Chapter 4

Just over a meal, the performance attribute rose to 73.

A modest little surprise.

Li Luo wiped away beer foam with a grin and called the landlady over to settle the bill.

Three main dishes and two bottles of beer totaled twenty-one yuan—by the standards of his past life, it was absurdly cheap.

Of course, it ate up nearly a day’s income.

It was indeed luxurious.

Before this, the most he’d spent was five yuan on a boxed meal with two meat dishes and one vegetable.

He stuck a toothpick between his teeth.

He strolled lazily toward his rented courtyard.

The streets were crumbling.

Sewage spilled everywhere.

On the way, he found a small shop, spent one yuan to call home and report he was safe, saying he wouldn’t be returning for the New Year, that he wasn’t short of money and had even saved quite a bit.

The infrastructure frenzy wouldn’t kick in for a few more years.

The journey was long and arduous.

A trip home would leave him bedridden for a week just to recover.

Those who hadn’t lived through it didn’t understand—trains in this era could crush you to tears, so packed you’d feel hopeless.

Li Luo rubbed his eyes, hung up, and pulled out his Soft Hongmei again.

He took a deep breath.

Exhaled a thick plume of gray-white smoke.

Young as he was, wandering alone in the outside world, even the most open-minded parents couldn’t help worrying—his mother’s nagging had nearly brought tears to his eyes.

He silently finished the cigarette and finally pushed that emotion aside.

Reborn into another life.

With a golden finger to boot.

He’d inevitably stir up some waves in this circle—he didn’t want to go back and live some dull, routine existence again.

He avoided the tugging of all those female bodhisattvas.

He returned to his courtyard in disarray.

If his guess was right, this kind of thing counted as indulgence.

Logically speaking.

Li Luo ought to help them out.

Most of these broken female bodhisattvas had younger sisters in school, sick mothers, and gambling fathers—truthfully, they were all pitiful and deserved some financial support.

The old Li Luo was a greenhorn.

He’d never encountered anything like this.

The new Li Luo had guts, but he didn’t want to earn the legend of “The Roaring King of Hengdian.”

He could only grit his teeth and give up the possible system reward.

He pushed open the door—the thick smoke nearly knocked him backward.

A crowd sat gathered around the bed.

They were playing Jin Hua.

The tiny room had four sets of bunk beds; each bed cost sixty yuan a month, offering decent lodging for Hengdian drifters—low rent drew masses of extras to the area around Dazhi Street.

That was also why the female bodhisattvas gathered here.

Where there’s a market.

There will be business.

The large number of shattered Hengdian drifters had nurtured this soil.

Working as an extra was grueling.

When a role came, you had to get up at three or four in the morning—even pulling all-nighters—and earned barely anything; some naturally drifted into faster-money jobs.

“Li Luo.”

The middle-aged man pushed up his glasses, slapping down fifty fen: “Heard you landed a special-type role today?”

“Not bad—you’re making it!”

At those words,

The group around him all turned to stare at Li Luo—some envious, others jealous.

Some had been grinding in Hengdian for two or three years.

Still hadn’t landed a single promising role.

This kid had only been here a few months—and already shot ahead of them!

“Making it?”

Li Luo climbed onto the top bunk, gripping the railing, and shook his head with a smile: “That’s all fantasy—just a last-minute fill-in. What happens next? Probably the same as always.”

As he spoke,

He quietly checked his bedding.

No signs of being rummaged through.

He wasn’t foolish enough to keep valuables here, but he hated it when others touched his things.

As for those words,

Just laugh them off!

He knew Yu Hong would sweeten the deal to win him over, but he had no need to chatter with this crowd.

After a few teasing remarks,

Finding Li Luo slippery and unresponsive, the group grew bored and returned to their cards.

Hengdian was also a paradise for drifters.

Many harbored dreams of overnight fame but worked only sporadically—when broke, they took extra jobs; when they had a little cash, they ate, drank, and played.

The Hengdian version of Sanhe Gods.

He despised drugs and wasn’t fond of gambling.

He had no interest in joining that scene.

He propped up his pillow, stared at the ceiling, and pulled a folded sheet from his pocket, turning away to unfold it.

Real estate, Bitcoin.

Football, sunny days, Charlotte, stocks, 33 days, Ip Man, struggle.

Legend, internet, penguin.

Dense words filled nearly the whole page, but most were crossed out—barely legible.

For this period, Li Luo hadn’t rested.

He’d strained his mind recalling every possible chance to get rich.

And recorded them all.

After studying them, he found most were castles in the air.

Some things aren’t just about thinking—they’re about doing.

They required not just opportunity, but professional skill; some opportunities, frankly, even the average person couldn’t get near, let alone taste.

Copying songs.

Humming a few lines was fine; singing them properly? Doubtful.

He also realized that even if he could sing, without music theory knowledge, he couldn’t reproduce them.

The same went for copying screenplays.

Whether they’d sell was another matter.

At least Li Luo couldn’t memorize the lines, scenes, and plot arcs of films and TV shows he’d seen—that required photographic memory, not just a snap decision.

In the end, sadly, he was a basketball fan.

He shook his head.

Crossed out football.

After thinking it over, in his understanding, the only reliable opportunities left were real estate and Bitcoin.

The former was a tide.

The latter was a wealth myth of the internet age, accessible even to ordinary people.

As long as he wasn’t greedy and didn’t blow the whole thing.

Even without knowing exact price trends, cautious moves would guarantee financial freedom.

If the actor path failed.

And he had no golden finger.

With just these two, his life was destined to be one of comfort.

He chuckled.

Li Luo tore the paper completely to shreds.

He grabbed his toiletries, whistled softly, and headed for the communal shower, letting the warm water pound his body and wash away the day’s fatigue.

He squeezed out two pumps of shower gel, then suddenly froze.

Wait.

Let these things go.

Exactly!

A flash of insight struck Li Luo; he looked down and blinked rapidly several times.

A few minutes later.

【Felt great joy in life — indulgence successful】

【Reward: Seven-Star Sword Technique (Beginner)】

Oh, it really works.

Do it again.

【Felt slight joy in life — indulgence successful】

【Reward: Dialogue Experience +3】

Continue.

Don’t stop.

【Felt a trace of joy in life — indulgence successful】

【Reward: Physical Form Experience +1】