you bushy-browed fellow have become a succubus too. Could it be that after Guo Fan's cyber-succubus and the animated succubus from the dumpling director, now there's a game succubus coming to 'tempt' the Great Immortal? I'll say it right here—this game is destined to blow up! Otherwise it'd be dragging the Great Immortal down~"

"Great Immortal, Great Immortal, miHoYo next door is releasing a new gacha game this year. Why don't you do one too?"

"A domestic 3A masterpiece? Sounds a bit unreliable, honestly. I'll wait for actual gameplay footage."

"."

Watching the viewer count in the livestream break past the 100,000+ mark at breakneck speed, even Feng Ji beside him could barely keep a straight face.

This insane?!

The 100,000+ didn't mean there were only a little over 100,000 people in the stream at that moment, because no matter how many more piled in afterward, the display would still show that same number.

God only knew how many people were watching this livestream by now.

What a gap-tier top-tier celebrity.

Bai Liang's old man was secretly thrilled inside. He patted his shoulder, the smile on his face seeming to say: Hehe, I made him~

Feng Ji: You made a good one, bro! Your aim is way too precise! ——

There's still half an hour until the double monthly tickets and the monthly ticket raffle close. If you haven't voted yet, remember to toss one in~

There's still one more chapter later.

(End of this chapter)