Back home.
Little An'an was inexplicably shut out of the room.
She couldn't figure out what her parents were up to, why they had to lock her outside.
Sneaking a peek, she couldn't hide her eagerness to quietly watch the Teletubbies.
Inside the room.
Chen Pingsheng mysteriously pulled Song Yanxi onto the big bed with a pink curtain by the window.
The room was small but cozy.
"Husband, what are you up to in broad daylight?"
Song Yanxi thought he wanted 'that.' Ever since they had their daughter, those activities had been less frequent.
Mainly because the room was small and had no soundproofing.
Simply put, the conditions didn't allow it.
"Yanxi, I'll transfer the money I made today to you first."
As a genuine homebody, it was a given that his income had to be managed by his wife.
Chen Pingsheng only ever kept at most five hundred yuan for himself, and if nothing unexpected happened, this amount could last him a whole month.
After all, he had no major expenses except for his daily seven-yuan pack of Laobaisha cigarettes.
The rest, like clothes and shoes, were all purchased by his wife.
"Ding! You've received an Alipay transfer of 4,000 yuan."
Song Yanxi frowned slightly in surprise; it was normal for her husband to hand over the money he made every day.
But four thousand in one day, that had never happened before!
The highest was during this year's Mid-Autumn Festival when they made over three thousand in one day selling durians.
"Husband, you didn't do anything bad, did you?"
"Not at all, just earned it by helping people move, and on the way, delivered a truck of durians."
Chen Pingsheng had already thought up his excuse, coughing slightly, "That's right, Yanxi, I might be able to earn this much every day from now on; you should get used to it and enjoy the feeling of being a rich wife."
Enjoy what?
Song Yanxi was still very happy when he said this. For their type of family, nothing was more exciting than making more and more money.
"Wife, I suggest we go out for the candlelight dinner that your little sister is always talking about."
Song Yanxi gave him a look, "Why waste money on that? Isn't it delightful to just cook a couple of dishes at home and light a candle?"
Uh... indeed, it did smell good.
No sooner said than done, Chen Pingsheng really went to the corner shop downstairs to buy those red candles.
By the time he came back, Song Yanxi was already going over the household accounts.
With the money he made today, their little family's total savings was now 386,000 yuan.
It looked like a lot, but remember, this was the result of scrimping and saving over five years of marriage, unwilling to spend on food or clothing.
"Husband, we just need another 120,000 and we can gather enough for the down payment."
Song Yanxi said with longing, in Capital City of 2012, the average price for a house inside the third ring road was about twenty-five thousand per square meter.
Their plan was to buy a small eighty square meter apartment, just enough for the family to live in.
That came to about two million in total, with a down payment of roughly five hundred thousand.
"Let's save the romantic stuff for after we buy the house."
Song Yanxi was even more frugal than he was, wearing any piece of clothing for several years.
A candlelight dinner that costs hundreds of yuan makes her heart bleed while she eats.
Absolutely a no-go for enjoyment.
Chen Pingsheng didn't press the issue any further; as he was about to head to the kitchen, his sister-in-law Song Wu messaged him.
She was informing him to spend the New Year at their place this year.
Truth be told, visiting the in-laws with modest means was truly tormenting.
One who has experienced it would know.
When the meal was ready, Song Yanxi actually went through the motions of lighting the candle, leaving Little An'an perplexed.
She thought a birthday cake was coming next, but no, there was nothing – just giggling at the red candle.
She was too young to understand what her parents were laughing at.
It was laughter at the hope in life, a glimmer of the future.
In the evening, Song Yanxi even made a point to watch Teletubbies with her, turning the volume way up. They only sneaked into the room after Little An'an was enthralled.
They had to be quick.
You never knew when the little one would come knocking on the door.
Even quick, he was a strapping young man, unable to finish in less than thirty minutes.
Which left Song Yanxi very satisfied, tears streaming down the corners of her mouth.
The next day, after Chen Pingsheng sent his wife to work, he immediately opened the moving group chat.
Now with a clear small goal for making money, his enthusiasm for earning was unprecedented.
