Chapter 151: Filming Begins (Dedicated to Patron SooO_LaZy)

In this world, no foodie can ever resist roasted mutton skewers. If there is one who can, then it must be a whole roasted lamb.

With this ultimate weapon deployed directly against An Xiaoxiao, she rushed to the railway station forty-five minutes later, just as expected. It was evident that she had left in a genuine hurry.

The poor girl had only brought a small everyday backpack, and underneath her down jacket... she was wearing her pajamas.

Although she looked like a silly daughter running away from home, An Xiaoxiao's spirits were truly sky-high. Buying her ticket online at the station kiosk, she embarked on the journey to Linxia alongside Li Shixin.

The high-speed train ride lasted for over six hours.

A little past four in the afternoon, Li Shixin and his party arrived in Linxia City.

By the time they arrived, Zhang Shuo, who had come ahead of schedule a few days prior to handle preparations, was already waiting outside the railway station. After loading the camera equipment and other gear onto a vehicle, the group transferred to the D漠 Film and Television Base.

Speaking of which, the scale of this Damo Film and Television Base was actually quite small, falling far short of Hengdian.

In this current spacetime, most film crews shooting Western Regions dramas would choose the Dunhuang Ancient City Film and Television Base near Dunhuang. The facilities there were much more comprehensive, and it featured an ancient city reconstructed based on *Along the River During the Qingming Festival*, originally built by the Japanese when they filmed the large-scale historical epic *Dunhuang*, offering indoor sets for various historical periods.

That ancient city had quite an interesting backstory. It was said that after the filming of *Dunhuang* concluded, the Japanese did not want to leave the ancient city to the Chinese side and decided to burn it down.

Upon hearing this, the local government panicked and proposed three conditions: if they wanted to burn down the ancient city, they had to pack up and take all the resulting trash back to Japan; they had to restore the location to its exact state prior to construction; and they could not damage the local natural environment.

Being utterly incapable of meeting these demands, the Japanese had no choice but to abandon the city and leave.

The quick wit of the leadership at that time turned Dunhuang Ancient City into a renowned Western Regions filming base in the country.

Regarding shooting environments, Dunhuang was naturally much better. However, the crew was currently pressed for time, and traveling to the Dunhuang base was too troublesome, leaving Linxia as the closest and most convenient choice.

That being said, the development of the Linxia film base over the years had been fairly decent. Without an overwhelming number of film crews, many things did not require waiting in line, which saved a considerable amount of time.

Furthermore, in recent years, to boost its profile, the area had hosted a series of local cultural festivals to promote the tourism industry and enhance the fame of the film base, yielding truly impressive results.

Take the Hanfu Festival that An Xiaoxiao had come to attend, for instance. Even though it was still over a week away from the official opening, when Li Shixin and his group arrived, numerous youngsters at the film base were already striking poses on the streets, shooting short videos with the help of photographers and videographers.

That evening, in order to placate An Xiaoxiao, Li Shixin actually paid out of his own pocket to buy a sheep, roasting it in the small courtyard behind the guesthouse.

Whether it was An Xiaoxiao or the crew members, it was everyone's first time in the desert. Eating whole roasted lamb in a courtyard covered in yellow sand got everyone extremely hyped.

Yet no one forgot about official business. After eating their fill, Wu Peng and a few crew members returned to their rooms—time was tight and tasks were heavy, with the first day of shooting starting tomorrow, requiring numerous details to be prepared.

In the backyard of the guesthouse, only Li Shixin and An Xiaoxiao remained.

"Teacher, mm, this is so delicious!"

"Ah, it's dripping out."

Looking at An Xiaoxiao, completely devoid of any proper composure as she wore her padded pajamas and clutched a mutton leg with grease dripping all around her mouth, Li Shixin rubbed his temples.

He turned on his phone and asked, "Xiaoxiao, Teacher starts filming tomorrow. What are your plans for that Hanfu Festival of yours?"

"Huh?" An Xiaoxiao wiped the mutton grease from her mouth with her sleeve and blinked her eyes. "No plans. Isn't it just shooting a couple of short videos?"

Saying this, she puffed out her slightly protruding chest—enlarged recently due to gaining a little weight—and proclaimed, "With my qualifications..."

Seeing that this blockhead was about to inflate her ego blindly yet again, Li Shixin handed his phone directly to her.

The phone screen displayed nothing other than short videos generated by searching nearby Douyin accounts. The screen was flooded with handsome men and stunning women, the vast majority clad in traditional Hanfu attire, shooting video works across various scenic spots in Linxia.

It was evident that this official Douyin event held immense appeal. Many influencers who had already gained a certain level of popularity on Douyin, as well as Hanfu brand merchants with vested interests in the Hanfu Festival, had all jumped into the fray.

