Chapter 58 I have an idea!

Others drank alcohol, but Zhou Le drank water.

However, Xu Zheng also made his stance clear: "We can have fun and we can drink, but no one is allowed to get drunk, and it must not interfere with the filming. No one is allowed to go out running wild at night either. Even if you take a fancy to someone, you must wait until the production wraps up and contact them privately afterwards, but no trouble is allowed—do you all understand? If it affects the box office of the movie, even if I let it slide, the higher-ups will come looking for trouble with you."

Zhou Le felt a secret thrill inside.

He needed to maintain his physical shape right now, and it was fortunate that the others wouldn't be able to let loose and play hard either.

Otherwise, how agonizing would it have been for him in his heart?

His mindset at the moment was caught between the fear that others wouldn't have a good time because of him, and the worry that others would have the time of their lives while he could only watch from the sidelines.

The next morning, Zhou Le was woken up by Su Yingxia.

She said the crew was preparing to transition to a new location.

The next leg of filming would take place in Nanjing.

Zhou Le thought to himself that he was finally about to officially embark on the fourth serious production of his life.

As for the scenes earlier where Xu Zheng explained the background and character settings with his ex-wife, they went without saying.

Zhou Le's official entrance took place inside the Indian aphrodisiac oil shop.

Yet upon stepping through the door, just a few short lines were enough to vividly portray the cowering timidness and deep-seated inferiority complex of an ordinary, insignificant little person.

With Zhou Le's own acting skills, pulling this off presented zero problem whatsoever.

After all, who hadn't been an insignificant nobody at some point in their lives?

However, right after finishing this segment, Wen Muye stood up and looked over at Zhou Le.

An idea suddenly sparked in his mind.

"I've got an idea!"

Xu Zheng asked, "Let's hear it."

Zhou Le also grew interested. "What kind of idea?"

Wen Muye pointed at Zhou Le. "How about the two of you act out another scene? But this time, Le'er, you play the owner of the aphrodisiac shop, and Brother Zheng, you play the customer. Make it a bit more entertaining and humorous. We can use it as promotional material later, or release it during the second month of the theatrical run to give a boost to the box office. If you're worried it might affect the mysterious nature of the character, it can also be released after the film finishes its theatrical run. In any case, it'll have to be uploaded to those video platforms eventually, and higher popularity means we can sell the copyright for a higher price."

Xu Zheng's eyes lit up.

Since resting meant sitting around anyway, the next official scene required some time to brew emotional intensity, taking at least over an hour before they could shoot it.

"That's a brilliant idea, Teacher Wen."

Zhou Le thought about it and asked, "What about the script?"

Xu Zheng waved his hand dismissively. "Who needs a script? We'll improvise!"

"Let's do it!"

Shortly after, Zhou Le took a seat inside the shop. Even though a significant portion of the front of his hair had been shaved off and specially styled into messy, sparse strands, sitting there with his legs crossed and his hands intertwined, he still managed to cut a rather striking figure.

His previously sickly-looking face now completely radiated the aura of someone who was thoroughly overindulged in debauchery.

"Haha, it really fits the look." Wen Muye laughed so hard behind the monitor that he slapped his thigh.

With a shout of "Action," Xu Zheng entered the frame.

His pace was extremely hurried.

Upon stepping through the door, he slammed a bottle of Indian aphrodisiac oil—which he had just casually slipped into his pocket from the shop counter—right onto the table!

"What is the meaning of this, Boss? You're selling fake oil, aren't you? Do you believe I'll report you?"

Hearing this, Wen Muye laughed so hard he couldn't even straighten his back.

"Professional dramatic actors really are different. This is so absurdly hilarious!"

Yet right at that moment, Zhou Le in the monitor let out a mocking chuckle of disdain, and then locked eyes with Xu Zheng.

"Have you ever considered that maybe you're just overindulged in sex? Is that wig fake?"

Wen Muye nearly knocked over the monitor in his fit of laughter.

"Hahaha, no way, is Zhou Le's improvisation this wild?"

Hearing this line, Xu Zheng almost broke character on the spot.

After all, the look in Zhou Le's eyes was simply too punchable, and this line was clearly aimed directly at him.

Yet there was nothing he could do—who told him to start the scene in the first place?

"What business is it of yours whether I'm bald or not? Hurry up and give me a refund. Damn it, actually selling fake medicine and even taking money from disabled people—do you have any conscience at all, for crying out loud!"

