The crew placed a glossy, braised pig's head on the offering table.
The Lesser Ghost, which had been riding on Guan Yan's neck and had already gone far, suddenly turned back, leaped onto the offering table, and started gnawing on the pig's head.
Jing Jiujiu: "I wouldn't do that."
Bai Yuhuai: "Indeed."
After a pause, Bai Yuhuai added: "You're much more polite than it is."
Jing Jiujiu smacked his lips, finally feeling a bit of joy at being a higher-class ghost than this one.
Meanwhile, Guan Yan seemed to sense something and turned to look at the offering table, his expression darkening slightly.
His manager hurriedly asked: "What's wrong?"
"Oh, don't look. It's just that Bai Yuhuai has been winning awards left and right these past few years, and he's at the peak of his career in the industry. Think about how his interpersonal relationships aren't great, doesn't that make you feel better?"
"It's nothing," Guan Yan paused, furrowed his brow, and added, "That young man beside him... he seems to have good relationships with others."
Hearing this, the manager couldn't help but fall silent.
After half a minute, he spoke again: "Indeed. They're all so shrewd, why are they getting along so well with him?"
"This is Bai Yuhuai's scheme!" Guan Yan said in a low voice. "Bai Yuhuai has status, and now he has a young man by his side who can help him socialize with others, solving his interpersonal problems. Huh. He must have hired him for a hefty sum. Much better than that Xu Sanyu."
"Light the incense, light the incense," the Director Xiang called out.
Seeing this, Guan Yan's manager felt even more bitter: "Just because Bai Yuhuai doesn't bow, no one else does either. Only the director is lighting incense and paying respects. In other crews, don't all the main creators do it together? Only Bai Yuhuai is special."
Guan Yan spoke up: "He doesn't believe in these things, so naturally he doesn't bow."
The manager wondered: "Wouldn't it be good to seek a bit of good fortune?"
Guan Yan didn't continue along the manager's line of thought, only saying: "I'll make him believe."
The manager was taken aback: "Huh?"
As their conversation ended, the others had finished paying respects.
The photographer took a few more snaps, and then they prepared to shoot the first scene of the day.
To get a good start and auspicious meaning, Director Xiang didn't hesitate and asked Bai Yuhuai to go first.
Jing Jiujiu had only seen him rehearse before, not knowing what he looked like when actually acting, so he hurried to stand beside Xu Sanyu to watch closely.
Best Actress Tao turned her head and said: "Little He, bring over that folding chair from my car."
Assistant Little He responded affirmatively.
In no time, Jing Jiujiu acquired a small folding chair, allowing him to sit and watch at leisure.
Afraid that he might not understand, Xu Sanyu began explaining in a low voice: "Bai's character isn't actually the main protagonist of this drama. Strictly speaking, the characters played by Best Actress Tao and that Guan Yan are..."
While he was rambling on,
Director Xiang shouted: "Rolling! Ready!"
At once, the entire set fell silent.
This scene was an outdoor chase scene.
A person wearing a green suit ran out.
Jing Jiujiu's mouth fell open.
...There were no special effects during filming, making it look quite... half-hearted. Jing Jiujiu's fantasies about film sets "popped" and vanished.
The person in the suit ran ahead quickly, their twisting body screaming "Come chase me, come chase me!"
Meanwhile, the character played by Bai Yuhuai entered the frame, using his gloved hand to climb, press, and grab, continuously vaulting over multiple obstacles, finally leaping face-first onto a car, like an eagle suddenly spreading its wings, with a fierce and unstoppable momentum.
An atmosphere of tension instantly spread across the set.
Even the suited person, lacking special effects, no longer seemed so ridiculous.
Everyone held their breath slightly.
In the next moment—
Bai Yuhuai tackled the writhing monster to the ground. Green, putrid-smelling blood splattered across his face, falling into his eyes, turning into a bloodred mole.
Then the character played by Guan Yan walked out from around the corner, looking at Bai Yuhuai in shock.
At this moment, the sky had darkened slightly.
Large swathes of clouds hung low, covering the area above the set.
"Cut! That's a wrap!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and this scene was considered finished.
Everything had gone very smoothly.
There weren't many lines, so there was no chance of misremembering them.
And the crew members cooperated seamlessly, without a single mistake.
