Chapter 5: Joining the Crew

After watching Luo Peng's performance, Lai Shuiqing fell silent for a moment; he did not bluntly announce the result.

Instead, he patted Luo Peng on the shoulder and encouraged him: "The road ahead is long. Keep going."

"What does that mean? Isn't it, Lai Dao? I thought my performance fit Song Qingshu perfectly—I've been reading Jin Yong's novels since I was a kid…"

Luo Peng hurriedly explained; losing the role of Song Qingshu was acceptable, but being beaten by Cheng Chen, a background actor, he could not accept.

This was trampling the face of a professional actor on the ground—he couldn't afford to lose face like this!

"And Lai Dao, this guy even rewrote your script, showing zero respect for the plot—this kind of actor…"

"Son, you're not good enough…"

Luo Peng was about to attack Cheng Chen when a voice suddenly came from behind.

He turned around, stunned, staring in disbelief at his father.

Ding: A backstab from his old man!

Luo Tao left the room with Luo Peng, who wore a look of existential doubt, while Lai Shuiqing regarded Cheng Chen with clear admiration.

This kid is a gem—never expected to actually find treasure among all these background actors.

Immediately after, Cheng Chen signed the contract with the "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" crew, earning about 2,000 yuan per episode; newcomers as fresh-faced as Cheng Chen were only worth this flat rate.

But don't underestimate these 2,000 yuan—this is 2002.

Jia Jingwen, a Tai Sheng actress with twelve years in the industry and known as the "Sweet Girl," earned only 35,000 yuan per episode for her role in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber."

Of course, part of the reason was her desire to break into the Mainland market, hoping this drama would help Mainland audiences rediscover her, so she deliberately lowered her fee.

In fact, Jia Jingwen had previously risen to fame on the Mainland with her role as Xiaohong in "The Little Li Flying Dagger," and this year marked her comeback.

After checking the contract for any issues, Cheng Chen signed it decisively.

He had finally secured the role.

Cheng Chen also breathed a sigh of relief; after bidding farewell to Lai Shuiqing, he followed the assistant to collect Song Qingshu's lines before returning to the background actor dormitory.

Since Song Qingshu's scenes were fragmented, he typically filmed alongside the schedules of the main leads, and would need to stay with the crew for roughly two months.

Cheng Chen had saved a thousand yuan from frugal living; he had no intention of staying in the dormitory and instead rented a single room near Yuyang, close to the set.

Cheng Chen had no high demands regarding accommodation.

In his previous life, he had traveled far and wide; at his lowest point, he slept under bridges and in train stations, and had even lived for two years in the basement—a standard for Beijing drifters.

Mostly, he needed to study Song Qingshu's script, and the dormitory was too crowded and chaotic, making it impossible to deeply internalize the character.

He also needed a quiet place to do things he wanted to do, like: copying songs.

As a reincarnated traveler, not creating some classic hits would be an insult to this journey through time.

"What were the popular songs in 2002? Was 'The First Snow of 2002' released in 2003 or 2004?"

Yang Kun's 'It Doesn't Matter' was definitely already out; Zhou Dong's 'Love Before the Common Era' was released this year.

Sun Nan's 'Rescue' was also released this year; Yuquan's 'Running' definitely hadn't come out yet.

Chen Yixun's 'Love Transfer' hadn't been released yet—thankfully not too late; there should still be time…"

As Cheng Chen walked, lost in thought, he found a phone booth and called his fellow villager, the group leader, to inform him he had landed the role of Song Qingshu.

He also asked his fellow villager to help him find a single room to rent near the set.

At that moment, a low-key minivan passed by him.

In the back seat sat a beautiful, youthful woman with an ethereal aura; she was nervously, cautiously beginning her career on the set.

…

"Gao Yuanyuan has joined the crew!"

"Who is Gao Yuanyuan? Never heard of her—is she a star?"

"You don't know Gao Yuanyuan? Have you seen 'Love Hot and Spicy'? The one who played He Ling!"

"No way, it's her!"

"Not just He Ling—remember that commercial, what was it again?"

'Want to know what kissing tastes like?' That clean-mouth girl was her too—she's active in commercials and modeling; you wouldn't know, that's normal."

