Chapter 566: How Many Besties Is This For Me Now?

"What are you staring at me with those wide eyes for?" Bai Liang said with a smile.

Hearing this, Meng Jie's first reaction was actually to put her hands on her hips, then immediately followed up with: "Not even allowed to think about it—thinking is a crime too!"

Bai Liang was briefly stunned, then stretched out his hand.

*Slap~*

The next second, Meng Jie gave him a high-five, beaming from ear to ear.

Clearly, she was quite delighted about this little "secret code" exchange with Bai Liang.

Little hedgehog, I get you!

Bai Liang:. Actually I wasn't trying to match that meme either~

He really just wanted to ask, because Meng Jie's eyes really had been wide-open just now.

But oh well. As long as she's happy.

By now, having recovered from her shock, Meng Jie had taken on a whole new demeanor. First she rubbed her little hands together, then hurriedly grabbed Bai Liang's arm. "I'm one of your people, right? Right?"

Bai Liang said nothing, silently typing out a question mark.

What does that mean?

This can't be a response to that "invitation" from five years ago, can it?

Roughly five hundred chapters ago, Bai Liang had asked Meng Jie if she wanted to get married, and then she chickened out.

The current Meng Jie didn't seem as cowardly as before—at least she wasn't as afraid of that guy, and even dared to take the offensive and get into arguments with people—but she still didn't dare to just come right out and "lay her cards on the table" with Bai Liang.

Like saying it straight out: "Five years ago you said you'd marry me. Does that still count?"

If that question were ever actually asked, it really would put the current Bai Liang in a tough spot.

Fortunately, Meng Jie never asked.

And now, Bai Liang just nodded, first acknowledging the "one of his people" part, then waiting for Meng Jie to continue.

Seeing him nod, the joy on Meng Jie's face simply overflowed. Cupping her own cheeks in both hands, she said, "That's great! Can you give me a role with more screen time when you arrange things, Director Bai~~~"

That drawn-out "Director Bai" genuinely left Bai Liang stunned.

Huh?

"Wait. The 'one of my people' you mentioned—did you mean this?"

"Little hedgehog, didn't you take over Guo Xiaosi's spot? I'm in his group, so I just wanted to confirm I'd still be following you. If the production team reassigned people, that'd be a disaster!"

Meng Jie said these rather "dim-witted" words with an earnest expression.

The production team would have to be out of their minds to do something that increases the workload.

There was zero chance of reassignment—Bai Liang would definitely directly inherit Guo Xiaosi's "legacy," meaning the actors currently in his group.

He'd looked at the list, and the only people he recognized were Meng Jie and Wang Churan; the other small fry, he didn't know a single one.

At this point, Meng Jie saw Bai Liang open up the script materials the production team had given him, grab a pen, and start scribbling.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, figuring out who's advancing."

"Huh? We haven't even performed yet," Meng Jie said, tilting her head in confusion for a peek—and found that her name and Wang Churan's had check marks next to them.

She immediately covered her mouth in shock. "Is this allowed?"

"Uh, is it not?"

"I think it's a bit too over the top."

Variety shows—whether competitions or talent shows—having backstage manipulation is basically a permanent fixture.

But Meng Jie really hadn't expected it could be done this blatantly.

Of course she wasn't that naive either—having connections and not using them, having a powerful backer and not clinging to them?

But even after clinging to a powerful backer and having someone cover for her on the show, what she actually had in mind was... Bai Liang secretly giving her extra coaching, arranging for people to give her more guidance, giving her roles that were easier to stand out in and had more screen time.

She felt even that was already pretty shameless!

Turns out her little hedgehog was playing manipulation within manipulation—saying nothing, just deciding the advancement slots first.

Meng Jie's face turned red; this really doesn't seem quite right.

Bai Liang also felt it might be a bit not quite right—he and Meng Jie had debuted around the same time, and both had been in the entertainment circle for about five years now.

