Li Mazi and I took the 3 AM train back to Wuhan.

When we returned to Wuhan, we ordered a big table of Southern foods and wolfed it down. We didn’t like Northern food that much.

The next day, Yin Xinyue came to my antique shop. She mysteriously beamed at me. “There’s something I need your help with.”

I smiled. “Did a friend of yours blindly collect something they shouldn’t have?”

“No. Our company recently invested in a martial-art-themed historical drama. It’s almost time to start shooting, but the director is a very enthusiastic person, and he’s afraid that the props don’t look genuine enough. He asked the prop team to redo everything. The prop team leader was prepared to go to the museum to ask for help from an expert. However, a film crew has several hundred members, and besides the fees for filming, there are other expenses. Everything requires money. We can’t bear that much. My boss was worried, so I thought of you. Do you have any antiques from the Ming dynasty? I want to borrow one or two items.”

I thought then told her, “I have some items from the Ming dynasty. However, I only have otherworldly items. I can’t bear the responsibility if anything bad happens to the film crew.”

“What should we do then? The meals and accommodation alone cost tens of thousands of renminbi a day, and I haven’t counted the site rental fee.” Yin Xinyue sounded aggrieved. “That stinky director is annoying…”

I had a flash in my head. “Oh right, you should find Li Mazi. He should have many antiques. Will they pay to rent antiques?”

Yin Xinyue nodded. “Of course. This is business, after all. I won’t mistreat Li Mazi.”

I called Li Mazi and told him about the situation. As soon as he heard that there would be money involved, he agreed.

Then, I took Yin Xinyue out to eat. When we came back, we saw Li Mazi opening his pickup truck in front of my shop. I helped him move the items. Several big chests contained antiques from the Ming dynasty. There were swords, jades, artifacts, and even incense holders. “How do you have so many antiques in your house?”

“I’ve been collecting them and storing them for a long time. I haven’t sold any. And, I’ve been working with you in this business. That’s why those items were kept in my basement and have gathered dust,” explained Li Mazi.

“If one day you don’t want to work in this business anymore, you can just open an antique shop. I’m sure these items are enough for you to live without worrying about making ends meet for the rest of your life,” I said.

“Nope. 99% of these are fakes. Blame me for not having keen eyes at the time,” Li Mazi whispered to my ear.

Yin Xinyue took a good look at them.

“Are these enough? If not, I can bring you several more chests.”

“It’s enough. We won’t use them to shoot the drama. The prop team needs them to make some replicas.”

“Sister-in-law, how about the rental fee?” Li Mazi went straight to the point.

“We need to talk to the director. However, he’s shooting deep in the mountains. I’ll help you get there. I am still the Producer, so I have to go there once in a while,” explained Yin Xinyue.

“How about we go all together and have a good talk with the crew? It’ll also broaden my horizons. I’ve watched so many dramas, but I have never seen a film studio before.” Li Mazi made a face at me.

I understood his idea. A drama would need at least a few months to shoot all the episodes. This one took place in a rural, remote area. Moreover, the film crew would have more men than women, so I wouldn’t be able to ease my mind if Yin Xinyue went there alone. That was why I agreed with Li Mazi. “Yeah, I agree. After all, we don’t have any business to do these days.”

Yin Xinyue blinked at me mischievously. “Brother Zhang, are you worried that someone will try to woo me?”

“Of course not!” I waved my hands. “How could I even think that? I’m not worried at all.”

“You don’t feel worried? You mean that I’m not that attractive?” pouted Yin Xinyue.

“I didn’t mean that!”

Yin Xinyue called the director. Meanwhile, Li Mazi happily said, “I heard that there are many beauties in the film crew. It’ll be a feast for my eyes.”

I shot him a disdainful glance. I thought he had suggested it because he was worried about Yin Xinyue, but it seemed I was wrong.

