Chapter 157: King Meets King

Shancheng, city center, early morning.

"Ready!"

"Camera OK!"

"Lighting OK!"

……

"Action!"

At director Ning Hao's command, the entire crew sprang into action at once.

They were currently filming the "Emerald" heist scene at Luohan Temple.

This scene was meant to be the film's little climax—dense musical beats paired with a shaky camera.

It gave one a feeling of tense excitement mixed with the absurd.

Especially Huang Bo, sprinting for his life, his face pulling such a comical expression that the people behind the monitor couldn't stop laughing.

Brother Bo is hilarious!

"Good, cut! Hmm… one more for safety!"

Director Ning Hao called out loudly with a laugh.

"Got it, Director."

Huang Bo nodded.

"In a bit I'll switch up the performance, slow the running down a little—the brother behind me just now couldn't quite keep up."

Huang Bo flicked his slanted long bangs and said to Ning Hao.

"Mm, that's fine."

The "brother" Huang Bo mentioned was the cameraman following behind him, carrying a Steadicam.

That rig was heavy and cumbersome—wearing it was like being strapped into a clawing, fang-baring suit of armor, hard to move around in.

"Thanks, Teacher Huang Bo."

Hearing Huang Bo's concern, the cameraman said with a smile.

"Nah."

Huang Bo waved it off, not making a fuss.

Anyone who's worked on a film set knows—

sometimes pulling an all-nighter is unavoidable.

Take today's scene, for instance: the call sheet read "nighttime treasure-heist chase."

Just those six characters, and the whole crew might pull an all-nighter and still not finish shooting it.

In May, the day-night temperature swing in Shancheng was still fairly large. Cheng Chen threw on a green military overcoat and walked over to Ning Hao's side.

At this point Ning Hao was stubble-faced, his hair hanging in stringy locks, and both his eyes had turned into panda eyes.

"Put the coat on, don't catch cold."

Cheng Chen handed the military overcoat in his hand to Ning Hao and said.

"Thanks, Boss Cheng."

"How's it going, still holding up?"

"Still okay, this is nothing—but these past few days I really do have to thank you, Boss Cheng.

If you weren't here, the schedule would probably be even slower."

Ning Hao put on the military overcoat and said with a smile.

Ning Hao was a new director, even though he'd won an award in Japan.

But on a film set, sure, the director is the boss—yet when you run into some slippery types, they're a real headache.

Like the other day, there was an extra role, and when it was time to go on, the person was nowhere to be found.

Ning Hao blew up on the spot:

"Where's the person? I need to get into makeup—where the hell did the actor go?"

He grabbed the crew member in charge of extras and bit-by-bit laid into him:

"If you can't find this actor, you go ask the Assistant Director—point at his nose and ask, where's the actor!"

Ning Hao wasn't all that famous, looked under thirty, too young to hold the room.

In the end, Cheng Chen stepped in directly and replaced that extra.

And because of this incident, the Assistant Director in charge of coordinating extras was also replaced on the spot.

Actually, these problems had already surfaced on the third day of shooting.

At the time, Ning Hao discovered that almost none of the various departments ever looked at the script.

They often had no idea what they were supposed to do next.

Don't believe it? From the moment a film crew is assembled, the whole crew is a set of interlocking, tightly meshing gears.

If any single link goes wrong, or if the person in charge of some link slacks off—

then the entire crew faces the threat of grinding to a halt.

For example, there's a scene where Factory Director Old Xie appears.

In the previous scene the factory director was wearing reading glasses; in the next scene the glasses were gone.

On film, that's a continuity error!

You tell me—is that the props department's fault, or the styling department's?

Or the director's, the Assistant Director's, the actor's?

And just like that, this scene got held up for half an hour—they had to go back for the reading glasses—and every subsequent shot got pushed back in turn.

At night, during Ning Hao's meeting to review the shoot, a pair of reading glasses caused a cascade of major issues, delaying everything by three full hours!

Of course, part of this was due to Ning Hao's inexperience as a first-time director of a major production.

More importantly, it was because he lacked the authority of a director.

Imagine if this had happened on Lao Mou Zi's set…

Cheng Chen waved his hand; since the last dismissal that established his authority, every crew member had snapped to attention.

No more such low-level mistakes had been made.

"Ning Hao, as a director, never be afraid of offending people—when you need to yell, yell; when you need to fire, fire."

If everyone around you is smiling and pretending everything's fine, it's not a film set—it's a Spring Festival Gala skit!"

Keep pushing hard, grow fast—I've got so many scripts I want you to direct!"

Cheng Chen patted his shoulder and smiled.

After hearing Cheng Chen's words, Ning Hao's face, moments ago heavy with exhaustion, suddenly lit up as if injected with adrenaline.

"Director Cheng, rest assured—I'll make this film shine!"

Watching the radiant Ning Hao, Cheng Chen felt a pang of guilt, like a corrupt capitalist promising empty dreams.

