Top Chinese entertainment stars start with lucky koi fish

Chapter 27 Books are the ladder of human progress

After dinner, the sunset was ablaze with color, covering the entire sky.

Jiang Yuan and Yang Chaoyue rode back to the factory in Li Yitong's van.

"Brother, Chaoyue, why are you going back? Why don't you come with us to Sister Tong's place?"

On the bus, Meng Ziyi, who had finally received his role, couldn't contain his joy and chattered away the whole way.

"We still haven't received our wages," Yang Chaoyue said.

"Since you're already in the factory, you definitely have to experience running away with a bucket, otherwise you've wasted your time here. Besides, a factory experience without running away with a bucket is incomplete."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you before that I was going to write a guide?"

"No, brother, you're really writing it?"

Mencius used the back of his hand to feel Jiang Yuan's forehead to confirm that he didn't have a fever.

Jiang Yuan nodded: "Go ahead and write it. I'll post it when I've written it."

By pooling our collective wisdom and efforts, we might be able to create a guide for those who come after us at this factory.

Tian Xi asked curiously, "What kind of strategy guide is it?"

"Chaoyue, tell Xiaotian," Jiang Yuan instructed the girl.

Yang Chaoyue counted on her fingers what her brother had told her: "It's about summarizing the factory interview, accommodation, and canteen hygiene..."

And most importantly, pay attention to the hourly wage; those without experience should be wary of shady employment agencies.

"Are there really people on Tieba interested?" Li Yitong wondered.

Jiang Yuan affirmed, "Yes, quite a few."

He actually did this when he was on the run in his previous life.

Jiang Yuan, an experiential learner, didn't enjoy being fed by the factory loli for long.

Following the advice of netizens, I chose the reddest bucket, spent a thousand dollars, and left.

Although he only operated the sewing machine for a few days, he still posted a summary on Baidu Tieba.

Then it attracted everyone's attention, and construction began.

The last post compiled interview information from various local factories, including details on food, hygiene, accommodation, and hourly wages.

People also complained about the incompetent line managers on each production line, who treated trivial matters like official documents and bullied honest people, etc.

"Xiaotian, let me tell you, some shady employment agencies are really rip-offs. They might take 6 yuan off your 12 yuan hourly wage, cutting off half of it!"

Yang Chaoyue rubbed her eyes and said indignantly, "We're all just trying to make a living, and they're bullying us like this."

"So, how much is your hourly wage, Chaoyue?" Tian Xiwei, in the passenger seat, suddenly asked.

"I..." Yang Chaoyue stammered.

"She's worth 6 yuan."

Jiang Yuan said with heartache, "She was so silly a few months ago, working two shifts a day for twelve hours a day, and only earned two thousand yuan. She thought it was a lot of money."

Although ten years later, the hourly wage in some places has been ripped off to 8 yuan, and some people are still willing to work for 10 yuan per hour.

It makes one wonder if things were even worse ten years ago.

In fact, in Zhejiang in 2014, the official minimum hourly wage standard for part-time workers was divided into four levels: 13.5 yuan, 12 yuan, 10.9 yuan, and 9.8 yuan.

There have been changes, but not significant ones.

Yang Chaoyue's hourly wage at the factory was even lower than that of slave labor, at 6 yuan an hour...

The key point is that the person who introduced her was someone her mother knew.

It just goes to show that people who know each other rip off are often the ones who get ripped off the most...

They took advantage of the young girl's underage status and kept threatening her.

The reality is that a significant proportion of the workers in this factory are minors.

Although others may not earn 12 dollars per hour, they can still earn 8 to 10 dollars per hour, and can make 3,000 to 4,000 dollars a month.

Unlike Yang Chaoyue, who can earn two thousand a month by working herself to the bone.

No wonder that silly girl went to apply for a girl group job that included room and board and offered a monthly salary of 2,000 yuan two years later in 2016.

Although the salaries are similar, the level of exertion is completely different.

When Jiang Yuan arrived and discovered her situation, he helped her recover the hourly wage she was owed.

"Oh dear, brother, why are you revealing my secrets?"

