Fat Charles and the assistant director came over and first negotiated with Sha Yunfei’s team. The action was too difficult, they said. It could not be done. Change the choreography.
The moment Sha Yunfei’s side heard that, they got anxious. Change the design?
This sequence was not even the final boss fight. If they could not do this move, then everything afterward would be even more impossible. They would have to redesign the whole chain of scenes just to accommodate one or two idiots?
Naturally the action team refused. They argued with the director on principle, for the sake of the film and for the reputation of their own team. What, did he want them to design horse stances and basic military drills that children could perform? The Zhuang Stunt Team could not afford that kind of embarrassment.
It was like an architectural institute had already produced blueprints, engineers had approved them, and at the last second the construction crew showed up saying, Sorry, our workers aren’t skilled enough. We can only build a three-story slab building, not a skyscraper. Please redraw the plans.
Why not replace the fucking “construction crew” instead?
Zhuang Xiao put a hand on Old Sha’s shoulder and steadied him. It was hot. No need to get heated. If there was a conflict, they had to solve it.
The directing team offered a second plan: use doubles for all martial-arts and high-difficulty movements, then rely on post-production to bridge the gap.
The instant Zhuang Xiao heard it, something moved in his eyes. He stepped forward quickly. “Use one of my people. Xiao-Sa can handle all the movements. His skills are excellent and he has experience as a double.”
The director had already considered candidates and shook his head. Sa Risheng’s build, height, and overall presence did not resemble Tony. Obviously. Xiao-Sa was Zhuang Xiao’s personal double, chosen in the first place to match Zhuang Xiao’s own appearance and physique. Naturally he would not resemble someone else.
Fat Charles phrased it diplomatically. “Because we’d be using the double comprehensively, the post-production workload would be enormous. So we can’t only consider martial-arts ability. We also have to consider how well the performer can imitate the actor’s image and presence, deliver lines, and make expressions…”
Zhuang Xiao cut him off. “But what a stunt double needs most is professional experience. These moves are dangerous. A double is a double…”
Fat Charles said, “As long as the movements can be performed perfectly, that’s enough. We discussed it and we think Ian is the best fit to rescue the back half of the shooting schedule. We want to use the second plan, keep the difficult choreography instead of simplifying it, preserve the excitement and intensity of the fights, and have Ian double for the male lead.”
Pei Yan vaguely heard it. He could only understand part of the heated argument, but the instant his own name was called, he caught it.
Within his field of vision, Zhuang Xiao’s face was stern, his displeasure obvious. He was pressing down hard on his temper, and in fact he had already gotten angry. Zhuang Xiao glanced over at him, then continued negotiating with the director. “This isn’t fair. An actor is an actor, a stunt double is a stunt double. They’re two different circles, they don’t eat from the same bowl. He came here to act. He wants to be a leading man. Now you’re using him as a stunt double. That isn’t fair.”
It was unfair to him.
Pei Yan heard every word. It felt like having a basin of ice dumped over his face.
He had completely miscalculated. They wanted him to be a stunt double.
His English still was not fluent enough to tear into the director and producers himself. Zhuang Xiao was negotiating for him, automatically stepping into Johnny Wu’s role. Zhuang Xiao’s black brows knotted from time to time, both hands planted at his waist, displaying anger in a way Pei Yan rarely saw.
The two of them had not even joined the production together and could hardly be called “on the same side,” but in a situation like this, certain shared convictions and attachments inevitably put them on the same line. Defending a fellow professional from the kung-fu world was also defending himself, defending the value they ought to have.
Fat Charles spread his hands and spoke frankly. “We’re not trying to be unfair to him. For the sake of the entire production’s schedule and quality, we value and need Mr. Pei very much right now!”
Mr. Pei was now a very useful brick. Wherever there was a gap, they could throw him into it.
Pei Yan walked over wearing an easy expression. “Exactly how difficult is the move? Let me try it first.
“If even I can’t do it, then your action team really does need to change the script and redesign the choreography.”
*
He had watched himself fall from lead candidate to supporting actor, from righteous hero to flamboyant villain, and now straight down into stunt-double territory. Pei Yan’s mood actually relaxed instead. Fine. I’ll let all of you see what I’m worth.
You’re saying none of you can do it?
This chain of movements really was difficult. Following the action team’s design, Pei Yan personally rehearsed it three times and fell twice.
