This actor has something

Chapter 322 Mimi or Sangbiao
What you fear most often comes to pass; that's called Murphy's Law.

When you can have whatever you want, that's called wish fulfillment.

Xu Qinhao is currently wavering between these two options.

They agreed to finish filming He Daqi's scenes in two weeks, and that was the final word from Executive Director Li. He said that if he was delayed even one day, he would be punished severely.

The NG issues that I was worried about never happened with He Daqi. Even when they called "cut," it was because another actor had a problem, which made Xu Qinhao very happy.

At the current pace, barring any unforeseen circumstances, two weeks should be more than enough time to film it.

He's even starting to think about whether he can get the incentive from Executive Director Li. The requirements aren't difficult: if he can finish filming He Daqi's storyline within a week, Executive Director Li promises to give him double the director's fee.

Money isn't important; what's important is that Xu Qinhao wants to challenge his weakness and hone his rapid shooting skills. He's heard that his colleagues in Hong Kong can handle both shooting and post-production in just one week, so he might as well learn from them.

Unfortunately, his wish was not fulfilled...

"What?! You want me to work on the weekend? And have to work overtime during the week? No way! Absolutely not!"

He Daqi shook his head like a rattle-drum, and the more he shook it, the colder Xu Qinhao's heart became.

"Daqi, let's work hard. I feel like we can finish filming your scenes within a week. Trust me."

"Don't even mention this matter anymore. Overtime is not an option in my life."

Looking at the two cold-faced young men standing behind He Daqi, Xu Qinhao swallowed his words.

Damn it! You're bringing up life in a conversation about working overtime?! Am I the director and you're the director? Do you even know that in South Korea, the director has the highest status on a film set?
Xu Qinhao turned and walked away with a cold face, muttering to himself as he went.

"What did you do to him?" Sun Yizhen asked curiously as she approached.

"Who knows? He's probably having a fit of hysteria," He Daqi replied nonchalantly, lying on the recliner with his eyes half-closed.

"I really envy you. You're so big now that you even dare to talk back to the director. You come here every day, lie down and drink juice. People in the know understand that you're waiting for the props team to set up the set, but people who don't know you might think you're here to supervise the construction."

Hearing this, He Daqi opened his eyes, glanced at Sun Yizhen's teasing gaze, and chuckled, saying, "Speak your mind openly, don't be sarcastic."

“After work this afternoon, the other actors in the crew wanted to have a drink together and get to know each other. You come every day but never interact with anyone, so the others don’t even have a chance to chat with you or get to know you.”

"No, I want to go home and be with my child."

"I knew it right away. Okay, I'll go tell them you're busy."

After Sun Yizhen left, He Daqi leisurely took a sip of juice and then picked up a book to read.

He's gotten better and no longer spends his time with that fishing book. Instead, he's started reading cooking books. The one he has in his hand is called "The Essence of Shandong Cuisine," and there's another one on the table next to him called "Left Barbecue, Right Stew."

That fishing book I used before was really useless. The techniques it taught were not as good as what some random guy I met taught me. It's ridiculous.

At this moment, Qin Long got out of the car with a mobile phone in his hand and walked quickly to He Daqi.

"Daqi, someone is looking for you."

He Daqi has a total of three mobile phones: one for work, one for contacting friends, and one for contacting family.

He usually carries two phones. The one he uses for work is usually with Liu Ying. However, since he's filming in South Korea, his friends rarely call him internationally. So, when he's on set, he only brings the one he uses to contact his family, leaving the other one in his car.

He took the phone and glanced at it, only to find it was an unfamiliar number. Judging from the number range, it wasn't dialed from within China, which made him raise an eyebrow.

The fact that it keeps ringing means it's not a wrong number, but who would contact them from abroad?
As soon as I pressed the answer button, a cheerful voice came from the phone.

"Daqi, guess who I am?"

"...Brother, are you abroad?"

"Yes, hahaha, it seems my voice is quite distinctive; you recognized it right away," Cheng Long said with a chuckle.

Of course! If I couldn't recognize who you are with your accented Mandarin, would I be deaf?

He Daqi twitched the corners of his mouth, put the book he had just opened aside, and since he was bored anyway, he decided to chat with Cheng Long.

"Why did my brother go abroad? Is he filming a new movie?"

