Chapter 3 That Time
No. 77, North Third Ring Road Middle Road, Beijing Film Studio.
After confirming that he had found the right place, Xu Kun took out his phone and checked the time. It was ten minutes before six o'clock, which was still early before the time agreed with Wang Baoqiang - but at this time, there were already a dozen people waiting outside the door. Children's group performance.
"Hey~haha~!"
Xu Kun was just about to find a place to hang out for a while, when suddenly a bald man wearing slippers appeared from the side, punching and kicking, jumping up and down, and dubbing himself with "hehehahaha".
Xu Kun was wondering what kind of person this person was, when a tall and slender young man across from him slowly stood up from the curb. Regardless of the fact that there was still half a newspaper stuck to his butt, he crossed his arms and sneered with a sidelong glance: "It's a small skill, but it's just mediocre. "
"Me~~"
When the bald man heard this, he immediately screamed like Bruce Lee and showed Jet Li's classic starting move.
Not to be outdone, the cold and arrogant young man with the newspaper stuck to his buttocks pulled out an invisible air weapon from his armpit, slashed and stabbed each other with a "swish" sound in his mouth, and finally used the thing that was not a knife or a sword. He stabbed himself hard into the back of the head.
Thinking about what Wang Baoqiang said yesterday, Xu Kun roughly understood what was going on. It was probably because the two stupid young men mistook him for the group leader - not to mention the clothes and dress, although mobile phones these days It has begun to become popular, but it is far from the level where everyone has one, let alone a mid-range machine costing three to four thousand.
So he waved his hand and said: "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, my brother is also here to wait for work."
With that said, he walked around the two of them, found a corner, and squatted on the curb.
Seeing that the two people had made a mistake, the extras burst into laughter. The cold young man silently sat back down with the newspaper, but the bald man was a little shy and could not sheath the knife, and cursed with a dark face.
If it had been left to his previous life, Xu Kun would have gone to greet him with a big ear post in the morning.
Now he just smiled and squinted his eyes, waiting for Wang Baoqiang to come over and join him.
After Xu Kun made up his mind yesterday, he forgot about asking Sixth Brother for advice and focused on trying to get close to Wang Baoqiang. He accompanied him to do odd jobs for half a day, and then took Baoqiang to a nearby food stall in the evening. drink wine.
Wang Baoqiang, who has just grown up, is an honest child, and he knows everything he wants to say after drinking two bottles of beer.
According to him, when he was a child, he was determined to be second to Jet Li because of the popular movie "Shaolin Temple", so he went to the Shaolin Temple to practice martial arts when he was 8 years old, and when he was 16 years old, he came to Beijing alone to work hard.
When I first arrived in the capital, I didn’t know anything. I just waited outside the Beijing Film Studio and hung out for half a year, hungry and full. As a result, I was accidentally injured while doing a martial arts stunt. I didn’t even have the money to go to the hospital to recuperate. During this period, I was almost kicked out by the landlord.
After that, he started doing odd jobs on construction sites to earn enough for his living needs before pursuing his dreams.
From 1999 to now, Wang Baoqiang has been working hard in this circle for two years. He has endured hardships by daring to fight and fight hard. He is barely famous in the martial arts circle. He can occasionally get a few lines as a sidekick. But the dream of becoming a big star is still far away.
In the past two years, he has not even dared to go home to celebrate the New Year, for fear that someone would ask: Big star, what movies have you acted in?
To be honest, if he hadn't been sure that Wang Baoqiang would become famous in the future, Xu Kun would have given up after hearing the hardships he had experienced over the years.
But since he knows that the future is bright, he will not be deterred by the twists and turns of the road.
In particular, Xu Kun also discovered that his and Wang Baoqiang's life experiences were quite similar.
For example, they all came from small places in the countryside of Hebei; they all worked hard outside alone when they were underage; they all started practicing martial arts at a young age - Baoqiang went to Songshan Shaolin at the age of eight, and Xu Kun learned lion dancing from his grandfather at the age of six; It's all because movies have changed the trajectory of life - Bao Qiang watched "Shaolin Temple" and Xu Kun watched "Young and Dangerous".
Apart from these, he has more than twenty years of life experience than Wang Baoqiang, some specious knowledge about the future, and a much better appearance.
In terms of being brave enough to fight and endure hardships, he thinks he is not much inferior.
Since Wang Baoqiang can succeed, there is no reason why he, Xu, can’t!
"Brother, you got up really early."
It wasn't until Wang Baoqiang's uneasy voice came to his ears that Xu Kun woke up from his longing for the future.
"Coming."
Standing up, Xu Kun took out his phone and glanced at it. It was 6:14. Apparently Wang Baoqiang had also left early, but he didn't expect that he would come so early.
Putting the phone back in his pocket, he took out the key and threw it towards Wang Baoqiang, who was smiling awkwardly.
Wang Baoqiang hurriedly caught it, and then looked at Xu Kun with confusion: "Brother, what does this mean?"
"Last night, I asked my sixth brother to help me rent a house. It's near Erli Village. We each have a bed and a 21-inch TV." Xu Kun was mid-sentence when he saw that Bao Qiang had burned his hand. He was about to return the key, and immediately glared and said: "What kind of industry can you join without paying tuition? Besides, I can't let you waste your favor!"
"This, this..."
Wang Baoqiang held the key, his dark round face full of shame.
