APR 24

Xiao Lao Dao drove, taking Zhong Su all the way into Yonghe Community.

After parking the car, Xiao Lao Dao got out carrying a duffel bag of clothes, nudged Zhong Su’s arm, and said, “Let’s go, why are you spacing out? Don’t tell me you don’t even recognize your own home?”

He walked briskly, leading the way toward the unit entrance. Zhong Su followed behind, discreetly observing the residential area before him.

From the outside, it wasn’t much different from the neighborhood he used to live in, the buildings showed their age but clearly had a stronger sense of lived-in vitality. The community was right next to a bustling wet market, with a few acupuncture clinics and breakfast stalls nearby. At this hour, the area was crowded with people, filled with a rough yet thriving energy.

Zhong Su withdrew his gaze and followed upstairs. Xiao Lao Dao was already waiting at the door of the one-bedroom rental unit, wiping sweat as he urged, “Why are you dragging your feet—”

“What’s the rush?” Zhong Su jingled the keys in his hand. “You don’t have the keys.”

Relying on the original occupant’s memories, he somewhat awkwardly inserted the key into the lock. Just as he turned it once, rapid “thump, thump, thump” footsteps suddenly echoed from downstairs—someone was charging up the stairs in a hurry.

In the blink of an eye, a curly-haired elderly woman in a floral dress appeared at the stairwell landing. Planting her hands on her hips, she said fiercely, “Unit 403! Finally caught you! You still haven’t paid this month’s rent, are you trying to skip out on it again?”

Zhong Su was momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of the old woman. Rent? What rent?

Xiao Lao Dao leaped out from behind him and retorted without hesitation, “What are you yelling for, Granny? Trying to scare someone to death with that volume? Can’t you see my buddy here just got out of the hospital?”

“Collecting rent like you’re chasing a debt, who’s short on your measly cash? We’ll pay when it’s due! Stop blocking the view!”

The landlady was startled by his ferocious demeanor. Seeing Xiao Lao Dao’s burly, intimidating appearance, her bluster deflated, and she stammered, “Young man, wh-what kind of attitude is that…!”

“Hah?” Xiao Lao Dao’s thick eyebrows shot up as he prepared to snap back, but Zhong Su reached out and stopped him.

“Don’t cause trouble. Be careful not to scare the elderly,” Zhong Su said, then turned to the landlady, instantly switching to a weary yet sincere expression and softening his tone. “I’m really sorry, Granny. I’ve been a bit short on cash lately, but as soon as I get my paycheck in a few days, I’ll make sure to pay the back rent.”

His attitude was so impeccable it left no room for criticism. The old woman looked at him, then glanced at the hulking Xiao Lao Dao beside him. Her lips twitched a few times before she managed a stern but hollow warning: “…End of the month! If you don’t pay up by the end of the month, I’ll call the police to evict you! And I’ll cut off the water and power!”

With that, she stubbornly snorted and practically scurried away.

Only after the sound of her footsteps faded in the stairwell did Zhong Su turn a languid gaze to Xiao Lao Dao and remark, “How impressive, even bullying an old lady?”

Xiao Lao Dao rubbed his nose and let out a dry laugh. “Wasn’t I… just backing you up?”

Xiao Lao Dao was good at nothing except being a bully, a born small-time thug through and through.

Zhong Su couldn’t even bear to look at him and pushed the door open directly. A smell mingling alcohol and fermented food wafted out first. In the daylight, the interior of the room…

The cramped studio apartment was in complete disarray. Seven or eight crushed empty beer cans were scattered haphazardly across the coffee table, leftover instant noodle containers overflowed from the trash bin, and dirty clothes were piled carelessly on the sofa.

“Disgusting.” Although Zhong Su didn’t consider himself particularly fastidious, the scene before him still made him click his tongue in disapproval.

How could the original occupant have lived in such filth?

Zhong Su picked up the most noticeable dirty clothes and tossed them aside, barely clearing enough space to sit. He said to Xiao Lao Dao, “Find yourself a spot to sit. We’ll eat together once the congee is heated.”

Xiao Lao Dao responded with an “Eh,” appearing quite comfortable in the messy environment as he plopped down on the sofa that still bore faint alcohol stains.

Carrying the congee, Zhong Su entered the kitchen, which proved just as filthy as the living room. After rummaging through greasy cookware, he found a relatively clean pot, scrubbed it inside and out several times with detergent, then poured in the congee and set it on the stove to heat slowly.

Next, Zhong Su retrieved a pair of scissors from the miscellaneous drawer and went into the bathroom.

Staring at the gloomy face in the mirror, he lifted his overly long bangs and decisively cut off about a third of them. As the trimmed hair fluttered down, it revealed the young man’s calm hazel eyes, instantly making his appearance fresher and more refined—much closer to how Zhong Su remembered himself.

“That’s more like it. Looks much more spirited now.” Zhong Su adjusted his new bangs in the mirror, feeling quite satisfied. He mentally noted that once he had some extra money, he’d go to the hospital to remove the chaotic ear piercings and private piercings.

When he emerged from the bathroom, Xiao Lao Dao was so shocked by his new hairstyle that his jaw dropped. “Holy crap! What the hell? I’ve tried to convince you so many times to cut your hair, and you always refused. Why the sudden change of heart?”

