Chapter 1633: A last-minute actor swap!

Two days later.

Beijing, at home.

"Mommy."

"Mhm?"

"Why isn't Daddy home yet?"

"Your daddy has gone overseas for work."

"I miss Daddy."

"Daddy is very busy, so Sisi must be obedient."

"Sisi will be obedient, but I miss Daddy."

"How about this? I'll video call your daddy so that we can see what he is doing."

"Yay! I want to video call Daddy! I want to video call Daddy!"

Wu Zeqing took out her cell phone and video called Zhang Ye. Although she didn't know whether he was busy or not, she still gave it a try.

Du du—

Du du—

The video call connected.

On the cell phone, Zhang Ye's face appeared.

Sisi said in surprise: "Daddy! Daddy!"

On the other end, Zhang Ye was smiling happily and saying: "Hey, my dear daughter, did you miss Daddy?"

Sisi nodded in response. "I miss Daddy!"

Zhang Ye smiled and said: "Then give Daddy a kiss."

"Muah!" Sisi gave him a kiss.

Old Wu asked: "How's the shoot progressing?"

Zhang Ye said: "It's going pretty smoothly."

Old Wu said: "Why have you become so tan? Are you tired?"

Zhang Ye laughed and said: "I'm not tired. It's just that I was out in the sun a lot. It's no big deal."

Old Wu reminded him: "Filming an action movie is dangerous. You must watch out for your safety."

Zhang Ye said: "It's not dangerous at all, don't worry."

After chatting for a while, they finally hung up.

...

On the other end.

At a hospital.

Zhang Ye put down his cell phone and looked at the end of the bed.

The doctor and nurses were helping him change his dressing while an IV drip was attached to him.

Quite a few people from the film crew were also standing next to him.

Ha Qiqi said anxiously, "Doctor, how is it?"

The doctor replied, "Fortunately, he didn't break any bones."

Zhang Ye laughed and said, "See, I told you guys I was fine. You're getting all worried for nothing."

"What do you mean by you're fine?" Zhang Zuo said, "You scared us to death!"

Jiang Hanwei said with some lingering fear, "It was too dangerous today. What a close shave!"

Dong Shanshan shook her head furiously. "You're too good at lying to your family."

Zhang Ye warned, "It's very normal to get injured on a movie set, so what's the big deal? You guys had better not tell anything to my wife and daughter. I'm really fine."

The doctor said, "You'll be OK after recuperating for a few days in the hospital."

But Zhang Ye said, "That won't do. I'm OK already. I can leave after the IV is empty."

Ha Qiqi said in annoyance, "You have to listen to the doctor!"

Zhang Ye said, "I know my own body. There are still two more sets of scenes scheduled today. Let's hurry up and change venues after we finish with the shoot."

Be it the money.

Or time.

Zhang Ye couldn't afford either of them in his current state.

He had directed many shows before, but it was different this time. Movies were still too huge of a leap forward from the television series and variety shows that he used to film. Furthermore, this was an action movie that required them to shoot their scenes across China and Africa. There were simply too many things to prepare and shoot. The extras, the explosion scene, the props, all of that meant that the movie couldn't be filmed too quickly. Their funds were limited as his own family had pooled together 200 million for the production. Each day they delayed it was money lost, so Zhang Ye had to hurry and make the best of his time.

But sometimes, things happened the more anxious one was.

After Zhang Ye insisted on being discharged from the hospital, an incident happened.

...

On the third day after the shoot began, the film crew's final cast member finally arrived. It was the actor who would play the role of the spoiled brat: Song Qi. Due to the role's requirement, Zhang Ye had invited a very popular male idol to join the cast. Although Song Qi was not an S-lister in China, he was still a big star who was a top-tier celebrity on the Chinese A-list rankings and had many contracts on a lot of productions. He had been acting in a movie that had just wrapped up filming. This was the reason why Zhang Ye gave him the green light to join the cast only after he was done with the other production. As such, he was the last member to join the production set of Wolf Warrior 2. Zhang Ye had not worked with Song Qi before, but as his reputation online was pretty good and with Li Ke's recommendation, Zhang Ye decided to invite him to join the cast.

But in fact, this was not the case at all.

On the night after Song Qi arrived with his agent and assistants, Song Qi's agent approached the directorial team.

The agent bluntly said, "Director Zhang, why didn't you get a double for Song Qi?"

Zhang Ye frowned. "There are no dangerous scenes. Why would he need a double?"

The agent said, "No one does a shoot like this. The amount of work is too great. We didn't ask for a high salary in the first place, so this won't do."

Ha Qiqi said coldly, "Song Qi's salary is the highest on the set."

Zhang Zuo also said, "Isn't everyone else doing the same?"

The agent shook his head. "That won't do. We have to ask for a higher compensation."

Zhang Ye asked, "By how much?"

The agent said, "If this is how we're going to do the shoot, then the salary will have to be doubled."

Song Qi's contract was worth 20 million.

By doubling that, it would mean he was asking for 40 million?

Zhang Ye replied, "Impossible."

The agent said, "We don't usually take part in productions that pay us less than 40 million. It's even quite normal to get compensated 50 to 60 million for other movies, and that's currently the market price."

Ha Qiqi said, "You've already signed the contract. Why didn't you bring this up back then? Where's the logic of raising the asking price after the production is already underway? What the hell are you guys trying!"

The agent simply said alright and left.

But when the actual shoot began that night, Song Qi clearly started goofing off.

His expressions were rigid.

His actions were slow.

He was not giving any effort on purpose.

Even Jiang Hanwei was angered by this. "What are you doing!"

