"So do you actually want to act in it or not?" Liu Rulan asked directly.
Xiao He answered honestly: "I'm not really keen on it. This drama feels a bit risky. And I suspect Director Hou was also hinting that I should be cautious about choosing this project."
Liu Rulan fell into deep thought.
"Over the years, there have been quite a few cases where big directors + major investments + all-star casts still ended up crashing and burning," Xiao He said. "Plus it's a zombie genre - whether there's even a market for that domestically is hard to say."
Moreover, with an all-star cast and big names taking the spotlight, small fries like them would just be decorative elements. Even if they did get to act, they wouldn't get many good shots.
Xiao He didn't think it was worth fighting for - what he wanted were effective screen moments.
"You do have a point," Liu Rulan said decisively as she stood up. "I'll help you look for new scripts. But you still have to go to this audition - all the necessary preparations must be made. I'll enroll you in a swordsmanship class. Even if you don't use it this time, having basic skills always gives you competitive advantage."
"Ah? I still have to go?" Xiao He was somewhat dumbfounded.
Liu Rulan glanced sideways at Xiao He: "This audition opportunity isn't just an audition - it's also a display of resources and capabilities. No matter what you think now, Director Feng's status and position are established facts. Before everything is settled, his works are considered good works, his box office is guaranteed. Being able to attend his audition itself proves your status and ability."
This was equivalent to a threshold - those who could enter definitely had capability and background, while those who couldn't automatically dropped a level.
Even if Xiao He just went in to circle around, the message he released to the industry would already be different.
Although it sounded quite ironic, this was the entertainment industry.
"Look on the bright side - by making this round, you might attract better scripts," Liu Rulan comforted.
"Alright then," Xiao He sighed deeply.
"Tomorrow you should prepare and report to the teacher."
"Ah?" Xiao He was surprised. "We're starting lessons now?"
Liu Rulan said as if it were obvious: "Since we got the script early, naturally we need to start preparing! You can't actually perform too poorly during the audition, can you? Otherwise I'll have to work hard to save your dignity."
Xiao He: "...Fine then."
"Speaking of which, have you learned any other related skills before? I can add them to your resume when I make it," Liu Rulan continued asking.
Xiao He opened his mouth, hesitating to speak: "There might be quite a few... but Sister Liu, it's too late today, you should head back first. Let me think about it and I'll tell you later."
Liu Rulan was puzzled: "Either you can or you can't - why do you need to think about it?"
Xiao He scratched his head: "Uh... maybe I'll suddenly know how? So to make sure I don't miss any skills, why don't you give me more time to recall, Sister Liu?"
Liu Rulan: "...Whatever you say."
She shrugged indifferently: "You must start classes tomorrow - don't slack off."
"Got it, got it."
Only after Liu Rulan left did Xiao He relax, collapsing onto the sofa.
Not gonna lie, expensive sofas were really comfortable to lie on.
It was just a pity - a comfortable sofa couldn't change his current sad reality.
If he really missed out on Director Feng's script, he didn't know when he'd find another suitable one.
Xiao He sighed.
Now that he had enough points and didn't need to worry about life and death issues, was it too much to dream about a good script?
After all, the main earnings now came from criminal influence, which was much more than the single point he got from stabbing people.
Thinking this, Xiao He casually opened his long-dusty system panel.
He had been waiting for the points to reach ten thousand before, but later he got too busy and forgot about it. Now that the movie had closed at 1.8 billion, his points should have reached—
[Current Points: 32011]
Xiao He's breath caught, and he jumped up from the sofa.
How much?
Thirty thousand points?
Hahaha, after all his hard work saving up, finally!!!
Without any hesitation, Xiao He quickly went to wash his hands thoroughly, then bowed repeatedly to the void, palms together, murmuring: "Respected System Lord, I know you're there. Several skills I drew before came in handy later - I believe you arranged everything. This time, please give this child a chance to become stronger, I beg you—"
Then, Xiao He took a deep breath and pressed the 10,000-point draw button—
[Congratulations on obtaining "Lifespan +100 days", automatically exchanged]
[Congratulations on obtaining "Magic Hands", automatically learned]
[Congratulations on obtaining "Skill Copy Capsule", automatically stored]
[Magic Hands Details: Precise crimes require flexible hands. It comes with basic criminal techniques like theft, gambling, bomb disposal, forgery, etc., helping you complete more delicate criminal tasks.]
[Skill Copy Capsule Details: It can help you copy any criminal skill you want, provided the copied object and technique actually exist.]
These three draws brought both joy and sorrow.
The sorrow was that he only drew one skill this time, and this so-called Magic Hands looked like a multi-skill package, but the contents of this package...
Xiao He held his phone, effortlessly flipping it between his fingers. The palm-sized phone now spun like a coin manipulated by movie characters, unaffected by the motion. The next moment, with a finger flip, the phone became wedged between his fingers and wrist, creating a visual disparity that made it seem to instantly disappear from his hand. Then his palm continued to sway, ensuring whoever was facing him couldn't see the phone's presence—this was just basic magician skills.
Heh, nothing more to say—usually completely useless. At most, he could perform magic tricks to show off, or try to pick his own lock when he forgot his keys—oh, almost forgot, the current place used electronic locks with codes and fingerprints for entry. Even if he really couldn't get in, he could call property management... heh, seems even more useless then.
Xiao He looked at the only capsule still floating in his system panel, his expression showing some relief.
Right now, this capsule was emitting a golden glow in Xiao He's eyes—that was the aura of the luck Emperor.
Of course, perhaps partly from System's mercy too.
Xiao He put his palms together again, bowing to the system: "Good system, great system, I knew that even though you don't speak, you still love me!"
Although—ahem—it could only copy criminal skills from criminals, this was much more stable than the skills he drew!
Private customization, absolutely trustworthy, everyone who's used it says it's great! (Thumbs up)
But a new problem arose—
Xiao He began pondering with chin in hand.
What skill should he copy?
Honestly, among the more common criminal skills that he could actually use in daily life... seemed like only combat-related skills.
Wait—what if I bring up Shanghai Tilanqiao Prison, how should we solve this?
Find the most badass financial master inside, copy some criminal finance skills, then go stir up trouble in the US, fish out a huge sum of money, wait for me to return gloriously to the country, instantly transform into a Lujiazui senior executive, possess tens of billions in assets, wave my hand and it smells like money... ahem—
Xiao He admitted, for a moment he was genuinely tempted.
It's just that this method felt very... sentence-worthy. What if not only did he copy someone's criminal skills, but also copied their prison sentence, then ended up in prison, staring teary-eyed at the original owner?
Xiao He kept warning himself internally—stay calm! Stay composed!
This capsule was extremely precious, something he finally managed to draw. He needed to be cautious, cautious, and even more cautious!
If really unsure, he could just keep it for now... anyway, he was currently seriously studying skills like swordsmanship and self-defense himself, and money was just a matter of a few software programs for him now—neither illegal nor criminal. So far, he didn't have any particularly urgent desire for a specific skill.
Better play it safe!
Having made up his mind, Xiao He stored the capsule away again.