Chapter 163 Attitude Toward Life

Mo Fei was puzzled. "What could possibly be the matter with me?"

Given how strangely Ji Xingyu had phrased his question, Mo Fei was standing right there reading the script, so what else could possibly be wrong?

"Nothing," Ji Xingyu waved a hand. "As long as you're fine, it's all good."

Watching him walk over to say something baffling and then wander off again, Mo Fei couldn't figure out what he was getting at, so he simply gave up trying and went back to concentrating on his script.

Wu Miao sat down beside him, holding a script of his own. "We have a ton of scenes together, you know."

"Naturally, the main characters are going to share plenty of scenes," Mo Fei said, reading intently. "This is my first time with such a heavy load, so I'm a bit nervous."

"Don't be nervous," Wu Miao leaned closer. "I saw that web drama you filmed. Even my older sister said it's probably going to blow up."

This time, Mo Fei was genuinely surprised. "That show has already been released?"

How come Xiao Qian hadn't mentioned it to him?

Seeing his astonishment, Wu Miao widened his eyes. "You didn't know? Not only is it out, but you even need a VIP subscription to watch it."

With that, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and searched for it to show him. "You really move in complete silence. If I hadn't occasionally searched for my friends' names online, I never would have found out."

The phone screen transitioned. This appeared to be Wu Miao's secondary video-streaming account, with a username consisting of a random string of numbers and letters, yet his VIP subscription had already been extended for another five years.

Wu Miao opened his viewing history and showed him a poster that was both unfamiliar and familiar.

It was unfamiliar because he had never seen it before, and familiar because the people on the poster were none other than himself and Hui Tianxin.

Xiao Qian's post-production team certainly worked fast, though perhaps a bit too fast.

It felt like the show had dropped entirely without any promotion or publicity whatsoever.

The comment section of the film only had a few dozen remarks, mostly praising the director—likely friends or employees of Xiao Qian and Madam Qian.

A few comments looked like they came from random viewers who had stumbled upon it, some leaving praise while others criticized it.

Among them, the most prominent one-star review complained that the plot was overly contrived, the protagonist's plot armor was too thick, the supporting characters lacked common sense, and it was simply foolish of the main character to choose self-expression over a career in the end.

Wu Miao's fingers scrolled past the screen at an accelerated pace, and then he glanced at Mo Fei's expression.

He had noticed that Mo Fei's name was also listed in the screenwriting credits for this film, making this particular review feel almost like a direct scolding pointed straight at him.

Yet, Mo Fei's expression remained completely calm.

"Don't take it to heart," Wu Miao said, unsure of what Mo Fei's current mood might be, though he figured nobody would be happy seeing that kind of feedback. "I've received plenty of harsh criticism like that since I was a kid."

"Even someone with your level of nationwide popularity gets scolded?" Compared to his own affairs, Mo Fei was still more curious about Wu Miao's stories. "I remember you debuted when you were very young."

"Precisely because I was a child," Wu Miao continued smoothly. "Back then, I played immortal children and annoying brats. People would say the roles I played were detestable, and others would say I'd definitely grow up to be a disappointment. I was young then, so seeing those comments hurt quite a lot."

He shrugged afterward. "Still, it's fine now that I've grown up."

Mo Fei tentatively asked, "Nobody scolds you anymore?"

"People scold me even more now, but I don't care," Wu Miao said with a nonchalant shrug. "It's been over a decade of the same old lines. They haven't grown tired of scolding, but I'm already sick of listening."

He didn't forget to pat Mo Fei encouragingly when he finished. "That's why you shouldn't take it to heart. Once you become famous, the days of getting scolded are still ahead of you."

"I haven't taken it to heart either," Mo Fei glanced at the movie's view count on his phone. "There's nobody living in this world who doesn't get criticized. This is nothing."

Think about it: when you're a child, you get scolded by parents, teachers, and classmates; when you grow up, you get scolded by bosses, subordinates, and society; and when you're old, you get scolded by rebellious youths and unfilial descendants.

If the other person's criticism is justified, you correct yourself; if they are just picking a fight for no reason, there is even less reason to take it to heart.

All in all, nobody is perfect, and carefree ignorance doubles your happiness.

Wu Miao gave him a thumbs up. "That's the spirit. Keep it up—you're well-suited for this industry."

With the small talk finished, the two put their heads back together to go over the script and rehearse their scenes.

Director Wang felt a deep sense of gratification watching this scene.

Having the two most crucial actors fit their characters so well and still be willing to work hard and put in the effort was truly a wonderful thing.

From behind him came the sound of an escalating argument between two other people.

Old Deng: "Did you really have to kill him off? Wasn't living a better option?"

Screenwriter: "What do you know? Tragedy leaves a much deeper impression when brought to the silver screen."

Old Deng: "Well, I didn't write him to death in the original work!"

Screenwriter: "You killed off everyone except him!"

Old Deng: "I am the original author, and I say he gets to live!"

"I say he dies!"

"I say he lives!"

The two grew more and more heated in their argument.

Director Wang's expression gradually solidified.

It would be even better if the screenwriter and Old Deng weren't constantly bickering.

During the crew's filming period, the police side was also handling the aftermath.

The whole affair had caused too much of a commotion; just after a batch of telecommunication fraud suspects was sent back from the border, several thousand more were shipped in from the sea.

Every single person's identity had to be investigated. Domestic citizens were relatively straightforward to handle, but those foreign nationals were genuinely difficult to check.

With the fighting in Myanmar, the identities of people of Myanmarese nationality were completely untraceable.

Individuals of other nationalities were even further away, leaving no way to begin an investigation.

On top of that, they still needed to investigate the criminal clues and factual evidence regarding Bai Yingxiong.

The entire system from top to bottom was busy to the point of exhaustion.

Yet, busy as they were, they didn't ask the newly returned undercover agents for help.

Those agents had matters of their own to attend to.

At a designated psychiatric hospital, Officer Xiao was preparing to take a ticket and wait in line.

Psychological evaluation was a crucial indicator of whether they could successfully return to active duty, though even if they passed the psychological assessment, they would still have to spend a period doing desk work.

While waiting, Officer Xiao saw someone he never expected walking out of the consultation room.

"Li Momo?" Officer Xiao stood up instinctively. "Why are you here?"

Li Momo's purple hair had been dyed black and cut short, and she wore black-rimmed glasses, making her look completely different from before.

He tried to spot the police officers assigned to monitor her, but found no trace of anyone.

Did this person come here all by herself?

Officer Xiao walked forward, his face carrying a look of caution and vigilance.

"Little officer?" Li Momo saw him, looking somewhat surprised, but not overly so.

After all, not many people came here for psychological evaluations, so bumping into someone wasn't strange.

Officer Xiao's expression of wariness didn't diminish in the slightest, his hand pressing against his phone.

He had configured it so that pressing the power button five times in a row would automatically trigger an alarm.

Noticing his tension, Li Momo smiled. "Relax, and don't call me Li Momo either; it's liable to ruin things."

She flashed her medical consultation slip. "Look, my surname is Lin, Lin Moli."

"Lin... Moli?" Officer Xiao paused for a moment before the realization hit him. "Senior?"

"Yep," Lin Moli replied with a gentle smile. "Quite a surprise, isn't it?"

Officer Xiao's expression was quite complicated.

This was far more than a surprise; it was something he never could have anticipated.

"Next, Xu Tian-sheng," the doctor's voice called out from inside the consultation room.

"It's your turn," Lin Moli waved with a warm smile. "Go ahead. Keep it a secret, okay?"