Pervert

"Hello, elder sister! I'm here for a cameo—just call me Ah Zhen!" Arriving at the makeup area, Qiu Shuzhen introduced herself in clumsy Mandarin. Li Jianqun looked up, utterly bewildered, having caught barely half of the sixteen words. Her own Mandarin was not great either, tinged with a thick Wuhan accent. She asked, "Hello. What are you here to do?" Qiu Shuzhen looked just as lost. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said!" "What?" "What?" "A cameo! She's here for a cameo. We need to style her—a peasant girl who dies the moment she appears." Just as the two were shooting completely in the dark, a makeup artist from Great Wall stepped in to rescue the situation. Only then did Li Jianqun understand. She pulled Qiu Shuzhen over, sized her up, checked her frame, and picked out a small padded jacket with floral patterns on red fabric, a pair of trousers, embroidered shoes, and a pair of socks. "I have to wear socks too?" Qiu Shuzhen asked in wonder, holding up a pair of long, cloth-pouch-like period socks. "When your character dies and falls to the ground, your socks might show. If you don't wear them, it'll ruin the illusion," Li Jianqun explained. The makeup artist translated for her, and Qiu Shuzhen nodded, nimbly stripping down to change into the costume. Then she sat down to have her hair done and makeup applied, braiding her hair into a long plait. "Teacher Li, how's it coming along?" Chen Qi strolled over. Taking a look, he smiled and said, "Not bad at all. You look great in period costume too. Teacher Li, later on you'll follow Director Tsui Hark's unit—the fellow with the peculiar look. I've already arranged everything... Ah Zhen, come with me!" "Okay!" Qiu Shuzhen trotted eagerly after him and asked, "Master, is she your master?" "No." "Then why do you call her Teacher Li?" "It's an honorific. She's a specialist and very skilled at what she does. You should call her that too, and show her some respect." The two made their way over to Li Wenhua's set. Here, they were preparing to shoot the scene where Ji Chunhua's men pillaged, burned, and slaughtered. Yang Yugan would witness innocent commoners dying and fly into an uncontrollable fury. That innocent victim, naturally, was to be Qiu Shuzhen. "In a moment, he chases and you run. He slashes you across the back, you let out a scream and drop to the ground, and then he plunges a blade into your belly and you kick the bucket. Got it?" Yuen Woo-ping coached her on the choreography—how to react when slashed, how to react upon dying, and so forth. Watching from the side, Chen Qi felt his mischievous streak flare up again. "Why not do it like this: she dies right in front of Li Lianjie. He witnesses it, and that's what drives him to challenge Ji Chunhua to a duel." "Hmm, that works too!" "Let's do it that way then!" And so they ran a rehearsal. Qiu Shuzhen bolted in frantic panic, pursued from behind. She let out a cry, hit the dirt, and was stabbed to death, with Li Lianjie standing not far away. Chen Qi was thoroughly amused. This was another Easter egg only he would appreciate: Li Lianjie and Qiu Shuzhen had collaborated three times in his previous life—in *Kung Fu Cult Master*, *High Risk*, and *The New Legend of Shaolin*—and their on-screen chemistry had been electric. Because Li Lianjie's features radiated stern righteousness with an ascetic quality, pairing him with a gorgeous, assertive female star always made one plus one greater than two. Rosamund Kwan in *Once Upon a Time in China* and Christy Chung in *The Bodyguard from Beijing* were classic examples. After several dry runs, Qiu Shuzhen nailed the scene on the very first take. Chen Qi clapped his hands and praised, "Not bad, you're making progress. It's getting late—if you want to go home, I can have someone drive you back." "Master, aren't you driving me?" "I'll be here until very late." "Then I'll wait!" With that, she went off to remove her makeup and sat obediently in a corner. Chen Qi had no time to dote on her and went over to check on Tsui Hark. Tsui Hark had already slipped into a state of high excitement as he explained the scene to He Qing and Tao Huimin. His Mandarin was quite decent, and he said, "In a moment, someone will fire a gun and blow apart the spot where you two are joined—*bam*, blood splattering everywhere! Then you collapse to the ground, struggling to face one