cooperate

In the sunlight, the iron house of the repair shop was filled with the smell of a mixture of engine oil and rust. Xia Zhitang walked around the oil stains in her ten-centimeter high heels. The exquisite Chanel suit on her body was out of place with the spare parts on the floor.

Gu Zian followed her side and looked around. She tapped him on the back with the script: "Look at the car."

"For this Maserati modification, Mr. Cheng requested that the exterior retain its original style, but the engine should roar louder." Xia Zhitang ran his fingertips across the hood. "I heard that Master Wang modified the same model three years ago?"

The bald old man wiped his sweat and smiled, "The one I had three years ago was much newer than this one. They even had spare parts airlifted from Germany..."

"Can we still order that kind of parts now?" Xia Zhitang tapped the hood with his fingertips. "Let's build a trial car first. We can negotiate the price. We want the sound to be shocking enough."

The bald old man hesitated for a moment and said, "Imported brake parts are probably hard to order right now. I recommend another domestic product."

"Our crew needs ten of the same model as prop cars." Xia Zhitang suddenly turned to the apprentice who was staring at her next to the master and said, "Assemble them and book a place for you to try them out."

She half-leaned on the car, her red lips curled slightly: "Will you step on the accelerator hard?" She deliberately dragged out her voice and said with a hint of meaning, "It has to be hard enough."

Gu Zian took off his sunglasses and was about to speak, but his assistant Xiao Lin blocked his mouth with an iced American coffee.

The young apprentice could no longer contain his excitement and interrupted, "Master, there are still boxes of leftovers in the warehouse..." Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the sound of a wrench hitting the ground.

"You're being naive, kid." The bald master kicked the apprentice. "Go get the parts list now! Stop embarrassing yourself here."

"Why bother with a child? He's such a cute kid." Xia Zhitang took out a wet tissue and wiped his hands. "As for the money, we can negotiate. Name a price and I'll reimburse the first installment first."

"But we have to make it clear first. We want imported ones," Xia Zhitang stuffed the used wipes into Gu Zian's hand, "It has to be at least similar to the one you had three years ago. We can't let Mr. Cheng down."

The bald master hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and held up two fingers: "Okay, this is the number I need for the quote."

"Okay, we need an invoice."

Xia Zhitang kicked off her high heels as soon as she got into the nanny car.

Gu Zian followed in and said, "Sister, why are you smiling at that yellow-haired guy?" He said dissatisfiedly, "That yellow-haired guy is not as tall or as handsome as me!"

The assistant following behind Gu Zian wisely closed the car door, ran to sit in the passenger seat and even considerately raised the tailgate.

The nanny car slowly drove towards Cheng Shubai's company. When the assistant opened the car door again, Xia Zhitang had just finished retouching her lipstick in front of the makeup mirror.

"I'm shooting a car commercial next month. Can you spare some time?" She stuffed the lipstick back into her bag. "Your job is to check the cast list before filming begins."

"I promise to complete the mission." There was still a lipstick mark on the corner of Gu Zian's lips. "I'll take you upstairs."

"I can go back by myself. Don't you have a flight tonight?" Xia Zhitang pushed Gu Zian back to his seat. "We agreed to keep a low profile."

After saying that, she came out holding her high heels.

Gu Zian looked at the back of the man wearing slippers in the car, and a smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of his mouth.

A week later, late at night in the editing room, Cheng Shubai pushed the door open with a cigar in his mouth.

Xia Zhitang was sitting in front of his computer, the screen displaying the recently installed surveillance footage from the auto repair shop. He watched the footage play at double speed and suddenly hit the pause button. "The man in gray moving the boxes is the cousin of the Su family driver."

"Old Lin showed off his new Maserati to me the day before yesterday." Cheng Shubai blew out a smoke ring and laughed, "It's just right to borrow it as a prop car."

"I'll arrange an opportunity for him to surrender to me when I get back." Xia Zhitang handed Cheng Shubai a handwritten schedule. "This is my schedule. Remember to destroy it after reading it."

Cheng Shubai flipped through it and asked, "Are you sure you want to wait?"

Xia Zhitang turned off the monitor, walked to the window and looked at the city in the early morning, which looked like a dormant monster under the cover of darkness.

