Chapter 51: Turning the Tables

The message had been delivered.

Yet three days passed, and still there was no response from the other side.

Xu Ming was not one to let things slide. He directly used the "Monday See You" social media account to publish the bar’s security camera footage.

With that, all those voices claiming that "Dicky Cheung and the others are the victims after all" completely vanished.

After all, in the video, the arrogant ones were clearly the Hong Kong artists.

Even the figure who appeared later and looked "extremely similar" to Xu Ming had his hands raised and maintained restraint throughout.

When people recalled the miserable state of Dicky Cheung and his companions, a wave of sheer satisfaction even welled up within them.

That very afternoon.

Dicky Cheung appeared on television, wrapped in bandages.

"I am sorry, everyone. I apologize to those I have harmed. As an artist, one must strictly uphold artistic ethics, and I hope everyone will take me as a warning."

He sincerely pressed his palms together and bowed toward the camera.

Now, he was completely tamed.

No one could guess what other dirt Xu Ming might still be holding onto, and that was the most terrifying part.

Dicky Cheung being pushed out as a scapegoat was clearly a signal released by the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

Just like back then, when Xiaobailong was beaten, the former had similarly ended up as the scapegoat.

The security footage was also deleted from the blog after Dicky Cheung's apology.

Of course, as for netizens spontaneously spreading it, that was no longer Xu Ming's concern.

May 10.

At the Shenzhen Gymnasium, the "Laughter Transforms 2009" Zhao Family Troupe national tour Shenzhen stop came to an end.

Xu Ming wiped away his sweat; he had been the most energetic performer on stage.

There was no helping it—throughout the entire Zhao Family Troupe, aside from his master, he was the top draw.

At the venue, the cheers for him even temporarily overshadowed those for his master...

"How is the novel serialization of *Love Is Not Blind* going?" Xu Ming asked casually.

"Twenty thousand words have been published. With the interaction between you and Teacher Song, it is currently the most-visited post on the blog daily," Xiaoyuan replied.

"Mhm, weren't those drunken photos taken in advance? Send them over to Sohu Entertainment and let them break the news tomorrow."

Xu Ming waved at his passing martial brothers, signaling them to go ahead first, and then asked, "Are there any promotional schedules from the agency looking for me?"

Regarding schedules, he had specifically assigned Xiaoyuan to keep an eye on them to prevent people from the media brokerage department from playing tricks.

Given his relationship with the management, that was entirely within the realm of possibility.

Xiaoyuan hesitated for a moment and said, "There's a cameo audition, but the agency thought it was mediocre and suppressed it."

"A cameo audition? Which director?"

Xu Ming stopped wiping his sweat, his tone filled with surprise.

Given his fame, any director daring to ask him for a cameo had to be at least of master-director caliber.

"Director Jiang Wen's new movie. It seems to be adapted from a short story by an old writer, and the novel is called *The Robbery of the Official*."

Xiaoyuan had a good memory and retained the information she had merely glanced through.

Hearing the adapted novel's title, Xu Ming raised an eyebrow.

The answer was practically leaping out at him.

Good grief, this was none other than *Let the Bullets Fly*, yet the people at the agency actually thought it was mediocre.

"Mainly because Director Jiang's last film had relatively poor box office results, and on top of that, it's just a cameo..." Xiaoyuan explained.

In her view, such an audition did not match her employer's status and star power.

Xu Ming came to a sudden realization, and that made sense.

Jiang Wen's previous film, *The Sun Also Rises*, grossed a mere sixteen million, and his momentum had indeed declined over the past few years.

Furthermore, since it was only a cameo role, it was normal for the agency and Xiaoyuan not to take it to heart.

After all, he was currently the lead actor in Director Zhang Yimou's new film.

If Xu Ming hadn't known in advance the status *Let the Bullets Fly* held in the history of Chinese cinema, he probably wouldn't have paid it much special mind either.

However... speaking of which, the investor for this film seemed to be Hong Kong's Emperor Motion Pictures.

"Contact them. I'll go the day after—actually, I can go tomorrow," Xu Ming said.

He did not worship Jiang Wen, but he respected the latter's films, especially this *Let the Bullets Fly*.

It was just a cameo anyway, and whether he passed the audition or not was inconsequential.

He purely held the mindset of going to witness history and incidentally joining in the excitement.

"Alright, Brother Ming."

Although Xiaoyuan didn't understand, she executed the order resolutely.

...

The next day.

Xu Ming appeared in Beijing.

Seeing the four characters "Busily Joyful" hanging above the entrance, he knew he had come to the right place.

This company was jointly opened by Jiang Wen and his producer, Ma Ke.

It was also one of the primary investors in *Let the Bullets Fly*.

Led by the receptionist, he was guided into a room.

Upon entering, the room was filled with people engaged in intense discussions.

Five large blackboards were on display, and the desks were covered in all sorts of papers.

Not a single person noticed his arrival.

Honestly, this kind of audition environment was completely outside Xu Ming's expected scope.

"Liu Zi cannot live; he must die, and he has to die tragically enough, otherwise this character won't stand, and his purpose won't be manifested."

Jiang Wen gestured to a companion nearby, "When the time comes, put the knife on the belly like this, slash, slice it open. Look, isn't this just a bowl of rice noodles?"

He grew excited as he spoke and clapped his hands, "Smack, and the character stands up."

"Indeed, the trap Huang Silang sets is a dead end," his companion nodded, "but I might not lack other methods."

As everyone argued, no one had the spare attention for Xu Ming for the moment.

The latter was not in a rush either, looking around with considerable interest and touching things here and there.

He even casually exchanged a few words with people out of the blue.

Although everyone was slightly surprised to see a stranger's face, since no one else spoke up, they couldn't be bothered to think too much about it.

On the contrary, the suggestions this kid occasionally offered were actually quite useful.

"Jiang Wu looks too much like Director Jiang; their confrontational scenes will easily pull the audience out of the immersion."

"What about putting on a wig and a fake beard?"

"That could work, but I feel the recognizability is still not enough."

The stylist pulled at their hair in frustration. If the originally cast martial arts instructor hadn't dropped out, they wouldn't have ended up with this extra trouble.

"Grow the hair long and perm it into an afro."

A voice came from beside them, lingering softly.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea."

The makeup artist turned her head, startled upon seeing Xu Ming's face, "Aren't you that... that little heartthrob?"

"Yup, it's me. I'm here for the audition, but you guys go ahead, no rush," Xu Ming said with a chuckle.

The exchange between the two brought silence to the preparation room.

An auditioning actor was instructing the styling and design team—he was completely usurping the role of the host.

The crucial part was that when several people carefully pondered it, the train of thought they had just used to solve their problem seemed to have been provided by this kid.

Jiang Wen finally stopped his argument and looked over.

Looking Xu Ming up and down, he spoke, "If you ate a bowl of rice noodles and only paid for one bowl, but someone framed you for eating two bowls while only paying for one, what would you do?"

"Bullshit, I clearly ate ten bowls," Xu Ming answered without a second thought.

This response startled Jiang Wen, who continued, "Then why did you only pay for one bowl?"

"Bullshit, your grandpa didn't even pay for a single bowl!" Xu Ming straightened his chest and spoke with righteous indignation.

Jiang Wen laughed; this kid was somewhat interesting.