In the end, Chen Fei took Great God’s advice and invited the newly discharged Gossip Kid to appear as guests.
Strangely enough, Xiao Bai, who had gotten along terribly with Zhou Min Li, was unexpectedly harmonious with Gossip Kid.
The three of them became completely absorbed in chatting and promptly forgot every topic that had originally been prepared. From fishing they moved to marriage, from marriage to sidewalks being too narrow—there was seemingly nothing they could not discuss.
Lin Bi Wei could only sit silently to one side and stare at the three of them as they grinned foolishly at each other.
Chen Fei stood nearby feeling both delighted and worried.
He was delighted because there was plenty of material. When they edited the episode, they would not have to cut and paste random scraps together just to fill the runtime. Otherwise, last time they would not have had to turn perfectly honest Xiao Bai into someone inexplicably yawning over and over again.
He was worried because there was also far too much pointless chatter, which made editing considerably more difficult. Take the segment on marriage, for example. They could spend ten full minutes talking about lace dresses, and the vocabulary never changed, the tone never changed—the only thing that changed was the sentence structure. One active sentence became passive, and that was apparently enough. But if Chen Fei cut it out, wouldn’t they suddenly go from fishing directly onto a sidewalk?
Chen Fei sighed helplessly.
If the ratings were bad again this time, his position as director might be in danger. The executives had made their opinion painfully obvious: Xiao Bai’s appeal was not the problem, his hosting ability was not the problem—the post-production work was simply terrible.
Cleaning up someone else’s mess was a technical skill too.
The moment the recording of Xiao Bai’s Guest Room ended, Gao Qin immediately kicked Xiao Bai and Jia Zhi Qing onto a plane to meet up with Yan Su Ang. The reason was simple: Yan Su Ang’s relentless calls were becoming unbearable. Especially since they always seemed to arrive at precisely the most crucial moments when Gao Qin was trying to pounce on Feng Ya Lun.
It was Xiao Bai’s first time on an airplane, so he could not resist looking curiously all around.
Jia Zhi Qing wailed, “Stop swinging your head back and forth. You’re making me so dizzy I’m going to throw up.”
Xiao Bai said, “If you want to throw up, then throw up. Why use me as an excuse?” He had obviously only been moving his eyes around.
Obediently, Jia Zhi Qing grabbed the airsickness bag and began vomiting furiously.
Xiao Bai accepted a hot towel and some water from the flight attendant and waited beside him.
Once Jia Zhi Qing had vomited himself completely limp against the seat back, Xiao Bai immediately wiped his mouth. “Didn’t you say you’d flown before?”
“Once.” Jia Zhi Qing panted wearily, took a sip of water from Xiao Bai’s hand, then continued, “The result wasn’t much better than this time. And ever since then, Gao Qin refuses to fly on the same plane as me. Even in cars, he tries his best not to sit in the same row.”
Xiao Bai asked, “What did you do to him?”
“I only threw up on his trousers.” He paused. “Right over the zipper.”
“……” There was generally only one place on a pair of trousers that had a zipper. Remembering the rules at Gao Qin’s home, Xiao Bai could not help sympathizing with him. “He must have felt awful.”
Jia Zhi Qing stared at him speechlessly.
“What’s wrong?”
Jia Zhi Qing said, “I thought that even if you didn’t call him a pervert with no sympathy, you might at least comfort me.”
Xiao Bai said sincerely, “Thank you for not throwing up on my trousers this time.”
Jia Zhi Qing: “……” Why did he keep expecting comfort from Xiao Bai?
The plane landed safely.
Xiao Bai and Jia Zhi Qing carried their luggage toward the exit. The instant they emerged from the passageway, a crowd suddenly surged around them.
Airport staff immediately reacted and stepped forward alertly to form a barrier in front of them.
Jia Zhi Qing asked in confusion, “What happened?”
A girl in the crowd shouted, “I’m the president of the H City Xiao Bai Fan Club! We came to meet your flight!” That part was still perfectly normal. Then she suddenly began giggling and screamed, “Xiao Bai, I love you!”
“Xiao Bai…” Calls of every kind rose and fell like waves.
Jia Zhi Qing stared in amazement. “Xiao Bai, I never expected you to be so much more popular here than in our own city.”
Xiao Bai’s lips trembled.
Jia Zhi Qing immediately sighed. “Maybe this is what people mean when they say distance creates beauty.”