"We're not filming yet, but the project has been finalized. Hahaha, you have no idea how many twists and turns this project has gone through. We've finally reached an agreement, and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. So, how about it? Interested in making a cameo appearance in a Hollywood blockbuster?"

Judging from his voice, Cheng Long was genuinely happy. He Daqi could even picture Cheng Long's overjoyed expression. Unfortunately, He Daqi was about to disappoint him.

"Not interested," He Daqi replied calmly.

"I knew you'd agree! Don't worry, it's a great role. You'll be the most skilled assassin under the villain's command. Of course, for the sake of our Chinese image, the villain is Japanese. I've already had the Jackie Chan Stunt Team start designing the action sequences for you... Wait, you just said you weren't interested?"

Cheng Long chuckled to himself for a long time before realizing that He Daqi hadn't agreed.

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the phone, and He Daqi felt embarrassed for him.

They meant well, wanting to help their little brother enter the international market, but unfortunately, they were hopeless at it.

Thinking of this, He Daqi felt he couldn't embarrass Cheng Long too much, so he spoke first: "Brother, I remember your son has also entered the industry. With such a good opportunity, why not let him give it a try?"

"Him? I'd rather have a piece of char siu than have him!" Cheng Long exclaimed excitedly, switching to Cantonese.

This sounded much better, and He Daqi naturally switched to Cantonese.

"What? Did you get into trouble?"

"Sigh, forget it, let's not talk about him... Even if I wanted to use him, I couldn't. Hollywood is very realistic here. They generally won't use someone who isn't famous. The reason I recommended you is because you're very famous in Asia now. Most film companies here have heard of you and know you exist. They're using you for the sake of Asian box office revenue. Think it over carefully. Otherwise, we can only find Japanese actors. Japanese actors are in better demand here than Chinese actors and it's easier for them to get roles. If you agree and perform well, it will also help improve the reputation of Chinese actors."

Holy crap! How did this escalate to a matter of national righteousness?

He Daqi was speechless and almost laughed. After listening to Cheng Long's explanation, it seemed like he would become a traitor to the nation if he didn't make a cameo appearance.

"Brother, this is really inconvenient for me, my schedule is fully booked."

"Daqi, you really need to think this over carefully. This movie won't be filmed until the second half of next year. You can fool others with your schedule, but don't try to fool me. Just treat it as a trip to Bald Eagle. Don't worry, filming will be quick. I estimate your scenes won't take more than a week."

"We'll see, brother." He Daqi refused tactfully. "Alright, contact me anytime if you've made up your mind. Goodbye for now."

"Okay, bye."

After hanging up the phone, He Daqi unconsciously rubbed his phone with his fingers and pondered why Jackie Chan insisted on having him make a cameo appearance.

He Daqi didn't believe such an absurd excuse as improving the reputation of Chinese actors. There were plenty of male actors of similar age in China. If Jackie Chan just made the announcement, there would be plenty of people vying for the role. There must be other reasons why Jackie Chan chose him instead of someone else.

He thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure it out. He wanted to keep thinking about it, but the director called him over to start work.

……

……

"Have you two been good and listened to your mother today?"

"Yes!" Two children's voices rang out at the same time, one from the left and one from the right.

He Daqi lay sprawled on the sofa like a boiled noodle, as if he had no bones. The two children followed his example, snuggling up to him on either side and using his arms as pillows.

"What did Mom take you to play at home today?" He Daqi asked lazily.

"Mom took us to see the circus this morning, and after the circus we went to eat fried chicken. In the afternoon we went to buy lots of clothes."

"Yes, the tigers in the circus are very obedient. Mom says their name is Mimi, which means good kitten."

Hmm? Upon hearing this, He Daqi was not so approving.

He turned to look at his precious daughter and earnestly instructed her, "Don't listen to your mother's nonsense. Tigers aren't called Mimi, they're called Sangbiao. They love to eat children. You can't touch them. They look docile, but when they get angry, they can take a child down in one bite."

"Dad, you're lying! Their name is Mimi, and they even responded when we called them. Besides, circus tigers don't have teeth, so they can't bite anyone." The little girl sat up angrily, pouting and glaring at He Daqi.

Are South Korean circuses really this ruthless? They even pulled out the tiger's teeth?