"It's too big. A successful hunter must learn to wait patiently until all the grasshoppers are strung together."

In the conference room, various storyboards were scattered in front of Xia Zhitang, Cheng Shubai, and Gu Zian, and the shooting schedule was densely written on the whiteboard with black signing pen.

Xia Zhitang and Gu Zian came over and watched Cheng Shubai circle and draw on the document with a red pen. The document was printed with a satellite map of the Su family logistics company.

Cheng Shubai handed the finished drawing to Gu Zian: "Give it to your father."

Gu Zian folded the document and put it in his pocket. Xia Zhitang took it out, took a file bag, and put the map and the decomposition table in it.

"Go back and get it out." She stuffed the file bag into Gu Zian's bag.

Cheng Shubai took out his phone and glanced at the message that popped up. He turned to Xia Zhitang and said, "Lin Jingming asked you to go to his office tomorrow afternoon."

Gu Zian kicked the conference table, shaking the projector screen. "Why should my sister go back to find Lin Jingming? I can also get information by making a cameo appearance!"

"You don't have as much free time as I do." Xia Zhitang gently squeezed Gu Zian's hand.

Cheng Shubai interrupted, "Lao Lin asked me to borrow a divorce lawyer yesterday."

Xia Zhitang frowned: "He won't continue to endure it?"

"After a month of separation, Su Wen is almost going crazy." Cheng Shubai couldn't help laughing when he thought of Su Wen blocking Lin Jingming on the set every day recently. "Lin Jingming negotiated with me that his mistress be the female lead in his next film."

Gu Zian scratched his head: "So we have to pretend to give him resources, but in reality..."

"It's mutually beneficial," Xia Zhitang said with a smile. "Lin Jingming wants creative freedom, and we give it to him."

Cheng Shubai nodded. "Su Wen's been checking up on us like crazy lately, so it's a good opportunity to give her the fake account book." He suddenly smiled. "When they start fighting among themselves, Old Lin will naturally use the core account book as a token of his loyalty."

Gu Zian thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll be responsible for spreading the news in the fan group? Let's talk about the Su family..."

"Stupid!" Xia Zhitang nodded his head with a smile, "We need to make Lin Jingming 'accidentally' discover that the Su family is evading taxes, so that he can actively seek cooperation with us."

Cheng Shubai said to Gu Zian, "You guys should post less on Weibo recently. You like car modification videos too frequently."

"That's called pre-promotion!" Gu Zian retorted unconvinced.

Xia Zhitang interrupted Gu Zian: "We're shooting a commercial tomorrow. Mr. Cheng, remember to invite Lin Jingming to visit the set."

Xia Zhitang pressed the iced American style against the back of Gu Zian's neck, who was about to say something: "Take some time to practice driving. The more impressive your driving skills, the better."

Gu Zian's attention was indeed diverted. He took out his cell phone and asked his assistant to arrange to book a venue.

In Cheng Shubai's office, Su Wen threw her briefcase on the mahogany coffee table, causing the tea pet to fall over.

"Cheng Shubai! What kind of magic potion did you give Old Lin?"

Cheng Shubai slowly turned his pen. "Mrs. Lin, would you like to try the newly arrived Blue Mountain coffee? Your favorite Jamaican coffee..."

"Stop pretending with me!"

The sound of paper tearing could be heard from the monitor, followed by Cheng Shubai's exaggerated exclamation: "Oh my god, isn't this our car advertising contract? Director Lin said he wants to shoot it himself..."

Gu Zian sat on the sofa in the lounge, trying to hold back his laughter. Xia Zhitang covered his mouth. Gu Zian took the opportunity to lick Xia Zhitang's palm, which made Xia Zhitang twist his ear in anger.

"Let him shoot! Shoot as much as he wants!" Su Wen's voice suddenly choked up in the monitor. "After that, let him live with the camera!"

Xia Zhitang wrote on Gu Zian's palm: "Recording." The young man understood and pulled out his phone, the light from the screen illuminating the corners of her lips.

The sound of porcelain shattering rang out simultaneously outside the door and into the headphones. Cheng Shubai raised his voice, "Director Lin ordered this blue and white porcelain vase from me..."

