The young man was hit by a bullet from another direction and stumbled to the ground.
“Cough, cough—”
He clutched his shot-through chest, gasping for air on the ground.
Even on the verge of death, his expression still carried resentment and unwillingness, as if he would turn into a vengeful ghost, staring intently at the person over there.
“You... will not succeed.”
Idealists who see no hope in the darkness will sooner or later be submerged by the tide of the times, and the efforts of countless people will ultimately not escape the outcome of failure.
But he just wanted to survive in this era—
“We will win, we will succeed. Not only that, we will also sow the seeds of hope across the land of China, allowing countless common people to live happy and prosperous lives in the future.”
The male lead Director Li was not affected by the young man's dying words at all. His voice was firm and powerful, as if he had already seen that beautiful future.
He looked down at the person on the ground, his expression disdainful: “And you, you are not worthy to see it.”
“Cough—”
The young man's eyes widened, seemingly deeply provoked by his words, his body still trembling slightly from the fear of death.
But he ultimately did not utter another word. Instead, he glared hatefully at Director Li, the light in his eyes gradually scattering, and his hands fell limply to the ground.
In the space, there was only his suppressed and irregular breathing, but it quickly returned to calm.
That face was still handsome, but the gloomy and distorted expression greatly ruined that feeling, instead making it terrifying.
And until his death, he did not close his eyes, as if by doing so he could refute what Director Li had said.
A pathetic and hateful character born of the era thus quietly drew to a close.
However, no one felt sorry for this.
Even the few audience members below the stage merely nodded silently.
Director Wen Hongyuan and scriptwriter Tan Yuan exchanged glances, instantly understanding each other's meaning.
Clearly, they were very satisfied with Xiao He's performance.
Although some of his acting expressions were still a bit unpolished, the rich changes in his ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) eyes and his unique temperament still allowed them to give this performance a high score.
It's no exaggeration to say that this was already the best performance among the actors they had recently screened.
Many people only showed Meng Zetian's ruthlessness on the surface, while Xiao He concealed that ruthlessness, with hidden murderous intent within his restraint.
This even gave Tan Yuan new inspiration.
Zhang Mo, who acted opposite Xiao He, also walked off the stage and nodded slightly to Wen Hongyuan and Tan Yuan.
Although as the male lead of this play, Zhang Mo did not have much choice, at least in the performance just now, he had a very good impression of Xiao He.
Seeing this, Wen Hongyuan already had a rough conclusion in his mind.
So, as soon as Xiao He returned to the thief catcher crew, he received news that he had passed the audition for hidden star shines.
He was notified to sign the contract tomorrow and then directly join the crew, filming while reading the complete script.
There was no other way; the role of “Meng Zetian” had been delayed for too long. Other progress had already been in full swing, but this one storyline had been stuck, and the crew was very anxious.
However, joining the crew seamlessly was truly exhausting.
Xiao He also looked at the general schedule and found that he would probably be spending the New Year in the hidden star shines crew.
The role of “Meng Zetian” had a relatively large number of scenes, and he didn't know if he could finish filming before the Spring Festival.
And at this time, Lin Yipeng was the first to get the news and came to congratulate Xiao He: “Congratulations!”
Xiao He: “Director Lin, your news is a bit too well-informed.”
To this day, we still don't know what kind of network of contacts Director Lin Yipeng possesses.
“Oh, come on—”
Lin Yipeng waved his hand indifferently, instead urging Xiao He: “Hurry up, pack up and come shoot the last scene, then quickly wrap up and get out.”
“Got it, got it.”
Xiao He responded while sitting down and letting the makeup artist do his makeup.
Next, Xiao He was going to shoot his last scene in the thief catcher, and also the final scene of the thief catcher.
At this point, Jiang Rushuai had successfully used the evidence in his hands to make the various factions suspect and fight each other, resulting in a fierce, mutually destructive battle.
No one paid attention to a pawn moving between their forces anymore. Even at the last moment, they all thought Jiang Rushuai belonged to the opposing force. To prevent the other side from getting a handle and revealing more things, the Jianghu wanted poster for Jiang Rushuai quietly disappeared.
Everything seemed to return to how it was before.
The common people, who had long suffered from high-priced private salt, finally got to eat salt at normal prices again.
—Although many knew that this was not a permanent situation, the lords above had never cared about their lives, and those private salt dealers would sooner or later make a comeback.
But this period of respite allowed more people to survive and brought smiles to many faces.
For them, as long as they were alive, life could continue.
Life, after all, must go on.
Under the setting sun, Jiang Rushuai rode his horse, idly playing with a copper coin in his hand, then lightly tossed it, letting the coin fall back into his palm.
Shen Jue glanced at him, his gaze falling on Jiang Rushuai’s copper coin, then calmly shifted his gaze away: “Is this really worth it?”
Jiang Rushuai's fingers nimbly flipped, holding the copper coin between his fingers, and proudly shook it: “Why is it not worth it? As the thief catcher, what I, Jiang Rushuai, care about is tearing down the bounty and taking the money, with goods and payment settled—”
Everyone was guessing which faction was wealthy enough to hire Jiang Rushuai to work for them, but none of them would have thought that Jiang Rushuai, who outwardly appeared to be obsessed with money, had put himself into the situation this time, using himself as a stirring stick and fishing bait, narrowly escaping death multiple times, causing chaos among several factions, all just for a single copper coin.
It was even just a helpless request from a child.
Shen Jue and Jiang Rushuai had been good friends for many years, and although he was extremely familiar with him, every time like this, he always felt that he couldn't see through this guy: “I don't understand.”
“How can you not understand? This is all that child had, her most valuable possession.” Jiang Rushuai said, tossing the copper coin again, “This is like you, Brother Shen, having so many fine wines, yet only willing to open a fresh jar of Peach Blossom Drunken for me. The things we cherish are different, so naturally, they have different values.”
“If you want a drink, just say so.”
Shen Jue was speechless, urged his horse forward, and began to trot slowly: “No need for all those roundabout words.”
“Haha—” Jiang Rushuai laughed heartily, “Of course, if Brother Shen is willing to bring out that jar of Qiong Qin Zui that you’ve treasured for many years, I can also consider selling my life to you.”
“When you pay back my money, that's when you can drink it.”
“Huh? Really?”
However, Shen Jue had already ridden far away.
Jiang Rushuai's eyes lit up. He strung the copper coin onto his waist, where dozens of identical copper coins were already strung, shining brilliantly as the setting sun hit them.
“Wait for me!”
Jiang Rushuai spurred his horse to chase, and the two gradually disappeared at the end of the overgrown path.
With this, the final scene of the thief catcher came to an end.
