How did I become famous?

Chapter 132, "The Grandmaster," begins filming.

Liu Mang completely ignored him this time.

He has a friend who writes online novels, and they are similar in many ways.

Every time we chat, that friend says he messed up his writing and that his novel is no good and nobody reads it.

When I asked about the data, well...

The average price is tens of thousands!

Doesn't this deserve a beating?

That's so annoying!

So Liu Mang ignored him, lest he end up drooling again.

As they approached, they saw Wu Kai frowning, surrounded by a group of martial arts masters who were giving him cold stares; the atmosphere was tense and confrontational.

Fang raised an eyebrow and, together with Liu Mang, pulled Wu Kai aside: "What's going on?"

If the atmosphere is already this tense before filming even starts, what if a conflict breaks out during filming? We won't even be able to stop it.

"Sigh, according to the procedure, we have to perform a ritual before filming a movie, right?" Wu Kai was speechless. "But they all have different opinions on what to perform the ritual for."

Each family has its own patriarch. One family worships the patriarch of Wing Chun, another worships the patriarch of Bajiquan, and yet another worships the patriarch of Baguazhang.

At least Wudang and Shaolin didn't cause any trouble, so the two families can just hold a ceremony to worship heaven and earth for now.

"Tsk, I thought it was something special." Liu Mang scoffed, "Skinny monkey, it seems you don't understand our Fang Mu's rules. We have two deities we must worship here. Just pick one and we'll all worship them together. We worshipped them for our previous two movies, and after you do, I guarantee your movie will take off!"

Wu Kai was taken aback: "Is that so?"

"Heh." Liu Mang chuckled coldly and waved his hand, saying, "Please draw a portrait!"

"Coming right up!"

Nie Fang, who was watching the show from the side, found two paintings in some corner and hung them up, then lit three cigarettes in front of them.

Wu Kai looked closely and saw that one of the men was wearing a kasaya, had a cross hanging from his arm, and was holding a whisk in his hand.

The other female portrait is equally impressive, a hodgepodge of elements mixed together.

"This is."

"This is Old Wang, and that's the right goddess. Just pick one to worship, and you'll be fine."

If Fang Bie worshipped one of the two characters in his previous two movies, wouldn't it be double the happiness if I worshipped both of them?

Wu Kai had an idea: "Can I pay respects to both of them?"

"Of course, no problem!"

Wu Kai then intervened among the group of martial arts masters, saying that this was just a routine matter and there was no need to dwell on it.

Why don't we all follow the crew's tradition and offer prayers to Old Wang and the right goddess?

Since no one had brought the portrait of the patriarch with them, and they didn't have any other ideas, they simply went along with it.

Standing to the side, Fang Bie asked in a low voice, "Fatty, are you really that kind as to let him bow to both of them?"

Although it's actually completely useless.

Liu Mang laughed smugly: "Old Fang, you don't understand. It doesn't really matter who you worship, the important thing is that cigarette, you know?"

Fang Bie, the artist of the two portraits, followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow.

The three cigarettes offered this time are Hongqiqu brand, which costs five yuan a pack.

But isn't this kind of cigarette no longer available?

Is it

He looked at Liu Mang.

Liu Mang chuckled: "These are fake cigarettes that I bought specifically for this purpose."

Fang Bie: "."

In any case, the movie finally started.

The first scene was a martial arts sequence.

Fang Bie at least had the title of chief director, while Liu Mang was just there to watch the show.

But after watching for a while, Liu Mang realized something was wrong.

"Old Fang, how come you didn't have a single NG (no good take)?"

Keep in mind that these people were all complete novices who were making their first film.

"This just shows that Wu Kai has good taste." Fang Bie didn't think much of it.

What's wrong with casting Ip Man as Ip Man?

"No," Liu Mang waved his hand, "I mean, did you see it clearly?"

Fang shook his head: "I didn't see it clearly."

Coincidentally, the first scene was filmed very quickly.

The lead actor, Ip Man, wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead and asked, "Director Wu, how was it?"

