Chapter 3 That time and that moment No. 77 North Third Ring Road, Beijing Film Studio. After making sure that he had found the right place, Xu Kun took out his cell phone to check the time. It was less than ten minutes before six, and it was still early for the time he had agreed to meet with Wang Baoqiang - but at this time, there were already a dozen extras waiting for work outside the door. "Hey~Haaaa~!" Xu Kun was just trying to find a place to hide for a while when a bald man in slippers suddenly appeared from the side, punching, kicking, jumping up and down, and dubbing himself "hehehaha". Xu Kun was just wondering what this guy was up to when a tall and thin young man stood up slowly from the curb across from him. He crossed his arms and sneered, not caring that there was still a piece of newspaper stuck on his butt, "It's just a trifle, nothing more than that." "It's me~~" Upon hearing this, the bald man immediately screamed like Bruce Lee and performed Jet Li's classic starting posture. The arrogant young man with newspaper stuck on his butt was not willing to be outdone. He pulled out an invisible air weapon from his armpit, and with a "swish" sound, he stabbed and chopped at the opponent. Finally, he stabbed the thing that was not sure whether it was a knife or a sword into the back of his head. Thinking about what Wang Baoqiang said yesterday, Xu Kun now roughly understood what was going on. It was probably that two young men mistook him for the leader of the group - not to mention their clothing, although mobile phones have become popular these days, it is far from the level that everyone owns one, not to mention that they are mid-range phones costing three or four thousand yuan. So he waved his hand and said, "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, buddy is also here to wait for work."
As he spoke, he walked around the two of them, found a corner, and squatted on the curb. Seeing that the two had made a mistake, the extras burst into laughter. The cold-blooded young man silently returned to his seat with the newspaper, but the bald man felt ashamed and cursed with a dark face. If it were in his previous life, Xu Kun would have gone to get the big-eared invitation to greet them in the morning. Now he just smiled and squinted his eyes, waiting for Wang Baoqiang to join him. After Xu Kun made up his mind yesterday, he forgot about asking Sixth Brother for advice, and focused on getting close to Wang Baoqiang. He insisted on doing odd jobs with him for half a day, and in the evening he dragged Baoqiang to a nearby food stall to drink. Wang Baoqiang, who had just become an adult, was an honest child. After two bottles of beer, he spoke everything he knew. According to him, when he was a child, he aspired to be the second Jet Li because of the popular movie "Shaolin Temple". So he went to Shaolin Temple to learn martial arts at the age of 8, and came to Beijing alone to work hard at the age of 16. When I first arrived in Beijing, I knew nothing and just waited foolishly outside the Beijing Film Studio. I spent half a year living from hunger to fullness. As a result, I was accidentally injured while working as a stuntman. I didn't even have money to go to the hospital. During the period of recuperation, I was almost kicked out by the landlord. After that, he started doing odd jobs on construction sites, earning enough money for life before pursuing his dreams. From 99 to now, Wang Baoqiang has been working in this circle for nearly two years. Relying on his courage, hard work and ability to endure hardships, he has become slightly famous in the stuntman circle. He can occasionally get a few lines as a minor actor, but his dream of becoming a big star is still far away. In the past two years, he even didn't dare to go home for the New Year, for fear that someone would ask: Big star, what movies have you acted in? To be honest, if Xu Kun had not been certain that Wang Baoqiang would be successful in the future, he would have backed down after hearing about the hardships he had experienced over the years. But since he knows that the future is bright, he will naturally not be discouraged by the twists and turns of the road. In particular, Xu Kun also discovered that his life experiences were quite similar to those of Wang Baoqiang. For example, they all came from small rural areas in Hebei Province; they all started working alone outside before they reached adulthood; they all started learning martial arts at a young age - Baoqiang went to the Shaolin Temple in Songshan when he was eight, and Xu Kun learned lion dancing from his grandfather when he was six; and the trajectories of their lives were changed by movies - Baoqiang watched "Shaolin Temple" and Xu Kun watched "Young and Dangerous". Apart from these, he has more than 20 years of life experience than Wang Baoqiang, some seemingly plausible knowledge about the future, and much better physical conditions. In terms of courage, hard work and the ability to endure hardships, he believes that he is not much inferior. Since Wang Baoqiang can succeed, there is no reason why Xu can't! "Brother, you got up really early." It was not until he heard Wang Baoqiang's somewhat uneasy voice that Xu Kun woke up from his longing for the future.
