Chapter 5: The Radiant Brother Zhou!

The midsummer wind carried waves of heat.

The buzzing of mosquitoes was extremely annoying, making Chen Jianfeng, who lay in bed, toss and turn unable to sleep, so irritable he wished to tear the mosquitoes apart.

At two in the morning, he finally opened his bloodshot eyes, lit two coils of mosquito incense again, and only after the curling smoke had surrounded him did things feel slightly better.

In 2003, some dormitories at Yan Ying Academy had no air conditioning.

In June of 2003, the graduation season, there was hardly anyone left in Chen Jianfeng's dormitory...

In the final days, some were doing internships, some were looking for jobs, and some had gone home; except for him, the unlucky fool who refused to accept reality, no one was staying in the dormitory anymore.

Opening his second-hand 【Nokia】 phone with a black-and-white screen, he saw a text message.

Just now, the urban romance film 【Love Ferris Wheel】 had sent him one: "Sorry, you have not been shortlisted; please continue to follow subsequent activities."

The other Wu Xia film, although it had not sent him a message, was obviously just as dead.

The casting team's interviewers had never even looked him in the eye except to shout at him to help with crew duties and do some menial work for free...

Graduation means unemployment...

He leaned back on the bed, feeling a touch of bitterness.

The entertainment industry indeed relies on looks and acting skills, but, you at least have to stand on that interview stage to have the qualification to compete with them.

And the steps on the path to getting on that stage were filled with all kinds of worldly wisdom and investment.

A senior had advised him: "A stingy guy who can't even afford a pack of Zhongxi cigarettes across Greater China, going to fight for a role—isn't that a joke?"

He listened to the advice and tried to change his gloomy personality to fit in with this world.

But, after working part-time to fund his studies for half a year, buying who knows how many packs of Zhongxi cigarettes, and fawning in a very proper manner who knows how many times, everything had gone like a stone sinking into the sea...

His only highlight was serving once as a non-speaking extra in a small production crew...

"Sigh..."

Chen Jianfeng shook his head bitterly, thinking that continuing to muddle along like this was no solution.

Damn it!

Should I just get my graduation certificate and go back to my hometown to sell pirated discs?

I heard that small bosses selling pirated discs over in Guangzhou can earn sixty or seventy thousand a year...

That night.

Passed amidst Chen Jianfeng's wild thoughts and insomnia.

By early morning the next day, he suddenly thought of the 【Sino-American co-production, East-West fusion】 blockbuster from the night before...

Then, he casually took out that gilded business card and stared at the information on it.

He remembered that hand-drawn poster, remembered that Manager Zhou, and remembered how Manager Zhou had seen him at a glance and immediately cast him as the male lead!

Damn it!

Why does it feel so unreliable no matter how I think about this broken production crew?

But finally, he gritted his teeth and made up his mind!

"Damn it!"

"As long as they don't sell me off for my kidneys, as long as they give me a meal, I'll take even the worst movie!"

"F***, the worst that can happen is I strip naked and act in a porn film!"

"..."

After pumping himself up for a while, he finally took out his phone and dialed Manager Zhou's number.

The call connected very quickly.

"Have you thought it through?"

"I, can I understand a bit more first?"

"Sure!"

"Manager Zhou, where are you?"

"At the entrance..."

"Ah?"

The morning wind brushed against Zhou Yang's face.

Zhou Yang wore a pair of sunglasses, a pure black suit and trousers, and a rather trendy hairstyle; standing before a red Audi A6 supercar, his handsome aura attracted the gaze of many people.

When Chen Jianfeng walked out of the building, he saw many girls stopping to watch, and a few bolder girls actively approached to chat with Zhou Yang.

And Zhou Yang maintained a cold, indifferent aura, simply responding with a few words, not even handing out business cards, acting extremely aloof.

But the more he acted like that, the more girls gathered around Zhou Yang...

"Zhou, Manager Zhou..."

Seeing Zhou Yang's grand display, Chen Jianfeng's eyes went straight.

Somehow, even though he was wearing a black suit, Zhou Yang seemed to shine under the sun as a whole, making people's knees involuntarily go weak.

"How is this A6?"

When Zhou Yang saw Chen Jianfeng walking over, he took off his sunglasses and revealed a smile.

"Good, good, good..."

"The A6 is indeed not bad; the current on-the-road price is over a million..." Zhou Yang laughed: "Shall I get you one later?"

"M-Manager Zhou, don't joke, I..."

"Have you decided to come with me?"

"Manager Zhou, I want to understand a bit, and I also want to try... I can do any kind of work..."

"Fine, with those words from you, it's OK. Get in the car..."

"Where to?"

"To discuss a cooperation..."

"Oh, oh." Chen Jianfeng nodded, went to pull the Audi door, but after pulling for a long time, found the door wouldn't budge.

"Why are you pulling the A6 door handle?" Seeing Chen Jianfeng's embarrassed look, Zhou Yang froze.

