What should one do when suddenly coming into money?
Naturally, it's to spend, spend, spend, and buy, buy, buy!
Qi Hui tidied up briefly and packed his things, leaving behind his cheap little five-in-one efficiency apartment—where the toilet, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, and living room were all crammed into a single space.
He moved into a brand-new apartment featuring one bedroom, one living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.
Looking around the spacious and bright new place, Qi Hui nodded with satisfaction and immediately embarked on a shopping spree.
Phone: replaced!
Watch: bought!
He simply had to get a watch, because the phones available nowadays were still basic feature phones.
Luxurious habits are easy to acquire and hard to shed. Having grown accustomed to the smartphones of his past life, Qi Hui found himself suddenly struggling to adapt to these primitive feature phones.
Wearing a watch was practically more convenient.
Besides a phone and a watch, a computer was another absolute electronic essential.
He had long since grown used to having internet access everywhere and at all times, able to search for whatever he needed.
Since a feature phone couldn't possibly meet his requirements, a laptop was naturally a must-have as well.
After putting his new apartment in order, Qi Hui let out a long sigh of satisfaction, turned on his computer, logged onto Weibo, and registered an account.
The archaic interface of early Weibo had him fumbling around in a flurry, but he finally managed to get signed up.
Unlike later years, registering for a Weibo account back then didn't require a mobile phone number; all he needed was an account name and a password.
Weibo had just emerged and hadn't attracted much attention yet. Netizens were still mostly gathered on Baidu Tieba, personal blogs, and Tianya Forums.
As soon as he logged on, he saw the trending topics being heatedly debated.
Andy Lau going public with his relationship, Zhang Ziyi's "ink-splattering" scandal, and the like.
Looking at these distinctly retro events, Qi Hui couldn't help a quiet pang of nostalgia.
Of course, discussions about these matters were taking place either on Tianya Forums or Baidu Tieba.
Places like Weibo wouldn't truly explode in popularity until entertainment celebrities started moving in en masse.
After messing around on the computer for a while, Qi Hui left his apartment and headed over to a nearby gym to start working out.
Don't let his six-pack abs fool you; he was actually on the slender side, with a somewhat lanky build.
He might have been in slightly better shape than Zhang Ruoyun, but compared to a rugged northerner like Ling Xiaosu, he still fell short.
The character of Hong Shixian required wearing suits frequently, and without some muscle to fill them out, a suit would just hang off him looking all loose and sloppy.
That white suit fitting him so perfectly had been pure luck; Qi Hui certainly couldn't expect every single suit provided by the crew to fit him like a glove.
Therefore, he still needed to pump some iron and put on some muscle.
From then on, Qi Hui's daily routine became strictly regimented.
He got up early for a run in the morning, and went to the gym to lift weights at noon.
In the late afternoon, he would eat some beef steak or similar foods to boost his protein intake.
When evening rolled around, he stayed inside his apartment playing on the computer and surfing the net.
He would browse entertainment news on the side, or watch shows on Tudou, checking out things like Chinese Paladin 3.
Qi Hui felt incomparably content—it gave him the exact feeling of being back in college.
Wasn't this so much better and more comfortable than working grueling factory shifts?
He didn't prostitute himself, gamble, or hit the bars; he had no bad habits, and one hundred thousand yuan was enough to keep him living comfortably for a very long time.
After a week of such blissful days, feeling slightly bored, he picked up his phone and called Zhang Ruoyun.
"Hello? Senior brother?" Zhang Ruoyun sounded somewhat surprised. "How come you suddenly have time to call me?"
Shouldn't he be busy preparing to play a male lead?
"The crew is still in pre-production," Qi Hui said. "I'm planning to come over and hang out at your place. Got time?"
"Of course I do!" A hint of excitement crept into Zhang Ruoyun's voice; he had wanted for a long time to introduce his senior brother to his father.
...
Hengdian World Studios, the shooting location for Snow Leopard.
After a few days of indoor dialogue scenes, it was time to shoot the action sequences and large-scale set pieces.
The action scenes in the early stage mainly revolved around the male lead, Wen Zhang, and had nothing to do with Zhang Ruoyun, so Little Zhang had plenty of free time on his hands.
When Qi Hui arrived at the entrance of the production set, however, a guard blocked his way with a blank expression.
Nobody was allowed to enter without permission.
With no other choice, Qi Hui had to wait for Little Zhang to come and fetch him.
