Chapter 533: Eight Hundred Marketing Accounts vs. The Eight Hundred

Just as Sister Yanzi was still pondering whether the three major awards would hurry up and release their nominations so she could launch a massive publicity blitz.

Xiao Shui suddenly lit up with an idea, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

"Hua Yi has so many scandals—want me to help out?"

We might not have a move right now, but we can figure out how to bring them down~

But Sister Yanzi rolled her eyes. "Hua Yi's scandals have already been turned into nursery rhymes—everyone knows them. They've got no real punch."

Smearing someone's reputation also requires some finesse.

If you splash ink on a Black person's face, they won't even feel it.

Those two Hua Yi brothers are practically fixed villain bosses in every Chinese entertainment novel—do they even need more dirt?

Hearing this, Xiao Shui finally caught on.

That's right!

Hua Yi's visibility is already high enough; trying to smear them now wouldn't do much good.

But targeting the opponent is still a valid direction.

So the two of them huddled together, studied it, and pinned their target on Guan Hu, the director of The Eight Hundred.

Xiao Shui swore confidently: "This guy's got a crooked ass!"

"I haven't looked into that at all~" Sister Yanzi, of course, lacked the professional insight Xiao Shui had—after all, her little Bai brother had never collaborated with Guan Hu, so she had no reason to pay attention to such things.

"Seriously, you can dig deep here—when their movie comes out, we'll give him a little surprise."

"I think that's solid!" Sister Yanzi clapped her fist into her palm.

"Right? Right? My ideas are never wrong! With us sisters working together, we'll dig up every last secret he's got!"

"Whose secrets are you digging up?" Bai Liang asked curiously.

He'd just walked in and seen the two of them like evil little kittens possessed—smirking, eyes glinting with mischief, grinning so wickedly.

"Whoa! Xiao Shui, how are you so evil?! How did you even come up with all this?! I couldn't think of it!"

Hearing this, Xiao Shui's eyes widened slightly. "Preemptive accusation?! Sister Yanzi, you've really gone bad."

Back when we first met, she was so innocent—her smile was always shy and sweet.

Now she's Sister Yan, and throwing blame and framing people comes as naturally as breathing.

At that moment, Sister Yanzi finally realized and slapped her own forehead. "Sorry sorry—I've watched too many feuds, and I've unconsciously picked up some green tea tactics."

Then both of them turned to look at Bai Liang.

The meaning was clear: Full responsibility, Brother.

Sister Yanzi asked herself where she'd learned green tea tactics? Didn't she pick them all up from Bai Liang's good sisters and good girlfriends?

Watching so many feuds, she'd absorbed plenty by osmosis.

Some of those girls were truly pathetic; others were genuinely green tea masters.

Xiao Shui agreed wholeheartedly—Even Sister Tian Tian wasn't as naive as before; no one knew when she'd started learning to speak in passive-aggressive tones.

Clearly, this was Bai Liang's fault!

Bai Liang:???

Huh? Me?

He thought for a moment, realized it didn't really make sense—but fine, a real man takes responsibility.

"Battle" really does make you grow.

Many people don't know that, once upon a time, Na Zha was also a total five-point zero.

Back then, aside from bullying Meng Jie, she got absolutely crushed whenever she faced Sister Reba.

But she was stubborn as hell, and through one battle after another, she grew at lightning speed.

Now, her feuds with Sister Reba are almost evenly matched—she doesn't lose an inch.

If she had that same drive in acting, Na Zha would've become an outstanding actress long ago.

But that's unlikely, because interest is the best teacher.

Na Zha improved so fast mainly because she's a love-struck fool—her stubbornness only applied to this one area; if it were acting, she'd have given up long ago.

After asking what mischief these two girls had been plotting, Bai Liang gave his guidance.

That was: Go ahead and play around~

It's not a big deal anyway—he rarely interfered in Sister Yanzi's work.

After all, she's always done fine.

Bai Liang even enthusiastically offered some ideas of his own—then Sister Yanzi and Xiao Shui told him to get lost.

They said his ideas were utterly unreliable—what they were doing was tense, thrilling business warfare!

Not childish pretend-play or pranks.