"Who says I don't know? I once kissed her."

"Huh?"

"Licked her through the TV screen, hehe."

"Cow! Cow! Hahaha!"

Cheng Chen had just entered the dormitory when he heard bursts of laughter; these guys never stopped joking around when they weren't filming.

The others were too engrossed in their conversation to pay him any attention; as he packed his bags, he thought quietly to himself:

"Gao Yuanyuan? Considering the timeline, she should be joining the crew now—come to think of it, her role as Zhou Zhiruo will have plenty of scenes with my Song Qingshu."

But I wonder how this girl, who came from commercials, will perform."

"Chengzi, why are you packing? It's not time to leave the set yet?"

As Cheng Chen finished packing, Li Fei, who slept in the bunk above him, noticed him carrying large bags and asked.

"No, I rented a single room outside—I'm moving out." Cheng Chen replied with a smile.

"Why move out and waste that extra money?" Li Fei urged.

"Maybe he just can't stand our crappy dorm—he's a college grad, raised with hard work from his parents."

"Now he's stuck doing our actor's trade, and deep down he probably looks down on all you bare-chested, roughneck guys."

"Moving out is his way of distancing himself from you, so he doesn't have to listen to your endless talk about acting dreams and star dreams."

A sarcastic voice rang out—it was Liu Chen, the same man who had mocked Yang Hu for dreaming of being an actor and boasted that whoever landed Song Qingshu would have to eat shit.

This guy always spoke with sarcasm and mockery; he had the worst reputation in the dorm, constantly getting picked on, yet he never changed his nasty tongue.

Background actors formed a huge group, like a small society—when someone landed a speaking role, or made contact with the group leader or crew management, there were always those who envied, resented, or flattered them.

Or someone harbored a grudge and sabotaged another behind their back—such incidents were endless, a microcosm of human life; once off-set, no one knew anyone else, so few ever formed lasting enmities on set.

But this time, Liu Chen mentioned Cheng Chen's parents, and mocked him—this Cheng Chen could not tolerate.

"Liu Chen, this morning you said if anyone landed the role of Song Qingshu, they'd eat shit?"

Cheng Chen asked, expressionless.

"Oh? You got the role? Toad puffing himself up, acting so damn proud—yeah, I said it this morning! If you got the role, I'll eat as much as you shit!"

Liu Chen sneered at Cheng Chen.

"You'd better keep your word!"

"Stop talking nonsense, overrated fool—thinking a few more years of school makes you superior? Still just a background extra playing corpses—who the hell do you think you are?"

Liu Chen spat fiercely.

He'd always resented Cheng Chen for getting along so well with the dorm mates, especially since he knew Cheng Chen was a college graduate from a junior college yet came here to be a background extra like him.

It gave this dropout who hadn't even finished elementary school a sense of vindictive triumph against education's uselessness, and he often harbored unfounded hostility toward Cheng Chen.

Just as the dorm mates watched the spectacle, Yang Hu suddenly rushed over, beaming at Cheng Chen:

"Brother Cheng, you're back? Congratulations on landing the role of Song Qingshu! I never expected you'd be so smart, so well-educated, and yet still have such incredible acting skills!"

Yang Hu's words were like a massive bomb, instantly igniting the entire dorm!

"What's going on?"

"Cheng Chen got the role of Song Qingshu?"

The dorm erupted in chaos; everyone stared at Cheng Chen in shock.

Simultaneously, everyone fell silent in unison, their gazes shifting between Cheng Chen and Liu Chen, expressions strange.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! You must have colluded with Yang Hu to stage this—clever little trickster, you college grad, don't you dare bullshit me! I've eaten more salt than you've walked miles!"

Liu Chen roared, his face flushed red—he was certain Cheng Chen and Yang Hu had conspired to trick him!

Hearing Liu Chen's words, the others' gazes toward Cheng Chen and Yang Hu changed.

After all, the two had returned one right after the other, timing it so precisely, as if prearranged.

Cheng Chen remained expressionless, silent; Yang Hu looked bewildered at the sudden silence around him.

"Deng-deng-deng."

A knock on the door shattered the silence.

"Excuse me, is Teacher Cheng staying here?"