I'm really good at this.

Gu Yan initially wanted to refuse.

But in the end, she agreed.

On her way home after taking leave to pack her things, Gu Yan grimaced and lifted her clothes to look at her lower back.

There were some faint red marks on her fair waist.

That was because my best friend pinched me when I was about to refuse...

That little vixen is ruthless!

Fortunately, the two girls were top students and were only in their second year of high school. With summer vacation approaching, they took Liang Ya and asked the teacher to create a test for them. In addition, their parents were quite open-minded, and the three of them successfully came to Shenzhen with Zhang Hong.

A large group of people had been waiting there for a long time.

The final filming location chosen was a few acres of land near the sea in Shenzhen.

There are forests here, as well as abandoned old villages with only a dozen or so dilapidated mud houses, and also beaches and paths.

This is enough.

Since the remaining shots could be filmed in any modern building, the final shots could be reshot at Beijing Square.

After the victorious reunion, looking at the vast crowd, Zhang Hong sighed, "Back in the day, my team had just started..."

"What are you humming?" Liu Yishou, who had walked over, wrapped his military overcoat tighter around himself. "Have all the main actors been found?"

"Everyone's here, just one person missing." Zhang Hong took out his phone and checked the time. "I messaged Lu Yibo a couple of days ago, saying we're starting filming today. If he's made up his mind, he can come over before 10 a.m. today."

Lu Yibo did not reply.

Liu Yishou pulled Zhang Hong aside, lit a cigarette, and asked while puffing out smoke, "What if he doesn't come?"

"I have other plans even if I don't come." Zhang Hong laughed halfway through his sentence, "But there's no need for that."

He gestured with his chin towards the distance: "Here we are."

In the distance, a figure came running.

After running up to Zhang Hong and the other man, he bent over, holding his knees and panting heavily.

Zhang Hong, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, sized up the former double Best Actor winner.

The guy was covered in mud from head to toe, and he was missing one of his shoes.

Moreover, he didn't even bring a suitcase, let alone his manager—his manager had said goodbye to him ages ago.

"Brother Bo, what's going on with you?"

So miserable? They look like they've fled a famine.

Lu Yibo caught his breath, looked up, asked for a cigarette, lit it, and then gave a look of regret: "These are all mistakes I made when I was young."

"You think you can just run away, kid? Pay me the fare first!"

Zhang Hong turned around and saw a portly taxi driver struggling to run towards him.

He rested one hand on his knee and pointed at Lu Yibo with the other, yelling, "You fucking... give me... the fucking money first!"

Zhang Hong then looked at Lu Yibo.

Lu Yibo, a cigarette dangling from his lips, smiled wryly: "Director Zhang, could you please help me pay the fee first?"

Zhang Hong turned back again: "Master, how much?"

"Eighty-seven! So you'll pay for him, right?" The driver pulled a sign from his pocket. "WeChat or Alipay?"

"Um... WeChat, I guess." Zhang Hong quickly scanned the QR code and then watched the driver leave.

He took a drag of his cigarette and asked, "Brother Bo, what's going on?"

"Sigh, actually I'm pretty anxious," Lu Yibo explained. "I'd already decided to come, but last night my phone ran out of credit, so I couldn't make calls or send texts. And because my SIM card is linked to a certain network, I couldn't connect to the internet either!"

I flew here first thing this morning, and as soon as I got off the plane, my suitcase was stolen! I quickly took a taxi here, but because of the heavy rain yesterday, the roads were too muddy to cross! Seeing that I was running late, I rushed over!

"Ah..." Zhang Hong dropped the cigarette he was holding. "Your journey has certainly been quite eventful..."

"Don't worry about the details, Director Zhang." Lu Yibo seemed very excited, probably because he hadn't filmed a movie in a long time. "After meeting you that day, I watched all of Director Zhang's 'Clouds Fall into the Mortal World'! 'Blood-Red Youth' too, but 'Mobile Suit Gundam' hasn't been released online yet, so I can't watch it for now. But I've been watching the latest episodes."

He grabbed Zhang Hong's hand: "Director Zhang, I have to say you're amazing! How do you manage to make a TV series look like a movie? And every single episode!"

