I live my life in Tokyo

With her plan in mind, Kaede Sakakibara changed into the only casual outfit in her closet and stuffed 30,000 yen into her wallet smoothly.

The clock gradually pointed to six o'clock, and the supermarket's price reduction time was approaching!

After grabbing a stack of eggs, some vegetables and two boxes of beef, fighting with Japanese housewives was not an easy task. Sakakibara Kaede's legs were a little unsteady when she walked out of the supermarket.

These Japanese housewives are so bad at playing MMO, so why are they so fierce in snatching food?

Chiba City was in the evening rush hour. After a tiring day, some office workers went to a nearby izakaya to relieve stress, while others went into a nearby convenience store to buy a fast food meal. After eating, they had to go back to the company to work overtime.

There are no smiles on their faces, only numbness towards life.

For them, rest time may be sitting in the car, with tobacco in their mouths and a lighter shining on their flickering faces, that short but precious time for a cigarette.

Wrapping his casual clothes tightly around himself, Kaede Sakakibara turned a corner and found that the park on the way home was cordoned off. A group of uniformed staff were constantly adjusting the lights and moving the cameras.

"Filming?"

In the past, the university that Kaede Sakakibara attended was requisitioned as a filming location. He only remembers that all the students went to watch the male and female stars, while he enjoyed the tranquility of the library alone.

A conspicuous sign was placed at the shooting site.

"Recruiting temporary extras, including dinner."

. . .

Director Aoyama paced in place with a gloomy face. The shooting time was getting closer and closer, but the extras who were expected to arrive were nowhere to be seen.

After contacting them via mobile phone, I found out that they were stuck in traffic during the evening rush hour and would not be able to get here for a while.

Extras in Japan also have signed contracts and receive a meager income every month. Extras who speak a few lines can get extra money, and those who act in fight scenes or portray corpses can get even more money.

There are only two types of people who become extras: those who just want to get by, and those who hope to be a regular actor one day. For the latter, this wish is a little difficult, but not so far-fetched. As long as you look energetic and have some characteristics, you may be spotted by the director in the vast crowd.

Glancing at the resting area for the extras, Director Aoyama couldn't help but sigh. All the feasible plans for the extras were crossed out in his mind. The park should be thriving in the evening, but now he had no choice but to change the plan?

The title of the film is Our Daily Life as a High School Student. It is a TV series that tells the youthful and funny stories of Japanese high school boys and girls. The high school students find the direction for their future and the weight of their dreams in their daily laughter. It is touching and a little tear-jerking.

Looking towards the rest area again, Coach Aoyama couldn't help but lean back.

A Japanese male high school student with a full sense of life, with a supermarket discounted shopping bag at his feet and wearing retro-style casual clothes.

This, this group of actors is so excellent.

"Sorry to bother you." Coach Aoyama stepped forward quickly.

Sakakibara Feng had just exchanged a few pleasantries with the old man and the old woman, mainly discussing the tips of grabbing food. These enthusiastic old people also wanted to introduce their granddaughter to him, but Sakakibara Feng scratched his head and refused.

Women only slow down the speed at which I work.

"Hello, Director. I want to confirm, are meals really provided for this extra?"

Sakakibara Kaede bowed slightly politely and then confirmed the remuneration for being a temporary extra.

"Uh, that's right..." Coach Aoyama stared at Sakakibara Kaede's face for a moment, then he took a deep breath, calmed his heartbeat, and said, "Are you a student from a nearby school? A high... middle school student?"

"I'm a student at Sobu High School, and I'm in my third year of high school this year."

"Hiss... Sobu High School, that's a key high school."

Coach Qingshan has heard of this well-known high school, which has an incredibly high admission rate and sends a large number of talented people to the forefront of society every year.

"Have you heard of STARS?"

After talking about the school for a while, we learned Sakakibara Kaede's name and age, and Coach Aoyama mentioned it intentionally or unintentionally.

Seeing Sakakibara Kaede slightly shaking her head, the latter said: "STARS is an artist agency, headquartered in Tokyo. Most of the people under the agency are actors and idols, and some are musicians and voice actors. Since it was just established in recent years, as you can see, it is not very professional at the moment and is still in its infancy."

"This is a TV series about campus youth that our agency applied to produce, so we have to arrange the filming and location ourselves."

A staff member interrupted the conversation, "Director Qingshan, male and female roles 3 have arrived, and the venue has been cleared."

Coach Qingshan nodded slightly and said, "Student, listen to the staff's instructions and relax."

