Chapter 510: The Treatment of the Purple Star of the Domestic Entertainment Industry

"Please, I'm begging you."

"Who ever begs like this?"

But thinking about it, it was actually normal—after all, Bai Liang had fumbled around in the dark the night before.

Because after Bai Liang realized something was off, even though they were already entangled, he still mustered tremendous willpower to pull away and turn on the light.

This behavior was actually quite wrong.

If the lights had stayed off and they'd operated in the dark, the girl might not have felt so embarrassed.

But turning on the light, plus Bai Liang's absurdly fast speed at undressing her, left her wanting to find a crack to hide in right then and there.

But it also confirmed one thing for Bai Liang: she really could turn red anywhere.

He saw it clearly, unmistakably.

After that, from the airport onward, Zhou Ye became strange.

Chen Duling's early departure seemed to be the final weight on the scale; this "puppy" had already been clingy, and now that clinginess surged up another whole level.

And the boundaries expanded dramatically!

Before, the level of intimacy Bai Liang had with her barely brushed the edge of ambiguity—still at the middle-school or high-school level.

Now it was slightly exaggerated, almost indescribable.

In short, the difference was enormous!

Of course, this was truly Bai Liang's fault—he had to admit it.

He'd gotten too used to doing certain things.

It was like accidentally flipping a switch, after which everything spiraled out of control.

At this moment, Zhao Jinmai felt something was off: there was a faint red mark on her brother's neck, barely visible beneath his shirt collar.

Today was basically a script reading for "The Beginning"—just the creators getting together to chat about plot and characters.

After learning Bai Liang would come, Zhao Jinmai had already waited downstairs early.

Then she saw another girl in the car, her face flushed, sitting there as if unwilling to let go of her brother.

When she spotted Zhao Jinmai, she paused slightly, pursed her lips, then stared fixedly at her.

She naturally recognized the girl—Zhou Ye, the Little Princess of Song, the female second lead in her brother's upcoming film.

Zhao Jinmai: Hey! Look at you, so impressive~

She wasn't intimidated; she stared right back.

Glare at her!

Neither girl really understood why they were glaring at each other, but they both did it instinctively.

There was no reason at all.

It was as if meeting each other instantly marked them as "rivals."

Of course, both girls clearly had no experience here; after staring at each other for a while, they immediately defaulted to familiar patterns.

"Brother." x2

Identical tone, as if their ways of whining were nearly the same.

Bai Liang only then realized the two people who most loved calling him "brother" had almost identical inflections.

Then the two of them glared at each other again~

Their earlier "aura clash" had less of a fiery edge.

After all, two baby puppies fighting and two adult dogs tearing at each other give completely different impressions.

The former feels amusing, cute, funny; the latter carries thick bloodlust and menace.

Bai Liang, used to seeing Na and Reba tearing into each other, found these two girls bickering oddly endearing—he wanted to pinch their cheeks.

Look at you two, so impressive~

Their second stare lasted longer, as if there were some childish rule: whoever blinked first lost.

How did it end?

The car was about to leave, but Zhou Ye wouldn't let go—she rolled down the window, determined to keep locking eyes with Zhao Jinmai.

Bai Liang thought she was trying to cosplay the "Dakang Secretary" from "In the Name of the People," lowering the window with deadly intent and deep calculation.

But though her face was stern, it was still light-years away from that level.

Forced fierceness fooled no one.

Especially when the car drove off and Zhou Ye realized she was about to lose sight of them—she stuck her head out the window. That move completely ruined the aura.

Instantly, the mood shifted from serious to comedic.

Of course, Zhao Jinmai wasn't much better—her cheeks puffed out like little apples.

Bai Liang noticed her nose twitching slightly from heavy breathing—so amusing.

Then, once Zhou Ye's car vanished from view, Zhao Jinmai turned to Bai Liang, immediately trying to convey some emotion—whether anger or jealousy, he couldn't tell.

But she misjudged it, and ended up with a dopey smile.

So she got a head pat, which successfully made her "forget" the previous red-faced puppy.

She immediately became a little lark, chirping around Bai Liang, sharing the fun things she'd experienced these days, plus her efforts on the script and characters.

Clearly, she wanted praise.

Bai Liang didn't hold back—and after being praised, the little girl got cocky and started "pushing her luck."

She acted like she was going to "settle old scores."

Thus came the bizarre, oddly synchronized remark with Zhou Ye: "Last time, you stopped halfway…"

But Zhao Jinmai just meant it as teasing or to claim some other kind of "rights"; Zhou Ye's version truly belonged in the category of flirtatious banter.

