Outside.
The people from Beijing Television and the film crew were all busy working.
Their equipment had been returned. Actually, there were not many scenes left for the film crew to shoot. After getting a few more takes, they were finished filming for the day.
"Cut!"
"It"s a wrap!"
"Great work, Director w.a.n.g."
"You too, Sister Ning."
The film crew started to pack up their equipment.
Not too far away, Zhang Ye was strolling past at this moment.
When the film crew saw him, the director and a few of the managers rushed up to him.
"Teacher Zhang."
"Thank you so much."
"It was all thanks to you."
"Thank you!"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Not at all. I had to answer Sister Ning"s call for help. Besides, my coworkers were also trapped here. In the name of reason, I had to make a trip here today."
Ning Lan also smiled and said, "If you hadn"t come here today, Teacher Zhang, we really wouldn"t have known what we to do. It seems like only you can earn their respect. Others couldn"t do a thing."
Zhang Ye waved it off. "The key is that they were willing to give me face. The truth is that we were in the wrong this time."
The director said, "It was due our crew"s negligence. I"m quite sorry about that. We even caused trouble for you and your friends from Beijing Television."
Zhang Ye said, "Think nothing of it. Everything is fine now."
The film crew shouldered their equipment and left one by one.
Ning Lan was the last person to leave. She looked at Zhang Ye. "So it really did help to mention your name."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "I just happen to have some influence here. They were also willing to give me face."
"Sure." Ning Lan smiled a beautiful smile, "When I encounter something like this in the future, I"ll know what to do. Mentioning your name, Zhang Ye, will be sure to help."
Zhang Ye started and quickly said, "Don"t do that. You absolutely must not."
Ning Lan was curious. "What"s wrong?"
Zhang Ye said nervously, "In any case, just don"t mention my name. I don"t have that great an influence."
Mention my name?
You need to know where you are first of all!
It might be alright if it"s at the Lian Family Style School or some of the other small sects in the martial arts community. Those places are more than likely willing to give me face. But if you went to the Shaolin Monastery, Huashan Sect, or Kunlun Sect and mentioned my name? Then you"d be trying to die! The issue might have started small, but if you mention my name, the small issue will most a.s.suredly get blown out of proportion!
After a while, Ning Lan and the film crew left in a hurry to get to their next location.
Zhang Ye then went to the Beijing Television team.
They had already begun filming the promotional video and were currently blocking out the scene.
When Hu Fei saw that Zhang Ye had come over, he asked, "You even have influence at this place?"
Zhang Ye gave a wry smile. "More or less."
Xiao Lu grinned and shouted, "Teacher Zhang, you"re so cool!"
"Yeah!" Dafei said, "You didn"t see what happened just then. It was so dangerous. But after you arrived, the Lian Family Style disciples just stayed silent. What the h.e.l.l happened?"
"What sort of t.i.tle is Master Zhang?" Hou Ge was extremely curious.
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "It"s just a form of address, nothing more."
Since Zhang Ye did not elaborate, no one could puzzle it out. Whatever it was, today"s incident had astounded all of them. How could Zhang Ye have more influence than Jiang Hanwei in the domain of the Chinese martial arts world?
When the police officers standing a distance away were finally certain that there wouldn"t be any more trouble, they gave each other a look and had a quick word with the people from Beijing Television before turning to leave. They didn"t even greet Zhang Ye. Certainly, they knew who Zhang Ye was. But his reputation with the police was the same as it was in the Chinese martial arts world: It was very notorious! Those two verses of "Shut are the doors for humans, / Open is the entrance of a dog cage" and "No matter how heavy the iron shackles clang at my feet, / No matter how high you raise the whip" had pushed the police into the public eye a couple years ago. They had nearly drowned in the people"s vitriol. Zhang Ye had gone in and out of the police station a few times himself, so he had dealt with the Public Security Bureau on many occasions. As such, whenever the cops saw Zhang Ye, their first reaction would be to stay as far away as possible, since they knew how awful this guy could be!
The shooting for the promotional video began.
Hu Fei asked, "Zhang"er, what do you think about this?"
"It"s fine," Zhang Ye said.
Hu Fei asked, "Do you have any suggestions?"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "I"m just a bystander, don"t ask me."
Hu Fei laughed and said, "With you, the director of the number 1 rated TV show in the country, standing here beside me, who else would I ask if not you?"
In the end, Zhang Ye had no choice but to offer some advice. He made a few filming suggestions, but did not say more than necessary. Zhang Ye had high expectations for the King of Masked Singers. After all, it was a show he would be competing in. But that was also why Zhang Ye did not want to get involved in the production too much. He wanted to give it some novelty since his upcoming battlefield wasn"t going to be behind the scenes.
Half an hour.
An hour.
The filming followed a packed schedule.
Zhang Ye was observing things from a distance with folded arms.
Some Lian Family Style disciples were also nearby, stealing glances at Zhang Ye from time to time. Some of them looked at him curiously, while some of them glanced at him cautiously. But regardless of what their expressions were, there was always some fear in their eyes. Each one stayed as far away as they could. No one dared to get too near to him.