A female staff member replaced Aoyama as the director. She stared at Sakakibara Kaede for a moment, then explained to the extras in a concise tone the scene they wanted to shoot.

There is a basketball court in the park, which was originally a place for extras to play basketball. Now it has been changed to a scene for volunteers to take care of the elderly.

The volunteer refers to Kaede Sakakibara.

He didn't even need to change his clothes, he just played the role in his true colors.

The third male and third female actors in the distance took their positions. At Director Aoyama's command, the director's board made a crisp clicking sound.

Man No. 3 and Woman No. 3 walked into the park, smiling and talking about the interesting things that happened today on the way.

The camera moves slowly and the perspective turns to the park.

A young boy supporting an old man appears in the corner of the camera, with teardrops on the corners of his eyes, and the azure blue in his pupils ebbs and flows like a poem or a painting. His black hair is blown by the evening breeze, and the corners of his mouth are slightly upturned. The first feeling you get when you see him is gentleness.

Walking in the wind today, the moonlight is suddenly so gentle. Even though he is wearing an ordinary school uniform, the boy still shines in the night.

He walked past the male and female actors and greeted the old man beside him with a natural smile.

“...NG!”

Coach Aoyama covered his face with his hands.

Chapter 3: Sakurajima-senpai?

NG means no good, which means the scene needs to be re-shot.

The filming stopped instantly, and the two leading actors came to Director Aoyama and asked in a low voice.

"Your expression is too stiff. You look so stiff even when good friends are walking side by side. According to the plot, you are set to be childhood sweethearts, right? There is a limit to shyness." Director Aoyama pointed out the mistake of the third male lead mercilessly. Although he is young, he is strict with his actors and is the backbone of STARS agency.

Director Aoyama slowly played the short scene he had just shot, pinching his temples in pain.

Sakakibara Kaede moved closer to the camera, but did not notice that the third female actress next to her raised her eyebrows.

"Eh, Chuuni-senpai?"

When Sakakibara Kaede heard the familiar voice, he turned his head and unexpectedly found that the third girl standing next to him was the girl he met at school this afternoon.

Her outfit reminds people of the word youth at first glance. In addition to the high school uniform in the TV series, she wore a pink scarf around her neck, and the perfect smile on her lips was a little shaken.

"This junior? Are you... an actor?" Looking at the outfit, Sakakibara Kaede asked half-affirmatively.

"Looking at this outfit, you should understand."

The girl's body stiffened for a moment, then she pulled up her skirt and turned around as if giving up.

Director Aoyama paused the video, his eyes wandering between Sakakijima Mai and Sakakibara Kaede, "Sakurajima-kun, do you know this Sakakibara-san?"

"I met you today when I reported back to Sobu High School. This is the second time we've met."

"I see." Director Aoyama stroked his chin and introduced Sakakibara Kaede, "This is Mai Sakurajima. She is a regular actress under the STARS agency. Unlike the others, Sakurajima has several years of experience as an artist. She plays the third female role in this drama."

Women's sixth senses are sharp. Sakurajima Mai felt the surprised gaze from Sakakibara Kaede beside her. Her mood improved slightly, but she still stared at the screen to observe the details.

The third male lead was taken away by the makeup artist to touch up his makeup. In the cool autumn, his forehead was sweating from nervousness. He studied at STARS for three months and filmed the first episode as a trainee actor. But now he still looks too green.

Being able to start filming right after graduating from a training class is either due to one's own efforts or relying on connections behind the scenes.

Sakakibara Kaede felt Director Aoyama's gaze and asked politely, "Director, how was my performance?"

"...Um."

Director Aoyama paused for a moment and said, "Sakakibara-san, you stole the spotlight."

"What do I need to correct?"

Seeing Sakakibara Kaede asking with a serious face, an attitude that was even more serious than that of the students in the STARS agency training class, Director Aoyama's voice softened a lot, and his tone changed from that of a director to that of a teacher.

He pointed at the screen and said, "Look at what we just filmed."

The third male and Mai Sakurajima entered the park while talking and laughing. If you observe carefully, you can easily find that the third male's expression is a bit artificial, and his conversation with Mai Sakurajima is intermittent and can't keep up with the rhythm, which is easy to make people feel awkward.

The camera turned and the passerby volunteer disguised by Sakakibara Kaede appeared, supporting an old man, and walked past the two of them and towards other elderly people.

"Is my expression not vivid enough?"

Sakakibara Kaede gave what she thought was a gentle smile and asked in confusion.

"It's because you're too vivid." Director Qingshan explained patiently, "In layman's terms, your appearance is too high, which attracts the audience's attention and gives the audience the illusion that you are a new character who is about to appear."

