Chapter 98: Wrapping Up and Release

Director Wang’s initial idea was quite good, but Old Deng’s was undeniably more tragic. Fratricide, fate’s cruel hand—his suggestion raised the sorrow of the situation to another level entirely.

Once Old Deng entered work mode, he became somewhat manic, spinning out more and more plot details, utterly impervious to anyone else’s input. Since their purpose was fulfilled, Director Wang didn’t linger. After adding Old Deng to the production group chat, he took his leave.

On the way to drop Mofei home, Director Wang reminded him, “Our crew is almost fully assembled now. Keep an eye out for updates—we might need to shoot on location outside the city.”

Mofei signaled his understanding with an okay gesture.

There was only one scene left for Xiaoqian’s side of the production—that last act of the film. The protagonist, after resigning, goes seeking a new job. The company he interviews with calls the female boss to ask about him, and receives the response, “He’s the most foolish assistant I’ve ever met, but not hiring him would certainly be a foolish decision.” The first half insults him, the second half praises him—a clear display of prideful affection.

Landing the job, the protagonist steps outside and happens to see the female boss boarding her car with her usual brisk decisiveness from across the street. They spot each other. In that moment, understanding passes between them, and relief fills their hearts.

As the car drives away, Xiaoqian raises her hand and calls out, “Cut!” “Filming is finished!” she announces, clapping with delight.

The rest of the crew joins in, each applause sincere. Lady Qian is gratified by the completion of the work, while the crew are simply overjoyed—no more relentless striving. There were few workaholics here; if you can't slack off, most of the fun is gone.

While Mofei was reporting the good news to Lü Chunqiu, he also received the start date and location from Director Wang. The timing was fine; he was used to moving seamlessly from one project to another. But the location—on the border of Yunnan and Myanmar?

Was this for real?

Mofei could scarcely imagine what would happen if he, carrying the “Moth to Flame” aura, appeared at the Yunnan-Myanmar border. Would it be a gathering of human traffickers and drug dealers, smugglers and murderers all dancing together?

He tried messaging Director Wang to persuade him to reconsider. After all, he’d experienced real bad luck in Wang’s crew before, and Wang should know this well.

Director Wang’s reply was simple: “Just go. I’m mentally prepared.” More precisely, Wang intended to send Mofei ahead alone under the pretext of having him immerse in his character’s emotions, with the crew arriving later. The border was chaotic, and Mofei was notoriously unlucky—so why not fight poison with poison and see which was stronger?

Of course, Wang wasn’t just sending Mofei off unattended. He’d already pulled strings to hire a top-notch bodyguard—skilled in every kind of weapon, trained in hand-to-hand combat both domestically and abroad, a retired special forces soldier with connections in both legitimate and underground circles. He was expensive, but for the safety of the crew, well worth the price. Wang had spent a lot of old favors to secure this man. He was truly going all out for the film.

Seeing that persuading Wang was futile, Mofei switched tactics and tried reasoning with Lü Chunqiu. He’d have to go somewhere so remote and dangerous; it was out of the question to involve Lü Chunqiu, who was hardly physically robust.

His reasoning was sound: the movie in which he played the fifth male lead was about to premiere, and Lü Chunqiu needed to stay behind to monitor public opinion. There was a cat at home needing care; he couldn’t let the newly adopted stray revert to wildness. And her mind hadn’t fully recovered from past trauma—if something happened out there, would Mofei have to save her again? There was absolutely no need for that.

Lü Chunqiu had just picked up her phone, not yet recovered from the shock of her artist gaining notoriety for reasons less than wholesome, when she received Mofei’s lengthy, thoughtful persuasion.

Her lips twitched, a thousand words stuck in her throat, impossible to express. If Mofei were in front of her, she’d smack him—though after the smack, she’d agree with him. Lü Chunqiu was not lacking in self-awareness; she knew well the chaos at the Yunnan-Myanmar border.

Since the egg-throwing incident, she recognized that Mofei might still have some ability to protect himself, but with her along, he’d just have another burden. She’d likely be of little help and might only add unnecessary work for Mofei.

She hadn’t expected Director Wang to be so bold. Why shoot a good film in such a place—did he find ordinary life too comfortable? Truly, fortune favors the bold.

Sighing, Lü Chunqiu began searching online for self-defense tools. If she couldn’t stop her artist from striving, she’d do her utmost to arm Mofei to the teeth.

Walking through the old district, phone in hand, she suddenly heard someone gently call her name. “Miss Lü.”

She looked toward the voice.

Miss Wen was carrying a bag of groceries, her face alight with surprise. “Miss Lü, Mofei’s upcoming film looks fantastic—I’ll definitely support it.”

Lü Chunqiu instinctively thanked her. “Thank you… but Fei only plays a minor role. How did you notice?”

Miss Wen smiled and nodded, “Of course. The recent publicity campaign with Mofei and the police was huge—I paid attention.”

She pulled a brand-new fish knife from her grocery bag and showed it to Lü Chunqiu. “I watched the trailer—the character Mofei plays is so charming. I even bought some of his merchandise.”

Smiling shyly, Miss Wen added, “I suppose it counts as personal merchandise? It’s my first time being a fan, so I’m not sure about these things.”

“Uh—” Lü Chunqiu stared at the gleaming fish knife, momentarily speechless, uncertain. “I suppose it does count?”

Miss Wen cradled the knife, a touch of regret on her face. “I searched several supermarkets and only found this kind of fish knife. It doesn’t quite look like the one Mofei used.”

That chilly sensation crept up Lü Chunqiu’s spine again. She forced a smile. “It’s already great. It’s the thought that counts.”

“By the way,” Miss Wen took another identical fish knife from her bag and handed it to Lü Chunqiu. “Could you ask Mofei to sign this for me?”

Her smile held hope. “One for signing and collecting, one for using—just like his character. I learned that online.”

Lü Chunqiu took the knife and nodded silently. “Very good, very good—learning never ends…”

She kept a calm face, but inside she was screaming—please don’t learn such strange things!