Yesterday at the wine table, he vaguely agreed to bring Xu Kun into the crew. When he woke up in the morning, he began to regret it. Firstly, he regretted that he should not have been so talkative about taking care of Xu Kun; secondly, he felt vaguely that he had fallen in love with Xu Kun. Kun's trick - he is only sincere, but he is by no means a fool.
That's why Wang Baoqiang looked so nervous and embarrassed when he saw Xu Kun just now.
However, Xu Kun's current behavior made him feel that he was judging a gentleman's heart with a villain's heart. After a slight hesitation, Wang Baoqiang handed the key in his hand to Xu Kun and said seriously: "Brother Kun, I will definitely try my best to help you get into the crew, but I can't do this house..."
"You guys are so pretentious."
Xu Kun slapped his hand away and asked, "Aren't you determined to be a big star? I'll buy a second-hand DVD player later. We can watch, learn, and ponder while we have nothing to do. It's better than you alone looking at the mirror blindly." Toss strong!”
Now Wang Baoqiang is really tempted. He is now crowded with seven people in an old dormitory. The space is small, cramped, dark and damp. Not to mention the TV and DVD player, there is no room for even a floor-length mirror. He can only use a plastic case to dress up. Use the mirror to do facial expression training.
In the long run, it is indeed not conducive to honing acting skills.
"That, that..."
Wang Baoqiang took back the key sarcastically, and suddenly gritted his teeth and said: "Then we will share the rent equally!"
With his current financial conditions, this is definitely a huge burden, but he is more unwilling to owe a favor debt than a financial deficit.
"They say you have to pay the tuition."
Xu Kun refused without a doubt: "I can't let you call me Brother Kun in vain. At worst, you can get away with it later. Don't forget to give me a hand. Okay, if you keep complaining, I will fall out." !”
Although he did this with the intention of deliberately making friends, he also really wanted to help Wang Baoqiang.
It is said that learning well is not easy, but bad learning will slip away. This is especially true for those who practice martial arts. However, Wang Baoqiang has experienced so many hardships, but he can still persist in not changing his original intention and chasing his childhood dream. This is the only reason. Xu Kun was impressed.
Baoqiang's face turned red with excitement as he held the key. He couldn't say anything, "Be rich and honorable, but don't forget each other." He could only nod hard, and at the same time he secretly made up his mind that he must at least afford the water and electricity. The fee will be compensated to Xu Kun after making money.
Next, he took the initiative to chat about his experience as a group performer, which is the most important information for newcomers to the industry, such as how to promote oneself in front of the group; how to restrain the urge to look at the camera; how to stand and move in such a way that both Stealing the spotlight from the lead actor while trying to highlight yourself; and what are the taboos and taboos that the crew usually has.
Xu Kun was listening with great interest when a minibus suddenly stopped slowly on the side of the road. The extras immediately seemed to smell the smell of blood and crowded around it.
Seeing this, Wang Baoqiang hurriedly called for Xu Kun to follow him.
It stands to reason that he is a special replacement for the crew, so there is no need to be in such a hurry, but unfortunately his body has developed a conditioned reflex, and every time he sees someone recruiting extras, he can't help but push forward.
Wow~
When the crowd was crowded, a bearded man with a briefcase slowly opened the car door, leaned against the door frame, glanced condescendingly, and shouted: "Keep strong!" Is Baoqiang here?”
"Here it is, Brother Chen, it's here!"
Wang Baoqiang raised one hand high, and he and Xu Kun separated the crowd and squeezed closer, grinning and showing his white teeth at the beard.
"Go up."
The bearded man nodded slightly to him, then turned sideways to make way.
"The inner one..."
Baoqiang did not get in the car, but looked at Xu Kun on the side and hesitated: "Brother Chen, this is my friend, he, he also wants, also wants..."
Before Baoqiang could finish speaking, the bearded man named Chen already understood what was going on. He looked at Xu Kun's bulging forearms, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Have you practiced kung fu?"
Hearing the looseness in his words, Xu Kun hurriedly puffed up his chest and said: "Brother Chen has really good eyesight. We have been practicing northern lion dance since elementary school. We are able to pull and pull, resist beatings and falls. We are better at lifting than the big ones." The animals work well!”
According to Professor Bao Qiang’s experience, in the eyes of these group leaders, the group performers’ resistance to beatings is more important than their ability to fight, and their willingness to put in effort is more important than their acting skills.
"Then I'll count you in."
The bearded man named Chen raised his hand behind him, and Wang Baoqiang and Xu Kun quickly got into the car with gratitude.
Seeing this, two of them stepped forward, and the rest of the extras became more and more restless.
"What's the fuss about?!"
The bearded man scolded, and then shouted: "Fifty a day, do the chores, play the role of a corpse and get a ten-yuan red envelope - and three more people who know the tricks and can withstand beatings, and the height must not be less than 1.75 meters!"
These days, the cost of an ordinary extra performer is around thirty per day, so even though he has many demands and has to help the crew with chores, he still attracts everyone's attention.
As soon as he finished speaking, there was an excited and weird scream of "Oh!" from the crowd. In response, the bald man wearing slippers jumped more than two feet high, and then screamed "Ouch" when he landed, as if he was stepping on someone else. The shoe is sprained.
"What kind of mallet thing is this?"
Brother Chen, a bearded man, muttered speechlessly, selected three that were pleasing to the eye among the group of extras who had enthusiastically signed up, and then closed the car door with a clang.
(End of chapter)