Back at the bookstore, Grandma Hu left dinner for Shang Yechu as usual.
Dinner consisted of a bowl of noodles with soybean paste, a boiled corn cob, and leftover soy milk generously provided by the breakfast shop next door. Grandma Hu was examining a tattered book with a magnifying glass when she saw Shang Yechu arrive, and her face immediately lit up with a smile.
"Xiao Chu, you're here? Come and see what this is!"
When Shang Ye first saw it, he was immediately surprised.
Grandma Hu was carrying a worn-out canvas schoolbag, its style extremely outdated. At first glance, she looked no younger than Shang Yechu.
Grandma Hu said happily, "This is my son's schoolbag from high school. I washed and dried it yesterday. Look at you carrying around a plastic bag, it's so inappropriate!"
Shang Yechu silently took the backpack and weighed it in her hand. The backpack was old, with a neat patch on the side, and the zipper was a color that didn't match the fabric at all. It looked like the original zipper was broken and a new one had been installed.
However old it was, it was a complete, large, and sturdy schoolbag. It was washed clean and had a fresh scent of laundry detergent.
Shang Yechu... actually used a lot of old schoolbags.
The ones that my second and third sisters had taken over, and the ones that my younger brother Shang Jiayu had taken over, were mostly not very good to use. They either had broken zippers, broken straps, or were just filthy.
Ji Ya was a loving mother—but only towards her two younger sisters and one younger brother. She would never do laundry or mend for Shang Yechu. In her words, with Shang Yechu's pig-brain, a schoolbag was just for show.
Shang Hongxuan doesn't care about anything. The expenses for the four children are already huge. If his good-for-nothing eldest daughter, Shang Yechu, spends even a little more money, he will fly into a rage.
Shang Yechu had no choice but to wash and mend the clothes herself, clumsily sewing them into ugly lumps. She carried her schoolbag, covered in lumps and undissolved laundry detergent stains, to school, and was laughed at countless times.
Seeing that Shang Yechu remained silent, Grandma Hu assumed she was dissatisfied and hurriedly said, "Don't think it's old. There are bags for sale on the pedestrian street, but such small ones cost tens of yuan! It's not worth it."
"Don't let its age fool you, this bag is incredibly sturdy! It's also huge, it can hold a lot of things... You'll need a big bag like this when you're traveling..."
Grandma Hu kept talking, seemingly feeling a little guilty that she could only bring out this ugly schoolbag.
“Grandma,” Shang Yechu raised her face and smiled, “I really like it. Thank you, it’s so useful.”
With her schoolbag as a helpful assistant, Shang Yechu's life became much more convenient.
From that day on, Shang Yechu began a regular life consisting of going back and forth between two points.
During the day, she works as an extra in the film and television city.
Guards, palace maids, servants, soldiers, fervent female fans, the protagonist's classmates, passersby on the street—all sorts of background figures. She plays whatever comes to mind. Whether there are lines or not, whether her face is shown or not, Shang Yechu accepts the roles without hesitation, completely unconcerned.
Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can even play a corpse, a filial son dressed in mourning clothes, or a dead person lying in a puddle or pool of blood. In those cases, you can get a red envelope of ten or five yuan.
Others might find a role unlucky or dirty, but Shang Yechu would always be the first to take it, without a second thought. Through wind and rain, through scorching sun and torrential downpours, Shang Yechu remained unfazed.
She acted as if her life depended on it. Even for the most trivial roles, she gave it her all; even as a motionless background character, she stood tall and straight, without the slightest slackening.
Even so, her salary didn't increase by a single penny. Nor did any director or producer suddenly appear out of nowhere and discover that she was a diamond in the rough.
After finishing her work, she sat in a corner reading the secondhand books she had brought from the bookstore. They were all common world classics, familiar to everyone. Some were even required reading for elementary school students, yet she read them so attentively.
After work, Shang Yechu would eat the crew's boxed lunches. Not every crew has good treatment; some crews' boxed lunches are terribly unpalatable, and some are quite unhygienic, with hair or flies sometimes found in them.
