I Give Him a Dream

Artists, especially young idols, are heavily scrutinized by most management companies when it comes to dating.

It's better for them not to date, even if they ask their agent to call a prostitute.

Especially don't date opposite-sex idols within the company, otherwise, if two collapse at once, who can handle that?

But most of the time, the company's ban is useful, but not very useful, for young people bursting with hormones.

Especially since idols are already carefully selected for their looks. It's too normal for young handsome men and beautiful women to get together and then fall for each other.

Bai Youlou doesn't have a serious girlfriend, but he does have people he's been ambiguous with.

It's that kind of relationship where they follow each other on Weibo, interact from time to time, and text each other almost every day in private.

Once the unspoken boundary is crossed, it's basically the start of a relationship.

However, their status as idol artists makes everyone maintain a little restraint. In front of their future, some risks cannot be taken.

The other party probably didn't expect that Bai Youlou, who had always been restrained, would suddenly pull off such a big stunt.

As for the "legacy" this ambiguous partner left for Bai Youlou now, it's just a few beautiful pictures saved on his phone.

They aren't explicit, but the outfits are revealing. They were private, custom versions not posted on Weibo, sent only to him.

Bai Youlou had already admired them several times. The girl, who came from a girl group, had a truly captivating waist and abs.

Old Zhou's question was also quite good: "How are things now?"

Bai Youlou actually wanted to contact her, preferably to borrow some money.

But she ignored him~

Perhaps she was even a little relieved. Fortunately, they didn't really date.

Otherwise, if an ex became a criminal record, who could handle that? Dating turned into having a "criminal record"!

So, thinking about it now, it's not too regrettable that he didn't try to get closer to An Luning or find a way to leech off her.

With Bai Youlou's current reputation, it's too difficult to pick up girls in the entertainment industry.

How much would one have to PUA someone to make them risk being with him?

Even his ambiguous partners wished they had never met him.

No matter how stupid An Luning might seem, she's still a big star with a proper agent and team.

How could someone like Bai Youlou, with his notorious reputation, pull off any "scandalous moves"?

—

"Name?"

"Long Ziqiang."

"Age?"

"Th-thirty."

"You're only thirty? Are you kidding me?!"

"I'm really thirty. No, why are you interrogating me like a criminal?"

Bai Youlou sized up Long Ziqiang from head to toe. The other man's shiny bald head and his tough appearance made him look quite intimidating. Even his name was striking, giving off a vibe of a gangster from a 1990s film.

However, this contrasted sharply with the somewhat timid demeanor he displayed.

What a contrast.

He was perfect!

Regarding his age, it was hard to say. You could say he was in his thirties, or you might believe it if someone said he was in his forties.

This guy had a face that was very misleading; you couldn't pinpoint his exact age.

Besides playing a gangster, he would also be very suitable for playing a psychopathic killer.

Meanwhile, the older youth Long Ziqiang was also sizing up Bai Youlou. His information was much more complicated.

The main reason was that Bai Youlou was too famous.

King of Flirty Talk, Living Cao Cao, popular idol – these titles combined somehow formed the title of director.

Life is indeed more magical than novels.

Clearly, both of them found the other person to be quite unbelievable.

Old Zhou stepped forward at this moment to smooth things over and introduced Bai Youlou, "This is our junior disciple. He's in his third year."

Excellent, that's another unbelievable point.

Unexpectedly, Bai Youlou didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he extended his hand to Long Ziqiang, "Welcome to our film."

His promptness surprised Long Ziqiang a bit. He touched his shiny bald head, "Didn't you say there would be an audition?"

Old Zhou was also a little confused. Yes, wouldn't they check if the person could act?

Bai Youlou explained slightly, "An audition is to select the most suitable person from many actors."

Long Ziqiang nodded in agreement. Makes sense!

The result was explosive. Bai Youlou said with sincere earnestness, "You're our only choice. At least your image fits. What else could I possibly look for?"