He had to leap from a high platform by stepping onto a metal railing, fly down a flight of stairs, vault an obstacle one-handed, roll on the ground to evade an attacking vehicle, and finally run up a wall.
He had not even practiced the latter half involving the car yet. Just the part where he stepped onto the railing and flew down the staircase had an effect similar to parkour. To make it clean and beautiful was genuinely difficult.
One time, he fell onto the stairs.
The second time, his foot missed. The side of his face seemed to strike the metal railing with a frightening bang. The iron pipe was probably as thick as his wrist.
People stood below the stairs holding mats to catch him, but even falling required skill and accurate landing. Otherwise he could actually kill himself!
Zhuang Xiao had been watching the whole time. He suddenly turned to Sha Yunfei and the others. “Why don’t you change the choreography?”
Sha Yunfei said, “Once we change this, we have to change an entire sequence afterward…”
Zhuang Xiao’s face was severe. “Haven’t you seen him fall several times already…? Or I’ll do it!”
The production had hired two extreme-sports athletes in advance, one of Brazilian descent and the other Black, both reasonably skilled. But as on-camera performers, neither was as suitable a double as Pei Yan. Pei Yan was tall and lean, fair-skinned, with long narrow brows and eyes. From the side or from behind, he really did resemble Tony Axas somewhat.
A large camera jib carried the safety line, which was ultimately fastened around Pei Yan’s lower back. The jib followed him while he ran the route again and again beneath the sun, getting used to it. “Parkour” was ultimately practice making perfect. Fall enough times, bruise yourself all over, and even a pig would eventually develop experience.
Zhuang Xiao watched Pei Yan without blinking, his face dark.
This kid could really fucking take a beating…
And he was stubborn, always competing with himself…
During a break to catch his breath, Zhuang Xiao walked over and tilted his head to inspect Pei Yan’s face. “By your ear, on the side, it’s bruised.”
Pei Yan said, “It’s fine. They put the foundation on thick. It covers it!”
Zhuang Xiao said, “I told you not to wear that earring. Ears are thin and fragile. They really tear easily if you hit them.”
Pei Yan said, “If my ear tears open completely, I’ll have this diamond set in my lip!”
He flipped his lower lip outward at Zhuang Xiao. Zhuang Xiao shook his head. That Pei bastard could always make him laugh.
Zhuang Xiao knew Pei Yan had brought no assistant or helper. He said, “I’ve got medicine in my car. Wait for me when we finish today, and I’ll take a look.”
Pei Yan grinned, blooming into a simple, delighted smile, only for that smile to freeze abruptly on his face. “Ah…”
Zhuang Xiao said, “What now?”
Halfway through the movement, Pei Yan held his mouth open and shifted his jaw. “Uh…”
Zhuang Xiao said, “Gone stupid? Serves you right for showing off. Hurts, doesn’t it?!”
Pei Yan mumbled unclearly, “Really hurts… can’t talk right…”
Zhuang Xiao said, “Then stop talking!”
*
Half of Pei Yan’s face was actually bruised, that face Fatty Bao had once valued at ten million.
They really did use a very pale shade of foundation to cover the obvious bruise. He did not dare make too many facial expressions. It hurt.
From that day onward, the Zhuang Stunt Team’s impression of Pei Yan changed dramatically.
He had real skill, and he was willing to fall hard and endure suffering. Among young actors in their twenties, how many could actually take hardship on set? Some cut a tiny slit on a finger and their fans started screaming, “My little brother works so hard!” before rushing them off for emergency blood transfusions.
Everyone took their positions. The cameras went onto the rails, and the entire set fell silent.
Until the final seconds before ACTION, the makeup artist was still touching up Pei Yan. The little cuts and bruises on the side of his face and all over his body could barely be concealed anymore. The director waved a hand. No need. His face would be replaced in post anyway. All they needed was Pei Yan’s running movement and body position.
Pei Yan jumped down from a platform more than three meters high, landed on the metal pipe railing, ran along it, then flew down a long flight of stairs.
A move like this required courage. The slightest trace of fear or hesitation would send him face-first into the ground.
There was no panic in his eyes. He tried to make himself as light as a swallow, flung his entire body outward, dropped into a roll, and dodged an oncoming vehicle.
The concrete was hard. It rushed up around his shoulder blades and stabbed a sharp sheet of pain through him.
