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Jiang Fanxing emerged from the Actors Guild and successfully obtained an actor certificate.

 

 

To play the role of an actor, one needed to obtain an actor’s certificate, but the requirements for obtaining this certificate were very low. Basically, only an ID card and bank card were needed, and the age couldn’t exceed 60 years old.

 

 

After obtaining this certificate and being pulled into the WeChat group, one could start receiving minor roles.

 

 

“XXX Theatre needs 200 group actors, half men and half women, for 150 a day.”

 

 

“The XXX crew requires 23 prospects, with a height requirement of 175 or above for males and 160 or above for females. Those who meet the requirements should register immediately.”

 

 

“Is a special agent available? Private chat with a special agent if available!”

 

 

……

 

In no time, the messages in the group chat reached 999+.

 

 

Jiang Fanxing took a glance and first closed the WeChat group, preparing to go and see the house he was about to rent.

 

 

In fact, his parents didn’t understand his decision very well.

 

 

Jiang Fanxing refused internship invitations from several law firms, as well as the olive branches handed over by senior students. Instead, he came here alone to play tricks, which seemed like he was possessed by something evil. But his neighbor’s brother suffered from depression due to work pressure, and he was still resting at home. His parents dared not demand too much from him, so they had to go along with him. Although his family couldn’t be called wealthy, they all had retirement pensions and didn’t need their son to support the family, which was enough.

 

 

“I feel uncomfortable not working today.”

 

 

His phone rang, and Jiang Fanxing quickly answered the call but was stunned by the roaring sound coming from the other end.

 

 

“Jiang Fanxing! Don’t think that just passing the judicial exam means you can be successful. Not obtaining a lawyer’s practice qualification certificate is nothing. I’ve taken care of everything for you. After you graduate, I’ll find a way to make you a full-time employee. How many people want to enter our law firm and still have to seek help from their grandparents?”

 

 

On the other end of the phone was Gu Fan, the captain of Jiang Fanxing’s debate team. He came from a privileged family and had been his senior for two terms. He was a lawyer and now a regular employee in Hongqi.

 

 

If it weren’t for Gu Fan’s uncle being one of the partners, just two years wouldn’t be enough for him to intern and become a regular employee, let alone help Jiang Fanxing get the opportunity to become a regular employee.

 

 

“Senior, thank you very much for your kindness, but forget it. I don’t think being a lawyer is suitable for me,” Jiang Fanxing said seriously.

 

 

 

“How are you not suitable? You worked hard to defeat so many people in the college entrance examination and got into the law department of our university. You passed all the exams, yet you’re saying you aren’t suitable?”

 

 

“Senior, do you want to go find a mirror to look at yourself? And the other day, when we were partying, you got drunk and said that anyone who advised people to learn the law should be punished by a thousand cuts.”

 

 

Gu Fan over there suddenly stopped squeaking.

 

 

After all, now he wasn’t the same person who was once the school prince of the university. If it weren’t for Jiang Fanxing’s enrollment, he would probably have been able to maintain his reputation for two more years.

 

 

But now, his hair was falling off every day, his figure was developing horizontally, and he even had acne that he had never had.

 

 

Gu Fan dared not look at himself in the mirror.

 

 

“I’m in Hengdian now,” Jiang Fanxing said slowly.

 

 

“What are you doing in Hengdian?” Gu Fan was shocked.

 

 

“Senior, it’s said that one speaks the truth after drinking, and I think you were right.” Jiang Fanxing thought for a moment and said seriously, “I really let down the beauty my parents finally gave me when I went to become a lawyer. And I didn’t tell you before that I wanted to be a lawyer because I watched TV dramas when I was a child. But now, I think I was wrong. The people who played the roles of lawyers were actors, so I should go and become an actor instead of a lawyer. I’ve also checked my information, and the most suitable job for me is to be a celebrity.”

 

 

“Is the information you checked legitimate?”

