If You're Going to Be a Thief, Work Alone!

"This show has one main set and a small cast, so we can adjust the shooting schedule anytime," Yang Qing explained, seeing his confusion. "Fan Ming has another shoot coming up, so we're doing his scenes first."

"We can... work on other shows at the same time?"

Shen Qi's interest stirred.

"I wouldn't really call it that. He signed on early, back when we only planned to make forty episodes. Besides, the pay's low. If we weren't flexible, where would we find actors?" Yang Qing pointed at his costume. "Just look at what I'm wearing..."

Shen Qi chose his words carefully. "It's a little plain."

"Plain, my ass! I'm playing a beggar!"

Yang Qing let out a long sigh.

Shen Qi sighed with him, though he was hardly in a position to pity the assistant director.

"Here, let me walk you through your scenes..."

The assistant director, who also played a professional beggar named Xiaomi, handed Shen Qi a few crumpled script pages.

The character had more to him than Shen Qi had expected.

As a supporting villain, Ji Wuming's "unfortunate" life began when he made a brother of Old Bai.

They grew up together and went into the same line of work.

Then, halfway through, Old Bai decided to go straight and sent him off to prison.

Ji Wuming's takeaway from life was probably this: if you're going to be a thief, work alone!

Ji Wuming was a formidable fighter. Boosted by the fury of betrayal, he could even injure Old Bai, making him a little stronger than his former brother.

He was vicious, had a mangled sense of right and wrong, and fought dirty. As for brains... he had some, just not enough to make much difference.

Still, he had lofty ambitions for his thieving career. He even proposed turning theft into an industry and taking it public.

Clearly, he was no ordinary thief. His goals and ideals were much grander than that.

He was also a man of his word.

He and Old Bai had agreed never to kill anyone.

Even after breaking out of prison and heading straight for the Tongfu Inn, he still considered himself a good person who had kept that promise.

Shen Qi's other role was Ji Wubing.

As Ji Wuming's younger brother, he was even more brutal.

He claimed to know everything in every book and liked to torment people with trick questions.

For all its poverty and makeshift production, the crew had put together some decent characters.

That was true even if they had borrowed heavily from films, TV shows, and novels, leaving themselves open to accusations of chasing trends—or outright plagiarism.

Shen Qi had scenes in three episodes. If all went well, he could finish them in seven or eight days.

Yes, seven or eight days!

It had nothing to do with his standing in the industry.

It had everything to do with money!

Shen Qi wasn't working entirely for free.

Besides food and lodging, they would pay him a hundred yuan a day.

The sooner they finished with someone paid by the day, the more money they saved.

It was a painfully low rate.

But once Shen Qi learned what the rest of the cast earned, he felt better about it.

Yan Ni and Sha Yi got two thousand yuan an episode, Yao Chen got one thousand, and Yu Entai, Jiang Chao, and Wang Shasha got five hundred. Most of the guest actors worked for practically nothing.

And even then, the cast had to share the few costumes they had.

On Shen Qi's first day, they couldn't even find him a pair of pants that fit!

"It's fine, brother. The cameraman can avoid your upper body as much as possible. Besides..." Assistant director Yang Qing tried to reassure him. "Your jeans are black. Even if they end up in the shot, they won't look out of place."

Shen Qi suddenly regretted joining the production.

He couldn't tell whether he was poorer or the crew was.

If it comes to it, I'll become a gigolo to support you all!

"Oh, the leads are here. Let me introduce you. They're all excellent actors."

Yang Qing swiftly changed the subject.

Shen Qi turned and saw several people coming in. He quickly stood to greet them.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Shen Qi. I'm new here, and I'm playing Ji Wuming!"

"Oh, my heavens! How'd they find such a handsome young man? Is he really going to play my husband?"

The moment Yan Ni opened her mouth, she had everyone laughing.

"That's a misunderstanding. Your husband's dead," assistant director Zhang Qing replied.

"Go beg for your supper!" Yan Ni rolled her eyes.

"So you're my childhood buddy, Little Ji?"

Sha Yi studied the new actor who had arrived that day and was already about to shoot.

He'd never seen him before.

Probably a student fresh out of some acting school.

Even Sha Yi, who liked to say he'd made it on his looks, had to admit Shen Qi was better-looking.

"Hello, Mr. Sha Yi!"

Shen Qi suspected the man was taking a jab at him, but he had no proof, so he let it pass.

In terms of fame, Sha Yi really was the biggest name in the cast.

He had played the Pretty-Faced General in Wrong Carriage, Right Groom.

Rumor had it that if Huang Yi hadn't insisted on bringing her boyfriend into the cast, Sha Yi would have played the male lead, Qi Tianlei.

"Hello, hello!"

Sha Yi was friendly, even a little goofy.

The entertainment industry usually had a rigid pecking order. Those at the top tended to be polite to newcomers, but distant.

