Hengdian.
Inside a cheap rental apartment, Qi Hui stood bare-chested in front of a yellowed washbasin, looking somewhat dazed at his reflection in the mirror.
He reached out and touched his face.
Very handsome. His facial features were deep-set and well-defined, with rugged, chiseled contours.
Ah, the result of starvation.
His physique was excellent. Standing one meter eighty, he had razor-sharp six-pack abs and distinct, chiseled pectoral muscles.
Ah, the result of being skinny.
"I can't believe I time-traveled..." Qi Hui muttered with a hint of melancholy, instinctively patting his pocket to fish out a pack of Liqun cigarettes, pulling one out and lighting it up.
Before traveling through time, he was a civil engineering guy.
He had majored in engineering, worked in technical roles, and was a genuine, bonafide engineer.
A true cog in the state-assigned machine.
He still remembered when he first graduated and started his job—everything was so wonderful.
The exquisitely packaged welcome gift, the majestic headquarters building, and their group of clear-eyed, foolish university graduates gathering together, full of drive.
Team-building events, group dinners, training sessions, talking about life and aspirations—everything seemed so normal.
However, once the training ended and he was dispatched to the construction site, everything changed.
Endless paperwork, endless dust.
Endless sleepless nights, endless hardships.
The moment he opened his eyes in the morning, he had to get ready to pour concrete.
Before closing his eyes at night, his brain was still filled with material reports.
Sleeping at all was a luxury; pulling all-nighters pouring concrete was a daily routine.
Once you enter civil engineering, it's as deep as the sea; from then on, the mortal world is just a passing stranger.
Most of his peers packed up and ran away within a few days.
Some went back to study for graduate entrance exams, some went back to take the civil service exams, and others went back to inherit the family business.
Before leaving, they cursed it with utter disgust: civil engineering, not even a dog would do this job!
However, Qi Hui didn't run away. He gritted his teeth and persevered.
The watershed of life is amniotic fluid.
Some people are born in Rome, while Qi Hui was just a beast of burden.
He had finally graduated and started working to make money; with not a single coin to his name, how could he possibly go back?
After grinding it out for a few years, he passed the exams for both secondary and primary construction engineering qualifications and became a management personnel.
He learned the ways of the world, and he himself became slick and smooth.
In the literal sense of being smooth.
His belly stuck out, his neck disappeared, and the top of his head went bald.
The only thing worth comforting was that his salary had increased, and he was actively striving for the position of engineering department manager.
Back home, his family had also introduced him to a girl, urging him to hurry up and get married and have children.
Qi Hui went to the blind date as invited, but the girl had very high standards and even looked down on him, calling him a mediocre man who was inexplicably full of confidence—a total self-absorbed loser.
At the time, Qi Hui was so furious he almost smashed a plate right across her face.
Self-absorbed loser?!
I am an upright, fine young man of the Republic with an entirely clean family background and history!
Back in the Qin Dynasty, he would have been one of those valiant old Qin men who swept across the six states, struck northward against the Xiongnu, and launched southern campaigns against the Baiyue.
Back in the Han Dynasty, he would have been one of those fine fellows who secured the Central Plains, reclaimed the Western Regions, destroyed the Xiongnu, and pacified Southern Yue.
Ever since then, Qi Hui lost all interest in any of those damn romantic love stories.
He only had one thing on his mind:
Making money!
What was the use of just envying others? He had to take action, get a promotion and a pay raise, and become richer than anyone else!
Pure love? How could pure love ever compare to pure gold?
Finally, in the year 2024, he successfully achieved that goal.
He secured the long-desired position of engineering department manager within the bureau, got a promotion and a raise, and his future was bright and boundless.
Yet just as the celebration banquet ended and he was on his way home, a dump truck fully loaded with dirt and gravel blindsided him.
The last thing in his memory was the sharp, piercing blare of a car horn and the blinding glare of high beams.
When Qi Hui opened his eyes again, he had arrived here—in a rental apartment in Hengdian.
He had become a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy's Acting Department.
Just like when he first joined his company, he was in his prime, young and handsome, clear-eyed and foolish.
Oh... and equally strapped for cash.
Qi Hui quickly felt around for the leather wallet in his pants pocket.