"Let him sleep with the broken pieces!" Su Wen's high heels crushed the porcelain shards fiercely. "Tell that little bitch of yours, if she dares to send an editing plan to Lao Lin again..."

Li Chengshu was speaking on the monitor, "Speaking of editing, we need the Su Group's logo at the end of our commercial..."

"Crown your head!"

After the loud bang of the door, the only sound left from the monitoring device was the crackling sound of electricity.

When Xia Zhitang pulled Gu Zian and pushed open the door of Cheng Shubai's office, Cheng Shubai was in the mess and texting his assistant, "Tell the Finance Department to increase the Su Corporation's sponsorship fee by 30%, and issue the invoice to the Children's Foundation."

Cheng Shubai shook his phone and whispered, "I just recorded the secret account of the Su family's shipping company."

Xia Zhitang nodded: "Next week during the commercial shoot, remember to let Director Lin 'accidentally' see Su Wen's spending records."

In the auto repair shop on the day of the commercial shoot, the roar of the modified car's engine shook the ground. When Xia Zhitang squatted beside the tire to check the shooting track, a shadow suddenly enveloped her.

"The crew said you were still revising the storyboards at four in the morning." Lin Jingming loosened his tie and squatted down, his cologne dispelling the smell of motor oil. "Su Wen has been checking the crew's accounts lately."

"Director Lin should worry about himself."

While Xia Zhitang was adjusting the rail car, he caught a glimpse of the new burns on Lin Jingming's fingertips.

Three Maseratis drove into the filming area side by side. Gu Zian, wearing goggles, leaned out of the car window and said, "Sister! Should I drift first or..." He stepped on the accelerator and then the brakes quickly, and the modified tires emitted blue smoke at an arm's length away from Lin Jingming.

Xia Zhitang stood up, smiled at Gu Zian and shook his head: "Zi'an, get ready for the shoot."

Gu Zian made a face at Lin Jingming and walked to the dressing room in two steps.

Lin Jingming dusted off his trouser legs and said, "It's time to put the little wolfhound on a leash."

Xia Zhitang ignored him and raised the intercom: "Lighting team, get ready!"

The dazzling lights suddenly lit up, illuminating the three sports cars with dazzling light.

Xia Zhitang turned around to adjust the reflector, but Lin Jingming grabbed her wrist and pulled her deep into the stacked equipment and props.

"The Su family has set their sights on the repair shop." Lin Jingming stroked the red rope around her wrist with his fingertips.

The groundskeeper pushed a dry ice machine past, and the white mist instantly engulfed the two of them, blurring Lin Jingming's anxious expression.

"Hunters are least afraid of wolves wandering around." Xia Zhitang said in a cold voice close to his ear, "But you, please don't spend the night in the editing room recently."

Lin Jingming laughed out loud in the white smoke, his chest trembling. "The worst that can happen is I'll be kicked out of the house. The camera won't ask me for child support."

Xia Zhitang pulled away Lin Jingming's hand and said, "The filming is about to start. Director Lin, please go to the surveillance camera?"

Lin Jingming regained his composure, untied his tie and stuffed it into his trouser pocket: "Remember to leave me the name of assistant director."

Lin Jingming sat back in the director's chair, picked up the megaphone and shouted, "Action!"

The script manager held up the clapperboard and snapped it shut, and twelve cameras lit up red lights at the same time.

Gu Zian rushed into the camera in a Maserati, and the roar of the modified car's engine was deafening.

Su's cousin's Maserati was quietly brought to the scene and mixed in with a group of sports cars.

"Retake the third take!" Lin Jingming suddenly threw the script. "The reflection from the car lights is a giveaway!"

The groundhands trotted to adjust the sun visors, while Xia Zhitang re-aligned the crowded sports cars. Gu Zian handed his car to his assistant, who was wearing the same racing suit as him, and took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the car next to the one in question.

He had just touched the foreign object on the drive shaft when Lin Jingming's Oxford shoes kicked the tire. He lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Gu wants to play the role of a mechanic?"

"Cooperate with me." Gu Zian swapped the GPS stuck on the bottom of the car with the same model car next door.

Lin Jingming walked to the front row of cars and shouted through his horn, "This car will swap places with the one on the edge of the first row."