 

 

“Seriously, there are a lot of workers here. And I only spent ten yuan to get an actor’s certificate. When I work as an extra, I get 108 yuan a day, and I get two to three meals.” Jiang Fanxing said seriously, “And I only work for ten hours a day. When there are no scenes to shoot, I can sit next to my phone and play. If it exceeds one hour, I will get an extra ten yuan. I went to your place for an internship and worked for fifteen hours a day without being able to rest. The internship salary was only 80 yuan per day, and they don’t care about food! I’ve been working for three months and can’t continue. I think law firms are even worse than capitalists.”

 

 

“But our industry has a future.”

 

 

“There is a way to make money in the entertainment industry. After calculating the money, if I want to retire at the age of 35, it is still the entertainment industry that receives money the fastest.” Jiang Fanxing replied, “The most crucial thing is one thing.”

 

 

“What?” Gu Fan felt that Jiang Fanxing probably couldn’t spit out any ivory from his dog mouth, but he still asked.

 

[TN: He felt that nice words wouldn’t come from a bad source.]

 

 

“I can’t argue with the people from the law firm, but I have been able to argue while running errands here to protect my own rights. It’s the soft persimmons that people choose to squeeze, and I think I can better utilize my strengths here.”

 

 

[TN: It’s the weak who get picked on; bullies pick soft targets.]

 

 

“Our industry is highly respected!”

 

 

“But this profession has a high aesthetic value, which is unlike a law firm, that place really hurts my eyes. As a school graduate, I can’t be ruined like that.”

 

 

Before Jiang Fanxing could finish speaking, Gu Fan on the other end had already hung up.

 

 

Alas, his senior had only been working for two years, and his temper had become increasingly irritable.

 

 

Fortunately, I am still mentally stable.

 

 

 

Jiang Fanxing opened the camera on his phone and found himself still as beautiful as a flower, and was relieved.

 

 

Rent a house first, then make money.

 

—————————

 

 

At five o’clock in the morning, Jiang Fanxing sat sleepily on the extras’ bus on the set.

 

 

They were going to the costume crew today, so they had to queue up early in the morning to put on makeup. When they arrived at the place, those who read their names went to put on makeup first, and the rest of them each took a bag of breakfast and ate first.

 

 

On the first day of work, Jiang Fanxing was worried about the poor quality of breakfast but found that it was actually good. There were eggs, steamed stuffed buns, and deep-fried dough sticks, and almost all of them were still hot, which was much better than the law firm.

 

 

“Big brother, it’s my first day working as an extra. Can you tell me any precautions?” Jiang Fanxing didn’t have a big appetite and handed the extra meat bun to a middle-aged man.

 

 

The middle-aged man glanced at Jiang Fanxing twice but didn’t pick up his bun; instead, he glanced at him and asked, “Are you an internet celebrity anchor?”

 

 

“Ah, I’m not.”

 

 

 

“Then you’re a college student, the kind who hasn’t graduated yet.”

 

 

“Big brother, you are so accurate in judging people.”

 

 

“We are all here to make a living. When we start working, we have money and manage our meals. If we don’t want to work, we can leave at any time. There is no dream of becoming a celebrity. Only you young and beautiful people come here to play tricks, either to experience life or to make videos. We have seen so many of you,” the middle-aged person spoke casually.

 

 

“Yes, it’s not like I’m not working for anyone.” Jiang Fanxing nodded. “I interned outside, and I was only paid 80 yuan a day. I don’t care about food, but I can still afford to work as an extra and experience life. That’s why I’m here.”

 

 

“Is it so sinister outside now? By the way, how tall are you?”

 

 

“I’m 1.85 meters tall,” Jiang Fanxing immediately replied.

 

 

“Oh, if you have this height, you can play the role of a guard or something. The salary is higher than just playing the role of an extra. You can be a prospective actor or a contracted actor, but you need to take the exam first.” The middle-aged man replied, “I just don’t have the height; otherwise, I wouldn’t play background roles.”

 

 

The so-called background actors were those who stood on the background board behind the lead actor, and if they looked good, they could have two more shots and recite meaningless lines such as “How does this thing sell?” and “This thing tastes really good.” The salary was basically between 220 and 300 yuan, and the working hours were slightly longer, mostly fixed at 16 hours. However, if they exceeded 16 hours, even one minute, they would have to pay half a day’s salary, and if they worked hard, they could earn over 10,000 yuan per month.

