Chapter 486: Chickens and Ducks Earn Way More Than Oxen and Horses

After Big Sister Tian Tian made her exit, Li Yitong looked ready to cut loose!

Now there's no one left to "torment" her, right?!

Tell her loud and clear: from today on, who calls the shots on this set?!

"Come here! Let sis give you a kiss!"

The brazen little minx patted her own thigh, looking ready to tease an innocent good man right on the spot.

Bai Liang was still being obedient—whatever the young lady told him to do, he did.

The moment he sat down, she planted a loud smacking kiss on him!

After the kiss, Li Yitong wiped her mouth, feeling thrilled inside—this is what life should be!

"From now on there shouldn't be any weirdos coming to cameo or make guest appearances on set, right?"

Just to be safe, she asked one more question.

Bai Liang thought for a moment. "Nope, no more."

"Good. In that case, Consort Liang will be serving the Emperor tonight~"

"Your Majesty, you're drooling."

Hearing that, Li Yitong quickly wiped her mouth—then realized she'd been tricked and immediately rained down pink fists on Bai Liang.

"You tricked me again!"

Luckily, at that moment Dou Xiao Tian showed up to call them both to film.

Li Yitong immediately reined in her "arrogance and tyranny" and even straightened out Bai Liang's clothes.

Then she turned to Dou Xiao Tian. "Do I look like a virtuous wife and good mother?"

"Sister Tong Tong, you already are!"

"Aiya, what a sweet mouth~"

Bai Liang:. This woman has officially lost it~

He'd truly never seen Li Yitong's mental state looking so "beautiful" before.

Even back when she was goofing around with Li Xin and the others in the hotel room, it wasn't this "crazy."

Probably because she's been "hit" too hard lately.

One group after another kept piling on the pressure, and even her former little sisters had started sniping at each other.

Thinking about it that way, "losing it" was normal.

Just don't know if she can dark-evolve into Niohuru · Evil Little Minx.

"When we wrap tonight, I'll take you out for something good."

"Hmph! Only now you think to care about me—what were you doing earlier?"

Faced with Bai Liang's belated affection, Li Yitong acted like she wasn't buying it.

But after a while she couldn't help asking: "What are we eating?"

Of course it wasn't because she was craving food—she just figured she should give him a way out~

Between a man and a woman, sometimes a little sulking and small fits of temper are perfectly normal, but you have to keep it in measure.

Besides, Dou Xiao Tian was still right there—she didn't want her image in the girl's eyes to turn into some kind of middle-aged shrew.

"I said I'd treat you to a big meal, so obviously we'll eat whatever's expensive. Isn't there some Michelin-starred private kitchen nearby? It's pricey and the portions are tiny—feels like it was made specifically for you female celebrities."

Li Yitong was very satisfied; the last bit of her sulk had faded. But after thinking for a moment, she couldn't help asking: "Are we bringing Dou Xiao Tian along?"

Oh!

Bai Liang watched her with great interest, clearly not expecting her to ask that.

Weren't those two girls always inseparable? For an after-work late-night snack, there was actually an option of not inviting her?

"Your call~"

But obviously, Li Yitong and Dou Xiao Tian's current "friendship" could still stand the test.

During a break in filming, she was already telling Dou Xiao Tian about the big dinner tonight.

Dou Xiao Tian was, as always, quite happy—she liked every activity that involved Li Yitong and Bai Liang together.

But just before wrap, Li Yitong suddenly raised a small question: "This time you're not 'extorting' someone again and then treating us, right?"

"No way—it's definitely coming straight out of my own pocket~" Bai Liang said confidently.

Hearing their exchange, Dou Xiao Tian was a bit puzzled.

After all, she'd only known Bai Liang for a short while and didn't really know him well enough in certain respects.

But Li Yitong, who'd known Bai Liang for years, was on full alert: "How about I treat this time instead? I don't want us to be halfway through the meal when suddenly some girl pops up wanting to pay the bill for you."

"Why are you so sensitive all of a sudden?"

"Yep, I'm super sensitive—wanna touch?" Li Yitong said, hands behind her back, chest out, and on tiptoe.

Bai Liang wondered if that's really what he'd meant.

Still, if she was so eagerly inviting him, he wasn't opposed.

Dou Xiao Tian beside them had already covered her face with her hands—unfortunately, the big eyes peeking through her fingers gave everything away.

Wow~ Big sis is fierce!

*Smack. *

She slapped away Bai Liang's reaching "pork trotter," and Li Yitong got a little embarrassed—hey, you actually touched?

At least wait till we get to the place! You can't just grope in public—what if someone takes a photo?

"Sis, what does it mean when a girl suddenly pops up to pay the bill?"