No, when we get back I have to let those two little guys watch Animal World and have Teacher Zhao give them a lesson so they know how terrifying large predators can be.

He Daqi pondered to himself.

But that's something for when we get back. Right now, the priority is to appease my little girl.

"Alright, alright, Daddy was wrong. Mimi is fine, it's just a name. Why are you getting angry with Daddy?"

Upon hearing He Daqi admit his mistake, the little girl tilted her head back and huffed arrogantly. Then, without saying anything, she lay back down and rested her head on He Daqi's arm.

"Dad, Mom said we're going to get a cat in a few days, is that true?" The little boy probably thought that He Daqi was talking to his sister and not talking to him, so he tugged at He Daqi's clothes to make his presence known.

So that's what they were waiting for. He Daqi had been wondering why Zhou Huimin would take the kids to see a circus performance when she had nothing better to do.

This is to get the kitten vaccinated in advance in preparation for adopting it.

"Mimi has fleas, and their bites are so itchy," He Daqi began to mutter strange things under his breath.

"Impossible!" the two children shouted in unison.

Seeing this reaction, He Daqi knew that Zhou Huimin had done her homework today; it seemed she was determined to get a cat.

Just as I was pondering this, Vivian Chow came out of the bedroom.

He had a towel wrapped around his head, so he had obviously just taken a shower.

She walked over and squeezed onto the sofa while talking on her phone. There was such a big empty space, but she insisted on crowding towards He Daqi. It was the middle of summer, and it was a good thing the air conditioning was on, otherwise He Daqi would definitely have nagged her.

"Still haven't found it? It's just a script, why are you keeping it so secret? Could it be that it hasn't been written yet?"

Upon hearing Liu Ying's response on the other end of the phone, Zhou Huimin frowned and said, feeling somewhat irritated. She then turned her head and pinched her son's little face.

After Zhou Huimin hung up the phone, He Daqi asked, "Is it still about the Golden Armor incident?"

"Yes, Zhang Weiping is always jumping around promoting it, but after all that promotion, the script is still a mystery. I suspect that this movie was just given a name and then it was approved. The script may not even be finished. Otherwise, the script would have been sent to the actors long ago."

"They must have finished writing it; they just did a good job keeping it confidential. Otherwise, how would they have passed the censorship?"

Hearing He Daqi's words, Zhou Huimin's eyes lit up. She hugged her son with a playful smile, then leaned against He Daqi's shoulder and said with a grin, "Daqi, isn't your Uncle Li in the publicity business? Could you ask him to help you find a way to get a copy of the script from the film censorship committee? This kind of small thing shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Unless I'm out of my mind, I would never bother someone for such a small thing," He Daqi replied, utterly speechless.

Seeing Zhou Huimin's seemingly obsessed expression, he asked with some confusion, "Actually, clashing with one of their movies would have been enough. There's no need to clash with two. Why are you taking it so seriously?"

“All you do these days is play games and stop reading entertainment news. You have no idea how excited Zhang Weiping is if we don’t respond. Not only is he jumping around, but a bunch of sycophants are also doing it. I guess they want to make Zhang Yimou’s movie, so they’re secretly helping Zhang Weiping out. It’s gotten to me so angry these past few days. No, I can’t let them get away with this! I can’t swallow this anger!” Zhou Huimin said angrily.

"Tell Sister Liu to stop working and have all the people she sent out withdraw. Make it a natural withdrawal so that people won't have anything to say about it later. I have a way to get the script for 'Curse of the Golden Flower'. I'll get it for you when we get back to the mainland."

"Really?! You're so reliable! Muah!" Zhou Huimin happily kissed He Daqi on the cheek.

"Mom, I want it too!"

"I want it too! I want it too!"

The son and daughter eagerly brought their little faces close to Zhou Huimin.

The little girl was afraid she was too slow, so she stepped on He Daqi's belly and moved closer.

Now, the two children who were just being held by He Daqi are now in Zhou Huimin's arms.

"Good girls, you're all Mommy's good babies. Mommy will bring the kitten back in a couple of days. You have to be good too, and don't bully the kitten, understand?"

"Okay!" The two children nodded with bright eyes.

Well, it seems I have no choice but to keep this cat. He Daqi curled his lip.

(End of this chapter)