We asked you to make an anti-corruption film, but you made one in the name of the people!

Xu Yajun has been having some troubles lately.

It's not the kind of annoyance that's real, but the kind of blissful annoyance that's like being recognized wherever you go.

He had been acting for over twenty years, and audiences recognized his face but couldn't recall his name.

At most, they'd say something like, "Hey, isn't that so-and-so? He acted in that drama or something."

It's different now.

The three characters "Qi Tongwei" became his new name.

He went to the market to buy vegetables. The woman selling them saw him and threw down her cleaver: "Oh my! Director Qi! What brings you to our market? Aren't you in Handong Province?"

Xu Yajun smiled awkwardly: "Big sister, I'm an actor, that was acting."

"You acted so well! I was moved to tears!" The older sister held onto him tightly.

Finally, when he left, the older sister insisted on giving him two more scallions.

Xu Yajun couldn't refuse, so he took the scallions and left.

An old man in line nearby muttered, "Qi Tongwei buys groceries? Isn't he the Director of the Public Security Bureau?"

A few days ago, Xu Yajun went shopping with his wife.

I wanted to go when there were fewer people, but I was still recognized.

It started with a young girl, trembling as she approached, holding her phone: "Excuse me, are you Director Qi?"

Before Xu Yajun could answer, a group of people suddenly surrounded him.

"Director Qi! It really is Director Qi!"

"Let's take a photo together, Director Qi!"

"Director Qi, are you really that handsome in person?"

It was surrounded by layers upon layers of buildings, completely impenetrable.

Xu Yajun was surrounded, unsure whether to leave or stay.

His wife covered her mouth and laughed, showing no intention of helping at all.

Finally, mall security guards arrived and pulled him out of the crowd.

When I got home, my wife was still laughing: "You're more popular than a top celebrity now."

Xu Yajun smiled wryly: "I'd rather not be famous."

What happened today is even more outrageous.

Around 4 p.m., Xu Yajun drove to pick up his wife from get off work.

His wife works at a publishing house located on the East Third Ring Road, a section of road that is notoriously congested.

It happened to be rush hour, and there were so many cars that it looked like ants carrying food.

Xu Yajun drove his black SUV slowly through the traffic.

When we were almost at my wife's company building, the road ahead suddenly stopped.

After waiting for a while, it still didn't move.

Xu Yajun peeked out and saw that there had been an accident at the intersection ahead; two cars had collided and were blocking half of the lane.

The road was already narrow, and now it's completely blocked.

The cars behind started honking, beep beep beep beep, it was so noisy it gave me a headache.

Xu Yajun leaned back in his seat, took out his phone and swiped it, waiting for the traffic police to come and clear the way.

About ten minutes later, a traffic policeman arrived on a motorcycle.

The young man was in his early twenties, tall and thin, wearing a white hat, and looked quite energetic.

He first took photos of the accident scene, then directed the two vehicles to pull over.

Then they began to clear the congested traffic.

"Keep moving forward! Keep moving forward! Don't stop!"

"You, shoot to the right, you can get through!"

"Okay, let's go!"

The young man was quick and efficient; in no time, the traffic started moving again.

One car after another drove away in front of Xu Yajun, and then it was his turn.

He started his car and was about to leave when the traffic policeman suddenly glanced at him.

Just one glance.

The traffic policeman's gaze swept across the car window, landed on Xu Yajun's face, and then fixed on him.

Xu Yajun noticed the gaze, turned his head, and met the traffic policeman's eyes.

Eyes facing each other.

The traffic policeman's expression changed from serious to surprised, and from surprised to excited.

He opened his mouth, his lips trembled, and then—

Stand at attention and salute.

Their movements were as precise as a military parade.

"Hall Qi!"

The sound wasn't loud, but several drivers nearby heard it.

Xu Yajun froze in the driver's seat.

He wanted to say, "I'm not Director Qi, I'm an actor," but seeing the traffic policeman's serious expression, he swallowed the words back.

Xu Yajun quickly stepped on the gas and sped away.

As the car turned the corner, he saw in his rearview mirror that the traffic policeman was still standing there, watching him leave.

Xu Yajun gave a wry smile and made a phone call to his wife.

"Hurry up and come downstairs, I'm here."

"What's wrong with you? Your voice sounds off."

"It's nothing, I just got saluted by a traffic cop."

"...What?"

"We'll talk about it when we get back."

After hanging up the phone, Xu Yajun shook his head.

Unbeknownst to him, the scene had just been filmed by a young woman in the car blocking the road behind him.

The entire process, from the traffic police calling out to Qi Ting to Xu Yajun saying "Thank you for your hard work," was recorded.

