Director Lu is not as quick as Director Li.
“Demon! Do you still dare to bring harm to the mortal world?!”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
“No, I don’t dare, I don’t dare! Please have mercy, great hero! Ah, ah, ah!”
Under the powerful blows of the “Masked Gourd Hero,” the “Snake Spirit Queen” begged for mercy again and again.
“Do you still dare to endanger the safety and property of the people?!”
“Brother, that line doesn’t sound imposing at all. How about another one…”
As she spoke, the “Snake Spirit Queen” handed the whip to Li Jie, her big eyes sparkling, encouraging her beloved to let his imagination run wild.
“Let’s call it a day for now. In a few days, we’ll take our time exploring new ways to play.”
“Yay~~!”
In high spirits, Su Mengyao twisted and writhed even more sinuously than the snake spirit itself, until she couldn’t move anymore. Only then did she and the “Masked Gourd Hero” collapse together in a dramatic “death.”
After a ten-minute rest, they filled the bathtub and, once the water was ready, took a bubble bath together. As Li Jie scrubbed Su Mengyao’s back, he asked the girl sitting between his legs, “Yaoyao, why don’t you start a social media account as the ‘Snake Spirit Queen?’”
“I’ll do whatever you say, Brother Jie.”
Li Jie’s strong, practiced fingers—having studied massage—made Su Mengyao sigh with pleasure.
After bathing, the two played a duo match of “King’s League” and chatted about their upcoming plans. Su Mengyao had already successfully withdrawn from Canglong Art School, but she didn’t want to idle around, so she focused on practicing art design for now. Li Jie provided the drafts; she only needed to unleash her creativity on the base templates.
But over these past few days, Li Jie’s incredible “all-around” abilities had truly astonished her. She never would have guessed that her “peerless hero” excelled at everything besides acting and singing.
“We still need a cameraman. I’ll talk to Brother Wu and have him find someone. If all goes well, we’ll shoot the promo this week and broadcast the first episode around New Year’s.”
“That soon?”
“The Wohu District TV station has a slot at five in the afternoon. The current children’s show will end right before New Year’s. Originally, another company was supposed to produce a preschool show, but this time Grandpa pulled some strings, and Director Liu Deyu can help us jump the queue.”
“Will we make it in time?”
“No problem. Filming ‘Masked Gourd Hero’ doesn’t require any acting skills.”
What mattered was dazzling fight scenes.
The first “Dark Monster” had already been designed: a rotund green toad demon.
The venom-spraying device was simple enough; just use a close-up and then cut to another shot.
The real hassle was setting up the scale-model street scenes. Fortunately, they had three 3D printers, so the main structures weren’t a problem—the real workload would be in painting and texturing.
That was why Li Jie asked Guo Rong for help. Brother Rong’s father, Guo Wei, was at the Industrial Design Academy and carried some authority there.
He could outsource the work to Guo Rong, who in turn could recruit students from the academy for part-time gigs.
It was hard to find tireless painting robots on an assembly line, but college students eager to earn some extra cash and social practice credits… there were plenty.
A class of forty, two classes eighty, three years more than two hundred people—Li Jie only needed to pick the best of the bunch.
And these were all trained professionals; the quality would be excellent.
Everyone knew Director Lu Xiaoguan was famous for his speed, but Li Jie was determined to show the world: Director Lu might be fast, but Director Li is even faster!
Efficiency is money!
To ensure speed, the next day Li Jie asked Wu Shuguang, who managed equipment inventory in the warehouse, about finding a cameraman. “Brother Wu, do you know any good cameramen?”
“You haven’t settled that yet?”
“Not yet.”
“But I saw you already shot some sample footage?”
Wu Shuguang was puzzled. If he didn’t have a cameraman, how did he manage to produce such professional-looking clips?
Whether it was the promo for “Masked Gourd Hero” or for the “Snake Spirit Queen,” both were very well done—especially with the added soundtrack. Wu Shuguang thought this children’s show had real potential.
It had the quality of a hit.
“I filmed those myself.”
“……”
Goodness!
Wu Shuguang was stunned—just what kind of talent did this adopted son of Teacher Ai possess?
“Junior, besides acting, are you actually pretty good at everything related to filming?”
As he spoke, Wu Shuguang gestured to the props lining the warehouse, all crafted by Li Jie and Su Mengyao. The scale-model street set was already assembled, only the painting and texturing remained.
With Li Jie’s prop-making skills, any director would save tens of thousands.
And Li Jie even had a fireworks technician’s certificate…
That was even more impressive—a substantial amount of money saved.
“Brother Wu, I’ll be masked the whole time in this show. Acting isn’t even required.”
“Tsk, that’s what I mean—leave it to the young to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. Well done.”
After a brief compliment, Wu Shuguang added, “I have a buddy who works at a wedding company in Huating—his name is Chen Bosheng. He’s worked with a few up-and-coming directors before. I’ll call him over for an interview. If it works out, great; if not, he gets a trip to Jianye out of it.”
“Alright, thanks for your help, Brother Wu.”
“Sure, I’ll call him now.”
As Wu Shuguang took out his phone, Li Jie went back to printing more spare parts, leaving Wu Shuguang to make the call in peace.
“Old Chen, it’s me.”
“Got a job for me?”
“My teacher’s son is filming a children’s show and needs a cameraman. Are you available?”
“Where and when?”
“In Jianye. The sooner you can get here, the better.”
“Alright, I’ll buy a high-speed rail ticket now. See you in three hours.”
“……”
Wu Shuguang knew Chen Bosheng would come quickly, but this was faster than he expected.
After hanging up, Wu Shuguang turned to Li Jie. “Junior, he’ll be here in about three hours.”
“That fast? I’ll go tidy up the room then.”
“I’ll do it. I’ve just finished my inventory check.”
“Alright, Brother Wu, I’ll keep printing props.”
When Wu Shuguang arrived in Jianye, Li Jie had already rented a three-bedroom apartment; everyone could just move right in. As long as they tidied up another room, Chen Bosheng would have a place to stay as soon as he arrived.
On the way to the apartment, Wu Shuguang called Ai Shoujin. “Teacher Ai, your junior’s efficiency is incredible—the character promos are already finished. He’s really fast.”
“Huh?”
Ai Shoujin was baffled: Hasn’t it only been a few days?
That night, while visiting Lu Xiaoguan on set, Ai Shoujin casually mentioned it and said with some emotion, “Lu, you work so quickly, but my eldest boy is even faster.”
Outwardly, he sounded impressed, but inside, he was secretly pleased.
“Huh?”
Lu Xiaoguan was utterly confused: What’s going on? Did my “White Dog God” just turn away and leave the theater?
This pace of change was simply astonishing!