Chapter 620: A Palace Coup Spectacular!

The explosive popularity of "Si Teng" seems to be a matter of course.

Before this drama even aired, many people subconsciously felt it was going to be a hit.

But once it actually went online, it really did blow up, which made quite a few people feel it was strange—Bai Bai Daxian, you really do star in one hit after another, don't you?!

Perhaps this sense of déjà vu was just too strong; even though the main focal point of "Si Teng" was Sister Tian Tian, everyone still felt that "starring Bai Liang" was the most striking impression left behind.

Without a doubt, Sister Tian Tian was extremely eye-catching in this drama—almost the moment she appeared, she could draw the audience's gaze to her.

But Bai Liang managed to make it so that no one could ignore his presence.

Not stealing the spotlight while highlighting the female lead, and at the same time showcasing his own presence—

To put it in the exaggerated language of some marketing accounts: Bai Bai Daxian's acting has already reached the realm of perfection!

Though this statement is a bit exaggerated, there's actually some truth to it.

Because the old Bai Liang couldn't do this.

When he first debuted, he played supporting male roles. Apart from that "Xian Jian Yun Zhi Fan," every other supporting role he played was extremely eye-catching.

You can't say he acted badly—only that he stole too much of the spotlight.

Playing a supporting role and incidentally overshadowing the lead—

The list of victims includes: Lin Genxin, Han Dongjun, Yang Xuwen, Zhao Youting—Lin Genxin.

Fortunately, Bai Liang's rise to fame was indeed very fast; otherwise, if he kept playing supporting roles for others, that victim list would surely have kept expanding.

Also, that unlucky bastard Lin Genxin appeared twice.

So, he was crowned the number one jinx.

This guy was already a hardcore internet surfer to begin with. He'd previously teamed up with Bai Liang online to argue with haters all night, so he quickly discovered his new nickname. Without the slightest hesitation, he contacted Bai Liang directly, ready to extort a few meals out of him.

Lin Genxin said that whether they actually ate or not wasn't important, but getting Bai Liang to treat him to a meal was quite an important matter—more precisely, the whole process of agreeing to treat, and then actually completing the payment at the end.

This could even count as a martial world achievement.

Or you could call it an urban legend within a small circle.

The close buddies who've known Bai Liang for a while all know that Bai Bai Daxian is actually quite generous, but in this respect, he's truly bizarre.

Everyone had witnessed more than once a situation where Bai Liang was clearly the one treating, but somehow in the end, someone else mysteriously picked up the tab.

"You think I'll treat you to a meal just because you say so?"

"Me, the dream of nine hundred million girls—being called Lin Gou before was bad enough, but now they're calling me the number one jinx just because I worked with this guy twice"

Listening to Lin Genxin's feigned indignant tone on the other end of the phone, Bai Liang had not a shred of sympathy, and even felt a little like laughing.

"Pfft~ You've had your spotlight stolen plenty of times before, don't talk nonsense with your eyes open. Sometimes you should look at your own reasons—has your acting improved over the years? Have you been working seriously?"

After a round of Jiaqi-style remarks, Bai Liang felt something was still missing, so he decisively added: "When I played second male support for Deng Chao and Wu Jing, why didn't I overshadow them?"

"Why?"

Hey! You're actually asking?!

Bai Liang held back his laughter: "Because you're trash~"

There's no need to be polite with a guy like this—you've got to ruthlessly "suppress" him.

Bai Liang still remembered to this day that this bastard had opened a barbecue joint as a side business, saying it was to treat everyone to a meal, but the shop was called "Dad's Barbecue." The main point of that meal was to let Bai Liang and the others see the shop's name.

From the moment they saw the shop name, Lin Genxin started feeling pleased with himself.

Summary: none of these brothers are normal people~

Just like that, an attack that ordinary people simply couldn't handle—Lin Genxin immediately picked up the conversation the next second: "How did you know I'm going to do a PhD after my master's?"

"Did I ask you?" Bai Liang said, stunned.

"Then let me ask you—from now on, what do you call me when you see me?" Lin Gou gloated over the phone.

Although Bai Liang was a notoriously fierce academic overachiever, passing every exam like he wasn't even human, his education only went up to a bachelor's degree—who could blame him, he got first place but didn't go~

Yet Lin Genxin had secretly started grinding, quietly earning himself a master's degree.

"The last guy widely known as 'Doctor Zhai' is still being hunted online by countless students to this day," Bai Liang reminded him ominously.

Unlike ordinary artists who have scandals, Doctor Zhai won't be easily forgotten or faded, because his influence has been ongoing.

Every year when students graduate, Doctor Zhai is inevitably dragged out for a "corpse-whipping," and his Weibo has practically become a check-in spot for burning incense.

Hearing this, Lin Gengxin actually got a little panicked.

He wasn't really afraid of people digging into his thesis—after all, everyone knows how undergraduate theses are, who could keep harping on something like that?

And with Doctor Zhai's precedent right there, nobody wants to be the next one, so after the first year of Tianlin, the circle basically calmed down.

It's just that if people insist on finding fault where there is none, Lin Genxin worried that before he even finished his PhD, he might not even graduate with his master's—

This thoroughly enjoyable battle finally came to a pause with Lin Gou's backing down.

It's just that in real life, Bai Liang was invincible, crushing his close buddies with ease.

But in TV dramas, he was the one being crushed pretty badly.

Which also provided everyone with plenty of entertainment.

Seeing Lin Genxin frantically reposting Si Teng's lines and clips in his Moments feed, Bai Liang knew exactly what this guy was up to.

They're both actors—hurting each other in this area really isn't a wise move.

Bai Liang waited for his trump card: "Who exactly is in Yanjing~"

——

"Each generation is uglier than the last, especially you—you look like some kind of genetic mutation"

"Shaped like chicken claws, crawling like a ghost—enough to make Cangjie spit blood and Confucius hang himself!"

"Snot and tears everywhere, so ugly it hurts the eyes"

"I am your master, you must listen to me in everything"

"Who gave you the nerve to speak to your master like that"

"If you feel uncomfortable, find a wall and bang your head against it a few times."

"If we all die together, it'll be livelier with more people. Down below, we can even get a few tables of mahjong going."

"Little kids with their tender, delicate skin are the tastiest. I can pop one in a single bite."

"."

Si Teng's snarky lines like these reveal a delightfully funny side beneath the tsundere exterior.

One of the best bonuses of Sister Tian Tian's looks for playing this type of role is: no matter how tsundere or sharp-tongued she gets in the drama, the audience never finds her annoying.

On the contrary, they find her especially endearing.

This point is actually very important!

Swap in Big Mi Mi, and she might well give off a wicked old witch vibe.

In a certain sense, this is also a kind of audience affinity.

And on its very first day of broadcast, *Si Teng* directly snatched the crown for online drama click-through volume.

However, this drama couldn't get broadcast on traditional TV channels, because there are monsters in it, and as everyone knows, after the founding of the nation, no one is allowed to become a spirit.

Fortunately, today's web dramas no longer carry that old notion of being a tier below traditional TV dramas.

Getting broadcast on traditional TV is, at most, just icing on the cake. It might be a bit more helpful for things like winning awards.

But for actors who don't care about winning awards, or who simply don't have the chops to win them, the boost that comes from a web drama hit is no different from that of a traditional TV drama.

With the hot broadcast of *Si Teng*, Sister Tian Tian's various makeup and styling looks were analyzed left and right, repeatedly trending on hot search.

The reason Bai Liang knew all this was because the other party would forward every single one of them to him to see.