I practiced my spirituality alone in Hong Kong.

After the meal, Li Chang'an rode his bicycle to take Ruan Xiaotang to Xihuan Yucai Middle School.

Even from a distance from the school gate, Ruan Xiaotang could see at a glance that Chen Yuesheng was standing guard like a gatekeeper under the big sycamore tree at the school gate.

Her once gentle, alluring peach blossom eyes were now covered with a cold and sharp light. Wherever her gaze swept, the students passing by all lowered their heads, afraid that this devilish woman would set her sights on them.

Ruan Xiaotang hurriedly tugged at Li Chang'an's sleeve and whispered, "Brother Chang'an, Teacher Chen is blocking our way."

"Then I'll leave you here."

Li Chang'an looked at Chen Yuesheng in the distance, feeling somewhat helpless.

This beautiful female principal was quite persistent in pursuing him, waiting for him here whether he was going to or leaving school, as if afraid that she and Xiaotang would have a chance to be together.

Li Chang'an originally wanted to find an opportunity to meet Chen Yuesheng again and explain that he was really just a kind-hearted older brother next door to Xiaotang.

Judging from this situation, it seems that only the "handsome young man's" talent in the underworld could convince Chen Yuesheng that he was a good boy.

……

……

After bidding farewell to Ruan Xiaotang, Li Chang'an arrived at the Qingshan Road film set.

Today is the official start of filming for the movie. Many people have come to Director Yuan's set, most of whom are extras.

At this moment, Director Yuan is gathering everyone to discuss the arrangement of their roles.

Li Chang'an, who was a martial arts instructor, is now free from teaching everyone boxing, which makes things much easier for him.

He glanced around and spotted a familiar figure, then strode over to her.

"Class monitor, I thought you were going to avoid me forever."

Seeing Li Chang'an hand over a red envelope containing a large stack of Hong Kong dollars, Wen Zhilan stuck out her tongue helplessly, trying to get away with it by being cute.

"Li Chang'an, are you in such a hurry to pay back your debt?"

"I'm your class monitor, we've been classmates for so many years, I would never charge you exorbitant interest."

"Stop pretending to be class monitor. This is Su Xingning's money, right? I can't accept it. Give it back to her."

Seeing how serious he was, Wen Zhilan had no choice but to stop joking and put the red envelope into her bag.

"Hey, if Xingning knew you wouldn't even take her money, she'd definitely cry."

Then you'll drag me out for drinks and yell at me all night for being a blockhead, a bastard... Li Chang'an, what exactly happened between you and Xing Ning?

She paused, then added, "Xing Ning is a bit willful, but she's not a bad person. Logically speaking, she shouldn't have gone so far as to make you cut ties with her."

Li Chang'an was silent for a moment, then said, "She did nothing wrong, but I really don't want to see her again."

Don't you want to see her again...?

Wen Zhilan's heart stirred. With her intelligence, she could naturally tell that there were some complicated hidden reasons behind these words.

Perhaps it wasn't as simple as her best friend said, that Li Chang'an was just determined to retaliate by giving her the silent treatment after being rejected when he confessed his feelings to her on her birthday.

Wen Zhilan felt that Li Chang'an was not that naive.

Based on her understanding of Li Chang'an's personality, she knew that once he made up his mind, not even ten oxen could pull him back.

For him to say "I don't want to see you again," it seems... Xing Ning really has no chance to be with Li Chang'an.

Wen Zhilan didn't ask any more questions in the end, but silently sighed for her best friend.

At this point, Li Chang'an changed the subject, saying:

"Brother Chen is about to go on set to film a scene, let's go take a look."

"Um."

Wen Zhilan smiled and transformed back into the warm and approachable class monitor.

The two arrived at a makeshift martial arts gym.

Chen Yuanlong was dressed in faded coarse cloth clothes, his hair was disheveled, and he was hunched over, holding his head with his hands, forced to stand in the center of the field with his back bent.

Several extras playing martial arts students were about to punch and kick him.

Li Chang'an had read the script and knew that Brother Chen was now playing Jian Fu, the protagonist who was down on his luck at the beginning of the movie.

According to Director Yuan's setting, Jian Fu stayed at Hongwei Martial Arts School to do odd jobs because his parents had died and he loved martial arts.

He wanted to earn a living and one day become a formal apprentice at a martial arts school, learning martial arts openly and honestly.

However, the masters at the martial arts school not only bullied Jian Fu every day, but also made him a live dummy, and he was used as a target for the students to practice their punches and bully, suffering endless humiliation.

At this moment, what Director Yuan was about to film was the scene of Jian Fu being used as a punching bag by the students.

Off-screen, Director Yuan shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Everyone to your positions. When I say 'on,' you start firing, understand?"

"I heard that, Director Yuan!"

"Power on!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the lead actor kicked Chen Yuanlong in the back of the knee, causing Chen Yuanlong's legs to buckle and he to kneel on the polished bluestone slab.

