Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 68 Bai Ke's Bai Ke

The van sped smoothly along the way to the airport.

Da Peng sat in the passenger seat, flipping through the script of "Old Boys" in his hand. He would occasionally glance at Bai Ke in the rearview mirror, and finally couldn't resist anymore.

"No, Hongming, I've only been in Northeast China for a few days, why did you even change your name? Bai Ke? It sounds like you're related to a hacker, but we're not filming 'The Matrix' here."

"Brother Peng is the counterpart to hacker."

Bai Ke pulled a book out of his bag; the cover was a bit old, and the corners were curled up.

Zheng Yuanjie's "Bai Ke".

Dapeng paused for a moment, "A fairy tale?"

"An adult fairy tale," Bai Ke corrected him. "The protagonist is a college entrance exam failure who is looked down upon by society and rejected by his family. He is a typical loser, but he developed a software that can replace people's heads and has a power that can almost control other people's fate."

He spoke slowly, "I really liked this book when I was a kid. It said that hackers are people who break the rules, while white-hat hackers are people who understand technology but adhere to the bottom line. I used to just think the name was cool, but later when I came to Yanjing to do voice acting and film web dramas, I felt it was like a reminder."

"What reminder?"

"It reminded me not to just be funny, and not to think I can fool the audience just because I have some online popularity."

This time, Da Peng didn't joke around, but Ren Pingsheng spoke up, "So, this is also a reminder of how to understand Wang Xiaoshuai?"

Bai Ke nodded, then shook his head. "I didn't understand before, but I understood a little bit when I went to the barbershop a few days ago."

Dapeng whirled around, "What? What are you doing at the barbershop?"

"Part-time job," Bai Ke said.

"Have I ever deducted your salary before? What made you think of taking a part-time job?"

"No, no, it's me who wanted to act in this movie, but Brother Pingsheng said I was missing something."

Da Peng looked at Ren Pingsheng, but Ren Pingsheng did not explain.

He knew what Bai Ke had been doing lately, but he didn't interfere. You can't teach someone to understand something.

Bai Ke looked down at his hands; his fingers were swollen and white, with several small cracks from being soaked in shampoo.

"When guests come, you have to call them 'brother' or 'sister' first, and adjust the water temperature immediately. If you wash them too slowly, the boss will rush you; if you wash them too quickly, the guests will think you're sloppy. Once, a guest came in drunk and lay there asking me, 'Are you young people only doing this because you're incompetent?' I wanted to argue back, but when I looked down, I realized I was still holding someone's hair in my hand."

Da Peng flipped through the script, pointed to a passage, and asked, "So how do you interpret their final competition? Two middle-aged men dressed like Michael Jackson, twisting and turning on stage—are they rebelling?"

"no."

Bai Ke put it bluntly: "Just like those people in 'The Internet Addiction War' shouted, they're not trying to win against anyone; they just want to tell others that they're not patients, and that they also have their own world."

"Old Boys too."

Bai Ke looked at Ren Pingsheng and said, "Brother Pingsheng wrote this not to say that dreams must come true. He wanted to say that those who have been scolded by teachers, rejected by parents, and forced to admit defeat by society have also genuinely loved something."

"Whether it's MJ, games, or dancing."

That's not an illness.

The car fell completely silent.

Da Peng scratched his head, hesitated for a long time, and then said, "Hongming, you haven't washed your hair for nothing these past few days. It's giving me goosebumps."

Bai Ke corrected: "Call me Bai Ke."

"Okay, Mr. Bai Ke."

Dapeng cupped his hands in greeting, bringing the atmosphere back on track, and said, "If you ever become a big star, don't forget your senior brother."

Bai Ke chuckled, "You've only been a disciple of this prestigious family for a few days, and you're already putting on airs."

"Absolutely! Although I'm the youngest disciple in the Zhao family troupe, I'm the chief disciple in the Ren family troupe!"

After saying that, Dapeng stared at the book for a couple more seconds. "But your stage name is really interesting: Bai Ke, the righteous hacker. Don't you think that if one day technology really could change faces and heads, wouldn't everything be in chaos?"

"Who can say for sure?"

Ren Pingsheng smiled and said, "Maybe in the future, when the technology is more advanced, they can just hire a stunt double to perform the action scenes, and then just paste the big star's face onto the set in post-production. At that time, those stars who don't even memorize their lines and act like divas on set every day will be out of a job."

Da Peng didn't understand, but blurted out, "Then I'll have to be careful in the future. If someone swaps my face into an inappropriate video, my reputation will be ruined."

Bai Ke glanced at him. "Brother Peng, do you have some misunderstanding about what 'a lifetime of fame' means?"

The car was filled with laughter.

……

At the airport arrival gate, Cecilia Cheung and her entourage were nowhere to be seen.

Da Peng stood at the arrivals gate, craning his neck as if to ask, "Do all Hong Kong stars always headline the event like this?"