In the moving group, that Young Marshal was his childhood buddy.
It was Chen Pingsheng who had introduced him to Capital City to make money. A single man in his thirties, he could make more than ten thousand a month, living a carefree life.
He was well acquainted with those red-lantern adorned shops under the overpass.
Moving group chat.
Young Marshal: "Just got a job, carrying a washing machine up to the seventh floor for a hundred bucks, I'm not doing it for his grandma."
It was definitely a building without an elevator, and no one wanted to take on such tasks.
It was raining heavily today and they couldn't sell durians, so they had to rely on picking up odd jobs to make money.
Sometimes they would get jobs, sometimes they just had to rest.
General: "I have a job here, does anyone want to join in? Just moving furniture, three hundred a day."
Young Marshal: "What's the point? I could spend that time strolling around Xidan; might even find a wife to take home."
Chen Pingsheng ignored their pointless chatter; although everyone was from the countryside, they each could earn just over ten thousand a month.
They indeed didn't care much for the petty gigs.
However, at this moment, the girl he had just met yesterday actually sent him a message.
"Chen, are you busy?"
"Not busy at all."
"Do you have time today? We have a special extra role that pays two thousand a day and doesn't require showing your face. Do you want to give it a try?"
Of course, he was going to give it a try.
After all, it's said that the more friends one has, the more paths open up.
Zhao Liying, though unknown in the entertainment industry, had been an extra for over four years.
She definitely had more connections than the newcomers who had just joined the industry.
Naturally, he wouldn't let this good opportunity slip by, but he still asked if the role required acting ability.
After all, that was something he truly lacked.
Zhao Liying briefly explained it required no acting at all, but it was very tough and she didn't know if he could endure it.
To put it plainly, a regular extra earned at most three to five hundred a day, so a two thousand yuan job definitely had its special conditions.
Once he got to the set, the assistant director didn't even ask his name before telling him to strip.
Earning this two thousand yuan wasn't easy; in sub-zero four degrees, they had him go mad in the lake with nothing on.
Originally, this scene was supposed to be filmed by the young male lead, but after trying the lake's water temperature, he walked off without a word.
What a joke, he couldn't deal with such low temperatures.
What if he caught a cold?
Wouldn't his fans be worried sick?
With no other choice, the assistant director had to use a body double and film with long shots.
Several people from the crew tried it; once their clothes were off, they couldn't endure it, shaking uncontrollably in less than a minute.
How could they shoot like this?
It was then that Zhao Liying thought of Chen Pingsheng, who, like her, was an out-of-towner desperate to make money.
Having worked in physical labor for years, he kept himself in great shape and could endure hardships that others couldn't.
However, after a simple makeup, when Chen Pingsheng approached the lake, the clear, jade-green water felt bone-chillingly cold.
The moment his foot touched the water, he shivered intensely.
"Can you handle it or not? If you can't, get lost," the assistant director said impatiently and rudely to these special extras.
The moment he saw Chen Pingsheng flinch from the cold, he swore at him.
Chen Pingsheng clenched his teeth and plunged into the lake.
His scene was incredibly simple: the young male lead vents his emotional turmoil in the lake after a betrayal, with no lines or expressions.
He could act crazily however he wanted.
Since it wasn't the actual actor, the assistant director couldn't shoot from close up.
Chen Pingsheng was also shivering with cold, but he kept thinking about his little house.
Expecting his wife's happy face as she moved into their new home, he could endure any hardship.
He thought once this scene was done, he would be finished.
But who knew the young male lead, with a salary of tens of millions, couldn't endure any hardship at all.
All the shots of him freezing in the winter cold must be completed today.
Not needing acting skills was one thing, but the hardest part was a scene where the young male lead accidentally falls into a lake and miraculously acquires a peerless martial art skill.
After that, he severely deals with the women who looked down on him or betrayed him.
Then comes their regret.
A classic trope in domestic dramas: the protagonist gains a peerless martial art after falling off a cliff.
That scene would normally require the young male lead to film it himself, but he couldn't bear the freezing conditions.
