Reborn in the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1980s

To play the role of Mu Guiying well, Hu Xiaoxiao not only practiced real marksmanship but also archery.

Mu Guiying received the skills of divine arrows and flying knives from the Old Mother of Lishan. Archery and knife skills are her specialties, so Hu Xiaoxiao must learn them.

A throwing knife was in her hand. Hu Xiaoxiao had experience twirling fans, and she twirled it in her hand like a circus performer. A throwing knife can be used as a knife, for chopping, slashing, and cutting, or it can be thrown as a hidden arrow to injure people.

Hu Xiaoxiao also put a lot of effort into learning archery, and there are several scenes in the script that describe Mu Guiying's superb archery skills.

Nie Jinlong specially found an archery teacher for Hu Xiaoxiao. Hu Xiaoxiao learned very quickly and soon graduated. The teacher looked at her with regret: "Why did you become an actress? It would have been so much better to be an athlete. Maybe you could have won an Olympic gold medal for Baogang."

Hu Xiaoxiao politely declined, saying, "There are so many jobs I can do well; let me focus on being a good actress first."

After practicing with the bow and arrow from the props department for a few days, Hu Xiaoxiao approached Nie Jinlong and said, "The bow and arrow prepared by the props department are not handy. Is there any way to get a heavier bow? A heavier bow will feel better in the hand and will appear more powerful on camera."

Nie Jinlong weighed the bow that Hu Xiaoxiao was practicing with and said, "This bow is just right. I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to hold a heavier bow for long."

In the film, Hu Xiaoxiao has to run up and down mountains with the bow, mount and dismount horses, and even carry it while galloping on horseback—it's no easy task. A lighter weight would make filming easier.

Hu Xiaoxiao replied, "You know nothing about my power."

Faced with Nie Jinlong's suspicious gaze, Hu Xiaoxiao found a table, beckoned Nie Jinlong over, and said, "Let's arm wrestle and have a contest."

Nie Jinlong couldn't help but laugh at Hu Xiaoxiao's behavior. "Xiaoxiao, are you sure you want to arm wrestle with me? Do you know I've been practicing martial arts for over thirty years? Let alone you, I can easily take down even a burly man. No one in the company dares to compete with me in strength."

“He’s just a big, burly man. I can lift him up with one hand,” Hu Xiaoxiao said.

Nie Jinlong thought Hu Xiaoxiao was just bragging. Since he had nothing better to do, he walked over and wanted to show Hu Xiaoxiao what real strength a man could have.

The commotion attracted the attention of many trainees. Upon learning that Teacher Nie Jinlong was going to arm wrestle with Hu Xiaoxiao, no one thought Hu Xiaoxiao would win, but they all came over with great interest to watch the spectacle.

“Teacher Nie, how can you, a grown man, bully a woman? If you want to arm wrestle, come to me. Why are you looking for Xiaoxiao? Xiaoxiao is so weak and frail, how could she have any strength?” Some male actors couldn’t stand it anymore and came over to mediate.

Nie Jinlong was both amused and exasperated, saying, "It was Xiaoxiao who wanted to arm wrestle with me, not me who wanted to arm wrestle with Xiaoxiao."

Hu Xiaoxiao clarified for Nie Jinlong, laughing and saying, "Don't misunderstand, everyone. It was I who suggested the arm wrestling. Teacher Nie thought I wasn't strong enough, so I just wanted to prove it to him. It's perfect, everyone can be a witness."

The onlookers didn't take Hu Xiaoxiao's words to heart, thinking to themselves that Hu Xiaoxiao was so slender, how could she have any strength?

Someone even gave Nie Jinlong a meaningful look, telling him to only exert a little effort so as not to make Hu Xiaoxiao cry.

Nie Jinlong nodded calmly, indicating: I know what to do.

Everyone brought out chairs for Hu Xiaoxiao and Nie Jinlong to sit down, and they formed a circle to watch them arm wrestle.

No one thought Hu Xiaoxiao could win. Nie Jinlong was a real martial artist. Not to mention Hu Xiaoxiao, who was a girl, even the strongest man among them wouldn't dare to say he was stronger than Nie Jinlong.

