Chapter 667. Adjusting (2)

Chapter 667. Adjusting (2)

Mahjong tiles rattled noisily as they got sucked into the table's automated mouth.

'F*cking hell... I can't catch a damn break with all these sh*tty hands...'

Wang Chen was feeling rather crappy at the moment.

He narrowed his eyes and suspiciously glared at the sight of the tiles getting jumbled and mixed under the table's surface. Then, he slowly raised his head to shoot a glare at the dealer. “Oii. Ya haven't done anything funny to this machine, now have ya?”

The dealer casually shrugged his shoulders. “Big brother, if I knew how to do that, I wouldn't be here wasting my life as a dealer. I'd be setting up my own factory somewhere.”

“Darn it...!” Wang Chen grunted while leaning against his chair, then threw his head back. 'Nothing is working out for me lately!'

He seemed to be on a string of rotten luck lately, and sure enough, even games of mahjong were taking him to the cleaners. He lost count of how many rounds he had lost by now. And the sight of his new tiles only made him scowl deeply again.

Although the tiles didn't look so bad, his gut feeling said otherwise. Just as he began thinking this game was also a lost cause, the private gambling den's door suddenly opened, and a man stepped inside.

He looked at Wang Chen and respectfully spoke. “Big brother.”

Wang Chen furrowed his brow and dismissively waved his hand. “If it's nothing serious, let's talk later. Later.”

“...Big brother, my apologies. This matter might not be that serious, but I thought telling you later could be a mistake.”

“What the... Argh, this brat...!” Wang Chen grunted in irritation and looked back at the unwelcome guest. “What now?”

“We, uh, need to step outside for a minute.”

“Ya brat! Can't ya see I'm in the middle of a game?”

“...Big brother, please.”

Wang Chen got up, his expression distorted in annoyance. “Sorry about this. I'll be right back. Let's call it a break for now.”

The dealer politely bowed. “No problem, big brother. Take your time.”

Wang Chen stomped his way out of the room and headed to a deserted location just around the corner. Then, he glared at the young man and sharply asked. “What happened!”

His sharp voice contained a subtle threat of, 'I'm not going to spare ya if this sh*t isn't as urgent as ya make it out to be!'

The young man grimaced. “Big brother, we lost contact with Guo Liqin.”

"So what? Ya dare bother me with something so insigni... Hang on. Repeat what ya said."

“Big brother. We can't contact Guo Liqin.”

“...” Wang Chen grimaced while rubbing his chin. 'It's Guo Liqin...?'

In that case, they weren't dealing with something insignificant, then. Guo Liqin was assigned to 'look after' the actor, Liu Wei, after all. Considering the amount of money Liu Wei was 'donating' to the organization, Guo Liqin's apparent disappearance could be something serious.

What if something happened to negatively affect Liu Wei's health? And that impacted the revenue collection? The geezers higher up the food chain would want to rip Wang Chen apart limb from limb!

Wang Chen glanced at his subordinate. “Did ya try to call Liu Wei?”

“He's not answering his phone, big brother.”

“I see. Meaning, his phone is still switched on... Got it. How long has it been?”

"I'm not sure. I only learned of this situation after not receiving yesterday's scheduled report from Guo Liqin."

“Mm, I see. I see. Wu Xun?”

“Yes, big brother?”

Smaaack!

Wang Chen's fist cleanly smashed into the young man, Wu Xun's chin. The latter's lips burst open, causing the blood to spray all over the wall.

Wang Chen grunted in dissatisfaction. “Ya sure found out quickly, didn't ya?”

“...My apologies, big brother,” Wu Xun bowed his head without wiping the streaming blood from his mouth.

“I don't give a rat's ass about Guo Liqin. It sucks to lose a good knife, but I can always get another one. However, Liu Wei is a different story. A brat like that is hard to come by. Ya get me?”

“Yes, big brother.”

“Geezers would definitely value Liu Wei far more than the likes of us. So, ya tell me what might happen if we lose someone like that under our watch. Selling off every organ ya have still won't be enough to cover the losses. Get my drift?”

“Yes, big brother.” Findd new stories at novelhall.com

“Go and find out what happened. Do whatever it takes! We need to know what's what and who's who! An expert on the level of Guo Liqin wouldn't get done in easily, so the other side might have made a move against us! So, consider all possibilities and...” Wang Chen suddenly stopped talking there. While furrowing his brow in deep thought, he clenched his fists before slowly unfolding them. “No, wait. It'll take too long trying to figure out what happened. Mobilize everyone available, and... What was Liu Wei's last known location?”

“It's in Sichuan, big brother.”

'Yes. Think positively, Zhang Xiang! Happy thoughts!'

Regardless of what, Zhang Xiang was still relieved to know that this production could resume now. Even if the end product turned into a sh*tshow, it was still better than a no-show, wasn't it?

