Chapter 491: The Scheming Older Young Man

To be honest, the side stories and bloopers of "Glory" had way too much lingering impact, affecting not just fans but also Na Zha.

When Bai Liang returned to the set to shoot, Li Yitong didn't give him a single good look.

Dou Xiao Tian followed her sister's lead and completely ignored Bai Liang.

At least to his face, that's how it was.

When Bai Liang called her "Little Watermelon," the girl hesitated for a moment, glanced at Li Yitong, then lowered her head without speaking.

But a few minutes later, she secretly sent Bai Liang a message on her phone.

The content was simple.

"Yes!"

Along with a little cat saluting emoji—this one was even taken by Bai Liang himself.

This sneaky little maneuver was oddly amusing.

It was also the biggest difference between the little girl and her sister.

Because Sister Reba's near-face-to-face move, many older ladies began to feel a strong sense of crisis.

The resentment radiating from Bai Liang's phone felt like it could sustain ten Evil Sword Immortals.

Even Big Mi Mi, a divorced mother, couldn't resist joining in, sending a sour message: "Is something good about to happen? Can a divorced woman like me still be Sister Reba's maid of honor? Will she hate me~?"

Honestly, that's just how people are.

Even though they knew it was impossible for them, seeing someone else "about to succeed" made emotions impossible to control.

Yet the one who should've reacted most—Na Zha—remained completely silent.

Bai Liang had tried teasing her with an emoji.

She instantly replied with a furious emoji: "Get lost. gif."

It was even the exact animated clip of Bai Liang yelling with his mouth wide open from one of his dramas.

Clearly, she was angry—so angry she didn't even initiate any banter with Bai Liang anymore.

But from this emoji alone, it was obvious it wasn't that extreme.

Bai Liang had no idea how much Na Zha's assistant had carried his burden for him; he just thought it made sense.

The more intense one, Sister Tian Tian, seemed to be being soothed by Xiao Shui.

As for Meng Jie and the others, they'd already launched a full-scale denunciation meeting against Bai Liang in the group chat.

That's right—they'd "united" again.

It was as if their friendship relied entirely on external pressure—namely, Sister Reba and Na Zha.

If those two pressures dropped too low, the "Qing Yu Nian" sisters would start fighting among themselves; but once pressure rose, they instantly huddled together, whispering behind backs.

Yet Li Yitong's reaction also showed they weren't truly unable to swallow this grievance.

Mainly because these girls were taking slightly different approaches—they all knew Bai Liang's parents, as if trying to open a new strategic path.

Of course, the one losing control the most right now was Bai Liang's mother.

"Little Handsome, tell Mom the truth—are you really sure about this girl? If so, I'll delete all the other girls' WeChats. Should I apologize to them first?"

Bai's mother, anxious and flustered, asked her son on the phone how to clean up the mess.

After all, in her eyes, Sister Reba's move was practically an engagement.

There couldn't possibly be any reversal now, could there?

If that's the case, then he must take responsibility—be responsible to Sister Reba, and stop stringing along other girls.

"Cough… Mom, I suggest you wait a little longer."

"Wait for what?"

"There's another drama coming soon—similar to this one."

Bai's mother fell silent for half a minute on the other end, apparently organizing her words, thinking how to scold this damn son of hers.

Are you trying to die?!

But Bai Liang was too clever, and with his "crisis awareness," he immediately dodged and hung up the phone.

He knew his mother well—she was gentle, and her anger took a long time to build; if you interrupted her mid-rant, the whole thing would just fade away.

And honestly, after watching "Glory," his mother had grown even fonder of Sister Reba—though this fondness came in waves.

Just like when she loved Li Yitong after watching "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," or Big Tian Tian after "Time Traveler."

The only exception was Chen Yao.

Mainly because Zhang Xianzong's death in "Wu Xin the Mystic" was too tragic, and Yue Qiluo's character… scared Bai's mother silly~

Only after meeting Chen Yao in person did she realize the girl was truly wonderful—she just looked so well-behaved~

In short, she fell for every one she met.

If she entered the entertainment industry, she'd be the classic wall-hugger, climbing back and forth.

Of course, whether it was his own mother or the girls, Bai Liang could understand them all.

But why was this little yellow-haired girl getting involved in all this?

After Zhao Jinmai asked Bai Liang for the umpteenth time whether he was really with Sister Reba and whether he'd announce it officially, Bai Liang finally couldn't hold back:

"Get married this year, have a baby next year, two kids the year after. Oh, by the way—be the maid of honor, okay?"

"Huh?!"

The little girl clutched her chest, looking like she'd suffered heavy injuries.

