Chapter 9: Lu Bu Among Men, Chi Tu Among Horses

Clutching his phone tightly, constantly checking for messages from someone or others, sometimes replying instantly, sometimes hesitating for a long time.

Either fishing or carrying on a secret affair.

It doesn't much resemble the passionate phase of a relationship.

This was Bai Liang's bold hypothesis regarding Gu Li Na Zha's previous state.

He wasn't a scumbag—at least he believed he wasn't—but practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

The more romances you've had, the more you naturally understand.

For example, in his previous life, Bai Liang had once experienced this:

During a movie, he went to the restroom halfway through, and upon returning, found a new character on the big screen.

He casually asked his girlfriend: "Who's that?"

Instantly, his girlfriend grew tense and reflexively asked back: "When did you find out?"

Back then, Bai Liang was still very naive and couldn't figure out what it meant even after a full minute.

Only later did he realize—of course, he broke up with that girlfriend, even though she explained she hadn't cheated yet, it was just a match arranged by family.

Of course, the very next day, a richer, prettier Bai Fumei confessed to him, saying she'd rushed over the moment she learned he was single… that's an unrelated afterword.

There were plenty of similar good and bad cases, forcing Bai Liang to evolve from a naive, handsome guy who didn't understand women at first, into a seasoned player.

Forget romance—he'd been divorced multiple times in his previous life.

Breakups, reconciliations, divorces, remarriages, asset divisions—he knew every step of these processes inside out.

But whether the girl was fishing or carrying on a secret affair, it had little to do with him.

As long as she doesn't have a boyfriend yet, he won't feel awkward staring at her legs.

He just wanted to look at her legs—what crime was that?

After breakfast and chatting, he hurried back to his room to continue preparing for filming.

Bai Liang took acting seriously.

He'd previously wanted to study Liu Bian thoroughly, but there simply wasn't much room for research.

Lu Bu was different—his story was far more familiar.

Three-family traitor, the number one warrior of the Three Kingdoms, assumed to be fair game for mobbing, everyone claimed to have Lu Bu's bravery after his death…

But the most unforgettable line was still… "I've been wounded by wine and women, and look how haggard I've become! From today, I quit drinking!"

Yet when Bai Liang slightly imagined himself playing Lu Bu, his mind inexplicably conjured the face of Lü Xiaobu.

Sss~

The downside of watching too much "Love Apartment."

As for Gu Li Na Zha's portrayal of Diaochan… Diaochan was still on her way on horseback.

Finally, after studying Lu Bu as portrayed in both performance and history, and combining it with the script of "Wushen Zhao Zilong," Bai Liang threw himself into his preparation.

Although the one-day preparation period was short, with some effort, it would suffice.

But the next day, when Bai Liang eagerly rushed to the set, the casting director Sun Qiang had already summoned him.

His face bore a hint of difficulty.

Honestly, he acted quite well.

Bai Liang himself hadn't noticed the actor was imitating him—he genuinely thought something was wrong.

"Xiao Bai, can you ride a horse?" Sun Qiang asked, his eyes holding a trace of anticipation.

Yet Bai Liang's reply left him somewhat disappointed.

"I can."

Bai Liang thought: What's the big deal? He hadn't just learned horseback riding—he'd studied proper equestrianism.

With a Bai Fumei supporting him financially, developing a few expensive hobbies wasn't excessive.

Actually, his best skill was golf—the higher the luck factor in a sport, the better he naturally performed.

But Sun Qiang was less satisfied with this answer.

How could you possibly know how to ride?

After instinctively stammering, he added: "Don't overpromise—if you actually have to ride during filming and something goes wrong, the production can't afford the delay."

"I really can ride," Bai Liang assured him, thumping his chest.

He very much wanted to pull out an international equestrian certification for Sun Qiang to see—unfortunately, he hadn't taken the exam in this life yet.

Hearing him speak so confidently, Sun Qiang could only think of another plan: "Have you studied martial arts?"

"I haven't studied any," Bai Liang admitted honestly.

Sun Qiang finally sighed in relief—damn, he'd just wanted to do a small favor, why was it so hard?

He once again admired Yang Xing's judgment.

"Since you don't know martial arts…" He feigned further difficulty, then gritted his teeth, "I'll try to help you. The director might be dissatisfied, but you should also consult the martial arts instructor more—since we've already chosen you, I won't let you lose this role."

"Director Sun, you're such a good person! Thank you!"

Aaah~

That's right!

Sun Qiang smiled broadly: "Go over and try the set's horse first—you say you can ride, but the crew still needs to see it."

"Alright."

Bai Liang rubbed his hands together: "Lu Bu among men, Chi Tu among horses—bro's here!"

After getting Bai Liang's satisfactory answer, Sun Qiang went to find the director—but instead of saying Bai Liang had no experience with action scenes, he first lavished praise on him.

Only after seeing the director's frown ease did he add, "The downside is he's a newcomer and not skilled in action scenes—if you're dissatisfied, I can still find someone more suitable."

Hearing this, the director didn't get angry; instead, he chuckled and patted Sun Qiang's shoulder: "You've done well. Our crew isn't short of newcomers. Action scenes are troublesome, but not unsolvable—I'll have the martial arts instructor teach him more."

Where would I even find the time to look for someone more suitable? This whole thing was forced from the start.

In fact, Sun Qiang had only reported to the director last night that a backup actor for Lu Bu had been found.

He deliberately held it back a full day, dragging it out until the very last moment before saying anything.

At the same time, leaving room when handling matters and speaking — you still have to give the boss a little space to nitpick and solve problems.

All little tricks of the workplace.

Sun Qiang: I just want to get ahead so badly!

The matter was handled in a rush, yet he still had to cash in on favors from all three sides!

Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, a sudden burst of commotion rose from the filming set still being prepared.

He turned to look — the clatter of hooves stirred up, kicking a cloud of dust into the air.

A lone rider and horse shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.

The hoofbeats were rapid and powerful; the youth on the horse's back sat steady as Mount Tai, his body rising and falling gently with the horse's motion.

Too fast — there'd only been time to describe it with one word: cool.

His brain hadn't even caught up yet.

The onlooking crowd at the scene gasped in amazement, and at the same time someone shouted: "If he doesn't slow down he's gonna crash into it!"

Racing toward the far end of the lot, it looked like he couldn't brake in time — Bai Liang yanked the reins, clamped his legs, and the front half of the horse reared high...

From the takeoff to the stop, the visual effect was on par with an AE86 on Akina Mountain publicly pulling off a gutter-drift through a curve.

Watching Bai Liang ride the horse back at a leisurely pace, Sun Qiang at that moment:???

A single "WTF" slipped out before he could stop it.

Right after the complaint he sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, doing his part for global warming.

How are you this good at it?!

"Who is he?" the director beside him asked.

Sun Qiang's spirit jolted; he beamed and said: "Red Hare among horses, Lu Bu among men — that's him, Director!"

Next week we might be getting the first round of recommendations; if we do, I'll add extra updates every Monday and Tuesday after that.

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