A real killer playing a villain; the guy surnamed Zhen in Detective, run!

After work was finished, shed number five was divided into two distinct areas.

Xu Changlin's temporary rest area.

Assistant Xiao Zhong brought out the complete set of equipment: a solid wood tea tray, a copper kettle, an iron kettle, and a silver kettle. A bamboo tea scoop, tea needle, tea tongs, and tea strainer were also laid out in a row.

Xu Changlin sat on the folding chair with his eyes closed and his hands on his knees, waiting for the water in the copper kettle to boil.

He has a set of rules. After filming the important scenes, he makes tea and drinks it. Xu Changlin once said: Tea is the ladder that allows you to climb out of the role.

Steam rose from the copper kettle. Xu Changlin opened his eyes, took out a tube of tea leaves, poured them into a tea scoop, stirred them with a tea needle, and smelled them. Then he lifted the kettle, held it twelve centimeters above the rim, and with a flick of his wrist, the water stream fell.

Staff members passing by consciously took a detour and kept their strides low.

On the west side, there is a pile of cardboard boxes.

Lu Yuan lay on a bed made up of two prop boxes, with his windbreaker half-covering him and half-pressing it down. Lao Liu was lying on his stomach, his front paws tucked up, his eyes half-closed.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and calculated how many days he had filmed this month, how his payment would be credited in installments, and how many meals of cat food he had left for Lao Liu. After finishing the calculations, he put his phone back in his pocket, unscrewed his thermos, and took a sip.

From the east side of the shed came the sound of copper kettle lids lightly tapping and tea being poured into a fairness cup.

Lu Yuan's principle is to avoid getting involved with the big names in the production crew if possible. Work, get paid, and leave.

They quietly lay low.

He poked the sixth brother's forehead with his index finger. "Don't go too far, just lie here."

The sixth brother rubbed the back of his head against his fingers and rolled over.

A wisp of roasted rock tea aroma wafted through the air, and Lu Yuan's nostrils twitched, but he didn't pay it any mind.

The sixth man's nostril twitched slightly.

Xu Changlin had just poured out the first brew and was preparing to add water for the second brew when Xiao Zhong took out a Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain dish from the thermos bag, peeled off the plastic wrap, and placed it on the right side of the tea tray.

Four pieces of mung bean ice cream.

The surface is coated with a thin layer of powdered sugar, and the grainy texture of the mung bean paste is clearly visible, with a layer of osmanthus honey sandwiched in the middle.

Xu Changlin picked up the tea tongs, scooped out the aroma cup from the tea tray, inverted it onto the tasting cup, and with a flick of his wrist, steam escaped from the gap.

His breathing was slowing down, and the person sitting in the chair had become Xu Changlin again. For twenty-eight years, he had used this process to detach himself from each role.

The sweet aroma of mung bean cake begins to spread under the influence of body temperature.

In the area of ​​the cardboard box pile on the west side, Lao Liu's ears perked up, and then he raised his head off Lu Yuan's stomach, twitching his nose twice towards the east.

Lu Yuan was unscrewing the lid of the thermos.

The sixth brother kicked with his hind legs.

Lu Yuan felt the weight on his stomach disappear. He looked down and saw an orange shadow dart out along the cable trench on the ground. It was so fast that the young man from the lighting crew next to him could only see a blur of color.

When it leaped onto the tea tray table, the rosewood tabletop made a dull thud from its paw pads, and the tea in the teacup sloshed.

Xiao Zhong dropped the tea towel he was holding.

The sixth dog rested its front paws on the edge of the porcelain plate, its pink tongue lolling out, about to lick the sugar crumbs off the ice cream. Its paw tip was less than three centimeters from the purple clay teapot.

"—!"

Xiao Zhong's face drained of color in an instant. He reached out to grab it, but his fingers froze in mid-air. On the tea tray lay a complete tea set: a fairness cup, tasting cups, aroma cups, a tea scoop, and a tea needle. And there was the teapot.

If he moves, the cat will take a step back, and then step on the kettle.

He dared not move.

Old Zhou, the stagehand, walked by carrying a wrench and stopped in his tracks.

He'd heard of this teapot before. It was the lifeblood of a movie star. It sold for a seven-figure sum at a Beijing auction house's spring auction. A seven-figure sum.

There are three centimeters between a cat's paw pad and a seven-figure sum of money.

Old Zhou's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

Xu Changlin glanced at the orange cat on the tea tray. The cat was happily licking itself, its tail sweeping from side to side until it brushed against the aroma cup. The aroma cup slid a centimeter to the right.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Sixth Brother!!"

Lu Yuan rushed to the tea sea, reached out with one hand, and precisely pinched the back of Lao Liu's neck with his five fingers, lifting him up.

The sixth one still had a small piece of popsicle crumb in its mouth. It pedaled its hind legs twice in the air, meowed, and seemed reluctant.

Lu Yuan, carrying the cat, looked up at the scene on the tea table.

The mental asset assessment system completed the scan in a fraction of a second.

A rosewood tea tray costs between 20,000 and 30,000 yuan. A copper, iron, and silver teapot together would cost close to 100,000 yuan. A handmade bamboo tea set, made from old materials, costs a few thousand yuan.

His gaze fell on the teapot.

Zisha (purple clay). The clay is a deep purple-brown, with a patina that has developed over time, giving it a restrained and understated appearance. The shape is well-proportioned, the knob is full, and the spout produces a clean and crisp water flow.

Shao Daheng. Dezhong. Original ore purple clay.

He can't afford to lose money; even if all his advance salary is paid out, he still can't lose money.

A cold sweat ran up his spine. If this pot broke, he would have no choice but to sell his kidney.

Lu Yuan's brain began to operate at high speed in crisis mode.

Break the ice, it must be done immediately. Xu Changlin's anger hasn't flared up yet; the window of opportunity is at most three seconds. Within those three seconds, shift his attention, flatter him—the more knowledgeable the better—make him feel that you understand and respect his things, and his anger will subside by at least 60%.

"Teacher Xu, I'm so sorry! That beast has a nose as sharp as a dog's—"

Half of his personality is apologizing.

The other half's personality has been taken over by muscle memory from the previous life.

"Your Dezhong teapot by Shao Daheng is an old teapot made of original purple clay. The clay is purplish and lustrous with a subtle patina. Its shape is dignified and understated. It is indeed a perfect match for brewing Wuyi rock tea."

The words were spoken. There was no going back.

A short alarm sounded in Lu Yuan's brain.

But his mouth couldn't stop. The database he had accumulated while mingling in the world's top collector circles in his previous life was forcibly retrieved by some survival instinct, and his vocal cords completed the subsequent output on their own.

"It's just that when I was boiling the water just now, it boiled for a second too long. The water was overcooked."

The area by the tea plantation was quiet.

Xiao Zhong's action of bending down to pick up the tea towel froze halfway. Old Zhou stood three meters away, holding a wrench, his mouth agape in an "O" shape.

Xu Changlin's hand, holding the wooden tweezers, hung in mid-air.

He turned his head and looked at Lu Yuan from beginning to end.

Wearing a gray hoodie and canvas shoes, she carried a chipped thermos in one hand and an orange cat with ice cream crumbs stuck to its mouth in the other.

What did this person just say?