Chapter 56: Hero Saves the Beauty? (Please Collect and Recommend)

"Get out!" Qi Hui said with a dark face and bad temper.

"Hahaha..." Lei Jiayin kept laughing; this kid finally got his comeuppance!

Qi Hui pouted: "Do you think you're acting in a wuxia drama?"

"Save the beauty, and she'll give herself to you for life, until death do us part? It's not a novel; where's the logic in that?"

"The trope isn't new, but it works. Art needs logic, but reality doesn't." Lei Jiayin chuckled with a face full of schadenfreude:

"Besides, what are you afraid of? You're unmarried, she's unwed; no one would say anything if you were together."

If they really became a couple, Li Caihua's personality would give Qi Hui a real headache.

"Heh..." Qi Hui smiled with his mouth but not his eyes: "She's just in character. Once she shakes off that emotion, she'll naturally recover; I won't even need to do anything."

"And if it's like you say, wouldn't we become a couple on set?"

"We're husband and wife while acting; once the acting stops and we leave that emotional environment, we'll become calm, the passion will fade, and then we'll just loathe each other."

"I have no interest in playing those games."

"Oh?" Lei Jiayin looked at Qi Hui in surprise, unable to help but size him up and down: "You actually know all that?"

"Why do you sound like an old hand?"

Qi Hui wasn't an old hand; he was just a young man who had graduated not long ago, but his way of doing things and thinking was like that of a seasoned veteran.

"Heh..." Qi Hui ignored him; in his past life, the chaotic mess of the entertainment industry had long been spread to everyone's doorstep via various short videos.

Having lived through the era of information explosion, how could he not understand?

It was just that mobile networks weren't that developed yet; otherwise, could those scandals of the entertainment industry have been hidden?

Even if they were hidden now, there was no guarantee someone wouldn't dig up old dirt in the future, like the Zhao·Buffett·Wei flag incident.

"Enough talk; I'm going to smoke."

"Wait for me, I'm coming too." Lei Jiayin called out hurriedly.

"You want to mooch my cigarette again?" Qi Hui looked at him with disgust.

Lei Jiayin grinned proudly: "Don't you want to get close to Li Caihua? If I'm around, she won't be able to do anything!"

Qi Hui: "..."

That made so much sense, I can't even refuse.

This guy has taken mooching cigarettes to a new height!

Due to a safety accident, the production crew temporarily halted operations.

Actually, it wasn't a complete halt; mainly, Qi Hui's two underwater scenes had already been filmed.

Although there was almost a major problem, it was finished and done well before the issue occurred.

Director Lin's only concern now was Li Caihua's physical condition and her emotions.

If it dragged on too long, it would affect the normal operations of the production crew.

Immediately, he ordered Li Caihua to return to the hotel to rest.

Li Caihua hesitated, looked around, didn't see Qi Hui, and was unsure whether to refuse.

But Director Lin didn't let her argue and forcibly insisted.

Li Caihua was finally led back to the hotel by her assistant.

As for the crew... there were two more scenes coming up, both underwater scenes at night.

Li Caihua's incident made Director Lin a bit scared, so he immediately contacted someone to get safety wires ready, preparing to have the actors who went into the water wear them before entering.

Plus with lifeguards and a kayak on the side, safety was greatly improved.

Regarding this, Tu Liman and Qiu Chixuan breathed a slight sigh of relief; neither of them could swim, and having safety wires on them was the best possible outcome.

"Director Lin, I have no more scenes, right?" Qi Hui approached the director's tent and asked Director Lin, who was busy to the point of his heels hitting the back of his head.

"No more; go do whatever you want, just don't go in the water." Director Lin waved his hand and said without looking up.

He was giving direction to Qiu Chixuan, Tu Liman, and Chi Shuai.

Seeing Qi Hui arrive, Tu Liman and Qiu Chixuan's eyes lit up, their smiles on their faces very sweet and sincere.

Qi Hui waved to the two girls, then said to the director: "Fine, then I'm going fishing."

Saying that, he picked up a small bag from the ground and slung it over his shoulder.

Seeing this, Director Lin felt a toothache; he wanted to go fishing too.

"Don't go too far."

"Don't worry, I won't go in the water."

"Who cares if you go in the water or not? I mean, share the fishing spot with me later!" Director Lin called out.

Qi Hui: "..."

Hearing that, anyone would know he was a seasoned professional angler!

