To make management easier, Jing Jiujiu gave Guan Yan's little ghost a name, calling it Yuanyuan.
When it came time to name the next little ghost, Jing Jiujiu tilted his head back and thought for a while: "...How about we call it One-One?"
Yin Mo was taken aback: "Then the ones after that..."
"We'll just call them Two-Two, Three-Three, Four-Four..." Jing Jiujiu said confidently. Coming up with names was really too difficult.
Yin Mo: "That's..."
"That works. Numbering them makes it easy to remember and hard to mix up," Bai Yuhuai chimed in. His gaze swept over the little ghosts, finally giving up on the one he had carefully selected, and settled on the only one that had won out with a name - "Yuanyuan". This one would do.
Jing Jiujiu added from the side: "I was thinking the same thing! This way if any little ghost runs off midway, we can quickly notice!"
Yin Mo wanted to say something but held back.
This isn't any different from when you were little and named flowers Spring 1, Summer 2, Fall 3, Winter 4.
But Bai Yuhuai was already getting up to fetch a pen and some small tags.
Seeing this, Jing Jiujiu couldn't help but ask: "What are those for?"
"To mark them."
Jing Jiujiu: "Oh!" "This way they'll be even harder to lose!"
"Mm." Bai Yuhuai gave a low response, dipping the pen in gold ink and writing numbers on each little ghost's head. As soon as the gold ink touched them, it would sizzle with blue smoke, causing the little ghosts to yelp in pain. Then the number would be firmly branded on.
When it came to Yuanyuan's turn, it yelped and cried, tumbling and scrambling to burrow into Jing Jiujiu's arms.
Bai Yuhuai frowned slightly, initially a bit displeased.
But thinking about it, raising a child might be just like this - running to mom to tattle as soon as they get scolded. It wasn't entirely unacceptable.
Bai Yuhuai wrote the name on a tag engraved with subtle patterns and fastened it around Yuanyuan's neck.
Yuanyuan trembled anxiously for a while before finally confirming it wouldn't have to suffer pain.
So it clung tightly to Jing Jiujiu's neck, hanging on and not moving.
The big ghost must be too powerful!
That's why it didn't have to suffer like the others!
Bai Yuhuai frowned imperceptibly again and said coldly: "These little ghosts can only yelp and cry, they can't speak a word of human language. We should hire a teacher to instruct them."
Yin Mo: ?
Yin Mo couldn't listen anymore and couldn't help asking: "Jiujiu, what do you plan to do with them?"
Jing Jiujiu hesitated for a moment before answering frankly: "Keep them, I guess."
Yin Mo couldn't help but shed tears of jealousy.
Before he couldn't compare to humans, and now he couldn't even compare to ghosts?
Thankfully Ding Hanbing hadn't woken up yet, otherwise he'd be furious on the spot too.
Yin Mo: "You're going to raise them like children?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Mm, not like. They are still children."
Yin Mo glanced at the tag hanging around Yuanyuan's neck, then looked at Bai Yuhuai. The white-faced superstar still wore an indifferent expression, as if he saw nothing wrong with putting dog tags on children they were raising.
Yin Mo: "..."
Alright then.
"When you leave the film set, will it be easy to take the little ghosts with you?" Yin Mo asked again.
Jing Jiujiu thought for a moment: "It would be good if there was something we could use to collect them all."
Yin Mo smiled helplessly: "There's no such thing. The only things that can hold so many ghosts together are refining tools. But with those tools, once they go in, the ghosts would be dissolved. In the past, I heard my master say there was a group called the Mountain-Breaking Sect that specialized in raising little ghosts. How did they raise them? They also divided them into individual jars, keeping the ghosts' ashes and souls together inside. I've never heard of anyone carrying around so many when traveling."
Jing Jiujiu was a bit troubled.
It would be very inconvenient to always keep them tied up with ropes.
Bai Yuhuai spoke up: "It's not difficult."
Yin Mo frowned at him.
Bai Yuhuai's expression remained unchanged as he said: "Most refining tools have inscriptions. Just modify the inscriptions and it will work."
Yin Mo's gaze on him changed slightly, but he didn't say anything more.
From this moment on, these little ghosts were truly crossed off the list of reserve food.
At this point, Ding Hanbing finally sat up rubbing his neck. He looked down to see a little ghost crouching by the sofa, tugging at his pant leg.
