Chapter 00103: Who Do You Think You Are
# Who Do You Think You Are?
Chapter 103
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 103: Who Do You Think You Are?
Yuan Heping understood Chen Qi's intentions and went to find Li Lianjie.
After a few days of working together, they finally managed to create the Tai Chi style that Chen Qi wanted.
Then, Yuan Heping did two things:
First, he taught everyone how to use the wire rigs.
Proper wire rigs required imported special thin steel wires, which the Beijing Film Studio didn’t have.
They had to make do with whatever steel wires they could find, painted black, and hoped it wouldn’t be too obvious during filming.
Second, he had the actors dusted with white powder.
Anyone who’s seen Hong Kong movies knows that when someone gets punched, white powder puffs out, accompanied by the sound effects and intense action, creating a strong sense of impact.
What’s a sense of impact? It’s when it feels real, solid, and crisp.
Many of these little tricks were accumulated by Hong Kong stunt teams through years of trial and error.
Everyone, following Chen Qi’s instructions, practiced and learned as they went.
It was already May, and Chen Qi had fulfilled his promise to Zhang Xinyan.
The movie Tai Chi officially began filming!
After a few simple fight scenes to get everyone warmed up, they immediately started filming the tower raid scene.
Yuan Heping was under a lot of pressure.
This was his first time handling such a big project.
There were seven fight scenes, each with a different style, and the final one even involved dual swords! He had never even seen dual swords before and spent all day buried in research.
...
Early that morning.
After setting up the indoor set, Chen Qi arrived early to take a look. “Not bad, looks pretty good.”
“Oh, that shaman mask is hung well. Your idea?”
“Yeah, it just came to me in a flash of inspiration,” Li Wenhua said with a smile, looking around and waving. “Qingli, come here!”
“You two haven’t met before, right? This is Zhao Qingli, a senior prop master at the studio, part of my creative team.”
“Oh, hello, hello! Nice to meet you!” Chen Qi extended his hand with his usual cheerful smile.
Zhao Qingli glanced at him, rolled his eyes, shook his head, and walked off, muttering, “Times have really changed. Anyone can get into this business now.”
Li Wenhua was embarrassed and whispered, “He’s just like that, not very pleasant.”
“Is he like this with everyone?”
“He used to be okay when he was younger, but then his wife ran off with someone else, he never got a proper housing allocation, and his salary never went up. That’s how he ended up like this. When he’s in a bad mood, he’ll curse at anyone, even the studio head.”
Chen Qi didn’t feel the slightest bit of sympathy.
Today, they were filming the scene with Xiong Xinxin, one of the seven masters.
Chen Qi had dressed Xiong Xinxin in a green robe, a wig, and a bamboo hat, with a large mole painted on his forehead.
“The first two fights need to be quick and decisive, or the pacing will drag. This Korean guy has no martial ethics, attacking without warning, with fast and fierce kicks. But Yang Yuqian can handle it and easily takes him down. After losing, he tries to sneak attack but gets beaten again, losing both his shoes and looking utterly defeated...”
“Got it, I understand!”
Yuan Heping found it amusing.
It seemed Chen Qi had quite a grudge against Koreans—no, Korean ronin.
But the good thing about Yuan was that he didn’t ask unnecessary questions.
Next, he taught Li Lianjie and Xiong Xinxin the choreography.
Fight scenes are pre-arranged, with the actors memorizing the moves.
Once the camera rolls, they just follow the routine.
“Xinxin, how are you feeling? Nervous?” Chen Qi asked.
“Brother Qi, can you not call me Xinxin?”
“Then should I call you Little Bear?”
“Just call me Xinxin!”
The 18-year-old Xiong Xinxin sighed in frustration.
Why did his parents have to give him such a name?
“Listen, you’re the first to appear in the Seven Heroes Tower scene, and you’re the first to shoot. You’ve got to give it your all. If you can’t remember the moves, it’s fine. We’ll practice as many times as needed, and we’ll only shoot when you’re ready.”
