Chapter 258: The Principal Has a Thousand Affairs to Attend to

After the gala ended, Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian each went home to see their mothers, then flew back to Macau early the next morning to continue filming.

After staying in Macau for about half a month, "Now You See Me" once again moved locations to Beijing.

The two followed the crew to Beijing again, shuttling back and forth like this.

This film had already been shooting for over a month; the remaining roughly one month of filming would be done in Beijing.

That meant the special effects scenes and the final magic troupe performance scene.

The night the charity gala ended, CCTV didn't broadcast the Charity Bazaar program until the 9th, in the evening.

Such a long delay clearly meant it had been edited again and again—people only ever see the harmonious, beautiful side, never any of the bad.

Even if there were reports the next day, they were only in pictures and text, never video.

The Charity Bazaar raised a total of 46.73 million in funds!

As for how it's used, follow the news reports—little nobodies like us don't get to ask.

And while the Charity Bazaar's aftershocks hadn't yet faded, Liu Tianxian, Fang Long, Feng Kuzi, Liu Jialing, Wang Fei, Li Yapeng, Huang Xiaoming and others remained hot topics of public discussion.

Liu Tianxian was already the face of it—any news about the Charity Bazaar would put her name out there.

And she hadn't donated much herself—whatever others donated, she donated the same, and helped Fang Hong donate the same.

No less than anyone else, no more than anyone else!

Jade Rabbit's "Cold War" would also be released in the National Day slot at the end of September—this was Wang Ran imitating Hong Kong films.

As for how it turned out, whatever.

Fang Hong hadn't demanded it be shot well—after all, if he didn't film it, someone else would.

Walking someone else's path so they have no road left to walk—that's the real thing.

As one of the leads, Zhang Songwen would leave the crew at the end of September for a round of promotion, so recently they'd been rushing through his scenes.

In late September, Beijing's weather began to turn cool; some people started adding jackets, and Liu Tianxian put on a leather jacket too.

Fang Hong was still in short sleeves, unchanged.

"Aren't you cold wearing so little?" Liu Tianxian asked him.

"Not cold, I've got plenty of fire in me," Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian smiled and touched his exposed arm—it still felt warm.

That was her fault for not cooling this man down!

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

Fang Hong's phone vibrated; he saw it was Chen Zhixi calling, then walked off to a quiet spot.

Liu Tianxian glanced over but didn't mind.

"Be careful on your end these past few days—several crews including 'The Heirs' and 'Lucky Key' have had some extras or temporary crew members come to cause trouble," Chen Zhixi said.

"'Lucky Key' is the Japanese 'Key of Life'—in the previous life the Chinese version was called 'Something Like a Crowd', but Fang Hong thought that name didn't sound good, so calling it 'Lucky Key' like the Korean version fit better.

This was a new Jade Rabbit film project, just started not long ago, probably wouldn't be released until around the middle of next year.

Guo Jingfei and Liu Yijun were cast in this film—the guy, when dressed up, had that big-shot vibe, a kind of murderous air, and could play the amnesiac state too; his acting was no problem.

At least much more handsome than the Korean version's lead, and much more charismatic.

The female lead was still given to Wan Qian!

The entertainment circle has plenty of good actors—as long as you're willing to give them a chance.

"What's going on? Wasn't everything fine before?" Fang Hong didn't understand.

"They're coming to demand money, but we settle that money with their group leaders, and those group leaders took too much in kickbacks, so they slander us for paying too little—those people then come to us to demand it," Chen Zhixi explained the whole story.

Basically, group leaders find people to do odd jobs on set; the money was supposed to be settled with the group leaders, but the leaders swallowed most of it as kickbacks, then slandered the crew for not paying.

They send those bottom-rung people to cause trouble on set, while those vested interests watch from behind.

That was roughly the idea.

"Is it resolved?" Fang Hong asked.

"For now it's all been dealt with, but you should be careful too—someone will probably come cause trouble at your crew," Chen Zhixi warned.

She could guess someone was organizing it, but as long as you throw a little money at it, it can be smoothed over—it won't have much impact.

But it can disgust Fang Hong—if they bring more people to cause trouble, every couple of days, dragging things out a day or two, three to five days, they can delay the crew's schedule.

If someone loses their temper and a brawl breaks out, that's exactly what those behind the scenes want to see—take the chance to blow it up and shut the crew down.

Bottom-rung people, for the sake of their bit of money, really will fight to the death, but the crew can't do without extras—it's a pretty vicious move.

"Got it."

Fang Hong hung up the phone, didn't go back, but stood there on the spot, head lowered, looking at the grass on the ground, his mind working on a counter-strategy.

This kind of thing can't be handled with brute force—only properly resolved. Those extras and temps, earning tens or hundreds a day, don't care about any schemes or plots—as long as the money's there, great; if it's not, they want it.

And you really can't do anything to those people—if it goes wrong it could turn into a brawl, and you can't take them on, because doing so plays right into the other side's trap.

Public opinion would say you make so much money and your crew won't even give someone 100 yuan—how disgusting!

Liu Tianxian saw him finish the call and stand there motionless, came over and asked: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Fang Hong shook his head.

Liu Tianxian looked at him carefully; seeing his serious expression, she figured something was definitely up.

But Fang Hong wouldn't say, and she couldn't very well press him!

The crew was currently on a closed-off street in the suburbs, about to film a car-crash-and-death scene. Zhu Yilong would use this scene to pull off a Resurrection.

