"..."

Li Qinghe's smug lecture made Xu Fan roll his eyes at her involuntarily.

If it hadn't been for this fairy dragging him out to party last night, he wouldn't have ended up like this...

He knew that she was just joking with him, so he shook his head and got straight into the car.

"What's the matter? Are you angry now?"

Following Xu Fan into the car, Li Qinghe immediately asked.

She thought to herself, it was just a small joke, surely he wasn't really annoyed, right?

"Go ahead and catch some sleep, you're going to be busy all day long."

Clearly, she was worrying over nothing, seeing that Xu Fan was still concerned about her, Li Qinghe felt as sweet as if she had eaten honey.

"Hee hee, my little bodyguard is so good to me."

"Remember to wake me up when we get there."

Returning to her room last night, it took her more than an hour to fall asleep; all night long, Li Qinghe barely slept a few hours combined.

Indeed tired, and trusting Xu Fan completely, Li Qinghe now lay in the passenger seat and closed her beautiful eyes to catch up on sleep.

She slept beautifully, not knowing how long it had been, when she vaguely heard Xu Fan calling her. Rubbing her eyes, Li Qinghe opened them.

"Hmm? Are we there?"

Looking outside, she could see that they had arrived at the filming location, Miaofa Temple.

Checking the time against the schedule, they were neither a minute early nor a minute late.

Obviously, Xu Fan had managed the time so that she could sleep a bit longer.

Recalling the smooth sleep she had during the trip, Li Qinghe couldn't help but steal a few more glances at Xu Fan.

"Alright, let's get out of the car."

Stretching lazily, Li Qinghe then got out of the car.

Leading Xu Fan and a troop of bodyguards, they entered Miaofa Temple and could see that the crew had all arrived.

Spotting Li Qinghe, her agent, Sister Li, came forward to greet her.

"Qinghe, why did you arrive so late? The start-up ceremony was waiting for you."

"There was some traffic on the way."

Hearing her agent's complaint, Li Qinghe casually explained without blaming Xu Fan.

"Alright, then I'll head over now."

After chatting briefly with her agent, Li Qinghe walked toward the front of the main hall.

Xu Fan and the others stayed there with Agent Sister Li.

The so-called start-up ceremony is performed before filming begins, involving incense and praying to the gods, hoping that the filming process will go smoothly and that the actors won't have any accidents.

This custom originated from Hong Kong Island and is now practiced in both the mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao regions as a pre-filming ritual, almost becoming a tradition.

Since the main filming location this time was Hong Kong Island, it was natural to follow local customs.

After covering the cameras with red cloth, the crew began to get ready.

They set up the previously purchased sacrificial offerings like pig heads and lamb legs on a table, distributed incense sticks to everyone, lit them, and followed the director in solemn worship, thus the start-up ceremony was simply completed.

After cleaning up the sacrificial items, the crew began to set up the scene and camera positions for the first shot.

This drama was a costume drama, and the very first scene featured Li Qinghe. Now dressed in ancient costume, she held the script and earnestly refreshed her memory of her lines.

Recognized as a top actress, she had long mastered her lines for this drama, but even so, she remained very meticulous.

It was Xu Fan's first time on a set, and he watched over her, not feeling bored at all.

As they were waiting to start, there was a loud bang! The temple's closed doors were kicked open.

A man with a buzz cut hairstyle led a group of people swaggering in.

"Who are you guys? Didn't you see we are filming here!"

Their disturbance ruined several props that had taken long to set up properly, and the props team, infuriated, rushed over to argue, only to be pushed back several meters by them.

Xu Fan watched and couldn't help but frown.

Subconsciously wanting to help, Wang Zhennan immediately stretched out his hand to block him.

"Don't get involved."

Having traveled everywhere with Li Qinghe for filming, this wasn't the first time Wang Zhennan had encountered thugs causing trouble.

As the saying goes, people exploit their surroundings for a living, and individuals like the buzz cut thrive by extorting film crews.

These local bullies usually have powerful backers; even if you can beat them, you shouldn't provoke them.

Otherwise, once their backers intervene, you would end up in a miserable state.

As Li Qinghe's bodyguard and seeing that Li Qinghe wasn't in danger Wang Zhennan felt there was no need to intervene.

His warning to Xu Fan was merely out of concern that Xu Fan might bring trouble upon himself.

At that moment, the director, who had been sitting in front of the monitor, stood up and walked over to the buzz cut's group.

"Friends, we have paid to reserve this place and are currently filming. Please, could you leave for a bit?"

Before the filming started, all preparations had been made, including paying for the rental of the venue and providing envelopes to the local gangs.

The director didn't take them seriously and casually barked an order.

The disregard annoyed buzz cut, who then sneered, "Heh? Make us leave? Just because you are filming, you think you are something special? I need to worship today! Why should we leave?"

"Exactly! You paid to reserve this place, do you have any proof?"

His accomplices echoed a few sentences, and buzz cut then glanced at the already set up filming equipment.

"Oh? This equipment looks quite expensive, wouldn't you be heartbroken if it were smashed?"

"..."

The tone was clearly intended to cause trouble, and the director couldn't help but frown.

"Guys, I have already given benefits to your Green Snake Gang. It's a bit unreasonable for you to cause trouble now, isn't it?"

"Haha? Green Snake Gang; friend, that's history now, didn't you know?"

Hearing the director mention the Green Snake Gang, buzz cut and his group burst out laughing.

"Now this area is under our control."

While boasting, buzz cut extended his hand and showed five fingers.

"It's your choice whether to pay up to avoid disaster or stand against me."

"..."

Buzz cut's words infuriated the director, who looked visibly uneasy!

In the past, this area was under the protection of the Green Snake Gang, and now suddenly there were new faces demanding protection money; wouldn't doubling the cost be unsettling?

"Damn! Fifty thousand! Why don't you go rob someone?"

At this moment, some bold male cameramen in the crew couldn't help but curse.

Buzz cut couldn't help but sneer and said, "Fifty thousand? You got it wrong, man. I want five hundred thousand!"

"What? Five hundred thousand?"

The figure made the director exclaim!

What was demanded was ten times what he had anticipated!

This was practically robbery!

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