The girl posted the video on Douyin (TikTok) with the caption: "Help! I ran into Qi Tongwei in a traffic jam! The traffic cop even saluted him! I'm dying of laughter, hahaha!"

The video garnered over a million likes in less than half an hour after it was posted.

The comments section went crazy.

"Hahahaha, Director Qi, what are you doing blocking the way here?"

"Traffic police: Hello, Director Qi! Director Qi: Thank you for your hard work. This conversation is hilarious."

Director Qi was completely dumbfounded: "I'm not the director, I'm an actor!"

Xu Yajun: I'm playing a villain, comrades! Wake up!

Xu Yajun's inner thoughts: It's over, I can never clear my name in this lifetime.

"Supreme People's Procuratorate: This drama is about fighting corruption, not about making Director Qi a fan favorite."

"Hilarious! Even traffic police are hooked! Just how popular is this show?"

The video quickly went viral, with the title: #TrafficPoliceSaluteQiTongwei#

When Xu Yajun returned home, his wife showed him the video.

"Look, you're famous now."

Xu Yajun took the phone, looked at it twice, and his lips twitched.

"When did this girl take this picture? I didn't see it."

"They took the picture from the car behind you, how could you possibly see it?" His wife laughed so hard she almost fell over. "Honey, you're a real star now, even the traffic cops are your fans."

Xu Yajun threw his phone on the sofa, covering his face: "It's over, it's over, it's over, I'll never be able to get rid of Qi Tongwei in this lifetime."

"So you still want to get rid of it?" His wife rolled her eyes at him. "So many people act their whole lives and never become famous, but you became famous with just one role. You should be secretly happy."

Xu Yajun thought about it and agreed.

Although being recognized is a bit annoying, it's better than no one recognizing me.

My phone vibrated.

It's a group chat for the film crew.

Wu Gang: "@Xu Yajun, did you see that video of the traffic police saluting? Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter!"

Hou Yong: "@Xu Yajun, shouldn't you return the salute to the traffic police? They already saluted you."

Zhang Fengyi: "@Xu Yajun, you are now a real leader. People salute you when you go out."

Lu Yi: "Teacher Xu, why don't you take the civil service exam? You could just go and take up a post in Handong Province."

Xu Yajun sent a facepalm emoji: "Stop messing around, I'm already dead."

Wu Gang: "What do you mean 'die'? This is an honor! It means you acted well!"

Zhang Zhijian: "The audience all thinks you're Qi Tongwei, so what level is this acting? It's top-tier!"

Hou Yong: "You have to treat us next time we meet; it's a joyous occasion."

Xu Yajun: "All you do is make me treat you. You've eaten all my savings."

The group chat erupted in laughter again.

Lin Mo also saw the video.

He was sitting on the sofa at home, having just taken a shower, his hair still wet.

While scrolling through TikTok, I came across a video posted by that girl.

Lin Mo burst out laughing after reading it.

Xu Yajun's expression was so real.

His eyes widened, his lips parted slightly, he wanted to explain but didn't know how, and finally managed to stammer out, "Thank you for your hard work."

His awkward yet funny expression was even more vivid than when he was acting.

Lin Mo read it twice more, then shook his head with a smile.

He forwarded the video to the crew group and typed: "@Teacher Xu Yajun, this scene is even better than your portrayal of Qi Tongwei. We nailed it in one take."

Xu Yajun replied instantly: "Director Lin, please stop teasing me. I've been laughed at enough all day."

Wu Gang: "@Xu Yajun, who made fun of you? Weren't you being saluted? How glorious!"

Xu Yajun sent a "life is meaningless" emoji.

Another burst of laughter erupted in the group chat.

Lin Mo left the group chat and scrolled through Douyin (TikTok) again.

The video has already garnered over 20 million views, and the comments section is still growing rapidly.

He put his phone aside and leaned back on the sofa.

Xu Yajun's incident reminded him of a news story from his previous life.

In his previous life, when "In the Name of the People" aired, Xu Yajun's experience was similar—he was called Director Qi wherever he went, and even when he went to the bank to do business, the tellers called him Director Qi.

One netizen commented, "For a villain to be portrayed like this is a success for the actor, but a failure for the character. It's a success because the actor acted well, and a failure because the audience doesn't hate him."

Lin Mo thought that what he said made sense at the time.

Thinking about it now, that's not entirely true.

The character Qi Tongwei is not a villain in the traditional sense.

He is a flesh-and-blood human being, capable of love and hate, struggle and helplessness.

The audience doesn't hate him not because he wasn't thoroughly evil, but because there were reasons why he was evil.

This is one of the reasons why "In the Name of the People" became so popular—there are no stereotypical good or bad characters; everyone is complex.