A film crew is like a mini-society: it looks classless, but the hierarchy is actually rigid.
Just like the various "unwritten rules" that Guli Nazha had previously explained to Bailiang, some things are common knowledge.
Bailiang barged into this unfamiliar world without being aggressive, yet he still managed to stand out too much. He had his own boundaries and sense of measure. For instance, knowing that Guli Nazha constantly held her phone and chatted with who-knows-who, apart from filming scenes together, they never had any physical contact—he never even crossed the safe distance between a man and a woman.
Yet, even so, rumors could still circulate around the crew that the two of them were hooking up.
It was simply because they often hung out together.
As he gradually figured out how things worked on the crew, Bailiang didn't give it much thought; he wasn't the kind of person to change himself to fit his environment. As an "intruder," although he wasn't overbearing enough to shout slogans like "My rules are the rules!", simply by being a bit different from everyone else, he was still subtly changing things.
In Guli Nazha's words: "You kid have some weird kind of aura!"
No sooner had she reminded Bailiang of those "unwritten rules" than Bailiang filmed an action scene with Lin Genxin, and the two of them ended up playing duo-queue video games together that very night.
Similarly, Nazha herself was deeply affected; the frequency with which she idly held her phone kept dropping. Bailiang could already anticipate that some guy on the other end of that phone was probably starting to doubt his entire existence, left muttering: "Where on earth did it go wrong?"
And who knows when he'll finally realize that the ups and downs of his home Wi-Fi speed were most likely caused by someone piggybacking on his connection. Of course, if it was just a free trial, the network speed would probably be even more congested.
In fact, Bailiang had once briefly suspected that he wasn't lucky, but rather a succubus... He only solved the mystery later after taking a trip to Las Vegas.
However, the fact that he could potentially ruin someone's romantic prospects so quickly also had a little to do with the fact that Guli Nazha might be a bit of a hopeless romantic. Bailiang deduced her hopeless romanticism from the fluctuating state of her acting performances. Across the entire crew, only her emotional state fluctuated so wildly, drifting off into a daze at the drop of a hat, leaving everyone guessing what on earth she was thinking about.
Guli Nazha: "Just standing at a crossroads in life, you know."
"What should I do..."
Her little assistant was stunned, mainly because she hadn't expected Nazha to show her own chat logs.
As for the content... it was a striking showdown after some ambiguous romantic tension.
The guy had confessed his feelings!
The little assistant looked at Nazha in surprise. "Sis, are you actually asking me?"
Guli Nazha buried her head face-down on the hotel bed. "I'm out of options here..."
"Didn't you guys chat really well before? I thought you were just going to accept right away."
That single sentence felt like the nail in the coffin, and Guli Nazha angrily reached out to grab her phone.
Seeing her act on a sudden impulse like she'd been struck by some "sudden illness," the little assistant made no move to stop her. Even though she and the manager had previously warned Nazha that the guy's ex-girlfriend was utterly unhinged—and his fanbase was equally crazy, meaning nothing good would ever come from getting entangled with him!—Student Nazha still seemed to have a rebellious streak and simply wouldn't listen back then.
The Xinjiang beauty genuinely wanted to fall in love! Romance was her absolute top priority. She even excused it by saying, "We're just chatting, that's all."
Now that a direct showdown had happened, the little assistant instead felt that... that certain pond-owner on the other end of the phone was probably not going to get a satisfactory answer.
Sure enough!
Retrieving her phone, Guli Nazha cast a resentful glance at her little assistant. "You could have at least tried to stop me."
The little assistant looked at the tip of her own nose and pretended to have her soul leave her body.
In the end, Guli Nazha still didn't reply to anything. Instead, she got up, threw on a jacket, and said, "Let's go! We're heading out!"
"Where are we going?"
"To find Bailiang!"
The little assistant was horrified. "Sis, you're not going to confess to him, are you? So soon?!"
This remark made Guli Nazha stumble, almost taking a tumble. She turned her head and said through grates teeth:
"What nonsense are you saying... He and I are just friends. When I feel upset, hanging out with him is just so relieving and relaxing... Let's treat him to a late-night snack and talk about life. Besides, don't let his usual dazed look fool you—he actually has all kinds of crooked logic."
"Like that the meaning of life is going to the docks to get some French fries?"
"Pretty much~"
This explanation was utterly absurd! But the little assistant believed it. Because she had that exact same feeling herself, only she was just a small assistant and didn't dare voice those thoughts out loud.