After they were seated, they each extended one hand and clasped it together.

Director Ge also came over to join in the fun and shouted "Action!"

With a sudden burst of strength, Hu Xiaoxiao slammed Nie Jinlong's hand onto the table with a loud thud, causing him to gasp in pain.

He was still a little dazed from the pain. He had only exerted himself, so how could he have lost? Was he not prepared?

"Let's do it again." Nie Jinlong thought that Hu Xiaoxiao had taken advantage of his unpreparedness to knock him down.

Hu Xiaoxiao respected his idea. After he was fully prepared and began to exert force, her hands remained motionless, as if welded to the table.

Nie Jinlong was stunned for a moment, looking at Hu Xiaoxiao with surprise.

Ba——

Nie Jinlong lost again.

This time, Hu Xiaoxiao held back a bit and didn't hurt Nie Jinlong's hand.

But the shock in Nie Jinlong's heart was even more unbelievable than the pain in his hand just now.

"Come again!"

Nie Jinlong refused to believe it and wanted to compete again.

Hu Xiaoxiao fulfilled his request and brought him down even faster this time, finally making Nie Jinlong believe that everything before was not his illusion.

"Hee hee hee--"

Nie Jinlong heard a familiar laugh and turned around to see Li Shen, who should have been on the set of "Fan Lihua," had come to watch the commotion. "Aren't you the action choreographer for 'Fan Lihua'?"

"The other film crew isn't filming martial arts anymore, they're filming magic tricks. Why should I stay there and bother them?" Li Shen said with a grin. "Brother Long, your acting is pretty good. It's a shame you're not an actor with such good acting skills. You acted so realistically, hehehe—"

No one still believed that Hu Xiaoxiao had defeated Nie Jinlong.

Only Nie Jinlong, the person involved, knew how humiliating his defeat was, how utterly powerless he was.

Nie Jinlong's mind raced, and he said to Li Shen with ill intent, "Why don't you give it a try?"

"I don't bully women."

"If you win, I'll treat you to drinks at the bar tonight."

Li Shen immediately forgot his earlier statement about not bullying women, and said, "Is it a deal?"

“It’s a deal!” Nie Jinlong stood up and gave his seat to Li Shen. “If you lose, you’re treating tonight.”

"How could I possibly lose?" Li Shen said. If there were no stakes, he would have let him win, but now that there were stakes, he apologized to Hu Xiaoxiao, saying, "Xiaoxiao, I'm sorry to have offended you so that Brother Long would have to spend money."

Hu Xiaoxiao rubbed her hands and said to Li Shen with a relaxed expression, "Bring it on."

Nie Jinlong pressed Li Shen, saying, "You still haven't said what to do if you lose."

Li Shen boasted, "If I lose, I'll treat you to drinks for a month."

Satisfied with this compliment, Nie Jinlong crossed his arms and calmly watched the competition, even taking over Director Ge's role by shouting, "Action—"

As you can imagine, Li Shen was stunned for a moment after being knocked down.

"Come again——"

Li Shen didn't believe in superstition.

With a snap, Li Shen lost again.

"Again—" Li Shen still refused to believe it.

"Bah-"

"Bah-"

"Bah-"

……

Li Shen finally believed in superstition.

The thought of having to host a month's worth of drinking sessions made him a little dizzy.

Turning his head, he saw Hu Xiaoxiao smiling and nonchalant, just like him earlier, thinking she was an onlooker acting. Li Shen's eyes lit up, and he began to praise Hu Xiaoxiao in an exaggerated way:

"Xiaoxiao, you're incredibly strong! I've never seen anyone so strong. You don't even need one hand to beat me; you can knock me down with just one finger. Xiaoxiao, you're amazing! You're practically the strongest person in the world! Even the strength of Pangu splitting the heavens and earth can't compare to you..."

The more exaggerated Li Shen's story became, the less people believed him. Soon, he managed to convince a colleague who was paying for his drinks for a month to arm wrestle with Hu Xiaoxiao.