“It’s just bangs. No need to make a fuss. The situation is different now, and it’s time for a new image,” Zhong Su brushed off casually.

Xiao Lao Dao was left bewildered. Though he didn’t understand what “different situation” meant, he could only scratch his head and swallow his questions. “Ah… oh… Well, alright then. It does look good this way.”

Over breakfast, the two confirmed the start time and location for their work as extras.

Xiao Lao Dao had a big appetite, devouring all the fried dough sticks and most of the congee like a whirlwind. Before leaving, he repeatedly reminded Zhong Su, “Take good care of that forehead injury these next few days. Don’t bump it again and ruin your face.”

Then, patting his full stomach, he ambled away.

After seeing Xiao Lao Dao off, Zhong Su immediately rolled up his sleeves and gave the entire apartment a thorough cleaning. He cleared out accumulated trash, dug out useful documents from various corners, and scavenged like a treasure hunter, collecting all the loose change from drawer cracks, piggy banks, and clothing pockets.

After all that effort, he laid out his findings on the table: a few crumpled banknotes of varying denominations and a handful of coins.

A final count revealed a total of only 689.7 yuan, not even enough for half a month’s rent.

“What the hell? What am I supposed to do with this?” Zhong Su sighed in frustration. Although he had known the original occupant wasn’t capable, he now faced an utterly disastrous situation.

With such little money, not only could he not pay off the loan sharks and rent, but even basic survival would be a struggle.

Like his current self, his original identity had been an orphan, with no relatives to turn to for financial support.

He refrained from sighing again, found paper and a pen, sat down at the freshly cleaned desk, and began meticulously planning how to stretch his limited funds to last as long as possible.

The only silver lining was his past life experience with poverty, which kept him from panicking even in such dire straits.

Having promised Xiao Lao Dao and being strapped for cash, Zhong Su spent these days confined to his rented apartment, recuperating.

He strictly adhered to his daily budget, surviving on the cheapest rice, eggs, and discounted vegetables, while using outdated newspapers and magazines to familiarize himself with the current era.

Just as the small wound on Zhong Su’s head healed without a trace, Xiao Lao Dao called to say he would take him to the film set.

The background noise on Xiao Lao Dao’s end was filled with frantic car horns as he rushed, “Zhong Su, you’re home, right? I’m almost at your place, hurry and get ready—”

Before he could finish, a screeching brake cut through the call, followed by Xiao Lao Dao slamming the steering wheel in frustration, rolling down the window, and yelling, “Damn it, you idiot, do you even know how to drive? There’s no space and you’re still squeezing in—rushing to be reborn?”

The other driver retorted angrily, “Screw you, did you buy this road? I’ll squeeze if I want, come on, hit me if you dare!”

“Just you wait!”

Xiao Lao Dao abruptly hung up, leaving only a dial tone.

Zhong Su put away the phone, glanced down at his faded old T-shirt and cheap jeans, and scratched his head helplessly, muttering to himself, “Easy for him to say, what exactly am I supposed to prepare?”

Poverty meant no room for fussiness, so Zhong Su didn’t bother. He combed his hair, slipped on a pair of canvas shoes, and headed downstairs in his everyday attire.

Zhong Su waited under the shade of a tree for about ten minutes before spotting the dark red secondhand Mazda wobbling into view at the entrance of the complex.

Xiao Lao Dao, still fuming from the earlier argument, didn’t notice Zhong Su’s outfit. As soon as Zhong Su got in, he drove irritably toward Junjing Dam, home to Yan Gang’s largest film and television bases.

The Mazda stopped in front of the “Huanya Film Park” sign. The entrance was grand, flanked by two imposing stone lions, with red carpet lining the steps. At a glance, the park was filled with antique-style pavilions, upturned eaves, and glazed tiles shimmering under the sunlight.

By now, Xiao Lao Dao had cooled down and reverted to his chatty self, fussing, “Zhong Su, have you memorized your lines? Don’t mess up during the audition later.”

Zhong Su was to play a swordsman plagued by romantic misfortune.

In the script, the swordsman encounters bandits harassing a delicate woman on the road and draws his sword to help, driving them away. However, the woman he saves is no innocent damsel but a fox demon who preys on men’s vitality.

The swordsman fails to see through the demon’s illusion and succumbs to her seduction. Under the pretense of “repaying him with her body,” the fox demon drains him of all his energy, leaving him dead.

The swordsman only had five lines in total, which Zhong Su memorized at a glance.

He waved at the nervously chattering Xiao Lao Dao and said calmly, “Just relax. The worst outcome is simply your uncle not taking a liking to me, and me going back to find another job.”

“How can it be the same!” Xiao Lao Dao shook his head like a rattle-drum. “My uncle’s temper, no one in the entire family isn’t afraid of him. When he scolds people, he doesn’t hold back, nitpicking even in an eggshell. If he says something harsh later, please don’t take it to heart, just treat it like a stray dog barking on the street.”

Comparing his own uncle to a wild dog that bites anyone it sees, it was clear Xiao Lao Dao was both afraid and resentful of that uncle.

Zhong Su replied, “Alright, I’ll try not to take it personally. Lead the way, didn’t you say we can’t be late?”