Yin Xinyue booked the flight tickets. The film crew was in a small village in Handan, Hebei. She called a car to transport the items to the airport. Although they were not that good, they were still valuable. Li Mazi got in his car and left. Yin Xinyue and I called another taxi. We would meet at the airport.

After checking in, we took the flight at noon. One hour later, we arrived in Handan. However, it took the entire afternoon to reach that small town.

I asked Yin Xinyue, “Why doesn’t the film crew shoot the drama in the Film and Television City? Why do they have to go to this remote area?”

“You’ll know when we get there. There’s a small, well-preserved town from the Ming dynasty. It has small, arched bridges above the stream. It’s really beautiful. We had to exert a lot of effort in negotiations to rent the place. This martial art drama has two parts. One will be filmed here, and the other part will be filmed in the Film and Television City.”

“It’s tough to make movies!” I sighed.

“Yeah. Whenever I’m shooting a movie, I only sleep for four or five hours a day, and I would always feel light-headed. Sometimes, we had to shoot the winter scenes in the summer and vice versa. Imagine this, you can only wear a single shirt in the winter in a place that’s minus five Celsius degrees, or you have to wear a puffer jacket in the scorching summer,” complained Yin Xinyue.

Li Mazi chimed in, “Why do they have to do that? Why don’t they shoot the summer scenes in the summer and winter scenes in the winter?”

“A drama will be filmed in a few months. How can they wait for a year just to shoot some scenes? There is harsh competition in this business. They have to run with time. Otherwise, how could a movie star complete four or five dramas in a year?”

As we had started this topic, Yin Xinyue couldn’t stop. She updated us with some common knowledge of television dramas.

China was a big country for TV programs and serials. Every year, there were more than ten thousand episodes of dramas produced. Tens of thousands of people worked in this industry, who dedicated their sweat and blood to the production. However, only a few dramas became famous each year. The rest weren’t popular, and hardly anybody knew their names. Whether a drama could make it depended on a lot of factors. Sometimes, even if one invested in famous actors or great directors, it could still be a poorly rated drama.

At around 5:00 PM, we arrived in the small town where the film crew was based. It was a perfectly preserved small town from the Ming dynasty. The buildings had ancient roof tiles, and behind the town was a mountain. It also faced the river. It gave people a tranquil feeling. The director had chosen the perfect place.

There were many parked cars at the entrance of the small town. Some were private cars and some had the name of the film company printed on the body. A banner hung between the trees. It read ‘Great martial art ancient costume drama filming location.’

I saw a lot of red confetti left by firecrackers on the ground. Yin Xinyue said that before they started to film, they bowed to Guan Yu. It was a custom from Hong Kong, but companies from the Mainland also did this practice. They thought it could guarantee the success of their dramas.

We got out of the car at the intersection. Yin Xinyue made a call. Not long afterward, an SUV came. A man got out of the car. Yin Xinyue introduced him as the team leader of the stage prop team; his name was Xu. Mr. Xu talked a few sentences to show his appreciation to us. We helped him move the stuff into his SUV and went to the small town with him.

While the car was moving through the town, we saw some cranes. Yin Xinyue said that they were used to hold the steel cables. There were also some camera tracks that the staff used to assemble and shoot the scenes. A middle-aged man wearing a pair of sunglasses sat there. He was discussing something with the other staff.

“The man in the sunglasses is Director Zhang!” said Yin Xinyue.

“Will we cause trouble for him if we stay here?” I asked.

“Why don’t you guys become walk-ons? It’s okay to do some supporting roles, too. You can be the servants or the waiters. They only have a few lines.” Yin Xinyue smiled.

“But we don’t know how to act,” I answered.

Yin Xinyue started to laugh. “There’s no need for acting skills. It’s like the walk-on role, but you can show up more times.”

“Do you think my image will be captured on camera?”

She laughed. “It’s no problem. However, if you were too handsome, you would capture the whole scene, and the director wouldn’t use you.”

“Oh, girl. You’re hurting my heart!” I clutched my chest.