Chapter 635: Thirty Years East of the River, Thirty Years West

The entertainment circle has never been short of overnight miracles — you could even say they happen pretty frequently.

Just look at the endless parade of so-called "top-tier stars," and the hit works that pop up every now and then, dragging some previously unremarkable artists into the spotlight overnight, sending their status skyrocketing — that's just as common.

But when something like this happens to someone you actually know, and they even seem to have "stepped on" you to climb up, Big Mi Mi says it's hard not to feel a little something~.

Of course, whether the movie succeeds or not isn't her business alone, and it doesn't change the fact that she's still a top-tier actress — it's just a little uncomfortable.

So she poured all this out to Bai Liang, telling him that she's showing him her dark side, so he can't dislike her for it~

Bai Liang's only assessment of Big Mi Mi's "heart for heart" move was: you're just hungry.

Stop trying to drag him into some sob story about an old classmate blowing up and feeling bad about it.

She and Zhang Xiaofei are actually on pretty good terms.

Even if she saw the other woman's movie numbers crushing hers and felt something about it, it wouldn't be "dark" enough to call it that — she's purely making something out of nothing, looking for a needle to poke with~

But Bai Liang's assessment was just that — an assessment. He's not the type to expose a young lady's real thoughts, so he just went along with her topic.

In short, flirting over the phone~

And Big Mi Mi, still running her roadshow schedule, knew she couldn't exactly ask Bai Liang to fly over and "give her a shot," so that had been the point all along — listening to his voice while figuring things out herself.

So as she talked, her tone gradually shifted, getting all sticky and mushy.

"Aiya, that's enough!"

Hearing the relaxed yet clear voice on the other end, Bai Liang added an "iku" for her, then asked innocently: "What's enough? The water's boiled?"

Hearing that, Big Mi Mi wasn't shy at all — she loved this mutual pretense of not knowing.

She hummed and said: "It's boiling~"

Women are made of water, after all. Once the water boils, bubbles, and steams, everything just melts away, leaving only gentle vapor.

Only then did Big Mi Mi get serious with Bai Liang about something substantive: "I'm about to get dragged again for 'befriending whoever's hot.'"

"Huh? You went and licked Zhang Xiaofei's boots?" Bai Liang caught on.

"Watch your mouth, will you? What do you mean 'licked boots'? I just posted a blessing on Weibo. We've been friends for over ten years, we used to interact all the time, but she wasn't famous, so those marketing accounts never noticed."

There was some self-deprecation in Big Mi Mi's tone — after all, "befriending whoever's hot" was one of her many negative labels.

But she had so many negative labels she stopped caring long ago — too many debts to feel the weight.

Besides, isn't this just human nature? Those crappy marketing accounts are the same way. Before Zhang Xiaofei blew up, who would have noticed Big Mi Mi interacting with her? Nobody cared.

Just like that thing about "Huang Jiaozhu" leeching off her cousin's popularity — before Chen Meng won the Olympic gold, hardly anyone noticed their interactions.

Fortunately, Big Mi Mi had been in the game long enough that this kind of annoyance didn't really bother her, especially with someone out there drawing fire for her.

At worst she'd get called out for "befriending whoever's hot," but right now someone else was about to face a reckoning.

Three years ago, Zhang Xiaofei appeared on a show called "Youth Class Reunion," where Wang Yuan Shanshan publicly "exposed" her, insisting she snored in her sleep.

Afterward Zhang Xiaofei posted on Weibo, and without tagging anyone, Wang Yuan Shanshan still sniffed it out and commented: "Snoring isn't illegal, and you can't control it. Don't take it to heart — just find a boyfriend who snores louder."

It looked like comfort, but it was mockery — bullying her for not being famous, for not doing well.

But now the wheel of fortune has turned.

That's the most entertaining part of showbiz.

And here we have another "three years late" apology incident.

After Big Mi Mi's enthusiastic briefing, Bai Liang finally had a rough idea of their "grudges and history," and thought to himself that showbiz really is full of petty drama!

But even though it's petty drama, the gossip is still pretty satisfying.

The "thirty years east of the river, thirty years west" routine really never gets old!

"That's just how showbiz is~" Big Mi Mi said cheerfully to Bai Liang, then asked curiously: "You've never run into this kind of thing? It's actually pretty normal."

"I really haven't~ Everyone I've met in showbiz has been pretty great," Bai Liang said honestly.

"Huh? You hit that hard... and everyone's been pretty great?"

Her words had a hidden meaning — she was actually referring to Bai Liang's "grudges and history" with certain former top-tier stars.

After all, both inside and outside the industry, people were saying that some people being taken down was actually Bai Liang's doing.

Otherwise Sister Yanzi's aura as the behind-the-scenes big manager wouldn't be so exaggerated — those incidents added to it too.

If Bai Liang was the "mastermind," then she was the "operator"!

Naturally, people had imagined her into the image of a behind-the-scenes big boss of showbiz.

Hearing Big Mi Mi's words, Bai Liang felt like he'd been a bit one-sided, so he added: "The not-great ones all got kicked out of showbiz~"

He was merely stating facts.

But to Big Mi Mi, it sounded like something else entirely — her imagination ran wild: it really was you!

She wasn't scared at all — she was thrilled!

Go, little brother! I want to—

Hearing the tone on the other end shift again, the dark lines on Bai Liang's forehead were practically popping out.

Luckily, on his end, the evil little kitty was a direct-from-the-factory product with unlimited supply.

Hmm?!

The evil little kitty seemed to sense someone talking about her out of nowhere, and shivered all over.

She narrowed her big eyes, did some finger-counting divination... and calculated nothing.

But Li Yitong casually pinned it on Bai Liang — must be that public fox missing me, hehe.

Lucky guess, but right on the money.

She had already arrived in Yanjing with Dou Xiao Tian and was resting at the hotel, about to head off to record "Fifty Kilometer Peach Blossom Land."

Dou Xiao Tian was pretty excited right now — believe it or not, this was her first proper variety show appearance!

But back in 2017, Dou Xiao Tian had actually popped up on a variety show once.

That was "Grade One" — the same show Meng Jie had been on, the one where she'd dragged Bai Liang along to help her out on stage.

But back then, Dou Xiao Tian was just sitting in the audience seats on "Grade One," and only because she was good-looking could she still manage to get on camera.

She never mentioned this bit of fate to Meng Jie at the start; it was only after she'd gotten on a bit better that she brought it up recently.

It's a bit like that thing with Zhang Xiaofei — when you're not famous, appearing in the same show, the same shot, you stand there looking like a nobody.

But as fame rises, all these little bits of strange fate get dug up one by one by bored netizens or marketing accounts! Becoming the star-studded embellishments of today.

You should know, Bai Liang's kindergarten and elementary school graduation photos have been posted online for years now, and who knows where these people dug them up from — even he himself doesn't have them.

Then the fact that he'd been "with someone on each arm" since childhood was exposed along with it.

#I'm Running A Harem In Kindergarten#

"When is Meng Jie coming?" Dou Xiao Tian had already tidied up her things by now, and looked up at Li Yitong, who was squinting her eyes, wondering what kind of bad idea she was cooking up, and asked curiously.