Then several villagers behind him started beating drums, making the whole scene noisy.
"What are they doing?" Lin Nianwei asked, puzzled.
"You're just asking for money for good luck, aren't you? Do you know why nobody comes here even though the venue is cheap?" Ye Xingchen shook his head. The film studio is well-built, and local tourism has been heavily promoted.
Unfortunately, the villagers in this area take advantage of the film crew, causing trouble and demanding money every few days, so the reputation of Ruyi Lake Scenic Area is not very good now.
Sure enough, after a string of firecrackers were set off, a disheveled young man came out and said, "I'd like to wish you good luck and give you a red envelope."
"Stageman, give me a 500 yuan red envelope." Director Liu knew these people were difficult to deal with, so he turned around and called out to the stageman.
The 500 yuan red envelope was quickly produced. The rebellious young man took the money out of the envelope, then tilted his head and said, "Brother, this is where you're wrong."
"We've spent ages drumming and setting off firecrackers to make your show a huge hit, and all you give us is five hundred yuan? What can that even do?"
"How many do you want?" Director Liu was taken aback. It was his first time filming here, and he didn't know the ins and outs of the place.
"I see you're a big production crew, with large-scale props, costumes, and extras. You must have plenty of money, right? Here's a token of 100,000." The rebellious young man made a startling statement.
"One hundred thousand? Why don't you just rob someone?" Lin Nianwei was instantly enraged; she finally understood what Ye Xingchen meant by those words.
"Robbery is illegal, we won't do it." The rebellious young man said with a roguish look, "This film studio is occupying our village's land."
"We'll celebrate for you, and then it's not unreasonable for us to ask for a little money, is it?"
"You call this a small amount of money? Let me tell you, the red envelope is only five hundred, take it or leave it." Lin Nianwei said angrily, "Leave now and don't delay our filming."
"No money? Let's see who the hell dares to touch us. Er Gou, call some men." The troublemaker stubbed out his cigarette heavily. "Damn it, if you don't pay, let's see who dares to make a move today."
Soon, hundreds of villagers gathered around, armed with shovels, picks, and other tools, completely blocking the area.
"Do you believe I'll call the police right now?" Lin Nianwei was furious.
"Go ahead and report it, but the director of the institute is my second uncle. Reporting it won't do any good. I'm in a bad mood right now, so I'm asking for a higher price, 200,000." The punkish guy walked up to me with a cocky attitude.
"Director Liu, pack your things. The crew is leaving here. We're going to film somewhere else." Lin Nianwei didn't hold back and immediately ordered the crew to leave.
"If you want to leave, you'd better pay the toll first, otherwise nobody's leaving here today," the troublemaker shouted, and hundreds of people surrounded him.
"This is robbery! Call the police!" Lin Nianwei was furious. This was the first time her company had filmed a drama, and they had already encountered such a situation.
"Alright, I'll handle this." Ye Xingchen smiled and walked to the front, staring at the troublemaker: "Are you a villager here?"
“Yes, I am a villager here. Who are you?” The prickly man looked Ye Xingchen up and down, but found that he did not recognize him.
"I'm the investor," Ye Xingchen said. "Give me some face and let everyone leave. I'll treat you all to dinner another day."
"Who the hell do you think you are? Why should I give you face?" the troublemaker cursed.
"Alright, since this won't work, let's try something else." Ye Xingchen smiled, his expression gradually turning cold: "I'll give you five minutes to take these people and get out of here."
"Fuck you, you motherfucker..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Ye Xingchen suddenly slapped him across the face. The troublemaker was sent flying five or six meters away.
He fell face-first to the ground with a thud, his mouth buried in the mud, and he couldn't pull his head out of the ground for a long time.
When he raised his head, his mouth was full of teeth mixed with dirt, a truly pitiful sight.
"This kid dares to lay a hand on us? Go, teach him a lesson!" A group of people were furious. They shouted and stepped forward to cause trouble.
Ye Xingchen snatched a wrench as thick as an arm from a villager and slapped him across the face.
He gripped the wrench with both hands, and with a slight exertion, the steel wrench bent into a U-shape.
"Anyone who thinks their bones are harder than this wrench is welcome to come up and try," Ye Xingchen said coldly.
His move immediately stunned everyone present; no one felt their bones were harder than that wrench.
"What's going on?" Just then, a bald man pushed through the crowd and walked over.
"Secretary, this kid hit me." The kid who was lying on the ground struggled to get up: "Their film studio is taking over our village's land."
"It's not unreasonable for us to ask them for some red envelopes, is it? This kid started hitting people right away, you have to stand up for us."
"You were the one who laid a hand on me just now?" The village secretary stared at Ye Xingchen. "Kid, do you even know where you are?"
"We've paid rent for this film studio, and I'll give you a red envelope if I'm in a good mood, and not if I'm not."
Ye Xingchen said calmly, "You're asking for 200,000 right off the bat? What do you take us for?"
"This is Houhai Village. Do you know who's protecting our village?" The village party secretary's face turned cold.
"I don't know, who's protecting him?" Ye Xingchen asked back.
"Hmph, I'm afraid you'll be scared to death if I tell you. Master Shen from Tianhai is my distant cousin. Do you know who Master Shen is?" The village secretary raised his head arrogantly.
"Tianhai Shen Qinghe?" Ye Xingchen was slightly taken aback. Did Master Shen have such a relative?
"That's right. If you know who Master Chen is, then obediently hand over the money. I guarantee no one will dare to cause trouble in your film crew again. Otherwise, one phone call from me and you'll be chopped into mincemeat." The village secretary was still arrogant.
"Is that so?" Ye Xingchen grinned, then suddenly raised his leg and kicked the Party Secretary from the side.
With a scream, the guy was kicked away by Ye Xingchen. He rolled into the water feature of the flower bed with a thud, struggling and howling.
"Secretary, are you alright?" The villagers were startled and quickly went to help him up.
"Call him! I'm calling my cousin right now. I'm going to kill him today!" the village secretary yelled.
"Okay, I'll wait." Ye Xingchen brushed the dust off his clothes.
"My phone! Where's my phone?" the village secretary exclaimed dramatically, looking around.
"Here you are, village chief." The troublemaker quickly handed over his phone.
"You wait, I'm calling my cousin right now, and he'll make sure you're dead." The village secretary threatened Ye Xingchen while pretending to dial a number.
However, after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find Shen Qinghe's phone number.
"How about I make the call to avoid wasting time?" Ye Xingchen smiled, took out his phone and called Shen Qinghe, explaining the situation.
"Mr. Ye, please wait a moment. My villa is not far from there. I will take people there immediately," Shen Qinghe said.
In less than ten minutes, hundreds of cars and hundreds of people had completely surrounded the film studio.
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