Many of those from Beijing Television noticed this, and it made them wonder even more!
Xiao Lu could no longer hold it in. When she saw one of the Lian Family Style disciples, she suddenly went up to him and said, "Bro."
"Ah?" The unarmed specialist was startled.
Xiao Lu pointed in Zhang Ye"s direction. "Can I ask you something? Why are you guys so afraid of Teacher Zhang?"
The unarmed specialist said in embarra.s.sment, "We"re not."
Xiao Lu asked, "Really?"
The unarmed specialist wiped at his sweat. "We"re not afraid of him."
Xiao Lu said suspiciously, "Oh, is that so? Then I must have been wrong."
The Lian Family Style"s unarmed specialists could only smile bitterly in their minds. Not afraid? How could they not be afraid of him! In the Chinese martial arts world, who wouldn"t tremble at the mere mention of Zhang Ye"s name? Only people like you who did not know powerful Zhang Ye is would dare to speak to Zhang Ye in such a manner. If it were the Chinese martial arts world"s people, how many would dare to act rashly in front of him? Even those large sects with a deep-seated hatred for Zhang Ye might not necessarily dare to do so. They were constantly saying they wanted to denounce Zhang Ye, but how long had it been? Had any of the large sects taken action yet? They only dared to talk big!
Heading to the metropolitan area.
On the road.
In the bus, the director was cursing at the cameraman who had stepped on the Lian Family Style"s Heavenly Rock. He had been scolding him the entire way back. "What the h.e.l.l were you thinking?! Didn"t you see that they"d fenced it?"
That cameraman looked down at the floor without speaking. He had been quite frightened.
The director snapped, "If Sister Ning had not asked Zhang Ye for help, all of our equipment would"ve been written off! Someone might"ve even gotten hurt!"
The cameraman said, "It, it was my fault."
Ning Lan said, "It"s over, so let"s forget about it, Director w.a.n.g."
The director said, "Frankly, however, although Teacher Zhang Ye"s reputation in the industry is not too good, but his influence is quite wide."
Ning Lan owed Zhang Ye a rather big favor this time, so she wanted to help him out. She smiled and said, "Why don"t we add another character to our movie? And then invite Zhang Ye to play the part?"
The director gave her a wry smile. "Do you think I don"t want to? If Zhang Ye had joined the film awhile back, the male lead"s role would"ve belonged to him for certain. But ever since the air pollution doc.u.mentary scandal, who has the courage invite him aboard? He has offended too many people and those people he offended this time are all…Forget it, there"s no point in talking about it. I"m actually quite impressed with Zhang Ye, but being impressed is just that. As a director, I have to be responsible to the company and investors who entrusted me with this movie. I must guarantee that the movie will get shown. If I asked Zhang Ye to join us in his current circ.u.mstances, who would be brave enough to show our movie?" He wasn"t some famous director. He was just a small-time director who hadn"t debuted for too many years. He had to consider what others thought of him.
Ning Lan asked, "Is it that serious?"
The director nodded. "Why else do you think Zhang Ye still can"t get any new work even though he"s an A-list celebrity? It"s because no one wants to risk inviting him."
Well, whatever.
It seemed like she couldn"t help him out this time.
And so, Ning Lan did not say more.
Di di di. Suddenly, the chat app on her cell phone beeped with a notification.
When Ning Lan finally checked the messages, she discovered that there were quite a few new messages in the Goof Group. A lot of people had pinged her.
Xiaodong: "Sister Ning, how"re things now?"
Fan Wenli: "They didn"t hurt you, did they?"
Zhang Yuanqi: "Are you there?"
Huo Dongfang: "Old Ning? Why"d she go quiet? Might something have happened?"
Ning Lan quickly replied in the group: "Thanks so much for your concern, everyone. The problem has been successfully resolved. Everyone is fine, and the equipment was returned to us."
Xiaodong: "Ah? That fast?"
Ning Lan sent a smiley face. "Yep. When Zhang Ye came over, the Lian Family actually gave him face and returned our equipment to us without another word!"
A movie star asked curiously: "Zhang Ye?"
Chen Guang: "Zhang Ye really went over?"
Xiaodong: "They really gave face to Teacher Zhang?"
Ning Lan laughed and said: "Not only that. When he first arrived, those people from the training hall immediately fell silent. Even the Lian Family Style"s Master Lian treated him very politely. But as for why, I"m not quite sure either. Anyway, I owe Zhang Ye a favor now and have to find a way to repay him, hur hur."
A lot of the big shot celebrities in the Goof Group had not expected this. Many of them wanted to ask Jiang Hanwei what exactly was going on. That was because, in the entertainment industry, it was Jiang Hanwei who probably had the most ties with the martial arts world, so he should know why. But when they remembered the conflict between Jiang Hanwei and Zhang Ye, they knew it wouldn"t be right to ask him. Therefore, they could only a.s.sume that Zhang Ye knew someone in the Lian Family since they couldn"t think of any other possible reasons.