Yang Chaoyue shook Jiang Yuan's hand and said coquettishly, "I still want to appear more mature in front of Xiao Tian."

Upon hearing this, Li Yitong exclaimed in disbelief, "Six yuan an hour? Over a month, how can you even keep doing that?"

Tian Xiwei and Meng Ziyi also looked at her with heartache.

"Just do it normally, I didn't know anything back then."

Yang Chaoyue shrank her neck. "But my hourly wage was back to normal last month. My brother helped me get it sorted out by the finance and HR departments."

Li Yitong said speechlessly, "You can work twelve hours a day to earn 2000 yuan and still manage? No wonder you came to take over my part-time job before. I'm not surprised anymore..."

"That's different. Sister Tong can make a hundred yuan in three or four hours, that's a lot."

Yang Chaoyue cupped her face in her hands, "I was really hoping that your teahouse would thrive, and maybe my brother and I could work there someday."

"Aren't you very disappointed? Your dreams have been shattered."

Li Yitong chuckled, "My teahouse went out of business before it even opened."

"Sister, you even opened a teahouse?"

Tian Xiwei couldn't help but ask Li Yitong, and then looked at Jiang Yuan, "Jiang Yuan, have you been there too? What was it like?"

Jiang Yuan mocked Mo Tong, saying, "Mo Tong's teahouse can only be described as... well, let's just say it's not very good."

"What do you mean?" Mencius asked.

"The renovations were done, and the tables and chairs were custom-made, but the store has never been opened."

Jiang Yuan said, "Isn't it like it's both open and not open? So let's say the Demon Tree is half open, or as if it's open."

"Shut up, you bastard! I decided to change careers myself! Otherwise, my teahouse would definitely be a hit."

Feeling embarrassed, Li Yitong said to Sister Meng and Xiao Tian, "My rent isn't due yet. You'll see when you go to my place to sleep later. Don't ask that scoundrel."

"Yes, yes, yes, the tea room industry has lost a huge loss to Li Xue, a genius of innovation."

Jiang Yuan feigned regret and even sighed.

Meng Ziyi and Tian Xiwei quickly covered their mouths, reminding themselves that they mustn't laugh.

Sitting next to Jiang Yuan, Yang Chaoyue suddenly chimed in wittily, "But the entertainment industry has welcomed Sister Tong, this dazzling pearl!"

"You scoundrel, you've corrupted Chaoyue!"

Li Yitong blamed Jiang Yuan for the mistake.

Since the topic of acting came up, the conversation turned to Mencius's philosophy.

Chaoyue and Xiaotian couldn't stop asking Sister Meng for advice on all sorts of acting questions.

Jiang Yuan and Li Yitong also joined the discussion from time to time.

It was already completely dark when the day came to an end.

The van arrived at its destination: Haining Garment Factory.

Jiang Yuan patted Chao Yue on the shoulder: "Let's go, we're getting off the bus."

The production team of "The Journey of Flower" is scheduled to start filming on May 6th.

Before that, it was still early, and Jiang Yuan also wanted to say goodbye to his factory job.

He has no intention of repeating the mistakes of his past life and trying out various professions again.

Influenced by Gulnazar and Sister Meng, Jiang Yuan realized that being an actress might not be so bad.

Naza's acting, that idiot, piqued his interest.

But the prerequisite for giving unsolicited advice is that you can do it yourself.

So he wanted to see just how difficult this thing was.

Is it just like what Nazha said, that you can experience historical figures and even cultivate immortality?

"Sister Tong, Sister Meng, Xiao Tian, we're leaving now. Take care on your journey."

Yang Chaoyue happily got off the bus with her brother, and didn't forget to turn back and say goodbye to the three people in the bus.

"Okay, Chaoyue, be careful too, and behave well." The three waved.

"And me?" Jiang Yuan asked them.

"Whatever kind of man."

Li Yitong rolled her eyes at Jiang Yuan, but still said, "Remember to call me if you have a lot of stuff, my car might be full."

"Alright."

Jiang Yuan and Chao Yue prepared to enter the factory gate.