At this moment, Bai Liang was filming on the set of a special drama called "Together."

It was a time-report drama about the pandemic response.

The shooting schedule wasn't long, because, like "My People, My Country," it was divided into separate episodes.

It told the stories of different people against the same backdrop.

The entire project is divided into ten segments; once the cast list is revealed, it might be even more outrageous than the lineup of "My Country, My People."

It's not that the actors have higher status—after all, surpassing the status of "My Country, My People" in that regard is far too difficult.

"Together" mainly features an exceptionally large number of participating actors.

Flip a few pages through the cast list, and you'll see nothing but familiar names.

Bai Liang joined the segment starring Yang Yang and Zhao Jinmai, titled "Traveling Together."

He isn't even one of the main leads in this segment—he only came to shoot for a day and a bit, more like a special guest appearance.

Yang Yang and Zhao Jinmai play doctors.

The screenwriter was quite meticulous on this point: Yang Yang's character is set as an intern doctor, while Zhao Jinmai is merely a lab technician at a community health center.

Otherwise, with that girl's face so young and fresh, calling her a doctor would be utterly absurd.

Even if the turbulence in the medical field can sometimes be more intense than the "petty squabbles" of the entertainment industry, could even a powerful academic clique forcibly make an eighteen-year-old girl a full-fledged doctor?

Zhao Jinmai: The entertainment industry isn't petty squabbles, big brother—you and the sisters have caused way too much commotion!

Although she knew Bai Liang's words about "getting married this year, having a baby next year, and twins the year after" were pure nonsense, what really annoyed her was:

Stop treating her like a child!

She's already an adult! She can even film kissing scenes!

"Big brother, you promised me before the college entrance exam that you'd let me experience youth," Zhao Jinmai skipped over the recent hot topic of "Glory" and instead brought up old grievances.

As if afraid he'd deny it.

"Mm-hmm, I remember~" Bai Liang nodded.

How could he deny it? He'd already fulfilled his promise to Meng Jie to take her to Wuhan University to see the cherry blossoms.

And the more "childlike" someone is, the less you should lie to them.

Adults weigh pros and cons and talk themselves out of dwelling on things, but for "kids," these promises are truly remembered forever~

They might hold it against you for life.

"What is it?!" The little girl immediately looked expectant.

Her cheeks even turned slightly red.

Clearly, she'd already imagined something in her mind.

But Bai Liang grinned slightly, "Before you joined the set, didn't your mom make you sell all your high school textbooks?"

At these words, Zhao Jinmai already had a bad feeling, but still nodded.

"How much did you get?"

"Over two hundred yuan."

"Give it to me."

Zhao Jinmai obediently transferred the money to Bai Liang and waited for what came next.

But the guy said, "I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

"Huh? That's it?"

"More precisely, this meal is paid for by your youth—we'll spend exactly this much. Doesn't that make sense?"

When someone is speechless, they're truly speechless; Zhao Jinmai felt so angry she couldn't speak.

But Bai Liang added, "A normal person's youth is these textbooks—don't let those 'youthful pain' movies mislead you."

"Was your youth like this too?"

Bai Liang: Of course not—besides abortions and fights, my youth was way more exciting than any movie.

But facing Zhao Jinmai, he chose to tell a small lie, looking up at the sky, "Yeah, yeah~"

Fine~

The little girl was still easy to fool, and what else could she do but accept this explanation?

Because she had no choice!

A crafty older man.

But what Zhao Jinmai never expected was that her "youth" meal could be shared with others.

That night, when she saw Yang Yang's composed smile and Han Haolin's goofy grin as "Xiao Fan Xian," she didn't know what to say.

Now that she was an adult, she'd have to start offering resentment to the Evil Sword Immortal.

Bai Liang had gotten this wrong.

He'd originally thought his "half-hearted" approach wasn't good enough, so he'd simply invited Yang Yang too—two top male stars dining with the little girl, helping her "mourn" her lost youth—wouldn't that show enough sincerity?

As for Han Haolin, wasn't he already on set anyway?

As the actor playing Xiao Fan Xian, Bai Liang figured letting him cameo as his younger self wasn't a bad idea.

Even though he himself was cuter as a kid than him~

In short, he fully delivered on Zhao Jinmai's "farewell to youth" dinner!

Yang Yang and Han Haolin both thought it was meaningful—and didn't mind spending just over two hundred yuan among four people.

They ate at a small restaurant and had two yuan left over.

Bai Liang didn't waste even that—he bought each of Zhao Jinmai and Han Haolin a lollipop.

He successfully spent every last cent of the girl's "youth expenses."

Perfect!