What's this nonsense? Sneaking graffiti onto their movie posters? Bribing their janitors to cut power every two hours? Killing their money trees? Secretly swapping the God of Wealth's statue for one that looks like Yama? What kind of stupid ideas are these?

Boys are just childish!

Bai Liang could only shrug helplessly—he thought his ideas were actually quite useful.

Especially the money tree-killing trick—he'd tried it himself as a kid, and it had worked brilliantly.

But Sister Yanzi and Xiao Shui's ideas weren't bad either.

At least they sounded impressive.

Something like "Eight Hundred Marketing Accounts vs. The Eight Hundred."

Feels pretty thrilling~—

Xiamen.

This is the filming location chosen by the cast and crew of The Beginning.

The drama "The Beginning" doesn't require many locations; most scenes are shot on that bus, and since it's an experimental short drama, it's estimated to take about a month to finish.

Of course, this doesn't include pre-production preparation.

Originally, the crew had hoped to further compress the shooting schedule, because Bai Liang has a high profile and many commitments; just him agreeing to join this drama was already a favor, let alone asking for more of his time.

But when communicating with Sister Yanzi, she waved her hand and said: Don't worry about scheduling—I've reserved plenty of time for you.

The "The Beginning" crew was genuinely moved~

But in reality, that time slot was originally reserved for "The Splendor."

Now that Bai Liang has withdrawn from "The Splendor" to join "The Beginning," he has more than enough time.

After finishing, he could even rest for a long stretch before joining "Changjin Lake."

Zhao Jinmai, who arrived ahead of the crew, had been in great spirits these days—she successfully took leave from school, and her new drama could start smoothly, but most importantly—

"I bought the ice lollies~"

Hearing that voice, Zhao Jinmai looked up in delight.

Of course, it wasn't Bai Liang's voice—it was her assistant's.

Zhao Jinmai pulled out a Green Tongue from the plastic bag and happily began eating.

Actually, eating the ice lolly wasn't that important; she mainly wanted to use it to get into the mood.

Hehe, filming a kissing scene!

Let me practice first!

But her agent, who had come with her to the set, casually said, "Jinmai, when you film the kissing scene, don't deliberately mess up just because you want to kiss him~"

The agent wasn't teasing Zhao Jinmai; she was just reminding her to separate her personal feelings from her acting. Actors must be professional—don't learn from those love-struck people in the industry.

But Zhao Jinmai froze upon hearing this.

Right! Why am I practicing at all?!

The Green Tongue, only licked a few times and still hard, was instantly discarded like trash.

No more practice!

"Hey? What tasty thing are you sneaking?"

This time, it was truly Bai Liang's voice!

Zhao Jinmai looked up, surprised and delighted, "Big Brother!"

Hmm.

Looking at the Green Tongue offered to him, Bai Liang didn't know whether to accept it happily or politely refuse.

He didn't mind eating something someone else had tasted.

When he was with Da Mi Mi and the others, he often had things shoved into his mouth they couldn't finish.

For female stars who can control their portions, many snack packages are oversized; they usually just taste a bit.

Even though Bai Liang prefers a more curvaceous figure, the girls have eased up on their dieting, but they still maintain their figures.

Being curvaceous and gaining weight are two different things—they still have to consider their public image.

In the entertainment circle, who dares to get fat for fun? Thinking it over, it seems only—

"Jinmai, what are you doing? You're handing Bai Teacher something you've already eaten?"

Just as Bai Liang was about to reach for the Green Tongue Zhao Jinmai held, her agent quickly stepped in to save face.

He reached out and took the ice lolly from Zhao Jinmai's hand.

Scolded and reminded, Miss Jinmai sheepishly stuck out her tongue, but she declared she'd do it again next time!

Soon, both of them sat there licking Green Tongues—Bai Liang had gotten a fresh one.

"You like these? My RV arrives tomorrow—I'll have someone buy more and store them in the fridge."

Zhao Jinmai said nothing, only stared blankly at Bai Liang licking his Green Tongue.

It felt like… Big Brother is so good at this!

When she licked it, her tongue went stiff from the cold—so clumsy.

But this thing in Bai Liang's mouth seemed to become an art.

