China Entertainment 1997

February 1997, Xinwu Film and Television Base

With the shouts of the on-site director of the "Water Margin" crew, today's filming task ended and the whole team called it a day.

He found a shelter from the wind and took off his thin Song Army clothes. Before Cao Xuan could put on his military coat, he couldn't help but sneeze several times.

Roommate Zhang Chong, who was busy taking off his boots next to him, looked at his somewhat red face and took the initiative to take the costume from Cao Xuan.

"I'll return the props and costumes for you. If you have a fever and don't feel well, you'd better go back and rest first."

Cao Xuan shook his swollen and groggy head without refusing, thanked him, handed the things to Zhang Chong, and left the shooting scene to return to his dormitory.

Back in the dormitory, Cao Xuan borrowed Banlan root from a fellow in the next dormitory, drank it with hot water, and then lay on the bed, wrapped tightly in the quilt, covered with a military coat, while resting, trying to cover up the sweat to get rid of the illness. .

Not long after, Cao Xuan fell asleep and had a long, long dream.

In his dream, he saw the half-life of another "Cao Xuan".

In the beginning, the experiences of "Cao Xuan" and Cao Xuan were almost the same. He failed the college entrance examination when he was 18 years old, and followed his relatives from his hometown of Zao City, Shandong Province to work in the capital.

After moving bricks at the construction site for several months, he was roped into being an extra by accident. Then he opened the door to a new world and gloriously became an extra in Beipiao, squatting in front of the Beijing Film Studio.

In the 1990s, China's film and television industry was not very developed, and ordinary actors were struggling, let alone group actors like Cao Xuan.

After one year of drifting to the north, Cao Xuan's life was not satisfactory, it could even be said to be miserable.

However, Cao Xuan persisted, but the "Cao Xuan" was forced to make a living and finally chose to change careers and become a paparazzi reporter.

For more than 20 years since then, "Cao Xuan" has been fighting in the entertainment gossip circle.

At first, he was a paparazzi, capturing news and then selling it to entertainment magazines. Later, with the advent of the Internet era, "Cao Xuan" seized the opportunity and became the first batch of online gossip media to enter the social platform.

After that, "Cao Xuan", who had accumulated a certain amount of capital, directly founded his own studio, operated self-media and marketing accounts for entertainment gossip in batches, and became a small boss.

Having been in the industry for many years, although "Cao Xuan" has never made any shocking revelations, he is well-known in the domestic gossip circle due to his seniority, wide connections, and knowledge of the major and minor affairs of the entertainment industry. characters.

Although he was not living a wealthy life, he still had a car, a house, and plenty of food and clothing.

Unfortunately, when life was on the line, "Cao Xuan" died young in a traffic accident.

Cao Xuan, who was lying in bed, was frightened by the big truck coming in his dream and woke up from the bed.

………

"call……"

After wiping the sweat from his forehead, Cao Xuan stood up and looked around. Several roommates were sleeping soundly on the bed, and the photography assistant Wu Dawei was snoring loudly and occasionally gritting his teeth.

He pinched his thigh quietly and felt the pain. Cao Xuan felt much more relaxed.

As a result, he lay down and was about to go back to sleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, the memories of more than 20 years of later life experienced by "Cao Xuan" in the dream, every minute and minute, kept flooding in his mind.

No matter how slow Cao Xuan reacted, he realized that what he had just experienced was not simple.

This strange dream made Cao Xuan seem to have more than twenty years of memories out of thin air, and they were the kind that would never be forgotten.

Cao Xuan originally thought that he was possessed by some ghost, but he quickly found a more suitable adjective from the strange dream.

Time travel and rebirth!

Cao Xuan once doubted whether he was the reborn "Cao Xuan" and now his memory had awakened, but he soon overturned this idea.

Because he could clearly feel that he did not have the emotion of "Cao Xuan" in the dream.

The people and events that "Cao Xuan" has experienced for more than 20 years, for Cao Xuan, are like watching a super feature-length movie.

There may be empathy for some scenes, but it is definitely not empathy. Many things seem familiar, but are actually very strange.

Young people are very receptive, especially since Cao Xuan now has more than 20 years of memory bonus from later generations.

Cao Xuan quickly clarified the contradiction in this matter.