"Ah, no..."

"This car is nice, but it's not my car. I'll just stand here and lean for a while. Come, ride my little electric scooter!"

"???"

Under countless pairs of eyes, Zhou Yang once again put on sunglasses, but did not get into the Audi A6; instead, he silently put on a helmet, and under the murderous gaze of security guard Zhang Shun, mounted that little electric scooter.

"Brother Zhang, I'll return the car this afternoon..."

After leaving those words, looking at Chen Jianfeng who was still standing there dumbfounded, he frowned: "Get on the scooter..."

"Oh, oh."

With Chen Jianfeng mounting the little electric scooter, they rode off.

The few girls who had come over to chat, their smiles gradually stiffened...

A few girls even had faces as pale as iron, cursing fiercely a few times.

But...

No one noticed.

Inside the teaching building of Yan Ying Academy, a girl with long legs was staring blankly at this side, lost in a daze...

………………………………

The little electric scooter drove through the bustling Yanjing City.

Chen Jianfeng still felt his brain was foggy.

Why...

He felt this President Zhou was extremely unreliable.

Moreover, the more he rode the little electric scooter, the stranger it felt; why wasn't it heading towards those office buildings, but instead driving into those small alleys?

Damn!

What is this President Zhou going to do?

The little electric scooter stopped in front of a cheap rental room emitting a stench.

Zhou Yang straightened his clothes and pushed the door open.

Chen Jianfeng followed behind with his head down.

After the door opened, Chen Jianfeng saw a young man with messy hair looking at Zhou Yang bitterly.

"President Zhou..."

"How is the writing going?"

"It's finished."

"Is it positive energy?"

"As per your request, very positive energy..."

"Did you add words like 'guarding the Earth', 'guarding the universe'?"

"Added, added, but, these lines are too awkward, and, before the Superman emits the electric wave, shouting 'Dynamic Wave' loudly... it's so awkward my goosebumps are rising. Are we sure this movie isn't for children under ten?"

"Yes, it is for children under ten..."

"???"

Chen Jianfeng looked at that messy-haired guy, then looked at this messy room, and finally subconsciously looked at the name of the script he had written.

"Sun Wukong Battles Superman 2"!

At first glance, he thought he had misread it.

After confirming the name was indeed correct, his butt suddenly tightened, and he sucked in an unknown number of cold breaths!

Damn it!

I'm not going to shoot this, am I?

"Let me introduce, this is the male actor I invited, Little Chen, Chen Jianfeng. Um, a 2003 graduate of Yan Ying. Strictly speaking, he should be your junior. Little Chen, introduce yourself, this is Director Shen..."

Shen Long looked up blankly, staring at Chen Jianfeng.

Chen Jianfeng looked foolishly at Shen Long.

The two stared big-eyed at each other, both seeing a trace of familiar pain in the other's eyes.

Chen Jianfeng took a deep breath.

Maybe...

He should just change careers and sell pirated discs instead.

At least that's more reliable.

"By the way, have you finished listing the things the film crew needs?"

"I've listed them..."

"Fine, give it to me, I'll help you solve it. By the way, Little Chen is left to you; you take him and discuss the acting... I'll take the script outline first for review."

"Okay..."

"..."

Just as Zhou Yang picked up the script, glanced at it twice, and was preparing to go out, his phone suddenly rang.

He saw an unfamiliar phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Good day, is this Mr. Zhou?"

"Yes, hello, I am Zhou Yang, and you are..."

"Oh, hello, Mr. Zhou, my name is An Xiaoshi, a 2003 graduate of the Directing Department at Yan Ying..."

"Oh, Student An, hello..." Upon hearing these words, a smile appeared on Zhou Yang's face.

The other person's voice was very gentle and pleasant, like a lark, instantly perking Zhou Yang up.

This voice was nice, soft and sticky; if she worked as customer service, she could scam quite a few young fellows.

"Here is the thing, Mr. Zhou, I got your contact information from Mr. Zhang, the security guard. Can we chat?"

"Sure."

"Oh, in that case, a 【Muyu Coffee Shop】 next to the school; shall I wait for you there?"

"Alright!"

"By the way, Mr. Zhou, I wonder what your thoughts are on urban films?"

"Thoughts? Ha, I have plenty of thoughts..."

"Oh, oh, you probably had no acting experience before, right?"

"Acting experience? I have quite a bit of acting experience; which aspect do you want to see..."

"Oh, oh, that's good, let's talk when we meet."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yang felt a bit puzzled.

Why did this fat sheep suddenly ask about my acting experience?

Could it be she wants me to explain the script to her?

Oh my, explaining scripts is my forte!

After hanging up the phone.

After giving a couple of words of instruction to the pair of Sleeping Dragon and Phoenix Chick, Chen Jianfeng and Shen Long,

Zhou Yang mounted his electric scooter, tucked his briefcase under his arm, and ran off toward the distance.