"Coming." Standing up, Xu Kun took out his cell phone and glanced at it. It was 6:14. Obviously Wang Baoqiang had also left early, but he didn't expect that he would come so early. After putting the phone back into his pocket, he took out a key and threw it to Wang Baoqiang who was smiling awkwardly. Wang Baoqiang hurriedly took it, then looked at Xu Kun in confusion: "Brother, what does this mean?" "I asked Sixth Brother to help me rent a house last night. It's near Erli Village. We each have a bed and a 21-inch TV." Xu Kun was halfway through his speech when he saw Baoqiang was about to return the key as if his hand was burned. He immediately glared at him and said, "You have to pay tuition to enter any profession. Besides, I can't let you do me a favor for nothing!" "This this……" Wang Baoqiang held the key in his hand, his small round, dark face full of shame and guilt. Yesterday at the dinner table, he agreed without thinking to bring Xu Kun into the crew. When he woke up in the morning, he began to regret it. First, he regretted that he shouldn't have been so boastful and made too many promises; second, he felt vaguely that he seemed to have fallen into Xu Kun's trap - he was just honest, but he was definitely not a fool. That's why Wang Baoqiang seemed so nervous and embarrassed when he met Xu Kun just now. However, Xu Kun's current behavior made him feel that he was judging others by his own standards. After a little hesitation, Wang Baoqiang handed the key to Xu Kun and said seriously, "Brother Kun, I will definitely try my best to help you join the crew, but I can't use this house..." "What a hypocritical man." Xu Kun slapped his hand away and asked, "Aren't you determined to be a big star? I'll get you a second-hand DVD player, and we can watch, learn, and study together when we have nothing to do. It's better than you messing around in front of the mirror!" Now Wang Baoqiang was really tempted. He was now squeezed into an old dormitory with seven other people. The space was small, cramped, dark and damp. There was no room for a TV or DVD player, not even a floor-length mirror. He could only use a plastic dressing mirror to practice his facial expressions. In the long run, it is indeed not conducive to honing acting skills. "That, that..." Wang Baoqiang took back the key awkwardly, and suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "Then we can split the rent!" Given his current financial situation, this is definitely a huge burden, but compared to the loss of money, he is more unwilling to owe favors to others. “It’s all about paying tuition.” Xu Kun refused without question: "I can't let you call me Brother Kun for nothing. At worst, when you get better, don't forget to help me. That's enough. If you keep nagging me, I'll get angry!" Although he did this with the intention of making friends, he also really wanted to help Wang Baoqiang. It is said that it is not easy to learn good things, but it is easy to learn bad things. This is especially true for people who practice martial arts. Wang Baoqiang has experienced so many hardships, but he still insists on his original intention and pursues his childhood dream. This alone makes Xu Kun admire him. Baoqiang's face flushed with excitement as he held the key in his hand. He couldn't say anything like "If you become rich, don't forget me", so he could only nod vigorously. At the same time, he secretly made up his mind that he would at least bear the water and electricity bills, and compensate Xu Kun when he made money in the future. Next, he took the initiative to talk about his experience as an extra, which are all the most useful tips for newcomers to the industry, such as how to sell yourself in front of a group; how to resist the urge to look at the camera; how to stand and move so as not to steal the limelight from the lead actor while highlighting yourself as much as possible; and what are the taboos that are usually avoided in the crew. Xu Kun was listening with great interest when a minibus suddenly stopped slowly by the roadside. The extras immediately surrounded it as if they smelled blood. Seeing this, Wang Baoqiang hurriedly called for Xu Kun to follow. Logically speaking, he was a special stunt double for the crew and didn't need to be so anxious, but his body had developed a conditioned reflex and every time he saw extras coming, he couldn't help but squeeze forward. wow~ When the crowd of extras had gathered, a bearded man with a briefcase slowly opened the car door, leaned against the door frame, looked down, and shouted, "Baoqiang, is Baoqiang here?!" "Here it is, Brother Chen, here it is!"
Wang Baoqiang raised one hand high, and together with Xu Kun, he pushed through the crowd and squeezed forward, grinning at the bearded man, revealing his white teeth. "Go up." The bearded man also nodded slightly at him, then stepped aside to make way. "The inner one..." Baoqiang did not get in the car, but looked at Xu Kun beside him and said hesitantly: "Brother Chen, this is my friend, he, he also wants to, also..." Before Baoqiang could finish, the bearded man surnamed Chen already understood what was going on. He looked at Xu Kun's bulging arms, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Have you ever practiced Kung Fu?" Hearing the relaxation in his words, Xu Kun also puffed out his chest and said, "Brother Chen really has a good eye. The northern style lion dance we learned in elementary school is better at pulling, dragging, resisting blows and falls, and lifting things than big animals!" According to the experience imparted by Bao Qiang, in the eyes of these group leaders, it is more important for extras to be able to withstand beatings than to be able to fight, and it is more important for them to be willing to put in effort than to have acting skills. "Okay then, you're one." The bearded man surnamed Chen waved his hand behind him, and Wang Baoqiang and Xu Kun hurriedly got into the car, thanking him profusely. Seeing two people going up, the rest of the extras became more and more agitated. "What's the fuss about?!" The bearded man scolded him and shouted, "Fifty yuan a day, do odd jobs, and add ten yuan for acting as a corpse - and three more who know the tricks and can take the beatings, and their height cannot be less than meters!" These days, the average extra makes around thirty bucks a day, so even though he has many requirements and has to help out with odd jobs on the crew, he still impresses everyone. As soon as the words fell, an excited and strange cry of "Oh my God" was heard from the crowd. The bald man in slippers jumped more than two feet high and screamed "Ouch" when he landed on the ground, as if he had sprained his ankle by stepping on someone else's shoe. "What the hell is this mallet?" Bearded Brother Chen muttered silently, selected three relatively pleasing actors from the extras who had signed up enthusiastically, and then slammed the car door shut. (End of this chapter)
