Chapter 41: Seems Like There Is A Chance
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Big Brother Zeng, Big Brother Song, Big Brother Chen... My part is completed today. We'll meet again next year in Tengchong. Goodbye."
It was currently midnight. With three night scenes today, Lu Ze's part in Hengdian was complete, so he changed his clothes and bade farewell to all the actors who still had war scenes in Hengdian.
Lu Ze lit a cigarette but didn't leave. Perhaps, he didn't want to leave. Sitting in a corner, he watched the demolition artists bury explosives underground.
"What are you thinking about? How long are you gonna be in a daze for? It's already so late. Do you want to spend the whole night with us?"
Song Guiyuan slapped Lu Ze's neck and sat down on the ground with a thump right next to him. Maybe because he sat on a stone or some other hard object that he didn't spot, his expression instantly contorted into a grimace. His butt had clearly suffered an invasion.
"Nothing. I'm just reluctant to leave. Big Brother Song, I don't care if you make fun of me, but this was the best shoot I've ever done, and also the one with the most scenes for my character. Even though my part is only half complete, I still don't feel like leaving."
Lu Ze ground the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground. He shouldn't have said so much, but he was feeling quite unwell inside. Coincidentally, it was Song Guiyuan, this fellow with the same birthplace who had shown him the most consideration. If it had been Zheng Yi or Chen Zhijun, he wouldn't have spoken in this manner.
Old Song...Lu Ze felt that this guy was actually Mi Long in real life and was merely acting himself in the play.
The latter gave a short chuckle. Despite being a middle-aged man, his face had many wrinkles. Combined with his filth covered outfit, he looked like a spitting image of an old, bitter melon.
Without saying a word, he directly inserted his hand into Lu Ze's pant pocket. Not finding anything, he took out his hand then inserted it into the other pocket.
"Hey! Hey! The hell are you doing? Say what you want. Don't just enter...my pants directly. I'll do the same. Stop it…" However, his words had no effect on Song Guiyan. He took a cigarette out from Lu Ze's pocket, then glanced at him and chuckled.
"I know what you are thinking. Aren't you just afraid? Afraid that you'll never be able to get such a role again? Afraid that you'll be reduced to an extra again? Reluctant to leave the crew, my a*s! In just a few days of shooting, you want to sell your loyalty?"
Lu Ze's words were completely laid out in the open. However, he was not embarrassed. He was no idiot. Anybody would have realized what he meant, and this was also what he wanted to express though he was too embarrassed to acknowledge it openly, so he said it with a bit of decorum.
Upon seeing Lu Ze turn silent, Song Guiyuan placed both of his hands on the ground behind him to draw support. He turned his gaze towards the set which was brightly lit with strong lights. "I'll share an idiom with you. Can you guess what it means?"
"What?"
"The man of Qi who feared the sky falling down. Do you know what it means? It's precisely you. Let me tell you that making a career in acting isn't easy. You can't enter this circle by speaking a few dialogues and showing a few moves. Don't you agree?"
Shedding the ash with a tap and letting out a mouthful of smoke, he continued without looking at Lu Ze, "You admit that becoming a true actor isn't so easy, but I also admit that you can be counted as one, not just one who's climbed through opportunistic means or connections. You're a strong actor. All of us can see that. So, you can rest assured. Even if making it big isn't in your stars, you don't have to worry about your meals. This much I can guarantee."
"I hope so…"
"I hope so, my foot. Alright, go back and sleep. Don't think about playing an extra or whatnot from tomorrow onwards. As long as you strive, there's no way you'll fare worse than this if you make the effort."
Song Guiyuan's words were nonsense. In the end, he was only trying to cheer Lu Ze up with motivational talk. There was no guarantee that you would succeed just because you worked hard. It was even possible that you wouldn't obtain shit even if you strived your entire life, and this fact had been summarised by generations upon generations into a single word: fate.
Lu Ze didn't know what his fate would be. A fortune-teller had told him that he wouldn't have to worry about food and shelter and would have the joy of both a son and a daughter. However, he would not be super-rich.
Previously, Lu Ze had believed it. However, because of the system, after seeing such a significant change in a mere few months, he began to doubt it, or perhaps, he brainwashed himself, forcing himself to doubt it.