Zhao Jinmai:

The only thing that comforted her was that after dinner that night, Bai Liang didn't immediately take her back to the hotel to "do time," like before.

Instead, he took her out for a leisurely stroll.

The little girl's resentment vanished instantly, swept away by the summer breeze.

Clasping her hands behind her back, she trailed half a step behind Bai Liang, following obediently, the two chatting on and off as they went.

Zhao Jinmai couldn't help but share her plans and arrangements for going to college afterward, and after receiving Bai Liang's approval, she felt a sweet little thrill inside.

Once they were back at the hotel, she was still full of it, and racking her little brain, she actually came up with an idea!

"Brother, *Go Go Squid! * premieres today!"

"Really? Oh right, seems like it is today."

"Let's watch it together!"

"Sure~"

Having achieved her goal, Zhao Jinmai was over the moon, except that she hadn't really had any intention of watching the drama at first, but she quickly found she couldn't stop.

Mm. This drama is kind of good!

She had actually watched *Glory* before, and although everyone online said it was sweet, she hadn't really felt it that strongly.

That kind of romantic development between older men and women didn't give her much to project onto; it all felt too natural and easy.

But *Go Go Squid! * is different!

Although *Go Go Squid! * had only just started, the age setting of the male and female leads and the plot gave her way too much to project onto!

Love at first sight in the very first episode!

A little girl actively chasing after a cold "uncle"—to be precise, a cold, older young man.

With this plot, she's probably going to need to take notes later.

But she couldn't help voicing a small "opinion": "Brother. The story of a cold uncle and a soft, cute little loli, but Sister Nazha actually isn't very loli-like, you know."

"I'm not an uncle either, and I'm not cold~"

Bai Liang felt there wasn't really a problem, because apart from Nazha's face not fitting the loli character, she actually delivered quite well in other aspects.

You can't just look at whether someone is a loli—soft and cute is what matters most.

And the female lead Tong Nian is also big-chested with long legs.

Nazha, who had deliberately put on some weight before filming, could be considered to meet that condition as well.

When adapting a story for filming, finding an actor who fits the character perfectly is basically impossible; getting most of it right is already enough to earn the audience's approval.

Though he said he wasn't an uncle, after turning his head to glance at the eighteen-year-old Zhao Jinmai, Bai Liang suddenly realized—he kind of already was one.

But he really wasn't as cold as Han Shangyan; get to know the little sunshine of the human world—everyone who gets close says he's warm.

After the drama ended, Zhao Jinmai was about to head back to her own room to sleep, but before leaving, she suddenly bit her lip, as if she'd made some decision.

Then she reached out and started rummaging through the little bag she carried with her.

Seeing this, Bai Liang almost thought she was going to pull out a magic wand and transform into Balala the Fairies.

But the little girl, dead serious, pulled out the stone with the little sheep carved on it that he'd given her before.

Holding the stone, her eyes wide open and full of hope.

Clearly, she was about to "make a wish."

Bai Liang: Only now did he realize the "debts" he owed seemed to be piling up.

Those students "wishing" and "thanking" under his Weibo were just in it for fun.

If you really want to see "wishing," you have to look at the young ladies and little sisters.

"Alright, what drama? Even if you ask me to go act in Balala the Fairies with you, I'll agree to it." Bai Liang laughed.

"Brother, you're really agreeing to it?"

Honestly, Zhao Jinmai pulling out that stone was just a moment of impulse—a side effect of watching the drama.

She'd actually regretted it a second before.

Because she was young in age, not naive about the world.

What kind of person was Bai Liang? A top-tier A-list male actor in the industry, with a pile of projects waiting for him to "favor," his schedule fully booked for at least the next two years.

Her standing there holding a stone and "making a wish" was frankly a fantasy—how could it possibly work?

All the troublesome things involved, just thinking about it gave her a headache on his behalf.

But the result was—

Bai Liang didn't ask anything, didn't even bother to find out the timing, and just agreed to it straight away.

"What do you mean 'really' agreeing? Didn't I already promise you long ago? As a reliable adult, my word has to count, don't you think?"

A few minutes later, Zhao Jinmai came out of Bai Liang's room, feeling dizzy all over.

She stood in the hallway for several minutes, seemingly still not having recovered.

And after she left, Bai Liang smiled and shook his head, took out his phone, and gave Sister Yanzi a call.

"Brother Dou, what's up? The ratings data for *Go Go Squid! * isn't out yet—I'm keeping an eye on it." Sister Yanzi was, as always, reliable.

But clearly, Bai Liang was about to be "unreliable" again today.

"Yanzi, push back *Blossoms*."

(End of chapter)