Chapter 1: Daily Intelligence System and Yuwen Chengdu

June 2002, Hengdian

In the cramped hotel room, Yan Li turned off the incessant alarm, opened his eyes, and was about to get up and call his roommate for class when he noticed the old ceiling fan.

He froze for one or two seconds before realizing he was no longer on the Beijing Film Academy campus—he was in Hengdian, filming The Heroes of Sui and Tang.

“This place is definitely cooler than Beijing.”

He stretched, got up, went to the bathroom to relieve himself, then brushed his teeth and washed his face.

The hotel he was staying in was provided by The Heroes of Sui and Tang production team—a typical early-2000s budget inn.

It was small, with only the basic furnishings: bed, cabinet, bedding, desk, and one electric fan; hot water had to be fetched manually with a thermos from the communal water room. Fortunately, there was a private bathroom, but showering required self-arranged solutions.

Still, Yan Li was quite satisfied.

Never mind anything else—just having a single room was enough to make him deeply emotional after sharing a dorm for nearly two years; finally, he didn’t have to listen to his roommate’s snoring.

After washing up, he shaved his beard, changed clothes, got himself together, and since time was still early, sat back on the bed and silently murmured.

“System.”

A virtual screen instantly appeared before Yan Li. Even though he’d seen it for half a year, each time he saw this sci-fi-looking interface, he still felt a faint sense of unreality.

【Daily Intelligence System】

This device had appeared on Yan Li’s person several months ago, controllable at will, invisible to others, with a core function: delivering daily information and intelligence.

Such an absurd thing, Yan Li had never encountered in movies or sci-fi novels—he’d once thought he was cursed.

But after calming down and studying the 【Daily Intelligence System】 closely,

though he still didn’t understand where it came from, how it worked, or why he’d received it, he grasped one thing.

It was beneficial to him!

And the benefits were substantial!

As Yan Li’s thoughts shifted, the virtual screen before him changed, and moments later displayed today’s intelligence updates.

【Daily Intelligence 1: Director Hu Mingkai of The Heroes of Sui and Tang has stomach trouble; he was up all night and is expected to be in a terrible mood this morning.】

【Daily Intelligence 2: The Book and Sword Enmity production team is hiring extras today at Hengdian’s Dazhi Chan Temple; contact Assistant Director Sun Jiang at 138xxxx… (Note: A red packet will improve interview chances).】

【Daily Intelligence 3: A new Northeast restaurant called “Northeast Restaurant” has opened on Hengdian’s pedestrian street; opening promotion: spend over 100 yuan for a 10% discount, plus a free serving of guobao rou (Note: Northeasterners trigger greater discounts).】

Last night, Big Liu from the lighting crew confessed to Wang Xiu from the makeup crew, sparking intense resentment from Shasha, who has feelings for Big Liu; she plans to teach Wang Xiu a lesson today.

【Daily Intelligence 5: Under the fourth tree north of the dormitory building’s woods at Beijing Film Academy, a discarded 100-yuan RMB note lies hidden.】

Hmm, today’s intelligence isn’t much.

Having had the system for months without a manual, Yan Li had already figured out many patterns.

For instance, the number of 【Daily Intelligence】 entries per day is guaranteed at three, capped at ten, entirely dependent on luck.

Besides 【Daily Intelligence】, a set of 【Monthly Intelligence】 appears on the first of each month, with an unpredictable count—between three and ten.

【Monthly Intelligence】 entries are generally more valuable and substantial than 【Daily Intelligence】, and some even contain future information with prophetic qualities.

Yan Li speculated there might also be a 【Yearly Intelligence】 with even more explosive content.

But since he’d only had the system for less than half a year, he’d never seen a 【Yearly Intelligence】—so it remained speculation, unconfirmed.

He’d also deduced certain patterns in the intelligence content.

Most entries were directly tied to him—related to his daily life, surroundings, thoughts, observations, and people he knew or encountered.

For example, Intelligence 1 and 4 today both concerned his current production team, The Heroes of Sui and Tang.

He’d just joined the team; his mind was preoccupied with internal crew dynamics. These two pieces of intelligence arrived just in time, helping Yan Li avoid trouble.

He hadn’t heard of the Book and Sword Enmity production team.

But yesterday, he’d indeed thought: Hengdian had so many active sets—he could check others out in his free time, help himself and his roommate submit photos, see if there were other gigs. Perhaps that triggered the system to generate this intelligence.

The new restaurant in Intelligence 3 didn’t surprise him.

Life revolves around food, clothing, shelter, and transport; similar daily-life intelligence had appeared frequently in past 【Daily Intelligence】 entries.

As for Intelligence 5—the 100 yuan—it did give Yan Li a slight shock.