Inside, aside from his ID card, there were only a pitiful five hundred-yuan renminbi bills, along with some loose change and coins.
This was his only remaining savings.
"A clear-eyed and foolish college student..." Qi Hui shrugged and said with a helpless smile.
The original owner was a 2005-grade graduate of the Beijing Film Academy's Acting Department.
On the very day of his graduation ceremony, he was full of high aspirations, vowing to become a world-renowned superstar like Andy Lau or Jacky Cheung.
Unfortunately, despite being extremely handsome and having stellar grades, no director took a fancy to him, no film crew wanted him, and not even a single talent agency was willing to sign him.
He was basically unemployed right upon graduation.
Yet the original owner happened to be extremely proud, unwilling to ask anything of his classmates, let alone beg others for help.
The original owner had a very close junior fellow student whom he had helped a lot.
Struggling with body movement class?
"Senior brother will help you tutor it."
Short on people for a rehearsal?
"Senior brother is here, I'll act alongside you."
Over the years, their relationship was quite good.
And that junior's father was a well-known director and producer.
Pulling a few strings to land a minor role would have been a walk in the park.
Yet the original owner simply couldn't let go of his pride. At school, he had always been the one taking care of his junior; now that he had graduated, there was no logical reason to ask his junior for a favor.
"My friendships aren't based on looking at people's status..." the original owner had stubbornly thought to himself.
Pity that life dealt the original owner a harsh slap; soon after graduation, his expenses outstripped his income, and even affording a meal became a problem.
For the sake of survival, the original owner headed south to Hengdian and started working as an extra.
He prepared to fight his way up from being an extra to becoming a Best Actor.
Regrettably, reality was cruel.
Being an extra wasn't easy: rising early and sleeping late, enduring wind and sun, getting beaten up every day, hanging on wire harnesses, and soaking in freezing water.
It was no less exhausting than pulling all-nighters to pour concrete.
The only consolation was that his appearance was better than others and his education level was higher, so he had an easier time getting by than ordinary extras, managing to save a thousand yuan or so before long.
Reinventing himself as a Best Actor superstar was unrealistic, but having enough to eat and saving a little money shouldn't have been a problem.
However, unpredictable are the winds of fortune. A few days ago, the original owner landed a water scene, rolling around in the water for several hours, and came back with a persistent, high fever.
With no other choice, he had to go to a clinic and spend money on treatment.
A few saline drips and several days of medicine later, a few hundred yuan were gone.
Not only was the money gone, but the high fever kept returning.
With a blink of his eyes, the Qi Hui sent away by the dump truck had arrived.
Looking at the memories in his mind and rummaging through the flattened wallet in his hand,
Qi Hui took a deep drag of his cigarette, his depression and anguish swirling along with the smoke:
"I already worked so hard to make money, so why am I still this poor?"
......
Tapping the wallet in his hand, Qi Hui pondered in his mind how he was going to survive next.
"Should I... go back to pouring concrete?" Qi Hui touched his firm pectoral muscles and his chiseled abs.
Although pouring concrete would make these long-lost assets disappear, making money was nothing to be ashamed of.
As for acting... acting was out of the question.
Not in this lifetime would he ever act again.
No background, no resources—how the hell is someone supposed to make it in the entertainment industry?
"..."
Starting over, Qi Hui made the tragic discovery that he didn't even have the chance to try a different way of living.
Knock, knock, knock~
Right at that moment, the door was knocked upon.
Qi Hui stubbed out the cigarette in his hand and pulled open the door.
Standing outside was a young, handsome fellow with a trace of youthful greenness on his face, holding a document in his hand.
"Senior brother, long time no see..." Zhang Ruoyun greeted, then glanced past Qi Hui and couldn't help letting out a dry remark:
"Whoa? Your room is nice, truly unobstructed view from end to end."
The bed, toilet, showerhead, and washbasin were all crammed together without any separation partitions whatsoever.
Not only were there no partitions, but the entire apartment was also extremely small.
"Haha..." Qi Hui forced a couple of dry laughs, just as he was about to offer an explanation.
Ding~
At that moment, a soft chime echoed inside his mind.
Qi Hui froze slightly as an illusory panel materialized before his eyes:
[Host has made contact with actor Zhang Ruoyun. You have obtained one chance at a lucky draw. Would you like to spin?]