Ding Hanbing nearly performed an encore of passing out on the spot.
But thinking that Jing Jiujiu was still nearby, and he had already seen that faceless thing last time, this shouldn't be anything... shouldn't be anything... Ding Hanbing let out a soft breath and raised his head: "Jiujiu!"
Ding Hanbing's eyes suddenly widened.
"There's a ghost on you!"
Ding Hanbing wasn't so afraid now, and quickly got up from the sofa to rush to Jing Jiujiu's side, cursing as he went: "Yin Mo, what the fuck are you just standing there for?"
Then, he saw Jing Jiujiu raise his hand and pick up the little ghost: "You mean this? Its name is Yuanyuan."
Ding Hanbing: ?
Ding Hanbing wiped his face, unable to tell for a moment if he was in a dream or if they were in a dream.
He thought it was an adopted child, but it turned out to be a little ghost they were raising.
He thought it was a ghost, but this ghost even had a name.
Ding Hanbing sat back down silently and took out his phone.
There were multiple missed calls from his manager, as well as unread text messages.
"Bro, what kind of Weibo post did you make again? My phone is about to explode!"
"Ancestor, where did you get a child from this time? What, did young master Jing secretly get married and have a kid, and now you're going to help babysit?"
"...Alright, you're trending #1 again. You're still a top star!"
From gentle to furious to calm.
Ding Hanbing opened Weibo and saw the top comment pinned at the top of the comments section: [Me me me, look at me! I often help take care of my nephew during summer break! Did some kid come to the film set that you need to help look after, bro?]
Ding Hanbing replied with a heavy heart: [Never mind, you've never looked after this kind before]
I don't even qualify to help look after kids anymore!
These are ghosts, forget about me, none of you have ever looked after these either, damn it!
Jing Jiujiu tilted his head to peek at Ding Hanbing's expression, then thought about what he had just said to his manager.
Oh, is he worried about his acting?
Jing Jiujiu: "Big Ding, why don't you and Brother Bai study the script for a while? Good luck."
Ding Hanbing and Bai Yuhuai were both stunned for a second.
Ding Hanbing: Jiujiu is concerned about me!
Bai Yuhuai: I don't want to bring along an idiot.
Ding Hanbing turned his head to look at Bai Yuhuai, gritting his teeth. That face did look much more agreeable now.
Bai Yuhuai looked at Ding Hanbing. Oh well, better not go against Jing Jiujiu's wishes.
It was still Yin Mo who asked the key question: "Then what are you going to do?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Play games, of course."
Yin Mo: ?
Ding Hanbing: ?
Bai Yuhuai: ?
Bai Yuhuai: "...Who are you playing with this time?"
Jing Jiujiu rattled off a string of names.
"Never heard of them," Bai Yuhuai frowned. And how could someone be called "Bro Is Cool"?
Jing Jiujiu: "Of course you've never heard of them, they're all Meng Hexin's online friends."
Bai Yuhuai: "..." Not only was Meng Hexin so addicted to the internet, he was even dragging Jing Jiujiu into it!
Jing Jiujiu pushed open the bedroom door and went in, followed by a string of little ghosts, leaving behind three people who didn't know how to play games, looking at each other.
Damn it!
Ding Hanbing truly wanted to earn a different kind of regard from Jing Jiujiu, so no matter how dissatisfied he was with Bai Yuhuai, he held it all in. The two of them really sat down together to discuss the script.
The next day at the screen test.
Ding Hanbing's performance was much better than when he couldn't keep up with the acting before, leaving Director Xiang stunned.
"Not bad, with some professional foundation as a base, and just the right mix of a newbie actor's fresh feel, it's very much like a newcomer struggling to survive in this world. Ding's own temperament is also proud and explosive, which fits well with the reactions under extreme oppression... There are many more sparks when fighting with Brother Bai!"
Ding Hanbing's manager listened speechlessly.
Of course there were sparks.
Didn't you see them really throwing punches?
With Jing Jiujiu showing up punctually every day to watch the filming, Ding Hanbing was truly motivated, never having been so dedicated and serious before. Compared to Guan Yan, his efficiency was much higher. Plus, he never cared about his public image, so he didn't put on airs while filming and wasn't afraid of going overboard with his efforts, which made it easier for Director Xiang to direct him.