another, dragging yourselves toward each other until you embrace tightly..." The two young girls found it utterly baffling, but seeing Chen Qi nearby without raising any objections, they had no choice but to follow along. The first shot went smoothly. The two were blasted apart, covered head to toe in fake blood, and then struggled forward on the ground to embrace. "Cut!" "You're not holding each other tightly enough! You need to hold on fiercely, like you're trying to melt each other into your own flesh!" "Cut!" "Cheek to cheek! Nuzzling temple to temple, do you understand?" Tsui Hark grabbed a male crew member and demonstrated what he meant by nuzzling temple to temple. "You're conjoined twins—you depend on each other, yet you despise each other, and in the final moments of your lives, you are both released! You must find that emotional state." After a round of intense coaching, the moment finally clicked. He Qing and Tao Huimin, dressed in vibrant red gowns and smeared with blood across their faces, looked breathtakingly beautiful yet eerie. They locked in a tight embrace, murmuring like delirious dreamers: "Sister, I can finally see you!" Then, pressed cheek to cheek, they used their last ounce of strength, their bodies writhing like two serpents, until their final breaths slipped away... "Cut! That's a wrap!" "Perfection!" A twisted sense of pleasure broke across Tsui Hark's face. *Tsk, tsk! What an absolute pervert!* Chen Qi shook his head, though a twisted sense of pleasure crept onto his own face too—he actually enjoyed watching it. But he felt the scene pushed the boundaries a bit too far, so they would need to shoot a milder version as a backup, lest the censors reject it. Then he thought to himself, *Damn, this old rascal has shot so many lesbian films—he must have stashed away a bunch of private footage! Unused takes cut from the theatrical releases, absolute collector's items.* Over in the corner, Qiu Shuzhen was also keeping a watchful eye on the two girls, eyeing them like a hawk. *Who are they?* *Are they Master's disciples too?* *Then again, Master doesn't seem all that warm toward them. They must just be minor players... Sigh, I wonder if Master has a girlfriend, how old she is, what she looks like...* *** With Tsui Hark lending a hand, Li Wenhua finally breathed a sigh of relief. With both units working simultaneously, the hour grew later and later, and everyone began yawning. Chen Qi finally showed mercy: "Let's call it a night! Head back and rest!" "Whoo!" A subdued cheer rippled through the exhausted crew as people began trickling out. Li Lianjie and the others boarded the bus. After a grueling day, He Qing and Tao Huimin leaned their heads together like a pair of limp salted fish. Suddenly, Tao Huimin glanced out the window and nudged He Qing. "Hey, look!" "What is it?" "Huh? Who's that girl? How come she gets to ride in Brother Xiao Chen's car?" "I heard her call him 'Master.' Probably an apprentice he took on in Hong Kong?" "Hmph! Flirtatious little vixen!" He Qing curled her lip, thoroughly unimpressed. The bus rolled slowly out of the studio lot, with a Gundam sedan trailing closely behind. It was already midnight, and having worked this late for the first time, Qiu Shuzhen was nodding off. Chen Qi did not disturb her, only giving her a gentle nudge when they were nearly at her home. "Ah Zhen?" "Mm? Master, we're here?" "You did well today. Doing a cameo counts as extra work, so here's a red envelope as your appearance fee." "..." Qiu Shuzhen stared at the red envelope in his hand, her lips parting slightly. Resisting the urge, she shook her head. "I shouldn't take it. I barely did anything, and you already paid me." "Business is business. That payment was for *Orphan*; this is for today. It's not much anyway, so take it!" Chen Qi shoved the red envelope into her hands. "Thank you, Master!" "Hurry inside. It's so late tonight—your parents must be worried sick." "Mm, see you tomorrow!" Qiu Shuzhen hopped out of the car. As usual, she stood watching until he was out of sight. Instead of heading straight inside, she tore open the red envelope and peered inside. It truly was not much—just a hundred Hong Kong dollars. Yet an inexplicable joy welled up inside her. After a moment's thought, she slipped the red envelope down her collar into her clothes, and only then called out at the top of her lungs, "Mom! I'm home!"