Few showed such an easygoing, almost mischievous side.

"I'm new and haven't done much acting. I hope you'll look out for me."

Shen Qi still had five pages of "records"—he'd had six, but used one at the audition.

He hoped he could learn enough from the cast while working alongside them to keep himself going.

"I'm new too, big brother. You're so handsome. Even better-looking than Brother Sha..."

Wang Shasha's eyes hadn't left Shen Qi since she'd walked in with Yan Ni and Sha Yi.

She used to think Sha Yi was handsome. Now she didn't think so at all.

How shallow she'd been.

How could she ever have thought Sha Yi was good-looking?

She really needed to get out more!

"Looks are the shallowest thing to judge someone by," Shen Qi said quickly. "We're actors. If we want to make a living at this, we have to learn to appreciate great performances!"

He spoke casually, but he was conscious of how Sha Yi might take it.

He didn't know Sha Yi, but he knew his own life well enough.

Being handsome had made him a target more times than he could count.

If Sha Yi was petty, he might hold Wang Shasha's comment against him.

So even if Shen Qi sounded insincere, he had to make his position clear.

"Oh, this show's easy," Yan Ni said, slipping her arm through Shen Qi's. "We shoot a little, have a little fun..."

The cast of My Own Swordsman was more relaxed than most, and the handsome newcomer was easy on the eyes.

Still, what was with the kid? Why did he seem a little timid?

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't go saying that. What do you mean, 'shoot a little, have a little fun'?"

Director Shang Jing was glad he'd arrived in time.

"Director, where are we starting today?" Sha Yi asked.

He did feel a little uncomfortable, but not because he was jealous of Shen Qi's looks.

He was annoyed that Shen Qi seemed to think he was that small-minded.

Was that aimed at me?

Would a grown man really hold something that trivial against you?

"Definitely not with the eating scene!"

Shang Jing sat on the inn's threshold, chin slightly raised as he looked up at the gloomy sky.

"Tch—"

The actors answered with a round of eye rolls.

Before filming, they blocked and rehearsed the scenes, adjusting positions and timing so everyone knew roughly what would happen and what they had to say.

Whenever the director spotted a problem, he pointed it out.

For the actual shoot, they started with Yan Ni in red, her face hidden beneath a red bridal veil. Her costume made her look rosy and especially festive.

Who would have guessed that after traveling all the way to Mount Heng for her wedding, her husband-to-be would die before they could marry?

After she saw off the old steward, two constables came calling.

When Shen Qi and Sha Yi entered, they caught the constables harassing the "helpless woman"—though Tong Xiangyu was anything but helpless.

The Thunderbolt Bomb she threw would eventually strike Ji Wuming square in the face.

His dear brother had frozen the poor man in place with the Sunflower Acupoint-Sealing Hand, leaving him no chance to dodge.

"Stop!"

Sha Yi halted Li Dazui, who was still a constable at this point in the story.

"Who goes there?"

Li Dazui shrank back in alarm.

"Cut." Shang Jing rapped the clapperboard in exasperation. "More cowardice! This constable needs to look like a pushover..."

"Got it, got it. Let's do another take!"

Jiang Chao, who played Li Dazui, was no newcomer. He came from the Air Force Political Department Drama Troupe, had appeared in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Story of the Cooking Team, and had worked with Shang Jing many times before.

Now it was time for Shen Qi's first line.

When Li Dazui asked, "Who goes there?" Ji Wuming, played by Shen Qi, replied, "Her husband!"

This time, Shen Qi didn't touch that "magic book." He wasn't a rookie on his first day anymore.

He knew he wasn't a naturally gifted actor, but he'd improved rapidly. He could handle a simple scene like this on his own.

A second later, though, they had to do another take.

"You... why did you dodge? You... ahahaha..."

Yan Ni laughed so hard she doubled over. Her red veil slipped to one side, making her look like a wild woman let loose. There was no way they could keep filming.

Only later did Shen Qi learn just how easily she cracked up.

Before each shoot, everyone would let Yan Ni laugh for twenty minutes and wait until she'd had enough before they started filming.

Even then, she would still burst out laughing during takes.

According to the script, the moment she heard Shen Qi say, "Her husband," she was supposed to throw herself into his arms.

She hadn't expected his entire body to go rigid.

She couldn't help laughing.

Shen Qi was baffled too.

What's so funny? Whether I'm stiff or not, we can still do the scene.

Yan Ni laughed for several minutes before she could start again.

After Shen Qi finished his two shots, he assumed he was in for a long wait.

That was normal for a supporting actor.

He didn't mind. It would give him a chance to record the others' performances.

Instead, the director immediately set up a scene between him and Sha Yi inside the Tongfu Inn.

Uh...

Do you really have to work this hard just to finish with an actor you're paying by the day?

How broke are you people?