With the safety line attached at his lower back, he ran up the wall, caught a hidden handhold with one hand, leaned backward, and flipped.
Everyone on set sucked in a breath, including Zhuang Xiao. His face was hard as stone. He did not dare make a sound for fear of distracting Pei Yan, and he stared without blinking. Would this take finally pass?
At the same time Pei Yan went airborne, a car below had to speed directly through the gap beneath his flipping body. That danger was exactly the effect they wanted.
Even after precise calculations, mistakes were still possible. The stunt driver inside the reinforced prop car hesitated. He was even more nervous than Pei Yan. At the critical moment, his foot eased off the gas, and the car slowed.
Zhuang Xiao rushed forward first. He could tell the driver had not pressed the accelerator fully. He shouted, “Too slow!”
A slower car meant Pei Yan’s airborne time was ending and he was already coming down while the body of the car was still beneath him.
It was too dangerous.
In roughly a tenth of a second, with blood rushing to his head while inverted, Pei Yan saw the blur of the vehicle beneath him. Instinctively he shot out one hand and braced against the side of the car roof to keep his head from smashing directly into it.
The speeding vehicle flashed past. Pei Yan came down unable to regain his footing, rolled toward the wall, and was thrown by momentum into the corner.
Fat Charles ran out too, furiously pointing at the stunt driver and cursing. “You were fucking slow! Too slow! That was dangerous as hell! You scared the shit out of me!”
A crowd rushed over to see whether Pei Yan had broken anything.
Pei Yan signaled with his eyes that he was fine. Golden sparks were battling across his vision, and it took a long while before his sight focused again, using Zhuang Xiao’s figure in the crowd as the point around which everything sharpened.
Zhuang Xiao turned to the director. “Can this take pass?”
Fat Charles said, “The stunt car is in the wrong position. The last two seconds don’t work. We have to shoot it again.”
They were leaving the vehicle yard tomorrow for another location. The studio space was rented by the day, which meant the reshoot had to be finished before the end-of-day bell today.
Zhuang Xiao rarely raised his voice, but this time he spoke loudly and directly to the director. “Use another double! Or animate the last few seconds in post. There are plenty of ways to solve it. You’re really making him run the whole thing again?”
Fat Charles stood by the wall and slowly bent his broad waist, something he rarely bothered doing because of his size. He placed a concerned hand on Pei Yan’s shoulder. “We have insurance, but I still don’t want to see you injured, kid. You can flip one more time. We’ll shoot only the last two seconds. If we get a better result once, we’re done.”
Still breathing hard, Pei Yan asked the director, “You’re giving up the long take?”
The old man said, “It’s already spectacular. You’re risking your ass, kid.”
Pei Yan said, “I don’t want to give up the long take. I can run it again.”
Fat Charles bent down and stared at him seriously, sizing him up. Then he squeezed Pei Yan’s shoulder hard and lightly brushed his chin, confirming that this insane young man truly intended to run again. There was something different in the old man’s eyes now. The attention Pei Yan received was clearly no longer the same as when he had first joined the production.
In this place, everyone respected strength. Nobody had patience for idiots.
Big Daddy personally gave him half an hour to rest and get massaged, even sending several crew members to attend to him.
But when Pei Yan ran it again, his luck was bad. The feel for the movement was gone. Twice in a row he misstepped on the railing and fell before he even reached the point where his route intersected with the stunt car.
Nobody rushed him or blamed him. The director simply stood there with a dark face, silent, while everyone waited.
The sequence really was too difficult. In truth, because they were replacing the face in post anyway, they could have created the final two seconds entirely through visual effects and repaired it until it looked flawless, as if the actor had really landed the stunt.
Pei Yan was simply competing against himself, demanding perfection, wanting everyone to see it.
With my ability, you think I can’t do this?
Zhuang Xiao walked over and checked Pei Yan’s safety buckle yet again, as though it had become some kind of lucky ritual. There really did seem to be a pattern: whenever Great Hero Zhuang personally checked the rigging once, Pei Yan’s next take tended to pass.
Zhuang Xiao said, “I actually want to run it for you once. If you fall apart, you won’t be able to shoot the rest. You really don’t need to push this hard.”
Pei Yan mocked himself. “You can’t. You really don’t look enough like Tony to double him. Lucky bastard, huh?”