Tears suddenly streamed down Xiao Bai’s face.
The calls of the Bai Powder fans gradually quieted. They stared blankly at the adorable figure buried amid the airport staff.
Had they been too enthusiastic and frightened him into tears?
The Bai Powder fans immediately began reflecting on their behavior.
Looking at Xiao Bai sobbing, Jia Zhi Qing awkwardly whispered, “Could we go home before you cry?”
The girl who had shouted “I love you” earlier gently said, “Xiao Bai, don’t cry. If you don’t like us meeting you at the airport, then next time we’ll come quietly and leave quietly. We won’t bother you like this again.”
The sight of Xiao Bai crying awakened the maternal instincts inside all of them.
Comforting voices immediately rolled toward him in wave after wave.
At last, Xiao Bai raised his head. His eyes were bright red as he said, “Thank you. This is the first time… so many people have been so good to me. I don’t know any of you, but… thank you.”
“……”
The entire airport seemed to freeze into silence.
A moment later, the same girl was the first to break it. “Do your best, Xiao Bai! We’ll always support you! We’ll always be this good to you!”
“Xiao Bai, you’re too adorable!”
“I love you!”
“……”
The tide of cheers immediately began crashing in again.
One airport employee quietly said to Jia Zhi Qing, “If we’d taken him out of the airport before he started talking just now, things would’ve been easier.” Judging from the situation now, getting him out would probably be difficult all over again.
Jia Zhi Qing said, “That would’ve been more useful if you’d said it before he started talking.”
The commotion here had not yet subsided when another burst of noise came from the direction of the airport entrance.
One member of staff jumped up to look. “Oh. Looks like someone else is coming over surrounded by people.”
The answer was quickly revealed.
Someone suddenly shouted, “Great God is here! Great God is here!”
Jia Zhi Qing froze slightly. Yan Su Ang had actually come running to the airport this openly? Wasn’t that a little too blatant?
The Bai Powder fans slowly opened a path.
Xiao Bai raised his head.
At the far end of the corridor, Yan Su Ang was walking elegantly toward him step by step, surrounded by security guards.
The arms waving on either side looked almost like rays of light radiating from him, brilliant enough to dazzle the eyes.
Yan Su Ang reached Xiao Bai and, without saying a word, put an arm around his shoulders and began walking away with him.
Jia Zhi Qing was about to follow when he finally noticed that Lian Jue Xiu had come too.
Although Lian Jue Xiu was an internationally renowned director, his influence among fans was nowhere near Yan Su Ang’s. At that moment, he looked remarkably like a neglected little wife.
Jia Zhi Qing could not resist teasing him. “I never expected our great Director Lian to be so short on money that he’d have to earn extra cash as someone’s entourage.”
Lian Jue Xiu, who had been inexplicably dragged here by Yan Su Ang and was already full of complaints, snapped, “Be careful. I might get so short on money that I stop paying you.”
“……”
Jia Zhi Qing was deeply threatened.
Even long after they reached the hotel from the airport, Xiao Bai was still immersed in happiness.
Yan Su Ang helplessly watched his foolishly smiling face and sighed. “You’ve been sitting on a plane for that long. At least eat something and get some rest.”
Xiao Bai buried his head in a pillow, his muffled voice coming through it. “I feel really happy.”
Yan Su Ang deliberately hardened his expression. “I’m jealous.”
Xiao Bai raised his head.
His bangs lay messily across his forehead, and his eyes were round and bright like a puppy’s.
Yan Su Ang could not resist lowering his head and kissing him hard, teasing and provoking him without restraint.
They had only been apart for a few days, but if those days were counted in minutes—or seconds—the number became enormous.
And Yan Su Ang had already been tortured half to death by that enormous number.
He slowly released Xiao Bai’s mouth, gazed at his pink lips with satisfaction, gave them another light peck, and said, “From now on, your happiness is only allowed to come from me.”
Soft ripples like an autumn lake shimmered in Xiao Bai’s round eyes and flowed gently into Yan Su Ang’s heart, spreading circle after circle of honey-sweetness through him. Yan Su Ang thought that being in love felt wonderful.
“But you’re only one person. There’s a whole group of them.”
With one tiny pebble, Xiao Bai sent the entire lake of honey splashing everywhere.
Yan Su Ang raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t wholehearted devotion from one person enough?”
