Chapter 162: The Clothes Thief
"President Yin! We've caught the thief!" Someone turned their head just then, spotted Yin Chengjue, and immediately called out to him.
Hearing the noise, Yin Chengjue looked over. He first saw Rong Yu standing off to the side watching the commotion, then followed Rong Yu's gaze to see the two people surrounded by the crowd.
One of the two men was wearing a long black coat, left open, revealing a dark blue robe underneath. Embroidered on the chest of the robe was a cluster of cloud patterns outlined in gold thread, and the hem was embroidered with stalks of deep green bamboo.
The man had his hands in his coat pockets, one foot raised, revealing a black ankle boot. That boot was currently planted on the back of a man who looked disheveled and dusty.
This dusty, disheveled man was the other person being surrounded. He was groaning and pleading repeatedly, promising he would never dare do it again.
Director Mo also saw Yin Chengjue and waved to greet him. "President Yin, here's the situation. You all went to bed early last night, so I didn't want to disturb you. This is a friend I met while filming a previous series. As you know, when we film this type of movie, we pay a bit of attention to certain... matters, to keep the actors feeling at ease while performing. Don't let my friend's youth fool you, he's quite capable. I've encountered several strange incidents before, and he resolved them all. So I invited him this time too. Unfortunately, he's been busy recently and only rushed over early this morning. And sure enough, he solved it in less than a night."
"You're exaggerating too much, Director Mo. It's not that mystical. Strange things happen because someone is making them happen." With that, the young man kicked the man sobbing on the ground again. "For example, this guy. He's already confessed. Another crew paid him to come here and hinder you. Knowing you're filming a supernatural movie, they wanted to deliberately scare you and slow down your progress."
When the young man hadn't spoken, Yin Chengjue merely thought he looked somewhat familiar. Now, hearing his voice, it also sounded somewhat familiar. Yin Chengjue tried to recall carefully but couldn't remember where he had seen this person.
"Eh? Aren't you that..." Rong Yu, standing to the side, started to say but suddenly stopped, wearing an expression that seemed unsure whether to continue.
Director Mo, observing the situation, cleared his throat. "My friend has had some minor contact with this industry. It's normal for everyone to find him familiar."
Yin Chengjue finally remembered. This was the man he and Rong Yu had encountered in the maple forest—the one who had asked them which way a child had run. Furthermore, this man wasn't just slightly involved in the industry. Years ago, due to a certain live-streaming incident, he had forcefully barged into the public eye, and a particularly sharp-tongued rant he delivered had become so notorious that clips of it were still widely shared online. He was the publicly recognized partner of Donghuang Qingyan.
As for his name... to many people, it wasn't important anymore. Just mentioning "Brother Dong's Mouth Cannon" was enough to identify him. If someone found this nickname too long, they could use the initials—those in the know would understand it referred to him.
It surprised Yin Chengjue that this man was also taking on such unusual side work.
Not just Yin Chengjue; after hearing Director Mo's words, many people present shared the same question in their hearts.
The man seemed to read their thoughts and said with a grin, "Oh, Director Mo, you're making people misunderstand me. I'm really not some Taoist priest, and I certainly don't exorcise ghosts. Just think of me as someone Director Mo hired to catch a thief. Now that the thief is here, let him confess the truth himself."
The man smiled, but the foot on the other's back pressed down sharply, making the man on the ground cry out in pain and raise his head to beg for mercy.
Only then did Yin Chengjue notice that the man was not only dusty but also beaten black and blue, looking utterly miserable.
"I'll talk, I'll tell everything! I was just doing a job for money! Someone paid me to come and scare you, preferably to make it so you couldn't continue filming. If I succeeded, I'd get another payment. I thought it was a good deal, so I took it," the man wailed.
Yin Chengjue walked up to him. "You haven't said clearly who sent you."
"A director, surnamed Wei. Their crew's name seems to be 'The Chase'; I saw the name posted that day," the man confessed truthfully.
Yin Chengjue frowned. "The Chase' crew? They want to slow our progress? How do they know what stage our progress is at?"
The man hesitated and didn't answer.
So, the foot on his back pressed down even harder, and the man screamed in pain again.
Yin Chengjue glanced at the man in the robe, somewhat puzzled. Logically, just stepping on someone's back shouldn't cause that much pain. Why did the thief react as if he'd been stabbed every time the robed man exerted pressure? He looked as if he might leave this world on the spot from the agony.
The thief coughed and wheezed painfully a few times before saying, "I don't know the specifics either! I actually overheard it by accident. They seemed to have found out that you're rushing the filming schedule to release at the same time as them, so they wanted to obstruct you."
