[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme":3,"chapter-starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-chapter-1":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Starting from Hong Shixian: A Chinese Entertainment Rise",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":18,"prevChapterSlug":19,"totalChapters":20,"novelImage":21},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":12,"translator":16,"content_hash":17},2351280,4599,"Chapter 1: Acting is Simply Out of the Question","starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-chapter-1",1,"\u003Cp>Hengdian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside a cheap rental room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui stood shirtless before a yellowing vanity, staring blankly at himself in the mirror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He touched his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Very handsome; his features were deep and layered, his face rugged, as if carved by an axe or chisel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, carved by hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His physique was excellent; at 1.8 meters tall, his six-pack abs were sharp and angular, and his two pectoral muscles were clearly defined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, defined by being thin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I didn't expect to have transmigrated...\" Qi Hui felt a bit melancholy. Subconsciously, he felt his pocket, pulled out a pack of Liqun cigarettes, and lit one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before transmigrating, he worked in civil engineering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He studied engineering and worked in a technical role; he was a genuine engineer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was essentially part of the Tongliao establishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still remembered when he first graduated and started his job; everything was so wonderful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beautifully packaged welcome gift, the grand headquarters building, and a group of them—clear-eyed and foolish college graduates—gathered together, full of drive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Team building, group dinners, attending training, talking about life; everything seemed so normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, after the training ended and he was dispatched to the construction site, everything changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Endless paperwork to write, endless concrete to pour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Endless nights to pull, endless suffering to endure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he opened his eyes in the morning, he had to prepare to pour concrete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before closing his eyes at night, his mind was still filled with materials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being able to sleep was a luxury; pulling all-nighters to pour concrete was a daily routine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once you enter the world of civil engineering, it is as deep as the sea; from then on, the mortal world is but a passing stranger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of his peers packed their buckets and ran off after only a few days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some went back to study for postgraduate exams, some to take civil service exams, and others went back to inherit the family business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before leaving, they were full of disdain: \"Civil engineering, not even a dog would do it!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Qi Hui didn't run; he gritted his teeth and persisted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The watershed of life is amniotic fluid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some people are born in Rome, while Qi Hui was just a mule or a horse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had finally graduated and started earning money; with not a single cent to his name, how could he go back?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After grinding for a few years like this, he passed his secondary and primary construction exams and became a manager.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He learned the ways of the world, and he became slick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Literally slick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His belly grew, his neck disappeared, and the top of his head went bald.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing worth being happy about was that his salary had increased, and he was working hard to secure the position of Engineering Department Head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back home, they also introduced a young lady to him, urging him to get married and have children quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui accepted the invitation to go on a blind date, but the girl had high standards and even looked down on him, calling him a \"down-to-earth man\" who was clearly very ordinary yet very confident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, Qi Hui was so angry he almost slammed a plate onto her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An \"ordinary but confident\" man?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Laozi is a respectable citizen of the Republic with a clean family background and history!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If placed in the Great Qin, he would be one of the valiant old Qin men who swept across the six states, struck the Xiongnu in the north, and conquered the Baiyue in the south.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If placed in the Great Han, he would be one of the men who settled the Central Plains, reclaimed the Western Regions, destroyed the Xiongnu, and pacified the Southern Yue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From then on, Qi Hui had no interest in any damn romantic love stories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He only thought of one thing:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Make money!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was the point of envying others? He had to take action, get promoted, get a raise, and become richer than everyone else!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pure love? How could it be better than pure gold?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, in 2024, he successfully achieved this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He obtained the long-awaited position of Engineering Department Head in the bureau, got a promotion and a raise, and his future looked bright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just as the celebratory banquet ended and he was on his way home, a mud-truck loaded with dirt slammed into him from the side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last things in his memory were the sharp blare of a car horn and the blindingly bright headlights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Qi Hui opened his eyes again, he had arrived here, in a rental room in Hengdian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had become a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy's acting department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like when he first joined his company, he was in the prime of his life, young and handsome, and just as clear-eyed and foolish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh... and just as broke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui quickly felt the wallet in his pants pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from his ID card, there were only a pitiful 500 yuan in RMB and some loose change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was his only savings now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A clear-eyed and foolish college student...