Huo Ge hadn't caught any fish, but he was in high spirits—he had finally made a connection with Liu Yifei.
Qi Tongwei was in high spirits as well. Once the afternoon scenes were wrapped, the crew would pack up and leave, meaning he wouldn't have to linger in this mountain valley any longer.
Yet, the thought of Huo Ge—his newly made friend—leaving to travel everywhere and shoot films while he, a dragon trapped on a shallow beach, remained cooped up here, stirred a faint irritation within him.
"Let's go!" Qi Tongwei glanced at his watch. "It's almost three. You guys should be getting back to reshoot those shots."
"I don't have any scenes. Going back just means doing odd jobs," Huo Ge said lazily, packing up his gear before following Qi Tongwei away.
Chatting as they walked, they reached a bend in the mountain path and stopped. Three people had appeared ahead on the narrow path, which was only wide enough for two people to walk abreast, blocking their way.
"Brother Wen, Brother Wu, Brother Bin!"
Huo Ge looked closer and saw they were stuntmen temporarily hired by the crew—specifically, the three Wang brothers.
Walking in front was the second eldest, Wang Jiawu, followed by the eldest, Wang Jiawen. The two of them were carrying a wooden box about half a meter long. It didn't look heavy, and their expressions were relaxed.
At the very rear was the youngest, Wang Jiabin, walking leisurely with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Their second maternal uncle lived in Dazui Village at the top of the mountain. While visiting him, they happened to see the crew filming by the pool, so they proactively asked if there were any jobs available, mentioning they had martial arts training.
At the time, the stunt crew hadn't all arrived, so the director hired the three Wang brothers as temporary stuntmen and extras.
Huo Ge had shared a few drinks and played a few rounds of poker with the three Wang brothers, and had even won against them.
Around the crew, nobody wanted to play cards with them because the three brothers coordinated well, winning big and losing small.
Yet they had never beaten Huo Ge; no matter how they played, they couldn't win, which was why they eventually stopped playing cards with him.
These three Wang brothers were precisely the ones Huo Ge suspected. They were the most likely culprits behind the severing of the steel wire on Liu Yifei's safety harness.
However, neither Huo Ge nor Qi Tongwei had found any evidence linking the three Wang brothers to the wrongdoing, so the matter had to be dropped.
Qi Tongwei also looked over the three Wang brothers. "Don't you guys have to film?"
Wang Jiawu shook his head. "We're done filming. We got our wages, and now we're just helping carry some props down!"
Huo Ge stepped forward, offering to lend a hand. "Need any help?"
"No, no," Wang Jiawu hurriedly refused. "It's not heavy!"
Wang Jiabin, bringing up the rear, spoke up. "Huo Ge, Director Zhang was just looking for you to settle your wages. You better head back quickly!"
"Got it, Brother Bin." Huo Ge sidestepped to clear the path.
"Watch your step!" Qi Tongwei also stepped aside to let them pass. "There's a section further down that got washed out, so be careful!"
"Will do, thanks, Officer Qi!" Wang Jiabin didn't forget to express his gratitude as he hurried past Qi Tongwei.
After walking quite a distance uphill, Huo Ge and Qi Tongwei stopped simultaneously and turned back to look at the three Wang brothers.
By now, the three Wang brothers were walking along the winding path, disappearing and reappearing among the lush trees.
"That path isn't the primary route down the mountain!" Qi Tongwei's brow furrowed slightly as he felt the appearance of the three Wang brothers was too abrupt.
"The box they're carrying isn't from the crew's props, either."
"Wang Jiawen's expression was off—he seemed a bit panicked!"
"Wang Jiabin is the youngest, but he looks like the one calling the shots!"
"Something's wrong!"
Huo Ge looked at Qi Tongwei and praised, "Brother Wei, you've spent two years in the mountains, but it looks like your criminal investigation skills haven't grown rusty. Not bad, not bad!"
Qi Tongwei was unimpressed by Huo Ge's teasing. "What problems did you spot in them?"
Huo Ge thought earnestly. "Our filming schedule has been delayed. The scenes here were originally supposed to wrap up in half a month, but it's taken us a little over a month now."
"After working on the crew for half a month, those three Wang brothers started getting impatient. They frequently asked for leave or slacked off on the job."
"Out of the three of them, at least one returns to the village every half-day, and without fail, one of them goes down the mountain every three days. I suspect they're mixed up in some illegal business."
Qi Tongwei asked, "What kind of illegal business?"
"I don't know, I'm not a cop." Huo Ge's gaze deepened. "But I found out that the steel wire Liu Yifei fell from that day was cut by those three."
"What do you mean *you* found out? *I* found out, and I told you!"
Qi Tongwei shoved Huo Ge in annoyance.