His skin still wasn't thick enough!

So after thinking it over, he scribbled out those two check marks, then drew two question marks.

"There we go!" Bai Liang said, satisfied.

Meng Jie:???

What's... the difference? Covering your ears while stealing a bell?

"Variety shows are like this. I have a friend who does this kind of thing all the time," Bai Liang explained, seemingly trying to make the case that he wasn't that bad—it was his friends who led him astray.

Sure enough, Meng Jie immediately asked: "Which friend?"

"Hu Yanbing. He's been a mentor on all sorts of shows these past few years—he's the one who taught me," Bai Liang said, decisively passing the buck.

It wasn't entirely made up either—Hu Yanbing really had complained to him about this kind of thing before.

"Then he's really terrible!" Meng Jie said, slightly indignant.

It wasn't that she had an excess of justice either—mainly, she'd only just been scolded by Guo Xiaosi not long ago, and that feeling of being bullied was still fresh; she was empathizing.

"So, do you want to take the back door?" Bai Liang asked, blinking.

This time, Meng Jie hesitated.

Oh, how to put this~

Although she'd love to say with great bravado, "I can advance on my own strength too!"

But then again... her little hedgehog was right here in front of her, someone was already covering for her—she couldn't possibly throw away the umbrella and go stand in the rain, right?

There's a kind of beauty that comes from an underdeveloped cerebellum.

So Meng Jie took a deep breath, pressed her legs together, straightened her back, put on an obedient and slightly shy look, then pinched her voice and answered:

"I want it~"

Little squeaker! Sword, come!

At this point, Meng Jie, who had already transformed into a little squeaker, saw that Bai Liang had stopped talking, and instead got a little anxious.

"Big bro, I want it!"

Everyone hates rigging, unless it happens to themselves.

Watching others rig things, you're furious inside; but if you're the one rigging? Then never mind.

Being human, being a bit of a hypocrite sometimes is perfectly normal.

After going through a wave of shame about to rig things, Meng Jie suddenly felt like she'd opened a door to a whole new world, and even started helping Bai Liang refine the plan!

The theme was: how to rig things without being too obvious!

After all, if everyone can tell you're rigging, then there's no point~

But having said that, although Meng Jie looks like a gorgeous bad woman, her talent for doing bad things is actually not that great.

The main thing is she wants to play but she's terrible at it!

After discussing with Bai Liang for a long time, the two of them still couldn't come up with any good plan.

The framework they put together was so laughably obvious, completely looking like they were about to treat the audience and everyone else as fools.

Unless everyone's IQ dropped by at least a third, their methods would actually work.

No choice, after all Bai Liang isn't good at scheming and plots either; whatever he does, he does it openly and honorably, even when playing a scumbag.

Fortunately, at this moment, Wang Churan arrived.

She. actually has some talent in this area!

Upon learning that Bai Liang was planning to rig things and pull strings for her and Meng Jie, her eyes lit up!

This direct?! As expected of Big Bro Dou Xiao Bai! Wow! Domineering CEO!

But after getting a slight understanding of these two's "clumsy" plan, Wang Churan couldn't help but roll her eyes.

What kind of nonsense is this? Step aside, I'll handle it!

Looking at the ideas Meng Jie had given Bai Liang, Wang Churan was utterly contemptuous, and then couldn't wait to start "showing off."

In minutes, she churned out a pile of "fragrant" great ideas!

"Big Bro Dou Xiao Bai, listen to me, you need to lay the foundation well, set the tone from the script—when the time comes, you must act like you're in a dilemma, don't show such an obvious bias, then Meng Jie can cry a little, but you have to control the degree of playing pitiful, can't go too far, just reddening her eyes a bit is enough—the commentary afterward is the same, this is actually the most important part, most of the audience doesn't know jack about acting, they just watch the excitement, as long as you don't break character it's fine, and there's post-editing too! In this regard…"

Bai Liang, Meng Jie:???