Zheng Tan knew before arriving that Mr. Jiao had told him to play dumb when necessary.
What did "when necessary" mean?
For instance, if he didn't want to shoot something, work with someone, wasn't comfortable with the location, felt unwell, or had a sudden urge to pee, he could play dumb. Pretending not to know how to act or just rolling around on the spot would suffice. After all, who could expect too much from a cat? The production team certainly couldn't. Let Xiao Guo's ample staff deal with the headaches, Zheng Tan was sure that Xiao Guo and Mr. Jiao must have their own private agreements, and he'd bet his life on it.
However, this was for his benefit. Zheng Tan understood that being smart was fine, but appearing too clever could arouse suspicion. To avoid unnecessary trouble, sometimes it was safer to seem a little dumb.