Compared to past Douyin content, those works represented a massive leap in production quality, particularly in terms of the models' attractiveness, clothing, and location scouting.

Blinking her eyes and scrolling through the phone for a long time, An Xiaoxiao let out a cry of shock.

"They... are so, so... so pretty!"

At that moment, seeing An Xiaoxiao with stars in her eyes, Li Shixin strongly suspected that this student of his had been played by that little smart aleck Chen Boshi.

What kind of damned Hanfu Festival participation was this? It was clearly just a scheme to pack off an intellectual lightweight like her to Linxia so that Chen Boshi could enjoy some peace and quiet back home!

Taking back his phone, Li Shixin let out a long sigh.

It seemed... he would have to handle this matter himself after all.

Relying on a single-celled organism like An Xiaoxiao, whose brain consisted solely of eating, eating, and more eating, trying to secure a ranking in the Douyin popularity contest through this Hanfu Festival was...

Unrealistic.

Upon returning to his room, Li Shixin seriously familiarized himself with Douyin in this spacetime.

In terms of format, this short video platform was much the same as Douyin in his previous world. However, in terms of influence, it still lagged behind the Douyin and Kuaishou of his former timeline.

After checking out several popular accounts, Li Shixin estimated it to be roughly at the level Douyin was at in 2016 or 2017.

The platform was currently in its rising explosive phase, relying on celebrities and influencers sharing their lives, comedic sketches, or travel scenery to capture attention.

Commercialization had only just begun, and official accounts from sectors like firefighting, armed police, mobile communications, and the *People's Daily* had only recently established their presence.

Having grasped all these conditions, Li Shixin's mind settled slightly.

There was still quite a significant amount of room to maneuver.

...

The night passed without incident.

At six o'clock the following morning, Zhang Shuo knocked on Li Shixin's door.

According to the shooting schedule set by Li Shixin, the first scene was to be filmed today. Because setting up the scenes and applying makeup were required, they had to start early.

For the sake of convenience, the crew had only brought the core filming team when they arrived, hiring makeup artists and the like directly from the film city.

As for the main props needed for the shoot, Li Shixin and Zhang Ying had already prepared everything properly over the past few days, so nothing was delayed.

The first scene of *Mobei* was chosen to be set in a patch of wasteland a few kilometers outside the Damo Film City.

Today's schedule covered the first chapter of the script: "Encounter on the Battlefield - Deserted Soldier B Steals Money Only to Be Bound." The plot was exceedingly simple, consisting of just two exterior shots. Over thirty background actors formed a single group of extras, whose primary role was to play corpses.

Playing dead—for the extras, this posed no difficulty in terms of performance.

However, with the crew being so small, practically everyone had to juggle multiple roles.

A little past nine in the morning, Zhang Shuo—acting concurrently as second male lead, producer, and head extra wrangler—dragged a group of extras into place. Yet, getting the set dressings and everything else sorted took until three in the afternoon before filming officially commenced.

"Listen up, everyone! Let's strive to get this first scene done smoothly in a single take."

Although young and having directed only commercial ads outside of his graduation project, Wu Peng still appeared quite seasoned.

After briefing the extras—who had put on their makeup, waited all morning, and helped with the set setup while earning a complimentary boxed lunch—and instructing the group of "corpses" on how to lie down properly, he announced the start of filming.

The focal point of the first scene was to narrate an ambush on a Tang military payroll escort squad. Guo Yuanzheng, the squad leader, survived narrowly against the odds and encountered Lu Shisi, a deserted soldier disguised as a refugee who had come to scavenge valuables from the dead.

Guo Yuanzheng, hiding amidst the pile of corpses, captured Lu Shisi as the latter attempted to steal the money bag, and the two embarked on a journey to transport the military funds together.

With a shout of "Action," the rolling camera began.

Amidst the smoke and dust of the desert, flags, horses, and fallen soldiers lay scattered haphazardly across the ground.

On a distant sand dune, a ragged figure peeked out, cautiously observing the pile of corpses.

A ragged man tiptoed onto the battlefield to scavenge items. Upon spotting a waterskin, he took several frantic gulps. Finding hard rations, he shoved them fiercely into his mouth with one hand while stuffing his ragged waist pouch with the other. Suddenly, the man's hand brushed against a heavy black pouch.

Lowering his head to open it, he saw it was filled entirely with copper coins, causing him immediate, immense joy!

"I'm rich! It's all mine!"

Watching Zhang Shuo's performance on the monitor, Wu Peng pursed his lips.

As a director graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, though lacking in experience, he possessed a keen eye.

While Zhang Shuo had done an adequate job with his styling, his acting skills still fell slightly short.

Yet Wu Peng did not call cut. After all, it was merely an advertisement; there was no need to be overly meticulous.

At that moment, the camera followed Zhang Shuo, shifting over to a pile of corpses.