Hugging the pillow, Xiao Bai smiled foolishly. “But I still think it feels really wonderful to have so many people care about me.”
“……”
Yan Su Ang began seriously considering the problem of his romantic rivals being Xiao Bai’s entire fandom.
Although Yan Su Ang wanted nothing more than to curl up in the hotel with Xiao Bai and never go anywhere, their schedule still included a local talk show featuring the main members of the production.
Ever since appearing on Xiao Bai’s There’s Always a Higher Mountain, Lian Jue Xiu had developed an aversion to every variety show in existence. No matter how much the television station pleaded, he remained unmoved and firmly insisted that he suffered from osteoporosis and needed rest. Eventually, the station enthusiastically sent him a dozen bottles of calcium supplements along with their blessing: May you live to a hundred.
The host of the talk show was one of the station’s rising young pillars, a locally well-known host named Zhu Tai.
Besides Yan Su Ang, Xiao Bai, and the other principal actors, the screenwriter also participated in the recording.
Zhu Tai first asked a number of questions related to the film. In truth, all of them were old questions that had already been asked repeatedly during promotions in other cities. At this point, their exchange was little more than going through the motions.
Once that formal process was finished, Zhu Tai began digging into questions that might actually be exclusive.
“I heard Xiao Bai only got off the plane today?” He flashed a toothy smile, revealing dimples on both cheeks.
Xiao Bai nodded.
“And Great God even went to meet him at the airport.” Zhu Tai gave Yan Su Ang a meaningful look. After all, the two of them had once been involved in a scandal together.
Yan Su Ang answered openly, “It was Xiao Bai’s first time on a plane, so Director Lian dragged me along to meet him.” As he spoke, he deliberately emphasized the words Director Lian and along.
Zhu Tai laughed. “I also heard Xiao Bai was surrounded by fans at the airport and burst into tears on the spot.”
Before Xiao Bai could answer, Yan Su Ang rescued him. “The first time fans came to meet me at an airport, my eyes didn’t turn red like Xiao Bai’s, but inside I was already crying rivers.”
Zhang Jia Jia laughed. “Your first time? When was that?”
Yan Su Ang said, “I’ve had many first times. Which one are you asking about?”
Zhang Jia Jia shrugged. “Whichever one you’re willing to talk about.”
Seeing everyone looking at him as though waiting for a good show, Yan Su Ang gave a dry cough. “The airport pickup? That was when my first television drama, The Legend of the Bird-Hitting Heroes, had just started airing.”
Elio’s Notes: The Legend of the Bird-Hitting Heroes is a deliberately silly parody of the famous wuxia title The Legend of the Condor Heroes (《射雕英雄传》), replacing its heroic “shooting condors” image with the much less impressive 打鸟—simply “hitting birds.”
With Yan Su Ang and Zhang Jia Jia bouncing lines off each other like that, Zhu Tai had no way to continue his previous question. He could only change the subject and ask Xiao Bai, “Everyone else has already predicted the box office for the film’s opening day. What do you think it’ll be?”
He paused. When Xiao Bai still did not answer, Zhu Tai added, “Maybe you could conduct a quick survey here. Perhaps that’ll give you some inspiration.”
Xiao Bai asked, “Will you go see it?”
Under the collective stare of the entire Tears of a Man team, Zhu Tai thought that even if he had eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard, he would not dare say no. “Definitely.”
Xiao Bai said, “Then I guess 1.3 billion.”
“……”
Did asking one person really count as a sample survey?
This researcher was far too careless.
Even if the sample result was one hundred percent, however, Xiao Bai’s answer still had a rather enormous flaw.
Zhu Tai said, “I asked about box-office revenue, not the number of people who’ll watch the movie.”
Yan Su Ang immediately answered, “What Xiao Bai means is that if all 1.3 billion people in the country are willing to enter a cinema and watch Tears of a Man, then there’s no harm in lowering the ticket price to one yuan.”
Could all 1.3 billion people in the country possibly go to the cinema to watch Tears of a Man?
Anyone with a functioning brain knew the answer was no.
So naturally, movie tickets would never cost only one yuan either.
Zhu Tai complained silently, So saying all of that was exactly the same as saying nothing.
But he had clearly forgotten that a predicted box office was itself the sort of thing that made very little difference whether anyone said it or not. Surely audiences were not going to decide whether to see a movie today based on whether the film needed their help reaching someone else’s prediction.
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