Soy Sauce on Rice

"Ha ha..."

The other extras burst into gleeful laughter when Shu Chang's manager called her away.

Their own failures stung, but a fellow extra's romantic luck hurt even worse!

Before they could enjoy it for more than a few seconds, though, another beauty came looking for Shen Qi.

Yan Danchen!

She played Chang'e in the show. A graduate of Beijing Film Academy, she had an aloof beauty tinged with an innocence that made people want to ruin it. Along with Shu Chang, Lin Xiangping, and Park Si-yeon, she was one of the four great beauties of Lotus Lantern.

"Hi~"

Yan Danchen walked straight up to Shen Qi.

Shen Qi had been working as an extra in Hengdian for a little over two weeks. He had spent more than a week of that playing a heavenly soldier on the Lotus Lantern set.

To women like Shu Chang and Yan Danchen, he was different from the usual extras.

He was handsome!

And he had graduated from Beijing Sport University.

Strictly speaking, Beijing Sport University was no worse than Beijing Film Academy.

It was a Project 211 university, a leader among sports colleges.

"Need something, Yan?"

Shen Qi wasn't trying to play it cool. Beautiful women simply attracted trouble, and getting too close to one could put a target on his back.

"I want to buy everyone drinks. Could you help me carry them?"

"Sure!"

"Thanks!"

"No, I should be thanking you."

Helping hand out drinks would put his face in front of people too.

Shen Qi couldn't afford to spend money like that himself, and extras weren't allowed to hand out food and drinks whenever they pleased.

The two walked out, one behind the other.

He was handsome, she was beautiful. Anyone might have believed they were the leads.

Fuck, this was too much!

The other extras ground their teeth.

First Shu Chang, and now Yan Danchen? So what if he was handsome?

Why didn't he go after Faye Wong like Li Yapeng had?

Even Chenxiang wasn't as good at flirting as he was!

Shen Qi helped load cartons of drinks onto a small trolley, then hauled them all back.

He lifted each carton as though it weighed nothing. That effortless strength caught Yan Danchen's eye.

Handsome, fit, and strong too...

Who could resist that?

A young woman with romance on her mind couldn't help stealing a few more glances and swallowing hard.

Of course, it was only a thought.

However much she liked him, she couldn't date an extra.

"Director~"

"Chief~"

Shen Qi took off his helmet and hung it on the trolley handle. Carrying a carton, he followed Yan Danchen and helped her distribute the drinks.

You couldn't drink just any water on set. But whole cartons of beverages handed out in a star's name were no problem.

Production manager Fei Yang studied Shen Qi for a moment, then gave him a business card.

"Contact this person tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, Fei!"

Shen Qi was delighted. All those days of making himself useful around the man had paid off.

For the past week and more, he hadn't just worked as an extra. Whenever there was something to do, he lent a hand.

He arrived on set at six or seven in the morning and often stayed to help until the place was cleared at night.

He did everything from serving tea to hoisting dozens of kilograms of 18K lighting equipment and carrying it away.

Did anyone think he did all that just for the crew's breakfast meat buns?

"Don't get your hopes too high. I don't know that crew well, so they won't give you a great role."

Fei Yang figured that with Shen Qi's looks and people skills, he would make his way up sooner or later.

In that case, why not do him a favor?

"You're joking, Fei. Any role is better than working as an extra."

Today was his last day on Lotus Lantern. Tomorrow, he would have to find new work.

Who would have thought an opportunity would turn up now?

Besides, Shen Qi's Magic Book had already recorded four or five pages of performances.

If he stayed an extra, he would never have a chance to use the Magic Book.

Tomorrow's audition would be the perfect chance to see whether it worked!

"What about me, Chief?"

Yan Danchen was stunned. I bought the drinks!

"Liu Tao is starring in that show, and the first and second female leads were cast ages ago. A bit part would do you no good. Look for another opportunity!"

Fei Yang spread his hands. It wasn't as if he had the power to recommend someone for a starring role.

When they finished handing out the drinks, three bottles remained. Yan Danchen gave them all to Shen Qi.

