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

The opening ceremony for "Raging Storm" was held in a very low-key manner.

There were no media outlets, no announcements, not even banners—Old Zhao had originally intended to pull one, but Lin Mo said not to, just take a picture.

In the end, Old Zhao only managed to get a piece of red paper, wrote the four characters "大吉开机" (Good luck with the start of the business) with a brush, and pasted it on the wall behind the offering table.

But the truth will out.

On the day filming began, although the Old Factory Street Market was closed for shooting, it was surrounded by residential areas, with residents living upstairs and downstairs.

Just as Lin Mo and the others set up the offering table, several heads popped out from the balconies of the nearby residential buildings.

A woman, holding a bowl and looking down, asked the person next to her indistinctly, "Is this a movie shoot?" An old man next to her, wearing reading glasses, squinted for a while and said, "It looks like it."

"What are you filming?"

"have no idea."

The old man didn't recognize him, but his son did.

A young man in his early twenties rushed out of the house, holding up his phone and taking pictures, shouting, "Dad! That's Lin Mo! The Lin Mo from 'In the Name of the People'! The one next to him is Zhang Yi! And Zhang Songwen! And Wu Gang!"

The old man was stunned for a long time: "Which Lin Mo?"

The young man stamped his feet anxiously: "It's that movie! 'All or Nothing'! Didn't you see it?!"

The old man suddenly realized what was happening, stopped eating, and started peering down from the balcony.

Zhang Yi was offering incense at the altar, her profile turned to the camera.

Zhang Songwen stood to the side, holding three incense sticks, talking to Lin Mo.

Wu Gang stood in the back row, wearing a dark coat. His aura as a veteran actor was recognizable even from hundreds of meters away.

The young man's hands were shaking. He recorded a video that was only a dozen seconds long and quickly posted it on Douyin.

The caption was just one sentence: "Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Director Lin Mo's new movie is starting filming right downstairs from my house! Am I dreaming?!"

The video garnered over a million views in less than twenty minutes after it was posted.

The comments section exploded.

"Where am I? This scene is so authentic! The arcade, the electrical wires, the rusty iron gate—it's exactly the same as where I lived when I was a child!"

A bunch of people asked, and he answered them one by one: "Jiangmen! Jiangmen! Jiangmen, Guangdong! Jiuchangjie Market!"

Local netizens in Jiangmen started to get excited.

"Jiangmen? Director Lin is filming in Jiangmen? My house is right next to Jiuchang Street! I'm going to stake out the location!"

"People in Jiangmen are overjoyed! Finally, a big film crew is coming to shoot here!"

"Changdi Qilou Street! Kaiping Diaolou! Director Lin, have you taken a fancy to all the old streets in Jiangmen?"

Someone replied to them: "Stop waiting, they're filming behind closed doors, you won't be able to get in even if you go."

A netizen from Jiangmen replied: "Even if I can't get in, I still want to go. Just looking at it from the entrance is fine too."

Some netizens have started urging for more updates.

"Director Lin, I just finished watching 'All or Nothing,' and you're already starting a new film? Isn't that a bit too fast?"

"It's common knowledge that Director Lin is a fast filmmaker. It took him more than two months to film 'In the Name of the People' and 'All or Nothing'. I expect this anti-gangster drama will be filmed soon as well."

"What's the use of speed? Good quality is what matters."

Have you ever seen Director Lin produce a poor quality film?

"It's fast, but what about post-production? Editing? Submission for review? Can you please not make us wait so long?"

"Director Lin said that this drama is a key project of the Ministry of Public Security. It will be submitted for review while filming is underway, and it will be broadcast as soon as it is completed. Just wait and see."

"Produced by the Ministry of Public Security, directed by Lin Mo, starring Zhang Yi, and with veteran actor Wu Gang in the lead role. With this cast, I'm going all in, not because I trust them, but because I trust the Ministry of Public Security."

"What do you believe the Ministry of Public Security has to do with Director Lin?"

"Director Lin works for the Ministry of Public Security!"

"Yes, yes, Director Lin is now the Ministry of Public Security's darling."

The comments section went off-topic, but it also became increasingly lively.

This video quickly rose to the top of the trending list on Douyin.

The hashtag #LinMo'sNewDramaStartsFilmingInSpeed# garnered over 100 million views within an hour.

The number one trending topic also climbed from ninth to third.

Someone posted a screenshot in the comments section, which was the caption of Lin Mo's previous Weibo post: "Some things have to be done by someone, and some people have to be filmed. The fight against organized crime is not just a slogan."

Someone below replied to him, "So that's what he meant."

"Director Lin is a man of his word. If he says he'll film, he'll start shooting immediately. He never makes empty promises."

"Unlike some directors, who release trailers two years ago but haven't done anything yet."

"Anything directed by Lin is bound to be a masterpiece. Don't rush it, it will be released when the time is right."

"I'm not rushing you, I just want to ask one question—when will it air?"

......

After the opening ceremony, Lin Mo did not start filming immediately.

He told everyone to rest first, and then took Lao Zhao to the Old Factory Street Market to walk through all the scenes that were to be filmed that afternoon.

He already had a complete picture in his mind of how the cameras should be positioned, from which direction the light should come, and how the actors should move.

Old Zhao followed behind, listening while drawing camera positions in his notebook. After finishing, he looked up at Lin Mo, wanting to say something but then remained silent.

Lin Mo asked him what was wrong, and Old Zhao shook his head: "Nothing, it's just that I feel your mind is a little different from others. Other people watch the filming after they arrive on set, but you watch it before you even arrive."

Filming officially began at 2 PM.

The first scene is Gao Qiqiang selling fish at the Old Factory Street Market.

Lin Mo chose this scene as the opening not because it was important, but because it was quiet—it didn't require much staging or many extras; it was just Gao Qiqiang working alone behind the fish stall.

New actors need a simple scene to get a feel for the role when they first join a production, and Zhang Songwen was no exception.

A group of people were gathered behind the monitor.

Zhang Yi stood behind Lin Mo, arms crossed, silent, his gaze fixed on the monitor screen, his expression serious.

Li Yitong stood next to Zhang Yi, holding a script in her hand, glancing down at it and then up at the monitor, as if she were rehearsing her lines.

Wu Gang and Zhang Zhijian sat in a folding chair in the corner, neither of them speaking, but both their eyes were fixed on the monitor.

Lin Mo sat in the director's chair, glanced at the monitor, and picked up the walkie-talkie: "Quiet down, get ready to start filming."

The film set fell silent.

The script supervisor walked in front of the camera, picked up the clapperboard, and announced: "Scene 1, Shot 1, First Take of 'The Storm'!"

Snapped.

Zhang Songwen stood up from behind the fish stall, holding a fish in his hand, wearing that old jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

He placed the fish on the cutting board, scaled it, gutted it, and removed its internal organs, his movements as swift as if he had been doing this for half his life.

Several live fish were kept in a basin of water next to it, and the air pump was bubbling away.

His fingers were white from being soaked in water, and the fishy smell lingered in his fingernails.

When someone came to buy fish, he looked up and smiled. It was a habitual, ingratiating, and even somewhat humble smile.

It wasn't an actor performing; it was Gao Qiqiang selling fish.

Lin Mo stared at the monitor but didn't call for a halt.

The script only has one line for this scene: "Gao Qiqiang is busy behind the fish stall."

But Zhang Songwen performed this one line for several minutes. There were no lines, no other scenes. He was just a person working behind the fish stall, scaling, gutting, removing the internal organs, putting the fish into plastic bags, handing them to customers, collecting money, and giving change.

Every movement looks real.

"Click."

"Passed!"