Yin Chengjue: "They found out we want to compete with them for box office during the same period, so they obstruct us? Are they that certain they definitely can't compete with us?"
As soon as Yin Chengjue said this, a thought flashed through his mind, and he instantly fell silent.
Director Mo also frowned.
"It means your script content has been leaked," the robed man said lazily.
Unlike big IP adaptations that have original novels, fan art, and even extended fanworks, this script was written by Yin Chengjue himself. After finishing it, he immediately started assembling a team to film and held auditions. Because the auditions were internal, the script was never publicly released, and everyone signed confidentiality agreements before joining the crew.
This was a suspense-driven supernatural film. If the script were to become public, where would the suspense be? It would greatly affect the box office numbers! This was a serious problem!
Not to mention the script had been disclosed to The Chase crew.
Although there was no open confrontation, because of the previous role-switching incident, there was some resentment on both sides.
Director Wei of "The Chase" had replaced Rong Yu's role but still didn't want to miss out on Rong Yu's current popularity and wanted him to take another role in "The Chase." However, Sally didn't want her artist to suffer this indignity and flatly refused. No matter how Director Wei pleaded, she wouldn't agree, greatly embarrassing him.
Now, "Ghost Traces" was rushing its schedule, and "The Chase" was doing exactly the same. Ever since "Ghost Traces" posted character stills on its official blog, "The Chase" hurriedly started filming, also with a competitive spirit.
Besides, there was the annual Best Film selection later this year. If they missed this one, they'd have to wait until next year. With more and more newcomers in the entertainment industry, who knew what dark horse might emerge next year?
Initially, some people on set didn't understand why Yin Chengjue fell silent. But after hearing the robed man's explanation, they instantly understood. They immediately looked around, wanting to know which bastard hadn't followed the confidentiality agreement terms.
"I will investigate this thoroughly," Yin Chengjue said coldly.
Director Mo also looked angry. "If I find out who's taking food from our bowl only to spit in it, I'll expose them! If you don't even understand the most basic rules, then don't think about staying in this industry. Get lost sooner rather than later!"
Yin Chengjue looked around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, his tone icy. "Those who don't follow the rules should first prepare to pay the penalty for breach of contract. This movie isn't lacking your role, and the entertainment industry doesn't need people like you who don't understand the rules. We're all adults. You know perfectly well what you can and cannot do. It's just being blinded by profit and temptation, holding onto luck, thinking you've covered your tracks flawlessly."
"Yeah! This kind of person should be rooted out!"
"What an idiot, leaking secrets after signing a confidentiality agreement. No sense of contract spirit at all!"
"Don't let me find out who it is! We're working so hard filming and rushing the schedule, and this jerk goes and gives our script to our competitor? What a lunatic!"
"This infuriates me! How could there be such a moron in our crew?"
"If I find out who it is, I'll definitely give them a good thrashing!"
The other crew members and actors were also indignant.
"Well then... the rest is your own business. I have matters at home, so I'll take my leave first." The robed man took out his phone, which had been vibrating incessantly from his pocket, and answered the call. "Hello? Darling~"
"Huh?! What?" The robed man's voice suddenly rose. "What are you coming over here for?!"
Previously, the robed man had given the impression of being composed and unruffled. His sudden change in expression made many people look over curiously.
Robed man: "...Don't talk about being in full disguise. Even if you were reduced to ashes, your fans could sniff out the scent and identify it's you."
Others: "..." What kind of fans were these?
Huh?
Wait?
Who's coming?!
The crew members who had already recognized the robed man were thrilled. Someone couldn't help but say, "Is... is Brother Dong here?"
"What? Brother Dong is here? Where?" The five young men who couldn't squeeze in and could only watch from the periphery immediately got excited.
The robed man hung up the phone with a dark expression. "Director Mo, I'll be going then. When you interrogate this guy, remember—absolutely do not untie the rope on him. This thing holds a heavy grudge. If you let him escape, he'll definitely try every means to get revenge, and then things will get troublesome. After interrogating him, send him to the police station just like this. Say I caught him. They'll know how to handle it."
Director Mo nodded repeatedly. "I know, I know. Don't worry, Mr. Xi."
Yin Chengjue's gaze shifted suspiciously between Director Mo and the robed man, feeling their conversation was somewhat strange.
Once the robed man left, Director Mo directed people to drag the thief into a temporarily cleared room. Actors with filming tasks began preparing to shoot. After all, one issue was separate from the next; the filming schedule still had to be pushed forward.
Yin Chengjue had already cleared his schedule to come, so he could use this time to interrogate the thief.
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