Chapter 162: The Crew Assembles

Lü Chunqiu arrived at Jiangcheng Hospital half a day later than the two police officers.

Upon seeing Mo Fei receiving an IV drip, she unusually refrained from showing excessive emotion, silently taking care of his meals and even providing for the Long siblings as well.

Her gentle and attentive demeanor instantly filled Mo Fei with a deep sense of guilt.

While he was running wild outside, he had never once considered how Lü Chunqiu must have felt back home. He was so immature!

As Lü Chunqiu busied herself getting a replacement SIM card and a new phone sorted out for him, Mo Fei looked at her and offered a serious, sincere confession and apology.

"I promise there won't be a next time." Mo Fei raised four fingers. "I swear."

Lü Chunqiu saved her own phone number into the new phone and handed it to him. "Alright, as if I could actually stay mad at you."

No matter how furious she had been on the way over, all her anger evaporated the moment she laid eyes on him.

She had already heard the general outline of what happened from the soldiers stationed near the hospital.

It wasn't entirely Mo Fei's fault, and besides, the kid was already in the hospital; what was the use of blaming him now?

Hearing Lü Chunqiu speak like that only made Mo Fei feel even guiltier.

"Thank you both for taking care of our little Fei. He must have caused you no end of trouble." Lü Chunqiu handed two bottles of milk to the Long siblings.

Long Er remained silent.

Long Four curved the corners of his lips and smiled in response, "It's all part of the job. No trouble at all."

Mercenaries were born to solve trouble.

"I heard the two of you will also be assisting with the upcoming filming. We'll have to keep troubling you then."

Lü Chunqiu spoke very politely.

Previously, she had found Long Er rather strange, but thinking about it now, perhaps it was just like every profession having its own occupational quirks.

Kindergarten teachers unconsciously used soothing tones meant for toddlers when talking to others, waiters always wanted to blurt out a greeting the moment someone walked through the door, and while the profession of mercenaries was a bit unusual domestically, one shouldn't look at them with prejudice.

Besides, they had helped Mo Fei.

Noticing the shift in Lü Chunqiu's attitude, Long Er replied, "This is what we ought to do."

Regardless of whether they felt grateful or not, since he had accepted this mission, he would see it through to the best of his ability.

The subsequent period of recuperation passed without further incident.

Under the dual surveillance of the military and the police, even if someone wanted to stir up trouble, they wouldn't have been able to.

The specifics of how the situation was handled were not disclosed to ordinary civilians. As soon as half a month was up, they simply jotted down Mo Fei's phone number and set him free to move about.

Director Wang also arrived in Yuncheng with the crew around this time.

Since filming near the border was currently inconvenient, they chose to shoot in the mountains of Yuncheng instead.

Accompanying the crew members was the Golden Nugget trio.

Having not seen each other in a while, Wu Miao practically leaped onto Mo Fei the moment he showed up.

"Brother Mo, did you miss me?" Wu Miao asked, flashing a bright, sunny smile.

His manager stood off to the side, clenching his fists while forcing a smile.

The training period had been pretty good, so why was he still acting like this the moment he was let out?

"Whoa, I feel like your muscles have gotten a lot firmer." Mo Fei draped an arm around Wu Miao's shoulders and waved at Ji Xingyu and the other two. "Hey, fancy meeting you guys again."

Ma He carried a heavy load of bags on his back, looking apologetic. "Brother Mo, sorry about last time. We really caused you trouble."

After returning, he had been thoroughly reprimaned by Zhong Yan and had heavily reflected on his actions.

Being a bit foolish on a regular basis was one thing—harming oneself was deserved, but dragging others down was inexcusable.

Moreover, joking around with brothers required boundaries; it wasn't appropriate to deliver "surprises" at any given moment, because they could easily turn into frights.

It was wrong, truly wrong.

"It's fine." Mo Fei waved a hand with a smile. "It's all in the past now. Just remember the lesson."

Falling into a pit and gaining wisdom still made one a good kid; if someone kept taking losses without gaining any sense, it would be best to cut ties sooner rather than later.

While they were exchanging pleasantries, Director Wang and Lü Chunqiu flipped through the script, doing a final check to ensure everything was in order.

The screenwriter and Old Deng were also in the group, though both of them had a few visible bruises on their faces.

They had seemed on quite good terms when they first met, but this time around, they were at loggerheads like fire and water.

Curious, Mo Fei wrapped an arm around Wu Miao to gossip. "What's wrong with them? Did they offend someone the moment they arrived and get beaten up?"

"That?" Wu Miao followed his gaze and immediately understood. "You weren't around so you don't know, but Old Deng and the screenwriter fought constantly while grinding out the script. Small arguments every three days, massive rows every five days—they even broke three chairs."

Mo Fei asked in astonishment, "Really?"

"Really!"

"Director Wang didn't try to manage them?"

"What's there to manage?" Wu Miao mimicked Director Wang pressing his hands downward. "Be zen, everyone be zen. Art is born from friction, you know."

"He really has a big heart." Mo Fei somewhat agreed with Director Wang's statement, but physical collisions were totally unnecessary.

After settling some miscellaneous chores, Director Wang clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention. "Come, come, everyone is here. Let me make some introductions."

"We will be filming a portion of our scenes here in this location. If things go smoothly, it will take about three months. The remaining scenes will be shot back at the studio city, estimated to take another two months. During our time shooting in Yuncheng, these two will be responsible for our security."

Director Wang motioned for everyone to look at the Long siblings. "And everyone take note: wild mushrooms are delicious, but don't be greedy! No consuming wild mushrooms during the filming period!"

The time when the entire crew was wiped out by a single pot of wild mushrooms during the wrap-up party was still fresh in their memories.

A lesson learned from the past.

The crew members gave a scattered chorus of agreement.

"Little Mo, come over here." Director Wang beckoned to Mo Fei and handed him a script. "Here is your script. There are some minor changes; hurry up and get familiar with it."

Director Wang had given Mo Fei the initial draft to study as soon as he received news of him half a month ago.

As for this final version—well, you couldn't strictly call it final, since the screenwriter and Old Deng would probably still squabble during the filming process—anyway, it had some detail changes compared to the previous version.

Mo Fei felt the thickness of the pages.

Playing a main character was indeed different; this script was practically as thick as a book.

"Give it your best shot." Director Wang patted Mo Fei's shoulder cheerfully.

This was a formidable talent he had set his sights on; there could not be any mistakes.

Mo Fei flashed a smile. "Definitely."

Ji Xingyu walked over to his side holding a bottle of water. "Drink some water."

"Thanks." Mo Fei took the water, flipped open the script, and furrowed his brows.

This character was interesting.

The roles he had played previously all had relatively small parts, lacking any so-called highlight moments or particularly memorable traits.

Even the protagonist in the script by Young Director Qian he had worked on earlier was a very modern, natural character, not overly complex.

Yet this character was so... thick.

Mo Fei felt that this word described it best.

If everyone's life was a book, this character might not be the thickest one, but it definitely surpassed many others.

Watching his expression, Ji Xingyu asked cautiously, "Are you alright?"