"Heh...? Course? It's not an enlightenment skill? It can't be directly passed?"
Before Lu Ze's question, System remained silent. Of course, this mute system had never spoken. It had always been Lu Ze taking wild guesses and conversing according to the images on the interface. Once the dialogue box closed, Lu Ze came face-to-face with the web page for the first time and was instantly stunned, not because of the system's power, but because there were simply too many choices.
"Actor's Basic Facial Expression Control."
"Basic Dialogue Training."
"Old Person's Movement and Expression Emulation."
"White Collar's Habits And Thinking Patterns."
"Nobility's Habits and Thinking Emulation."
There was even a search bar at the top of the interface. 'Brother, are you afraid that I won't be able to find something amongst so many items?'
Somewhat dazed, he casually clicked on the first option—Actor's Basic Facial Expression Control. With that, the interface suddenly shook twice.
"Host has not entered sleep mode, cannot study."
This line was easy enough to understand. It turned out that one had to be asleep in order to study. 'Hold on! Once I sleep, I won't even have the time to choose the option, my friend! The hell would I learn by the morning if I sleep through the entire night!!'
For the very first time, Lu Ze felt that high quality of sleep was really nothing worth being happy over.
Walking while pondering over how to study acting skills while sleeping, he soon arrived at his rented bungalow. It was a huge courtyard, containing twelve households with a rent of six hundred per month. Lu Ze had long lost the energy to ridicule such high rent prices and could only silently accept.
"Lu Ze, you're back? Just got off work?"
"Yeah, brother Zhang. It's so late, you are going to a night scene?"
"Yup, it's terrible. If there's nothing else, I gotta hurry, I might be onto something on my side.."
This courtyard belonged entirely to the extras, and they were all quite familiar with each other. After chatting with brother Zhang, Lu Ze pushed open the corridor's gate.
His home was a double apartment partitioning the entire bungalow. It had a corridor in the middle, acting as the dividing line. The small corridor had no light, yet Lu Ze skillfully took out his key and opened the black door. Taking a sniff of the air, he exclaimed, "What are you cooking, Sister Dan? It smells really good."
"Oh, you're back, Lu Ze? I returned a little while ago too. I'm just making some food You haven't eaten, have you? How about you eat with me?"
The speaker was Yang Dan. She was also an extra, a twenty-six-year-old fellow comrade. Her current status...probably single, but Lu Ze never showed any interest. She and Lu Ze lived in the east and west end of the corridor. The western portion was Lu Ze's home while the eastern was hers.
The two had known each other for a year and got along quite well. If either one of them came across the other making food while having just returned from work, they ate together.
"Alright. Do you want beer? I'm going to get some from the convenience store."
"Sure. Something cold would be nice, it's really hot today! Get going…The food should be ready when you come back."
Lu Ze went out, bought four cold beers, and strolled back home. Opening the door to his eastern apartment, he placed the beer bottles on the ground. Splashing some cold water on his face, he changed into slippers and rubbed his feet at the entrance before entering the eastern apartment.
Due to the unusually big beds of this bungalow, planks that ran from the eastern wall to the western wall, and the PVC spread on the floor- making the layout look like a Kang- there was not much space on the floor. So, one had to eat by placing a small table on this 'huge Kang'. Without a hint of politeness, Lu Ze climbed on the bed and sat cross-legged. Then, he opened a beer and poured himself a glass.
Meanwhile, Yang Dan was also finally done. She placed the final plate of stir-fried vegetables on the table and climbed on the bed before pouring herself beer as well.
"Hold on!"
"What?"
"What is this smell coming from your body? Did you fall into a toilet? How are you smelling so bad? Today's dress was this filthy?"
Yang Dan jerked her face backward and feigned to wave the air before her nose in a nauseated manner.
"Don't even mention it. It stank! That smell...tsk...so terrible. Come on, let's cheers."
The two clinked their cups and then gulped the entire cup. Feeling the chill of ice-cold beer as it went down their stomachs, the two let out long, crisp sighs.
The dishes were simple—stir-fried chilli potato slices, chilli brinjal, and tomato-scrambled-eggs. Lu Ze ate a bite from his chopsticks and gave a thumbs-up sign to Yang Dan.
Yang Dan, this woman...Lu Ze truly couldn't find any fault in her. She was really a perfect woman. Her appearance was nine out of ten. Her long curly dark-red hair looked even more charming, and her figure was even better than her face. Especially her chest, those two...cough cough!
Moreover, her cooking and handling of other chores had no problems whatsoever. Her nature was candid and magnanimous, not caring about small trifles. Lu Ze truly couldn't understand how such an outstanding woman could jump into the swamp of playing extras.
She gulped down another cup and reached out for the cigarette packed placed on the table by Lu Ze. Lighting one and taking a puff, she scratched her forehead with the thumbnail of the hand holding the cigarette and asked Lu Ze, "What work did you have today?"