\" Qi Hui shrugged and said helplessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The original owner was a graduate of the 2005 class of the Beijing Film Academy's acting department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the day the graduation ceremony ended, he was full of spirit, vowing to become a world-famous superstar like Andy Lau or Jacky Cheung.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But unfortunately, despite being very handsome and having excellent grades, no director took a liking to him, no film crew wanted him, and there wasn't even a talent agency willing to sign him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was essentially unemployed upon graduation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the original owner was incredibly proud and unwilling to ask his classmates or anyone else for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The original owner had a junior he was close to, and he had helped this junior a lot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Couldn't do the body movement class?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Senior brother will help you practice.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Short on people for a play?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Senior brother will come and act with you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the years, the two had a very good relationship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that junior's father was a well-known director and producer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he had just pulled some strings, getting a role would have been a piece of cake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the original owner couldn't let go of his pride; in school, he had always been the one taking care of the junior, so after graduation, he saw no reason to ask the junior for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I, Qi, don't make friends based on their status...\" the original owner had thought with such stubbornness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, life gave the original owner a slap; after graduation, he quickly couldn't make ends meet, and even eating became a problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To survive, the original owner went south to Hengdian and started working as an extra.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He prepared to start from being an extra and make a comeback as a Best Actor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But reality is cruel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being an extra is not easy; waking up early and sleeping late, being exposed to the wind and sun, getting beaten up every day, hanging from wires, and soaking in cold water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't much easier than pulling all-nighters to pour concrete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only fortunate thing was that his appearance was better than others and his education was higher, so he had an easier time than the average extra, and before long, he had saved up about a thousand yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Making a comeback as a Best Actor superstar wasn't realistic, but having enough to eat and saving a little money was no problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But heaven has unpredictable winds; a few days ago, the original owner got a scene that required him to go into the water, and after rolling around in it for several hours, he came back with a high fever that wouldn't go away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no other way; he had to go to a clinic to spend money on treatment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a few bottles of saline and a few days of medicine, a few hundred yuan were gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only was the money gone, but the high fever kept recurring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a blink of an eye, Qi Hui, who had been sent away by the mud-truck, arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the memories in his mind and flipping through the thin wallet in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui took a deep drag of his cigarette, his depression and discomfort rolling with the smoke:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I was already working so hard to make money, so why am I still so poor?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tapping the wallet in his hand, Qi Hui pondered how he should live from here on out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How about... going back to pouring concrete?\" Qi Hui touched his firm pectoral muscles and his angular abs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although pouring concrete would make these long-lost things disappear, making money is nothing to be ashamed of.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for acting... acting is impossible now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It will be impossible to act for the rest of his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No background, no resources; how could he possibly make it in the entertainment industry?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Starting over, Qi Hui discovered with despair that he didn't even have the chance to change his way of life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knock, knock, knock~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, the door was knocked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui stubbed out the cigarette in his hand and pulled open the room door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the door was a young, handsome fellow with a hint of naivety on his face, holding a document in his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Senior brother, long time no see...\" Zhang Ruoyun greeted him, then glanced behind Qi Hui and couldn't help but quip:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Huh? Your room is quite something, it really is all in one view.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bed, toilet, showerhead, and sink were all placed together with no partition facilities in between.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only were there no partition facilities, but the entire room was also very small.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haha...\" Qi Hui gave a dry laugh, just about to offer an explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, a soft sound echoed in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui was slightly stunned as a phantom panel appeared before his eyes:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Host has made contact with actor Zhang Ruoyun, obtained one lucky draw opportunity. Would you like to draw?]\u003C\u002Fp>",1675,"2026-06-21T03:10:06.472Z","Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","e64a7713302e7b578ce1e676a0b6bd451dfe930f05ee689602c98dcb2af93ec0","starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-chapter-2",null,202,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-cover.jpg"]