Chapter 2: The Opportunity Has Arrived!

  Li Wen Hua is He Mu's best friend, from junior high school to high school, they were classmates and roommates for six years. After He Mu failed the Northern Film Academy entrance exam in 2004, he began drifting north to run errands, followed by Li Wen Hua, who entered the Communication University of China with excellent grades that year to study broadcasting. The two good friends often hung out together, even after He Mu went south, they didn't lose contact.

  "Li Gongzi, what's the hurry to find me about?" He Mu skipped "How have you been lately? Have you eaten? Have you hooked up with any more girls?" and went straight to the point.

  "Of course it's a good thing!" Li Wen Hua didn't waste any words, "You're not interested in acting? I have a male lead role here, do you want to give it a try?"

  On the other end of the phone was a long silence. Li Wen Hua had a smug look on his face, as if he could already see He Mu's shocked expression and inability to speak after hearing this news.

  After a brief shock and speechlessness, He Mu disbelievingly asked: "What you said, is it true?!"

  "More precious than pearls!"

  "What's going on, tell me in detail." He Mu couldn't help but ask in a raised tone, suppressing the joy in his heart.

  "This is what happened..." Li Wen spoke quickly and finished telling the whole story.

  It's summer vacation now, and Li Wen Hua, who has just finished his first year of university, doesn't want to go home, so he stays in Beijing to have some fun and do some social practice. The one responsible for taking care of him is his university classmate, Zuo Jun, a Beijinger. Zuo Jun's girlfriend is Bei Si Han from the Language and Literature Department, and Bei Si Han has a best friend named Wang Ming Fei from the Photography Department. This Wang Ming Fei joined a film crew during summer vacation to work as a photographer. The fact that an undergraduate who hasn't even graduated yet can do this job shows that this film crew is not very powerful and doesn't have many rules, it's obviously making a "small movie".

  Originally, it had nothing to do with him, he was just making his own little movie, and He Muo couldn't care less. However, the film crew recently ran into some trouble, and the problem lies with the director. The film's director, Tao Qu Duo, is a recent graduate of the directing department at Beijing Film Academy, a high-achieving student who joined an advertising company after graduation but unfortunately had no opportunity to showcase his talents.

  At this time, the emerging video website Tudou.com held a creative short film competition, and the champion could get a prize of 200,000 yuan. This was a good thing that brought fame and fortune, so Tao Qudu quit his job decisively and took out all his savings to start preparing for a high-quality competitive short film.

  He doesn't care much about the prize money, what he really wants is to gain some fame and popularity through the booming internet media platform, in the hope of getting noticed and appreciated by film companies or famous directors. If he can become a real director, 200,000 yuan is nothing.

  This is not a problem, it's a good idea, He Mu also wants to give a "cow pie" to this Tao Yu director for his bold move. However, this slightly arrogant Tao Yu director insisted on acting as the male lead himself because the female lead was his girlfriend and he wanted to leave a memento of their love. But just when they had finished filming one-third of the movie, Tao Yu injured his arm, although it wasn't a serious injury, he couldn't act for a while.

  If they wait for Tao Querdai's injury to heal before resuming filming, they might miss the competition opportunity. Moreover, dragging on like this would also make it difficult for him to afford the crew's expenses. Although it was a small crew, with all the necessary departments, the daily expenses were not a small amount. If this continued, the remaining production costs would be depleted. Therefore, Tao Querdai made a decisive decision to re-recruit the male lead and re-shoot about one-third of the previous scenes.

  How hard can it be to recruit a male actor, logically speaking, shouldn't it be He Mu's turn to compete? Not to mention the numerous handsome guys from Tao Qu's alma mater, Beijing Film Academy, and even Li Wenrui's Central Academy of Drama has a decent acting department. Plus, there are many other art schools like Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Dance Academy, can't they find a suitable male actor?!

  Originally, Tao Qu had three requirements for the male lead: First, his image must meet the requirements of the male lead in the film, not too handsome and not unattractive, just slightly handsome. He Mou barely met this requirement, as long as he was dressed up, he could still be downgraded from a big handsome guy to a medium-sized handsome guy. Second, there is no salary for the actor. The budget did not include the male lead's salary, and re-shooting one-third of the scenes had already put a strain on Tao Qu's finances, so he didn't have any money left to pay the male lead. Third, the male lead also had to give him 20,000 yuan as an investment in this film, accounting for 40% of the shares, and when the time came, they would split the prize money according to a ratio of 4:6. This was also one of Tao Qu's stupid ideas to make up for the financial shortfall. He had calculated that if he didn't invest another 20,000 yuan, it would be difficult to ensure the quality of the film, although he could borrow money from his girlfriend. However, as an actor who didn't receive a salary, just like him, how could he bear to ask her for more money? So, the male lead had to pay up if he wanted the role.

  It's these three conditions that have kept out hundreds of performing arts professionals from Beijing, most of whom just laughed and walked away after seeing the second condition about no pay. Those who remained were left frustrated and vomiting blood after seeing the third condition - not only are we not paid for filming, but we also have to pay out of our own pockets? Do you think we're stupid? And what's with the 40-60 split on bonuses? Do you think potatoes are grown in your family's backyard? You say there will be awards, but do you really mean it?

  The news was passed from Wang Mingfei to Beth Huan, who then told Zuo Jun, and Zuo Jun casually mentioned it to Li Wenhua. Li Wenhua immediately thought of He Mu and called him right away, but no one answered, so he kept calling until the afternoon when he finally gave up.

  "How about it, can you accept the three conditions he proposed?" Li Wen Hua asked, "If the money is not enough, I can help you make up for it."

  "Of course, I can accept it. No need to borrow money, this amount of money I can still afford," He Mu lay on the bed with a satisfied face. Spending 200,000 yuan to star in a small film, and the director is even a top student from the Film Academy, this is already very worthwhile for him. "I have no problem at all."

  20,000 yuan is not a problem for He Mu at all. Although he didn't save money on purpose, deducting expenses, his income from being an extra plus the pocket money his mom secretly gave him adds up to around 30,000 yuan.

  He Mu called Li Wen Hua "Li Gong Zi" because Li Wen Hua's family was indeed a local tycoon, although not comparable to the Li family, but He Mu's family in the local area is also considered relatively wealthy. Otherwise, He Mu's parents would not have allowed him to pursue his unrealistic celebrity dreams. Anyway, with a solid foundation at home, it doesn't matter if he messes around for a few years. If he succeeds, that's great; if not, he can still inherit the family business and won't go hungry.

  "When can I go?" He Mu asked again.

  "Of course, the sooner the better. Since you've agreed, I'll reply to the director on your behalf, so he won't get anxious," Li Wen Hua chuckled, "As long as you're willing to come, I estimate you can directly become the male lead, and when you become famous, don't forget about me, your mentor."

  "Even as a ghost, I will never forget you, haha..."

  After hanging up the phone, He Mu couldn't calm down for a long time. He clenched his fists and muttered to himself: Opportunity, it's finally here!

  Buddha said: Good news, good news! "The Rise of the Big Arm" was released for one day and has already ranked first in the entertainment category of the signed author's new book list! Hurry up and vote to celebrate...

  "Alright, actually the real situation is that there's only one entertainment novel in this ranking, so everyone must fight for it ~~ seeking votes!"