Both sides of the road were set up with huge green screens—in post-production they'd be rendered into those bustling skyscrapers.

During filming, little people in green suits would wave green soft sticks and dash around the street, because they obviously couldn't actually run into pedestrians or extras, so it was all done with post-production effects.

Since it was a big scene, there were a lot of crew members; the set-dressing work was underway, the assistant director was directing, and the production team was coordinating.

In a moment they began filming—this scene didn't need Liu Tianxian, it was mainly filming Zhu Yilong's Resurrection!

"If you don't pay up today, don't even think about filming this drama." Just as everyone was busy, an angry roar suddenly rang out.

Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian turned around and saw about eight people charging over aggressively, as if to demand an explanation.

Lu Dabo had organized a group of people to try to block them.

But those people kept pushing forward, shouting and yelling.

Because it was too noisy, filming had to be paused, but the staff all stayed where they were and didn't move around; only some elderly people or those involved went up to see what was happening.

There were too many people—several hundred around!

Han Jianü also sensed something was wrong and hurried over to push through the gathered crowd to ask what was going on.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Still asking us what we're doing? We worked for you and didn't get paid—who does that? If you don't pay today, then don't even think about filming this drama." A man in a sweat-soaked shirt with dark Skin pointed at Han Jianü and shouted.

The others beside him waved in agreement: "Yeah, no pay, no filming."

All of them looked very fierce.

"Everyone who works for us gets paid by the day, and we haven't shorted anyone. You must have been brought in by a labor contractor—you should take it up with the contractor. We've already settled with them." Han Jianü explained.

"We did. It was supposed to be 80 yuan a day, but the contractor only gave us 50 a day. We worked five days, so he gave us 250 yuan total, saying that's all you paid, and that some was deducted because we didn't work hard enough. If we want the money, we should come reason with you."

The dark-skinned man shouted.

This made the onlookers around show surprise—that was way too little; they remembered getting more than that, didn't they?

But those people were on a fixed roster, following the production from start to finish, not the kind who worked just a day or two.

Even the day laborers got more than that—always a three-figure sum!

Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian also made it to the outer edge to watch!

"Let me make this clear to you: we pay your contractor 150 per person per day, no matter how the work goes, and we've never docked anyone's pay. Your contractor pocketed the difference himself. You should go demand the money from your contractor, not from us." Han Jianü said.

"Our contractor said you only paid this much and told us to come ask you for it. He also said some was deducted because we didn't work hard enough—but when did we ever not work hard?" Another, older man reasoned, repeating what he'd just said.

"I've said it: our production only settles accounts with your contractor. However many people, however much money—we don't dock anyone, and we don't get involved in your dealings with each other."

Han Jianü couldn't be bothered to argue with them any longer. She waved for Lu Dabo to clear the area—decisive as ever.

For this little bit of money, the production had already lost over a hundred thousand from the delay.

Lu Dabo led people in pushing the few men outward.

"If we don't get the money today, we're not leaving. Even if I die, I'll die right here." An old man shouted, then threw himself onto the ground.

The others all followed suit.

This put the production's set crew in a tough spot—hard to act. The onlookers also felt some sympathy; they were all common folk. Why not just pay them and be done with it?

"Carry them away." Lu Dabo was cold and Wuqing.

"Hold on."

The few crew members had just been about to act when they heard the Principal's voice. They all stopped, and everyone present turned to look.

The crowd parted to make a path. Lu Dabo also stepped aside to guard the flank, and Han Jianü moved a couple of steps to the side.

Fang Hong walked up to the men demanding money and looked down at them: "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course we do. You're the Principal, the big boss." One of the men on the ground said.

"Then may I arbitrate this fairly for you?" Fang Hong said.

"Of course!"

Someone was just about to get up when another man stopped him: "We just want our money. We can't make sense of your 'fairness.'"

There were still some clear-headed ones who knew that arguing about fairness or law with a man like the Principal meant losing no matter what.

They were day laborers to begin with, and they hadn't signed any labor contract with the Now You See Me production or anything.

The contractor was too tough to hassle, so they came hassle the production!

"Alright, let me understand what happened. If it's our production's fault, we'll pay you whatever we're owed, plus an extra thousand per person as compensation. If it isn't our fault, you just need to apologize. Fair enough?" Fang Hong spoke earnestly.

The eight men exchanged glances and figured it was workable!

"Get up and talk. The ground's filthy." Seeing them waver, Fang Hong bent down to help one old man up.

This made the old man feel overwhelmed—how could he dare let the Principal help him up? He scrambled to his feet at once and even dusted himself off.

The rest also took the chance to stand.

Some of the onlookers watching felt that, in this moment, the Principal had returned to how he was back when they first started the business.

Approachable, good to everyone!

They just didn't know that the Fang Hong back then did it to succeed, while the Fang Hong now simply couldn't stand by.

Scheming was one thing, but using these bottom-rung people—how could anyone do that!

"I hope you'll all speak calmly and not lose your tempers. Losing your temper won't solve anything. I'm not filming now, so let's just sort this out right here. Once it's sorted, we'll resolve it on the spot. If you don't explain, I won't know what happened either, right?" Fang Hong said.

"Principal, you're a busy man—of course you wouldn't notice us." Someone muttered, head lowered.

Another man nudged this one's arm, signaling him not to complain—the Principal helping them sort this out was already good enough.

(End of chapter)