Sinful, sinful!

After this scene, there was another: Huang Bo's solo performance.

The scene where Huang Bo's character, Hei Pi, is trapped inside a sewer pipe.

After the crew moved location, the makeup artist walked over to Huang Bo, covered in dirt and disheveled, and asked:

"Should we tie your hair up?"

"No, leave it like this—and keep the mud…"

Huang Bo scooped a handful of black sludge from the sewer pipe, sniffed it, and his face twisted:

"Damn, this is fucking stinky! Just smear it on."

The makeup artist hesitated and asked:

"Just smear it?"

"Yes, smear it—otherwise it won't look real."

Saying this, he began rubbing the sludge onto his face and hair.

Liu Hua, smoking nearby, admired him and said:

"He's a dedicated actor—he'll achieve great things. I'm one thousand percent, ten thousand percent sure. I really like him."

Cheng Chen glanced at him in surprise, thinking: he really hit the nail on the head.

Later, Huang Bo became Best Actor, director, and singer, rising to become one of the top-tier actors in the entertainment industry.

And all of it was inseparable from his dedication.

In truth, Huang Bo had a strong aversion to dirt, yet whether it was this scene where he voluntarily smeared himself in mud or his filthy appearance in "Fight and Ox," it earned genuine admiration.

Cheng Chen nodded and said:

"Indeed—his dedication like this will surely become a model for future actors."

Liu Hua glanced at Cheng Chen, thinking: this Director Cheng's mind jumps around a lot.

In fact, Cheng Chen was thinking of those little fresh meat actors in the future who rushed to the hospital at the slightest cut on their hands.

They looked so frantic, as if afraid the wound would heal immediately.

And their friends around them wept like at a funeral, terrified he'd drop dead on the spot…

Liu Hua, puffing smoke beside him, watched Huang Bo, now covered in filth, and said:

"His attitude toward creation is responsible and extremely serious, and he's also a great buddy—totally reliable as a friend."

"As for his looks—forget it, that's hard to explain. If he can fight well, he's a damn hero… hahaha."

Liu Hua burst into laughter, and at that moment, Director Ning Hao arrived with the crew.

"Alright, get ready!"

"Roll!"

Ning Hao shouted, and Huang Bo immediately crawled into the narrow sewer pipe, holding his phone amid the filthy, sewage-filled tunnel:

"Hey Dao Ge, I'm stuck down in the drain and can't get out—my phone has no signal, the battery's almost dead, I haven't eaten in days…"

Huang Bo's Lu Sheng dialect was truly brilliant.

The moment he spoke, people couldn't help laughing—thanks to his voice acting training, his lines were flawless.

Even the local dialect carried its own comic punch.

"What? Figure it out yourself? What am I supposed to figure out… hey, hey! Fuck you, you bastard!"

Huang Bo, lying in the underground pipe, angrily hung up the phone!

"Cut! Good!"

"Hahaha!"

"Hahaha, Old Huang, you're awesome!"

"Bo Ge, awesome! Awesome!"

The moment Ning Hao shouted "cut," the entire crew erupted.

Everyone clapped for Huang Bo; Cheng Chen stood by, applauding and cheering.

Huang Bo nodded modestly to the group, then hurried to the monitor to watch the playback with the director.

"Hahaha, what a fool!"

Huang Bo himself was amused by his own image on camera.

"I think we should do one more take."

Ning Hao smiled and said.

Huang Bo's smile suddenly froze, on the verge of tears.

"I think we could do one more take."

Seeing Huang Bo's expression, Cheng Chen chuckled.

Since the director and the boss had both spoken, Huang Bo gritted his teeth and said:

"Alright, I'll try a different approach this time and see if I can get better results."

"Bo Ge is awesome!"

Someone in the crowd immediately shouted.

"Bo Ge is awesome!"

Director Ning Hao also joined in with a loud shout.

"No, Director, if you shout 'awesome,' I get a bad feeling—we'll probably need another take!"

Huang Bo smiled and said.

"Hahaha!"

Hearing Huang Bo's words, everyone burst into laughter.

Zhou Xingchi liked to obsess over details during filming, and Ning Hao was the same kind of meticulous director.

But his meticulousness carried a softness—he'd feel a scene was okay yet still want one more take.

In his wording, he was gentler and more subtle than Zhou Xingchi, stirring the actors' creative desire and making them willingly reshoot.

Both methods had their own advantages, depending solely on the director's personal style.

The entire crew of "Stone" was young.

The cinematographer, makeup artist, lighting technician, and prop master—all were Ning Hao's classmates.

Among the actors, aside from Cheng Chen, none were well-known, so the whole set had a great atmosphere.

They'd tease and joke with each other during filming, creating a sense of finding joy amid hardship.

……

After a few days of filming, Cheng Chen's scenes as the international thief Mike were all completed.