"The same as always, two eunuch roles."
Wang Dan was putting a chopstick of pepper in her mouth. Perhaps the pepper was too spicy or she found Lu Ze's words too funny, she choked on the food. She coughed so hard that her face turned red, and then she broke into a hearty laughter.
"Alright, eunuch specialist, weren't you acting as an eunuch yesterday as well? You look like a eunuch? Show your sis, sis will see if you look like one or not."
"Sure, this slave kowtows to her majesty! Many thanks to majesty for her treat, saving this lowly slave from suffering in instant noodles!"
"Enough with the formalities! Haha, hiccup...your act really looks like a eunuch."
While talking and laughing, they downed all the four bottles even though the dishes were still there. However, Lu Ze felt that it was still not enough. If he ate now, he wouldn't be able to get high enough.
"Sister Dan, you aren't done, are you? Wanna go another round?"
"Just say that you haven't drunk enough. Fine, I also have nothing to do tomorrow. I'll drink with you. No need to go outside, I've some white wine left over, just down that"
"That works too!"
After pouring himself white wine and taking a small sip, Lu Ze finally remembered to ask, "Nothing to do tomorrow? You don't have to work tomorrow?"
This question made Yang Dan silent for a moment. Lowering her head, she softly waved the wine cup in her hand, "It's nothing, just taking a day off."
Lu Ze could see that Yang Dan was feeling somewhat down. He didn't continue his line of questioning and just ate in silence, before lighting up a cigarette.
"You have one more for me?"
"No, hold on for a moment. I'll get it from my place."
Putting on his slippers, he returned to his apartment and took out a carton of cigarettes from his wardrobe. Pulling out a pack from the carton, he went back to the eastern apartment and lit one cigarette for Yang Dan.
"Cough…sss…"
Yang Dan wept. Her face was lowered and her long hair was concealing her expression, but the nasal sounds and hissing from her breath gave it away.
"What's going on? Just speak if you have something on your mind, you'll feel much better."
Yang Dan lifted some of her hair and waved her hand. With her head still lowered, she wiped her tears and said, "It's nothing. What could happen to me? Come, cheers, let's drink! Don't worry about it!"
She gulped down the whole cup in one breath, but it was twice the amount this time. Then, she immediately filled herself another one.
Lu Ze didn't stop her, only eating in silence while taking a sip of the white wine himself.
Perhaps it was the wine working, but she stopped weeping and pushed her hair to the back. Her face was red, neck slightly tilted, and eyes completely out of focus.
"I ran into trouble today."
"What trouble?"
"That boss of mine said that he wanted to sleep with me."
"Who? That second fatty?"
Lu Ze glanced at her, and then he lowered his head again to eat as he asked while chewing.
"Yes. You have no idea how vile he is. He just came up to me and groped my butt."
"Then?"
"He asked me to follow him to his home tonight. Is there anything more needed?"
"I'm asking about your reply, not his details. Doesn't that idiot always do this?"
Yang Dan's gaze was still unfocussed. Poking the 'Kang' with one hand, she sipped the wine with her inclined head.
"Ha, what did I say? You tell me, you think I would have any interest in him with that belly of his? That time, I slapped his hands away and said—don't touch me, f*cker! Find your whores somewhere else. Then I left."
"…"
Lu Ze didn't reply; Yang Dan did the right thing. Since she was not willing, nobody should be able to come and harass her. However, the second fatty would most likely pick faults with her from hereon.
"Ah, I'm feeling much better after letting it out. Let's not talk about him. You want to drink more? Let me refill the plate."
Seeing her staggeringly walking appearance, Lu Ze knew that she was wasted. He immediately held her and then stood up himself before refilling his and her plates.
Afterward, the two's spirits remained quite low as they ate in silence. Then, Lu Ze helped her to bed and sorted out the bowls and chopsticks before returning to his room. The thermoflask had some hot water. After a thorough bath, he slid under the quilt and stared at the ceiling.
During his few years as playing extras, he'd seen too many incidents like Yang Dan's. Everybody said that the entertainment industry was shady, which was not a lie. Even they, who were at the lowest rung, came across so many disgusting affairs. However, he couldn't console Yang Dan. How would you retaliate? Stab the guy with a knife? That was breaking the law!
Frankly, one couldn't do shit!
He used to consider that he himself would remain ordinary throughout the rest of his life. However, at this moment, he had the capital for a meteoric rise—"Film Emperor System!"
"Oh...it's been quite a while since I suffered from insomnia…"
Smoking a cigarette, Lu Ze threw the butt on the ground and sank into deep thought.
"Host entering sleep mode detected, preparing to enter teaching mode."
"3…2…1…"
'What's happening? No! It's been so long since I had insomnia! You'll make me have…'
Before he could complete his sentence, darkness appeared before his eyes. Sounds of snoring soon rang in the room.
"…"