Zhang Hong forcefully pulled his hand away, glancing at the mud on it and twitching his eye: "If you can get a billion in investment, not counting publicity, believe me, you can do it too."

These words made Lu Yibo even more excited: "Director Zhang, how much is the budget for this film? Three hundred million? Five hundred million?"

Zhang Hong smiled slightly: "More than 20 million."

Lu Yibo paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "It's okay, I can do it. Many low-budget films only have this much money. So when do we start? I've carefully read the script, and the character Wei Laisheng is indeed very challenging. His personality changes are worth exploring in depth, but I think I can play the role well."

"Huh? You're not Wei Laisheng?" Zhang Hong asked疑惑地. "Didn't I tell you?"

Lu Yibo reluctantly replied, "Um...it's okay, Jia Shen is fine too. I think although he doesn't show much expression on the surface, he has a very rich inner life. I've played similar roles before, and I've always been good at playing these kinds of roles."

"Um...actually, you played Huang Sancheng, the deputy platoon leader who sacrificed his life."

"..."

The atmosphere began to tense.

"Just kidding." Zhang Hong suddenly laughed, patted Lu Yibo on the shoulder, "Brother Bo, the role of Jia Shen is yours."

Lu Yibo let out a long sigh and smiled again: "I knew it! Director Zhang, who's the actor I'm acting opposite? Liu Liansheng? Gu Yue? Or Fang Peng?"

The men he mentioned are all well-known leading male actors in their thirties.

Of course, this only applies to the television industry.

"Neither of those." Zhang Hong gave a thumbs-up and pointed to himself. "It's me."

Lu Yibo remained silent.

............

Half an hour later, while Lu Yibo was still questioning his life, Zhang Hong had already gathered everyone together.

Wang Ye also directed others to start moving tables and chairs.

Liu Yishou and Sun Zheng, two old men, stood to one side, their sleeves tucked in, looking on with surprise and uncertainty.

"What's going on?" Liu Yishou asked in a low voice. "Could it be a consecration ceremony? Has Xiao Hong ever done this before?"

"No, when he was filming 'Clouds Fall into the Mortal World,' he set off firecrackers and then started filming right away." Sun Zheng rubbed his bald head. "By the way, isn't the opening ceremony a custom before filming in Hong Kong and Taiwan? And..."

He pointed to the three statues of deities already set up on the table: "Speaking of which, what are these things? Why does the Guanyin not look like Guanyin, and the Guan Yu not look like Guan Yu?"

Just then, Zhang Hong beckoned the two of them over.

After they passed by, Liu Yishou asked, "Xiao Hong, what are you praying to?"

"This is Lama Wang, the chief priest of the Shaolin Temple's office in Wudang Mountain. That's the goddess of justice and righteousness, and the one on the right is Cthulhu Bodhisattva." Zhang Hong rubbed his hands together. "Uncle Liu, do you have any cigarettes? Mine are nineteen-yuan Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes, which are a bit embarrassing to offer."

Liu Yishou silently pulled a pack of cigarettes from his military overcoat pocket and handed it over: "Wait, isn't it inappropriate to smoke in front of a statue?"

"Ah? This is for offering incense." Zhang Hong took out three cigarettes, then very naturally stuffed the remaining half of the pack of cigarettes into his pocket. "Uncle, let me hold the cigarettes for you."

Then he lit three cigarettes and stuck them into the broken flowerpot in front of the three statues.

After leading everyone in the prayers, Zhang Hong instructed Wang Ye, "Brother Wang, put these things in the warehouse for now, and take them out next time we need them."

"Alright!" Wang Ye, along with the two others, picked up the three statues without a second thought and ran off.

Liu Yishou: "..."

Sun Zheng: "..."

What the hell is all this?

Is this the reason for Xiao Hong's success?

Because geniuses are all unconventional?

Sun Zheng even began to doubt whether his past mediocre career was simply due to a lack of individuality.

Zhang Hong clapped his hands and shouted, "Come on! The actors who are going to appear in the first scene, hurry up and change into your costumes! Let's get ready to start!"

PS: Chapter Two will be released before midnight.

m(o__)m

I like it, I'm really good at it, I'm really good at it.