"Jiang Yuan, you forgot your things."

Tian Xiwei noticed something and hurriedly called out to Jiang Yuan.

"Really? I don't remember having anything like that."

Jiang Yuan turned back and saw a cardboard box, then suddenly realized what was going on.

Meng Ziyi asked curiously, "Brother, what is this?"

"I didn't see you carrying anything when you went to Hengdian. Did you buy it there?"

Li Yitong was even more puzzled, and looked at Yang Chaoyue.

Yang Chaoyue shook her head: "I don't remember my brother taking anything either."

The four girls gathered their thoughts and all looked at Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan shrugged, said nothing, picked up the cardboard box, and opened it to show them.

Inside the cardboard box were many books and several cans of Pu'er tea.

"You scoundrel, where did you get this from?"

Li Yitong was even more puzzled. She took the tea leaves and looked at them. "Pu'er tea? It's from Yunnan."

Li Yitong knew that Jiang Yuan was from Dali, and she laughed, "You dog of a man likes to drink tea? What a coincidence! I'm a professional at it!"

Next time, Mom will personally brew tea for you and show off her skills.

Tian Xiwei picked up a book and found that the title was "Six Lectures on Acting" written by Zheng Junli.

So that's why Jiang Yuan works so hard, buying so many books to make up for the gap between his non-professional background and his academic background.

Xiao Tian felt ashamed.

Mencius also saw it and quickly went to grab other books:

"An Introduction to the Art of Film Performance," "The Art of Recitation and Dialogue," and Stanislavski's "Creating Characters"...

Sister Meng clicked her tongue in amazement: "Brother, you bought so many acting books!"

"Holy crap, is this guy for real? He's so sly!"

Li Yitong looked at Jiang Yuan as if she had been betrayed.

Wouldn't it be better if everyone just happily became a slacker?

"I didn't buy it, someone gave it to me as a gift," Jiang Yuan said casually.

Yang Chaoyue asked playfully, "Who sent it?"

"Given to me by Nazha."

"Pu'er tea too?" Tian Xiwei asked.

Jiang Yuan nodded: "Yes, I never expected that she would like Pu'er tea so much."

It's more than just liking.

Jiang Yuan considered them all to be quirks.

Naza actually likes to tear open tea bags and eat the tea leaves inside...

They say this is a great way to relieve stress when you're under a lot of pressure...

He once achieved the feat of eating dozens of packets in a single day.

They were taken to see a doctor, who said it wasn't a serious problem, which put their family at ease.

This quirk is comparable to what Mo Tong told him: before she was five years old, she liked to squat in the corner and pick at the plaster on the wall to eat.

Thinking about it this way, it seems that Nazha is not as eccentric as Motong.

Naza at least eats tea dregs, while Motong has pica...

Fortunately, Mo Tong grew up and changed her ways long ago.

"Why did she give it to you? When did she give it to you? Aren't we always together?" Li Yitong fired off three questions in quick succession.

"Just last night."

Meng Ziyi asked incredulously, "Brother, last night while we were sleeping, you secretly went out to meet Gulinazha?"

Mencius no longer calls Nazha "senior sister".

Upon hearing this, Tian Xiwei and Yang Chaoyue both subconsciously pouted, clearly unhappy.

"It wasn't a date. He was filming. He just brought me something after get off work and treated me to cake."

"What kind of cake?" Tian Xiwei asked quickly.

"A birthday cake. It was Nazha's birthday yesterday, and I only found out in the evening. She brought me a cake as soon as she finished filming."

Jiang Yuan felt embarrassed and explained that he wasn't eating it all by himself. "It's not that I didn't want to leave any for you guys. She said she wants to maintain her figure as an artist, so she only brought me a small piece. I didn't eat much of it myself; I just smeared it all on my face."

"Tch, who wants to eat that? If I want to eat it, I'll buy it myself," Li Yitong said, pouting.

"I'll buy it for my sister!"

Tian Xi responded slightly, and pointed to Sister Meng and Chaoyue, "Sister Meng, Chaoyue, I'll buy some for you too."

