Chapter 702: The True-Talk System of the Entertainment Industry (18)

In the end, she found a rich second-generation heir whose family had assets in the Film and Television City; it couldn't be called a serious relationship, it was nothing more than going to bars or other places to have some fun.

But fortunately, the other party was quite generous with his spending, and whenever she acted spoiled afterward and asked for gifts like necklaces, he would buy them for her. She would then resell these gifts to pay off the interest on her online loans.

Furthermore, she used the rich heir's connections to cozy up to an assistant director of a certain film crew, and after fawning over him, she finally managed to land a role as she had wished.

Although it was a minor role without any lines, it was much better than being a background extra; at least she had a chance to show her face.

However, this time, without the original body to busy herself helping her rehearse and improve her acting, her progress wasn't as fast. On the contrary, because she wasn't professional enough, she affected the lead actors' performances during blocking, leading to frequent retakes that drew the director's harsh reprimands.

It was only out of respect for the assistant director that she wasn't replaced; if it had been an ordinary extra, she would have been removed long ago.

It's hard to find a lead actor, but is it hard to find a minor actor without lines? There are plenty of them in the vast Film and Television City.

Because of this, the assistant director didn't dare to arrange roles for her anymore.

Although he had a decent relationship with the rich heir, it wasn't good enough to the point where he would rather offend the director than help his little mistress get a role.

Lou Yiling naturally wasn't willing to let her acting career end there, so behind the rich heir's back, she secretly invited this assistant director surnamed Liu out, using her charms to coax him into continuing to arrange minor roles for her that didn't require the director's approval.

One day, after being served to his complete satisfaction, Director Hu was contentedly smoking a post-coital cigarette and told her that a friend was preparing a web drama, and for the sake of her being so obedient, he could save a role for her.

Of course, she shouldn't think about the lead role, as that had already been cast, but a complete web drama still needed a few supporting actresses to set off the lead, right?

Hearing this, Lou Yiling wasn't very satisfied in her heart.

How could the caliber of a web drama compare to a serious drama?

She wanted to film serious dramas! She wanted to play roles with lines! Not be a supporting character for the female lead in a cheap web drama! This made her feel that she was also very cheap.

But she really couldn't land any opportunities for serious dramas right now, and even if she did, they were just background roles without lines, so why not try the web drama?

She still had some confidence in her current face, even though it couldn't compare to Xie Yang.

But even if Xie Yang had a pretty face, hadn't she ended up setting up a street stall in the Film and Television City?

Thinking of the nine-grid photo collage she saw on her social media feed of Xie Yang advertising handmade soap at a street stall just after returning to the country, Lou Yiling couldn't help but sneer in her heart.

She then said coyly, "Thank you, Director Hu, you are so good to me!"

Afterward, there was naturally another round of "physical" gratitude.

"Xiao Xie, wait! Don't be in such a rush to leave!"

That day, Xie Yang had made a trip to the filming base to deliver a "takeout" order of Nanyang Bird's Nest soup to a cast member, and just as she was about to leave, she was called back by the lead actress, Best Actress Yao.

"You're a professionally trained actor, yet you don't focus on your acting and spend all day tinkering with these things; it's just not right. I've dug up a gig for you; it's a large-scale Qing Dynasty Plane drama. The director is my senior fellow apprentice. I ran into him at a dinner party two days ago, and he asked me to help introduce a few experienced extras. You were the first person I thought of. I've secured a supporting role for you. The screen time isn't much, but it's a rare learning opportunity. Seize it well!"

As she spoke, she handed a business card to Xie Yang:

"This is his card. The audition time and location are on the back. Just go directly to the audition. Good luck! I believe in you!"

"Thank you, Sister."

Xie Yang did not refuse Best Actress Yao's kindness.

In the eyes of industry insiders, her constantly switching between selling fried rice and noodles, pickles, cold drinks, and handmade soap really did look like she wasn't attending to her proper business.

Moreover, hearing from the Main System that Lou Yiling had recently joined a crew right there at the filming base, if she wanted to thwart Lou Yiling from relying on the Energy Crystal to offload her bad luck, she first had to get close to her so that she could see her from time to time.

Thus, on the day of the audition, Xie Yang decisively packed up her stall... That's right! Following the handmade soap, she had taken on a new Task.

This ten-day street stall experience Task was—ahem, selling socks.

Socks are the kind of thing where it's not easy to make a profit exceeding an extra's wages.

Besides, it was summer vacation, and with the weather so hot, who would buy socks to wear? Even if it were just stockings, they wouldn't sell for a high price!

Fortunately, she had a flash of inspiration and thought of her cousin's Hanfu shop.

If one rented or bought Hanfu but didn't have matching socks, it would always feel out of place when taking photos. So, she simply set up her stall right in front of her cousin's shop. While girls who liked Hanfu came into the shop to ask about prices and try on clothes, she would take the opportunity to promote a batch of wholesale Hanfu socks.

When stocking up, she found a style of vintage national-trend socks that were quite unique, so she chose a few styles she personally liked and put them on the stall to sell.

After selling for two days, she found that not many people were buying Hanfu socks, but quite a few people were asking about the vintage national-trend socks, which gave her a small business idea—

Consequently, she went to the small commodity wholesale market to purchase a set of tie-dye tools with a full range of colors, stocked up on a batch of pure white fine cotton socks, and borrowed a few plastic tables and chairs from her cousin.

For nineteen yuan, you could hand-tie-dye a pair of trendy, niche, and high-end tie-dye socks to take home!

Nineteen yuan—you won't lose out, and you won't get scammed!

Play with tie-dye for half an hour and you get a pair of hand-dyed pure cotton socks... This was what finally got her "sock stall" business going.

In order to ensure this Task was completed successfully, she had racked her brains.

But even at just nineteen yuan, there still weren't many tourists patronizing it, far less popular than her handmade soap.

Xie Yang was at her wit's end.

She simply took advantage of the audition to pack up the stall and said to the Novice Sub-system, "This Task is paused for a few days, I'm going to work!"

【Okay, Host! I will grant you an extension.】

Xie Yang asked tentatively, "Extensions are such a hassle; why not just cancel it? Once I'm done with my real work, you can issue a new one?"

【That won't do, Host. Once a Task has been issued, it must be completed before the next one can be issued.】

Xie Yang: "..."

The Main System had already gone silent, fearing it would be caught in the crossfire.

Xie Yang did indeed have the urge to complain, but with the audition imminent, she could only put the Task aside for now.

Thanks to her experience with the Task in the Qing Dynasty Plane, Xie Yang passed the audition smoothly and landed the role of the sixth-ranked imperial concubine in this large-scale Qing Dynasty drama.

Just as Best Actress Yao had said, the screen time wasn't much; she was basically just a background prop for the first and second female leads, but if played well, it could still be eye-catching.

Just like that, Xie Yang joined the crew.

The director required that all cast members stay with the crew unless there were special circumstances, ready to be called at any time, because you never knew when it would be your turn to film.

But Xie Yang didn't have much screen time; there might be two days in a row where she had no scenes, and when her turn came, it would be over in an hour or so, even faster than putting on makeup. It was quite boring to be idle all day.

She simply took out the pure white cotton socks she hadn't sold yet.