Chapter 499: The Only

The wedding in "Five HAs" paired with the finale of "Affection" was a royal flush thrown down to mark the start of this scorching summer.

Weibo hasn't been this lively in ages.

Even during Re Ba's previous moment, the buzz fell far short of this.

After all, it's the finale of the drama king plus a variety-show wedding—such an ultimate move—it'd be strange if the heat didn't explode.

Yet what was even stranger was that Na Zha and Bai Liang didn't interact intensely or show affection on the finale day.

Yesterday, Na Zha even went under Bai Liang's Weibo to leave question marks; today, she was completely silent.

They merely reposted each other's official drama account's finale messages.

And that was it.

While netizens found this odd, they didn't care much.

After all, they already served up a variety-show wedding—why bother with a bicycle for after-sales service?

At most, some CP fans were slightly dissatisfied, feeling it wasn't complete enough.

Of course, CP fans are never satisfied—they want their shipped couple to kiss publicly and announce it, and whether they marry or have kids depends entirely on the genders of the two.

If it's two guys or two girls, marriage and kids aren't really feasible.

So most CP wishes can never be fully fulfilled—they're forever hungry.

Still, many people wanted to see how Re Ba would react.

On one hand, the past grudges between these two new top female idols mattered; on the other, "Glory" had just ended as a blockbuster, still strongly present—yet barely after its heat peaked, Na Zha completely drowned it out.

Old grudges piled with new ones.

This made everyone wonder: would a new round of fierce feuding begin?

——

At this moment, Re Ba, after watching more than half of the latest two episodes of "Five HAs," turned off the TV.

Then she said: "Too fake. Not worth watching."

Huh?

Fake?

Re Ba's assistant scratched her head, thinking that apart from her bias, she actually found the variety-show wedding quite compelling.

But her innate bias made her feel it was compelling while simultaneously cursing under her breath.

She was pretty split~

Yet even her splitness couldn't match Re Ba's single remark: "Too fake."

"Sis, are you serious?" the assistant couldn't help asking.

Re Ba imitated Bai Liang's little bear gesture of shrugging, but after making the motion, she laughed at herself first, then composed her expression before speaking: "Big White is clearly acting—you can't tell?"

Assistant: How on earth did you figure that out?!

Today, Re Ba was unusually talkative, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, ready to deliver a detailed explanation.

"Just one simple thing—if it were my family over there, could Big White stay so calm?"

Good question!

The assistant blurted out: "He'd never stay calm—Uncle said he'd break Xiao Bai's legs, so he'd be terrified."

After saying this, the young assistant also "got it!"

Ah~

Right!

If it were real or even half-real, and Na Zha's sister stood there, confronting Bai Liang and Seeing Meng Meng like that, how could he possibly appear so calm?

Seeing her assistant so "Ruzike Sect," Re Ba smiled, "Right~? My little hometown guy loves playing smart—he even brought his sister over, thinking that makes it real? It's a terrible move."

"Don't I know Big White? He's soft-hearted—anything anyone asks him, if he can say yes, he will; if he can't, he'll find a way to say yes. Na Zha must've watched our drama's wedding scene and then copied it, volunteering herself."

"She got lucky—movies, TV dramas, she keeps catching them. Now she's caught this one again; she'll brag about it for at least two years."

"So what?"

"."

Honestly, the assistant originally thought Re Ba had some profound insight, saw through it all.

But as she listened, she started feeling something was off.

Sis is talking way too much today~

She says she doesn't care, calls it fake—but the sourness is already seeping out.

Re Ba: No! What sourness?!

She'd rather admit her feet ache from wearing high heels all day than admit she's jealous inside.

Still, better if her feet don't ache at all—after all, Bai Liang likes them.

In the end, Re Ba concluded with: "I dance way better than her," setting the tone for this "meeting."

The assistant agreed wholeheartedly!

Even ignoring bias, Re Ba's dancing is genuinely far better than Gu Li Na Zha's—if she'd danced at the wedding, she'd have been way more compelling.

But the problem is this: Re Ba and Bai Liang never had a chance to dance in the drama's wedding~

Even with two versions filmed, neither was a Xinjiang wedding.

After all, in the drama, she was Qiao Jingjing.

The hell is Gu Li Na Zha doing playing Tong Nian? Why does she get a Xinjiang wedding?!

Unfair!

No—why does she even deserve it?!

Late at night, Re Ba tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, and finally opened her phone, removing Gu Li Na Zha from her WeChat blacklist.

Block, delete, then add back, then block again — the two of them have done this back and forth several times now.

The purpose of unblocking this time is very simple: to start cursing her out!

If she doesn't vent a little, she probably won't be able to fall asleep tonight.

Sixty-second voice message barrage, activate!

The result was that Reba had only just sent one message, and while she was still recording the second one, Nazha on the other end of the phone let out an "Eh?"

