The Star-Crossed Path to Glory Chapter 2

"Fengxian, don't walk so fast, wait for me."

Hearing Zhang Jin's call, Ethan Chase slowed down.

"You were too impulsive just now. He is a field worker after all. Although he is a third-rate one, he still has some connections..." Zhang Jin couldn't help but complaining when he caught up to him.

"Are you afraid of him?" Ethan Chase interrupted him.

"It's not a question of being afraid or not. After all, we make a living from this. He may not be able to ban us, but he can still communicate with some group leaders and make it more difficult for us to get jobs." Zhang Jin explained with a bitter face.

"He dares!" Ethan Chase raised his eyebrows and shouted angrily.

"Hey, you..." Zhang Jin didn't know what to say. This junior brother was a greenhorn who didn't understand what "the ways of the world" meant.

There was no conversation along the way. After leaving the movie studio, Ethan Chase stood at the intersection for a few seconds, then walked forward along the road.

Zhang Jin didn't ask where he was going, but just followed silently, thinking about how to deal with what had just happened.

When he raised his eyes, he suddenly found that Ethan Chase was a little different.

I used to walk like a scoundrel, in a sloppy manner.

Now, he holds his head high and chest out, walks with the gait of a dragon and a tiger, looking majestic and having the demeanor of a leader.

Could it be that...

Was it because he was playing a soldier with two lines and was so immersed in the role that he couldn’t come out of it?

It's possible, otherwise why would they do that on the set.

After a while, the two arrived at Lao Wang Restaurant.

There was no one in the store at this time. Seeing customers coming, the boss greeted them with a smile and said warmly: "Two handsome guys are here. It's a bit cold outside. How about we come in and sit inside?"

Ethan Chase glanced inside the store and said simply, "Yeah."

When the two of them sat down, the boss stood beside them with a list and a pen, and asked with a amiable look on his face: "What would you like to eat today?"

Zhang Jin was about to ask for two servings of egg fried rice, but Ethan Chase spoke first: "Let's have a hot pot, three plates of mutton, the quantity is sufficient, but you are shortchanged right away, I won't forgive you."

When the boss saw the ordering process, he knew it was a big customer, so his attitude immediately improved. He smiled and said, "Look at what you said. Our store has been open for more than ten years. We rely on word of mouth and repeat customers. We have never done anything unethical."

Ethan Chase nodded slightly, and then continued to order dishes based on memory: "Another plate of tofu, another plate of mushrooms, and then a plate of potatoes, lettuce, celery or other vegetables."

"Okay." The boss quickly wrote it down on the list and asked, "Do you want a staple food?"

Ethan Chase thought for a moment and said, "First, give me two kilograms of white rice. If it's not enough, add more."

In Hengdian, all restaurants, big and small, charge for meals, because there are few extras who cannot eat. If it is free, a plate of pickles can be enough to buy several bowls. The boss was naturally very happy to hear him say this, and then tentatively asked: "Do you want wine? We have beer and white wine."

Hearing this, Ethan Chase's eyes flashed with interest, his Adam's apple rolled, and then his mind emerged with unbearable memories of the past. In the end, he just sighed and said, "I have been hurt by wine and S3x, and I am so haggard. Today I will... quit drinking!"

The boss's mouth twitched slightly when he heard this. If you don't want to order, then don't order. Why bother nitpicking? However, the smile on his face did not fade. He tore off the list and put it under the chopstick cage, saying, "Please wait for a moment, sit down for a while, and the food will be here soon."

Zhang Jin, who was standing by, listened to the whole thing with his eyes wide open and his mouth wide open. He looked at Ethan Chase and said, "You..."

Ethan Chase slapped the money he had just received on the table, with a strange smile on his face, and said, "I'll treat you this meal. I'll remember your kindness, Senior Brother."

Zhang Jin was stunned. How come this junior fellow seemed like a different person?

Soon, the hot pot and food were served and filled the table.

Without saying a word, Ethan Chase rolled up his sleeves, poured three plates of mutton into the pot, and then scooped a full bowl of rice.

