Not long after Tao Zidong returned, the matter of Xiao He preparing to step in and join the "Cangyue Calamity" production team was officially finalized online.
The moment the official "Cangyue Calamity" blog announced it, netizens finally stopped fixating on the previous incident and instead began discussing Xiao He joining the "Cangyue Calamity" crew.
[My Brother Xiao is becoming a professional pinch-hitter.]
[All that arguing back and forth, and in the end, it's still my Brother Xiao.]
[Brother Xiao: I don't know anything. I'm just sitting here in the crew, and opportunities fall from the sky.]
[Oh my god, does that mean Brother Xiao will be shuttling between two sets non-stop? Is there really no one else in the domestic entertainment industry to take this role? They're treating Xiao He like a spinning top.]
[Yeah, doesn't this count as schedule juggling?]
[A little-known fact: Currently, the "Record of Chasing the Wind" and "Cangyue Calamity" crews are filming in the same location. If Brother Xiao has to shuttle between them, it'll be tough, but it's doable.]
[If it's just filling in, it's probably okay. Xiao He's performance as Mo Tun before was really handsome.]
[Wait, wait, is it just me whose world is collapsing? Is Xiao He really suitable to play my Senior Brother? I'm about to die over here.]
[The crew changing actors is unavoidable, but why does it have to be Xiao He...]
[Ahh, when "Cangyue Calamity" was announced for adaptation, my world collapsed. Then when Senior Brother was cast as Wang Shaoqi, I was already dead. Now that it's changed to Xiao He, I want to die even more.]
[Who thought of having Xiao He fill in? Is your crew really so hard up that there's no one else? You guys really can't do it. The neighboring "Record of Chasing the Wind" has Zhao Qinyuan. Can't you find Zhao Qinyuan? Xiao He really won't do.]
[No, no, don't drag our Zhao Qinyuan into this.]
[My brilliant, noble, and flawless Senior Brother, sob, I'm dead.]
It must be said that Tao Zidong's side clearly exerted effort, shifting everyone's attention to the production team itself and the casting choice. At this moment, not many people were bringing up the crew's group gathering incident anymore. Although Xiao He faced a certain degree of skepticism, the matter was settled. Until the work is released, all the skepticism remains just that—skepticism.
After all, Yin Qi from "Corner Also" had already faced a huge wave of doubt. Now, the "Senior Brother" character is truly a perfect, virtuous, and spotless being like an exiled immortal. Xiao He's previous roles simply couldn't convince the audience.
Looking at these online comments, Xiao He could only heave a long sigh, grateful he wasn't stuck on a single path. Otherwise, in the public eye, he would have truly become the stereotypical serial killer.
...
In the following days, Xiao He continued filming "Record of Chasing the Wind." Over at "Cangyue Calamity," after a shutdown of nearly half a month, filming resumed. However, they postponed a large portion of Xiao He's scenes to October, at least preventing him from literally shuttling non-stop between the two sets.
Meanwhile, an unexpected person appeared around the "Cangyue Calamity" filming location—
In September, the autumn sun poured onto the ground, yet the scorching heat showed no signs of diminishing.
A group of people crouched in the shade, eating their meals while holding cigarettes in their mouths, chatting quietly. As they went through these motions, their eyes never left the entrance of the ancient town, as if waiting for something.
Over twenty minutes passed. Someone, feeling the heat, started fanning themselves with a fan. Finally, they saw a middle-aged man dressed in dusty clothes striding towards them.
Upon seeing this man, everyone stood up.
"Need two, need two more. Young people—"
"Me, me—"
Before the middle-aged man could finish speaking, a figure suddenly darted out from the crowd. The unfamiliar young man wore a friendly smile on his face, his eyes sparkling. His tone was several times more excited than the others as he loudly responded, "Bro, bro, me! It's me, Little Zhou! We agreed on it in the group chat before!"
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, completely unable to recall this person. But the other party smiled warmly and brilliantly, while subtly slipping him a pack of cigarettes. The reprimand he was about to utter instantly got swallowed back.
"Alright then, you. And one more—"
"Me, me."
The others hadn't expected a reckless fool to suddenly pop up and snatch their spot, but they immediately shifted their attention, raising their hands and surging towards the middle-aged man, competing to be chosen.
The middle-aged man casually grabbed one more person, then led these two into the production team.
"Register first, okay."
Following the usual procedure, he took the two to register.
One of the young men was very familiar with the process, quickly filling out the form with a few strokes. Then he leaned close to the middle-aged man, eagerly asking in a low voice, "Uncle, which position are we short on this time? Will our faces be shown?"
The middle-aged man immediately snorted with a laugh, "That's definitely not possible. You two are just temporary fill-ins. In a bit, you'll just stand in the back to make up the numbers."
The questioning young man looked somewhat disappointed. From his handsome looks, it wasn't hard to guess that his dream of being an extra was fueled by a "star dream."
The other young man, having finished filling out the form, stuffed it into the pile of forms to the side. Then, with a beaming smile, he walked over to the middle-aged man and said gratefully, "This is already great! Just being able to participate in a shoot once is enough to satisfy me. Uncle, thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten in!"
He then leaned closer to the middle-aged man and offered another cigarette, "Uncle, coming out to recruit actors in such hot weather, you've really worked hard!"
The young man who had initially tried to cozy up watched, dumbfounded, as this guy called "Little Zhou" sidled up to the middle-aged man, spouting sweet words and flattery that left the older man utterly charmed and disoriented.
In the end, the middle-aged man simply escorted them directly to the costume room.
The production team's costume rooms were divided into several sections. Some were specially reserved for main characters, while others were for extras. The costume room for extras, due to the constant flow of people, became a scene of chaos during changing times, with everyone scrambling for clothes. Traces of frantic searching were everywhere, and clothes were piled messily all over the floor.
Because of the weather, the room also emitted an unpleasant smell of body odor and sweat, creating an overall feeling of extreme discomfort.
Little Zhou's expression, however, didn't change. He still smiled and bid farewell to the middle-aged man cheerfully. Then, while the other young extra was rummaging for clothes, he helped a flustered staff member nearby pick up the costumes that had fallen on the floor.
"Thank you."
The staff member looked up at Little Zhou, probably guessing he was a replacement extra, and casually pointed in a direction, "Your clothes are over there. I just sorted them. Don't mess them up again."
"Okay, thank you, sis. You've worked hard."
Little Zhou replied sweetly, following up with another stream of extravagant praise.
The middle-aged aunt in her forties left with a beaming smile.
The extra beside him was astonished once more.
Finally unable to hold back, he leaned close to this Little Zhou and whispered, "Hey, isn't this a bit much, bro?"
This is way too eager, man!
Is it really necessary?!
Little Zhou just smiled, giving the extra a meaningful wink, "Building closer relationships with people makes it easier to get things done!"
The extra: "That's true in principle..."
But not everyone can just walk up and start building relationships, right?
Is this the legendary social bandit?
The extra looked somewhat dazed. Meanwhile, Little Zhou, while organizing his clothes, gazed solemnly towards the filming area, his expression very complex.
"I hope... this trip will yield some results."