"Why did this have to happen now of all times? Filming is about to start, where am I supposed to find someone?"

"Su Ying alone is already enough of a headache for me, and now even the supporting characters are causing trouble. Are you trying to drive me crazy?"

"I need to find someone! I want to find someone too! Her scene starts in half an hour, where am I supposed to find someone in such a short time? How about I dress up as a woman and impersonate her?"

"I waited for three whole hours, and just when we were finally able to film, you guys started causing trouble again! I'm so fed up!"

"What...what happened?"

The director's roar was so loud that it attracted the attention of all the extras around. They crowded around the outer circle, craning their necks to peek inside while whispering amongst themselves.

There were quite a few people surrounding her, and Zhu Jinzhao was bumped into several times. Seeing this, Shi Jing immediately reached out and grabbed her by the collar, pulling her to his side.

She hid the unfinished cookies back in her pocket and listened intently to the conversation around her.

"I heard that an important supporting actor was in a car accident on his way here. I don't know how serious it is, but he was taken to the hospital."

"Huh? Will filming still be able to start smoothly? We've been waiting all morning."

"Didn't you hear the director say that they couldn't find the right people? How can they film if they can't find the right people?"

"Ugh, another day of getting paid for nothing..."

"This director is really unlucky." Jiang Jingwen shook her head with a look of sympathy. "It's bad enough that he got stuck with Su Ying, but now even the supporting actors are in trouble... What's the point of filming? He might as well just blow up the whole crew."

Zhu Jinchao didn't care about that; she only cared about her salary: "If we can't film today, will we still get paid?"

Shi Jing: "We can get it. If the supporting actors can't come, the production team will film other people's scenes first. Anyway, we're just extras, we'll go wherever we're needed, and we can reuse them."

Zhu Jinzhao: "Oh..."

"Everyone, stand back a bit, don't crowd together!"

"Move aside! Move aside!"

The director hung up the phone and suddenly walked over to the extras.

Shi Jing grabbed one person in each hand, pulled Zhu Jinzhao and Jiang Jingwen apart, and let the staff squeeze in.

Zhu Jinzhao, unaware of what was happening, stared blankly at the two directors in front of her with her big, round, bright eyes.

The assistant director, with a dark expression, moved among the extras with his hands behind his back. His sinister eyes quickly scanned the faces around him, and after a moment, they settled on Zhu Jinzhao.

"..." Zhu Jinzhao blinked, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"How old are you?" the assistant director asked in an annoyed tone.

Zhu Jinzhao truthfully replied, "I am twenty."

The assistant director grunted, "His age is acceptable, and his looks are alright too. Xiao Song, go and call Director Zhao over to take a look."

"Yes!" The man beside him immediately ran away.

Zhu Jinzhao: "..."

What are they trying to do?

"Director Zhao is here!"

In less than a minute, Xiao Song brought Director Zhao over.

Director Zhao is the chief director of the crew. He was able to stand up and take charge yesterday, but today he was so angry with Su Ying that he didn't even want to speak.

He walked up to the assistant director with a stern face and looked Zhu Jinzhao up and down.

The assistant director asked, "How is she?"

Director Zhao frowned and ordered sternly, "Smile and let me see."

"..." Zhu Jinzhao had no idea what they were doing, but he still grinned unconsciously.

"Hmm!" Director Zhao was very satisfied, and most of the hostility in his eyes disappeared instantly. "You're the one. Where's the makeup artist? Take her to get her done!"

The makeup artist squeezed through the crowd and, without saying a word, grabbed Zhu Jinzhao's arm and led her away.

"Huh?" Zhu Jinzhao was completely baffled. Before he could even ask "why," he was dragged into the makeshift dressing room.

"...What are you doing?" Jiang Jingwen only realized what was happening now. Seeing that she couldn't catch up with Zhu Jinzhao, she grabbed the assistant director's arm. "Where did you take my friend?"

"Where else can we go? To the dressing room to get our hair and makeup done!" The assistant director glared at Jiang Jingwen and impatiently shook off her hand.

She staggered back two steps, but Shi Jing caught her steadily.

Shi Jing frowned and asked in a cold voice, "What kind of look? What role do you want her to play?"

"She's playing the mute Fuling." Xiao Song explained from the side, "The actress who was originally supposed to play Fuling was in a car accident and was hospitalized, so she couldn't come to the set. The director saw that she looked suitable, so he asked her to fill in for the role temporarily."

"This is a great opportunity to shine! So many people pull strings and still can't get a role like this. Your friend, you're really lucky today!"

"...What?" Jiang Jingwen was stunned. She turned to look at Shi Jing, her eyes filled with both surprise and worry.

"My God, she's so lucky..." The extras around her all looked on with envy.

"Many extras dream of having such an opportunity. If she can play this role well, she will have stepped into the entertainment industry."

"Damn it, why wasn't it me? I think I'm pretty good-looking too..."

"Fuling is a key character in the script. If she performs well and becomes a breakout star, she'll save herself ten years of hard work! It's even luckier than winning the lottery..."

"This is even more absurd than winning the lottery..."

Looking at her drastically changed appearance in the mirror, Zhu Jinzhao couldn't help but sigh.

She originally just came to be an extra to earn some meager pay, but who knew she would have such an opportunity and be chosen by the director to play a serious role!

Is this considered meeting a benefactor and having incredible luck?

"What's your name again?" The assistant director walked into the dressing room with the script and sat down next to Zhu Jinzhao.

Zhu Jinzhao nervously said, fiddling with her fingers, "Director, my name is Zhu Jinzhao."

"Zhu Jinzhao, this is your script." The assistant director didn't have time to greet her and simply threw the script in his hand in front of Zhu Jinzhao.

"You'll be playing a mute character, with no lines at all. It won't be too difficult. First, take the script and get a feel for the role. Once you're done with your makeup, you can start rehearsing."

"Oh..." Zhu Jinzhao responded blankly, her mind completely blank. She opened the script, looked at the dense text, and mustered up the courage to ask something, but when she turned her head, the assistant director had already rushed off.

Only one sentence was left behind—

"Makeup artist, hurry up!"

Makeup artist: "Got it!"

"..." Zhu Jinzhao looked at the script, at a loss.

Seeing that she was young and it was her first time acting, the makeup artist kindly gave her a couple of tips: "Reading the script isn't actually that difficult. First, find your part, then figure out the emotions for that part, and then perform it."

"Don't be nervous, you'll get used to it after a couple more times."

Zhu Jinzhao pursed her lips tightly: "Thank you, sister."

Makeup artist: "You're welcome. It's your good fortune to get a role like this. Not only do you get screen time, but you also get paid more than ten times that of an extra."

"...Ten times the pay?" The mention of money energized Zhu Jinzhao. Looking at the makeup artist beside her in the mirror, she asked expectantly, "How much is ten times the pay you mentioned?"