Director Xiang, with a face full of smiles, straightforwardly said: "Come on, let's eat first. It's my treat. The remaining crew members continue setting up the set and preparing props. Everyone else, take a break. We need to be up at 5 AM tomorrow to shoot!"
However, the Sound Engineer looked puzzled and stood up with a troubled expression: "Could you come over here for a moment..."
"What's wrong? Didn't capture the sound well?" Director Xiang frowned, "That can't be right? You're an experienced sound engineer. The set was so quiet just now."
The Sound Engineer said nothing, only putting the monitoring headphones into Director Xiang's hands.
Since most of the movie used live sound recording, the requirements for clean audio were particularly high. Director Xiang didn't want any mistakes right from the first scene.
He frowned as he took the headphones and put them on: "...I don't hear anything wrong."
The Sound Engineer increased the volume: "Listen again?"
Beyond the dialogue and ambient sound effects...
"Rustle"
"Rustle..."
A barely audible noise had mixed in, like the sound of a rodent gradually gnawing on something... It was quite unsettling to hear.
"Is it mice?" Director Xiang asked.
"We could have someone try to catch them first..." the Sound Engineer shrugged, having no other solution.
Director Xiang turned and told someone to go buy mouse traps.
At this moment, the Assistant Director exclaimed: "How did the pig's head get gnawed on?"
Director Xiang's face darkened: "Didn't I tell you to put it away first?"
With the pig's head being gnawed on, how could there be any good omens?
Director Xiang gritted his teeth: "It must be mice."
A crew member hurriedly went to pick up the pig's head, but almost stumbled as soon as they hugged it.
Seeing this, Director Xiang angrily said: "What are you doing?"
"...This pig's head is so heavy," the crew member said sheepishly. "Really!"
At this point, someone nearby came to help and was also surprised: "It is a bit heavy."
But that was just for a moment, and then it became light again.
The two looked at each other, both feeling puzzled.
Meanwhile, Xu Sanyu was handing tissues to Bai Yuhuai to wipe his face.
Jing Jiujiu watched as the Lesser Ghost suddenly jumped from the pig's head onto Director Xiang's head, baring its teeth and making faces.
Oh my, what a troublemaker!
Director Xiang: "I'm so angry my neck hurts!"
"Calm down, we couldn't have anticipated this," the Sound Engineer consoled.
Director Xiang: "Alright, alright." "Bai, do you want to wash your face?" he asked loudly.
Xu Sanyu: "Yes! What is this fake blood made of? It's hard to wipe off."
Bai Yuhuai stood up and walked towards the bathroom. Jing Jiujiu thought for a moment and followed.
He could maintain a certain distance from Bai Yuhuai, but what if Bai Yuhuai went into the last stall in the bathroom, exceeding their safe distance? If he stood on set and suddenly disappeared with a "whoosh" due to that force pulling him, wouldn't it terrify everyone?
Guan Yan glanced at the Lesser Ghost and said: "I'm going to the bathroom too."
The Lesser Ghost reluctantly tugged at Director Xiang's hair before returning to Guan Yan.
Director Xiang: "Damn, why does my scalp hurt from anger?"
Sound Engineer: "..."
When Guan Yan arrived outside the bathroom, Bai Yuhuai and that young man had already disappeared.
Guan Yan said in a low voice: "Go in."
The Lesser Ghost frowned, looking towards the bathroom.
This was an unclean place, and not all ghosts would like it.
Guan Yan repeated: "Go in."
Only then did the Lesser Ghost jump down, its hands and feet like a frog's, clinging to the wall and then crawling along the ceiling to enter.
Guan Yan stood outside the bathroom wall and lit a cigarette.
This Lesser Ghost was good in every way.
Except it was fucking stupid like an idiot, always unable to understand human speech, and couldn't communicate telepathically. And yet, it was expensive! One hundred million a year!
Guan Yan closed his eyes, suppressing his frustration, and waited patiently.
The bathroom was indeed built quite far, but it was kept very clean inside.
Several large mirrors were installed near the sinks, convenient for tidying up one's appearance. This was probably in consideration of the actors' special profession, needing to pay attention to these things at all times.
Jing Jiujiu, being a ghost, also looked in the mirror, but of course nothing was reflected except a set of floating clothes.
