Chapter 78

After leaving the set of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," Bai Liang naturally returned to his "loyal" Shanghai.

Two things currently faced him: one was the upcoming release of "The Master of Mysterious Arts," for which he had received no word from Tang Ren yet, unsure whether to cooperate with promotion.

The other matter was preparing for the audition of "A Smile Is Beautiful."

He initially studied the character Xiao Nai, the male lead, even deliberately shaping himself toward the book's "all-around campus god."

Because achieving this was not difficult for him.

But later he began including the male second lead, third lead, and others into his preparation scope.

Just to be prepared for anything.

During this time, Lin Yufen called him, hinting that the male lead role might not be his.

The production team had gotten along well with Xiao Shuang; they were likely to play the female lead, and Bai Liang could never match up to her.

No matter how suitable he was, it wouldn't work.

Bai Liang himself felt nothing about this; in this drama, no character died, and he liked it very much.

He had acted in four dramas and died four times—enough to breed some resentment.

When the audition came, he'd see which role they needed and fill it.

Lin Yufen was quite impressed by this attitude of his, refreshing her understanding of Bai Liang.

Then she reminded him: not all campus romance dramas are free of deaths.

Abortions, car accidents, terminal illnesses—these were common tropes in modern idol dramas.

There was even a modern romance film that, to separate the leads, insanely placed the male lead atop the Twin Towers on September 11.

That film was called "A Lifetime, A Lifetime," starring Xie Tingfeng and Gao Yuanyuan; Bai Liang remembered it vividly, as if he'd watched it with a girl.

In short, "A Smile Is Beautiful" was relatively peaceful; the so-called "villains" did nothing truly evil.

While Bai Liang had still not left the "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" set, promotion for "The Master of Mysterious Arts" had already begun.

The slogan "produced by Tang Ren" still held weight; though the leads were all unknown newcomers, they had drawn some attention.

Sohu Video had allocated considerable promotional resources; Bai Liang himself had spotted it online.

But when he watched the trailer, he noticed something strange—his own male second lead scenes were nearly as numerous as Han Dongjun's male lead scenes.

This made him wonder: Is Miss Cai really this nice?

Indeed, the moves he'd made—gifting Miss Cai presents while "dating" Chen Yao—hadn't been wrong.

Yet at this moment, Miss Cai was throwing a tantrum.

"What the hell is Sohu thinking? They're re-editing our promotional trailer?"

"Boss Cai, they say the runtime is too long."

"Bullshit..."

Too long? Even if it was too long, they shouldn't cut the male lead's scenes—she'd watched the trailer and couldn't even tell who the male lead was.

But Cai Yi noticed that Bai Liang seemed quite close to Sohu's Zhang Chaoyang, so she thought this wasn't so strange.

In fact, this had nothing to do with Zhang Chaoyang; the person in charge on their side was the producer who had originally "activated" Bai Liang.

It was a bit too long, so cut a little—keep more of the more handsome shots to attract female viewers.

Fortunately, this minor issue didn't affect anything much, at most causing Cai Yinong to mutter a few extra curses about Bai Liang behind his back.

Everyone's interests were roughly aligned now.

But she had a bad feeling, since she'd already seen the finished version of "The Master of Mysterious Arts" and had confidence in its quality.

At the same time, Chen Yao's portrayal of Yue Qiluo had left a deep impression on her.

But to promote Chen Yao and stir up buzz, they'd inevitably have to center on Zhang Xianzong's character.

Cai Yinong winced—was she going to have to spend money on that brat Bai Liang again?

Absolutely not! Not a single cent! Let him fend for himself!

This drama was originally a "three-no product": no big-name stars, no terrestrial TV station, no super IP.

Otherwise, Tang Ren wouldn't have been stuck with such a weak cast—after all, even the top actress hadn't been included.

Online buzz was minimal; after all, it was just a niche web drama, discussed only by some original fans and the small fanbases of the leads.

Under this atmosphere, "The Master of Mysterious Arts" premiered.

"Master, your plastering isn't smooth—do it again."

The plasterer, who'd accepted two packs of cigarettes from Bai Liang, cheerfully redid it; five minutes earlier he'd been grumbling, "You've never done this before—you don't know how deep the tricks are."

Bai Liang walked around his newly bought apartment again, confirmed no other major issues, and sent her some photos.

Na Zha was thrilled upon receiving the photos, saying the feeling of watching her new home slowly turn into a cozy little house was amazing!

She invited him again, saying when he had time, they should go pick out furniture together.

Before he could answer, she immediately switched topics and lavished praise on his appearance in "The Master of Mysterious Arts."

"I think you look super handsome!"

"Of course I do—it's me, after all."

"Your drama's reputation is great! I almost regret not being in it," Na Zha muttered softly over the phone.

If Jin Cheng heard this, he'd probably die of rage—so what if you're the top actress? Can you just take whatever you want?

Na Zha: Top actresses can do whatever they want~

"I didn't pay much attention to the reputation—is the rating really high?"

"Extremely high! It once neared nine points—how many domestic dramas have ratings like that?" Na Zha's tone was exaggerated, "And the views are skyrocketing daily—haven't you been paying attention?"

"I watch the drama every day on time, but I haven't really checked the ratings."

"Anyway, although your drama's premiere numbers aren't outstanding yet, the word-of-mouth has already spread—there are tons of organic viewers promoting it online, which is truly rare!"

"Don't rush—there's worse to come..."

"What?"

"Nothing, the plot's amazing—keep watching~"

"I'll definitely follow it. By the way, you're going for the audition tomorrow?"

"Yeah, second male lead."

"Again second male lead... I think you'll land the main lead soon!"

"I think you're right~"

After playing several supporting roles, Bai Liang had indeed begun to wonder what it would feel like to play the main lead.

At least in a whole drama from start to finish, he would be active throughout, not die halfway through.

Playing a supporting role, especially a villainous one, was annoying precisely because every time Bai Liang saw his character die, he lost interest in continuing.

Previously, in "Wushen Zhao Zilong," he rewatched the scenes before Lu Bu's death multiple times; the moment Lu Bu died, he rushed through the rest and called it quits.

Fortunately, this time "Wuxin Fashi" had fewer episodes, and in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," the death came later... as for "Yun Zhi Fan," the role was so minor that Bai Liang didn't even know how to mentally fill in the gaps.

But as for the main lead... he probably, perhaps, maybe, likely still wouldn't get it this time.

He wondered when he'd ever land his first main lead role in life.

The thought arose, like wild grass gone mad...