 

 

 

And for special actors, it was even more expensive, starting at a salary of 400 yuan and without any working hours. As long as you finished your work, you could immediately leave, and the production team would send a special car to pick you up. They usually played the roles of little guards or maids.

 

 

However, the above two actors needed to take an exam. One had to first pay attention to the official site to register. The content of the exam was to read lines and perform without material objects. However, it wasn’t difficult for Jiang Fanxing to have dialogue and perform without physical objects. Their debate team at A University was well-known nationwide, and their dialogue skills during the debate had undergone strict training. He even went to the broadcasting department of the neighboring Communication University to attend classes. As for performing without physical objects, there was no problem. In high school, he joined a performance club because of his good looks and barely learned basic acting.

 

 

After Jiang Fanxing had a rough understanding of the development prospects of the actors, he eagerly joined the team of extras without hesitation.

 

 

Don’t talk to him about social status, wasting education, and so on. If he didn’t do this, he wouldn’t be able to afford to eat anymore. Why bother so much? Anyway, in his senior year, he had nothing to do. It was better to make money first. If he became famous, he would become the first-party of a law firm in the future.

 

 

Jiang Fanxing imagined his unreal future, which was him becoming famous overnight, and then happily went to become an extra.

 

 

His first role was that of a corpse.

 

 

This job was good; not only did it come with red envelopes, but it only took a lie on the ground to get it done.

 

 

There was no need to use his brain; it was really exciting.

 

 

The second character was dressed in mourning, playing a small role as an elder brother.

 

 

As a result, the boss of the extra actors took him and several other popular actors to the production team, and an extra fifty yuan was successfully added to his fee.

 

 

Jiang Fanxing was stunned.

 

 

“Do the crew comply with labor laws like this now? Even outside companies don’t pay us overtime pay.” Labor laws were basically nonexistent. Even law firms, which specialized in researching laws, didn’t comply with labor laws. Instead, they provided you with a bunch of clauses that exploited legal loopholes in your internship contract. Unexpectedly, the entertainment industry’s production teams were very compliant with the regulations.

 

 

“These crew members are not just working on one project. If they default on the salary, it will immediately spread throughout the group, and we won’t be here if they have a project again in the future.” The middle-aged man was very clear about this. “They dare to default on the screenwriter’s salary and the production teams’ salary, but not ours; we work day by day.”

 

 

Jiang Fanxing silently gave a thumbs up and suddenly felt that the job of an extra was particularly promising.

 

 

By the way, the boxed lunch for the crew was also very good. There were basically staple dishes and meat. The staple food could be rice or mantou. The only downside was that the clothes and shoes in the group performance were almost always smelly, and as soon as he returned to the rented house, he had to take a good shower.

 

 

Jiang Fanxing opened the official account of the Actors Guild, submitted his identity information and certificate information, and directly registered for the future actor exam next week and the special actor exam one month later.

 

 

As long as he passed the exams, he could take on higher-paying roles.

 

 

“If a prospective actor earns three hundred yuan a day, it’s nine thousand yuan per month. My rent is only two thousand yuan, and I can still make a net profit of seven thousand yuan.” Jiang Fanxing calculated and remembered that he had interned at a law firm for three months; not only did he not make any money, but he also poured his scholarship money into it. He couldn’t help but curse, “Indeed, the higher the education, the more unscrupulous the boss is.”

 

 

With this in mind, Jiang Fanxing took a photo of the salary he received today and posted it on his WeChat Moments with the caption “Being a slave pays well.”

 

 

The post was only visible to friends in the workgroup.

 

 

After posting on social media, Jiang Fanxing planned to sleep, but who among young people wouldn’t stay up late? He kept scrolling through classic movies from the past, trying to figure out what acting was all about, and lasted until two or three in the morning before slowly falling asleep.

 

 

Before falling asleep, Jiang Fanxing was still wondering if he could get up tomorrow morning. But when he turned around and thought about it, it didn’t matter anymore. If he didn’t have any work, he’d just find a place to sleep and play.

 

 

How much would it cost to work continuously for ten hours?

 

 

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TN:

I found a niceeeee one. Updates will be regular/semi regular before I set a proper schedule. Soooo, see ya tomorrow!!!