Ren Pingsheng glanced at the time; an hour had passed since they landed.

Zhao Bensan's assistant was making a phone call nearby, speaking in a very low voice.

"Yes, yes, we've arrived."

"It's alright, take your time."

"The car is right outside."

After hanging up the phone, the assistant wore a professional smile. "Ms. Zhang has quite a lot of luggage, please wait a moment."

Twenty minutes later, the group finally emerged from the VIP entrance.

At the front were two staff members pushing four large boxes.

Following behind was a woman wearing sunglasses, with most of her face hidden in a Burberry cashmere scarf, and a very eye-catching fur coat draped over her shoulders.

Even though she was completely covered up, her striking aura still made her stand out and be recognized.

"Cecilia Cheung!"

"It really is her!"

The crowd stirred slightly.

Zhang Baizhi didn't stop walking; she simply raised her hand and waved gently.

Da Peng immediately went up to her, "Hello, Sister Bai Zhi, I am Da Peng, the apprentice of Teacher Ben San."

Cecilia Cheung took off her sunglasses, glanced at him, and smiled sweetly, "Oh, I know you, Uncle told me about you."

The word "uncle" brought a wide smile to Da Peng's face. "This is our director, Ren Pingsheng."

Ren Pingsheng reached out his hand, "Ms. Zhang, thank you for your hard work."

Cecilia Cheung turned her head to listen to her assistant say a few words before extending her hand.

"Director Ren is very young," she smiled. "It's good to be young; you have energy."

The words were kind, but she had already withdrawn her hand.

The assistant immediately spoke up, "Director Ren, Cecilia didn't get enough rest last night. Could we go back to the hotel first? We can talk about other things tomorrow."

Da Peng subconsciously looked at Ren Pingsheng.

The original plan was to go directly to the studio after picking them up from the airport so everyone could go over the scenes for tomorrow.

Ren Pingsheng nodded. "Let's go back to the hotel first."

The assistant breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you for your understanding, Director Ren. Also, we would like to change our hotel room to a suite, preferably one that's quieter, as Cecilia is a light sleeper."

"no problem."

"Also, regarding diet, my sister doesn't eat oily, spicy, or cold food, so please prepare hot water and ginger tea on set."

"Can."

"The dressing room needs to be a separate room."

Da Peng's brow twitched.

Bai Ke stood to the side, without saying a word.

Ren Pingsheng nodded again, "Of course."

Only then did Cecilia Cheung look up at him, her smile deepening.

"Director Ren, please don't mind, my health hasn't been very good these past few years."

"I understand that actors need to maintain their condition."

As she approached the car, Zhang Baizhi paused for a moment.

The black Buick GL8 is clean, but it's clearly not high-end enough.

Ren Pingsheng opened the car door. "I apologize for the last-minute airport pickup today, Ms. Zhang. You'll be joining the crew tomorrow, and the car will be arranged."

Zhang Baizhi looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"It's okay, I've suffered a lot before too."

……

As the car drove out of the airport, Cecilia Cheung sat in the second row, her scarf pulled down below her nose.

Her assistant sat next to her, looking down at her phone.

Ren Pingsheng was driving, Dapeng was in the passenger seat, and Bai Ke was huddled in the back row. No one spoke.

Dapeng deliberately straightened his back and secretly glanced at the rearview mirror.

Cecilia Cheung had her eyes closed and was leaning back in her chair, looking genuinely tired.

He leaned close to Ren Pingsheng's ear and said, "Pingsheng, do you think she's... genuinely unwell? Or... testing us?"

Ren Pingsheng gripped the steering wheel without saying a word.

Zhang Baizhi was only interested in gaining popularity, so she asked Zhao Bensan to introduce her to him. Because of this relationship, she has to treat him like royalty.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Ren Pingsheng helped her check in. It was a suite on a quiet floor, and he even added a fruit and herbal tea, which was more than her assistant had requested.

Before entering the elevator, Zhang Baizhi glanced back at him.

"Director Ren, what time do we start filming tomorrow?"

"Eight o'clock in the morning."

"Eight o'clock it is then."

The elevator doors closed.

The three of them stood in the hall. Da Peng was the first to breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, he seems like a nice person, just a bit too formal."

Bai Ke didn't say anything, and Ren Pingsheng turned and walked towards the door.

"Let's go back and rehearse. The call sheet for tomorrow will be sent out as usual."

"Pingsheng, do you think the filming will go smoothly tomorrow?" Dapeng asked, catching up with him.

Ren Pingsheng didn't answer and walked straight out.

Back in his car, he started the engine and lit a cigarette.

In the rearview mirror, Bai Ke was looking down and flipping through the book "Bai Ke".

Ren Pingsheng glanced at it; there was a line written on that page.

"In this world, the hardest thing to verify is the truthfulness of what celebrities say!"

We'll find out tomorrow whether things go smoothly or not.