Just as he was preparing to leave Shancheng, the Producer Director suddenly came over and said that Liu Dehua had come to visit the set.

Cheng Chen didn't immediately react.

Liu Dehua? Visiting the set?

"Yes, Liu Dehua—one of the Four Heavenly Kings—is right outside!"

said the Producer Director.

"Why did he come?"

"He's been in Shancheng for a concert recently; he probably heard we're filming and came to visit."

"Who's he visiting?"

"I don't know."

Cheng Chen nodded and followed the Producer Director outside.

Liu Dehua was quietly watching the crew film, accompanied by the Location Producer.

When Cheng Chen walked over, that scene had just finished shooting.

Liu Dehua warmly greeted everyone.

"Brother Hua, welcome to visit the set of 'Crazy Stone.'"

Cheng Chen smiled and walked over to greet him.

"Cheng Zai, you're here too?"

Seeing Cheng Chen, Liu Dehua was surprised.

"Brother Hua, you know me?"

Cheng Chen thought hard—he had never met or interacted with Liu Dehua before.

"Of course I know you. Eason talked about you just two days ago—he really admires you!"

Liu Dehua smiled and said.

Undeniably, now in his forties, Liu Dehua still looked young and handsome.

He had been in the industry for over twenty years and remained popular for over twenty years, becoming an idol for two generations.

It was said that more than two hands' worth of women had killed themselves for him.

"Please thank Brother Eason for me—I really love his songs."

Cheng Chen said cheerfully.

"By the way, this is our film's director, Ning Hao."

Cheng Chen called over Ning Hao beside him and introduced him to Liu Dehua.

"Hello, Brother Hua, I'm Ning Hao."

"Director Ning, hello. I just watched a bit from the side—your film is very interesting and fun. Are the lines in dialect?"

"Yes, it's a story about ordinary people at the bottom of society; using dialect makes it more authentic."

"It's really excellent."

Liu Dehua praised.

"Director Ning, go ahead and get back to work—I'll keep Brother Hua company around the set."

Cheng Chen quickly shooed Ning Hao away.

Ning Hao nodded, greeted Liu Dehua, then returned to the set to resume work.

Cheng Chen certainly didn't want Ning Hao to have too much contact with Liu Dehua right now.

After all, this "Crazy Stone" was something he had snatched away from Liu Dehua's hands.

In the original timeline, in 2005 Liu Dehua had led Yingyi Entertainment to launch the "Asian New Star Director Plan."

It was also within this plan that he encountered Ning Hao and "Crazy Stone."

When he saw the finished cut of "Stone," to put it in Liu Dehua's own words:

"It felt like being set up on a blind date by your parents, and when you walked in, Jun Ji-hyun was the one sitting inside."

Although he knew he had already taken the initiative to bring Ning Hao under his wing.

Facing Hua-zai, he still felt a twinge of guilt...

The fruits and drinks Liu Dehua had brought to visit the set were at this point handed by his assistant to the Producer Director to distribute.

"Hua-ge, please."

The two walked and talked; upon learning that Cheng Chen had invested in "Crazy Stone," Liu Dehua was quite surprised.

"Actually, I was also planning to invest in a few films, but the idea was to support a few new directors.

You know too, the film industry hasn't been doing well these past few years, but just because the film industry is down, does that mean we stop making films?

It's precisely because the film industry is down that I know many behind-the-scenes workers have no jobs, and there are also many new directors.

They don't have any opportunities; since I have the ability, I'll try to provide everyone with a chance to work.

And give some new directors a chance to show what they've got, otherwise in two or three years these directors might just disappear.

No matter how talented, without investment, no one hires them to shoot, and in the end they have to switch careers."

When the conversation turned to the film industry, Liu Dehua was quite pained.

Cheng Chen nodded and said admiringly:

"Hua-ge, you've compared yourself to a 'stepping stone,' willing to use the resources you've accumulated to go against the current and lift up a batch of talented newcomers when the industry is in a slump — that's truly admirable!"

"Actually, my investing in Ning Hao's film is pretty much also with the idea of supporting a new director.

He really is a very talented director; just last year he won an award in Tokyo with a low-budget film costing only a little over a hundred thousand yuan."

"That impressive!"

Liu Dehua exclaimed.

"But Cheng-zai, you're impressive too! I didn't expect you to have done what I wanted to do before I did.

Looks like my new director support plan needs to be put on the agenda quickly too; I was still a bit undecided.

But today's visit wasn't wasted — it's you, Cheng-zai, who pushed me to make up my mind."

Liu Dehua said, patting Cheng Chen on the shoulder.

"Not at all, I just spoke my feelings; I didn't expect us to be thinking along the same lines!"

"Yeah, but you've got more guts than me. By the way, Cheng-zai, I'm going to hold a concert in Shancheng.

Are you interested in coming along and being my guest singer?"