"Brother~"

"I always feel you're scheming something nasty to find an excuse." Bai Liang, at this moment, was remarkably perceptive—he saw right through the little girl at a glance.

Caught off guard, Zhao Jinmai felt a little embarrassed, but she had grown; she tucked her small hands behind her back and began pretending to be clueless, glancing left and right.

Because she knew Bai Liang very well.

As expected.

Even though he knew the little girl was up to no good, he still said: "I can only agree to one thing, okay? You didn't just take on another drama and plan to drag me into it, did you?"

"No no no, how could I! I'm not that childish!"

Zhao Jinmai shook her head vigorously at these words, urgently insisting she wasn't some ungrateful little girl—she was now a responsible adult woman!

In a certain sense, she really had grown up.

Especially after realizing what even Bai Liang's casual promise had given her. Now, even if he offered again, she dared not accept.

Girls born around the 2000s were gradually emerging, many of whom had already gained some fame.

For example, Cun Zi, who made a dazzling debut with the momentum of the new generation's chosen girl, had resources so impressive they were jaw-dropping.

Other rising young stars were also taking turns appearing before audiences, beginning to stand out in the domestic entertainment industry.

Originally, Zhao Jinmai, aside from having gained slightly more fame due to her role in *The Wandering Earth*, lacked resources in every other aspect by a wide margin.

When marketing accounts called one girl a "little princess" or another a "grace," or labeled one a "hidden gem" or another a "future star," they almost never included her.

She was still included in the trash-talking.

Others trampled on her.

"You acted in *The Wandering Earth*? What a perfect stepping stone!"

With only fleeting fame and no timely follow-up resources, who else would you trample on?

After other young stars emerged, high-end endorsements and fashion resources rushed to them—but she was missing far more than just a little in this regard.

But now it was different: just by re-collaborating with Bai Liang, even before filming began, Zhao Jinmai had begun enjoying the treatment of an entertainment industry Purple Star.

She had everything others had, and even things they didn't.

The sudden happiness left Zhao Jinmai momentarily bewildered—since her debut as a child star, she finally seemed to have found the right way to navigate the entertainment circle.

At the same time, she felt fear, because she knew all this was borrowed—how could she accept it so confidently or so naturally?

Fortunately, as a child star, she was quite good at adjusting her mindset.

She didn't dwell too long on gains and losses.

Otherwise, she wouldn't be cheerfully calling out "Big Brother" right now~

As for her "nasty scheme," it wasn't anything too extreme.

The script of *The Restart* had undergone slight changes.

The overall changes weren't big, but a kiss scene had been added.

Yes, originally *The Restart* had no kiss scenes or intimate scenes—after all, the drama was short and packed with constant tension and excitement. A bus explosion, for heaven's sake~

Someone who could still think of slipping in a romance under such circumstances was undoubtedly a "genius"!

Of course, some domestic screenwriters probably weren't incapable of writing such scenes.

But the people at Zhengwu Yangguang shouldn't have been.

Yet now they had successfully embarrassed themselves and told Bai Liang: We can write too!

Still, Zhengwu Yangguang had real skill—their reasoning was solid, even bordering on scientific.

*The Restart* tells the story of Xiao Heyun, a game architect, and Li Shiqing, a college student, who die and are reborn after a bus explosion, endlessly looping through the time period before the accident, trying to prevent the blast and uncover the truth.

The bus's explosion, and the protagonists' repeated experiences of death and rebirth.

Though they never indulged in sweet, romantic talk during this time, what about afterward?

After going through something like that, the emergence of love is not Tang Tu—it's only natural.

The scientific basis was all about dopamine secretion and so on and so forth—Bai Liang said he read a lot, no need for them to explain.

The main issue was... kissing Zhao Jinmai?

Bai Liang scratched his head, feeling something was off.

He closed his eyes—and still saw her as she was at fourteen or fifteen, her baby fat still unshed, utterly a little girl with yellowish hair.

"Fine, we can do the kiss scene—use stand-ins."

To be honest, since his debut, Bai Liang had never used stand-ins for kiss or intimate scenes, a common practice in the industry.

He always did it for real.

Mostly because the girls he worked with never raised such requests, so he didn't feel comfortable bringing it up himself~

It would make him seem overly delicate.

But this time, the great Lord Bai bravely took his first step in life.

Kiss scene with stand-ins!

Very reasonable!

"Fine," the Zhengwu Yangguang director had no objection, but he felt that using stand-ins for just one kiss scene might result in a weaker effect.

A kiss after surviving death must carry weight—stand-ins couldn't capture that realism.

But who was Bai Liang? His words carried too heavy a weight.

Not just stand-ins—even if he demanded deleting the entire scene, they'd have to comply.

