The Sketch Comedian's Comeback!

Early the next morning, Shen Qi went back to look for work on a film crew.

Extras in Hengdian found work either through the union or through extras coordinators.

Either way, they had to fight for a spot.

If they couldn't get one through the union, they waited near the service office or the Marriott Hotel parking lot for a coordinator to pick them.

A few days ago, Shen Qi had been chatting and laughing with Shu Chang and Yan Danchen and eating with Liu Tao and Chen Zihan. That didn't stop him from chasing a job that paid twenty-five yuan a day.

Another minivan pulled up. The coordinator braced both hands on the door, leaned out, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Period drama needs extras! Men over five foot seven!"

Before the van had even stopped, extras swarmed it.

"Hey, I'm five foot nine!"

"Hey, I'm a 36D!"

"Hey, my family's really struggling!"

Amid the racket, Shen Qi played his trump card. "Hey! I'll do it for free!"

His words hit hard. The other extras glared at him.

Shameless!

No self-respect!

Shen Qi couldn't have cared less. He squeezed up to the coordinator and pressed a pack of cigarettes into his hand. "Come on, take me."

"Stop pushing. We've got enough... You... You can get in."

The coordinator squeezed the pack of Long-Mouth Liqun he had just been handed and promptly let Shen Qi aboard.

Those cigarettes were much better than Premium Big Hongying.

By "free," Shen Qi meant he was giving the coordinator his pay to buy cigarettes.

When wages were handed out later, Shen Qi would still get his share.

He was working for nothing, not paying for the privilege.

Judge of the Song Dynasty!

That was the production Shen Qi had managed to join.

Once he reached the set, he was told to put on a stinking period costume and serve as background scenery.

Filming was nearly finished. Most of the work involved pickup shots, sometimes crowd scenes and sometimes scenes between the leads.

That was when Shen Qi got down to business.

He approached with his Magic Book and earnestly began recording other people's performances.

This time, he chose a sketch comedian.

Jason Statham!

Oh, wrong one. Guo Da Statham.

Just a sketch comedian.

Even if the man had some skill, Shen Qi had already advanced to Sequence 9. Surely this would be easy.

That was what Shen Qi thought.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Failure!

Failure!

Another failure!

By the time the director called a stop and had a makeup artist touch up Guo Da, Shen Qi still hadn't managed to record him.

Guo Da sat beneath a large tree in the courtyard, letting the makeup artist work.

An idea suddenly struck Shen Qi, and he ran off to buy several cold drinks.

He handed them out to a few people nearby, then unscrewed the cap on the last bottle and offered it to Guo Da.

"Mr. Guo, that scene you just did was incredible!"

These days, everyone in the entertainment industry called everyone else "teacher," largely a side effect of Hong Kong showbiz.

"Comrade" sounded too political, "miss" too suggestive, "master" too old-fashioned, and "big brother" or "big sister" too fawning.

Only "teacher" struck the right balance. Nobody could object to it.

"Oh?" Guo Da accepted the water but didn't drink it. Shen Qi's comment had caught his interest, though. Smiling, he asked, "What was incredible about it?"

The director had approved his earlier take of that scene.

But after filming it, Guo Da still hadn't been satisfied, so he had asked the director whether they could shoot it again.

As it happened, some pickup shots involved the same setting. After getting He Bing's agreement, they reshot the scene.

The result was excellent.

Much better than the original take.

Guo Da couldn't help feeling a little pleased with himself. Unfortunately, everyone was too busy today to appreciate it.

He would have to wait until the show aired to prove to audiences that a sketch comedian could excel in a serious drama too.

Don't underestimate a humble steamed bun!

He hadn't expected an extra to be the first to praise him.

Guo Da didn't look down on extras.

Nor did he think they were unqualified to appreciate his performance.

One of the central principles of sketch comedy was making something people from every walk of life and educational background could enjoy.

"I don't really understand it. I just thought it was amazing. Mr. Guo, could you tell me what was going through your mind when you played that scene?"

Shen Qi became a picture of curiosity.

He saw recording a performance as a process of figuring out an opponent. When the opponent was too strong and he himself too weak, success was naturally out of reach.

But as the saying went, know yourself and your enemy, and you would never lose a battle.

What if the opponent revealed the secrets behind his moves?

Shen Qi couldn't claim he would be able to overcome them just by hearing the explanation, but it should at least greatly improve his chances of recording the performance.

"What was going through my mind?" Guo Da chuckled. He happened to be in the mood to talk. "At first, I thought about how I have an honest, unassuming manner, while Diao Guangdou is deeply calculating, hiding a knife behind his smile..."

Shen Qi listened intently.

If I hadn't heard that wicked laugh of yours earlier, I might almost believe you.

As he explained it to someone else, Guo Da was also sorting through and reflecting on his own approach to acting.

He grew so absorbed in talking that, without realizing it, he drank half the cold beverage Shen Qi had given him—the one he had initially been careful not to touch.

When the director called him over to prepare for the next take, Guo Da still had more to say.

It had been a long time since he had met a young man so eager to learn. His own son was about the same age, but he wouldn't listen to a word.

"Thank you, Mr. Guo!" Shen Qi remembered to thank him.

Even if he still couldn't record Guo Da's performance, he had gained a great deal from that explanation alone.

Of course, he was still going to keep trying.

Unless the headache became unbearable, he wouldn't stop recording.

For someone at the bottom, a chance to turn his life around might not come even once in a lifetime.

But if it did come, he had to seize it!

The Magic Book he had stumbled upon was like a broad, open road laid out before him.

Once he became a star, he would never have to live in poverty again.

Zhao Wei earned 110,000 yuan per television episode, and Li Lianjie earned over 25 million yuan per film.

Shen Qi didn't need to match them. Even a tenth of what they made would be enough to change his life.

Huh?

It worked!?

Staring at the symbols that had taken shape on the parchment, Shen Qi could hardly believe his eyes.

The system rated him at Sequence 9.

Guo Da couldn't be measured by the same system, but even with Shen Qi's limited understanding, he could tell that Guo Da's performance today was at least above Sequence 5.

There should have been almost no chance of recording it successfully.

Yet there it was before his eyes. Somehow, he had done it.

There was only one explanation...

Hearing Guo Da talk through the performance had truly made a difference.

It had taken dozens of attempts to record the performance, and Shen Qi was almost completely drained.

His head felt as though it would split open!

There was no way he could record a second one.

But he was satisfied.

Guo Da's performance would be one of the most valuable things tucked away in the Magic Book.

Unless a particularly important opportunity arose, he wouldn't use it lightly anytime soon.

That afternoon, just before work wrapped, Shen Qi received a call inviting him to audition.

My Own Swordsman?

Oh, right. It was one of the projects Zhang Yi had told him about.

They wanted him to audition for a character named Ji Wuming.

An audition for an actual role!

It seemed Shen Qi would have to leave Hengdian, the place where his dream had first taken root.

Whether he got the part or not, he had to go!

He couldn't pass up a possible opportunity just because he was afraid of wasting money on a ticket.

Someone afraid of losing would never win!