Then she immediately launched a counterattack, as if she had long been prepared, just waiting here for her~

Wedding group photos, wedding short videos — she tossed over a dozen of them in one go.

Nazha: You're not asleep? Hehe, I'm not asleep either!

But Reba wasn't sleeping because she was upset and feeling too miserable to sleep; Nazha was simply too happy to sleep.

People's joys and sorrows are never the same.

Before receiving Reba's voice-message cursing barrage, Nazha had been surfing the internet at full intensity.

She was just sitting there watching how all sorts of people were shipping her and Bai Liang as a CP — short videos about "Keep Running" and "Five Ha" came one after another, she simply couldn't stop.

Even though she'd already flipped through the content countless times, every time she'd watch it again, and then read the netizens' comments, only then would she head to the next video and its comment section fully satisfied.

Seeing Meng Meng contributing her own share of traffic to these clip-making bloggers.

And then Reba delivered herself right to the doorstep!

Nazha burst out laughing — never had she fought such a wealthy battle!

Little fellow townsman, you brought this on yourself~

And Reba, upon seeing the content the other side had tossed over, felt her blood pressure spike; she had been lying on her side in bed, but sat bolt upright in one motion.

Outrageous! As if she didn't have any?

Whose phone doesn't have some "intimate photos" on it!

In a way, this counts as an emoji battle.

After the two of them each sent over a pile of photos, they suddenly both realized — damn, this seemed like they were handing the other side "dirt"!

So, the two of them almost simultaneously began doing the same thing.

Save the other's photos, then recall the ones they had sent.

Upon seeing that the other side was also recalling, they only hated that their own hand speed wasn't fast enough, and wasn't ruthless enough!

Mainly, they were worried that some private photos might be mixed in there.

Although after that photographer's incident in Xiangjiang, artists' vigilance had risen a lot, there were still always some relatively more risqué photos they had taken privately.

Both Nazha and Reba had them!

And it was unclear whether it was because girls really do love taking photos so much, but they had all been taken by themselves holding up their phones.

So they really weren't sure whether among the pile they had just sent, there were any that stimulating.

So it was that, right after the "bombing," both of them were checking on their own.

After that came several minutes of silence.

Reba: Oh no, did she save them?

After all, the little fellow townsman was someone who always had "I'll expose you" hanging on her lips.

Now she might actually have the basis to "expose" her, because she had just sent several photos of herself biting Bai Liang's ear — the kind that looked very suggestive, even sticking out her tongue.

As for Nazha:. Done for done for done for!

When she had just been checking, she discovered that she seemed to have tossed over one very damning photo — one taken on the night of the "wedding."

That day she really couldn't hold back, and took a photo to commemorate it.

Extremely risqué!

If that thing got Bai Liang cropped out and released, wouldn't she be utterly ruined?

She glanced at the few photos from Reba that she had saved — they were all freaking stills from shows.

It made Nazha furious, but after thinking about it she felt like maybe she shouldn't be angry about this — no private photos is a good thing! But regarding the silent little fellow townsman, she was getting a bit anxious.

She was even muttering in her heart: Would begging her do any good?

This bizarre silent standoff continued all the way until the next morning.

Both of them hadn't slept all night, burdened with worries.

They picked up their phones several times wanting to communicate with the other, but couldn't get past that hurdle in their hearts.

They had been bickering for years. Who would be willing to bow to the other?

Then, after thinking about it all night, both of them went to find Bai Liang.

Bai Liang:???

Sometimes it's hard to imagine that this kind of thing was actually done by two top-tier female celebrities — just how unhinged must they have been to pull off such an absurd move.

Sending each other their own risqué photos?

If the two of them's teams found out about this, they'd probably "explode" on the spot.

"What risqué photos? They're just some pretty normal group photos — can a photo of me kissing you be called a risqué photo?" Reba quickly said.

"Then what are you afraid of?"

"Her brain not being normal isn't something that just started yesterday," Reba mercilessly ranted.

"What exactly did she send you that got you this worked up?"

". Photos from your wedding."

"That was a variety show wedding, shouldn't you have also sent her photos from our wedding? How did you end up sending private photos?"

"I ran out of wedding photos, and it was too late at the time, my head wasn't clear," Reba said a little sheepishly.

Under normal circumstances she was actually pretty calm, but last night happened to be a late-night emo moment, her heart was already a mess, so she couldn't help acting on impulse.

Reba acted out of impulsive recklessness; Nalazha does it daily like clockwork.

She came running to Bai Liang, pitifully telling him she'd sent her risqué photos to Reba, and asked what to do.

The photos Nalazha sent truly qualified as "risqué"—their explicitness made Bai Liang's eyelid twitch involuntarily.

When he took them, he'd assumed Nalazha had only shot her face; he never expected she'd actually used a wide-angle lens.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it. Clear all the photos from your phone."

Bai Liang gave both girls the same reply.

Yet their responses to him were nearly identical.

They wanted him to fix the situation, but the photos would never be deleted.

