Chapter 17

Hengdian, outskirts

Seeing Yan Li, dressed in costume, found a shady spot and held a large fan while watching Nie Yuan and others filming the cavalry charge scene.

Today's shoot is an exterior scene: Li Rongrong is executed, and Qin Qiong and several others come to rescue her from the execution ground.

The scene isn't long, but with action and crowd shots, it's actually quite troublesome to film.

For instance, the sequence where Luo Cheng, Cheng Yaojin, and Shan Xiongxin ride their horses toward the execution ground had to be shot multiple times.

Any issue with speed, formation disorder, movement precision, or camera framing requires a retake.

The actors playing Luo Cheng, Cheng Yaojin, and Shan Xiongxin can all ride horses, but only Nie Yuan, who plays Luo Cheng, can wield weapons while galloping at full speed—the other two rely on stunt doubles.

Seeing Yan Li had always thought his horsemanship was just average, but only when filming did he realize he had a real talent for it.

He learned quickly and rode well!

He is now among the top riders in "The Legend of Sui and Tang Heroes," one of the few actors who doesn't need stunt doubles for horse scenes; once, when the crew lacked stunt performers, he even masked his face and doubled as one of the Eighteen Riders of Yan Yun.

Finally, the charge scene was finished; the crew reset the set, and Nie Yuan and the other actors got a break.

Nie Yuan walked over with his long spear, snatched Seeing Yan Li's fan, and fanned himself furiously—his face was drenched in sweat, but he dared not wipe it for fear of smudging his makeup.

"This damn weather is too hot."

"It's almost July—how could it not be hot?"

Seeing Yan Li didn't mind losing his fan; he took a sip from his own water cup. After fanning for a while, Nie Yuan finally cooled down enough to engage in conversation.

"How did the meeting with Zhou Yi go the other day?"

"How do you know about that?"

Seeing Yan Li froze—he had previously dined with a producer from Zhou Yi Company through Wang Decai's connections.

Logically, no one should've known about it—could this kid Nie Yuan have his own intelligence network?

"Huang Haibing told me—he knows that producer, and the guy even asked him about you."

Seeing Yan Li suddenly remembered—he'd forgotten that Huang Haibing starred as Shen Lang in Zhou Yi's "Wu Lin Wai Shi"; they must be familiar with each other.

"So, what did Zhou Yi say?"

Nie Yuan pressed, treating Seeing Yan Li as a friend and hoping his friend would advance further.

At this stage, Zhou Yi—having produced "Wu Lin Wai Shi" and "Love Across Time"—is a well-known company in the industry; if Seeing Yan Li could ally with them, it would greatly benefit his career.

"It's complicated."

Seeing Yan Li sighed—he'd wanted to latch onto Zhou Yi, but although the dinner went well, further intelligence revealed that aligning with them wasn't as easy as it seemed.

According to intelligence, Zhou Yi has several contracted actors: Yu Bo, Yang Junyi, and recently, Zhang Jin.

These actors are either military veterans or trained in martial arts since childhood; they're also good-looking and perfectly suit Zhou Yi's preferred style, earning strong support from upper management.

Seeing Yan Li happens to resemble them in appearance, which is why the producer took interest in him.

This company loves actors who are rugged, masculine, and have martial arts backgrounds!

But if Seeing Yan Li joined Zhou Yi, internal competition would be fierce—he'd have to fight those guys for resources, and given their powerful backers, it might even involve corporate power struggles.

Seeing Yan Li wasn't afraid of competition—he had confidence in himself, not to mention his system—but he was tired of this backstabbing, scheming lifestyle.

With his system, he didn't think he'd ever be without roles, so he had little interest in joining any company.

Especially one like this, where internal competition was intense and relationships among colleagues were tense and oppressive—he definitely didn't want to go there.

"Going solo isn't easy."

Nie Yuan thought Seeing Yan Li was being naive—the film industry wasn't easy to navigate; newcomers without connections or company backing struggled to make progress.