On the other side, Lei Jiayin came over: "Going fishing? How about I go with you?"

"You know how to fish?" Qi Hui expressed doubt; his fishing skill had been leveled up from Station Master Wu... ah no, from Teacher Feng Enhe.

Feng Enhe wasn't just an actor; he was also a lifetime honorary member of a certain fishing club.

Qi Hui had heard the old man mention it once; it seemed to be called the China Celebrities Angling Club.

Just hearing the name made it sound pretty awesome.

Lei Jiayin pouted: "Who can't fish?"

"In my hometown, I've been climbing trees to get birds and wading into water to catch fish since I was little; I've been doing fishing since I was a kid!"

"Then where's your fishing rod?" Qi Hui looked around.

Lei Jiayin waved his hand: "That thing doesn't need to be prepared; just find a stick, shave down a thin bamboo, and that's it."

"If it really won't work, tying a line to a slipper will do in a pinch."

"…Then what about bait?"

"Use yours."

"What about the hook and line?"

"Use yours too!" Lei Jiayin said, utterly without shame.

Qi Hui: "…"

That big-headed guy gave me that piece of deer antler—could it have been just so he could freeload with a clear conscience?

……

In the end, he still let Lei Jiayin freeload off him.

By the Wu Song River, Qi Hui held the fishing rod Teacher Feng had given him and cast his hook into the water.

Beside him, Lei Jiayin had somehow picked up a thin bamboo pole, tied on a line and hook, and using the bait Qi Hui had prepared, also started fishing.

Qi Hui glanced at him—Lei Jiayin sure had ideas; he hadn't brought a single thing, all of it was freeloaded off him.

Yet that big-headed guy had brought quite a few seasonings—salt, cumin powder, chili oil… he'd even scrounged some firewood on the spot, saying he wanted to catch, grill, and eat it all fresh.

Gotta say, real creative!

"Hm?" Just then, Qi Hui suddenly felt a tug on his hand, a sense of force coming through.

"Holy—got one!" Lei Jiayin stared at Qi Hui's bobber, eyes wide, and shouted: "That fast?"

"That's called skill!" Qi Hui laughed heartily, gave a firm pull, and hauled the fish up.

"Impressive, I'll give you that!" Lei Jiayin grinned, bestowing the highest praise one man can give another.

But once the fish broke the surface, it turned out to be a pufferfish, about the size of a palm.

That thing can't be eaten—the kind where you end up lying on a board.

"There's pufferfish in freshwater?" Lei Jiayin was a bit shocked.

"These things have migratory habits," Qi Hui explained, his face dark.

Hua Xuanji picked up the little pufferfish and dipped it in the water.

Once it puffed up, he pinched the round, chubby pufferfish and scrubbed his slipper with it.

"What are you doing?" Lei Jiayin watched, a dark line of exasperation crossing his head.

"Scrubbing my shoes." Qi Hui scrubbed as he spoke: "Want to have a go too?"

Lei Jiayin looked at the pitiful pufferfish and shook his head repeatedly: "…No need."

He scooted to the side, putting some distance between himself and Qi Hui, and kept fishing.

And as Lei Jiayin moved away, Qi Hui's luck suddenly improved—he pulled in several crucian carp and common carp in a row.

Lei Jiayin was overjoyed at the sight, hollering for him to handle them.

Once the fish were grilled, Qi Hui and the other guy dug right in, turning fishing into a full-on outdoor cookout.

By the time Director Lin came over, he arrived just in time to catch Qi Hui and the other guy eating fish.

He complained the whole time that they weren't taking fishing seriously, while freeloading food and drink, eating until his mouth was slick with oil, and spitting out fish bones like a pro.

True to form as a fishing fanatic—apart from actually fishing, he could do everything else.

But Director Lin couldn't eat much—once his time was up, he had to head back to continue filming.

That left Qi Hui and Lei Jiayin to carry on.

"Ah…I feel like he just came here to freeload food and drinks," Lei Jiayin griped. "The director didn't catch a single fish."

"Heh…you've got some nerve talking about others freeloading," Qi Hui griped right back.

……

By evening, the two of them had grabbed their fishing rods and headed back to the hotel.

Today had been pretty good—plenty of time to keep fishing and grilling fish.

But before Qi Hui could even get to his room, Li Caihua suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Ah…hello, what's up?" Figuring they were all colleagues, Qi Hui opened his mouth to ask.