A production team from Hong Kong came to the Mainland to shoot the television series Wind and Cloud, and casting was currently underway.
Having accidentally heard about this news, Li Boda decided to try and secure a role in the production.
As for Wind and Cloud, Li Boda did have some familiarity with it. Although he had never read the original manga, he had seen the film adaptations and knew it was a hugely popular property.
In Li Boda's view, it was essentially similar to dramas adapted from Jin Yong or Gu Long—original works turned into television series that naturally came with a built-in fanbase.
Therefore, his Golden Finger would most likely be triggered.
For Li Boda, this was an exceptional opportunity.
When Li Boda arrived at the audition venue and slipped a red envelope to one of the staff members inside, he was handed a list.
It contained all the roles being cast for this round of auditions.
Naturally, major roles like protagonists and supporting leads were entirely absent from the list.
Those kinds of roles had already been carved up long before the crew was even officially established.
Whatever was left consisted entirely of miscellaneous, minor roles. Li Boda was not surprised in the least, as this was the case with the vast majority of production crews.
The roles on the list included:
A lackey of the TianxiaHui.
A Tai Chi master competing against Nie Feng for the position of Hall Master.
A stout master competing against Qin Shuang for the position of Hall Master.
A TianxiaHui subordinate competing against Bu Jingyun for the position of Hall Master.
......
The uncle of the Huo family estate survivors.
The nephew of the Huo family estate survivors.
......
The steward of the Xiawang Manor.
......
A blacksmith at the Aojian Villa.
......
Paper Tantong, one of the Twelve Killers of Tianchi.
Playboy, one of the Twelve Killers of Tianchi.
Dog King, one of the Twelve Killers of Tianchi.
......
A Rakshasa of the Wushen Juegong.
......
Eunuch Cao from the imperial palace.
It was a very long list featuring quite a few roles.
These parts had names and lines, but they were all minor roles—scraps, essentially. Some of them even had less screen time than the role of Yu Daiyan that Li Boda had previously played in Young Zhang Sanfeng.
Looking over these roles, Li Boda felt somewhat hesitant.
To be honest, there were quite a few characters that caught his eye.
Take, for instance, the Tai Chi master competing against Nie Feng for the hall master position. Li Boda knew Tai Chi, and his form was quite good; competing for this role gave him a distinct advantage.
Then there was the blacksmith at the Aojian Villa.
Of course, there was no competitive advantage for him in this role. The reason he fancied it was because Li Boda believed that if he played this character and triggered his Golden Finger, he might acquire blacksmithing skills and become a qualified blacksmith—
After all, one can never have too many skills!
Just in case he encountered an important supporting role with a blacksmith background in the future, knowing how to forge would give him an extra competitive edge.
Next were the roles of Playboy and Dog King among the Twelve Killers of Tianchi.
Thanks to his previous experience with Xiao Baiyushuang, Playboy suited him well because he had some background in traditional Chinese opera, making the role relatively low-difficulty for him.
As for Dog King, the character possessed the ability to communicate with dogs. If that triggered the Golden Finger, he might just acquire a dog-training skill.
Never underestimate dog training!
Many television series and films featured scenes with dogs.
With dog-training skills under his belt, training a dog or two might just allow them to help him soar in the future.
Then there was the role of Eunuch Cao from the imperial palace.
Li Boda had previously played eunuchs and hadn't reaped many benefits from it, but he was relatively familiar with the speech, mannerisms, and habits of eunuchs, making it easier for him to portray one convincingly.
So, all things considered, Li Boda circled several of these roles on the massive list.
Yet he remained hesitant about which one to actually pursue.
In the end, Li Boda decided to first try out for the role of Dog King among the Twelve Killers of Tianchi, with the blacksmith who forged the Supreme Piercing Sword at Aojian Villa as his second choice.
If he couldn't compete for those two, he would move on to others, such as the Tai Chi master.
Li Boda's plan was well thought out.
However, when he went to the auditions, he discovered that he was completely uncompetitive for the role of Dog King from the Twelve Killers of Tianchi.
Because most of the people auditioning for the Dog King role had actually brought their own dogs with them.
That was right—they literally brought dogs along.
Naturally, since the Dog King character could communicate with and train dogs, everyone auditioning for the part had brought their personal pets to the battlefield.
Consequently, Li Boda promptly crossed the Dog King role off his list, knowing he simply couldn't win against that kind of competition.
When Li Boda went to audition for the blacksmith, he found that every single person trying out for it was darkly tanned and possessed relatively massive, bulging muscles.
He then looked at himself. True, he had started practicing martial arts because of his Golden Finger and had some muscle definition, but it was lean muscle—nothing exaggerated at all.
Competing against those guys was a complete impossibility.
Even for Playboy among the Tianchi killers, professional opera actors had shown up, leaving someone like him, who only knew a little bit about theatrical arts, unable to contend with them.
In the end, Li Boda had no choice but to pick a different role.
...
In front of the casting director and others, Li Boda smoothly and skillfully executed a routine of Tai Chi. His movements were relaxed yet carried firmness within suppleness, making for a highly impressive display.
"Li Boda, right?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Your Tai Chi is quite good. Let's go with that, then—this role is yours. Make sure to report to the crew when the time comes."
"Alright, thank you, Director! Thank you, Director! I will definitely report on time."
In the end, Li Boda only managed to secure the role of the Tai Chi master competing against Nie Feng for the position of Shenfeng Hall Master.
It was a rather small role, featuring little more than a single moderately exciting fight scene early on.
A minor role through and through.
Yet for Li Boda, a part like this already counted as a fairly good one that he was capable of landing.
After all, he lacked academic credentials, connections, and background, and his acting skills were mediocre at best.
Being able to land a supporting role like this was already quite decent.
Therefore, Li Boda felt no disappointment. He would take it step by step; sooner or later, the day might come when he suddenly exploded in popularity and landed the lead role.
Aside from the Wind and Cloud production, Li Boda had other crews to visit as well.
Shows like The Flying Saber and The Drunken Master, for instance.
By striving to secure more roles—even ones with overlapping skill sets—as long as he filmed more and received more feedback from his Golden Finger, he would eventually become exceptionally powerful and formidable.
Li Boda even felt that if he kept going like this, he might just become the next Jackie Chan or Jet Li.
Well, a man has to have dreams, right? What if one of them actually came true?