Recognized

The location was an old pier in Kwun Tong, not far from the road beside it.

Fish Head Xu parked outside. Yang Chu got out after him and saw that quite a few stuntmen and crew members were already busy around the pier.

Neither of them needed anyone to call them over. They joined in at once, helping carry equipment and props.

"Tonight's shoot is our first major scene. There'll be a lot of people, plus martial arts and a shootout, so we need to get the set ready first."

Fish Head Xu unloaded some prop guns from a truck and gave Yang Chu a quick rundown of the night's shoot. "You'll probably be doing a few stunts for yesterday's male lead's double. After that, just go wherever they need someone to fill out the crowd. If there's a fall or a fight, Jia Le will let you know."

As he spoke, Fish Head Xu seemed to get more talkative. He gestured around the pier. "It's expensive to rent this place. Big Brother wants us to wrap in a day, three days at the absolute most. That's how things are now. Back then, when we shot scenes like this, we'd just sneak in at night when nobody was around. Over on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, the police couldn't exactly close the roads for a film shoot, so we just went ahead and did it.

"One time, we were shooting a robbery at a gold shop. We'd already cleared it with the owner, just to get the location. Then a passerby saw us and thought we were really robbing the place. They called the police to come arrest us..."

Yang Chu nodded slightly to show he understood.

The pier looked somewhat desolate, but that didn't mean it was free to rent for a film shoot.

Yang Chu spent the whole morning going here and there with the fight choreographer, props team, production staff, lighting crew, and others.

His performance earned him more praise from everyone. Although he was unfamiliar with film sets, he understood most things as soon as they were explained and picked them up quickly, displaying qualities far beyond those of an ordinary stuntman.

While Fish Head Xu and the crew discussed the set, Yang Chu didn't say much. Just by listening to what they were saying, he could picture the setup in vivid detail.

Every now and then, he offered Fish Head Xu a brief suggestion. A few words were enough to bring clarity to work that had left others stumped.

They ate boxed lunches at the makeshift set on the pier. Yang Chu ate two portions by himself, and afterward Fish Head Xu went to ask the production staff for another.

There wasn't much else to do for the time being. The weather was hot, and Yang Chu saw small groups of crew members playing cards, calling to bet on horse races, or finding places to sleep.

Yang Chu found a shady spot, took out the books he'd borrowed that day, and started reading. Fish Head Xu couldn't sit still. He wandered over to watch the card players, but soon returned to Yang Chu's side and lay down for a nap.

It was around four in the afternoon when everyone finally perked up and got back to work, urged on by the assistant director, Quan, and the fight choreographer, Jia Le.

Not long after, Wu Zai, one of the male leads that night, arrived. Director San Bao and the group led by Black Skin Sha, whom Yang Chu had seen earlier on Fu Shan Road, also appeared on set.

Director San Bao inspected the set and pointed out a few things that needed changing. Then he spoke with the props, costume, and lighting departments, as well as the other teams, and discussed the scenes with the cast appearing that night.

Jia Le brought Yang Chu and the male lead, Wu Zai, together to explain the shots Yang Chu would be doubling for that night.

They weren't complicated. The film's plot had the male lead and an old cop, played by San Bao, lying in wait to catch a gang deal. Midway through, the old cop spotted an incident involving ***** at one side of the pier and argued with the male lead. The male lead wanted to prioritize their mission and avoid jeopardizing it over a lesser matter, but the old cop couldn't stand by and do nothing. He ran over to help, and the male lead had no choice but to follow.

The scene Yang Chu was doubling for involved the male lead jumping from the cargo container where he was watching to the roof of a truck, then stepping onto the metal railing beside it and dropping to the ground. After that, he vaulted over another truck, and the scene was done.

As for the fight scenes afterward, Jia Le didn't assign Yang Chu a role as one of the villain's underlings. He thought Yang Chu still didn't know how to react convincingly.

By the time they finished all that, it was nearly dark.

They had boxed lunches on set again that evening. The gang members Yang Chu had noticed earlier didn't get any special treatment; they ate boxed lunches too. Since arriving that afternoon, they'd simply stood off at a distance whenever they had nothing to do, without interfering with the crew's work.

"On your marks! All departments, get ready!"