The Lesser Ghost hung from the ceiling, looking at the mirror, then at Jing Jiujiu, then back at the mirror.
It twisted its neck again and again.
After turning 360 degrees, its neck twisted into a spiral, yet it still couldn't see Jing Jiujiu in the mirror.
Bai Yuhuai came out: "..."
He looked up at the ceiling, then back at Jing Jiujiu.
Bai Yuhuai asked, "Where's your bracelet?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Xu Sanyu said there were too many people, so I shouldn't wear it. Others might misunderstand if they saw it."
Bai Yuhuai's brow twitched, suppressing the urge to dock Xu Sanyu's pay. He said, "Wear it. No one will misunderstand."
Jing Jiujiu: "Oh, okay."
He rummaged in his backpack, then took it out and put it back on.
His reflection quickly reappeared in the mirror.
The Lesser Ghost on the ceiling had already twisted its neck 720 degrees.
It stared intently at the bracelet, as if it had never seen such a thing before.
So it jumped down, intending to crawl onto Jing Jiujiu.
Bai Yuhuai frowned, secretly forming a hand seal.
But Jing Jiujiu moved faster, already grabbing the tattered clothes on the Lesser Ghost's body. The ghost was choked by its clothes, its bright red belly cinched into Michelin tire-like rolls by the shredded fabric.
Jing Jiujiu: "You still want to crawl on me?" "How dare you!"
Jing Jiujiu lowered his eyes, his expression slightly cold. When he struck this pose, he truly had the air of a greater ghost.
Lesser Ghost: "Wuah! Wuah!"
Its fangs grew even longer, almost extending to its chin.
But because they were too long, it couldn't close its mouth anymore. A bit of drool mixed with blood dripped out, falling onto its clothes and the floor.
Jing Jiujiu was shocked.
This Lesser Ghost really didn't care about personal hygiene!
Lesser Ghost: "Wuah! Wuah!"
Its legs flailed about, but it found it couldn't break free at all.
An even colder aura had locked it firmly in place.
The Lesser Ghost had no concept of humans versus ghosts.
But it knew that aura could kill it.
"Such a small ghost... Is it even seven years old?" Jing Jiujiu muttered, "How do ghosts like this come to be? Did it die when it was seven?"
Bai Yuhuai: "More or less. It's probably a Lesser Ghost brought back from Thailand. As for how it was made... I'm not too familiar with some foreign secret methods. I've only vaguely heard that in some countries with large populations but poor, backward regions, parents who have too many children will sell them to be made into Lesser Ghosts. After being made into Lesser Ghosts, they're sold to tourists visiting those places."
Jing Jiujiu: "How can people be so inhumane?"
He frowned slightly: "If they can't afford to raise them, why have children in the first place?"
Bai Yuhuai pursed his lips, thinking this incident had stirred up Jing Jiujiu's painful memories, reminding him of the ill-intentioned Jing Tinghua. He hesitated, trying to think of something to say. But the acclaimed actor Bai was never good at comforting people. At times like this, even squeezing out a few words was difficult.
Before he could rack his brains,
Jing Jiujiu spoke again: "So isn't Guan Yan its new mom now?"
Bai Yuhuai: "...Not exactly. No one would be a parent to a Lesser Ghost. If Guan Yan bought it, it would just be for wealth and good fortune. More malicious people might use it to attack their opponents."
Jing Jiujiu: "Oh, I see. He wants to attack you!"
Jing Jiujiu frowned: "Get behind me."
Bai Yuhuai was startled: ?
Jing Jiujiu: "I'll protect you."
Bai Yuhuai: "..." "Alright."
Outside, Guan Yan looked down at his watch, estimating that enough time had passed.
He turned his head to look at the bathroom door.
Neither Bai Yuhuai nor that young man had come out, but the Lesser Ghost he raised was crawling out step by difficult step, then flopped onto its belly and stopped moving.
Guan Yan frowned.
What the hell?
Guan Yan walked forward, but before he could speak,
Footsteps gradually approached.
Bai Yuhuai and that young man were about to come out.
Strangely, their footsteps were steady and unhurried.
And the Lesser Ghost on the ground suddenly arched its back and quickly slid away.
Its long fangs scraped against the ground, leaving a trail of sparks.
Guan Yan: ????