"Let's see—I might start my own company someday. I hate being told what to do all the time; being the boss is far more freeing."

Seeing Yan Li didn't argue; he joked instead. Nie Yuan laughed and teased back.

"Alright, when I'm broke someday, hope you'll take me in, Boss Yan."

"No problem."

————

Nie Yuan was soon called away to rehearse fight choreography, while Seeing Yan Li was summoned by the director to film his scene with Li Rongrong.

Tong Lei wore a stained white prison robe, a wooden execution placard stuck to her back, her cheeks and hair slightly dirty, a white cloth stuffed in her mouth, kneeling on the execution platform.

Seeing Yan Li strode up to her, stood before her, and feigned regret: "What a pity—you're about to be beheaded before I've even finished playing with you."

As he spoke, he crouched down, gripped Tong Lei's chin, and sneered: "I'll never forget your pitiful, intoxicating cries—they still excite me just thinking about them."

"If you beg me now, I might consider letting you live for a few more nights."

As he delivered the lines, Seeing Yan Li cursed the screenwriter in his mind—how could you write this without considering an actor's dignity?

Tong Lei glared at him, spat out the cloth from her mouth, and shouted:

"Monster."

Seeing Yan Li flew into a rage, stood up, and slapped her hard—Tong Lei screamed and collapsed, but the motion was exaggerated; he hadn't actually touched her.

Behind the monitor, director Hu Mingkai frowned and shouted through the megaphone: "Rongrong's emotion isn't strong enough. Yuwen Chengdu, be more vicious. Let's do it again."

Seeing Yan Li gave a thumbs-up, then spoke to Tong Lei: "Your energy's too strong. Li Rongrong should be weak now—desperate, broken, utterly defeated. That contrast makes the villain even more evil."

After being held for days in the lineup, she'd likely have no strength left to speak.

Just now, she was shouting with righteous indignation, standing tall like a martyr—she might as well have jumped up to fight Yuwen Chengdu. It felt completely off.

Tong Lei was also a newcomer, and she was humble.

Besides, Seeing Yan Li had taken good care of her these past days—he'd even taken drinks for her—and his acting seemed more mature and thoughtful than hers, so she listened to him.

"Alright, brother, I get it."

They reshot the scene. Tong Lei's demeanor was now clearly weak and frail, her entire presence sorrowful and pitiful, making Seeing Yan Li's villainy stand out even more sharply.

After filming this scene, the director was satisfied; Tong Lei was praised and happy, but Seeing Yan Li felt a mix of satisfaction and quiet sorrow.

Playing a character like Yuwen Chengdu—perform poorly, and you vanish into obscurity; perform too well, and you become hated.

Seeing Yan Li had already imagined how, when the drama aired, countless viewers would point at his screen and call him a scumbag…

…

After wrapping up for the night, Seeing Yan Li was invited by Nie Yuan to a street food stall in Hengdian to drink beer and watch the match—it was the World Cup final.

Seeing Yan Li was quite interested in this match, since he had bought sports lottery tickets, and the outcome determined whether his train ticket back to Jingcheng would be a seated or a sleeper berth.

At exactly seven p. m., the match began; Brazil defeated Germany 2–0, with Ronaldo scoring twice, securing their fifth World Cup title in history.

Seeing Yan Li was overjoyed—he had correctly predicted both matches, and now he could sleep in a sleeper berth on his way back to Jingcheng.

She called Qin Lan to tell her the result; Qin Lan had bought more lottery tickets and now had enough for an airplane ticket.

Qin Lan was delighted and wanted to come out to find Seeing Yan Li and hang out, but Seeing Yan Li politely declined.

It wasn't that he didn't want to deal with Qin Lan—he had important business.

Today was June 30th—not only the World Cup final, but also the last day of June, meaning that at midnight tonight, the monthly 【Monthly Intelligence Report】 would be released…

(End of Chapter)