After boarding the train, Bailiang first took out his thermos to pour himself a cup of hot water. Accompanied by the clack-clack sound of the starting train, he opened a newly purchased book.
*Performing Arts Tutorial: An Actor's Study Manual*
It wasn't that very famous book, *An Actor's Work*, because he had already downloaded the e-book version on his phone.
Love what you do, do what you love!
Although he considered himself just going there for a temporary gig, it didn't stop him from picking up a bit more knowledge that might come in handy.
If it were anyone else, this kind of last-minute cramming would really only serve to show a good attitude.
But Bailiang was obviously not just anyone.
He learned things at an insane speed.
He had already felt this way while reading on the balcony earlier.
Knowledge seemed to smash straight through his cerebral cortex and plunge deep into his mind in a rather brutal fashion, not caring whether he could handle it or not.
Fortunately, when one road ends, another opens up, and he gradually got used to it.
At the same time, the retained information was remarkably active; Bailiang's brain seemed like a piece of fertile land, extremely well-suited for cultivation, where things instantly took root and blossomed!
Immediately afterward, the fruits of knowledge broke through the soil and entered the world.
That was pretty much the gist of it; Bailiang felt his description was quite vivid and apt.
At this rate of efficiency, he felt it wouldn't be long before he was no more inferior than those formal acting graduates who had spent four years in school.
Perhaps this was the cheat code of a time-traveler?
He didn't really care much anyway; after all, how could it count as cheating if he didn't have any restrictions?
However, knowledge gained from paper is ultimately superficial, and success depends on practice.
Taking the train to Yiwu, he declined an invitation from the young lady sitting opposite him to travel together, packed away his book, clutched his tub of protein powder, and took a cab straight to Hengdian.
He quickly found the place.
The crew of *God of War Zhao Zilong*.
As an epic costume hero production with an investment of 200 million, produced by Yongle Film and Television and custom-made by Mango TV.
They even talked about developing IP, making stage plays, making games—in short, omni-channel marketing.
At least that was what the information Bailiang found online said.
There were so many buzzwords that he got a little dizzy reading them.
Finally, he found the content with the highest discussion volume: the two leads.
The male lead was Lin Genxin, and the female lead was that Lin Yoona from the Korean girl group.
These two were indeed household names; Bailiang had watched dramas starring Lin Genxin, and he had also looked at Lin Yoona's legs.
Of course, when looking at legs, he hadn't just looked at hers; there were too many to count.
However, his trip this time probably wouldn't have much intersection with those two. Huang Jingyu had told him that the big stars in the crew all stayed in luxury hotels or presidential suites, with an extremely strict class divide.
Bailiang, who had never mixed in the entertainment industry, naturally had to believe his roommate, feeling that what he said made a lot of sense.
But now he had some doubts, because when Bailiang arrived at the crew's hotel, he saw quite a few people who looked like fans squatting outside.
Some were even holding things like posters.
Most of them were energetic young people, some of whom didn't even look like they had reached adulthood; this group formed the main force of celebrity chasers nowadays.
This also resulted in Bailiang being stopped and mistaken for a fan when he tried to go inside.
"I'm here to audition for the crew," Bailiang explained immediately.
"Audition?" The staff member who stopped him snorted dismissively. "Young man, auditions ended ages ago. Let me tell you, you can't use that trick to chase stars; you won't find anyone even if you sneak in."
Makes sense!
Bailiang suddenly remembered that he might be considered someone taking the backdoor route.
This TV series had indeed already started filming; he had seen photos of the boot ceremony and the worship ceremony online.
That Sister Yang was truly resourceful enough to wedge him in halfway through.
Sister Yang: A small supporting role with hardly any lines, how hard could it be?
But Bailiang didn't know the ropes, so naturally, he thought Sister Yang was amazing.
At the same time, it could be considered a lucky stroke.
How should he cleverly convey this point to the big brother in front of him?
At this moment, Bailiang decided to put aside his super luck and use his super brain instead!
There were a lot of people around right now, so directly stating that he had connections might not be very good, plus his connections weren't that solid...
"You really shouldn't have..."
The staff member "reluctantly" accepted the two packs of Huazi cigarettes Bailiang had just bought, items that ultimately "proved" his identity.
The other man personally led him inside.
"Brother, let's just take a look around, okay? I'll let you in on a secret: Lin Yoona is definitely not staying here. Once the people outside get word, they'll disperse."
This guy was quite interesting; he got the job done while not completely letting Bailiang, this "unidentified person," truly loose inside.
He just brought him along to hang out in the lobby.
"That's fine."
Bailiang felt there was no problem. The person Sister Yang asked him to contact wasn't answering their phone; who knew what they were busy with.
However, they had agreed with him on the time and place for the "audition," which was a meeting in the hotel lobby, so someone should be coming to find him very soon.
He still had that much patience.
Under the strange gaze of the staff member beside him, he even took out his book to read.
Huh?
After seeing the title of the book, that big brother started muttering to himself.
Is he really studying acting?
Of course, Bailiang's face played a part too.
When you're out and about, your face is a name card after all; people could tell his identity at a single glance.
He was a handsome guy.
However, the way Bailiang was holding that tub of protein powder... made it hard for people to figure him out.
When the time came, Bailiang didn't wait for his "contact person," but he really did wait for a celebrity.
About seven or eight minutes after he sat down, a girl with a high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, delicate facial features, and a sweet style accompanied by an obvious exotic charm walked in with her assistant.
Oh~ Guli Nazha!
Bailiang wasn't face-blind; he knew quite a few pretty female celebrities, and since this one was so recognizable, he naturally recognized her at a single glance.
So he couldn't help staring a few extra times.
She had tied her hair into a bun, wearing hot pants that showed off her long legs, and an upper body denim jacket paired with a small white T-shirt... truly good-looking!
Those legs were long, white, and slender~ he wanted to touch them.
As a result, he looked over just as she walked right past him...
Those two pale, slender legs even passed right by Bailiang's fingertips, at their closest only two centimeters away.
Fortunately, he was a man of great character and held back.
The other party naturally wasn't coming for Bailiang, and instead took her assistant and found a sofa to sit down as well.
Her assistant started making phone calls as soon as she sat down, but it seemed she also ran into the same situation as Bailiang—the phone wouldn't go through.
After Guli Nazha arrived, Bailiang stopped reading his book.
They say there are houses of gold within books, and beauties like jade within books.
But since a "beauty like jade" was vividly poking right in front of his eyes, there was naturally no need to look far afield.
Perhaps because his gaze was a bit too open and aboveboard, the big brother who brought him in started to feel a bit restless.
Brother, could you at least be sneaky about it?
"Ahem, we've been staying here for quite a while now...?" the staff member couldn't help reminding him.
"It really has been quite a while; whoever this person is has zero concept of time," Bailiang complained quite genuinely.
The big brother didn't know what to say; he really couldn't figure out what kind of situation this little brother was in.
This kid was way too calm!
Meanwhile, Bailiang's first impression of the crew of *God of War Zhao Zilong* was that they were somewhat unreliable.
It would be one thing if they hadn't specified a time and just made him wait here.
They explicitly agreed on a time, yet they were this late and still hadn't shown up, giving off the distinct impression that this crew was somewhat of a slapdash operation.
Just as he was complaining, a swarm of people suddenly poured in from outside the hotel, chattering away about goodness knows what.
Bailiang was a rookie who didn't understand a thing, so he just sat there watching the commotion.
But Guli Nazha, not far away, had already been in the industry for a few years. Furthermore, being closer to that group of people, she caught a bit of what they were saying and instantly understood the situation.
Something had gone wrong with the crew!