“Don’t worry, I got this!”
Xiong Xinxin nodded vigorously, his facial muscles twitching from nervousness.
He kept psyching himself up: You can do this, you can do this.
You’re representing Guangxi.
You’re the only one from Guangxi in the whole crew.
Don’t let your hometown down!!!
He was from Liuzhou, the place famous for snail noodles.
“Alright, get ready!”
“Let’s do a test run. 3, 2, 1, action!”
As soon as the countdown ended, Li Lianjie and Xiong Xinxin started fighting.
Li Wenhua shouted, “Cut, cut, cut! I told you to go slower! You’re moving so fast the camera can’t catch it!”
“Sorry, director!”
“Again!”
“Cut, that move was wrong!” Yuan Heping also shouted.
“Again!”
After several takes, they finally got the choreography down.
Their skills weren’t the issue; it was their nerves.
“Alright, let’s shoot for real now!”
“Action!”
Xiong Xinxin’s eyes widened as he ran a few steps, leaped into the air, and kicked out.
Li Lianjie blocked it, and as soon as Xiong landed, he spun around with a roundhouse kick, then another, followed by a sweep, and finally a spinning kick...
It was clean, sharp, and powerful.
These five consecutive kicks were moves Yuan Heping had confirmed Xiong could pull off before choreographing them.
“Great!”
“That was perfect!”
Li Wenhua and Yuan Heping both clapped, and Chen Qi gave a thumbs-up. “Xinxin, you nailed it!”
The onlookers, like Ge Chunyan and Wang Qun, were also excited.
The atmosphere Chen Qi had created on set was infectious.
They were both competitors and teammates.
Xiong Xinxin scratched the back of his head and grinned.
After a few more scenes, it was time for the wire rigging.
Li Lianjie was supposed to hit him with a palm strike, sending him flying backward three meters, high into the air.
They had to use the wire rig for this.
Yuan Heping gathered a few young guys from the props team and gave them detailed instructions. “As soon as he throws the palm strike, you pull back immediately. That’ll make him lift off... You need to pull to this exact point, not too much, not too little.”
“Got it, got it!”
“You sure?”
“My apprentices might not be the sharpest, but they’re not that dumb. It’s just pulling a rope.”
Zhao Qingli chimed in, encouraging his apprentices. “Pull it right, don’t embarrass me!”
“Let’s do a test run first!”
Why did Hong Kong stunt teams form? Because filming fight scenes is a team effort.
It requires choreography, stunt doubles, wire rigging, and pulling the wires.
Everyone needs to work together seamlessly, which is why they naturally formed teams.
Yuan Heping hadn’t brought any stuntmen this time, so he had to rely on the Beijing Film Studio staff.
Li Wenhua was also worried.
None of them had done this before.
Xiong Xinxin put on the wire rigging harness, then his costume over it.
He felt the straps digging into his shoulders, waist, and hips, but he reassured the director, “It’s fine. First time’s always rough, but you get used to it.”
“Pay attention now!”
“Pull a little first. 3, 2, 1, action!”
Xiong Xinxin shot up into the air and then landed.
“Not bad, not bad!”
“Let’s do it again, this time a bit higher!”
After a few tries, Yuan Heping felt it was good enough and signaled to start filming.
“3, 2, 1, action!”
Xiong Xinxin was fully focused, remembering Yuan Heping’s instructions.
As soon as he heard “action,” he jumped back with all his strength, leaving the rest to the guys pulling the wires.
That’s exactly what he did.
He pushed off the ground with his toes, leaped back, and his body shot into the air.
He even remembered to act like he was being hit, but suddenly he realized something was wrong.
Why was he so close to the ground?!
From the perspective of the onlookers: Xiong Xinxin flew up, but only about two meters, then suddenly lost momentum, like a kite with its string cut, and plummeted straight down.
“Holy crap!”
Chen Qi reacted the fastest, sprinting forward.