“You really found him, Mister Jin-Ho.” Choi Yeon-Ha sidled up to the driver wearing the baseball cap and beamed brightly.

The baseball cap-wearing man casually responded, “It wasn't difficult, after all.”

“...I guess you really are a Superman.”

Zhang Xiang tried to eavesdrop, but Choi Yeon-Ha and the mystery man were conversing in Korean. He couldn't understand anything but still realized something. 'Hey, that baseball hat guy... Isn't he that man?'

Was his name Kang Jin-Ho? Indeed, it was him, the man who was simply born for the silver screen. Probably.

However, why did he show up here with Liu Wei in tow? The more Zhang Xiang thought about it, the more mysterious that Korean man seemed to become.

'I better set up a private meeting with him soon...'

Zhang Xiang had already called dibs on Kang Jin-Ho, but events like this only stoked his interest even further. Kang Jin-Ho might be Korean, but his Chinese was fluent, so only the two of them having a meeting shouldn't be an issue.

Zhang Xiang watched Choi Yeon-Ha accompany Kang Jin-Ho somewhere and grinned deeply. Unfortunately for the director, though...

His grin couldn't last for long.

***

“Cut! Cuuuut! Goddamn it! I said, cuuuuut!” Zhang Xiang shot up to his feet and performed his by-now trademark action, throwing the script on the ground. “You bastard! What the hell is this sh*t! Is that your idea of acting?! Is that it?!”

Liu Wei apologized meekly. “...I'm sorry.”

“Dammit! Even a bloody elementary school kid can act better than you! Who the hell thought it was a good idea to pick up a piece of trash like him?!”

“I'm sorry...”

“Dammit! Five minutes! We'll take a break for five minutes! And you... You better read the script again and get into character! You hear me?!”

“...Yes, sir.”

Zhang Xiang clutched at his hair. “Uwaaaaah! Dammit all to hell!”

Liu Wei's acting! His totally unconvincing crappy acting was the problem!

Despite having above-average looks, Liu Wei's acting chops used to be worse than a kindergarten talent show-level. But now, it's completely broken! At least Liu Wei seemed like a person until now, but today, he... It was as if Zhang Xiang was filming a creaky wooden doll!

Calling it 'sh*tty acting' was actually a praise at this point. After all, that had the word 'acting' in it, didn't it? As far as Zhang Xiang could tell, Liu Wei's performance could not and should not be labeled as acting in any shape or form!

The evaluation of Liu Wei being the absolute worst actor Zhang Xiang had encountered in his entire career didn't change with this... 'performance', but this idiot was still fighting a lonely battle to transcend his own limitations! In a very negative sense, of course!

“Bloody hell! At least we should've gotten one! One! Just one usable take by now!”

There was a limit to how much Zhang Xiang could cover this nonsense with his superior directing ability!

“Director! Here's a bottle of cold water.”

“Give it to me!” Zhang Xiang snatched the bottle and gulped the cold water down nonstop. After calming down a little, he groaned loudly and shook his head. “...How many times have we been filming this scene already?”

“Director, could it be because we've been filming Miss Choi's scenes before Liu Wei's?”

“...Well, that could be a reason, sure.”

Maybe Zhang Xiang's eyes had been spoiled by watching Choi Yeon-Ha put on the performance of a lifetime. Unfortunately, that couldn't be the full story.

Liu Wei's performance wasn't comparatively despair-inducing, but absolutely, unequivocally trash-tier! It sucked so much that a random amateur off the street with no ability to tell a good acting apart from a bad one would laugh their ass off in derision!

'What the hell is wrong with that bastard? Why is he so tense, anyway?'

Zhang Xiang felt similar vibes as the one coming off Liu Wei on many past occasions. Many newbie actors showing up to high-pressure auditions would suffer from excessive nervousness and start creaking like wooden dolls. With cold sweat pouring down their faces, too. Just like Liu Wei.

Everyone knew that such nervousness would destroy their chances of getting the role, but it was easier said than done. To be good at acting, one must overcome their nervousness somehow. If an actor couldn't deal with the pressure of an audition, they would never survive the baptism of fire that was the actual film shoot. Obviously, those actors always got the boot.

To think Zhang Xiang would see that sort of nervousness in an actual film set, though!

He yanked out a cigarette and mouthed it. One of his ironclad rules was to never smoke during filming, but there were always exceptions. If he didn't get some of this unhealthy smoke in his lungs, he might black out from the sheer stress of this situation!

“...Dammit. Hey, are we ready to go?” Zhang Xiang asked while glancing at his assistant.

“Yes, director.”

“Fine! Everyone, to your spots! Ready, and...!”

Maybe, just maybe... It was Zhang Xiang who was even more nervous than Liu Wei right now.