A body double had to do it, and he'd reshoot the highlight moments later.
Chen Pingsheng sighed internally; these people really had an easy time making money.
Earn tens of millions by just standing around.
Look at him, he had to risk his life for two thousand.
From ten in the morning until four in the afternoon, he shot four scenes in the lake.
He was almost frozen stiff, but fortunately, Zhao Liying brought him a freshly made bowl of ginger soup.
Workers truly understand other workers.
She was still an extra, playing the female lead's maidservant.
She didn't know how many times she had played a maidservant in dramas or how many people told her she was destined to be one.
"Chen, warm yourself up by the fire and rest a bit," Zhao Liying said as she also handed him a white towel.
Chen Pingsheng felt much better after changing into his own clothes.
"My sister-in-law is getting off work; I need to go pick her up."
Chen Pingsheng motioned for her to get the money from the crew; who else would suffer in this hellish weather if not for the two thousand yuan?
Zhao Liying nodded and quickly brought him his two thousand yuan.
They were part of a big production, investing hundreds of millions.
Naturally, no one was going to quibble over such small amounts.
But as he was about to leave, the assistant director approached again.
"You did well, do you have a business card? Give me one, I'll call you next time we need someone for a tough role."
He had no business card; he was just a durian seller on the streets.
But Chen Pingsheng still gave him his number.
As long as there was money to be made, he was truly willing to do anything.
[Ding, your income today is two thousand yuan.]
[Would you like to activate the random multiplier?]
"Activate."
On his way to pick up his wife, the Golden Finger indeed did not disappoint. The moment he received the two thousand yuan payment, a row of golden letters appeared in front of him.
It was those two shiny golden dice again, Chen Pingsheng was still fantasizing about rolling two fives at the same time.
That would be ten times the amount, a clean twenty thousand.
The first dice stopped, and instead of a five, it showed a four.
He smirked slightly, the luck wasn't bad.
The second dice came to a halt as well, landing on the median number three.
Equally not a small number.
[Congratulations Host, you've obtained a random sevenfold multiplier.]
[Your Alipay account has received fourteen thousand yuan, with a balance of fourteen thousand five hundred yuan.]
Tch... shoulders must be shrugged thrice.
Nothing else, it's purely out of joy.
At this rate of income, it won't be long before he can buy a house.
Then he can get intimate with his wife whenever he wants, and when there's nothing else to do, he can just lie out on the small balcony—life couldn't be more comfortable.
There wasn't anything particularly major happening with his wife's side, except that her company had completed Series D funding this year.
After this round of funding, the valuation hit eight hundred million.
Internet in 2012 was still dominated by BAT, and these internet companies really developed fast.
Like his wife's company, it was only established a few years and has yet to make a profit, not to mention it's losing money every month.
Even so, the company's valuation kept rising.
It is said that this round of funding was even led by a well-known large domestic capital group.
It seems they are pretty optimistic about the development of her company.
All of this was still irrelevant to him, he was just marveling at the rapid growth of these internet enterprises.
If it were a physical business, it would take an eternity to earn a few hundred million.
On their end, valuations go soaring effortlessly.
After completing this round of financing, his wife's company had grown larger, and they planned to move to Zhongguancun, the famous internet startup town in Capital City, after the New Year.
It was all in preparation for further development and fundraising.
Before the New Year, there was still a large annual meeting to be held, which he could also attend.
Just sitting unobtrusively at the very back with his wife, Chen Pingsheng thought it'd be good to broaden his horizons.
He couldn't always be thinking about selling durians on the streets for the rest of his life.
Song Yanxi came out, still in her simple attire, casually tying her hair into a low ponytail.
And slipping on a thick black cotton coat.
She was about to have her holiday as well, and this year they were both going to spend the New Year in Capital City. Before leaving, Du Juan had asked her to go shopping together after the holiday.
To buy New Year's goods.
Song Yanxi was planning to refuse, but Chen Pingsheng agreed on her behalf, mainly because he felt that he could now earn quite a bit of money.
There was no need to pinch pennies like before.
Save where you should, but spend where you need to.