Finally, she looked at Jiang Yuan and asked, "Jiang Yuan, do you want my cake?"

No, other people just bought it for them directly, and when it was his turn, he asked if they wanted it or not.

Xiao Tian has changed. He's become naughty. He used to call him "brother," but now he just calls him "Jiang Yuan, Jiang Yuan."

"Sure, Xiaotian, if you want to give it to me, I'll take it. If you don't, then forget it."

Tian Xi muttered, "I didn't say I wouldn't give it to you."

"Wasn't Xiaotian worried that you, a distinguished guest, would be too busy to accept our cake?"

Mo Tong's sarcastic words arrived late but surely.

Mencius pondered for a long time, then realized something was amiss: "Wait, it's Gulnazar's birthday, why would she give you a gift, brother? Shouldn't you be the one giving her a present?"

"I didn't know it was her birthday, so I didn't prepare a gift."

Jiang Yuan felt helpless. Actually, last night when Nazha saw that he didn't have a gift, she made up for it by saying that meeting him on his birthday was the best gift.

Naza spoke quite casually, but she's just not the type to act; she practically wore her regret on her sleeve...

Jiang Yuan thought, "I'll make it up to her with a gift next time."

"As for why I received the gift, maybe she thought I would be able to act after reading these books."

Jiang Yuan remembered that Nazha said he was extremely smart and even thoughtfully prepared reading materials for him.

To get started and build a foundation, read "An Actor Prepares" and "Six Lectures on Acting".

Next, move on to more advanced topics, such as "Acting in Front of the Camera," "An Introduction to Film Performance Art," and "Improvisation."

For further advanced study, consult books on fundamental dialogue skills such as "A Tutorial on Fundamentals of Dialogue Training" and "Recitation and the Art of Dialogue."

To advance further, you need to develop a character and understand the script, so you should read "How Actors Interpret Scripts" and "Creating Characters".

Finally, to reinforce his learning, we went straight into psychology and prepared two books for him: "Micro-expression Psychology" and "General Psychology".

The whole process was so meticulous that it moved Jiang Yuan deeply.

Although studying books might be useless to others, giving these gifts is like giving something useless to someone else.

But it's useful for him, a top student! He can always quickly digest theories and make them his own.

Jiang Yuan deeply agrees that books are the ladder of human progress.

However, Jiang Yuan felt that psychology was unnecessary.

He had experienced a psychologist in his past life, and he had read more than just these two books.

Looking back now, it seems that it really did help with acting.

Able to understand the character's motivations and the reasons behind their personality, their acting will not be empty or awkward.

After carefully reviewing the list of books, Meng Ziyi exclaimed with delight, "Brother, the books that Gulnazar sent are all just for show; there's not a single practical guide in them!"

If it were me, I would give you practical books on how to get into auditions, audition techniques, avoiding pitfalls when signing with a company, the tricks of the trade in the entertainment industry, and how to avoid being scammed.

"Do you have such a book?" Yang Chaoyue couldn't help but ask.

"If I don't have any, I'll write it down by hand! I'll write down everything I heard at school," Mencius said proudly.

Jiang Yuan scratched his head. Actually, Nazha did send some.

Instead, Naza said that these things don't require reading books.

Although her acting skills are lacking, she has been in the industry for many years and is good at these things. She will call him every day to tutor him from now on.

He just needs to focus on learning acting.

Sister Meng: She just wants to call you! Don't fall for it!

"Let's put the book in the car and read it together," Jiang Yuan suggested.

"I'm not very bright. I can recognize all the words, but I can't understand the meaning when they're put together," Meng Ziyi said pitifully.

Tian Xi was slightly tempted and flipped through the pages of the book.

Hmm, this is strange, I don't understand it?

Um, no, let me check again...

She then decisively closed the book: "I think it's unnecessary."

"Reading? I'd rather make tea; I'm a practitioner."

Seeing Xiaotian's expression, Li Yitong didn't even bother to turn the page of her book.

Finally, Chaoyue suggested, "Brother, why don't you just teach us right here and now?"

"That works too," Jiang Yuan said.