When did Xiao He truly realize that "Thief Catcher" had become massively popular online?
It was probably during the filming of "Law of the Jungle" when Xiao He started noticing strange figures lurking in the surrounding woods.
"Who's over there?"
A production assistant shouted, taking people to investigate the situation, then drove away several individuals hiding in the jungle.
When they returned, Xiao He learned that these people were actually paparazzi specifically targeting him.
Xiao He: ?
Not long ago, he was still lamenting about being free bonus content in Su Shengxi's paparazzi shots, but now he already had his own dedicated paparazzi?
The speed of this change was really too fast—
But what followed was truly somewhat frustrating.
Because strictly speaking, this small island wasn't some remote private property—it was a tourist attraction that visitors could normally visit. However, recent strong winds had damaged most of the infrastructure here, leading to temporary closure for repairs. Normally, tourists and related boats wouldn't come here, so after the film crew notified the relevant local authorities, they came directly to shoot without planning to seal off the island.
Unexpectedly, with Xiao He's current popularity, those paparazzi actually rented small boats and followed the scent like bloodhounds.
Even when the crew called the police, it was useless—the moment police arrived, these people would escape on their small boats, only to turn back around after the police left. When the crew tried to catch them, they fled extremely quickly. Aside from driving them away, there were no other solutions—they were utterly shameless.
This situation happened multiple times in a single day.
Since "Law of the Jungle" was an original script film with suspense elements, many important plot points needed to remain confidential. These paparazzi following and filming could easily leak the storyline. After multiple failed attempts to drive them away, the production team discussed the situation with Xiao He.
Xiao He knew this was just bad luck, but since these people were here for him, he quickly consulted with Liu Rulan about countermeasures.
Liu Rulan was clearly also angry: "I've repeatedly appealed online telling people not to come, don't come, but there are still those few who won't listen. And those paparazzi aren't even your fans—they're purely taking advantage of your recent explosive online popularity to make a quick buck."
This kind of paparazzi had absolutely no bottom line—they couldn't care less about whether the plot got exposed, selling everything to fans without any professional ethics. Within the entire paparazzi industry, they were considered particularly disgusting existences.
Xiao He frowned: "Are my fans actually buying this?"
Hadn't they been trying to get fans not to purchase the paparazzi's leaked videos...
Liu Rulan raised her hand and patted Xiao He's shoulder: "You need to accept that sometimes fans just won't listen to advice. After spending enough time in the entertainment industry, you'll see all kinds of bizarre characters emerge."
This wasn't meant to criticize fans negatively, but humans are inherently difficult to control creatures, and when numbers increase, they become even harder to manage.
Xiao He: "So what do we do now?"
Liu Rulan also rubbed her temples: "These guys can't even be caught by police—we can only drive them away temporarily. I'll handle this matter—you just focus on filming well and don't worry so much."
At worst... they could spend more money to directly rent out the entire island, then hire several bodyguards for full surveillance. She refused to believe she couldn't deal with a few paparazzi.
Xiao He raised an eyebrow: "Alright, I understand."
-
After completing the day's filming tasks, Xiao He returned to his hotel and opened his computer—
Meanwhile, several paparazzi had also returned to their respective hotels, reviewing the content in their cameras.
"Truly worthy of being the new rising star in fight scenes—this set of moves is really handsome, definitely worth a good price."
Huang Mang repeatedly watched the content in his camera, a excited smile appearing on his face.
How popular was "Thief Catcher" recently? Not long ago, "Thief Catcher" had successfully broken through the 80 million revenue mark and was charging forward triumphantly toward breaking 100 million in box office revenue.
"Thief Catcher" had clearly become a phenomenal hit among online films—the first of its kind in online film history. Not only had lead actor Pu Rong successfully revived his career, transforming from a forgotten child star into a new-generation martial arts star known to everyone, receiving script offers nonstop. Director-screenwriter-editor Lin Yipeng had leaped to become a representative figure among new-generation young directors, though he remained relatively low-key and hadn't revealed any new filming plans yet.
The supporting cast needn't be mentioned—each gained some popularity, though since most were classmates or industry seniors Pu Rong had shamelessly recruited, they had their own proper jobs. Thus most chose to maintain low-profile lives, continuing to shine in their respective fields. Only Xiao He steadily absorbed this massive wave of attention.
However, since Xiao He was currently filming on a small island in Haishi, this attention and popularity was basically maintained by Liu Rulan.
Simultaneously, many people eyed Xiao He's current wave of popularity, wanting to seize the opportunity to get a piece of the pie.
And Huang Mang was exactly this kind of person.
After learning about Xiao He's schedule, he decisively followed to Haishi, even renting a speedboat to come to this small island with several colleagues.
Even after being driven away multiple times by the film crew, Huang Mang didn't give up. After scouting for several days, he finally found a particularly tricky and hidden position.
See? Didn't he return fully loaded today?
Thinking about Xiao He's recent popularity, Huang Mang hummed a little tune, opened his computer, inserted the SD card, and began transferring files.
Then he picked up cigarettes from the table, leisurely lit one and held it in his mouth, started posting on social media, and contacted several paparazzi groups to find suitable buyers.
Sure enough, Huang Mang didn't wait long before Xiao He's fans came knocking.
[Azure Sky Cloud Crane: How much footage do you have?]
[Huang Mang: Long videos*2 totaling 36m12s, short videos*6 ranging 5-20s, photos 26p, can be sold separately or as package, prices as follows...]
The other side checked the prices, then continued questioning.
[Azure Sky Cloud Crane: Does it include filmed movie plot content?]
Huang Mang grinned.
[Huang Mang: Exclusive fight scenes, absolutely genuine.]
Azure Sky Cloud Crane frowned on the other side of the screen.
"Really shameless paparazzi."
She murmured quietly.
If Liu Rulan were here, she might recognize that this Azure Sky Cloud Crane was actually Su Shengxi's top fan, Insomniac for Xi.
Originally, she became Xiao He's fan due to a misunderstanding, but later, because Xiao He's fans were too enthusiastic, and for reasons she didn't quite understand herself, she ended up staying and becoming Xiao He's wealthy supporter fan.
Not long ago when "Thief Catcher" became massively popular, Azure Sky Cloud Crane went to watch it too, and became completely hooked, genuinely becoming a fan of Xiao He. She decided to start operating her newly created account "Azure Sky Cloud Crane" again.
Naturally, she was aware of Xiao He's current schedule and situation.
The studio had repeatedly emphasized—don't secretly film on set, don't engage in unauthorized photography—yet these people remained utterly shameless.
But what could be done? If this kind of material got released, it could significantly impact the crew's filming. Some directors even had to repeatedly rewrite scripts because of paparazzi leaks, ultimately tormenting actors.
Azure Sky Cloud Crane gritted her teeth in frustration, but still boldly purchased all of the other party's materials.
[Azure Sky Cloud Crane: I'll buy everything, flat price twenty thousand.]
[Huang Mang: That won't work—this is exclusive content, dozens of minutes of fight scenes. I specially came from Shanghai—this doesn't even cover my travel and accommodation costs.]
[Azure Sky Cloud Crane: How much do you want then.]
[Huang Mang: One hundred thousand.]
Azure Sky Cloud Crane: "..."
She had money, but she wasn't a fool! Hah, this bastard might as well go rob a bank!