The fight he just experienced wasn't even a warm-up for him.

However, he enjoyed the fight, since the extras he was sparring with were all elite disciples from various sects.

He had never had such a great time since he came down from the mountain.

He started to love making martial arts movies.

But Wu Kai's behavior was strange.

He remained silent for a long while before slowly saying, "I'm sorry, I don't know."

"what?"

"Sorry, I didn't see your movements at all."

Are these people here to be funny?

You're hitting the ping-pong ball back and forth without even seeing a thing! How do you know if there's a problem?

I was only seeing afterimages!

Wu Kai turned to look at Nie Fang.

Nie Fang shrugged and spread his hands.

The high-speed camera didn't capture it either; these guys just wander around aimlessly and have absolutely no sense of camera presence.

The high-speed cameras were meant to capture close-up shots, but these guys just fought around and didn't get a single thing filmed.

Wu Kai smiled awkwardly: "Gentlemen, could you please perform it again? Just one more time."

Actually, he wasn't always this good-tempered when he was filming.

But those ping-pong balls were all real! A person kicked like that would fly a meter or two away!

Besides, hiring a group of amateur martial arts experts to act was his own idea, so he couldn't really say anything.

Ip Man, unsuspecting, replied, "Of course, no problem. I had a great time fighting just now too."

"This time we'll follow the camera. Let me explain the scene to you." Wu Kai clapped his hands, beckoning everyone to come over. "By the way, we can slow down the fighting this time. Don't really fight; it wouldn't be good if someone got hurt."

One of the extras laughed and said, "It's okay, Director. Senior Brother Ye didn't use any internal energy. It doesn't hurt as much as when we practice grappling."

From a distance, Liu Mang asked, "Old Fang, do things like internal energy and internal strength really exist in this world?"

"Amitabha, of course there is." Master Yongyan, who had walked over, replied, with Daoist Chongxuan of Wudang beside him.

The two of them have a long way to go before their scenes are filmed, but they are very interested in filming, so they are watching from the sidelines.

Of course, Fang Bie didn't know whether they were interested in filming or in the brawls between the sects.

But Fang Bie didn't quite believe him: "Master, monks don't lie. Is there really such a thing as inner strength in this world? I just don't believe it."

"Amitabha Buddha, hearing is deceiving, seeing is believing. You will know once you try it, benefactor." Master Yongyan put his palms together, "I wonder which of you two would like to try?"

Fang showed little interest, but Liu Mang was very interested: "Master, let me try! How do I do it?"

"Benefactor Liu, simply stand still. This old monk will now transmit a wisp of internal energy into your body. After that, you should focus your energy on your legs and feet, and then strike the ground with force." After the master finished speaking, he gathered his energy and slapped Liu Mang on the shoulder with his palm.

He then gathered his breath and slowly said, "You'll know once you try it, benefactor."

Liu Mang nodded and stomped his foot hard on the ground!

A shoe print several inches deep immediately appeared on the yellow earth!

"Incredibly skillful!" Liu Mang's eyes shone brightly. "I feel an internal force surging from the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of my foot up my calf, then to my knee, and now... it's reached my thigh!"

"Amitabha, congratulations, benefactor, for removing the leaf that obscures your vision and thus gaining insight into the truth of the world. This old monk will not disturb your enlightenment any longer. Farewell." With that, the great monk and the Taoist priest, who was suppressing a smile, left together to go watch the filming.

Liu Mang turned around and looked at Fang Bie excitedly: "Old Fang! There really is such a thing as internal energy! You should try it too!"

Fang Bie stared with dead fish eyes and casually slapped him on the back: "I also transferred my internal energy to you, try switching legs."

Liu Mang readily accepted good advice.

Sure enough! With his full-force strike, another shoe print, an inch deep, appeared on the ground!

He looked up in surprise and exclaimed, "Old Fang! Could it be that you're the heir of some hidden sect?!"

"That's bullshit, you've been fooled, you idiot."

"No! What is that tingling, numb feeling in my legs?"

