Chapter 498: The Actors Take Their Roles Seriously

July 7th.

"Affectionate Love" is entering its final stage.

The match teased in the preview finally aired, featuring two top idols portraying esports pros in a live showdown: Chosen One vs. Demon King Returns.

To be fair, Yang Yang played this part exceptionally well.

Although this guy likes to put on airs, sometimes certain scenes genuinely require that kind of demeanor.

Take tonight's episode—he sat there with headphones on, posture rigid, and instantly the vibe came out.

Pure esports male lead energy.

Esports is all about putting on a grand show! Otherwise, why do players trash-talk before every match? ~

Several giant screens at the Mercedes-Benz Arena simultaneously showed his side profile as he turned his head, lips slightly curled.

A blue halo enveloped the entire arena. The main screen added text:

Tonight, I am the Chosen One—and the only one!

Just this single shot made viewers' skin crawl with excitement.

This scene made people instinctively feel: damn, this is so damn cool!

Of course, this is the perspective of ordinary viewers.

The esports community went absolutely wild seeing this—they were like, "What the fuck? Even the real 'Chosen One' isn't this hot!"

After all, due to various limitations, even if someone is handsome, it's only from certain angles—or just isolated shots.

It's impossible to amplify that "Chosen One" aura from every angle like a TV drama does.

"Holy shit, is this really based on me? Am I really this hot?!"

Jack Ai, watching this scene live on stream, felt his face flush with an odd sense of shame.

It felt like if he looked one more second, he'd explode~

His live stream's barrage was exploding too—many viewers were watching this episode while locked onto his stream.

"A Shui, don't project your face onto Yang Yang—have some self-awareness, look at how fat you've gotten~"

"So what's the cost of fame at a young age?"

"Honestly, if AD isn't fat, how can he carry?"

"This drama is seriously good—the intense parts are blazing hot, the sweet moments made this guy blush like a doting aunt—totally addictive."

"Alright, now that the Chosen One is this hot, please introduce the real protagonist!"

"."

The camera cut—next second, the entire arena turned blood-red.

Same close-up shot. Same giant screen.

Bai Liang rested his hands slightly heavy on his chin, expression cold, eyelids slightly lifted—as if inspecting something.

The big screen then displayed: Please welcome the next prodigy.

Bathed in the crimson light of the arena, he on screen looked surrounded by mountains of corpses and pools of blood, his feet littered with bones.

"Holy shit—this vibe is even hotter! So much killing intent—I feel like I've just been single-killed face-to-face by an assassin mid-laner… Akali's here!"

A Shui, who moments ago thought his own likeness was the coolest thing ever, instantly "defected."

What can you do? I took a commercial gig.

Fortunately, this scene is genuinely worth praising—the money earned isn't dirty.

"Even Fei Laoshi's prototype isn't this hot—where's his bald head?"

"Honestly, between Fei Ke and Da Xian's looks, I think A Shui's version was actually more accurate—A Shui won big."

"Didn't buy a bottle of cola to share? That's not authentic enough."

"In real life, Da Fei lost En Jing, but Da Xian immediately threw a wedding with a top female star—what's the real definition of a life winner?"

"."

Coincidentally, this year's Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) couldn't be held due to the pandemic.

So Riot organized an MSC—the China-Korea Challenge.

It was an international tournament pitting eight teams from the LPL and LCK against each other.

Two LPL teams, FPX and TES, reached the finals, with TES ultimately winning the championship.

Since the previous two S-Series champions were also won by Chinese clubs—IG and FPX—the domestic esports atmosphere is excellent, and League of Legends' popularity has reached its peak.

If this drama had aired during the "darkest hour," it definitely wouldn't have drawn such attention, and esports fans wouldn't have been so kind.

Even the slightest connection would've gotten them roasted until they couldn't function.

From this angle, now is truly the best time for "Affectionate Love" to air—the domestic esports fans are still cheerful.

It's absolutely their most friendly moment.

In another top streamer's live room, upon seeing the shot of Na Zha draped in his team's flag, standing below the stage looking up, he went absolutely berserk~

"Holy shit. So I'm part of this too? I'm a prototype too?"

Then the barrage quickly explained—he did that move earlier, because this drama was filmed before last year's World Championship, with no reshoots afterward.

Now it's hard to say who's the real one and who's the copycat~

In short, these two episodes piled on esports elements extravagantly—but perfectly.

Viewers dug up every real-world connection and posted them side-by-side on trending topics.

Somehow, this little romantic drama earned the title "Best Esports Drama," leaving the CP fans stunned.

Simultaneously, Han Shangyan, after winning the championship, delivered the line that instantly dominated Douyin and Weibo: "Over the past two years and three months, I've won, lost, laughed, cried, been questioned, plagued by rumors, criticized, and smeared—never defended myself, never needed to. Tonight, the grand banquet ends. I've achieved fame and success—yet all I see is absurdity."

Paired with the insert song "Unknown Person," the atmosphere was flawless.

Just like a novel ends when the protagonist wins the championship, so too does this drama—not because it's forced, but because in real life, stories after victory often descend into ruin, a mess of chicken feathers.