Upon seeing the black pouch brimming with coins, the deserted soldier was ecstatic. Discovering that a Tang soldier was still pinning an identical money pouch underneath his body, he shoved the corpse aside.

However, just as he pulled out the pouch and embraced the coins in ecstasy, the Tang soldier corpse beside him suddenly opened its eyes.

Wearing heavy armor and lacking a helmet, the veteran soldier—his head of white hair bound simply by a red silk ribbon—flipped over in a single fluid motion, drew the short sword at his waist, and pinned the deserted soldier beneath him!

Wu Peng, who had been sitting listlessly behind the monitor, instantly brightened up upon seeing this sequence of shots!

Playing dead, erupting into motion, capturing, and drawing the blade—the counter-attack executed in one seamless breath...

Holy crap, has this old gentleman practiced martial arts before?

This movement was entirely too fluid!

What was even rarer was that the fierce murderous intent in the eyes of the veteran played by Li Shixin seemed practically ready to pierce right through the screen!

"Good!"

Seeing this sequence of shots from behind the monitor, Wu Peng could not help letting out a low cheer.

Despite having rehearsed the scene earlier, Zhang Shuo was still startled by Li Shixin's rapid-fire movements.

Staring wide-eyed at the old man before him for a long time, he finally recovered and delivered his line: "Don't kill me! I just came to scavenge a bite to eat! Spare my life, Your Honor!"

With hair graying at the temples and a face stained with dirt and blood, the veteran sized up the man before him from top to bottom, revealing a look of utter contempt. He flipped the dagger in his hand, reversed the blade against his wrist, and loosened his grip on the deserted soldier.

"Good! Act one, scene one, cut!"

As Li Shixin gave Zhang Shuo a shove, Wu Peng shouted out from his position.

"Elder, that sequence of shots just now was brilliant!"

"Heh," Li Shixin dropped out of character and walked over to the front of the camera.

Looking at the playback on the monitor, he could not help nodding slightly.

A director like Wu Peng who had never shot a feature film might not be exceptionally adept at controlling narrative pacing. However, having spent a long time shooting commercials and MVs, he genuinely possessed solid skills when it came to camera operation and visual aesthetics.

Especially at the opening, the technique of having the camera slowly descend from the sun-scorched desert, transitioning from an extreme wide shot to a medium shot, and finally focusing on the character, was remarkably well done.

As an executive director, he was more than qualified.

With the first scene in the bag, everyone hurried to prepare for the second.

The second scene required a horse, which the crew had rented from the film city that morning. However, when the equine extra was called upon to perform, the beast refused to cooperate because it had missed out on forage during the prolonged midday delay, acting obstinate and refusing to move.

Watching the two idiots Zhang Shuo and Wu Peng, alongside the horse's owner, flailing about in a panic and negotiating with an equine extra that stubbornly lay flat on the ground and refused to budge, Li Shixin gave a slight shake of his head. He quietly seated himself on a small stool he had exchanged from the system and began browsing Douyin.

Barely a moment after he started scrolling, his phone rang.

It was a call from Yang Kuan.

"Godfather, UnionPay replied to me. They said they don't need to run advertisements. So what should we do next..."

Hearing the entirely unsurprising news conveyed by Yang Kuan, Li Shixin chuckled softly: "You don't need to worry. Just keep things steady at the company end, ensure the production crew doesn't run into issues, and leave the rest to me."

"Oh."

Yang Kuan acknowledged the instruction, and Li Shixin hung up the phone.

Looking at Douyin, where UnionPay had just established its presence and had yet to attract much attention, he chuckled and rose to his feet.

"You lot are hopelessly inept!"

Muttering this, Li Shixin walked straight up to the horse, found a small pebble on the ground, and flicked it precisely at the horse's crotch with a *biu* sound.

"Neigh—!"

Assaulted in its most sensitive spot, the horse jerked upward and sprang to its feet in a single bound.

"Bring out the props!"

Gently patting the horse's long, reddish-brown face and looking into its eyes filled with a mixture of grievance and resentment, Li Shixin chuckled, fixed his gaze on that long, dangling object, and said to the sweating horse owner nearby:

"If this horse dares disobey again... it's getting gelded!"

Instantly, the expression in the bay horse's eyes became vastly more cooperative.

"One, two, one! One, two, one~"

Just as the crew finished managing the horse and prepared to shoot the next scene, a chant echoed from the edge of the set. The crew members, busy getting ready to start filming, glanced over and froze.

A column of roughly a hundred soldiers came charging in from the east.

The opposing group apparently had not anticipated encountering people behind the sand slope either, and upon seeing a field of "corpses" clad in ancient costumes, the commanding officer leading the way paused in astonishment.

After a long moment, the second lieutenant finally reacted: "Old fellow-countrymen, we're... shooting a movie here, right?"