"Nonsense, whoever stomps on whom will get numb."

"And that deep pit in the ground..."

"With your weight of over 200 pounds, it's no wonder there are shoe prints on the ground when you stomp your feet so hard. The prints are deep simply because you used force."

"..." Liu Mang scratched his chubby face. "So I was tricked?"

Fang Bie nodded: "Now I finally understand why some college students or high-end people can be fooled by such tricks. Fatty, you've really given me a vivid lesson."

If I hadn't seen a comedy sketch in my past life, I almost would have been fooled too!

After all, if time travel can happen, who knows if those other weird things actually exist in this world?

However, based on today's evidence, it seems that there are no supernatural abilities in this world.

But Liu Mang was deceived because he wanted to believe that such a thing really existed in the world.

So, is it okay to "borrow" some works by masters like Jin Yong, Gu Long, Huang Yi, Liang Yusheng, and Wen Ruian?

Could someone like me also earn the title of "Master of Martial Arts"?

But then another problem arises: I can't remember the original texts of those novels. What should I do?

Sigh. The life of a time traveler is truly difficult.

After a day of filming, Wu Kai took the initiative to treat Fang Bie, Liu Mang, Nie Fang, and others to a meal at a restaurant.

Because filming continues tomorrow, some of them decided not to do anything unprofessional, like drinking.

Actually, we weren't planning on having this meal tonight, but Wu Kai did have something to ask of him.

"I'll presume to call you Old Fang." Wu Kai took a big gulp of his soda, then sighed, "Old Fang, what should I do?"

Today's filming was really tough.

In the end, they didn't even manage to film anything worthwhile.

Well, Ip Man was alright, but the acting of the other martial arts masters was truly indescribable.

To put it nicely, they are all naturally gifted players.

To put it bluntly, those people have absolutely no idea how to act.

They didn't care at all about the lighting or the camera angles.

Either they're too shy to be in front of the camera and always stiffly glance at it out of the corner of their eye.

Once they let loose, they completely let loose, making loud bangs when they fight, but they have no sense of camera presence and often even hit outside the frame.

Moreover, once a real fight breaks out, the movements are so fast that the naked eye can only see afterimages, and the photographer simply cannot react.

What's even more outrageous isn't that, but that their fighting moves are always completely different each time they start fighting!

How do you film this?

Liu Mang curled his lip: "I told you it was unreliable. If you don't have Lao Fang's skills, don't try to imitate him. Lao Fang finds amateurs to act because he can guide their acting! As the saying goes, a good horse is easy to find, but a discerning eye is rare. Are you a discerning eye who can turn stones into gold? You're just messing around."

"Isn't this exactly what I'm asking for?" Wu Kai said with a forced smile. "Old Fang, for the sake of the company, how about you give these guys a hand and give them some acting advice?"

He heard Liu Mang say that Fang Bie had directed the acting of others in both of his films, and that the actors in those two films had made great strides in their acting skills after receiving his guidance.

Even Chen Yongren from "The Shadow of Light" won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival!

Fang Bie was also a little scratching his head.

He directs acting?

He's a damn acting coach!

To Chen Yongren, Kira Yoshikage, and Yan Shuangying, he only had one sentence: "Just act like you normally do."

Now, if I ask him to give me pointers, how can he possibly do so?

But that's not how it works.

"Brother Kai, this is your film, it's not convenient for me to interfere."

Wu Kai said helplessly, "But I really have no other choice. Lao Fang, you have to help your brother out. This film is my first attempt at a commercial film, and I don't want it to flop again. Besides, it wouldn't look good for our company if word got out."

Fang Bie sighed: "How about the day after tomorrow? I'll think of a way for you then. Take a rest tomorrow."

Sigh, it seems I, "Yusuke Komurata" and "Takeshi Obata II," will have to make a comeback.

That's right, his plan is to find Ip Man and his group tomorrow morning to demonstrate their moves and routines, and then work himself to the bone for a day and a night to produce the storyboard for "The Grandmaster"!

(End of this chapter)