Strictly speaking, Xie Lin’s appearance is quite ordinary. Standing at 1.7 ters tall, he’s not ugly, but calling him handso would be far-fetched. He’s the kind of person you could lose in a crowd and never find again.
When he saw Li Younan, Xie Lin was a bit stunned. Back in middle school, Li Younan was about the sa height as him, he never expected Li Younan to have grown so tall now.
Over the past ten-plus years, Li Younan indeed grew into a handso figure, resembling an internet celebrity, which made Xie Lin feel gratified, indicating his judgnt was right, as he always thought Li Younan was the most handso boy in the class.
Yesterday, when Li Younan sent a ssage, Xie Lin was so excited that he couldn’t sleep the whole night. Middle school for him was already a nearly blurred mory, with most people and things dissipating into oblivion.
He didn’t read much, if he were educated, he would describe his middle school years as a utopia.
In reality, he didn’t have many friends in the class back then; the only one he could still rember vividly was Li Younan. When Li Younan said he was traveling to Jinhua City and wanted to et him, Xie Lin indeed wanted to see Li Younan.
But in truth, he didn’t know why he was so eager. He was very aware that back then, Li Younan was the best student in the class, while he was rely a middle schooler. By comparison, Li Younan surely had already graduated from university and had beco a completely different world from him.
Nevertheless, Xie Lin really wanted to see Li Younan, without a tinge of inferiority.
For the occasion, he dug out the set of denim jacket and jeans, along with the pair of Martens boots, which he bought together with his girlfriend, because his girlfriend had said this outfit was his most handso ensemble.
Li Younan stood up, waved at Xie Lin with a smile that felt as familiar as ever. Xie Lin laughed heartily and quickly walked over.
Li Younan said, "Long ti no see, you seem not to have changed much."
Xie Lin casually pulled out the chair in front of him and sat down, saying, "You, on the other hand, have changed quite a bit, but I could still recognize you at a glance, you’re even more handso than you were in middle school."
Li Younan laughed heartily.
Xie Lin asked, "Have you eaten yet?"
Li Younan nodded.
"Perfect, we should et up at noon, are you free?" Li Younan asked.
Xie Lin hesitated for a mont, the expression was brief but caught by Li Younan.
Li Younan asked, "Am I interrupting anything?"
Xie Lin hurriedly shook his head, "No, no, I have a notice this afternoon, but it’s fine, I can postpone it." Saying that, Xie Lin took out his phone and made a call, "Hey, Uncle, about this afternoon’s... maybe find soone else."
Xie Lin’s phone had severe leakage, Li Younan heard the voice from the receiver, "What’s going on this afternoon, you have a line this afternoon!"
Xie Lin’s expression showed so difficulty, but he resolutely said, "It’s alright, there’ll be another chance next ti."
Li Younan asked, "What ti in the afternoon is your notice?"
Xie Lin guessed, "Three o’clock."
Li Younan checked the ti, still early, then said, "No problem, in the afternoon you do what you need to do."
Xie Lin frowned, "How could that be proper? Your first ti in Jinhua City, of course, I need to accompany you. We haven’t seen each other in so many years."
Li Younan shook his head, "It’s all good, I can co along with you. Honestly, I am quite curious about what Hengdian is like, perfect opportunity to see what acting is all about."
Xie Lin hesitated, "You really think so?"
Li Younan resignedly said, "Isn’t Jinhua City most famous for that?"
Li Younan indeed thought this way, moreover, the system’s clock-in task was also at Hengdian.
Hearing Li Younan say that, joy sparkled in Xie Lin’s eyes, he said to his uncle on the phone, "Uncle, I’ll still go over then."
After hanging up, Xie Lin delightfully began recounting his experiences as an extra.
"Bro, don’t look down on the extras; I’ve acted in quite a lot of blockbusters."
Li Younan laughed heartily, "I believe that."
"I’ve played the vendor who disappears after shouting a few tis on the street, played the soldier, played the backdrop, but honestly, I’m best at playing the corpse. Lie on the ground, whether the sun is scorching or the rain is soaking, I stay perfectly still, as long as the director doesn’t call cut, I won’t even blink." Xie Lin said proudly, "One ti, even with a cold running a 38-degree fever, I could lie in the rain. Amazing, huh?"
Xie Lin really thought he was remarkable, Li Younan was stunned for a mont, lowered his head and said, "Remarkable!" feeling sowhat complicated.
The two ordered food, chatting while eating. After talking for a while about his own matters, Xie Lin asked, "Let’s not just talk about , bro, what have you been up to over these years?"
Li Younan chuckled speechlessly, took a sip of tea and replied leisurely, "I haven’t had as exciting a life as you; just studying, advancing academically, then studying again, and briefly working."
Li Younan put the teacup down, "Recently I resigned, planning to go out for a bit."
Xie Lin didn’t quite know what Li Younan ant by "going out for a bit", but he was sure students from prestigious schools like Li Younan wouldn’t lack good jobs, nodded and said, "I’m really happy that you ca to find and rembered , let’s have a drink."
Since Xie Lin had to work in the afternoon and Li Younan didn’t have the habit of drinking, both of them clinked their drink bottles, spilling so drink.
The district of Dongyang City is not far from Hengdian; after lunch, they arrived at Hengdian town by around two.
The start of work wouldn’t be so punctual, and around this ti, Li Younan happened to get a chance to stroll through the attractions.
Xie Lin parted with him temporarily; Xie Lin, with an actor’s certificate, needed to report to the production crew while Li Younan joined the crowd of tourists entering the scenic area.
The majesty of the Qin Palace, the vastness of the Ming and Qing Palace, the colonial style of Guangzhou Street, the neon signs of Hong Kong Street... these landscapes, originally belonging to different eras and different places, stood in a peculiar proximity.
Besides that, there were many performances within the scenic area. Actually, without these performances, Li Younan might even suspect he was in the Forbidden City... though he had never been there.
He naturally received the system’s clock-in task. But seeing this task, Li Younan was montarily speechless. Currently, this task turned out to be the most troubleso among all the tasks he had accepted: Experience a day as any three types of actors at Hengdian.
Even if everything goes smoothly, staying here would require at least three days.
Li Younan then realized, there are categories even within extras. However, surprisingly, his mood lifted. He was curious about what life was like for those people on TV screens. If he could experience being an actor, it could be quite fun. Moreover, Xie Lin has been an extra here for over ten years, he could definitely learn a thing or two from him.
...
Xie Lin was sowhat disappointed.
Today ended early, the line wasn’t delivered.
To say he didn’t mind at all would be false. Every ti he got a notice, even if it held just one line, like "Report—Enemy is coming!" or "Master, Madam requests your presence!", he’d lose sleep out of excitent, repeatedly contemplating how to deliver the line.
Unfortunately, upon arriving on set, due to various reasons—large crowd, cara angles, director’s last-minute changes—the line got cut again, back to the silent backdrop.
Disappointnt was unavoidable, but his uncle often said in this line of work, you must accept fate and cherish, as long as there’s a movie to shoot and food to eat, keep working steadily.
Nevertheless, Xie Lin’s mood improved because Li Younan was already waiting for him outside.
Thinking of his long-lost friend Li Younan, Xie Lin found solace. He called his girlfriend, asking her to buy so groceries downstairs at the market, so they could have a good gathering in the evening with Li Younan.
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