When they arrived at that private kitchen, Dou Xiao Tian still couldn't hold back her curiosity and quietly asked.

"Um… how should I explain this to you~" Li Yitong said, scratching her head in some embarrassment.

At this moment, Deng Chao was also answering the same question: "He's not stingy—he's just very peculiar. I can't explain it; you have to see it for yourself to understand."

"Is it really that mysterious?" Chen Chichi asked, intrigued.

Meanwhile, Lu Han seemed to have just realized something—that was his "friend fee" he'd never recouped; he'd apparently treated Bai Liang to many meals.

The strangest part? He invited Bai Liang to meals, yet he himself had never once shown up.

"Rip him off! Tonight's late-night snack? We're going to drain him dry! I want to see what's so special about him," Lu Han growled.

Bai Liang: "I'm just incredibly lucky—whenever I eat, someone always pays for me."

Lu Han: "What about this time?"

Bai Liang smiled but said nothing, just looked at them.

To be honest, he couldn't help suspecting: Was this show even planned?

It felt like those guys were making things up as they went along.

If tonight's meal had been scheduled in advance, the production team would've notified him.

This kind of "sudden ambush" felt like something a guest had thought up on the spot.

He and the two girls hadn't even finished ordering when Lu Han called, saying they'd arrived at Hengdian and were coming to join him.

They said "join him," but really, they just wanted free food.

Thus, what was meant to be a three-person gathering became a table full of people eating together.

At this moment, Li Yitong suppressed her urge to roll her eyes—and worse, she had to smile, since the cameras were rolling!

Dou Xiao Tian was also a bit uneasy; the people before her were, to this rookie, basically big stars.

Fortunately, she'd spent enough time with Bai Liang to not be overly nervous.

It was like a young martial artist venturing out for the first time, immediately encountering the strongest master—after that, no one else seemed intimidating, and he never truly trembled before anyone.

Deng Chao and the others, these "starving ghosts," didn't bother being polite with Bai Liang—they grabbed the menu and started ordering nonstop.

Lu Han sensed something was off, but since he'd finally gotten a chance to rip Bai Liang off, he wasn't going to let it slip.

The meal was surprisingly enjoyable.

Lu Han shamelessly declared he wouldn't compete with Bai Liang afterward—he'd just ride his coattails.

He'd wait for Bai Liang's "Dear, Love You" to boost the popularity of e-sports dramas, then his own "CrossFire" would air right after.

Both were Tencent games—one "League of Legends," the other "CrossFire"—who knows, maybe they'd even collaborate.

"Little Lu, did they traumatize you? If I were you, I couldn't take it—I'd confront him head-on!" Deng Chao goaded.

Lu Han completely ignored it; whether others believed him or not, he was already convinced.

His film career was basically over—he didn't want to get crushed in the final stretch.

Seeing his goading fail, Deng Chao shifted to another topic.

More accurately, he started complaining.

About a movie called "The Bridge."

The strange thing about this movie? It hadn't even started shooting yet—probably wouldn't for a while—but it was scheduled to release during this year's National Day.

That's only about three or four months total—enough time to finish a large-scale war film?

Oh, and apparently, they haven't even cast all the actors yet~

"I'm filming 'My Country, My Hometown' too—I'll have to shoot 'The Bridge' at the same time. This is going to be a nightmare. Why didn't they come to you?"

Hearing this, Bai Liang knew Deng Chao was trying to drag him into this mess.

He spread his hands and said, "I've done plenty of these mainstream projects already—'The Awakening Age,' 'My Country, My Motherland,' and next up is 'Changjin Lake.' You wanna join 'Changjin Lake'?"

You want to drag someone down? Fine—let's hurt each other!

The topic these two discussed was beyond the others' reach.

Because the kind of films they were "disparaging," most people wouldn't even have the qualifications to join—though they joked about "press-ganging," not just anyone could be conscripted.

The biggest conscript for this genre right now was Wu Jing.

This guy was literally a brick—wherever needed, he was moved there.

"My Country, My Motherland," "The Climbers," "My Country, My Hometown," "The Bridge," "Changjin Lake," "My Father and I"—twelve military orders, every single one bore his name!

Add to that Deng Chao and Bai Liang's complaints and their attempts to drag Wu Jing in—and this was simply a reflection of the film industry's winter.

On one hand, mainstream projects were currently hot, and everyone wanted a slice.

On the other hand, under the industry's winter, most projects concentrated on these top-tier actors.

Many producers would only greenlight a project once they'd secured names from their shortlist—if they couldn't get one of these actors, the project wouldn't launch.

There was no choice—they needed to guarantee they'd recoup their costs.

Everyone was short on money now.