No matter what happens to you is traveling through parallel time and space, rebirth in the quantum realm, or a fantasy version of soul seizing.

Anyway, he is Cao Xuan.

As for these memories of "Cao Xuan", treat them as golden fingers given to him by God.

The word "gold finger" was also learned from a strange dream. Cao Xuan learned how to use it and applied it directly to himself...

………

After temporarily letting go of his psychological burden, Cao Xuan, who was hit on the head by a gift package from heaven, could no longer sleep.

He put on his clothes to prevent himself from getting cold by rolling over in the quilt, and then he focused on groping for the golden finger he had just obtained.

An hour later, through preliminary research, Cao Xuan truly understood how this golden finger would bring about earth-shaking changes in his life.

Apart from other things, Cao Xuan is currently in the acting industry.

With the prophetic information, as long as Cao Xuan can play a few popular film and television roles, it will not be difficult to become a first-line artist. At that time, the salary will probably be calculated in units of "joy".

At that time, regardless of anything else, I first stocked up a dozen houses in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

Even if the golden finger loses its effect in the future and his career as an artist is over, with these houses, Cao Xuan can comfortably be a landlord for the rest of his life.

The "billionaire dream" and "superstar dream" that were previously out of reach are now helped by Golden Finger. Although they are still far away, as long as they plan properly, Cao Xuan has a great chance of realizing them.

Realizing this, Cao Xuan clenched his fists tightly and used great willpower to resist the urge to raise his arms and shout.

Nearly two years of hard work in low-level group performances have given Cao Xuan a maturity and restraint far beyond his peers.

After a few minutes of excitement, Cao Xuan brought himself back to the cold reality.

The future is bright, but the road must be walked step by step.

Otherwise, with only 415 yuan and 60 cents left in his pocket, let alone buying a courtyard house, he would have to think about how to save money by taking the train even when he returns to the capital...

Looking at the stars outside the window, Cao Xuan thought about his future.

It didn't take long for Cao Xuan to set his sights on the entertainment industry.

Not only because he is familiar with it, but the entertainment industry is also the focus of "Cao Xuan"'s career, which makes it easier for him to make better use of his golden fingers.

Moreover, as China continues to develop in the future and the national economic level improves, the cultural and entertainment industry will be one of the most promising industries in China in the next thirty years, and it is worth Cao Xuan's efforts to develop in depth.

As for the Internet, real estate, finance, medicine and other industries, although they also have bright futures, the threshold is too high and Cao Xuan cannot afford it now.

The cultural and entertainment industry was tentatively decided, and in a short period of time, Cao Xuan did not dare to develop much ambition.

Just set a rough stage goal——

The first step is to become an official actor or singer.

The second step is to become famous.

The third step is to make money and buy a courtyard house.

The fourth step is to make money and buy another courtyard house.

………

Cao Xuanchang was thinking and planning for the future. The sky outside was gradually getting brighter, and people were already walking around in the corridor outside the door.

I glanced at the old watch in my hand and saw that it was already 6:40 in the morning. There was no advance notice today. According to the crew's regulations, it was normally 8 o'clock to gather and wait for the set. Counting the time for washing and rushing to eat, it was time to get up.

After lifting the "seal of the winter quilt", Cao Xuan quickly put on his clothes, woke up fellow performer Zhang Chong, and then took a washbasin and a thermos to the shared bathroom outside to wash up.

As for the other roommates, they all have non-acting jobs, and the time to get up and report for work is uncertain, so there is no need for Cao Xuan to be a human alarm clock.

As long as they don't wash their hair in winter, most men wash up very quickly. Washing their face + brushing their teeth can be done in up to 5 minutes.

When Cao Xuan and Zhang Chong walked down from the dormitory building together and rushed to the canteen next to them, it was just early 7 o'clock.

"Water Margin" is produced by CCTV, and the crew as a whole is still in the planned economy mode. The food in the canteen is not good, but the food is large and enough.

Breakfast: steamed buns, eggs, fried dough sticks, steamed buns with more vegetables and less meat, pickles, white rice porridge, and millet porridge.

Except for eggs, which are limited to one per person, steamed buns and fried dough sticks are on a first-come, first-served basis. You can eat whatever you want, but don't waste food.

Compared to when the three brothers Liu, Guan, and Zhang were so hungry that they stole corn during the filming of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the crew of "Water Margin" can be said to be wealthy.