"Then it's settled, we'll go shopping together in Sanlitun after the holidays."
Du Juan's family was really well-off; she got a Honda worth over a hundred thousand as soon as she started working.
Born in Capital City, a life poised for success from the starting line.
After making her arrangements with Du Juan, Song Yanxi went home.
When he got home, he discovered that his neighbor Zhao Liying, who played extras, was also back, practicing her acting alone with a book on 'The Actor's Self-Cultivation.'
Yesterday, Song Yanxi learned that a young girl who is also an actress had moved in next door.
She only saw her today, so she naturally wanted to greet her.
"You must be Liying, right? I heard about you from my husband yesterday. You're truly beautiful."
Zhao Liying was indeed very beautiful, with delicate features, and most eye-catching of all was her radiant smile, which seemed to be a warm sun in the winter days.
It was very comforting to look at.
"Sister-in-law."
Zhao Liying smiled brightly, very cordially.
The two hit it off from the first meeting, and Song Yanxi even invited her over to her house for dinner.
Little An'an was usually at home alone, so having another person around would be helpful if both parents went to work.
Over the years, Chen Pingsheng's cooking skills had improved greatly; although he had no professional training, he could cook a good meal.
With the women getting along so well, it was natural for him to do the cooking.
Ordinary people often have a certain yearning for the entertainment industry, and Song Yanxi was no exception.
She was also like a curious baby, asking all sorts of questions.
Zhao Liying patiently answered them all.
"Sister-in-law, it's definitely true that you can make big money in the entertainment industry, but to become famous, someone like me who can only be a group performer, the income is quite average."
She paused, then added, "However, Chen is very impressive. Today was his first time acting as a group performer, and our assistant director took note of him. He even took down his number before leaving."
As if afraid she didn't understand the significance, Zhao Liying explained further, "Sister-in-law, you mustn't underestimate the director taking a number. Among us group performers in Hengdian, there could easily be tens of thousands."
"For Chen to be noticed by a director on his first day as a group performer, that's definitely one in ten thousand."
"He can act?"
Song Yanxi was completely astounded and glanced sideways at the busy figure in the kitchen, asking curiously, "What did he act in?"
"Chen didn't tell you?"
Zhao Liying said, "This time, he was the body double for the lead role. Chen is especially resilient. No one in our crew could stand the freezing water temperature, but when he said he'd jump, he did, and he endured a whole day in the lake in the freezing cold."
Song Yanxi's expression changed; she understood that he wasn't there to act at all, but was only brought in because others couldn't handle it.
In other words, spending a whole day in the lake at that temperature, if you catch a cold or get a fever,
that money wouldn't even cover a trip to the hospital.
With an outsider present, Song Yanxi couldn't say much, but her heart ached for him.
In these years, in order to make money, he had done not just one or two dangerous jobs.
What scared her most was the time there was a heavy rain, and no one dared to deliver goods to the mountains, fearing a landslide might take their life.
But he dared.
He delivered once, twice, three times, and then there really was a landslide.
Chen Pingsheng was lucky; the car only flipped over and wasn't too badly damaged.
It was after that incident that Song Yanxi refused to let him do deliveries again, and later they bought a three-wheeled cart to sell durians everywhere.
She hadn't expected him now to take on such risky work again.
"Liying, your Chen is willing to do any job to make money. In the future, if there are any group acting opportunities, try to introduce him to lighter work. It's okay if it pays less."
Zhao Liying was slightly taken aback but understood her thoughts.
It was just a wife worried about her husband.
"Dinner's ready! What have you two been talking about this whole time, chatting so merrily?"
Chen Pingsheng had made three dishes and a soup, which definitely counted as a sumptuous dinner for their household.
Of course, they had no idea that the little girl who played extras in front of them could become a pillar of the entertainment industry in the future.
An existence like a singular queen.
At present, they just felt she had it especially tough.
It had been a long time since anyone had invited her to dinner, and Zhao Liying ate simply, laughing with sincere joy.
As soon as she left, Song Yanxi immediately pulled Chen Pingsheng into the bedroom.
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