Some of those photos were taken years ago—even if they could be called "time bombs," they refused to delete them, because they were cherished memories.

Women, when swept up by emotion, are truly irrational.

Fortunately, they'd all included Bai Liang in the photos, so they wouldn't leak—more effective than the door gods pasted up during festivals.

Bai Liang hadn't expected his luck would one day be useful in such a situation.

He wasn't sure if this counted as misfortune turning to fortune, but after this incident, Reba calmed down completely and didn't try to stir up trouble.

She didn't even complain to Bai Liang—she just told him to deal with Nalazha, that "crazy woman."

This mutual fear of incriminating evidence falling into each other's hands proved remarkably effective.

Even Nalazha became docile, completely stopping her attempts to provoke Reba.

Their mutual wariness escalated another notch.

Under this mutual restraint, no strange narratives surfaced online; both sides' teams strictly controlled their fans.

This situation left other observers—other young women—puzzled.

Some had originally planned to come harass Bai Liang, only to find things weren't as they'd imagined.

Could this really just be a variety show plan?

If so, the Five Hahas crew truly deserved to die!

Because, under Sister Yanzi's "hint," the Five Hahas show was publicly claiming this had been their planned content all along—even without Bai Liang and Nalazha, they'd still have done the Xinjiang wedding segment.

The Five Hahas crew, unaware of how massive a burden they'd taken on or how many female artists now hated them, were actually quite happy.

With this season's finale so successful, next year's sponsorship deals would naturally go even smoother.

More importantly, they'd established a solid relationship with Bai Liang; if he had future promotional needs, he might even appear on Five Hahas again—that was crucial!

Considering Bai Liang's project output, who knows—he might show up once a year!

Become a permanent guest!

So even if they knew they were taking the blame, they'd probably gladly accept it.

They could take on any number of black pots!

It's our duty, Brother Liang!

Besides, although other young women cursed and resented him, when it came to project collaborations, they couldn't help whispering—and even feeling tempted.

Simple: I want one too!

Give me one too!

Inquiries from Sister Tian Tian's team and Li Yitong's team left the Five Hahas director and producers in a bind.

Wait, I was just joking—did you actually mean it?

Sister Tian Tian's side was easier to refuse, since the timing clashed: Five Hahas' next season would film after Si Teng aired, so it was impossible to overlap.

But Li Yitong's timing was oddly convenient.

Zui Xu had already wrapped; its planned broadcast and promotional schedule perfectly aligned with next year's Five Hahas filming.

Technically, Li Yitong had no right to negotiate such terms, let alone demand more than Sister Tian Tian—she even insisted on bringing Tian Xiwei along, asking for a whole new plan where all three could be sweet together.

With anyone else, the crew might've slapped them across the face: "What the hell, so many demands?"

But Li Yitong said, "I'm bringing Bai Liang with me—if your show can't handle it, ask other programs if they have openings."

Five Hahas crew: We have openings! We have openings! Of course we have openings!

As for what kind of openings—they had over half a year to figure it out.

Let's just say, the little evil kitten was just too "supermodel" in her instincts—she reacted faster than anyone else.

While Meng Jie and Li Xin were still fuming, she was already extrapolating—and even wanted to drag along a "hitchhiker."

Still, she did have an advantage: she'd just starred in a drama with Bai Liang.

Oh right, backstory: the Zui Xu project was originally offered to Meng Jie first.

At this time, Meng Jie was sulking while still promising Chen Duling and Zhou Ye that after Shao Nian De Ni premiered, she'd organize a private screening to support them.

Zhou Ye, that happy little puppy, could match her train of thought; Chen Duling, meanwhile, thanked her while scribbling furiously in her "death notebook."

She studied the promotional campaign for Shao Nian De Ni and felt it couldn't produce anything as drastic as Nalazha's stunt.

Two shows had already been confirmed: Season 4 of China's Kitchen, and a new variety show from Mango TV called Full of Vitality, Big Brothers.

The latter clearly involved games and PKs, but the former might yield some better results.

Sister Duding declared she'd already started practicing her cooking!

Practicing in secret, planning to shock everyone on the show.

Cooking delicious food for Bai Liang!

But after briefly checking the regular guest list for China's Kitchen Season 4, Chen Duling's eyelid twitched involuntarily at the name Zhao Liying.

But she thought it must be her imagination.

Although Zhao Liying had collaborated with Bai Liang more than any other 85s actress, they'd never sparked rumors like Sister Tian Tian had.

They'd starred in several dramas together, even played husband and wife, yet publicly they were "mutually respectful"—not a whisper of "love born from filming."

Netizens jokingly call her: the only "survivor" under the Great Immortal's command.

Everyone says Zhao Liying has high resistance, able to withstand the charm of Bai Liang, this hexagonal male god.

Chen Duling: That's really wonderful! The advantage is mine!

Setting down her own "Death Note," classmate Dudu is brimming with confidence.

Now it's her turn!

(End of Chapter)