It was as if Luo's necklace lay quietly in Madrid's sewer.

Perhaps this is the price of fame at a young age.

Thus, Bai Liang's acceptance speech when he won the Golden Eagle Best Actor award was dug up again—not by netizens' actions.

After Zhe Lan TV and Hu Shang TV fought bloody battles over the ratings of this drama, Mango TV jumped in; although they only secured the first round of "Glory," that didn't stop them from riding the heat of "Intimacy."

They couldn't land both dramas' first rounds, but the second round was definitely no problem.

Moreover, Bai Liang's first and only Best Actor award was the Golden Eagle; his textbook-perfect acceptance speech back then is still vividly remembered.

"The world is eager to hear stories of young prodigies, but the path of youth must be walked slowly."

It makes perfect sense—Mango TV riding the heat also reminds everyone to watch the second round~

With the atmosphere at this peak, Bai Liang also reposted it, writing a closing message.

This is one of his small habits—he summarizes each drama he stars in after it ends.

This time, of course, would be no exception.

After writing it, he thought his writing was quite good, but after posting it and checking the comments…

"Great Immortal, have you lost your mind? Closed? There's still one episode left! Do you really think this is an esports drama?"

"Finishing a match doesn't mean it's over, idiot! Did you forget? Han Shangyan and Tong Nian got their marriage certificate!"

"Confirmed: you've played too many games. This drama is a sweet romance, a sweet romance! Damn it!"

"I froze when I saw his closing message, rushed to check, and sure enough—there's still one episode left. Almost got fooled by the Great Immortal!"

"Friendly reminder: tomorrow's new episode of 'Five Ha' is airing, hehehe!"

"Married in the drama, married in real life! That's the real perfect ending!"

"."

The real reason this Weibo post went viral was that Na Zha came to Bai Liang's Weibo comments.

She didn't say anything special—she simply typed three question marks.

???

Clearly, she expressed an "angry" attitude toward Bai Liang forgetting there was still one episode left.

The civil affairs bureau scene for the marriage certificate—you dare forget that?

This was relatively restrained, since she knew what was coming soon, so Na Zha didn't dare be too playful.

Then Yang Yang jumped in.

He was a special guest in "Intimacy"—yeah, a special guest for nearly two weeks.

He successfully made Bai Liang owe him a special guest appearance.

This guy came over to stir the pot; at this moment, he dropped all pretense, saying, "Women only slow down your sword draw—esports doesn't need love." Lin Genxin liked it.

Hearing Hearing Lu Han liked it.

A united front of male comrades, ready to focus on gaming!

Then the guys all got "lucky," since netizens are experts at creating chaos.

You guys, with all your rumors—you'd literally make a drama just to generate a rumor, and even without drama you've got rumors—how dare you say "esports doesn't need love"?

Oh right, Hearing Hearing Lu Han isn't like that—his rumors are actually very few.

But he just happened to be in the spotlight recently, with rumors swirling about him and Song Song Yanfei.

Leaked footage of their kissing scene has surfaced; Guan Xiaotong's fans are putting pressure on him.

This time, he truly walked straight into the gun barrel.

No one knows how this guy manages to always step on landmines.

Chen Chichi, who had also wanted to join in and like it, quickly pulled his hand back—he was terrified, since the others only had rumors, but he had actually divorced his wife, and it had been a messy scene before.

Netizens tease these guys, but if they turned on him, it wouldn't be teasing—it'd be real attacks.

After this commotion, #BaiLiangThoughtIntimacyWasOver# made the trending list, giving already dominant "Intimacy" another massive boost—and adding a whole layer of entertainment value.

The next day, under this spotlight, the new episode of "Five Ha" premiered!

At the same time, "Love Me If You Dare" officially reached its finale: Han Shangyan and Tong Nian got their marriage certificate, and outside the Minzheng Bureau, they put on rings.

Rings?

This is a crucial exam point—write it down! —

"Here it is! Finally aired! I've waited so long for this episode!"

"Holy shit, 'Five Ha'? Two episodes dropped at once?!"

"Spoiler alert: if they hadn't dropped both episodes together, they'd have been roasted to a crisp—splitting a wedding into two episodes like that?"

"If they hadn't dropped both, I'd have cursed them—but now I'm just praising: edit more, the kids love it!"

"The opening scene picking them up felt so powerful—these two have incredible chemistry. Who understands how naturally the Great Immortal tapped Na Zha's handback and took her suitcase?"

"They didn't even need to speak—a real vibe! I love this 'Intimacy' side story~"

"."

This episode before the official wedding had both entertainment and deeply touching romantic moments.

The entertainment mainly came from Deng Chao and the others—repeatedly being scammed out of their "blood and sweat money" was genuinely hilarious.

To organize this wedding, they went all out as slaves, working nonstop.

One netizen commented it was outright "abusing the elderly," especially Deng Chao and Tian Yu—the two older ones were sighing heavily from exhaustion.

