Chapter 57

Inside the tent.

The two men with swollen bumps on their foreheads stared at each other, their expressions strange.

Before the swelling goes down, they won’t be able to shoot another scene.

“I’m sorry.”

Guo Feili applied ointment and smiled bitterly: “I never expected something like this to happen.”

“A little surprise is normal for a film crew.”

Li Luo couldn’t help but chuckle, saying such things weren’t a big deal.

“Let me help you.”

Perhaps out of guilt, Guo Feili squeezed a bit of ointment onto her finger and reached out to tap his forehead.

“No need.”

Though he said he didn’t need help, Li Luo didn’t move an inch.

He felt her small hand gently rubbing his forehead—the touch cool and slightly silky.

He couldn’t help but look at the woman before him.

Her expression was serious, yet a hint of guilt lingered between her slender eyebrows.

She looked utterly beautiful, especially the tiny diamond stuck at the center of her forehead, which completed her stunning face like the finishing brushstroke—he was momentarily spellbound.

“That’s enough.”

Guo Feili finished applying the ointment and let out a soft sigh.

Her gaze dropped lower.

She found Li Luo staring fixedly at her, and she felt both annoyed and amused; she flicked his forehead lightly with her finger: “What are you staring at? Like you’ve never seen me before?”

“I haven’t.”

Li Luo sighed and shook his head: “I still can’t believe I’ve met such a beautiful peony fairy.”

“Smooth talker.”

Guo Feili remembered how he’d swallowed hard just now and gave him a playful side-eye.

The female assistant beside them kept her eyes down, her nose straight, her heart still.

Her heart observed only air.

As if she’d heard nothing.

Guo Feili realized her assistant was nearby; she cleared her throat and quickly returned to her chair.

Li Luo smiled, stood up, and walked out of the tent reserved for main actors.

The crew was now preparing to film the scene where the Golden-Haired Lion King uses his Lion’s Roar to stun a group of martial heroes; a circle of large drums had been placed on the stage, and pyrotechnicians were attaching explosives to the drum stands.

The prop team held a set of identical clothes worn by Xu Jinjiang and were arranging a dummy in the center of the stage.

This was a big scene.

The explosives on the drum stands would all detonate soon.

Not even Xu Jinjiang himself would be on stage—let alone a stunt double; they’d just use the dummy.

The extras had also gone into rest mode.

They could only enter the staging area once the pyrotechnics and props were ready.

As he looked around, Wang Baoqiang wiped sweat from his face, enduring the constant chatter of the extra supervisor beside him.

“Thicken your skin.”

“I just asked the assistant director—he said Brother Luo noticed how hard you work, so he did it on purpose.”

The extra supervisor looked at Wang Baoqiang and said patiently: “Li Luo is the male lead—if he speaks a few kind words for you, landing a role with a few lines would be easy.”

“Just go over, say hello, leave your name.”

“That wouldn’t be right.”

Though Wang Baoqiang was tempted, he firmly shook his head: “Brother Luo is injured—he needs to rest now.”

“Ah, you coward.”

The extra supervisor shook his head in frustration, hands on his hips: “Once this chance is gone, it won’t come again.”

“Who’s going to remember you tomorrow, from a big shot like him?”

As he spoke, the extra supervisor kept glancing at Li Luo; when he noticed Li Luo looking toward their position, he immediately forced a smile.

The next moment, his smile grew even brighter.

“Go!”

He shoved Wang Baoqiang forward: “He’s calling you over.”

Under Li Luo’s wave and the extra supervisor’s push, Wang Baoqiang, amid the envious stares of the other extras, shuffled awkwardly toward the actors’ rest area.

A distance of just dozens of meters.

Yet the guy broke into a light sweat running it.

When he stopped, he didn’t speak—just grinned foolishly with his white teeth showing.

“Sit down.”

Li Luo pulled over two actor chairs and plopped down.

“I won’t sit—Brother, you sit.” Wang Baoqiang’s head darted left and right as he anxiously asked: “Brother, is your head okay?”

“Your head’s the one that’s messed up.”

Li Luo couldn’t help retorting, then picked up a slice of watermelon and handed it over:

“Just sit. Don’t argue.”

“Alright.”

Wang Baoqiang’s dark face flushed red; he nervously wiped his hands on his clothes.

After taking the watermelon,

he carefully perched the edge of his buttocks on the chair.

He’d never experienced anything like this—he didn’t know what to say.

All the extras watched this scene, their eyes gleaming green—how often do extras get to eat fruit?

Just a cup of cold boiled water would be a luxury!

It was already April; the afternoon sun had grown scorching.

Even under the shade of trees, the heat was unbearable.

Seeing Wang Baoqiang crunch into a bite of watermelon, the extra supervisor clearly heard the chorus of swallowing sounds around him.

“Sweet?”

Li Luo ate his watermelon slowly.

It wasn’t in season—tasteless, just for quenching thirst.

“Sweet!”

Wang Baoqiang swallowed the juice and nodded vigorously.

“Good it’s sweet.”

Li Luo looked at the thin, sunburnt Wang Baoqiang and raised an eyebrow: “Being an extra is hard—but once you push through, sweeter days lie ahead.”

“Mm.”

Wang Baoqiang grinned foolishly.

He was still dazed, unsure what to say.

“Brother.”

Seeing Li Luo quietly eating watermelon, he couldn’t help asking: “Why are you so nice to me?”

As a youth, he’d been a lay disciple at Shaolin Temple, then drifted around Beijing.

Extra, stunt double, day laborer on construction sites.

Just to eat.

He’d done every kind of job.

In human warmth and coldness, he’d mostly felt the cold—rarely any warmth.

A chair. A slice of watermelon.

Made him feel warm inside—this fruit Li Luo found bland,

in Wang Baoqiang’s mouth,

tasted as sweet as honeyed water!

Li Luo smiled: “You’re from the countryside, right?”

“Yes.”

Wang Baoqiang wiped his mouth with his sleeve and chattered: “Brother Luo, how’d you guess so right? I’m Wang Baoqiang, from Dahuita Village, Nanhé, Xingtai.”

“Me too.”

Seeing he wasn’t done, Li Luo handed him another slice.

“Huh?”

Wang Baoqiang’s mouth hung open in surprise: “Brother, you’re from Xingtai too? I can’t even hear the accent!”

“I’m from the countryside too.”

Li Luo gave him a light tap on the forehead and said gruffly: “Two years ago, I was an extra in Hengdian. Seeing you was like seeing myself—I called you over just to chat.”

“Heh.”

Baoqiang rubbed his head and burst into another dumb laugh.

Once the floodgates opened, he couldn’t help pressing Li Luo for stories about his days as an extra.

Hearing that this man had once lain on the ground playing a corpse, eating a box meal with just a few vegetables, and wearing filthy, stinking extra clothes, Baoqiang instantly felt a sense of kinship toward Li Luo.

“Bro, you’re really strong.”

He gazed admiringly at Li Luo’s clothes: “Now you’re the lead actor!”

“You’ll have your day too.”

Li Luo patted Baoqiang’s shoulder and said seriously: “Stay true to yourself. Life won’t shortchange you. Since you call me brother, I’ll give you my number.”

“If you run into trouble or can’t find work, just call me.”

He was a good, pure-hearted man.

Since we met!

Then before dawn arrived, Li Luo had no objection to giving him a little light.