After about ten minutes, Little Zhang finally emerged and cast a disgruntled glare at the guard.
He had already called ahead to clear this, but the guard hadn't given him an ounce of respect.
Facing Little Zhang's displeasure, the guard acted as if he saw nothing. Producer Zhang was Producer Zhang, and Zhang Ruoyun was Zhang Ruoyun; father and son they might be, but their positions couldn't be conflated.
"It's just their job, don't take it to heart," Qi Hui intervened, stopping the angry Zhang Ruoyun.
Zhang Ruoyun still looked somewhat indignant, but he let the matter drop.
"Senior brother, what brings you here to visit the set?" Zhang Ruoyun asked.
"My shooting doesn't start for another three months, no rush," Qi Hui waved a hand dismissively and casually handed him a pack of cigarettes.
"Three months? That long?" Zhang Ruoyun took the cigarettes from Qi Hui and tore the pack open, his attention instantly hooked by what he had just heard. "How could it be three months?"
He had only gotten that role from his old man out of a desire to bail out his senior brother.
Emergency help was meant for crises, not for poverty—this production should have started filming right away.
Which meant that if Qi Hui hadn't landed the male lead role, he likely would have run out of money entirely.
He wouldn't even have been able to afford meals.
"Crew preparations take time, it's quite normal," Qi Hui said unconcernedly, pulling out a lighter to spark a cigarette.
"No way," Zhang Ruoyun said, taking the lighter from Qi Hui and proceeding to recount the whole backstory of how this had come about.
Hearing that the role had been arranged by Zhang Ruoyun's father, Zhang Jian, and hearing Zhang Ruoyun's confusion over the timeline, Qi Hui flicked the ash from his cigarette, fell silent for a moment, and then smiled.
"Uncle Zhang must have gotten the dates mixed up, no need to dwell on it."
"If not for Uncle Zhang, I wouldn't have gotten into that crew in the first place, right?"
Despite saying that, Qi Hui's eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed Old Zhang wasn't particularly fond of him.
Qi Hui recalled some news from his past life—Old Zhang had signed various agreements using Zhang Ruoyun's name, and when things eventually blew up, it saddled Zhang Ruoyun with hundreds of millions in debt.
Little Zhang had been so furious he took Old Zhang to court, creating a massive public spectacle.
It was clear that Old Zhang was no simple character.
Of course, that was all in the future.
Judge a person by their actions, not their intentions; judge by intentions and no one is a saint. Regardless of anything else, Old Zhang had helped Qi Hui.
Qi Hui wouldn't let subjective speculation turn someone who had helped him into a complete villain and scoundrel.
"That's true," Zhang Ruoyun said with a laugh, completely unaware of Qi Hui's shifting thoughts.
He immediately piped up, "Come on, I'll take you to meet my dad, and by the way, maybe we can finagle a role for you or something."
There were still three months left, plenty of time to shoot.
"Don't you dare," Qi Hui quickly stopped him. "I came to pay a visit to express my gratitude, don't go pulling any stunts."
Talking as they walked, the two of them headed toward the production crew's area.
Soon, Zhang Ruoyun led Qi Hui right up to a middle-aged man.
The man had a buzz cut, a square face, and a stern, unsmiling expression.
"Dad, this is my senior brother," Zhang Ruoyun introduced him with an excited grin. "He landed a male lead role right out of the gate, pretty impressive, right?"
Having grown up living with his grandparents, he had always yearved for parental love.
He wanted to prove himself through his own excellence and hoped to build that kind of affectionate, filial, close relationship with his father.
Making friends with talented people was likewise a way of proving himself.
"Hello, Uncle Zhang," Qi Hui greeted him.
"Mm, hello," Zhang Jian looked up briefly before burying his head back in his paperwork.
As the producer of Snow Leopard, he had a mountain of matters to handle every day.
A mere male lead actor—not even some international best actor—wasn't enough to make him look twice.
"Ruoyun told me that you were the one who recommended me to the crew of The Temptation to Go Home," Qi Hui said, unbothered by his rather cold attitude and maintaining a cheerful smile.
"Thank you so much for your help. Please accept this small token of appreciation, I hope you don't mind."
With that, Qi Hui placed a carton of Soft Zhonghua cigarettes right in front of him.
Zhang Jian's expression softened slightly. He looked up and said, "I've heard about you from Ruoyun. Your grades are great, and you're a very capable young man."
"You're in the same class as Yang Mi, right?"