Song Qi said, "What about it?"

Zhang Ye lost his temper on the spot. "Get the fuck out of here! Replace the actor!"

Song Qi's agent immediately said, "It's you guys who are requesting a replacement, so that's a breach of contract!"

Song Qi led his agent and assistants off the set.

Zhang Zuo cursed, "What the fuck is this!"

Jiang Hanwei said, "The male idols these days have totally been spoiled by the investors' money." He looked at Zhang Ye and said, "Don't get angry over this. Your injury hasn't healed yet."

It would be a wonder if Zhang Ye didn't blow his top!

He immediately called Director Li Ke and took it up with him: "Director Li, we've known each other for so many years. Are you trying to trick me?"

Li Ke was startled. "Zhang'er, what's the matter?"

Zhang Ye said: "What kind of person did you recommend me! I even asked you which male idol in the industry was most reputable and you told me that Song Qi was OK. OK, my ass! He asked for greater compensation at the last minute and even wanted it to be doubled. When we were filming a scene that required him to perform some rolls, he deemed it tiring and fucking wanted a double to do it instead. When I didn't agree, he acted like a bastard on the set and deliberately acted badly. After shooting for the entire night, there isn't even a single scene that can be used! What the hell!"

Li Ke said with a heavy voice: "That happened?"

Zhang Ye said feeling annoyed: "I've already told him to get lost, so tell me, where am I going to get another actor to save the day?"

Li Ke said in a serious tone: "Zhang'er, I understand. Don't worry, I'll give you an explanation for this matter."

The call ended.

Ha Qiqi said, "We can't blame Director Li for this either."

Zhang Zuo said, "The main issue is who do we get to replace Song Qi?"

Zhang Ye was also considering his options.

...

In a chat group for directors.

Li Ke put out the news. "Don't use Song Qi ever again."

Quite a few directors started asking: "Why is that, Old Li?"

Li Ke gave them an account of the events.

"Such a thing happened?"

"Isn't Little Song's reputation quite good?"

"An actor like this has got real problems with their character."

"Director Zhang has really been taken for a ride."

"Alright, we know what to do."

"This sort of actor can't be used again."

"No one would dare to either."

The actors had their own circle.

And so did the directors.

...

At Song Qi's studio.

Song Qi and his people had just gotten off the plane when they got wind of the news through the grapevine.

"What?"

"Director Zhou's next movie is going to change actors?"

"Hasn't the deal already been negotiated? We were going to be the first male lead in that movie!"

"I heard that Director Li lost it in the directors' group and said that he wants us blacklisted!"

"How can he do that!"

Song Qi's expression darkened!

Song Qi's agent was panicking!

They had not expected the situation to turn out like this!

...

The next day.

In the morning.

The entire film crew's progress was at a standstill.

Without the important cast members on set, they couldn't proceed with the shoot.

The role of the spoiled brat was too important to the entire show. So Zhang Ye couldn't be sloppy about it. He needed a suitable person to play the role.

Who should he look for?

Who could play the role?

He didn't sleep the entire night and kept thinking about this.

All of a sudden, Zhang Ye thought of a person. It was someone who was even more suited to play the role than Song Qi. However, he didn't know if he could invite that person onto the movie. He hesitated for a long time before he finally called Ha Qiqi over to help him get that person's contact information. When Ha Qiqi heard the name, she was stunned for quite a while.

They found his cell phone number.

Then called him up.

"Hello, who is this?"

"I am Zhang Ye."

"Zhang Ye? Teacher Zhang?"

"Boss Qian Jr., how are you?"

"Why did you call me? Are you looking for my dad? He's at the office and his cell phone isn't off either. Is this about your movie?"

"It's about the movie."

"Regarding the movie's distribution? You can speak directly to my dad then. Based on your relationship with my dad, it shouldn't be a problem for him to distribute the movie for you."

"It's not that. I'm actually looking for you."

"Looking for me?"

"There's a role that I need you for. Do you think you can help me?"

"What?"

"I'm asking if you can play a role in the movie."

"You're asking me to act?"

"That's right, are you interested?"

The two of them spoke for 30 minutes.

Noon.

The film crew was on their lunch break.

Zhang Ye came over in high spirits and took a boxed lunch to eat together with everyone.

Yao Jiancai was surprised. "Did you manage to get someone?"

Zhang Ye smiled. "I've found a person."

Jiang Hanwei asked, "Who?"

Zhang Ye said, "You'll know when he arrives."

"Surely not, right?" Ha Qiqi exclaimed, "He's really coming?"

Zhang Ye nodded. "It's settled."

An actor asked, "So who is it, Director Ha?"

Ha Qiqi did not know whether to laugh or cry. "You guys definitely can't guess who it is."

...

Later that afternoon.

1:30 PM.

When that person hurried down to the filming location on a private jet, when his figure appeared in front of everyone, all of the film crew members were dumbfounded!

That person suavely waved. "Hi, Teacher Zhang, I'm here."

Zhang Ye stood up and went to welcome him respectfully. "Thank you for coming to save the day."

That person laughed and said, "I'm a good friend, right?"

Zhang Ye shook his hand. "I owe you one."

That person looked to be around 20 years old or so.

He wasn't considered handsome, nor was he ugly.

He wasn't someone from the entertainment circle.

He wasn't a professional actor.

However, everyone on set knew who he was!

"So it's him?"

"I'm gonna faint!"

"What's with this?"

"This!"

He was known by many names.

—Boss Qian Jr.!

—China's Richest Son!

—China's Husband!

—China's Son-in-law!

The entire film crew was dumbfounded!

No one had expected Zhang Ye to get this person!