Chapter 4: The Gourmet Radar and the Beijing Film Academy

The next morning, Yan Li, awakened by the alarm clock, got up. As usual, the first thing he did was open the system to check the daily intelligence.

Daily intelligence is generally updated punctually at 00:00 every day, while monthly intelligence is at 00:00 on the 1st of every month in the solar calendar.

It was just that Yan Li used to go to school, work part-time, and rush to crews, sleeping too late, which made him sleepy the next day and delayed proper business.

So aside from the first two months of getting the system, when he was particularly fresh and waited for the intelligence, Yan Li later got used to checking the intelligence after getting up.

Sometimes he even checked it while squatting in the bathroom, treating it as an electronic newspaper, which was both a pastime and time-saving.

Perhaps because he had just arrived in Hengdian and was not acclimatized, some of Yan Li's habits hadn't been adjusted in these two days, so he didn't need to guard the bathroom and sat on the bed to read.

【Daily Intelligence 1: *The Legend of Sui and Tang Heroes* screenwriter Su Xiaoyu, influenced by the producer, believes the original emotional line is too thin, so he added original female characters like Li Li Rongrong, intending to increase the length, save costs, and expand the audience...】

Good guy, he wronged the screenwriter. There was also the producer's involvement in this. It was true, the script was so absurd, the screenwriter wouldn't dare to write it without the producer's nod.

But the screenwriter should also be scolded. You were asked to add an emotional line, and you went and made the female lead queue up? Did you start by writing Category III films?

【Daily Intelligence 2: 【Ma's Barbecue】 at the Huating Haowang Night Market on Wansheng South Street, Hengdian. The ingredients are fresh, the cooking is solid, the service is enthusiastic, and it's affordable (Note: The fatty kidney and lamb skewers are must-orders).】

Got it, another one added to the gourmet list.

Yan Li, with experience, marked and saved this intelligence, then created a new 【Hengdian】 sub-group under the 【Gourmet Map】 main group and stored this intelligence in it.

This could also be considered a small clever use of the intelligence system by Yan Li.

Relying on the convenience of the intelligence system, he had already discovered over a dozen treasure restaurants in Beijing, around the Beijing Film Base, and other areas.

Moreover, this function wasn't just limited to gourmet restaurants.

Everything from hotels, barbershops, vegetable markets, clothing stores, internet cafes, KTVs, singing halls, and a series of eating, drinking, playing, and clothing, food, housing, and transportation could be included.

So much so that friends who knew Yan Li gave him a nickname: 【Living Radar】, meaning that following him would always lead to discovering good places.

Now that he had come to Hengdian and opened a new map, Yan Li felt like he was guarding a pile of new treasures waiting to be developed, full of anticipation.

He would find time to visit that barbecue restaurant in person later. If it wasn't good, he would have to remove it from his collection; he couldn't tarnish his reputation as a 【Living Radar】.

【Daily Intelligence 3: *The Legend of Sui and Tang Heroes* actress xx is in a lover relationship with investor xx; actress xxx and producer xx once slept together at the Hailin Hotel in Beijing and used this to get a role; actress xx and actor xxx are in love, but the actor is already married and has children.】

Here it comes again!

Yan Li was speechless about this system; it just loved to dig up these messy affairs every day.

Every time he went to a crew, it loved to expose some messy affairs about who was having an affair with whom.

From investors keeping mistresses, directors engaging in "hidden rules," to extras hooking up for one-night stands—as long as it was recognized as intelligence by the system, it would be exposed to him.

Today's Intelligence 3 was still a summary-type intelligence, just roughly introducing who was in a relationship with whom.

If Yan Li was particularly concerned about a certain pair, there might be detailed intelligence about them later.

For example, when they met, what kind of conversations they had, what gifts they sent, where the first time started, the room number, and the specific time of the "exercise," and even the positions would be introduced one by one.

How to put it, ordinary erotic books weren't as stimulating as the content in the intelligence.

Yan Li felt stimulated at first, but after seeing it so much, he became very calm, even a tiny bit annoyed.

For him, unless he knew the people, this intelligence was more about helping him understand the crew's structure and avoiding some trouble.

As for gossip, at least he wasn't in the mood for it now; he would rather honestly memorize the script.

【Daily Intelligence 4: New store lottery event at Hengdian Star Plaza, including a grand prize of a Dayang motorcycle. The location of the winning ticket is...】

Yan Li threw this intelligence directly into the 【Useless Intelligence】 category.

The intelligence system is very powerful, but it's not omnipotent.

Don't look at how this intelligence even marked the location of the winning ticket, making it look like a windfall opportunity. In reality, winning the prize is one thing, and whether you can actually get the prize is another.

When Yan Li first got the system, he had had crooked thoughts about industries like lotteries, but after operating a few times, he understood.

You have a system, but others have a "system" too!

Some windfalls aren't for him to take. The water is deep. Occasionally making a small profit is fine, but counting on this for a living and plucking the sheep's wool every day? Hehe.

If today's intelligence had something like a scratch-off ticket, with a small amount, Yan Li might go try his luck.

For this kind of grand prize for a new store opening, he simply couldn't be bothered to gamble on the boss's character.

Just arrived in Hengdian, keep a low profile!

【Daily Intelligence 5: Makeup artist Wang Xiu (male) heard that the new actor Yan Li asked colleagues about him and became curious about Yan Li (Note: Wang Xiu's sexual orientation is different from ordinary people).】

Damn!

