Chapter 233 Young Days
Lu Yanhe brought out the hot roast duck and pizza and called out to Li Zhibai, who was still sitting on the sofa playing games. Li Zhibai then lazily stood up and said, "I'm coming."
Lu Yanhe glanced at him.
A closer look revealed that although Li Zhibai was pretending to be no different from usual, someone like Lu Yanhe, who had lived with him under the same roof for four years, could clearly tell that his state was different from usual, and he was a little depressed and irritable.
Zhou Ping'an has been doing nothing for a few days, and Lu Yanhe doesn't know what to say.
Have dinner.
Yan Liang said, "I'm leaving tomorrow to record 'Young Days'. I don't know who I'll meet. Have you heard anything?"
Lu Yanhe shook his head and said, "They are all very secretive and mysterious. They just want to see us get to know other people without knowing."
"It's fine as long as Ma Zhiyuan isn't here," Li Zhibai said. "If they bring Ma Zhiyuan over, I won't record this crappy show."
Lu Yanhe: "Not really."
He thought for a moment and said, "They're probably all around our age. With Li Zhibai around, they probably don't have much money to hire other popular stars. I don't think this show is very well-funded."
"Yeah." Yan Liang nodded, "I feel the same way."
It is difficult for a program to afford several artists of Li Zhibai's level at the same time.
The price gap between artists is so huge that it can directly span a huge gap.
That's even a difference of several digits.
It was like the three of them had a tacit understanding never to mention money or remuneration.
In the past, only Li Zhibai was very popular, but now Lu Yanhe is also gaining popularity, while Yan Liang is still mediocre in various shows and commercial performances.
The gap was objective. They had never spoken about it, but they both had similar feelings. These things were difficult to express. Once they were spoken, many things would be exposed in front of them, making it impossible to avoid them and only adding to the embarrassment. So, it was better not to talk about it and just be pure friends.
"Do you think this show will be popular?" Yan Liang asked.
Li Zhibai shook his head, "I have no interest in this show. If you guys weren't participating, I wouldn't bother going, no matter if it's popular or not."
Lu Yanhe said, "That depends on how the show goes."
Yan Liang: "This is the first time I've recorded such a long show. In the past, it was only one or two episodes at most, and they were reality shows. I've seen many artists say that reality shows are difficult to record because there are cameras filming you 24 hours a day, and there is no time to rest. Even if you want to pretend, you can't do it. It's too late."
Lu Yanhe said, "There's no need for the three of us to pretend. There's nothing to pretend about."
He felt that the three of them didn't need to mind showing their true personalities to everyone. They didn't have any bad habits, nor were they the kind of people with bad personalities and tempers.
Yan Liang looked a bit conflicted and said, "Zhou Ping'an said that my true personality is rather mild and not very distinctive, and that people wouldn't be able to remember me on the show. He asked me to find a label so that people would remember me."
"What Zhou Ping'an said is bullshit." Li Zhibai immediately complained, "What label did he ask you to find?"
Yan Liang shook his head. "I haven't thought about it yet. He said if I haven't thought about it yet, he can come back and help me think of one."
Li Zhibai complained: "He really only knows how to play this kind of thing, creating a persona, and stirring up topics."
Li Zhibai's popularity has remained high in recent years. Although it is due to Li Zhibai's own charm and the help from Li Zhibai's family, it is also related to Zhou Pingan who has been creating a persona and creating topics for Li Zhibai. For example, the most distinctive label of "true rich second generation" on Li Zhibai was given by Zhou Pingan.
This label has become Li Zhibai's most well-known attribute, and has won him the love of many people.
Li Zhibai's complaints were purely subjective and contemptuous. From Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang's perspectives, especially from a utilitarian perspective, Zhou Ping'an's actions were understandable. Of course, they didn't refute Li Zhibai's words at this time.
Everyone knows that Li Zhibai is now most emotionally upset with Zhou Pingan.
Who is Zhou Ping'an?
Who is Li Zhibai?
Of course, they would only help their relatives at this time.
Who would have thought that after a few minutes, Li Zhibai said again: "Actually, if I must give you a label, I think self-discipline and exercise are very suitable for Yan Liang."