At eight that evening, filming officially began.

The shot right before Yang Chu's was one of Director San Bao's. He jumped off a cargo container, grabbed an iron bar, and spun around in one smooth move. It was hard to imagine that a fat man weighing over two hundred pounds could be so much more nimble than an ordinary person.

Yang Chu's stunt shot was done in one take as well. His movements were clean and sharp, earning another round of applause from the stuntmen on set.

The scene with the vault, the chase, and the two fight scenes between the police and the gang were all filmed smoothly at the pier that night.

It was so fast that even Yang Chu was a little surprised.

"Chu-zai, Jia Le told me you did a great job today."

As he passed Yang Chu, Director San Bao came over, patted him on the shoulder, and praised him again.

He was very pleased with how quickly they'd filmed that night. These night scenes had been somewhat complicated to coordinate, but the lighting, set dressing, and props had all gone smoothly.

The lighting was fairly dim, and most of the shots were long-distance, so the actors didn't have much to do. They finished everything with ease.

"Ah Sha, thanks!"

After greeting Yang Chu and the other stuntmen, Director San Bao called out to Black Skin Sha and the others, who had made cameo appearances in the film.

They'd basically just played themselves that night, standing around looking cool and putting on a few angry expressions.

"Sha, we waited around all day for that fat guy just to shoot two scenes."

After Director San Bao left, one of the underlings standing beside Black Skin Sha complained indignantly.

"What do you know?"

Black Skin Sha wagged a finger. Another underling beside him caught on and took out a cigarette, handing it over and stepping forward to light it.

Phew—

Black Skin Sha took a long, satisfied drag and continued, "If that fat guy hadn't fallen off a bit these past couple of years, do you think he'd give you the time of day just because you called him Big Brother?"

"Then, Sha, why are we investing in his movie?" The underling looked completely baffled.

"Of course we're investing."

With the cigarette in his mouth, Black Skin Sha looked at the confused underling and patted his cheek. "Tell me, can you deposit the cash from our drug business in the bank every month? Can you just pull it out and buy cars and houses? That money's dirty. The authorities will investigate it, you fool!"

The underling scratched his head, clearly not understanding.

This time, Black Skin Sha didn't bother explaining. He just watched the crew members packing up in the distance and spoke to himself. "Our money's dirty, but we can use it privately to invest in movies. The labor costs, expenses, and taxes—the tax office won't know.

"Once the movie's out, you can book out theaters and buy up the tickets, then stockpile a pile of videotapes and discs. The money comes back to you through the theater chains and distribution profits, and it's clean because you've paid taxes on it. The cops can't do a thing to you.

"If you run it through a few companies, you won't even have to pay taxes. It'll all be squeaky clean. Besides, Hong Kong's film industry is booming right now. Invest three to five million and you can make tens of millions. You'd be an idiot not to."

The underling who'd spoken was left dumbfounded by Black Skin Sha's explanation. Only now did he truly understand why his boss had dropped everything else and insisted on cozying up to that fat man.

"Sha!"

"Sha!"

As Black Skin Sha was lecturing his underling, another car pulled into the open space by the pier. Two men got out and walked over to him.

"How's it going?"

Black Skin Sha looked at the two men approaching him, then pointed with the hand holding his cigarette at the one with a ponytail.

"Sha, that kid's vanished into thin air. We asked the people he used to know, and they all said they hadn't seen him." The young man with the ponytail looked troubled.

"I've been waiting for days, and now you're telling me you can't find him? I'm easygoing, but Tai isn't."

Black Skin Sha's expression turned vicious in an instant. He glared at the young man with the ponytail and spoke coldly.

"Sha, I really can't find him..." The young man with the ponytail looked bitter. Black Skin Sha and his men had been driving him half-mad these past few days, but there was nothing he could do. He'd tried every avenue, but still couldn't find the man they were after.

He was about to beg for mercy when his gaze landed on the crowd in the distance. He suddenly froze.

"What is it? Lost your soul?" Black Skin Sha asked, puzzled by the young man's sudden blank stare.

"Sha!"

The young man with the ponytail pointed toward the crew members packing up. His voice trembled slightly. "Th-that... that's Black Fish Zai..."