“Fuck…” Zhuang Xiao laughed and shook his head. Then he added, “My waist has an old injury. I can run the stairs, but I can’t do that backflip at the end. Willing heart, insufficient body.”
“You’re injured?” Pei Yan raised his eyebrows at him. “Serious?”
“Old injury. My waist is almost shot.” Zhuang Xiao spoke frankly. “Even when you’re young, don’t go too hard and risk your life on movements. That body is yours. Use it sparingly.”
Then Zhuang Xiao walked toward the director. “I’ll drive that car!”
Pei Yan: “…”
Pei Yan had not expected Zhuang Xiao to demand to drive the stunt car himself, the beat-up metal vehicle that would roar directly beneath him as he came down from the backflip.
“I know how to drive stunt cars,” Zhuang Xiao said. “I already drove that car in some of the earlier shots. My hands are steady.”
Pei Yan said, “Mr. Zhuang, I know you even entered as an amateur and raced in the North African rally!”
Zhuang Xiao sneered. “Good. Then can you relax? I won’t hit you.”
Pei Yan nodded. “I’m pretty relaxed.”
In the script itself, this car was supposed to be driven by the big boss Deng Bai, fighting the male lead in a furious confrontation. That was what the finished film was meant to look like.
But real production was absurdly funny. The person inside the car was not “Deng Bai” Zhuang Xiao, and the person rolling and vaulting around on the ground was not the male lead Tony either. Every flashy exchange was being performed by doubles. From this point on, the righteous and villainous bosses might barely even have the opportunity to face one another for real. In the movie they would appear to be fighting, while the audience saw only stunt performers transformed by the magic of post-production.
Now the big boss climbed back into the car and waited for Young Hero Pei to come charging in.
Zhuang Xiao entered the vehicle still in makeup, his hair loose, a gloomy killing intent rising in his eyes. None of this footage would even need to be replaced in post. This really was his character.
Through the window, Zhuang Xiao gave his team and Pei Yan a thumbs-up, signaling that he was ready. Come on.
Sha Yunfei directed the large camera jib and used silent hand signals to indicate Pei Yan’s route.
Fat Charles looked grave. “ACTION!”
The entire set fell silent again. Everyone held their breath.
Pei Yan burst from cover, ran onto the platform, leapt down, landed on the metal railing, gripped the wrist-thick pipe with the soles of his feet as he raced forward, then launched himself down the stairs.
The first car came charging in. He rolled to evade it. A burst of engine roar exploded in his ears, followed immediately by the thrilling screech of brakes. Even the blood in his veins seemed to boil.
He sprinted toward the red-brick prop building in the vehicle yard. Patches of plaster had fallen from its wall, exposing mottled, savage patterns that looked ready to swallow him whole.
He ran up the wall, the safety line pulling behind him, drove himself as high as he could, hung in the air, leaned back, and flipped.
*
Zhuang Xiao saw Mr. Pei’s figure flash across his field of vision.
At one precise instant, he floored the accelerator without expression and drove out from the predetermined position, charging toward the target. He shot directly beneath the gap opened by Pei Yan’s backflip.
The script demanded that it look as though he meant to hit Pei Yan, meant to kill him, while of course not actually hitting him.
A fraction too fast or too slow would both be wrong. It was terrifyingly tight.
Once the car shot past, Zhuang Xiao could no longer see the person behind him. He could only judge from the feedback of the vehicle that Pei Yan had not struck it and he had not struck Pei Yan. The tires had not run over him either.
Pei Yan should have fallen behind the car onto the mat.
“CUT!”
People from the directing team rose to their feet with serious expressions.
This time the Zhuang Stunt Team’s boss did not need to lead the applause. Big Daddy himself stood first. Many people began clapping sincerely, though the noise and cheers were sealed outside the car windows and Zhuang Xiao could not hear them.
Zhuang Xiao urgently checked the rearview mirror and caught Pei Yan’s eyes. The kid was actually grinning broadly, wildly applauding himself with both hands. Judging by his mouth, he even howled twice, unbearably smug.
Both men were safe. The sequence connected smoothly. Their coordination was seamless.
They could not wait to run over to the monitor. They shoved Fat Charles’s huge head aside and leaned in together to watch.
The take was perfect.
Pei Yan’s mouth crooked when he smiled. “Thanks for the trouble. Really.”
Zhuang Xiao gave him a thumbs-up. “Excellent. Fucking great.”
*