“Oh my god!”
Li Wenhua was terrified.
Seeing Xiong Xinxin fall and lie there motionless, he rushed over too.
Everyone else was in chaos.
The Yuan brothers, Yu Chenghui, and others all rushed forward, while someone ran to the studio clinic to get a doctor.
“Don’t move him! Don’t move him!”
Chen Qi spread his arms to shield Xiong Xinxin and shouted, “Don’t crowd around, give him some space!”
“Where’s the doctor? Did someone call for a doctor?”
“Someone went!”
“Xiong Xinxin? Xiong Xinxin? Can you hear me?”
Xiong Xinxin was lying on the ground, his hands protecting his head in a self-defense posture, but his eyes were closed, and he wasn’t moving.
After a while, he slowly opened his eyes. “You’re so annoying!”
“I almost died!”
Chen Qi didn’t understand the first sentence but took it as a compliment.
He quickly asked, “How are you? Where does it hurt? Do you feel like anything’s broken?”
“Everything hurts, but I can handle it.”
“Don’t talk for now!”
Yu Hai and Yu Chenghui pushed through the crowd.
Both were trainers with experience in dealing with injuries.
After a quick look, they said, “We should take him to the hospital for a check-up.”
“No, I’ll be fine after resting!”
“Stop arguing, just go!”
Soon, the clinic doctor arrived and also recommended taking him to the hospital.
Xiong Xinxin had no choice but to be carried away.
The cheerful atmosphere from earlier had completely vanished.
Li Wenhua turned and started yelling at the props team members who had been pulling the wires. “What the hell were you doing? You can’t even pull a rope properly?”
“I didn’t mean to, I just lost my grip!”
“This guy’s life was in your hands, and you lost your grip? Be more careful!” Yuan Heping added.
“Exactly, how are you going to take responsibility for this?”
“What’s going on here?”
Zhao Qingli wasn’t having it.
He stepped forward and said, “That’s enough. They’ve never done this before. How were they supposed to know it was this heavy?”
“It’s not about knowing or not. This is about someone’s safety. Even if you don’t have the strength, you have to hold on!”
“If I don’t have the strength, how am I supposed to hold on?”
Zhao Qingli spoke in a thick Beijing accent, wearing cloth shoes with the heels stepped on, not properly worn, just sloppily dragging them.
He had a defiant air about him.
Li Wenhua was furious but couldn’t do much.
Zhao was a senior employee.
“From now on, we’ll do the pulling. We’re stronger,” Yu Chenghui suddenly said.
“Yeah, we can do it,” Yu Hai added.
“That’s great, saves us the trouble. Don’t want to get blamed for nothing,” Zhao Qingli snorted.
“What did you say?”
Chen Qi suddenly turned around.
“I said it, so what?”
Zhao Qingli raised his eyebrows and glared.
He had always disliked Chen Qi and now felt he had the upper hand. “I’ve been wanting to have a word with you. A snot-nosed kid running around the studio like he owns the place. Who do you think you are? Others might not say it, but I will! The old studio head might have your back, but so what? I’m a senior employee too. When an elder criticizes you, you should take it!”
“...”
Chen Qi stared at him for a moment, as if trying to figure out if the guy was mentally ill, then waved his hand and said, “Ji Chunhua, hold him down!”
“Got it!”
Ji Chunhua had been holding back his anger for a while.
He took a few big steps forward, grabbed Zhao Qingli like a chicken, and pinned him to the ground in a few moves.
Li Wenhua wanted to step in and mediate, but Sun Jiankui subtly blocked him.
“Holy crap!”
“You dare touch me? I’ll report you! I’ll put up posters about you! I’ll make your life hell!”
Zhao Qingli struggled wildly.
Chen Qi was already in a terrible mood because of Xiong Xinxin’s injury, and now this idiot was provoking him.
He walked over, crouched down, and said:
“You’ll report me? Who do you think you are?”
(End of Chapter)