Chapter 19: Dumplings, Seeing Dumplings Again

The press conference did not last long, ending in about an hour.

Director Jiang Wei also followed through on his prior promise and shared the video of the process of capturing the fugitive.

The media returned to their respective homes, preparing to write more detailed reports.

The reporters from video websites, however, were incredibly excited; being a step ahead, they uploaded the video directly to their own sites.

There were plenty of video websites at this time: Tudou, Youku, Sohu, Ku6, 56 Video, QVOD... ahem, not that last one.

As for the other two of the later "Ai-You-Teng" big three, they wouldn't launch for another year or two, and Bilibili was still just an unremarkable little website for anime, comics, and games.

The release of the video boosted the fame of Qi Hui, Ling Xiaosu, and Zhang Ruoyun, and took the already decent popularity of Ling Xiaosu to the next level.

As for Qi Hui and Zhang Ruoyun, they had left an impression in many people's hearts even without having any works to their names.

"Amazing, this guy's bayonet-fixing move is so practiced, so cool!"

"Damn, watching it makes me want to get a rifle and try it out!"

"I'll go first; my family runs a factory, so getting some wood and steel pipes is no problem."

"To the person above, our country has a complete Criminal Law, and also a complete set of ways to die."

"Not just that, besides the Criminal Law and ways to die, there's also a practiced technique for scattering ashes."

As expected of silly netizens, they went off-topic again by accident.

"Ahem, who is this guy? How come I haven't seen him before? Does he act in war dramas?"

"Checked, can't find him on Baidu, no works at all, but I found his Weibo."

"Weibo? What's that?"

"I'm going to register and play around with it."

"Don't bother, his Weibo has nothing on it."

"You don't understand, just because there's nothing now doesn't mean there won't be later."

"So much trouble?"

"Then I'm not going, too lazy."

"Wouldn't it be better to play a few games with that time?"

"To the person above, say 'a few' without saying 'games'."

Off-topic again... The executive director of *Lurk* was speechless; he had been assigned by Director Jiang Wei to surf the web and see the online opinions on *Lurk*.

At first, he thought this was an easy job, but he didn't expect the silly netizens to be either being lewd or arguing about politics.

Immediately, he couldn't hold back and spoke up personally: "Why are you looking for works? Isn't he acting in *Lurk* right now?"

"Oh, right, marking this, will watch the show later."

"*Lurk* is a great show; one actor is a lurking fugitive, and one actor is the big shot catching the fugitive."

"Say nothing else, just this point alone is worth watching."

"Brothers, I'm definitely following this show!"

"Me too!"

"These past few years have all been queue-hair dramas, disgusting!"

"Even dogs wouldn't watch queue-hair dramas!"

The executive director nodded; although it was still a bit off, it was already acceptable.

In fact, there were some follow-up details that Qi Hui and the three others, along with Director Jiang Wei, did not disclose.

For instance, the reward money, or the fact that the victimized police officer said he wanted to send a silk banner as a token of gratitude after learning about the incident.

However, these were all subsequent matters that would take time, so Qi Hui and the others did not reveal them; after all, nothing was set in stone yet.

The storm came and went in a bustle, but the filming had to continue, and Jiang Wei directly declined subsequent interview invitations.

He had a very clear understanding of himself: a director must let their work speak for them.

If the work is not good, any amount of noise is just a castle in the air.

One day after this incident, the *Lurk* crew resumed normal filming.

"Hello, Teacher Zhu." Qi Hui smiled and greeted a female actress who had just arrived on set.

The girl had a gentle temperament and a pretty face; she looked very beautiful.

Actress Zhu Jie, playing Mu Wanqiu, who was also his wife in the show.

Of course, Mu Wanqiu did not like Xie Ruolin, but rather liked Yu Zecheng, played by Sun Honglei.

Besides the role of Mu Wanqiu, Zhu Jie would also go to the *Snow Leopard* side to play Xiao Ya.

Playing that "white moonlight" in many people's hearts, Xiao Ya.

"Hello, Teacher Qi." Zhu Jie was wearing a form-fitting indigo cheongsam and said with a beaming smile:

"Calling me 'Teacher' is too distant. I'm not old, just call me by my name, or you can call me Wanqiu directly."

"In the show, I am your wife."

Her first impression of Qi Hui was good: tall, sunny and handsome, and he smelled very nice.

It made one feel happy just looking at him.

Moreover, she had seen that video and had a very deep impression of Qi Hui holding a rifle to capture the fugitive.