Zhou Le sighed, then tactically leaned back into his chair.

He picked up the bottle of Indian aphrodisiac oil, his gaze fixed entirely on the packaging.

"You're saying you used half the bottle and it didn't work?"

"Yeah, so what?"

Zhou Le shook his head. "I never sell fake medicine."

With that, he poured out just a single drop onto his hand.

Xu Zheng didn't even react in time for a moment.

Yet he still maintained his professional dedication by taking two steps back to continue the scene.

Looking at Zhou Le with a guarded expression, he demanded, "What are you doing? You gonna throw hands?"

Zhou Le raised both hands. "This is the efficacy of the Indian aphrodisiac oil I sell."

At that exact moment, the rest of the crew finally caught on.

Not just Wen Muye, but every single staff member on the set burst into uproarious laughter.

"Hahaha!"

Not a single person could hold it in.

"Hahaha, I thought Brother Zheng's improvisation was already top-tier, but there's always someone better. Le'er is too damn funny—is this even a plot a normal human brain could come up with?"

Everyone was laughing until their stomachs hurt.

Including Xu Zheng.

However, the consequence of this was that over the next few days, in a large portion of the scenes that featured a table, Xu Zheng couldn't help but break character and burst out laughing.

Yet everyone's tolerance for Xu Zheng was exceptionally high.

Or rather, there wasn't the slightest hint of blame whatsoever.

After all, who else was the biggest shot on the entire production set?

Therefore, whenever Xu Zheng laughed, everyone else simply laughed along with him.

Only Zhou Le never took this as a license to slack off; Xu Zheng could afford to do that, but what if he himself started cracking up over nothing?

No matter what film crew he was in, Zhou Le always treated it strictly as a professional workplace.

Unless the boss laughed first.

Meanwhile, right in the middle of shooting the medicine-selling sequences, Han Han called him on the phone.

"Le'er, didn't you mention before that you wanted to buy a car and get it modified? As it happens, the mechanic from our racing team has some free time recently. Would you like to consider getting one to drive?"

"Sure, but I've been too busy lately and haven't had time to look at cars."

"No worries, I've already helped you pick one out. A BMW M4 sports car. It looks exceptionally cool once modified—I'll have them change the rear spoiler and the lights for you, and give the interior a nice overhaul. You just pay for the car itself, and everything else is at friend-to-friend pricing. I know you're broke; if you buy the high-end configuration, the total including modifications will come out to around 1.6 million yuan or so. How does that sound?"

Upon hearing this price, Zhou Le immediately got cold feet.

"Young Master Han, right now, counting every last penny I have, I only have a million in my hands. Buying the car alone would be a stretch, so maybe we should put it off for a while?"

Han Han sighed. "If we wait for a while, there are upcoming races, and I'm afraid they won't have the time. How about this: I'll lend you the money, and you can chip in whatever you can afford. I won't charge you any interest afterwards, and I'll just help you buy the car directly. Going through our channels gets us a much better discount."

With that, he even sent Zhou Le a picture.

Zhou Le looked at the photo and instantly fell in love with it.

"Is this really okay?"

"What's wrong with it? It's just a few hundred thousand yuan. Whenever you have the money later, just pay me back. No interest charged, as long as you agree to star in my next movie."

Zhou Le looked at the picture again.

He finally gritted his teeth.

He figured Han Han wouldn't try to trap him in a deal like this.

"Then I'll find a 4S dealership around here tomorrow to test drive it. If it's good, we'll go with this one."

"What 4S dealership? I already have this car right here. You're currently in Nanjing, right? I'll bring the mechanic over tomorrow since we're close by anyway."

"That works too."

Just like that, the very next day, Zhou Le took Han Han's M4 out for a test drive.

He found it impossible to put down.

He settled the deal right on the spot.

Afterwards, he added the mechanic on WeChat to facilitate communication regarding the modification details.

Upon returning, he happened to run into Xu Zheng, who was looking for him to discuss the script.

"Actually, the core message we want to express is that the biggest disease in this world is actually poverty. Damn it, imported medicine costing tens of thousands of yuan a bottle—how could ordinary people ever afford it? That's why we still have to work hard to make money, not just for ourselves, but for our families as well."

Zhou Le nodded in deep agreement, thinking about how he had gone from holding a million yuan to being flat broke overnight, and even owing hundreds of thousands on top of that: "You hit the nail on the head, Brother. Poverty really is the root cause of everything. I am truly, desperately broke right now!"