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe was stunned and subconsciously wanted to say that such a label was too simple and too general.
Li Zhibai seemed to immediately realize the reaction his suggestion would get, and added, "Don't think this label is vulgar. Many people create this kind of persona, but how many people can truly persevere like Yan Liang day after day? I think Yan Liang should be like Old Lu, live-streaming his run every morning. If he had been doing this for four years, maybe Old Yan would have already made himself known to everyone."
Lu Yanhe suddenly understood what Li Zhibai meant in an instant.
Indeed, apart from anything else, as a friend who had spent the past few years with Yan Liang, if one thing that was most consistent about him was his consistent exercise, it would be his daily morning jog. Lu Yanhe was most impressed by his daily morning jog.
Lu Yanhe nodded and said to Yan Liang, "I suddenly feel that what Li Zhibai said is quite right."
Yan Liang uttered a puzzled "Huh?" "Can't many people do that?"
"Yeah, that's true, but in most people's world, that's impossible." Lu Yanhe added on behalf of Li Zhibai, "And among idol artists, not many can actually do that. A lot of the time, they just occasionally post pictures of themselves at the gym or eating healthy meals, right? You can actually stick to a morning run every day, not just put on a show or take photos at the gym."
Li Zhibai: "I think there's nothing more to say. Just open a live streaming account and broadcast yourself running every day."
Yan Liang looked puzzled. "How can this be livestreamed? I'm holding a selfie stick and running at the same time? This is too much of a show."
Lu Yanhe said, "Why don't we buy a head-worn selfie device?"
"And then just take a picture of me, with my big face and breathless face?" Yan Liang suddenly felt like an idol again and immediately shook his head, "That's too ugly. No way."
Li Zhibai thought about it and said, "At least you can stick to this in 'Young Days'. You'll have your own photographer shooting the show. It's okay to use this show to strengthen this label."
Lu Yanhe nodded in agreement. "It would be best if we could also take a picture of Li Zhibai sleeping unconscious for comparison."
Li Zhibai: "..."
Lu Yanhe: "Let's talk to Li Zhenzhen and see if this is okay."
"Old Lu, do you really want to hurt each other like this?"
"You can't say we're hurting each other." Lu Yanhe laughed. "It's just a statement of fact."
Li Zhibai raised his middle finger and pointed it at Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang both laughed.
At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door.
The three people were stunned.
Yan Liang was the first to get up and see what was going on. He glanced at the cat's eye before turning back and saying, "Cheng Hai."
He opened the door.
Cheng Hai stood at the door, a smile on his face revealing a hint of embarrassment.
"Cheng Hai, are you looking for us?" Yan Liang pretended to be surprised.
In fact, Yan Liang also knew why Cheng Hai came here.
Cheng Hai looked over Yan Liang's shoulder at Li Zhibai inside and said, "I need to talk to Li Zhibai about something. Is it convenient now?"
Yan Liang turned around and glanced at Li Zhibai.
Li Zhibai looked normal, nodded, and said, "It's convenient. Why are you so polite? Have you had dinner yet? If not, let's eat together."
Li Zhibai's attitude not only surprised Cheng Hai, but also Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang.
They didn't expect that Li Zhibai would greet Cheng Hai as if nothing had happened, as if Zhou Ping'an had given the role that was originally for him to Cheng Hai.
Cheng Hai even immediately revealed a hint of hidden gratitude in his embarrassed mood.
Cheng Hai came in and said apologetically, "I didn't expect you were having dinner. Sorry to bother you."
"Why bother you?" Li Zhibai rolled his eyes at Cheng Hai and said, "Don't be so dithering. I've never seen you like this before. It's not like we've known each other for the first time."
Cheng Hai sat down and scratched his head.
He seemed to want to say something to Li Zhibai, but couldn't open his mouth, looking very embarrassed.
Seeing this, Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang looked at each other. He said, "I'm going to buy a drink. What do you want?"
"I'll go with you." Yan Liang immediately understood.
The two of them tacitly gave Li Zhibai and Cheng Hai space to speak.
The two of them went out together.