That's why these actors could pick and choose projects, while the people below them stretched their necks but still couldn't reach.

When the meal was nearly over, Bai Liang went to pay—only to find the production team had already settled the bill.

Smart move.

So this plan to make Bai Liang pay was officially a failure.

But this meal wasn't free—someone would have to pay for it.

Sure enough, when Lu Han and the others wiped their mouths and returned to their accommodation, the director came out and said: "That meal was paid for by the production team—it's an advance. Tomorrow, you'll work to earn it back."

The Five Haha guests, who'd been enjoying themselves, were stunned: "Wasn't Big Immortal treating us?"

"He's a guest too—he's part of the show. This meal counts as a group expense."

"Damn! That meal was expensive—what if we can't pay it back?"

"If you can't pay now, pay slowly—the show's just started filming."

So, after Bai Liang slept peacefully all night, wrapped in the warm, soft embrace of a lovely girl, he woke up early to see several guys radiating more resentment than ghosts.

What's going on? Aren't you happy even when recording the show?

Last night at dinner, these guys were laughing their heads off—"Hahahaha!"—all night long.

But after one night, they all looked like they'd lost a close relative.

After learning the situation a bit, it turned out to be just like back in school when you spent your entire monthly allowance in the first week.

That dinner last night probably wiped out their budget for the next few episodes.

Just paying off the debt alone might take them months of hard labor.

Facing this situation, Bai Liang cheerfully remarked, "By the time I come to find you all again, you should've paid it all off, right?"

"Dude, are you doing this on purpose?"

"What am I doing on purpose? I didn't invite you to dinner—you came of your own accord."

Although he didn't have to suffer alongside them repaying the debt in the coming episodes, Bai Liang still didn't want to let the two girls and this bunch go hungry today, so he had to think of a solution.

Recording this kind of show is all about the guests genuinely playing along and showing a bit of respect for the rules.

Of course, you could act one way in front of the camera and another behind it, but if you want to make the show more entertaining, you've got to get creative within the rules.

For Bai Liang, this felt just like when he first worked as a male model.

The only difference now was that he had two extra burdens trailing behind him.

Could he really let two delicate young ladies go hungry with him?

For Bai Liang, this episode's challenge was truly tough—he had to figure out how to earn money to feed three people.

"Do you two have any talents? How about we go street-performing?"

"Bro, the production team said we can't earn money by showing our faces~" Dou Xiao Tian reminded him.

Bai Liang scratched his head. "The cameras are following us everywhere—yet we can't earn money by showing our faces?"

"It's not that we can't show our faces—it's that we can only do ordinary jobs to earn money, half-work, half-reality," Deng Chao casually explained before they set off to work.

This left Bai Liang stumped—ordinary jobs?

Delivering packages? Being an extra?

Bai Liang couldn't help but glance at Li Yitong's dog, Rou Rou. You raise a dog for a thousand days, and use it for one.

"I've got an idea. It's a bit risky, but the profit's decent—want to give it a try?"

Hearing this, Li Yitong froze. "You make it sound like an illegal activity."

"No no no, it's definitely legal—and quite profitable."

"What is it?"

"Breeding. I've noticed lots of people really like Rou Rou. Let's make it work hard for us."

After all, everyone knows chickens and ducks make more money than cows and horses.

Even humans doing this job are the same.

But the cameras were rolling, so Bai Liang couldn't do it himself—he could only let Rou Rou take the job.

After all, dogs doing this was perfectly legal.

Li Yitong:

"You're dreaming! Rou Rou has a girlfriend!"

"Kids grow up and have their own ideas—you've got to respect their wishes~ A girlfriend doesn't have to be just one."

Rou Rou was a purebred Maltese; Bai Liang figured its breeding fee wouldn't be too low.

It would definitely earn far more than he could by doing an ordinary job for a full day.

"You really have imagination, Big Immortal."

After Bai Liang suggested letting Rou Rou "sell its body" to earn money, Deng Chao and the others were stunned—and then burst out laughing.

They were laughing hysterically—"on-theme" to the core.

No wonder this guy had such great show effect—he was just too damn entertaining!

Even the production team was struggling to hold it together, unsure whether to allow Bai Liang such reckless behavior.

How the hell did he even come up with letting a dog breed?

Would this even pass censorship?

Of course, if they really were going to breed animals, the cat named Xiao Bao should've been the most valuable.

Its fame surpassed many so-called award-winning kittens; one breeding session could fetch five or even six figures.

Too bad Xiao Bao was a female cat—it couldn't be paid per service. In this regard, pets are the opposite of humans.

——

Today there are two more updates—making up for yesterday's, not counting as extra.

(End of Chapter)