After a casual chat with Chadley about the general requirements, Xiao He began preparing for the shoot.

Chadley was quite casual; when he worked as a street Photographer, he didn't specifically bring fill lights or reflectors, usually just finding angles and light and shadow on-site for the shoot.

This was one of the rare times he specifically sought out a model, so to appear more formal, Chadley finally pulled out his long-unused reflector and handed it to Xiao Chen, making him his photography assistant for this session.

As for clothing and styling, Chadley didn't have many requirements; he just gave a few keywords and let Xiao He coordinate his own outfit and look before coming, and the makeup didn't need to be too heavy, focusing on a realistic style.

So Xiao He's outfit was designed by a costume designer Liu Rulan knew from the Film Crew; the style was similar to the hip-hop look from the last promotional leak, with a grey oversized top paired with distressed ripped jeans, a pair of color-clashing sneakers, and a complex multi-strand necklace, finally with a baseball cap pulled down over his forehead bangs and worn backward, perfectly revealing his sharp eyes.

This focused on an American street rebel youth style, being trendy and cool while successfully blending perfectly with the colorful street behind him.

Oh, of course, that's actually a beautified term; nowadays they aren't usually called rebel youths, but rather the kind of street thugs and hoodlums who do nothing but bad things.

Fighting the fiercest battles, serving the longest prison sentences...

Ahem, but in any case, this look blended perfectly with today's theme.

Chadley was also very satisfied with Xiao He's look. After a simple check of the site, he took Xiao He to a spot he had scouted in advance and began shooting while giving him direction: "Just like that, raise your hand, lean back, keep twisting your hips—"

Xiao He had mostly done studio shoots before, so this was his first time taking such photos outdoors; although the background was much more open, he felt even more at a loss.

So upon hearing Chadley's direction, Xiao He immediately followed the request and leaned back further; fortunately, aside from feeling a bit awkward, his center of gravity was quite stable, allowing him to cooperate perfectly with Chadley's movements.

But wait, is a pose like this really okay?

He felt like he was about to twist himself into a pretzel.

What kind of pose must this look like through Chadley's lens?!

Adhering to the principle of not questioning the Photographer during a shoot, Xiao He chose to follow blindly.

Just after the first set of poses was completed, Xiao He felt a strange gaze coming from nearby.

Turning his head, he saw a slightly familiar curled-up figure surreptitiously peeking at them from an alley across the street.

Xiao He immediately narrowed his eyes slightly.

It was an elderly homeless man, wearing dusty grey clothes, his face covered in a beard, looking completely unkempt, even his eyes were somewhat cloudy and yellowed.

Such a standard homeless look was actually something they had seen quite a bit of abroad, so it wasn't particularly easy to tell who was who.

However, Xiao He still had some impression of this gaze.

Because that night when they went to find Moses, it was this thug who had been guarding the alley entrance, quietly observing them and informing Moses of their arrival.

Unfortunately, Moses was so happy with the stolen goods he had obtained at the time that he ignored the thug's warning and instead cursed him away.

Later, when Xiao He was holding Moses by the collar and making him kowtow heavily against his car floorboard, he had vaguely noticed this homeless man's peeking gaze hidden in the corner, but Xiao He didn't care much at the time and let him watch, thinking he wouldn't return after dealing with Moses anyway.

To his surprise, they actually ran into each other again!

Xiao He felt it was somewhat amusing but also discreetly heightened his vigilance.

He naturally wasn't worried about the homeless man recognizing him; after all, that night both he and Lao Qi were heavily disguised, he had even intentionally lowered his voice and spoke with a very authentic local accent, and his actions were rough and ruthless, completely different from his usual self—anyone there would only have taken them for members of another gang rather than a celebrity encountered by chance on the roadside.

But since he hadn't been recognized, it meant they were simply being targeted.

Tsk, these guys haven't been keeping a low profile lately, causing trouble everywhere again.

—And they targeted them every single time.

Xiao He curled his lip, the light in his eyes ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) turning dark, and his expression became sinister as well.

Meanwhile, Chadley was still completely oblivious, instead being so amazed by Xiao He's explosive energy in the lens at this moment that he began clicking the shutter frantically.

At the same time, Lao Qi also looked toward that street and frowned slightly.

"What's wrong?"

Liu Rulan lowered her voice to ask Lao Qi.

Lao Qi instinctively touched the Tactical Baton at his waist, and after ensuring he had a way to fight back, he whispered to Liu Rulan, "There's someone over there who keeps watching us; I suspect we're being targeted."

Liu Rulan then also looked toward the alley across the street.

Sure enough, the homeless man was still crouching at the alley entrance watching them, and when they all looked over, he even grinned, showing them an ambiguous smile.

"And there's one more thing that Teacher Xiao might not have told you—"

Lao Qi paused before continuing in a very low voice, "Last time we... uh, that friend of ours, retrieved our stolen items by finding someone right around here."

Liu Rulan:...

The woman's pupils shook with shock.

"So, does this count as us delivering ourselves to their door?"

She looked incredulous. "How could it be such a coincidence? Why didn't you say anything when we were coming? Otherwise, I definitely would have had Chadley change locations for the shoot."

What's the difference between this and directly provoking them at their doorstep?

"Not exactly."

Hearing Liu Rulan's worry, Lao Qi gave a simple smile, but the content of his words combined with his smile added a touch of craftiness. "I guess they haven't recognized Teacher Xiao or me. Seeing us shooting here now, they probably just want to intentionally cause trouble and ask for a Site Fee."

This dilapidated alley certainly couldn't be considered anyone's private property, let alone should a Site Fee be charged, but unfortunately, these thugs had divided up the territory themselves and truly treated it as their own. If they were shooting here, it might indeed attract the attention of those ill-intentioned people.

Besides, the public security here really isn't that great.

Especially since most of the people in their team have East Asian faces.

They look like they're easy to bully (?) as a result.

It's a Site Fee, and it's also Protection Money.

If we don't pay, they'll drive us away—

After listening to Lao Qi's analysis, Liu Rulan fell silent for a moment, a faint cold sneer appearing on her face, and her gaze unconsciously turned into the same kind of villainous look as Xiao He's.

"In that case, let them come."

She tucked a stray hair behind her ear and shifted her gaze, landing on another van parked behind the car they had driven.

"I won't give them another chance like that—"