Upon seeing this, the other two actors immediately threw punches at him.

"Card!"

Director Yuan then called for a stop, saying sternly:

"Are you kidding me? You're bullying Longzai right now!"

"Don't you even know how to bully someone? So weak and limp, you're giving Longzai a massage! Haven't you ever seen gangsters bully people before!"

"this……"

The actors looked at each other, somewhat hesitant.

Just then, Chen Yuanlong spoke up: "Just raise your leg and throw a punch at me, the visual effect is the most important thing, stop using camera angles to fight."

"Brother Long, you'll really get hurt doing this."

"Haha, this role is what turned my career around. If it didn't hurt while filming, do you expect me to only realize the pain when I'm no longer getting roles?"

Chen Yuanlong smiled broadly, yet with a hint of ruthlessness, as if he had been driven to the brink of despair.

"Come on, just fuck me!"

Director Yuan then shouted, "Stop dawdling! Listen to my instructions!"

"Power on!"

boom--

Chen Yuanlong's leg was kicked hard, and his knee hit the ground with a dull thud.

Before he could get up, another student punched him hard in the back. He groaned and staggered forward, his forehead nearly hitting a mottled wooden pillar.

Immediately afterwards, punches and kicks rained down on him from all sides.

Chest, back, arms—every blow landed squarely.

Chen Yuanlong's body was tense, his hands tightly protecting his head. He was kicked and staggered, his coarse cloth clothes quickly becoming dirty and covered in dust.

Director Yuan quietly exclaimed "Good!" and instructed the cameraman to quickly give a close-up shot.

Under Director Yuan's direction, the morning passed quickly.

Today's main focus was filming scenes of the protagonist Jian Fu being bullied and in his downfall. Chen Yuanlong was humiliated and covered in bruises on his face and neck, not to mention what lay beneath his clothes.

When eating the crew's boxed lunch at noon, Chen Yuanlong sat next to Li Chang'an, and his buttocks hurt so much that he grimaced as soon as they touched the ground.

However, he didn't complain at all. Instead, he said with a grin, "Anzai, Director Yuan just praised me for a long time!"

Li Chang'an wasn't in a hurry to eat. He took out some liniment to help Chen Yuanlong rub the bruises on his back.

"Don't laugh, Brother Chen. Your laughter aggravates your injuries and makes you wince in pain."

"Hey, what's a little pain? Which martial artist doesn't experience pain?"

"To be recognized by someone like Director Yuan, and by the audience, means I'd be willing to do even action stunts that hurt ten times more!"

"A person lives to fight for their pride. As long as I have that pride, I, Chen Yuanlong, will brave any danger, even mountains of knives and seas of fire!"

Waaah—

As soon as Chen Yuanlong finished speaking, a deep engine roar suddenly came from the entrance of Qingshan Road.

Li Chang'an looked in the direction of the sound and saw a gleaming Cadillac sedan accelerating recklessly into Qingshan Road, seemingly unconcerned about hitting pedestrians on the roadside.

The Cadillac drove straight to the film crew's location in front of Director Yuan's set, and then the car door was pushed open with a "bang".

A fat man in a suit, with a beer belly and a gold chain around his thick neck, jumped out of the car, accompanied by a burly Cane Corso that wasn't on a leash.

The fat man opened his mouth and started yelling and cursing at the crew:

"What are you doing?! Did I pay you guys to sit here in the sun like this?"

"Damn it, where the production crew is? Get up and get to work! They're all less obedient than a dog like me!"

The fat man cursed and swore, causing all the crew members to lower their heads and hunch their shoulders.

Li Chang'an frowned and asked, "Brother Chen, who is this arrogant guy?"

Chen Yuanlong lowered his voice and said, "This fat guy is Boss Zhou, who invests in bad movies and launders money on Castle Peak Road. He has several large factories in Sai Wan Mei."

This guy not only withheld actors' wages, but also secretly lent money at exorbitant interest rates, forcing women who couldn't repay to film erotic movies. He's incredibly ruthless; we all call him "Skin-Peeling Zhou."

Two extras holding boxed lunches nearby chimed in:

"Brother Long, Master Li, do you know why this Skinflint Zhou is so angry today?"

"Because last night someone was capable enough to block all the sewage pipes of his factories that were illegally discharging wastewater!"

This morning, as soon as the workers started work, they discovered the entire workshop was flooded and all the machines were ruined! Hahaha!

"That skin-slaughtering Zhou keeps dumping sewage everywhere, causing many of us living in Sai Wan Mei to get sick. Finally, a dragon from the east has stepped in to deal with him."

Brother Long, Master Li, wouldn't you say this is a blessing in disguise?

Chen Yuanlong hadn't expected such a thing. He laughed loudly and said, "Those who do many evil deeds will eventually be punished; this is karma!"

Li Chang'an, who was standing next to him, smiled but didn't say anything.