He’d received similar “windfall” intelligence before, but he hadn’t expected to get a Beijing Film Academy update after arriving in Hengdian.

Yan Li suspected the system might not have fully transitioned from campus to Hengdian yet, causing delayed updates.

Or perhaps it was because he’d called his roommate yesterday.

This intelligence system was like that: its content was undeniably tied to Yan Li, but uncontrollable; sometimes the connections were random and vague.

For instance, he might have glanced at a sports newspaper headline while passing a newsstand, barely registering the athlete’s face, yet two days later, a 【Daily Intelligence】 entry would reveal the player’s ankle injury was still lingering.

Even information he himself didn’t know about, but that involved others connected to him, would appear in the 【Daily Intelligence】.

For example, he once saw that his cousin, while Yan Li was away from home, had secretly browsed his hidden copy of The Twin Dragons of the Great Tang in their grandmother’s house—opening the door to adolescence.

Yan Li had run experiments: he couldn’t fully control the intelligence’s direction, but he could relatively guide it—using psychological cues and strengthening connections—to increase the likelihood and proportion of desired intelligence appearing.

Regardless, the 【Daily Intelligence System】’s capabilities were undeniably powerful.

The more Yan Li studied it, the more delighted he became, treating it as his greatest secret and ultimate asset.

At least, his smooth entry into The Heroes of Sui and Tang and his securing of a role were entirely thanks to the 【Daily Intelligence System】.

…

All 【Daily Intelligence】 entries were stored in the system, searchable and reviewable at any time, with features like categorization, priority tagging, and reminders.

Thus, Yan Li didn’t worry about forgetting or accidentally exposing secrets by writing them down—he simply noted down two useful items today and pondered how to respond.

Then he pulled out his Nokia 5110 and called his college roommate, who should still be on campus.

“Hey, Jiacuan, still at school?”

“Don’t sleep! I dropped 100 yuan—probably near the trees by the dorm building. Go find it with Songwen. I’ll text you the approximate spot. Hurry up—don’t let someone else pick it up.”

After hanging up, Yan Li relaxed.

These past few days, he’d spent a lot on long-distance calls with the guys; now he could make it back in one go.

Long live the system!

At first, Yan Li felt moral guilt over collecting money and items via intelligence, but now he was used to it—even unbothered when facing the original owners.

If the lost item had identifiable features, fine—but money? Forget it.

All RMB notes look identical. You say it’s yours—can you call it by name and expect it to answer?

…

As a newcomer to the production team, Yan Li didn’t dare dawdle. After hanging up, though time was still ample, he packed up and headed out.

The Heroes of Sui and Tang didn’t provide breakfast—or if it did, no one told Yan Li. To avoid trouble, he’d eat on the street today and ask later.

This area was full of Hengdian hotels, with many snack shops and stalls nearby—breakfast was easy to find.

As soon as he entered a steamed bun shop, he spotted an acquaintance and warmly greeted him: “Teacher Kou, good morning.”

Kou Zhanwen stared at Yan Li, puzzled—he felt familiar but couldn’t place him. Seeing this, Yan Li took the initiative.

“You probably don’t remember, but last year at the Lu Bu and Diaochan set in Zhuozhou, you played Zhang Fei, and I was an extra for you.”

Kou Zhanwen, trained in the Beijing Martial Arts Team—the same team that produced Li Lianjie—was thus also Li’s junior, following his senior into the film industry.

His most notable credit was serving as the Chinese martial arts director for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but the public knew him best as Erniu (Houyi) in The Legend of Zhu Bajie.

Though Kou Zhanwen wasn’t hugely famous in the industry, he was still a notable figure; a mere extra naturally meant nothing to him.

Seeing Yan Li so enthusiastic, he assumed they’d worked together before and he’d simply forgotten him—slightly embarrassed, he made excuses.

“Oh, right! I remember now. Sorry, haven’t seen you in ages, didn’t recognize you just now.”

“No problem, no problem.”

Yan Li didn’t care—Kou Zhanwen wouldn’t recognize him if his life depended on it.

He had indeed worked as an extra on Lu Bu and Diaochan, but he’d never actually crossed paths with Kou Zhanwen, who played Zhang Fei; his earlier words were just an excuse to establish a connection.

“What a coincidence—we’re on the same production team again, Teacher Kou.”

“Hah, you’re also on The Heroes of Sui and Tang?”

Kou Zhanwen looked surprised. Yan Li offered a modest smile—he’d spent nearly a year as an extra in college, and finally, he’d made it.

“I haven’t had the chance to tell you yet—I’ve been lucky enough to land the role of Yuwen Chengdu in our The Heroes of Sui and Tang…”

(End of Chapter)