Then he ate rice and meat with big mouthfuls, and his way of eating was quite heroic.

There's no way, I'm starving.

In comparison, Zhang Jin's slow and careful chewing seemed much more elegant.

Half an hour later.

"Boss, let's settle the bill!"

"Okay, then we added three more plates of mutton and one plate of tofu, for a total of fifty-five yuan."

Well, I was paid 60 yuan in the morning, and only five yuan was left after the meal. Adding the two yuan and eighty cents in my pocket, I didn’t even have ten yuan left.

Zhang Jin wanted to share half of the bill, but Ethan Chase refused. A real man's word is his bond, so he only said, "You can just treat me to dinner."

After hearing this, Zhang Jin's eyelids twitched. If it was still this little, his wallet would not be able to bear it.

After walking out of the store and burping, Ethan Chase looked at the endless stream of pedestrians on the street, and the occasional bicycles and cars passing by, and immediately a lot of thoughts came to his mind.

Xiao Cao?

Xiao Liu?

Little Sun?

You...can't do it either!

At this time, in order to prevent this junior fellow from becoming a blood-sucking worm parasitic on him, Zhang Jin planned to change his bad habit of being lazy and gluttonous, and said: "We definitely can't go to that crew just now. Anyway, our work is done, so let's go to other crews to find new work in the afternoon."

Ethan Chase stopped, pondered for a moment, and said, "Okay, it's still early, let's go back and take a nap first."

1999, the second decade of reform and opening up.

The rise of private manufacturing and the entry of foreign-funded manufacturing into the country have triggered a revolution in the production and export of large quantities of daily consumer goods in a large-scale, labor-intensive manner.

The Asian financial crisis swept Southeast Asia and East Asia, and the national GDP growth rate fell below 8%.

This is an era where risks and opportunities coexist.

But...

If you ask him to go into a factory and sit there screwing screws all day, he will definitely not be able to do it.

Starting a business? If he were to speak with swords, guns and fists, he would be invincible, but this is an era of rule of law.

After thinking about it...

Although actors belong to the lowest class, their status has changed nowadays.

Freedom and money.

Isn’t this much more comfortable than fighting and killing?

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At one o'clock in the afternoon, Ethan Chase was awakened by Zhang Jin.

He changed into clean clothes and took the broken basin to the bathroom to wash up.

They lived in a single room with bunk beds for 80 yuan a month, the cheapest rental house in Hengdian.

At the beginning of last year, Zhang Jin followed Yuan Heping and served as a stand-in for the actress who played the shepherdess in "New Shaolin Temple", but he was just a stunt double. There were more than ten stunt doubles following Yuan Heping for a living, so it was normal for some of them to have no work to do.

Therefore, most of the time, in order to make money to support the family and learn more acting experience, one still has to be an extra or a special guest.

Feeling sleepy, Ethan Chase and Zhang Jin came to the Actors Guild.

Usually, film crews and group leaders recruit people at five or six in the morning, and there are basically very few people in the afternoon.

I waited for a long time, but no one showed up.

So Zhang Jin planned to go directly to the crew to try his luck, and Ethan Chase naturally followed him.

The result is predictable, the two returned home in disappointment.

"Eat your meal and then go back to rest. We'll come earlier tomorrow." Zhang Jin had no other choice.

"I'll listen to you." Ethan Chase only had a few dollars in his pocket, so he would definitely stick with a rich man.

When they arrived at the old place, Lao Wang Restaurant, Zhang Jin took the lead in ordering two stir-fried dishes and did not dare to let Ethan Chase order.

Ethan Chase didn't care. He was very hungry after the lunch, and he paid for it with his own money.

He knew that Zhang Jin wanted to live frugally and send money back home, so he would not ask for anything excessive.

However, before the food was served, five strong men appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them.

The yellow-haired leader sat down opposite Lü Bu and Zhang Jin, curled his lips, and sneered: "Oh, isn't this our national martial arts champion?"