For some reason, Zhao Jinmai involuntarily swallowed.

"It's melting~"

Bai Liang reminded her.

"Oh oh!"

Now it was Miss Jinmai's turn to teach Bai Liang a lesson!

When she noticed her Green Tongue dripping sugar water, she flipped it upside down, licked it with her tongue first, then sucked the entire ice lolly into her mouth.

Bai Liang said nothing, only silently gave a thumbs-up.

He never expected Jinmai could figure this out on her own—wait, no, it was similar but not quite the same.

At this moment, Zhao Jinmai was dressed as Li Shiqing; during filming, she'd likely remain in this look.

But the way she licked the ice lolly… was nothing like Li Shiqing, and nothing like any of her previous styles.

The little girl had suddenly gained three-tenths of allure.

"Whoa, so cold!"

The result of sucking the whole ice lolly was that Zhao Jinmai shivered all over, and her teeth felt painfully numb.

She needed something warm~

After finishing the ice lolly, the girl visibly became even happier than before.

But soon, she wasn't happy anymore.

Because Bai Liang's phone rang—it was Big Mi Mi calling.

"Brother, three billion box office—so impressive~"

Bai Liang glanced at Zhao Jinmai, who was practically clinging to him, feigning innocent eavesdropping, but he made no effort to avoid her.

If you want to listen, then listen~

Zhao Jinmai, faintly hearing the coquettish voice on the other end of the phone, suddenly felt a surge of insecurity.

So damn flirtatious! I want to learn that.

Big Mi Mi's call was clearly about coordinating when she'd come in for a cameo.

The role she'd be playing in *The Beginning* was Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau.

The character's traits: outwardly stern, inwardly calm, and so on and so forth.

This character isn't particularly important, since the main police storyline centers on Liu Yijun's role as Deputy Captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit.

The deputy director is just background.

But Big Mi Mi was quite satisfied with the role, saying she really liked police uniforms! Her father was a police officer~

Bai Liang said he liked them too—after all, who doesn't love uniforms?

Clearly, without needing to say it outright, both knew that when they met, that uniform would make a strong impression.

And the impression probably wouldn't be a mild one.

Of course, during the phone call, Big Mi Mi didn't say anything suggestive.

Even though Bai Liang didn't remind her, she seemed to know he had someone beside him.

Or rather, this sister had always been quite cautious.

Generally, in phone calls or messages, she kept things restrained.

She only said suggestive things to Bai Liang in person—and the most suggestive kind.

Zhao Jinmai listened for a while but heard nothing out of place; still, she envied how effortlessly the other woman exuded femininity, making Zhao's own ears tingle.

Bai Liang said she needn't envy it—who after giving birth could lose her femininity~

What's there to compare between a little girl and a big sister?

After Bai Liang joined the cast of *The Beginning*, *Better Days* seemed to perk up a bit again, thanks to his personal three-billion-box-office status.

It was now slowly inching toward 2.9 billion.

But most people still felt this film's box office wouldn't climb further, especially as *The Eight Hundred*'s promotion had already begun, drawing away much attention.

At this moment, Sister Yanzi and Xiao Shui began quietly stirring things up.

A set of photos and videos suddenly appeared online—unrelated to *The Eight Hundred*; the film in question was *The Bridge*, scheduled for release this October.

The similarity was that *The Bridge* was also directed by Guan Hu, but this film was co-directed by Guan Hu, Guo Fan, and Director Lu Yang.

It resembled the format of *The Battle at Lake Changjin*, with Guan Hu serving as chief director and screenwriter.

The online video was filmed during the *The Bridge* production team's visit to a martyrs' cemetery to pay respects to the fallen.

Of course, this act was perfectly normal—they were making a film about the martyrs' deeds~

But what was abnormal was Guan Hu.

The lead actors of *The Bridge*, Wu Jing and Zhang Yi, bowed respectfully before the monument.

Only the director, Guan Hu, when he was the last to bow, kept his hands behind his back.

This incident could be either trivial or serious.

But clearly, with Sister Yanzi and Xiao Shui's involvement, it wouldn't be trivial at all.

They intended to weigh this incident heavily against their rivals!

(End of Chapter)