Bai Xiaotang has been watching a talent competition show with Ji Ning these days.
While watching, she'd chatter to Ji Ning about who was stealing the spotlight, who was snatching roles, who was grabbing the center position, and who had financial backers, to the extent that even Ji Ning understood some of the unspoken rules in the entertainment industry.
The success or failure of the stars shining on TV wholly depended on the resources from their backers and their own body of work.
For someone like Ye Tong, who was stuck in the background as an extra, breaking out was harder than reaching the sky, so any role or opportunity, no matter how small or difficult, Ye Tong had to fight tooth and nail to seize.
The only thing that could make her show such an expression now was having an opportunity stolen away.
"What's wrong?" Ji Ning raised an eyebrow and asked again.
She looked down on Ye Tong's defeatist attitude, acting like everything was over just because she couldn't win.
If this were chaotic times, any of her underlings who dared show such negativity would have been kicked by her long ago.
"Sister Ning..."
Ye Tong felt utterly useless, as if the opportunity had been delivered to her hands, yet fear and hesitation made her hand it over directly to someone else.
Whenever she thought about it, a wave of regret washed over her heart, pulling painfully, and she wished she could grab herself and give a good beating.
Ye Tong, full of shame, whispered the whole incident, lowering her head, staring at her toes, feeling extremely anxious inside.
Even though Ji Ning needed to rely on her to make ends meet, the moment Ji Ning frowned and stayed silent, it inexplicably frightened her to the core, almost as a bodily instinct.
"Sister Ning... I don't know what happened to me at that time, my mind just went blank..." Ye Tong stammered her explanation, only to hear Ji Ning reply with complete certainty, "Don't worry, he won't take it."
"Huh?" Ye Tong quickly looked up in confusion, thinking she heard wrong.
Huh? Isn't Sister Ning going to scold her?
But Ji Ning had already closed her eyes and leaned back, preparing for her usual afternoon nap.
Here was a tree-lined avenue, both sides planted with evergreen trees, casting large shadows where the extras often sat to rest.
Ji Ning was a regular here, leaning against a tree whenever she wasn't filming to sleep.
Ye Tong felt like a cat scratching her heart, wanting to know the reason but not daring to boldly wake Ji Ning like Bai Xiaotang would.
As time ticked by, the afternoon scene was about to start shooting.
Ye Tong finally gathered the courage to wake Ji Ning, "Sister Ning... wake up... it's time to shoot..."
Ji Ning remained motionless.
Ye Tong pursed her lips, took a breath, and whispered loudly, "Sister Ning, after the afternoon shoot, shall we go buy some ribs?"
"Sure, let's go now."
"..."
***
On this autumn afternoon, the cool breeze blew away some of the heat.
The afternoon shoot was a chase by mutant zombies, which didn't require many extras, with only about 50 people needed.
Ji Ning and Ye Tong both had parts in the afternoon scene.
They followed the group of extras to the filming location, a dilapidated street.
The smoke-stained walls bore the scars of weapon blasts, still standing strong.
The ground was littered with broken debris, making it difficult to step anywhere.
Though the dramas filmed here were often ridiculous, the set design and costumes were incredibly realistic.
The first time Ji Ning saw it, she thought she had somehow traveled back to chaotic times.
"This scene is a hero-rescues-the-beauty scenario, where the female lead is cornered by mutant zombies, and the male lead comes to save her and defeats many foes. Xiao Zhang, you'll have a solo fight scene with the male lead, do you remember the moves the instructor just showed you?"
The assistant director, holding a megaphone, was explaining the scene to the extras, specifically mentioning the name of an extra nearby.
Ji Ning clearly sensed the breathing of the person beside her become heavier, and even heard her squeeze out a word through clenched teeth: "Shameless..."
Ji Ning glanced at Ye Tong, "Even if it's for you, you can't handle it."
"I... I've also trained in martial arts..."
Ji Ning snorted, and Ye Tong, lacking confidence, mumbled a couple times before closing her mouth sheepishly.
"Get into position, 3, 2, 1, action—"
A group of "mutant zombies" frantically chased the woman, scaring her into fleeing without direction, running into a dead-end alley. After a few struggles, she was forced to the wall by the mutants.
"Is it over... am I going to die here today? Mom, Dad, I'll see you in the next life..."
"Bang, bang, bang—" Several gunshots rang out.
A man clad in a black body suit and wearing sunglasses descended from the sky.
His moves were extremely agile; upon landing, a sweeping kick took down two "mutant zombies," followed by a roll on the ground to dodge a mutant's pounce.
The woman's eyes lit up, fixated on the man slicing through the "mutant zombies" like a hot knife through butter.
Until a special "mutant zombie" suddenly lunged, aiming directly at the man's back.
The mutant's hand, with fingers as sharp as swords.
The woman anxiously shouted, "Watch out—"
The man swiftly turned, and with a smooth spinning kick, landed a hard blow on the "mutant zombie's" chest.
Not far away, Ye Tong shivered with the impact of that kick and quickly shut her eyes.
Ji Ning, who had been watching, suddenly said, "Go in now, attack the man's left arm, quickly squat down, grab his right leg, and press forward, rolling on the ground."
"Wha... what?" Before Ye Tong could react, she felt herself being pushed forward to the direction of the man.
Terrified, Ye Tong's face turned pale, but for some reason, Ji Ning's voice echoed clearly in her mind, and her body instinctively followed Ji Ning's instructions.
On the other side, seeing another "mutant zombie" coming, the man assumed it was another extra arranged by the director. Just as he was about to sidestep, he realized the "mutant zombie" across him wasn't following the script and launched a straight left punch directly to his face.
The man was startled, but his martial arts instincts made his body react faster than his mind. His right arm quickly blocked, reflexively kicking out with his left leg; the "mutant zombie" swiftly squatted down to dodge, simultaneously grabbing his right leg, pushing forward, bringing them both to the ground.
And it wasn't over. The "mutant zombie" held onto his leg, rolling a full turn on the ground, causing him to roll too.
The man, somewhat irritated, quickly braced his foot forward, escaping the "mutant zombie's" grip.
"Cut—that was great. Let's do another take." The director's voice came through the walkie-talkie on the man.
Dazed, Ye Tong froze on the spot until the man extended his right hand, smiling, "Nice moves, did you train in martial arts?"
Ye Tong's cheeks flushed as she struggled to find her words.
This drama's male lead was Ye Shaochen, who coincidentally shared the surname 'Ye' with Ye Tong, but their statuses were worlds apart.
Ye Shaochen had been in the industry since childhood, mastering martial arts, exuding a natural sense of heroism, often playing tough characters on the big screen.
With chiseled features and a tall, shapely build, it was rumored he had an eight-pack, which often led fans and netizens to nickname him "walking testosterone."
He was one of Xingying Entertainment's leading male actors, with acting skills beyond question, having won numerous awards, and ranking in the top five among all action stars.
For such an actor to actively speak to her and praise her "martial arts" was overwhelming for Ye Tong, leaving her both flattered and apprehensive, reflexively looking back at Ji Ning.