Since Song Guiyuan had already spoken so much. Lu Ze guessed there was no point in idling around the set either. It would not make Gu Mingde moved by his dedication and cause him to throw the lead role's script on his face.
Standing up and dusting his butt, Lu Ze faintly nodded at Song Guiyuan. "Alright then, Big Brother Song...I'm off."
Bidding goodbye to the employees again, he left the site and prepared to go home and sleep. He was quite late today, so perhaps by the time he completed the course that night, it would be noon the next day.
Just as he turned a corner, he bumped into a person head-on. The latter had a cigarette in his mouth, which bore directly into Lu Ze's clothes, creating a hole. Once Lu Ze saw the face of this person clearly, he gave up on any thought of asking for compensation. This person was Gu Mingde.
"Director Gu…"
"Yeah, going home?"
Gu Mingde pulled his pants up and fastened the button at the top of his pants. Clearly, he was just returning from the toilet. Upon seeing that Lu Ze didn't speak about the hole in his clothes, he also didn't mention it.
"Yep. I'll go back and sleep. You also take care and get some rest as soon as possible."
"Hold on. I've to talk to you for a bit. How about signing with a company? It will make your life a bit easier."
"Huh? What?" Lu Ze couldn't respond for a while. He didn't understand what the former meant by signing with a company. His thoughts didn't go into the direction of management companies
It wasn't as if Hengdian didn't have any talent scouts. On the contrary, it had much more talent scouts than cities.
However, their attention was only centralized on fresh newcomers. Nobody would come back to Lu Ze to ask again.
When Lu Ze had just come to Hengdian, there were a few scouts who approached him. However, once they found that he was a high school graduate, came from a village, neither studied music nor could dance, did acting all over the place, and had nothing going for him except for his height and better-than-average appearance, they lost interest in him.
Even in terms of appearance, his appearance suited the trends of the '80s and the '90s. It was not the pretty-boy appearance that grew popular after the 2000s. This appearance coupled with being clueless naturally made no investor interested in him.
After a while passed, nobody showed any further interest in him, and he was naturally buried with other bumpkins in Hengdian.
"Company...a management company, don't you understand? If you sign with a management company, you no longer need to wait for roles to fall into your lap from the sky. You can go and fight for the roles you desire. Do you understand?"
"But...no company has shown interest in me…"
Lu Ze was evidently somewhat depressed. He knew about the benefits of a management company. Most importantly, if nobody signed him up, he would not be able to display his full potential.
Moreover, he didn't dare go and try his luck with management companies. Large companies didn't need an individual without any accomplishments while there were too many small dummy companies. Lu Ze didn't want to be cheated by signing with an improper company. Losing money was a small matter, but what if they stole his youth? Even though he gained a lot of experience in the system, it wasn't impossible for him to be pushed into a quagmire.
"Let me tell you that these are troubled waters. If you dare to step into it on your own, you'll most likely drown. I originally didn't want to talk to you about this matter, but my friend has just opened a management company and needs actors. Are you interested?"
Lu Ze didn't reply. He was hesitant as he was unable to believe Gu Mingde. What if his friend opened a dummy corporation?
Sounding out Lu Ze's hesitation, Gu Mindge comforted him, "You can rest assured. The company has just opened, but you can't judge a company in the entertainment industry merely based on the virtue of when it opened. What you want to look for is very simple: the backing. Even if this kind of company doesn't grow quickly, it can at least safeguard benefits for its talented recruits. Moreover, you'll also be exempted from taking big risks. I can only make a recommendation. The rest is up to you."
The backing of an entertainment decided how far it would go. Lu Ze acknowledged the truth of it. He was merely a little hesitant about a newly opened company. After all, why open a management company at this point…
"I'm not a talent scout for their company. If not for the fact that their boss is a childhood friend of mine, I wouldn't have approached you. In any case, if you want a way out, go take a look. This is his phone number. Just say that I referred you to Shanghai Qianshijia Cultural Limited. You can easily look it up on the net. Alright, this was all I had to say. You may go."
As Gu Mingde entered the set, Lu Ze felt a bit dazed. He felt like he was at a complete loss as he held the slip of the paper.
Thinking deeply, he returned home and entered the system space.
-- Gift
received