As soon as the gang members left, the tense atmosphere completely vanished.
The whole crew rushed over and surrounded Luke.
"You were incredible! I've filmed action scenes for years, but I've never seen anyone fight like that in real life—it was straight out of a movie!"
"Seriously, you're like the real-life version of The Flying Dagger! It's a shame the Olympics don't have a knife-throwing event—you'd bring home the gold for sure!"
"Luke, you're way too handsome! I'm gonna have your dragon babies!" one of the female staffers shouted playfully.
"Are you dumb? It's almost 2001—you'll be lucky to have a snake baby at this rate!"
Everyone burst out laughing. Luke, overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, didn't know how to respond. "It was nothing, really. Just a little trick," he said modestly.
"He's acting all humble, but he's a total badass! Ugh, he's so good at pretending he's not!"
Before Luke could react, people had already started grabbing him.
"Hey, what are you guys—ah! Haha—put me down!"
The crew lifted him into the air, tossing him up and catching him over and over again until they finally set him back down.
Zhang Ziyu pushed her way through the crowd. Her eyes were still a little red from crying earlier.
"Little brother, thank you for today. I won't say much, but I'll remember what you did for me," she said softly.
Luke stepped forward and gave her a light hug before letting go. "Sis, don't worry. No matter what happens, I've got your back."
She smiled, nodded, and stepped aside to compose herself.
The crew gathered around again, peppering Luke with questions and praise.
They were all being friendly, trying to get closer to him, and Luke had no choice but to turn on his social charm and keep up.
"All right, that's enough. Everyone, back to work," Chen Long said, stepping in to disperse the crowd. "I still have something to discuss with Luke."
Luke picked up the document he'd been reading earlier. The gang's interruption had kept him from finishing it.
But before he could read it again, Chen Long snatched it out of his hands.
"Big brother?"
"Sorry, I grabbed the wrong one. That's not for you," Chen Long said quickly.
He slid the document into a drawer and handed Luke another one instead.
Luke smiled knowingly but didn't call him out.
He hadn't "grabbed the wrong one." He'd just changed his mind.
Clearly, after what happened with the gang, Chen Long valued Luke a lot more now. Giving him a better deal was only natural.
Luke flipped through the new agreement, frowning. "Big brother, something's off with this contract."
"What do you mean? I checked it myself—it should be fine."
"The pay—it looks like there's an extra zero."
Chen Long glanced at it and said, "No mistake. That's the correct amount."
"But that's way too much! I'm just a cameo."
The contract listed his pay as two million dollars.
Luke knew from later reports that Zhang Ziyu, the movie's main villain, had only earned a little over one million.
Her role was major, with tons of screen time.
So for him—a cameo actor—to get double that? It didn't seem right.
"I plan to tweak the script and have you perform in one or two extra action scenes. The pay fits the work," Chen Long explained.
Luke knew that wasn't the real reason.
Rush Hour 2's script had already been refined to perfection. Even if Chen Long added new scenes, it wouldn't be more than a few minutes. Any more and it would mess with the pacing.
Clearly, this generous offer was more about gratitude than necessity.
"Big brother, I can't accept this. It's too much," Luke said politely.
"I understand what you're worried about," Chen Long replied. "Just hear me out first. If you still think it's too much afterward, I won't insist."
Luke nodded for him to continue.
"First off," Chen Long said, "that pay rate is what I'd give to a top-tier martial arts master. After seeing your sword and knife skills today, I can't pretend not to recognize your value. If I offered you less, I'd be disrespecting your ability."
He paused, then continued, "Second, you helped me out a lot today. You've earned my respect as a brother. I can't just accept your help without showing my gratitude."
"And third," he added, "you're now the lead of a major Hollywood blockbuster. You can't take low-paying jobs anymore. Even for cameos, your rate sets your future value. If you go too low, it'll hurt your bargaining power later."
His reasoning was solid and sincere—there was no way for Luke to refuse without sounding ungrateful.
"Okay, I'll accept your reasoning," Luke said, "but I'm still worried changing the script might hurt the movie's pacing."
It was a valid concern. Rush Hour 2 was already an exceptionally successful commercial film in the future timeline.
If they ruined the rhythm by adding unnecessary scenes, it could backfire.
Originally, Rush Hour 2 was released in August 2001, grossing $226 million in North America alone—ranking fifth at the U.S. box office that year.
It even outperformed The Mummy Returns and Jurassic Park III.
Globally, the film made $347 million, which was about 2.9 billion yuan at the time—more than triple entire domestic box office that same year.
You could honestly say: Brother Chen Long was a box office monster!
The movie's success earned him $15 million upfront and another $26 million in box office bonuses—a total of $41 million.
Luke couldn't help but be impressed—and a little nervous that he might mess something up.
But Chen Long didn't seem worried at all.
He flipped to the last page of the document and showed Luke.
"My plan," he said, "is to give you a short, standalone subplot. You'll play a Hong Kong detective working on a separate investigation into the main villain—your scenes won't directly overlap with mine."
"I get it," Luke said. "That way, our storylines won't interfere with each other."
"Exactly. It's a clever workaround, but it also means your subplot needs to deliver—so we'll need some exciting action sequences from you."
"No problem," Luke said with a grin.
After all, how could he pass up another chance to level up his skills?