"The key to being an extra is to blend in with the crowd. There are two key points I teach my students: say what you think and act how you feel. Position yourself as a passerby, don't be pretentious..."

Director Qingshan scratched his head and said in a long tone, "Ah - but this situation is not suitable for you. It's a pity for your face to be an extra. With your looks, you should be in the spotlight as the leading actor."

"How about it, are you interested in developing your career at our STARS firm? I can guarantee that you are born to do this job."

Hearing that joking tone, Sakakibara Kaede did not refuse directly, but shrugged and said, "There are still three months before the unified college entrance examination. I will consider it after the exam."

“Eh…” Director Aoyama leaned back in a folding chair. It was intermission time and the staff began distributing lunch boxes and gifts.

He skillfully took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, "You don't mind?"

"As you wish."

The lighter flickered under the streetlight. Director Qingshan exhaled and asked casually, "Are we going to take the unified college entrance examination? What university are you going to apply to, little student?"

Sakakibara Kaede took a sip of water and answered uncertainly, "I don't know. When I was a freshman in high school, my goal was to go to the University of Tokyo."

"...Really? You can make a living with your looks, but you want to rely on your talent?"

Director Aoyama slapped his thigh and laughed out loud. He was choked by the smoke and started coughing, with tears coming out of the corners of his eyes.

"When I was a freshman in high school, I also wanted to go to the University of Tokyo. Now it seems... it's an unrealistic dream." The young director, who looked to be in his thirties, leaned back in his chair, looking up at the sky, his eyes reflecting on the past that could never be returned. "Like our high school baseball team at that time, we aspired to enter Koshien several times in three years, but we were eliminated in the first round every year. It was such a pity."

Sakakibara Kaede also looked up at the night sky. He used to dream of studying at Peking University or Tsinghua University and realizing the value of his life. Now it seems that if he had taken more tests and done more questions, maybe he could have been admitted?

The past time can never be brought back. Are you still pursuing the dreams you set back then?

"Director Qingshan, do you like filming?"

"I like it so much that it's almost pathological. It seems that I did a good job of giving up my dream of going to the University of Tokyo and entering Dazhong University of Arts."

Sakakibara Kaede sideways glanced and smiled, without saying anything else.

"...After get off work, I'll treat you to a few drinks."

"I'm not yet an adult, Director Aoyama, this is a crime."

At this point, Sakakibara Kaede felt hungry. He checked the time on his phone and saw that it was already seven o'clock in the evening. He greeted Director Aoyama and walked towards the rest area.

There are so many people.

I didn't notice it when I was just playing an extra role, but now I see that a scene in the TV series requires a large number of staff.

"Here, this one is for you."

Mai Sakurajima held two lunch boxes and signaled to Kaede Sakakibara to take one.

"Thank you."

He followed Sakurajima Mai and sat down on the rest bench, while the former broke open the disposable chopsticks.

"Chuuni-senpai, don't look at me when you eat, the food is the same for everyone."

"Ahem, Sakurajima-san is very sensitive to stares."

Although the lunch box was simple and the dishes were ordinary, Kaede Sakakibara ate it with big mouthfuls. Her stomach was already protesting because she didn't get to have lunch at school.

He hasn't eaten meat for a long time.

"Why did Sakakibara-senpai come to be an extra?"

“Because they provide meals.”

This sentence silenced Mai Sakurajima. She untied her scarf and paused before saying, "I thought you would have a lot of questions for me."

"What are you asking?" Sakakibara Kaede said while chewing beef, "High school students in comics can save the world, so it's not surprising that my schoolmate in real life is an actress, right?"

"But is the director telling the truth? Do I really have the face of a leading man?"

Sakakibara Kaede rested his chin on his hand in deep thought. Under the light, he had a gentle and crystal beauty. Apart from the way he wolfed down his food, he really looked like a person in a painting.

Mai Sakurajima looked in the direction of the light, then looked away with disdain after a moment.

"Sakakibara-senpai, hasn't anyone ever told you that you're narcissistic?"

The crew gestured to Director Aoyama, who stood up from his folding chair and stuffed the remaining sandwich into his mouth, his back straight. His calm expression was replaced by sternness, and he pointed at his watch, "The next part of the plot needs to be completed within three times. It's getting late. If it can't be completed, we will continue shooting tomorrow."

The sun has already set at seven o'clock in autumn, and the slightly warm breeze under the setting sun in the evening is now slightly chilly. It would be irresponsible to the actors and crew to drag it on.