Chapter 70: Welcome Aboard the Pirate Ship

A person dressed in a hoodie, baseball cap, and mask, leaving only their eyes visible, appeared near the film crew, peering around furtively. This kind of behavior would seem odd elsewhere, but in the vicinity of a film set, it was perfectly reasonable. After all, actors came in all levels of fame.

Lu Chunqiu noticed and walked over, calling out, “Wu Miao?”

Wu Miao jumped in surprise and instinctively denied it. “You’ve got the wrong person!”

“Still insisting?” Lu Chunqiu smiled. “You’re here to see Xiaofei, right? Come with me.”

Wu Miao looked a bit embarrassed. “Oh, um, you’re Mo’s agent, right?”

“Yes, my surname is Lu.” Remembering the last time she had seen Wu Miao poisoned by wild mushrooms in the hospital, she couldn’t help but smile. “How’s your health lately?”

Clearly, Wu Miao had heard about that incident from his own agent after waking up. If it weren’t for the mask, his face would have been visibly red as he replied, “I’m all better now.”

An incident where wild mushrooms felled an entire film crew had never happened since the film city’s founding. Ever since then, the restaurant walls were plastered with food safety reminders. In a way, they had made their mark on the film city’s history.

Upon seeing Mo Fei, Wu Miao jogged over. “Mo, I’m here.”

Mo Fei eyed his getup, looking like a thief. If Officer Tang saw him, he’d probably pin him down on the spot.

Making a mental note to warn Wu Miao in the future, Mo Fei still got up to greet him. “You made it. This is the director of my current crew, Director Qian.”

“And this is Wu Miao, a seasoned actor who started as a child star.”

Director Qian extended a hand, not looking particularly excited. “I’ve heard of you. My grandmother loves your dramas.”

Wu Miao shook his hand. “Director Qian, pleasure to meet you.”

Neither of them was here to network, so after the introduction, they tacitly ignored each other.

Wu Miao tugged at Mo Fei’s sleeve and pulled a brand-new deck of cards from his hoodie pocket. “Mo, look.”

He tried to flick a card from his hand, but it shot off wildly.

“See? That always happens,” Wu Miao said, frustrated. “They always go flying.”

Director Qian picked up the card from the ground, wedged it between his fingers, gathered some force, flicked his wrist, and sent the card flying.

With a soft “thud,” the card embedded itself in the leg of a wooden chair as Wu Miao’s eyes widened in astonishment.

Mo Fei, impressed, gave a thumbs-up. “Qian, I didn’t know you had that trick.”

“I practiced when I was bored,” Director Qian said with an abashed smile. “I once thought about carving statues with playing cards, but it turns out paper cards only stick in wood—they can’t actually carve shapes, so I gave up.”

Wu Miao tried to pull the card from the chair leg. The card was paper, but the groove in the wood was real.

“That’s so cool! I want to learn, too!” Wu Miao’s eyes shone with excitement as he looked at Director Qian. Throwing cards was just as cool as sleight of hand—he wanted to learn both!

Director Qian thought for a moment. “But I have to shoot the film; I don’t have time to teach you.”

Mo Fei shrugged as well. “I’m the male lead here, and we’re about to start shooting. I don’t have time to teach you magic tricks either.”

“Can I join your crew?” Wu Miao blurted out, getting carried away.

Director Qian and Mo Fei both froze in surprise.

Standing to the side, Lu Chunqiu felt a pang of sympathy for her fellow agent and reminded him, “Mr. Wu, shouldn’t you check with your agent before making a decision?”

Only then did Wu Miao come to his senses and pull out his phone. “Oh, right, of course, I’ll call right now—”

Watching Wu Miao walk off to make the call, Lu Chunqiu quietly moved next to Mo Fei.

“Do you know who he reminds me of?”

Mo Fei rubbed his chin, guessing, “Your younger brother?”

“I don’t have a younger brother.”

“Your ideal type?” Mo Fei grinned mischievously. “Sis, if you like younger guys, you can go for someone with a baby face, but if the age gap’s too big, you’ll have nothing in common.”

“Get lost.” Lu Chunqiu elbowed him. “He reminds me of you, that’s what! Two troublemakers.”

She shot him a glare. “If anything happens, report to me first, got it? Don’t just do whatever pops into your head.”

Mo Fei felt wronged, rubbing his side where he’d been hit. “Fine, fine, fine.”

Wu Miao came back after the call, head lowered, looking chastened.

Clearly, his agent had just given him a talking-to—he seemed much more subdued.

“I still have some promotional work to do, so I probably can’t join you.”

“Promotional work?” Lu Chunqiu asked curiously. “For Director Wang’s film? It’s already finished?”

Wu Miao nodded, then shook his head. “It’s that film, but since it only needed editing and basic post-production, it went fairly quickly. Still, it’s not that fast—it’s just for some coordinated publicity.”

He sounded a bit envious. “Mo, you’re the fifth male lead, so whether you go or not isn’t a big deal. But I can’t get out of it.”

“That’s a good thing,” Lu Chunqiu said with a smile, patting Mo Fei’s shoulder. “This is the first time my Xiaofei is the male lead. Since you’re here, Mr. Wu, why not give him some pointers?”

Wu Miao smiled shyly. “We can learn from each other.”

They all had lunch together, and by afternoon, the crew had mostly assembled. It was time to discuss the upcoming work schedule.

Wu Miao had intended to keep a low profile, but nobody seemed to mind his presence. Director Qian even waved him over to join the discussion and see if he had any suggestions.

Wu Miao had never seen a crew like this before—he was surprised, but also intrigued.

However, the longer he listened, the more numb his expression became.

Where did they find this crew? Wasn’t there a single professional here?

The lighting technician was reading the manual, the makeup artist was still wearing paint-stained overalls, the costume designer was sketching on a tablet, and the cameraman was using his thumb to gauge proportions.

The only one who seemed remotely competent was Mo Fei, but he was a professional actor, not an expert in any other role, so his suggestions were often naive.

The director, who ought to be in charge, was the most outrageous of all—he took notes diligently as Mo Fei spoke, looking every bit the model student.

Wu Miao pinched his thigh hard. It hurt.

So this wasn’t a dream—this kind of crew really existed?

Was this some rich second-generation wasting money out of boredom? Or was it a money-laundering scheme? Either way, they clearly had more money than sense.

Lu Chunqiu was just as shocked as Wu Miao to witness the crew’s working style for the first time. She’d suspected they might be unprofessional, but not to this extent.

Fortunately, the contract was signed and the money was in the bank; otherwise, Lu Chunqiu would genuinely worry that this bunch might one day decide to shoot a film in outer space just for fun.

“Um—” Wu Miao finally couldn’t take it anymore. He raised his hand to speak. “May I make a few suggestions?”