Yan Li was so scared he almost jumped up. What he feared came true. Asking about him before was to avoid him, but he didn't expect to attract the other party's attention.

And this broken system, why remind him of Wang Xiu's sexual orientation? Now that you know how to label male and female, what were you doing earlier?

He was still saying there were no pictures, why don't you provide pictures now?!

The intelligence system could be upgraded; Yan Li knew this before.

At first, this system only provided intelligence. Those functions like collection, search, and categorization appeared one after another after Yan Li's suggestions (complaints).

However, this system was extremely willful. The upgrade time was unfixed, the upgrade functions were unfixed, and it didn't even remind or explain after the upgrade. Yan Li had to discover it himself. The user experience was very average.

But Yan Li had nowhere to complain, so he could only endure it.

Even a trashy system is better than none. Moreover, the system was mostly very practical.

Today, there were eight pieces of intelligence. Compared to the five above, the remaining three were messy and useless, so Yan Li skillfully classified them into the 【Trash Station】 category.

After sorting out the intelligence related to *The Legend of Sui and Tang Heroes*, Yan Li went out for breakfast.

He had no scenes this morning, and he would have makeup in the afternoon. Tomorrow, there was a probability of filming in the afternoon, but regardless of whether he filmed or not, he had to guard the set.

That's how acting is. Compared to acting in front of the camera, preparation and waiting are the main themes.

Especially for supporting roles with few scenes, a one or two-minute shot with a few lines might require waiting for a day or two. If you're unlucky, the scene you worked so hard to film might be deleted just like that.

Yan Li was in the vocational class at Beijing Film Academy, a two-year program, but due to the special nature of the major, he started running around crews during weekends and holidays from the second half of his freshman year.

Over a year later, Yan Li had also been in quite a few crews, plus the accounts of some seniors, so he understood the tricks of actors in crews quite well and knew very well what he should be doing now.

Memorize the script and chew the lines until they are familiar.

If there was still plenty of time, he would walk through the scenes himself and find the character's state.

After finishing breakfast, Yan Li felt the small hotel room was too stuffy. Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't hot in the morning, he walked around nearby and finally found a small, secluded woods.

Feeling the place was good, Yan Li put down the script, stretched his limbs, and started practicing boxing first.

Ever since the Beijing Film Academy teacher reminded him that martial arts could be a specialty, Yan Li had practiced from time to time. Now that he was about to film fight scenes, he had to review them well.

Sharpening the spear at the last minute, even if it's not fast, it's still bright!

At the martial arts school, Yan Li mainly learned Sanda, but he also practiced traditional boxing stances, and the courses were even more numerous.

Because students at their martial arts school often received invitations for literary and artistic evenings or activities in nearby counties and cities, they sent martial arts students to perform.

Sanda didn't look as good as traditional martial arts, or rather, people just bought into the Chinese martial arts set; no one cared about kicking and punching.

So the martial arts school attached more importance to traditional martial arts, and students loved to practice it more because being selected to perform meant going out to play, eating well, and occasionally getting a small subsidy.

Yan Li also learned quite a few traditional martial arts routines and weapons because of this. For ancient costume fight scenes, these were much more useful than Sanda.

Standing with feet together, chest straight, arms coordinating with footsteps, he set a preparatory stance. Afterward, a series of moves like "Child Worships Buddha," "Horse Stance Single Whip," "Extend Leg Punch," and "Roc Sweeps Claws" were unleashed. It was exactly the Arhat Boxing of Shaolin Boxing.

This was also the most basic, and the boxing routine Yan Li practiced the most and was most familiar with.

After practicing Arhat Boxing a few times, Yan Li was slightly sweating and got interested. He found a small tree and started gesturing with Sanda moves, occasionally kicking it, making the small tree sway.

Small tree: MMP.

Just as he was practicing vigorously, Yan Li suddenly felt someone watching him. Turning his head, he saw a long-haired girl wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

She was quite beautiful, with an oval face, a pointed chin, exquisite and soft features, and gentle and lively eyes. Her temperament looked a bit gentle and dignified; she was a pretty girl who made people feel comfortable.

If he had to pick a flaw, it was that her skin wasn't very fair.

"Something up?"

Yan Li slightly awkwardly put away his stance and wiped his sweat. The latter didn't expect Yan Li to look at her suddenly and was a bit flustered, hurriedly explaining.

"Sorry, sorry to bother you. I was just passing by and saw you practicing boxing here. I was a bit curious and watched for a while."

Hmm, her voice was also quite nice, gentle and sweet.

Facing a beauty, one should always be more tolerant. Yan Li waved his hand, indicating it was fine.

The long-haired girl made an apologetic gesture again before leaving.

Yan Li glanced a few times and found that the other party didn't go far, but sat on a bench under the shade of a tree fifty or sixty meters away from him, wearing headphones and reading a book, or maybe a script.

After all, the combination of Hengdian and beauty, if not 100%, at least 70-80% were actors.

After looking a few times, Yan Li took his eyes back.

This girl was beautiful, but he wasn't a country bumpkin who hadn't seen beauties.

If nothing else, how many universities in China could compare to the number of beauties at Beijing Film Academy?

Yan Li had been in school for two years and wasn't a bookworm who only buried his head in study every day. His "ex-girlfriend" was once known as the school beauty of the 2000 class at Beijing Film Academy...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 5 =====