It was hard for her to develop any ill will toward such a person.

The smile on Qi Hui's face remained unchanged: "Alright, um... Wanqiu, you can just call me by my name too."

The two got to know each other briefly before being called away by the executive director.

It was time to start today's filming.

Unlike Qi Hui, Zhu Jie had already filmed a few scenes for *Lurk*, but she had to leave the crew temporarily due to some matters and had only returned today.

Actually, even if she hadn't left at the time, the show couldn't have continued because the actor for Xie Ruolin hadn't been found.

Or rather, he had been found, but it was Ling Xiaosu, and didn't Ling Xiaosu not want to act at the time?

On the set, Director Jiang Wei was directing the setup, while the props team was busy.

Flour, dumpling wrappers, stir-fried meat filling, and so on.

Today's scene was the first real face-off between Xie Ruolin and the protagonist, Yu Zecheng.

"Alright, props team clear the set, actors enter." Director Jiang Wei shouted: "*Lurk*, Scene 77, Take 1, action!"

The clapperboard snapped shut with a "pop".

Sun Honglei, Yao Chen, and Zhu Jie were busy at the table, wrapping dumplings.

This was not a time when "little fresh meat" idols and trashy films were rampant; whether it was the director or the actors, everyone was very serious about filming.

They were actually wrapping real dumplings, and all three of them knew how to do it.

Zhu Jie, being a southerner, hadn't wrapped them before, but she had seriously learned how to wrap dumplings.

Director Jiang Wei looked at the three actors on set and nodded with satisfaction; it looked like they might get it in one take.

Suddenly, he felt something unusual beside him; turning his head, he found actors like Feng Enhe, Wu Gang, and Zu Feng had all gathered around.

"What are you all doing?" The director was a bit confused.

Wu Gang laughed: "Nothing, nothing, just watching."

Qi Hui, that kid, had caused such a stir, so naturally, they were curious about how that kid's professional skills were.

"Director Jiang, we aren't bothering you, are we?" Zu Feng chuckled.

Feng Enhe smiled and said a line: "Don't worry, in a moment I'll scold them for being fat pigs afraid of being slaughtered."

"...Whatever, go ahead and watch." The director was a bit helpless.

"Cut!" The executive director shouted: "Xie Ruolin, get ready."

Qi Hui nodded and waved to signal he was ready.

"Scene 177, Take 13, action!"

The clapperboard struck, and filming officially began.

On set, a knock on the door sounded, and Mu Wanqiu suppressed the smile on her face: "He's here."

Although the Mu Wanqiu she played was Xie Ruolin's wife, she detested Xie Ruolin.

Saying this, she walked slowly to the door to open it, and Xie Ruolin, played by Qi Hui, officially made his entrance.

"Yo, Mr. Yu." Qi Hui was in an off-white suit, hands in his pockets, nodding slightly.

As soon as he spoke, the three people off-set, including Feng Enhe, were stunned for a moment.

Zu Feng frowned slightly: "This voice has been trained."

"Teacher Wu, what do you think?" Feng Enhe asked; Wu Gang had studied professional voice acting.

The Lu Qiaoshan he played used vocal fry throughout, with a magnetic and deep voice that was very impressive.

"It has indeed been trained, and it's quite good." Wu Gang said: "This voice has a deep bass, a powerful mid-range, very good."

Feng Enhe said: "Not just that, it's also very clear, with no noise."

When an average person speaks, it's hard not to have noise—smacking lips, nasal sounds, saliva sounds, or even phlegm sounds in the throat.

But Qi Hui's voice was incredibly clear, like a singer's.

Zu Feng looked at Qi Hui but didn't say anything more.

On set, the acting continued.

"Hello, Mr. Xie." Yu Zecheng, played by Sun Honglei, welcomed him with a smile: "You're a busy man."

"Not busy, not busy, just aimlessly busy." Xie Ruolin, played by Qi Hui, was all smiles as he walked slowly.

Then, seeing the dumplings the three were wrapping on the table, his smile faded slightly, his voice became low, and his tone grew somewhat grave:

"Dumplings, dumplings again."

"The last meal before a final farewell to one's parents is dumplings... damn those Japanese devils!"

At this moment, the director suddenly shouted to stop: "Cut!"

Feng Enhe and Wu Gang were slightly stunned; there was nothing wrong, so why call a cut?

Zu Feng, however, raised an eyebrow, looking as if he were waiting to see a good show.