The director could tell he wasn't putting on an act—he genuinely and seriously made this request.

Still, the director agreed, but someone on set disagreed.

Not Zhao Jinmai—she wasn't there; just after Bai Liang turned his head, she vanished, no one knew where she'd gone.

"I think we should film it for real. Brother Bai doesn't need to be so considerate of Mei Mei—she's willing herself, and she's already an adult."

"And you are?"

"I'm Mai Mai's agent."

After introducing herself, the agent added, "This is also Mai Mai's first on-screen kiss—kind of a selling point, so it'll help with promotion a bit. We can't keep burdening Teacher Bai entirely; this girl's a bit stubborn."

Stubborn, so she has to kiss Bai Liang?

Does that logic make sense? Listen to what you're saying, Agent Sister.

Bai Liang felt this agent had something unsaid—and her gaze at him was odd.

It seemed like a misunderstanding~

But in the blink of an eye, a girl in a blue shirt and a white canvas bag appeared before him.

But what drew the most attention was her long, straight black hair.

The little girl had let her hair down—it had been tied up before.

"Hi~ Hello, I'm Li Shiqing."

——

When a little girl who had been calling you "Big Brother, Big Brother" nonstop suddenly stops, honestly, it's a bit unsettling.

In fact, if this self-proclaimed "Li Shiqing"—Zhao Jinmai—had called Bai Liang by the male lead's name in the drama, it wouldn't have been odd at all.

But now she's calling Bai Liang by his full name.

Little brat. This girl's becoming "impolite."

As the saying goes: if a younger one doesn't call you "Sister," her intentions are a bit wild.

Flip the gender, and the same logic applies.

But to be fair, she'd only changed her makeup slightly—not complicated at all—and just let her hair down. Yet even so, Zhao Jinmai now radiated the vibe of a young college girl.

Of course, she's already an incoming college student—her age fits perfectly.

But the childishness seemed to vanish too quickly, leaving him oddly unsettled.

From a professional standpoint, she'd prepared thoroughly for this role—clearly put in the work.

From other angles, though, it's harder to say.

Take this: now that she dares call Bai Liang by his full name, she outright rejected his idea of "fake kissing."

"Why fake it? You're the famous Weibo Film Emperor; I've acted for ten years—I'm a child prodigy! We're professionals!"

The stance. The tone.

As if a simple kiss scene were child's play.

To outsiders, you'd think she'd kissed dozens of times already.

Meanwhile, Bai Liang—the real veteran who'd kissed plenty—suddenly seemed oddly shy beside her.

But Bai Liang sat there, rubbing his chin, smiling, "Mai Mai, if you didn't blush when you say that, you'd act it even better."

Zhao Jinmai: Ugh!

"I'm not acting."

She barely held back her expression, on the verge of letting out a soft huff.

There was no need to continue discussing the kiss scene.

Because just now, Zhao Jinmai had already set a trap for Bai Liang—and he'd walked right into it.

He'd agreed to it.

Since she insisted, if Bai Liang acted aloof, he'd seem ridiculous himself.

After the matter was settled, Zhao Jinmai's agent wore an "I knew it" expression.

Her lips curled slightly.

Tsk tsk. Men—you really played it well just now.

For a moment, she'd even doubted whether Bai Liang and Zhao Jinmai had ever had the relationship she imagined.

Had she misunderstood?

Now it was clear: no!

After all, who doesn't like a taste of something fresh?

Zhao Jinmai glanced at her agent sister, feeling a bit guilty—she knew exactly what the woman was thinking.

She'd explained before, but this older sister didn't believe her~

The more she explained, the more the woman spun wild theories—like "stealing virginity from a thousand miles away."

Zhao Jinmai had pondered for a long time before understanding what she meant—and she'd been so embarrassed she nearly crawled into a crack in the floor.

Too lewd~ This little girl just couldn't grasp it instantly.

But that phrase? It hit just right—striking straight at the little girl's soft spot and secret.

Because both her hands had no long nails—cut clean.

She'd explained publicly that it was because she'd been preparing for the college entrance exam; long nails made holding a pen awkward.

But there were other uses too.

Even so, she knew better than to go too far—she understood the weight of things.

She picked up the script to shield her face, but stole a glance at Bai Liang beside her. Even now, Mai Mai wasn't sure if her look had worked at all.

But she still had another trick~

This time, it wasn't "intentional"—just a sudden, impulsive urge.

"Let's try it now~"

"Huh?"

Bai Liang turned to look at the suddenly "strange" Zhao Jinmai—her big eyes seemed to say:

Once you've tried it, you're no longer a child~

(End of Chapter)