57: Hard work leads to success

"Brother, Qianqian, I'm leaving." Shu Chang stood in front of the car, saying goodbye to everyone.

"Go ahead, we don't have much filming left either, we'll be back in Beijing soon." Li Xiuwu waved his hand.

Shu Chang got into the car. Liu Yifei couldn't bear to see her go and walked up to the car window to talk to her.

"Little Lion doesn't want you to leave either." Liu Yifei held Little Lion in her arms and placed him in front of Shu Chang.

"Little Lion, do you want to come back to Beijing with me?" Shu Chang stroked the top of Little Lion's head.

"Meow." Little Lion turned his head to look at Li Xiuwu, trying to break free, but was held tightly by the two girls.

"You ungrateful little thing, we prepare delicious food for you every day, cuddle you to sleep every night, and you still think of Li Xiuwu." Little Lion had offended both of them, and they all started scolding him.

Little Lion hung his head, ears drooping, not wanting to listen.

"Boss, do we need to find projects for Shu Chang by the end of the year?" Shu Chang's agent, Huang Bin, came to Li Xiuwu's side.

"If there are good projects, go ahead. Skip the poor scripts. Discuss it with Shu Chang and prioritize her opinion." Li Xiuwu said.

Huang Bin nodded and glanced at the time.

"Boss, it's about time, we're leaving."

The car started and headed for the airport. Shu Chang waved from the car window.

"Chang Chang, remember to call me." Liu Yifei's face showed reluctance as she shouted to Shu Chang.

The two watched Shu Chang's car drive away until it was out of sight.

"Let's go back." Li Xiuwu said to Liu Yifei.

"Mm." Liu Yifei nodded.

At that moment, Li Xiuwu saw Lin Qian standing not far away. Lin Qian stood there without saying a word, without any movement or expression, but Li Xiuwu felt he had something to say.

Li Xiuwu said to Liu Yifei, "You go back to the set first, I have something to attend to."

"Oh." Liu Yifei looked at Li Xiuwu curiously but didn't ask.

After Liu Yifei entered the set, Lin Qian walked over.

"What is it?"

"The set security guard, Pan Lei, told me that in the past few days, there have been a few people acting suspiciously, not quite normal."

"Set security guard?" Li Xiuwu looked at Lin Qian. He hadn't been in the crew for long, had he?

"A retired scout, works as a security guard here in Hengdian, has been in many crews. I met him drinking a few days ago." Lin Qian briefly explained.

Li Xiuwu nodded, not asking for details. This was Lin Qian's personal ability.

"What kind of people are they? How are they abnormal?"

"They seem like Paparazzi, but with a strong purpose. Pan Lei thinks these are Paparazzi hired specifically to target our crew." After becoming Li Xiuwu's assistant, Lin Qian had learned about the entertainment industry and understood the Paparazzi profession very clearly.

Hired Paparazzi—Li Xiuwu almost immediately thought of Cai Yinong.

The only one with direct conflict with him was Tangren.

"You handle this matter, communicate more with Wang Cheng." Li Xiuwu didn't pay much attention. Such underhanded things were not important at all.

If they actually captured something, it wouldn't matter; what's more troublesome is fabricating baseless rumors.

Li Xiuwu walked toward the set but suddenly stopped: "From now on, all your expenses can be reimbursed, no receipts needed. If you find useful talent, you can recruit them into the company."

"Understood." Lin Qian replied immediately, his face calm but with a hint of excitement in his heart.

Watching Li Xiuwu enter the set, Lin Qian turned and walked to the security office, finding Pan Lei.

"Old Pan, keep an eye on those people for me." Lin Qian said to Pan Lei.

Pan Lei frowned. He wasn't opposed, but with elderly and children to support, he had to be cautious: "My job here..."

"Keep your security job, salary paid as usual. Help me watch those people, and I'll give you an extra salary separately." Lin Qian made a promise to Pan Lei.

A flicker of joy crossed Pan Lei's face. When he was young, he was a real man; now with elderly and children, he found he had become soft.

A man without money is just soft.

"No problem, tell me the plan." Pan Lei asked Lin Qian how to watch, for what purpose, and what to achieve.

"First, find their base. Also, find a smart, tight-lipped young person to build a relationship with them, drink, become friends."

After arranging everything, Lin Qian returned to the set, appearing briefly in Li Xiuwu's line of sight from afar, then found a corner to sit.

Li Xiuwu saw Lin Qian nod slightly at him from a distance and understood he had arranged everything.

He was listening to Zhou Xiaowen and Zhao Jian Zhao Jian discuss the design of martial arts moves and the effects to achieve.

This kind of design relied entirely on experience; without past experience, it was impossible to imagine the effects.

Guo Fan stood beside them, listening quietly, occasionally jotting a few notes in his notebook.

Sometimes he would sketch.

Zhao Jian Zhao Jian and a few Stunt Performers talked while demonstrating, also imagining added special effects, on-site pyrotechnics, and explosion effects.

A scene from design, setup, to filming is a very complex process. In comparison, actors are simpler—wait for them to finish discussing, then be guided through positions, instructed move by move.

After everyone discussed, they went to set up the scene to see how it looked.

Guo Fan sat there, looking at his notebook.

"How is it?" Li Xiuwu came to Guo Fan's side, looking at his notebook with simple sketches of what everyone had just discussed.

"Li..." Guo Fan immediately stood up.

"In the crew, I'm just an actor, no need for that. Sit down."

Guo Fan sat down, sighing: "I thought filming was too simple."

During this time in the crew, he found there was too much to learn: Zhou Xiaowen's key points, cinematography and lighting, and crew coordination.

Crew coordination was also a very important matter. Even someone as powerful as Zhou Xiaowen, with great authority in the crew, sometimes had to yield benefits to lower groups.

The operation of a crew is too complex.

"A while ago, I went for an audition. Someone told me that big stars all start from small roles. I think it makes sense. I'll pass it to you: big directors also accumulate slowly."

Guo Fan looked over and nodded seriously. Although directing was difficult, it was still the profession he loved.

One day, he would be able to make his own good work.

"Keep it up." Li Xiuwu didn't promise him anything, letting him continue learning in the crew.

There are many geniuses in the world, but genius doesn't guarantee success on the first try. Those who succeed on the first try are rare. Guo Fan's first work flopped in both reputation and box office.

He, Li Xiuwu, also went through a lifetime of grinding and struggle before succeeding after rebirth.

Without enduring the bitter cold, how can one smell the plum blossom's fragrance?

As long as you're willing to work hard, even if you don't succeed in this life, there's always the next... "Actors over here, Li Xiuwu, Liu Yifei, who's the actress for Poison Lady? Deng Jiajia? Hurry up." The Assistant Director gathered actors for rehearsal, explaining how to shoot.

"Hello, Assistant Director, I'm Deng Jiajia, hello everyone." Deng Jiajia ran over, bowing and greeting everyone.

"Xiao..."