Normally at this hour, Bailiang should have been at the hotel gym; his living habits were actually quite regular. Nazha had even advised him not to work out so intensely—that guy who had nearly dropped dead from overexertion had genuinely left psychological shadows on quite a few people in the cast.
Look at the hotel's modest little gym; whenever Bailiang went there, he practically had the whole place to himself. Cherish life, stay away from fitness. People on this crew probably wouldn't recover for three to five months; they were scared out of their wits.
Bailiang thought that made sense, so he started going to the gym every other day. In his extra time, either he read books to learn useful or useless knowledge, or else he...
"Hit the big one! Hit the big one! He's 100% dead this wave!"
"Don't rush, I'm backing, I'm rushing over."
"Damn, I'm dead." Lin Genxin slumped into his chair as if all his strength had drained away, turning his head to watch Bailiang's operation.
And then he watched him control the mid-laner and casually take the river crab.
Seeming to notice the "death glare" beside him, Bailiang didn't even turn his head. "I would've died if I went. Darius had his blood rage stacked."
"How do you know without coming?"
"Fine, I'll come."
So two minutes later, the mid-top synergy resulted in one death and one feeding gift.
The two men exchanged a look. Glancing at their own 0-6 records and Bailiang's 7-1 record, Lin Genxin seemed to recall some less-than-pleasant memories. His face went numb. He seemed to be reminded of a certain future professional player with a 100% win rate.
Fortunately, Bailiang didn't curse him out; he even gave up a wave of minion farm for him to take, which left this fellow feeling a bit unaccustomed to it.
Perhaps this was why he liked playing games with Bailiang: he played well without flaming his feeding teammates. His emotional stability was simply too rock-solid! If he were a woman, he'd want to date the guy himself.
And that wasn't even all.
When their ranked teammates started venting their anger over the impending loss onto Lin Genxin, Bailiang stepped in again! During the latter half of this game, Bailiang chatted with the teammates for a long time. They talked about parents, the past, the future, the present... and kept talking until the others were left speechless.
As the saying goes:
When all three lanes blow up, set up a piano in base, and the canyon sounds like Vienna.
When the high ground collapses, seal the family genealogy, and the fountain rivals the Mount Wulin tournament.
[Due to passive-aggressive behavior or inappropriate remarks, we have restricted your in-game chat...]
"Ah! I'm chat-banned." Bailiang scratched his head. The breakup had been so rushed, and there were still so many things he hadn't managed to say... and he hadn't even used any swear words.
"Always taking from you, yet never once saying thank you..."
Bailiang instantly felt a phantom pain in his lower back, and his gaze toward Lin Genxin looked just like he was looking at a stray dog. Could you act like a human being? He felt like his kidneys had just been stabbed by a Painted Halberd!
"Ahem." Aside from feeling awkward, Lin Genxin chose to launch into awkward flattery to change the subject: "I feel like you could seriously go pro."
Bailiang shook his head helplessly. "Who could beat that old-school prodigy Lin Yoona..."
Trigger keyword activated.
Lin Genxin turned his head and started whispering gossip to Bailiang. "Let me tell you, you have no idea how agonizing it is to shoot rival scenes with a language barrier! Sometimes I can't remember my lines, so I can only guess from her expressions, but I couldn't read them at all. Anyone who didn't know better would think she'd just had her heart broken—and that scene was clearly a farewell..."
Bailiang didn't coddle him this time, offering an objective assessment: "I think you guys acted about the same."
No way, bro!
Have you been bewitched by that Korean femme fatale?!
Lin Genxin immediately began to quibble, but Bailiang pointed out that he had watched *Temptation of Wife*. Look at you compared to that—Hong Shixian had to deal with two women, one speaking Cantonese and the other Korean, understanding not a single word either of them said, yet he still acted the hell out of the role.
Luckily, Lin Genxin had just been running his mouth casually. Since his defense failed... he simply had to concede.
Instead, he developed a different kind of interest. To be precise, he suddenly felt a bit mischievous and wanted to troll someone. It was entirely reasonable. Dogs really do love to tease capybaras.
So he raised an eyebrow and broke into a wicked grin. "You're about to shoot a kissing scene with Nazha, right? Looking forward to it?"
This was a great question.
Nazha, who had just walked over, also very much wanted to know the answer.