Na Zha's attempts to hide her feelings, with every emotion written plainly on her face, also provided plenty of amusement.

People loved watching her pretend, with clumsy acting, that she wasn't completely glued to Bai Liang—when everyone could see she was.

But the biggest highlight of this episode was still her and Bai Liang's "grand escape into the sunlight."

An idol-drama scene that instantly pulled viewers back into "Intimacy."

"I'm dying laughing—Big Immortal is both popular and unpopular in Xinchang; look at how those Xinchang guys are staring at him—they're all reaching for the backs of their waists."

"I'm from Xinchang—I swear, his nickname here isn't Big Immortal, it's White Dog."

"Big Immortal really did wrong—two of Xinchang's most beautiful girls are tangled up with him like this. If I were a Xinchang cousin, I'd want to beat him too."

"Is Reba watching? Can you share your thoughts~?"

"You didn't let Reba off the hook either—she can't just hide under the covers and cry now, can she?"

"Feng shui turns in cycles. When she and Big Immortal were sweet together, Zha also made not a single sound. It's only fair to take turns."

"."

When Bai Liang and Zha "fled" to that jewelry store and spent all the money they had to buy the silver ring, the live comments exploded!

Is it just a coincidence that the ring's price was so perfect?

Whether this was deliberately staged by the production team or truly fate's gift immediately became a hot topic online.

Most people still believed it was a pre-planned plot.

Otherwise, some people just couldn't accept it.

But many others felt that if it happened to this guy Bai Liang, it was actually quite reasonable.

Because the things he pulled off on the day of Reba's birthday party were even more outrageous than this.

Even the dark clouds and typhoons are helping him—having just enough cash to buy a ring? What's that?

Throughout all these discussions, the production team stayed completely silent—even when countless people flooded their Weibo comments asking questions, they gave not a single reply.

It wasn't aloofness; they simply dared not add fuel to this blazing fire.

Because Zha's older sister appearing in the wedding preparations had already trended.

"Holy shit! Her real sister showed up?! Is this real or fake?!"

"When Zha's sister came to pick her up from the hotel, I was stunned—this is way too intense~"

"If this was planned by the production team, I'd call it an absolute masterpiece! But if Zha or Big Immortal himself orchestrated this wedding, it gets really interesting~"

"If Big Immortal never marries in the future, looking back at this wedding will be truly fascinating!"

"."

Zha's older sister's appearance added a strange, magical element to this variety-show wedding.

It also crossed a dangerous boundary in some ways.

Afterward, the unusually serious wedding preparations by both the man and woman pushed this sense of authenticity to its peak.

The lively Xinchang wedding was draped in the "role-play" of a variety show, yet the groom and bride were exceptionally serious.

It resembled a bizarre yet brilliant drama.

Those outside the play saw only the spectacle and entertainment value; those inside were utterly sincere.

The so-called entertainment value was built from genuine emotion.

Sincerity is always a killing move.

Zha might never be able to act with such passion again, because back then, she had thrown her whole self into it—completely, utterly serious.

And observant people noticed that throughout the entire wedding, before and after, she never once said, "It felt just like the real thing."

But there was still one old question.

Is this bastard Bai Liang really sincere—or is he acting?

The damn guy is too effortlessly smooth—his performance in every single moment was flawless, absolutely at peak condition.

But somehow, it still felt like something was missing.

His longtime fans gave the right answer: relaxation.

People usually praise Bai Liang's relaxed vibe as charming—but damn, even at a wedding he still had that relaxation? That's the last thing that should appear in such a setting!

In contrast, Zha showed that feeling—from anticipation to nervousness, like she was dreaming.

Especially that scene where she hugged her sister and sobbed—tears dripping from her chin, it made your heart ache.

Now look at this guy Bai Liang?

He performed perfectly in every moment—so perfect, not a single flaw—but precisely because of that, he lacked that one thing: truth.

Fortunately, such nitpicking only caught the attention of a tiny minority who cared deeply.

Most people wouldn't bother digging into such details.

Bai Liang's flawless performance was a plus for them—they screamed with delight, calling it so sweet!

"Sis, online people say Xiao Bai's performance was too perfect, feels fake."

Zha, watching the show and crying her eyes out, immediately thought through those words, then waved her hand dismissively.

Ignore it.

"What's wrong with being perfect? He *is* perfect!" Zha declared firmly.

The assistant: Okay then~

Love-struck minds are sometimes genuinely happy—they simply don't think about any of this nonsense.

No matter what problems exist, she'll filter them out in her own mind.

In a way, this is a good thing—it saves a lot of unnecessary trouble and prevents excessive mental exhaustion.

Zha is the type who, if you tell her a bulletproof vest is bulletproof, she'll wear it and feel thrilled, thinking it's amazing!

But some people will doubt whether it's truly bulletproof, then keep shooting at it—with regular bullets failing, they'll switch to armor-piercing rounds.

The former is definitely much happier than the latter.

Of course, there's also another kind: someone who secretly doubts it, but tests the Kevlar vest with a water gun or BB pellets.

Reba is this kind.

(End of Chapter)