All at once, the filming progress sped up dramatically.
The phrase Ding Hanbing's fans heard most often became "I'm going to film."
It made the career fans in his super topic both happy and worried.
[Is young master Ding's family going bankrupt?]
[He's not working this hard to earn money for baby formula, is he?]
The clever fans went to thank Bai Yuhuai for his guidance first, saying it must be because of the leadership of all the seniors that our young master Ding was able to progress smoothly and even earn praise from the director.
Only one on-site fan hesitated to speak.
"Why do I feel like every time my brother and the movie star Bai film together, they seem to want to kill each other?"
Some people also found it strange that CEO Yin, being such a busy person, would show up on set every day to accompany them.
But these minor details were quickly overlooked.
The film shooting had never gone so smoothly.
Director Xiang vaguely felt that everyone seemed to be working with extra motivation, but as long as the movie turned out well, that was all that mattered.
It wasn't until they were close to wrapping up that everyone learned "How to Escape" had invited the movie star Bai to participate in a new challenge.
[I heard the budget increased significantly, and this time they chose an abandoned mine as the location]
[The movie star Bai won't go, right? For this kind of show, going would just be elevating the show's status]
[Actually... fans really want to see it _(:3∠)_ It's not easy to see Brother Bai!]
Before Xu Sanyu could announce the official news, new information spread even faster—
The regular MC Old Cao, Yu Shaoguang, and Kong Xiangqi all took leave and wouldn't be coming. Instead, the minor celebrity who was supposed to be a guest star last time rejoined the show.
The show's director initially wanted to refuse, but thinking it over, decided there was no need to go against popularity, so he agreed.
This would have been fine, but then he received calls from Yin Mo's secretary and Ding Hanbing's manager, saying they wanted to participate too. And get this, they didn't even want appearance fees!
The director was moved to tears.
Ever since Bai Yuhuai had shown his face on the show, ratings had been soaring. Look at this! Look at this! Top celebrities are coming to grace us! We'll never worry about getting guest stars again!
The director excitedly named this episode a special edition and even made a call to thank Bai Yuhuai.
After receiving the call, Bai Yuhuai: "..."
He turned to ask Xu Sanyu: "How come I didn't know Yin Mo and Ding Hanbing were going too?"
Xu Sanyu was dumbfounded. Isn't this me bringing love rivals right to Brother Bai's doorstep?
Bai Yuhuai had long had his eye on that mine, and he was the one who recommended the location to the director.
Bai Yuhuai said coldly: "Is it too late to kick them both out now?"
Xu Sanyu said sheepishly: "Why don't you just withdraw yourself..." If they kicked people out right after the official announcement, the love triangle drama between the three would top the trending topics by tomorrow morning.
"Never mind then."
Bai Yuhuai turned and asked: "Where's Jiujiu?"
"Seems like he's playing games?"
Bai Yuhuai thought for a moment, then simply logged onto Xu Sanyu's account and messaged Meng Hexin to play the next round together.
Meng Hexin of course hastily agreed.
Xu Sanyu couldn't help but shout from behind: "Brother Bai, please don't make me dream of being back in Bronze overnight!"
Bai Yuhuai frowned, ignoring him.
Meng Hexin quickly finished a round and sent a message to Xu Sanyu's account: "These past few days have all been godly teammates, it's been so damn fun to play! Come on, I'll carry you too!"
After saying this, he pulled them into a group chat.
"There's another person in the group, Brother Xu, you definitely know him. That young master always by your Brother Bai's side..."
Bai Yuhuai replied with an "Mm."
Although Meng Hexin thought Xu Sanyu was a bit cold, he didn't think much of it and quickly started a new round in the WeChat zone.
As soon as he joined, he heard Meng Hexin say: "Here, here, is Jiujiu ready?"
Meng Hexin mumbled: "Hurry and call..."
And then, Bai Yuhuai heard Jing Jiujiu's voice, soft and coquettish: "Thank you, cool big brother, for carrying us..."
A three-meter-high flame instantly erupted in Bai Yuhuai's mind.
The other side laughed: "Oh, don't mention it, don't mention it." Bai Yuhuai looked at the ID: Cool King.
What the hell?
Meng Hexin, is this what you've been teaching Jing Jiujiu all day?!