Gu Zian, sweating, swapped the numbers of the two cars and threw the pre-prepared props onto the pre-arranged storage rack.

"Fire!" The stagehand's scream was just right.

In the chaos, Xia Zhitang grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed towards the thick smoke, while Gu Zian took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the monitoring room.

Lin Jingming held up the loudspeaker and shouted: "Remove the camera first!" He ran to the safe area with the repairman and took the access card from his trouser pocket.

Two hours later, Lin Jingming slapped the replica access card on the dressing table: "I want my signature in bold at the end of the film." The hem of his suit was still stained with foam fire extinguisher.

Gu Zian swung his car keys in a circle: "Sister, look what I found!" He deliberately waved the keys in front of Lin Jingming, "Some people just want to sign their names..."

Xia Zhitang suddenly laughed out loud: "Should I give you guys the Best Partner Award?"

"Who wants to be his partner!" They both said in unison, snorting coldly and turning their faces away at the same time.

The stagehand called out from outside the door: "Director Lin, Mrs. Su is calling!"

"Tell her I'm mentoring young actors." Lin Jingming deliberately emphasized the word "mentoring" and ruffled Gu Zian's newly trimmed bangs into a mess.

After the filming of the car commercial was completed, Lin Jingming asked Xia Zhitang to meet in Cheng Shubai's lounge.

When Lin Jingming pushed open the door, Xia Zhitang was reviewing documents at the bar.

The door was locked when Xia Zhitang looked up at Lin Jingming warily, and reached for the alarm in his bag.

Lin Jingming pulled the leather bag out from inside his coat and threw it onto the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Put away that wolf-guarding look in your eyes." He sat on the leather sofa and lit a cigar. "Come here, this new evidence I finally found."

Xia Zhitang stood up, walked to Lin Jingming and opened the file bag.

It was a selfie posted by an influencer on Instagram. In the background, Su Qiwen was seen holding a cigarette, his hand on the steering wheel of a Maserati, with a view of the street scene near the incident outside the car window. The date on the Instagram post was the day of the incident.

Lin Jingming put down his cigar and waved to Xia Zhitang: "There is also a video that recorded his engine sound."

He took out his cell phone and pulled Xia Zhitang into his arms: "Don't move."

Lin Jingming held the struggling person in his arms with one hand and clicked the play button with the other.

The influencer coquettishly recorded a video for the camera. In the background, Su Qiwen suddenly stepped on the accelerator and then the brakes. Amid the influencer's screams, Su Qiwen laughed wildly, performing several dazzling skids in the shaky camera.

Xia Zhitang's nails unconsciously dug into Lin Jingming's arm, causing Lin Jingming to gasp in pain.

He turned off the video, threw the phone on the table, and pushed Xia Zhitang down on the sofa.

"Let me sleep for a while." Lin Jingming held Xia Zhitang tightly.

"Let me go." Xia Zhitang kept struggling, with a tear hanging in the corner of his eye about to fall.

Lin Jingming pressed down on her, and the kiss mixed with the smell of cigar came down forcefully, prying open her lips.

Tears fell from the corners of Xia Zhitang's eyes. She closed her eyes and bit down hard. The smell of blood mixed with the overbearing smell of smoke permeated her taste buds.

"Calm down?" Lin Jingming stood up and wiped the bleeding corner of his bitten lip with his fingertips. "Let me sleep for a while now. Do you know how difficult this evidence is to deal with?"

Xia Zhitang panted and looked at the dark circles under Lin Jingming's eyes. She no longer had the strength to struggle and let Lin Jingming hold her in his arms like a pillow.

Soon, the sound of even breathing reached her ears. Xia Zhitang stared at the snow-white ceiling, a video of her late husband's car accident flashing through her mind. She closed her eyes in pain, but her body slowly relaxed in Lin Jingming's embrace, and soon she fell asleep.

It was already dark when Xia Zhitang was woken by the vibration of her phone. She was alone in the lounge, lit only by a small light, and her phone screen flashed with Gu Zian's incoming call.

Xia Zhitang picked up the piece of paper under the phone, on which were written a few words in a flamboyant style: [Come back to the crew next week].