As soon as he walked downstairs into the night, Yan Liang said, "Brother Bai's reaction really surprised me. I didn't expect him to be so generous this time and not take his anger out on Cheng Hai."
Zhou Ping'an gave the role that he had originally assigned to Li Zhibai to Cheng Hai. Although it didn't sound like Cheng Hai's intention, Cheng Hai was also the beneficiary. Given Li Zhibai's personality, it was not surprising that he took his anger out on Cheng Hai. In fact, it was his reaction just now that made Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang feel strange.
"Brother Bai, it's because this person is Cheng Hai," Lu Yanhe pointed out bluntly, "You don't know him yet. He has a bad temper and little patience with others, but he's quite generous to his truly close friends."
"This is true." Yan Liang nodded. "Cheng Hai is also quite difficult to deal with. Zhou Ping'an arranged resources for him. If he doesn't refuse, he will feel embarrassed in front of Li Zhibai. If he refuses, he will offend Zhou Ping'an. Zhou Ping'an is really a bad person."
Lu Yanhe: "Cheng Hai arrived just in time tonight. If he hadn't come, Li Zhibai would have been really angry with him."
"That's right. Li Zhibai didn't really want the show, he just wanted an attitude," Yan Liang said. "Zhou Ping'an made internal adjustments without even informing Li Zhibai. Li Zhibai is right to be angry."
For Li Zhibai, thanks to the popularity of his role in "To the End of the World," he's been offered a lot of roles. He's overwhelmed by the number of roles he's been offered, whether one or two. Zhou Ping'an discussed the roles that would suit Cheng Hai with the producers and tried to get him the role. There's nothing wrong with that; the key lies in Zhou Ping'an's attitude and approach.
This was not Zhou Ping'an dividing the cake, but giving the cake that was originally given to Li Zhibai to someone else - even if Li Zhibai couldn't eat it, it should have been Li Zhibai's consent to give it to someone else.
Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang came to the convenience store at the entrance of the community and bought a few bottles of sugar-free drinks. They didn't rush back. After all, they didn't know how long Li Zhibai and Cheng Hai would talk. They had to give them at least twenty minutes to come out. So, they simply sat down in the convenience store, opened a bottle each, and drank the drinks facing the sidewalk outside the window.
Then, Lu Yanhe was recognized.
There were many pedestrians coming and going at the door. A young girl subconsciously turned her head to look at the window of the convenience store and recognized Lu Yanhe at a glance. Lu Yanhe watched as the girl's eyes suddenly widened, revealing an expression of surprise and disbelief.
Before Lu Yanhe could even try to hide or disguise himself, the girl excitedly took out her cell phone and started taking pictures of them.
He turned to Yan Liang and said, "We must go."
Yan Liang smiled and nodded, saying, "Let's go."
Before the girl's actions attracted more people, the two of them hurried away.
Being recognized frequently is a sign of popularity—Lu Yanhe has felt this more and more clearly in recent times.
Yan Liang asked, "Old Lu, what do you think of Brother Bai's suggestion?"
"What suggestions?" Lu Yanhe didn't react for a moment.
Yan Liang said: "I'll livestream my running every day."
"Well... I think if you can stick with it, you'll get unexpected results." Lu Yanhe said, "Just like when I live-streamed my studies before, the internet is huge, and we have no idea how many people are doing the same thing as you. They also like to see bloggers doing the same thing as them, and following them is like finding a companion. I think it's the same with getting up in the morning to run. Many people can't do it, but there are definitely some who can. Moreover, even if they can't do it themselves, there are probably many people who lie in bed with their phones watching you run. Even if they don't run themselves, seeing you run makes them feel like they're running too. How can I describe this? A method of spiritual victory? Anyway, it's something like this. I've found that many people online are like this now. The most important thing is, maybe you can motivate many people to do this with you. Aren't there many people who can't stick with running on their own? If there is someone who live-streams his morning run every day, maybe he will follow you and stick with it."
Yan Liang thought for a moment after hearing this and said, "Then I'll go study it and see how to do it."
Lu Yanhe nodded.
He also sincerely hoped that Yan Liang could find his own way and become famous.
