I am a Big Player
Chapter 670 - 661, The Path of a Extra_1

Chapter 670: 661, The Path of a Extra_1

Ren He went downstairs in the evening to buy towels, soap, and other household goods. He also needed to buy a quilt and a fan since his little den was completely empty.

Just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, someone called out from behind him, "Hey, young man up there, don’t go!"

Ren He paused, wondering if someone was speaking to him. He turned around and saw a chubby young man running towards him, "You look new here. Are you here in the film city to chase your dream?"

"Err... dream?" Ren He honestly didn’t understand what the other person meant. In his previous life, those talent shows always asked about your dreams, but it was all nonsense. Now, suddenly someone in such a remote place was asking him a question about his dreams, which left Ren He completely unsure about how to respond...

"I mean, are you here to work as a group extra?" Fatty guessed that he seldom encountered someone as slow to respond as Ren He, so he looked a bit frustrated.

Ren He got confused at that moment; this chubby guy was probably a Group Head... These Group Heads really know how to smooth-talk, don’t they? Wouldn’t it be better to just speak plainly from the start?

After thinking for a moment, he immediately answered, "Yes, I’m here to be a group extra."

"I am the manager of our agency here. My name is Zhao Mingke. Let me tell you, there are quite a few young people like you coming to North Fort here, dreaming of becoming stars. The competition is really fierce. But no worries, our acting agency is here to help promising young lads like you stand out quickly," he explained.

While speaking, Zhao Mingke also handed Ren He a business card, which bore the company name: Ningxia Geili Film and Television Acting Agency Company.

How impressive that is, to add such a word to the company name...

"How much?" Ren He cut to the chase.

"200 yuan," Fatty Zhao Mingke, relieved to be dealing with someone who understood things, sighed, "Don’t think of it as just paying 200 yuan now. If you really make it as a star, now you’re sacrificing for art, later on, female artists will sacrifice for you. If you really become popular, wouldn’t the female artists be lining up?"

Ren He was really impressed with how this guy marketed the future perspective so sleazily...

Watching the guy babble incessantly about a bright future, while in reality, parting with two hundred yuan meant just being an extra at the level of a corpse, Ren He knew these were the types who, with some connections on set, wielded a moderate amount of power in the film city. They were more than happy to sit back and reap the benefits from the land as outsiders came in wanting to work as extras.

However, this Fatty Zhao Mingke probably hadn’t imagined that Ren He wasn’t at all interested in his so-called prospects, spouting tales about female artists offering themselves, when Ren He’s own family had a diva...

If female artists really started lining up to offer themselves, Yang Xi would probably have to stand guard with a knife by his side every day.

Once Ren He handed over the two hundred yuan, Zhao Fatty immediately beamed with joy, "I knew you were a young man willing to pay for your dreams. Meet here at 6 a.m. tomorrow, and I’ll take you to the set!"

After sorting out Ren He, Zhao Fatty turned around and called out, "6 a.m. sharp tomorrow, everyone meet up! No dilly-dallying, or don’t blame me for not giving you roles."

The young people eating fast food on the street joked, "Don’t worry, I’m going to the internet cafe later to play Dota all night. I’ll be here on time tomorrow for sure. After all, I’m playing a corpse, so once I get to the set, I’ll just find a comfy spot to sleep."

"Hahaha, Zhao Fatty, when can you arrange some decent roles for us?" someone heckled.

"What’s the rush? The opportunity will come. What you need to do now is to hone yourselves, understand?" Zhao Fatty wasn’t at all embarrassed after being called out. Who hasn’t started out by playing a corpse?

By the time Ren He got back to his little den, Yang Xi spotted the business card he was holding: "Let me see, what did you get?"

Ren He handed the card to Yang Xi, "Bro, I’m now officially a background actor! Got to be there for the assembly at 6 am tomorrow. Who knows, I might even snag a scene to act in. According to this fatty, there will be four crews shooting resistance dramas around here."

"Look at you showing off," Yang Xi gave him a look. Currently, her fame was too high, otherwise, she’d definitely follow Ren He to snatch up the opportunity to be an extra.

Here were two actors who could easily play lead roles on the big screen if they wished, yet, ironically, they were now extremely interested in being extras.

Zhao Fatty probably had no idea who he had lured in as an extra, and one could only wonder what his reaction would be once he realized it.

However, half of what the garrulous Zhao Fatty had said was actually true: Ren He was a young man with decent prospects.

To be honest, if he really found some good material, he could push them towards the crew and get some extra benefits for himself. So, the moment he laid eyes on Ren He, he was immediately impressed. This young man had an especially upright posture and an extraordinary aura in his eyes.

You might say he had the handsomeness of a Korean star, but Ren He’s features were not particularly outstanding. You might think he’s suited for tough guy roles, yet the vibe he gave off didn’t quite fit that mold either. He was a bit hard to categorize, but Zhao Fatty felt he was a promising seedling who just might make it big.

If he really became a star later on, wouldn’t Zhao Fatty be credited as his discoverer? In the future, when drumming up business, he could totally boast about having fostered someone’s career!

By that time, making money would be incredibly easy! For Zhao Fatty, he dreamed such dreams every day. Extras have their dreams, and the Group Head has his.

This place was never too far from dreams. Some people returned to their rented rooms and practiced in front of the mirror, rehearsing a line for two hours, always feeling the intonation could be more perfect. Yet, the harsh reality was that they had only that one line in the whole play.

New people came, old people left. For them, dreams were heavy, gradually wearing away their joy until happiness was completely exhausted. That’s when they’d leave this place to return to normal life.

But shouldn’t people have dreams?

The very meaning of "living" is not to wait and slowly die but to keep running, sweating, and even shedding hot blood, but you must run to a far-off place, see as much of the world as possible, and run until you’re exhausted so you’ll have no regrets.

Ren He wasn’t sure why he wanted to come here to experience the life of an extra. Maybe in a past life, he thought of being an extra; perhaps he felt lost in life due to everything lofty at Qinghe Group. But everything here belonged to the ordinary folk: the ancient sand-strewn city walls, the mottled iron gates, the noisy streets. Ren He felt that after coming here, he had, in some way, freed himself from the Steel Forest.