"Director, I once acted in Young Zhang Sanfeng starring Teacher Dicky Cheung. I played Yu Daiyan, the disciple of Zhang Sanfeng, who is played by Teacher Dicky Cheung. Yes, that's Yu Daiyan from The Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber, the one who gets poisoned by Yin Susu and whose limbs are crushed by A-San, one of Zhao Min's subordinates, leaving him crippled."
Li Boda spoke with utmost seriousness, his tone even carrying a faint hint of pride as he recounted his past experience.
"Really? You acted in a TV series with Dicky Cheung? And you were his disciple?" The assistant casting director looked at Li Boda with a hint of skepticism.
"Really, of course it's true. Look, I even brought the contract I signed back then. Have a look." Li Boda quickly pulled out a copy of the contract for his role as Yu Daiyan and handed it over.
The assistant casting director glanced at it, and it seemed to check out.
"Alright then, you're the one."
"Thank you, Director, thank you, Director." Li Boda thanked him repeatedly.
Though Li Boda hadn't been very happy playing the role of Yu Daiyan, he had to admit that with the experience of playing Yu Daiyan, combined with pulling out that bald head Dicky Cheung as a credential, he had actually managed to bluff his way into getting some resources.
Like this minor supporting role, for instance.
If Li Boda hadn't used Dicky Cheung to pad his resume, he would never have stood a chance at landing this part.
So Li Boda was essentially riding on another's coattails.
Whenever moments like this came around, Li Boda would feel a heartfelt surge of gratitude toward Dicky Cheung.
Who could blame Dicky Cheung for being so wildly popular? Right now in the Mainland, Dicky Cheung was practically burning red-hot; any TV series he starred in was an absolute guarantee of high ratings.
That was why Li Boda could effortlessly secure roles by boasting about having collaborated with Dicky Cheung and played his disciple.
Of course, getting roles this way didn't mean Li Boda could actually handle them.
Take some obscure film crew, for example—
"Cut! You piece of crap. Can you actually act? You even claimed you acted in a TV series starring Dicky Cheung, playing Yu Daiyan, the disciple of Zhang Sanfeng? With your level of skill? You actually dare to say you can act? Who are you trying to kid?" The director came close to pointing right at Li Boda's nose and cursing him out.
Li Boda knew acting was his weak spot, so he let the director curse all he wanted, shrinking his neck and just taking it.
After all, Li Boda was an amateur who had never seriously learned how to act.
With his level of ability, he was only fit for playing extras, or perhaps portraying background wallflowers with one or two lines—his face could at least pull that off.
Once a role required any real acting chops, however, Li Boda's true colors were exposed immediately.
So getting chewed out on set was an everyday occurrence for Li Boda.
As long as the director didn't kick him out, he would keep playing his part. If he got chased off, he would just move to another crew, using Dicky Cheung's name to throw his weight around and snag another small role.
Though he occasionally got booted because of his poor acting, Li Boda still managed to snap up quite a few roles in a short span of time by riding on Dicky Cheung's coattails. Even though they were all minor supporting roles, they kept him well-fed and living comfortably.
After all, running errands as an extra usually only paid a few dozen yuan a day, whereas now, a casual small role could net him a few thousand, or two to three hundred yuan a day—sometimes even more. One way or another, Dicky Cheung had truly helped Li Boda fatten up his wallet.
Li Boda used to hold a bit of a grudge against Dicky Cheung; after all, the role of Zhang Cuishan had once been within his grasp, just a single step away.
Right now, though, Li Boda felt like putting up a shrine to worship Dicky Cheung.
At the same time, Li Boda was well aware of his own limitations when it came to acting.
So, in a moment of impulsive fervor, he bought a copy of Actor's Self-Awareness—the very book Stephen Chow's character constantly reads in The King of Comedy.
Yet once he brought the book home, Li Boda discovered he couldn't understand a single word of it.
This damn thing was simply not meant for beginners.
Still, to avoid getting kicked off more film sets and to ensure he could land suitable roles in the future, Li Boda began racking his brains for ways to improve his acting skills.
First, he bought some basic books on the fundamentals of acting.
Second, he made a habit of hanging around the film sets whenever he had free time, watching others act and learning how they did it.
Third, he enrolled in acting training classes.
Some of those training classes were total scams with zero substance, while others had a shred of real know-how.
But training classes all cost money—and not a small amount, either.
Fortunately, thanks to all the small roles he had scored under the banner of Dicky Cheung's name, Li Boda had made a killing and finally saved up enough cash to afford the tuition.
And so, for the next period of time, Li Boda split his energy between practicing martial arts, hunting down acting gigs, and attending training classes to hone his craft.
Just like that, a few months slipped away in a blur.
One day, Li Boda suddenly had a dream.
In his dream, Li Boda was instantly transformed into Yu Daiyan!
Yu Daiyan was originally just a phony Daoist priest goofing off and drifting through life under Taixu Zi. Not just Yu Daiyan, but Song Yuanqiao, Yu Lianzhou, and the others as well—they all followed Taixu Zi, making a living through scams and swindles.
Rather than calling themselves Jianghu wanderers, they were more like a bunch of talentless con artists.
Then, at a certain moment, Li Boda suddenly woke up!
Not quite woke up, but suddenly realized he was Li Boda!
It was as if he had transmigrated into Yu Daiyan, and then one day, his past life memories suddenly awakened, granting him enlightenment regarding his previous incarnation.
Only, Li Boda—no, Yu Daiyan, whose past memories had suddenly awakened—panicked a little bit, and frantically tried to maintain his previous lifestyle habits, continuing to scam and swindle alongside Taixu Zi to keep himself alive.
Right after that, Yu Daiyan suddenly ran into Zhang Junbao—and this Zhang Junbao had Dicky Cheung's face.
Upon seeing a Zhang Junbao bearing Dicky Cheung's face, Yu Daiyan felt that this guy was extremely punchable.
The tone of his voice, the posture he struck while speaking, the way he deliberately stuck his neck out—every single thing about him radiated arrogance, or rather, deliberate posturing.
Even though Yu Daiyan thought Zhang Junbao was begging to be punched, he didn't dare show it because he couldn't beat the guy.
That's right, this Zhang Junbao didn't have much real power at the start either, but no matter what, he was still vastly stronger than Yu Daiyan, a fake Daoist who knew nothing except how to swindle people.
If he actually tried to fight Zhang Junbao, he would undoubtedly end up on the receiving end of the beating.
At the same time, Li Boda realized that his Golden Finger must have activated.
He just hadn't expected that previously, whenever his Golden Finger triggered, he would only dream about the entire life of a character he had played; but this time, he had directly awakened Li Boda's consciousness within the dream.
He had shifted overnight from a mere bystander into an active participant directly pulling the strings.
This sudden change caught him completely off guard.