Chapter 18: What the hell are you, a bandit, nervous for? Watch me!

Just this opening scene took nearly twenty takes, leaving Jiang Qin and Duan Long somewhat discouraged, but both harbored a stubborn determination to keep improving with each attempt.

Sun Honglei sidled up to Wu Shixian and asked: “Is our director always this strict?”

“He’s easygoing normally, but you know—work and life are two different things,” Wu Fat shrugged.

Sun Honglei nodded silently; he didn’t want to be subjected to endless takes himself, so he quickly recalled the tough guys and gangsters he’d known, rehearsing how he’d perform next.

An hour had passed; neither Duan Long nor Jiang Qin knew how many times they’d messed up—when Wu Yuchen said, “This take’s fine, keep the energy, one more!”

Both perked up at once—they’d finally heard approval—and let out a collective sigh of relief.

Wu Yuchen switched on the camera at that moment, and after shouting “Action!”, the official shoot began.

In the afternoon, Wu Yuchen knelt on one knee atop the vehicle, disregarding his appearance, holding the camera low to shoot upward at Sun Honglei as he stormed aboard—this passenger’s-eye view emphasized the bandit’s towering, brutal presence, instilling fear through the audience’s upward gaze.

Sun Honglei, who’d flubbed several takes before, performed well now, brandishing a dagger, frowning fiercely as he bellowed:

“Hand over every last cent, you bastards!”

“Are you all deaf?!”

“Take it all off!”

After speaking, he glared around at the passengers, sneering, a lump of muscle bulging on his cheek as he spat “Fucking—”, his face twisted with menace.

His henchmen followed, advancing menacingly to collect valuables, shouting: “Hurry up, all of you!”

“Cut!”

Wu Yuchen was satisfied with this take; Sun Honglei’s third attempt had already been good, but for this bandit’s entrance, he wanted multiple options to pick the best—and this one was even better.

Clearly, Sun Honglei was born to play villains—hiring him was the right call!

Wu Yuchen then walked to a seat in the back and spoke to the extra there:

“When he hits you, I won’t actually strike your face—I’ll pay you fifteen yuan—but I’ll kick your leg hard, twenty yuan per kick. Deal?”

The extra’s face lit up: “No problem—kick my leg as hard as you want!”

Having settled that, Wu Yuchen walked over to Jiang Qin: “Ready?”

Seeing her nod, he called out: “Alright, next scene—positions!”

“Action!”

“Boss, this bastard won’t pay!”

Sun Honglei’s brows snapped together: “Who the hell? Are you trying to die?!”

As he turned to go, Jiang Qin, who’d been hunched low with head down, instantly lifted her face, forcing a timid smile through fear: “Boss, no trouble, I won’t cause trouble.”

Then she turned and shouted to the passengers behind: “Hey, just give him the money!”

Immediately after, she dropped her head again.

Sun Honglei glanced at Jiang Qin, then strode straight to the middle-aged man who refused to pay, kicked him hard in the body, then grabbed his hair and punched his face twice.

The kick was clearly filmed, but during the punches, the camera focused on Sun Honglei’s profile, so he didn’t need to actually hit the extra’s face.

“Cut!”

Wu Yuchen walked over and asked the extra: “You okay?”

Sun Honglei also pulled the extra aside to apologize: “Brother, I’m sorry!”

The middle-aged extra grinned sheepishly: “No problem—thighs are all muscle, a few kicks won’t hurt.”

He even patted his thigh.

Seeing this, Wu Yuchen said no more and called: “Makeup!”

The makeup artist rushed over to apply wounds—mainly the bruised, bloody face, definitely needing nosebleed.

After makeup was done, Sun Honglei stepped forward and grabbed the extra’s hair again.

“Action!”

The camera focused on the extra’s face: blood trickled from his nose, his face swollen and bruised, eyes full of pain, clutching his nose as he meekly handed over the money to Sun Honglei.

Then Sun Honglei slapped the man hard—the camera followed his hand up his torso, revealing Sun Honglei slapping him while holding the dagger, eyes blazing as he scanned the passengers, threatening:

“Who else wants trouble? Huh?!”

“I’ll deal with you!”

He waved the dagger in the air, then the camera cut to a close-up of a nearby passenger, who immediately bowed his head in submission.

“Cut!”

This scene took several takes; two times the extra’s expression was simply unacceptable.

Wu Yuchen glanced outside—the sky was darkening; they couldn’t shoot any longer. He clapped his hands: “That’s it for today—wrap up!”

The entire crew exhaled in relief and began packing up.

The full film is eleven minutes; today they’d shot about four and a half minutes—good enough.

The next scene is the bandits targeting the female driver’s beauty, dragging her out to rape her—her emotional state here differs from before, so they’d save it for tomorrow to let the actors adjust their moods.

…

The next day, beside a roadside thicket.

“Cut!”

This scene filmed the bandit raping the female driver; Wu Yuchen wanted a close-up, but had failed many takes.

Wu Yuchen yelled at Sun Honglei:

“Honglei, you look so fierce—why are you so weak when it’s time to act?!”

Sun Honglei stood up, his face contorted with grievance:

“Director, I’ve never done this before—I’m nervous…”

“You’re nervous? What’s there to be nervous about?

Look at Qin Qin—she’s the one being raped and she’s not nervous!

What the hell are you, a bandit, nervous for?!”

Jiang Qin lay on the grass, staring up at Wu Yuchen scolding Sun Honglei; hearing this, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth and smile—then quickly suppressed it, she needed to stay in character for the rape’s agony.

“Adjust quickly—five minutes, then again!”

This wasn’t like yesterday’s start, when the camera was off; now it was always rolling, every “Action!” burned through film—no wonder Wu Yuchen was furious.

Five minutes later, “Cut!”

“Sun Honglei, can you even do this?!”

Wu Yuchen roared, shoved Sun Honglei aside, then mounted Jiang Qin herself, lying on the ground.

“Fucking hell—you’re so big, you can’t even rip a damn shirt?!”

As he yelled at Sun Honglei, Wu Yuchen gripped Jiang Qin’s collar tightly.

Jiang Qin’s red coat was already open; Wu Yuchen was pulling the inner shirt’s collar.

Wu Yuchen turned her head and shouted to Sun Honglei: “Grip it like this! Rip it like this!”

But whether from overcommitment or not, her hands unconsciously tightened—and suddenly, a sharp “Riiip!” tore through the air, leaving silence.