We asked you to make an anti-corruption film, but you made one in the name of the people!

One o'clock in the afternoon, in the lobby on the first floor of the main building of the factory.

This scene depicts the first day that Pan Sheng was tricked into entering the park.

Wang Chuanjun plays Manager Lu, who gathers all the new employees together to brainwash them and make them shout slogans.

Lin Mo sat behind the monitor, while Lao Zhao stood beside him, holding a walkie-talkie.

The site was very well arranged.

Dozens of extras stood in rows, all of them temporary actors that Lao Li had found locally. They were dressed in various old clothes, their faces smeared with ash, looking like they had been locked up for a long time.

Zhang Yixing stood in the last row, wearing a wrinkled plaid shirt, with messy hair and a scar drawn on her face by a makeup artist.

Wang Chuanjun stood at the front, wearing a dark polo shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hair slicked back.

He was holding a megaphone, but not for shouting; it was a prop—the real shouting relied entirely on his voice.

Lin Mo stared at the monitor and shouted, "Start!"

Wang Chuanjun raised the megaphone, but didn't turn it on; he just held it up like a scepter.

He paused for two seconds, his gaze sweeping over everyone from left to right.

His gaze was unhurried, as if he were looking at a flock of sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

Then he spoke, his voice not loud, but every word was clear.

"Everyone, from today onwards, you are all one family."

He paused for a moment, then his lips curled up slightly, revealing a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"Every family has its rules. The rule is simple—make money."

Wang Chuanjun put down the megaphone, put his hands behind his back, and slowly paced in front of the row of people.

"How much did you earn a month before? Three thousand? Five thousand? Or ten thousand?"

He stopped and looked at the face of an extra, who instinctively lowered his head.

"Here, you can earn 100,000, 200,000, or even 500,000 a month!" Wang Chuanjun's voice suddenly rose. "As long as you're willing to work hard, are willing to put in the effort, and are willing to risk everything!"

He walked back to the front, turned around, and faced everyone.

His gaze swept over the area again.

Then he raised one hand, as if to take an oath.

"Come on, shout it with me!"

Wang Chuanjun took a deep breath, and his voice suddenly became excited, carrying an almost manic power.

"To succeed, you must first go crazy!"

His voice echoed in the hall.

Dozens of extras shouted in unison, "To succeed, you have to go crazy first!"

"Charge for money at all costs!"

"Charge for money at all costs!"

"Take a gamble, and your family will be rich for three generations!"

"Take a gamble, and your family will be rich for three generations!"

"Only by fighting hard can you avoid failure!"

"Only by fighting hard can you avoid failure!"

"I'm sleeping on the floor today!"

"I'm sleeping on the floor today!"

"I'm the boss tomorrow!"

"I'm the boss tomorrow!"

Wang Chuanjun's voice grew louder and more frantic, until it was almost a shout.

"Go! Go! Go!"

"Go! Go! Go!"

He completely stirred the emotions of the extras, who shouted until their faces turned red and their voices were hoarse.

But in the last row, one person didn't shout.

Zhang Yixing.

He stood in the crowd, his mouth closed, staring blankly ahead.

It's not just spacing out; it's a kind of emptiness that's been drained from my mind.

His eyes were looking in Wang Chuanjun's direction, but his focus wasn't there.

What are they looking at? They're looking at their own destiny.

I was trying to recall how I was tricked into coming here.

Thinking about the outside world, a world I can never return to.

Lin Mo stared intently at Zhang Yixing's face from behind the monitor.

That expression was spot on.

"Click!"

Lin Mo called for a stop.

The whole place fell silent.

Wang Chuanjun put away his manic expression, returned to his usual refined demeanor, and walked over to watch the playback.

Zhang Yixing also walked over from the back row, rubbed his face, and seemed to still be in that state.

Lin Mo replayed the scene from earlier.

The scene on the monitor where Wang Chuanjun shouted slogans was chilling in every frame.

He wasn't playing a villain; he was Manager Lu himself.

That outward gentleness, the inner ruthlessness, the frenzy when shouting slogans—the transitions are seamless and fluid.

What's most amazing is his eyes.

When he shouted slogans, his eyes were bright, frighteningly bright.

That wasn't excitement, that was fanaticism.

It is the fanaticism of someone who firmly believes they are doing the right thing.

This kind of fanaticism is more terrifying than any fierce expression.

Because the ferocity was feigned, but the fanaticism was real.

After watching the replay, Lin Mo turned to look at Wang Chuanjun.

"This part is good."

Wang Chuanjun pushed up his glasses and smiled: "Director Lin, I acted exactly as you instructed. Manager Lu genuinely believed he was making money for these people; he thought he was a great philanthropist. This kind of self-deception is more terrifying than any malice."

Lin Mo nodded and then looked at Zhang Yixing.

"Yixing, your part was also very good."

Zhang Yixing was a little nervous: "Director Lin, I don't have any lines, I'm just standing there..."

"Standing there is the best approach," Lin Mo interrupted him. "You don't shout slogans, you don't open your mouth, you don't move. But your eyes tell the audience—this person hasn't been brainwashed. He's still struggling. Although he's almost at his limit, he hasn't given up."

Lin Mo paused, then continued, "The most valuable thing about Pan Sheng's character is this—his refusal to accept his fate. He refused to accept being tricked into this situation, refused to accept being beaten, refused to accept being imprisoned in the water dungeon. He always wanted to escape, always wanted to live. The look in your eyes that you gave today was exactly that refusal to accept his fate."

After hearing this, Zhang Yixing breathed a sigh of relief and smiled a little embarrassedly.

"Director Lin, what you said puts even more pressure on me. If I don't perform well in the following scenes, I'll feel bad for what you said today."

Lin Mo patted him on the shoulder: "I only praise you because you acted well. If you hadn't acted well, I would have scolded you long ago."

Jin Chen chuckled beside him.

Wang Chuanjun stood to the side, took a sip of water from his thermos, and said, "It's a good thing to be praised."

Old Zhao walked over, holding a walkie-talkie, and asked, "Director Lin, is this take good?"

Lin Mo watched the replay again.

The part where Wang Chuanjun shouted slogans was perfect.

Zhang Yixing's blank expression was perfect.

The extras also cooperated well.

"Passed," Lin Mo said. "Prepare for the next one."

Old Zhao, holding the walkie-talkie, shouted: "Next! The scene where Manager Lu gives Pan a private talking-to! Filming starts in ten minutes!"

The crew got busy, changing camera positions, adjusting lighting, and touching up makeup.

Lin Mo sat behind the monitor and watched the replay again.

He watched the ten-odd seconds of Wang Chuanjun shouting slogans three times over.

In the original version of the previous life, Wang Chuanjun's performance in this scene was already considered legendary.

This life is even more extraordinary.

It wasn't because he acted better, but because Lin Mo knew what this scene meant.

Everyone who has been tricked into going to northern Myanmar has heard similar slogans.

"To succeed, you must first go crazy"—not to actually go crazy, but to stop thinking.

"Take a gamble once, and your family will be rich for three generations"—it doesn't actually make you rich, it just makes you forget about the risks.

Those fraud ringleaders used these words to push one young person after another into the abyss.

Lin Mo turned off the playback, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes for a while.

Wang Chuanjun's voice echoed in my mind.

"Go! Go! Go!"

The voice was hoarse and desperate, yet terrifying.

Lin Mo opened his eyes and picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Next scene, get ready to film."