Qiangzi had been feeling a bit down lately. It wasn't about money—the authors he managed, especially Yang Yi, had been performing exceptionally well over the past few months, boosting his own performance metrics. His boss had even given him a raise and a bonus as a result.
His worry also wasn't about being pressured into marriage. Approaching thirty, being urged by family to date and settle down was something Qiangzi had grown used to. But recently, his family had left him alone, and he was enjoying the freedom!
No, his worry was still because of Yang Yi. This restless author was usually nowhere to be found and never bothered to manage his own book review section. But whenever he did reach out, it was never good news!
Take this time, for example—Yang Yi was planning to write two books simultaneously.
"You want to start a new book?" Qiangzi was stunned. "Why?"
Yang Yi's answer was still fresh in Qiangzi's mind: "Because I'm out of money."
At that moment, Qiangzi felt utterly defeated... Saying you're broke in front of someone who's poor? Qiangzi clearly remembered Yang Yi's royalty settlement from last month—the number on it was seven digits long!
Of course, Qiangzi couldn't mock his own author. He could only bitterly advise Yang Yi, telling him that writing two books at once would hurt the quality, earnestly trying to talk him out of it.
But even as he said these things, Qiangzi knew it was pointless.
Sure enough, when Yang Yi made up his mind, how could Qiangzi possibly persuade him? Instead, Qiangzi ended up being "convinced" by Yang Yi.
Yang Yi didn't waste much time chatting with Qiangzi on social media. He simply sent over a few chapters of the draft, and after reading them, Qiangzi found himself irresistibly drawn into the criminal world Yang Yi had constructed.
"Is it good?" Wu Yubin from the technical department asked, pulling Qiangzi aside.
"It's good!" Qiangzi added, still craving more, "Even better than *Yu Zui*!"
"That exaggerated?" Wu Yubin asked in surprise.
"Seriously, I feel like not letting Yang Yi write this novel would be a crime!" Qiangzi recalled the plot and felt an itch in his heart. "So let him upload it quickly—I want to follow along too! No, I need him to send me the next chapters first so I can help him fix typos... if there are any..."
Wu Yubin chuckled and said, "Alright, so what do you need from me? Don't tell me you want me to suffer the same way?"
"Of course not! Though I wouldn't mind getting you hooked too, haha!" Qiangzi explained. "Here's the thing: Yang Yi said his book needs to come with illustrations. He'll draw them himself, but our website currently doesn't allow images in published chapters. Is there any way you can help solve that?"
"Illustrations too?" Wu Yubin was a bit surprised. "Is he writing a light novel?"
"No, it's a crime novel, very meticulous. But some parts just can't be described with words alone; illustrations are needed to convey certain information," Qiangzi said.
"I see. Has the editor-in-chief approved this?" Wu Yubin asked. "Technically, it's not a big problem. There are examples from forums and other sources that give us code we can borrow, but it'll take some time to refine and test."
"Hu Da has already given the green light!" Qiangzi said. "Is seven days enough? We're planning to launch it on September 1st, which gives us just over a week to arrange promotion."
"No problem!" Wu Yubin nodded.
...
"Fatty, get over here!"
Guo Ziyi, who was gulping down water in the shade of a tree, heard the call and jumped up with a start. He hurried over, almost jogging, to the young man who liked to clip a pen behind his ear.
"Hello, Brother Dabin! Hello, Director Ruan!" Guo Ziyi said with a grin, his hands moving quickly as he pulled out a pack of good cigarettes and offered them.
Guo Ziyi didn't smoke, but after hanging around for a while, he had learned a few "tricks," like buying two packs of cigarettes—one expensive and one cheap—and keeping them in separate pockets.
The middle-aged man in a straw hat, whom Guo Ziyi called Director Ruan, wasn't really a director yet—at best, he was an assistant director, handling some minor scenes. He was a protégé of Chen Fengchen, but his skills were still lacking, so Chen Fengchen left most of the auxiliary work to his own assistant director.
But for extras who never got close to the big director, this Director Ruan was the real big shot!
"Brother Dabin recommended you to me. Try this role. There are two lines: something like 'General, the enemy is here' and 'The sword is gone.' Take this script and look it over, memorize the lines!" Director Ruan glanced at Guo Ziyi, quite pleased with his slightly comical chubby appearance, and said.
Lines? That was the treatment of a special guest actor!
Guo Ziyi felt a surge of joy and quickly thanked Director Ruan and Brother Dabin. Director Ruan was busy, so he waved them off, signaling that they needed to clear the set for filming.
Brother Dabin took a few steps and then said meaningfully to Guo Ziyi, "Fatty, when you make it big, don't forget I gave you a leg up!"
"How could I forget?" Guo Ziyi laughed. "Brother Dabin, thank you so much for this opportunity! How about I treat you and Director Ruan to dinner at Cumin Village tonight?"
Cumin Village was just a barbecue stall, nothing fancy, but it suited Guo Ziyi's status as a bit player. Brother Dabin went there often, usually treated by the extras.
Brother Dabin was pleased with Guo Ziyi's "savviness" and nodded. "Just treat me. Director Ruan doesn't care about that, and if you invite him to Cumin Village, he'd look down on it."
After parting ways with Brother Dabin, Guo Ziyi couldn't wait to sit back down in the shade and study the script intently.
Though he had spent a few days with the other extras and picked up some fake tricks, Guo Ziyi hadn't forgotten his true goal. He was a man destined to be a big actor, a big star. Seizing the opportunity, he had to work hard and hone his acting skills!
"Looks like Xiao Guo is about to hit it big!" a few rural buddies whispered among themselves, not daring to disturb him.
"Probably. He's got the script now, so it must be a major role."
"What major role? It's just a small extra with two lines," Guo Ziyi overheard and, instead of acting aloof, looked up and smiled at his buddies as usual.
"Lines? That's not an extra; that's a guest role!"
"Exactly, he can earn several days' worth of our pay in one day!"
"But guest roles aren't guaranteed every day. We extras are more stable."
"Look at you, no ambition..."
Murmuring softly, the rural buddies stopped bothering Guo Ziyi and continued chatting in hushed tones.
"Hey, have you heard? Seems like the big director hasn't been around for a few days. He's left everything to the assistant director, so that Ruan guy has more to do!"
"Where'd he go? Is he sick? Old folks get sick easily. My dad..."
"Who said he's sick? Don't spread rumors. I heard he's on a business trip, not even filming."
"How do you know so much? You even know about the big director's business?"
"That's because I learned from Xiao Guo—eavesdropping. Those actors gossip all the time!" a short, heavily accented rural buddy muttered. "You guys hang out with Xiao Guo all day, but you haven't learned a thing!"
"Oh, Geng Xia, so diligent! Are you trying to become a guest actor too?"
There were always those who didn't work hard themselves but spent their time sour-graping others...