Cao Xuan and the other two were lucky enough to arrive early and grab the big buns.

The ratio of meat to radish filling is very impressive, but it is still a bit meaty.

The big buns in the cafeteria are very real, each one is about the size of an adult's fist. Even young men like Cao and Zhang usually only dare to order 2 to 3 buns, and they really can't eat more.

During the meal, Zhang Chong complained that he was freezing yesterday and hoped that he could be assigned a relaxing role today. Cao Xuan nodded perfunctorily, but he had the idea of ​​​​leaving in his heart.

Cao Xuan has only been on the set of "Water Margin" for a short period of time, only a few days.

This period of time coincides with the Chinese New Year. Many extras at the Xinwu Film and Television Base are local people. As the new year approaches, they go home to celebrate the New Year.

The crew didn't wait for anyone to film, so they could only try to increase money to win over, while sending people back to the capital to urgently recruit a group of professional extras to survive this difficult period.

Cao Xuan came to the "Water Margin" crew at this time.

The daily salary is 35 yuan, which is not a lot of money, but it is not bad, and the food, housing and plumbing expenses are taken care of. The most important thing is stability.

Anyone who has worked in the group acting industry knows that it is common to be out of work, and those who are unlucky may not be able to perform for half a month.

Therefore, compared to staying in the capital and working regularly, this kind of "short-term business trip" with a stable income is very tempting for group performers, not to mention that food, accommodation and travel are free.

Before that, Cao Xuan's goal was to see if he could stay on the crew of "Water Margin" as a follower.

He specializes in playing roles that have a few lines but are all fleeting, such as the waiter, the messenger, the customer buying cooking cakes, Song General A and Song Bing Yi who were chopped down by Liangshan heroes, etc.

Not only is it stable, but the pay is higher than that of ordinary group members, and it also counts as a qualification.

Now that he has Golden Finger, Cao Xuan will naturally not limit himself to extras and wants to leave the crew and return to the capital to look for opportunities.

Just when Cao Xuan was thinking about how to ask the crew for remuneration, he asked if the train ticket back home would be reimbursed.

Sitting opposite him was a thin man with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, protruding cheekbones, and a pair of windy ears behind his ears. He looked a bit like the humanoid demon in "Journey to the West".

This person's name is Sun Jiang, nicknamed Monkey, and he is an extra in "Water Margin" who came from the capital with Cao Xuan and Zhang Chong.

Cao Xuan and Sun Jiang were acquaintances when they were in the capital. They knew each other but were not familiar with each other. After they came to Xinwu together, they established some friendship.

However, Zhang Chong and Sun Jiang have a good relationship. They are both fellows from Henan Province.

"Lao Zhang and Lao Cao, have you heard? Something big has happened."

Before Sun Jiang could sit firmly on his butt, he immediately started yelling. Cao Xuan calmly took a bite of the bun and glanced at him.

"What's the big deal? The national football team qualified for the 1998 World Cup? Xiangjiang returned early? Or is it a lie that Wang Fei gave birth to a baby?"

"It's not that big... Damn it, when did Wang Fei give birth to the child?"

Sun Jiang, who claimed to be a die-hard fan of Wang Fei, was confused, but Zhang Chong next to him couldn't stand it.

"It's been more than a month, and you don't read newspapers and magazines?"

“If I don’t have money to buy it, I won’t read it.”

Zhang Chong was overwhelmed by Sun Jiang's righteousness, but Cao Xuan stopped the discussion between the two in time.

"Monkey, what's going on? Stop showing off."

Only then did Sun Jiang remember his purpose and said with a mysterious face: "The latest news I just got is that Li Qiang had an accident in the city yesterday. He was seriously injured. It is said that he will not be able to get out of bed for several months."

"Li Qiang, who plays Ximen Qing?"

"That's him. Team A is currently filming Yang Gu's scenes. Ximen Qing is injured and probably has to be replaced."

"Tsk tsk, I don't know who to replace. It would be great if I could choose from our group of performers. I might have a chance."

"Just you? Go back and drink more water."

"What do you mean?"

"Pee yourself and look in the mirror."

"..."

Zhang Chong and Sun Jiang were quarreling with each other, but they didn't see Cao Xuan next to him, who was a little thoughtful after hearing the news.