Long Ziqiang was someone Old Zhou had cast a wide net for at the film academy. He didn't expect much else; the main thing was that his image fit.

After all, if he couldn't find anyone else, Bai Youlou was prepared to shave off his own hair and force him to act himself.

Therefore, Old Zhou's potential in finding people had erupted.

Bai Youlou's direct and sincere words made Long Ziqiang, who had prepared a whole speech and a list of conditions, unable to hold back. ".Is that so~"

Bai Youlou patted his shoulder. "We start shooting in the next couple of days. It's okay if you don't have experience; we'll go straight into practical training!"

"I've never acted before!" Long Ziqiang also became sincere at this point, quickly admitting his shortcomings.

"Aren't you a student at the film academy? You must have learned something in class."

"I... I'm in the dubbing class."

Brilliant!

A director who was a disgraced idol turned career-changer, a producer who was incompetent at everything, and an aging student from the dubbing class... This makeshift crew was enough to inspire despair.

Director He certainly felt despair. He thought Bai Youlou's script was good, but whether a movie could be made well didn't depend solely on the script.

Up to this point, he still didn't know how capable Director Bai Youlou actually was. Oh, right, he also had to train the actors.

The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed.

However, Director He, as an educator, didn't pour cold water on their efforts at this time.

After asking Bai Youlou about their specific shooting schedule, he offered a few words of encouragement.

Things like, "Today you bring honor to the school, and tomorrow the school will bring honor to you."

Unfortunately, no one was listening.

Long Ziqiang's appearance suggested he'd been beaten down by life. He was just doing a cameo as an actor and didn't take it too seriously.

Old Zhou was already calculating how much the crew would spend daily and whether they could order boxed meals from the school cafeteria.

Meanwhile, Bai Youlou was contemplating how to trick Long Ziqiang. That's right, after being sincere, it was time for deception!

Otherwise, why would he have been so direct about not having any other choices?

It was just to lay the groundwork for what came next.

Someone like Long Ziqiang, who at thirty was still taking a dubbing class at the Beijing Film Academy, definitely had some messy ideas about "dreams" and "youth" in his heart.

As expected, after taking him to a bar for a couple of drinks that evening, Long Ziqiang spilled everything without Bai Youlou even having to probe.

He talked about wanting to be a singer, wanting to form a band, not getting into music academy, blah blah blah...

At first listen, this guy's life was full of wrong turns and regrets.

He didn't become a proper singer. Although his vocal cords were decent, he only managed to get by singing in bars.

He did form a band, but it fell apart within a year because they couldn't make money.

As for getting into the film academy, it was purely because he didn't get into music academy. He didn't know whose advice he followed to play the "curve to save the country" game.

What the hell did dubbing have to do with being a singer?

The only commonality between the two was that they both used their mouths.

If you're going to make connections like that, the girls who play instruments in commercial KTVs are also your colleagues, because they also use their mouths.

Of course, Long Ziqiang wasn't a complete failure. The fact that he could get into the film academy at his age showed he had some skills.

Look, even after drinking, he didn't forget to ask a very important question.

"Director, how much is my salary for this film?"

Good question!

Bai Youlou smiled and held up one finger.

"Ten thousand? Alright." Long Ziqiang pondered for a moment. Although it was a bit low, he figured he could treat it as earning some extra cash.

He didn't dare to think of a hundred thousand; he knew his worth wasn't that high.

But he was at least playing the second male lead, so it wouldn't be as low as a thousand.

However, Old Zhou knew exactly what Bai Youlou was up to now. He leaned in and whispered in his ear, "How much are you actually planning to give him? A thousand?"

Bai Youlou shook his head. "I'm not giving him a single cent."

Old Zhou: ???

Seeing his face full of questions, Bai Youlou didn't keep him in suspense. "If he can meet my passing grade requirements, I'll give him a dream."