He had spent nothing and come away with free drinks, so naturally he was grateful.

That afternoon, Shen Qi changed his recording target to Jiao Enjun. After seven or eight failed attempts, he finally filled the last of the five pages.

Jiao really had something special.

After all, a devastatingly handsome man could flirt with a woman who looked to be in her fifties or sixties and still seem utterly smitten.

That took remarkable acting, though it was a little painful to watch.

After filming wrapped, Shen Qi didn't leave with the others. He stayed behind and worked away at cleaning up the set.

It was hard to get ahead if you only did what your job required.

Fei Yang had offered him a lead on a role because he had spent day after day working without complaint, as tirelessly as an old ox.

By the time he finished, it was nearly nine.

Shen Qi got off at the bus stop near the internet café where he was staying, but somehow spent more than ten minutes walking around before he found it.

He had no doubts anymore!

Ever since he got the Magic Book, his sense of direction had been downright cursed.

Today was worse than ever. He had gone around the same block several times, as if trapped in a maze.

The food he had bought was almost cold.

But he had never been bad with directions before!

His memory had been excellent.

Especially for routes. Not even a dog could keep up with him!

This was probably a side effect of the Magic Book.

Shen Qi looked up to check once more.

Heart's Rendezvous Internet Cafe!

Yes, this was where he was staying in Hengdian.

"Hey, beautiful. An overnight session."

"It's not time yet."

"I know. Just activate my card first."

"There isn't enough money on it."

"Put twenty on it."

"Twenty? Today, you get a hundred free if you add a hundred! Twenty only gets you ten extra... Want me to lend you some? How much do you need, handsome...?"

The woman at the counter gazed at him hungrily. This was definitely more than an impulse to help.

She was practically in heat!

"No thanks. Just twenty."

It wasn't that twenty was the better deal. He was broke. Where was he supposed to find a hundred to take advantage of that offer?

As for the woman's kind offer... ugh. Someone else could have that pleasure.

With his bag on his back and his card in hand, Shen Qi went into the café.

An overnight session cost ten yuan. With the bonus credit for adding twenty, a night worked out to seven yuan fifty.

It was cheaper than any hostel.

And he could use the internet as much as he wanted.

This was peak time, and the café was packed. Every seat was taken, and plenty of people stood watching others browse just to get their fix.

When he first walked in, the heady blend of sweat, stinking feet, instant noodles, and cigarette smoke hit him hard. Stay long enough, though, and he barely noticed it.

Shen Qi took an aluminum lunch box from his bag. It held a large box of rice he had just bought from a roadside stall for one yuan.

No side dishes. Nothing but rice.

But to him, hungry as he was, it smelled wonderful.

He took a small bottle from his bag and poured some black liquid over the rice, coating it evenly.

As he ate, he watched the film playing on someone else's screen.

It was Infernal Affairs III, at the part where Leon Lai really wanted to hit someone.

As a Hengdian extra who looked a little like Leon Lai—perhaps even a bit more handsome—Shen Qi enjoyed studying his acting.

Unfortunately, Shen Qi couldn't pull off that same polished air.

Leon Lai was one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Shen Qi was a Hengdian extra who never knew where his next meal would come from and had to make do with soy sauce mixed into rice.

After eating, he washed up in the café's bathroom.

The overnight session hadn't started yet, so he wandered around to let his food settle.

Heart's Rendezvous Internet Cafe catered to ordinary customers, and its equipment was pretty shabby.

Half the machines had flat-screen monitors and optical mice. The other half still had bulky CRT monitors and ball mice.

When customers played CS badly, they blamed the mice and insisted on turning them over to give the underside a wipe.

At least those customers were easy enough to tolerate. The worst they did was occasionally yell, "Fire in the hole!"

There were two kinds of people Shen Qi couldn't stand in an internet café.

One was the idiot playing Audition or O2Jam who hammered the space bar so hard he might as well have used a mallet.

The other was the moron who sobbed his heart out while watching Meteor Garden.

In the middle of the night, it was torture.