"Right, right, you're the great detective who figured it out!"
"There's no proof they did it. What do we do?"
"Nothing we can do. Just like you said, since Liu Yifei is fine and didn't report it to the police, a case can't be opened. We just have to let it drop!"
Qi Tongwei knew Huo Ge's character. "I don't believe you'll just let it go. If you don't do something about this, you won't have any peace of mind!"
"Ha-ha, this is a society ruled by law; we rely on evidence!"
* "Bullshit, *we* rely on evidence. All you need is a name!"
* "Ha-ha, I'm a law-abiding citizen!"
Qi Tongwei studied Huo Ge's expression, refusing to believe a word of it.
Huo Ge was the sort of person who could be extremely magnanimous—he treated friends and those close to him exceptionally well, the kind of person who would pour his heart out for them.
Yet he could also be terribly petty. Whoever offended him would suffer retaliation sooner rather than later.
Take not long ago, when the assistant director harassed a female extra who happened to get along well with Huo Ge. That very night, the assistant director was stung by several hornets and ended up in the hospital—though how those hornets managed to crawl inside his tent remained a mystery.
Noticing Qi Tongwei's suspicion, Huo Ge threw an arm around his shoulder. "Brother Wei, if we're brothers, how about we head into the village and see what mischief those three Wang brothers are up to?"
"No way, I'm not that curious!" Qi Tongwei quickly pushed Huo Ge away. "All I want right now is to go home and get a good night's sleep!"
"Sleep? You're just going to pass up a chance to rack up merits?"
"What chance to rack up merits?"
"What if those three Wang brothers are major thieves, vicious bandits, or seasoned crooks? If you capture them, wouldn't that be a huge contribution?"
"And what if they're not?"
"If they're not, you haven't lost anything!"
"Seriously, what are you actually trying to do?"
"Nothing much." Huo Ge shrugged offhandedly. "While beating the grass to startle the rabbits, I was planning to pick up some matsutake mushrooms in the village to resell for a profit, and by the way, check if those three Wang brothers are thieves. If they are, you make the arrest; if not, we leave—it won't waste any time!"
"Why do I feel so convinced that you *know* they're thieves?"
Qi Tongwei felt a lingering doubt, but he also knew Huo Ge wasn't one to make groundless claims. Huo Ge probably knew something about the three Wang brothers.
"Don't you cops always talk about reasonable suspicion, bold hypotheses, careful verification, and vigorous arrests?"
"I do, but I didn't suspect them."
"You literally just said they were acting suspicious. Isn't that suspecting them?"
"..."
Qi Tongwei opened his mouth, stared blankly for a moment, and finally said, "I only said something was off, I didn't say I wanted to investigate!"
"Tsk, tsk," Huo Ge shook his head repeatedly. "Brother Wei, I'm not just saying this, but if you want to make a career and rack up merits, you have to handle more cases. When nobody reports a crime, you have to pay closer attention to suspicious people or events. Put a little effort into it, and you might just uncover a case!"
"Are you saying I have too much free time? I'm a very busy man!"
"Yes, yes, you're busy—so busy you don't even have time to make merits!"
"What kind of talk is that? Who doesn't want to rack up merits when given the chance?"
"Then I'll ask you this: are we going or not? It's almost evening now. We spend the night in the village—I'll buy my goods, you investigate the case. What's the loss? What if you actually make a contribution?"
"..."
Qi Tongwei wanted to retort, but what Huo Ge said made sense. Besides, it wasn't much trouble, so what harm was there in going along?
Seeing Qi Tongwei wavering, Huo Ge simply grabbed him and pulled him along. "Let's go, let's go get a free meal in the village first!"
"You're just going for a free meal?"
"I know that village well. Adding a pair of chopsticks for a meal is no big deal!"
"You've got skin as thick as tree bark!"
"Right, right. Since you say my skin is thick, lend me some money!"
"Damn it, you want to borrow money?"
Qi Tongwei stopped dead in his tracks. His own salary was only a little over a thousand yuan a month. Aside from sending money home, he had to cover his own living expenses and maintain social connections. He was a pure "moonlight tribe" member living paycheck to paycheck.
"I'm planning to make a movie. The female lead is Liu Yifei. Interested in investing and making a cameo?"
"Make a movie? Have you lost your mind? And Liu Yifei as the female lead—can you even afford her?"
"She accepted the script! We're just a bit short on cash!"
"Really? How much are you short?"
"Fifty thousand!"
"Ugh~"
Qi Tongwei thought to himself: if Huo Ge had asked to borrow a mere eight hundred or a thousand yuan, he'd chalk it up to treating Huo Ge to a meal.
But asking to borrow fifty thousand? In two words: no way in hell!