No matter how bad the boxed lunch was, Shang Yechu ate it without hesitation. She would eat one box if she could, and two if she could. Once, an extra witnessed Shang Yechu find a large, menacing praying mantis in her boxed lunch. Without even flinching, Shang Yechu flicked the mantis away and continued eating, finishing the entire box clean.
The extras were stunned.
Over time, Shang Yechu earned a nickname among the extras: "Fool".
To the surprise of the extras, although Shang Yechu ate more than anyone else, she didn't gain any weight and was even thinner than when she first arrived.
After finishing work at the film studio, Shang Yechu went straight to the bookstore, where he read books while minding the shop.
Shang Yechu reads all kinds of books. At first, he read the Four Great Classical Novels, other classical novels, and foreign classics and novels; later, he also read Tang and Song poetry and foreign poetry. Shang Yechu never picks and chooses any book that can be found in this bookstore and reads it all without hesitation.
Those books were deeply etched into her mind, as enduring as inscriptions. She could feel her empty brain being filled by these words, filling every crevice.
Not enough, far from enough.
Shang Yechu felt a thirst in his soul.
Her mind was constantly screaming: "I need food. I need knowledge."
She could feel the extreme mismatch between her intelligence and her experience. She possessed a genius-level brain, yet large swaths of it were blank. As her memories of her previous life became clearer, she was horrified to discover that within these vast expanses of memory, there was hardly any trace of knowledge.
In his previous life, Shang Yechu was just a pathetic wretch who was confused, ignorant, and only knew how to make money by selling his ugliness.
Every day, Shang Yechu would read until two or three in the morning, then have the system force her into hibernation. She would sleep until six in the morning, get up on time, and go to the film set to work as an extra.
In other words, she only slept three or four hours a day. The rest of the time, she was either playing minor roles or reading.
The system's forced hibernation has an excellent relaxing effect on both mind and body, and it also secretly regulates Shang Yechu's hormones to numb his fatigue. However, Shang Yechu's approach is ultimately a complete overexertion.
After eating three meals a day, Shang Yechu would gain about 2kg in weight. She requested the system to convert all of it into beauty points.
Because the change was only two points per day, the change was extremely small, so no one noticed Shang Yechu's transformation.
The system repeatedly reminded Shang Yechu to exchange health points to improve her physical fitness, but she ignored it. For her, gaining knowledge, experience, and beauty were the most important things; as for physical health, as long as she didn't die, that was enough.
Shang Yechu never initiated contact with the extras. Of course, if they approached her, she would respond politely. Even so, over time, the extras still harbored some complaints about her. They whispered that she was arrogant and pretentious.
Shang Yechu was very diligent, never shirking her duties or skipping work. She was also quick-witted, and occasionally the director would praise her. However, because she didn't like interacting with people, her reputation among the extras was even worse.
One day, Shang Yechu was hiding in a corner reading Jane Eyre when she suddenly felt a shadow fall over her.
When Shang Yechu looked up, she saw that the other person was dressed flamboyantly and wearing high heels with sharp points. It turned out to be Luo Qianqian.
Luo Qianqian was somewhat well-known among the extras in the area. She was quite attractive, at least much better looking than Shang Yechu, who was easily lost in a crowd.
Compared to Shang Yechu, who spends all her time playing corpses and standing still, Luo Qianqian has more options. She can play minor palace maids with lines, or courtesans with clear shots of their faces. Although they aren't exactly respectable roles, at least they offer more hope than being an ordinary extra.
Adhering to the principle of avoiding feuds in the entertainment industry, the extras dared not offend her. They all politely called her "Sister Luo".
Shang Yechu looked up and asked stiffly, "Hello? Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Oh, reading *Jane Eyre*?" Luo Qianqian extended two fingers painted with red nail polish and picked up the book from Shang Yechu's hand. She said sarcastically.
"Isn't this required reading for junior high school? Even top students read this kind of book?"
Shang Yechu's face remained expressionless: "A top student? Who?"
"It's you," Luo Qianqian said with a sly laugh. "You never take a lunch break, and you study right after filming. What else could you be but a top student?"
"I'm not a top student," Shang Yechu said calmly. "I failed my college entrance exam and came here to work."
Luo Qianqian was taken aback when she saw that Shang Yechu was not only not angry, but also so honest.
"Now, can you return the book to me?" Shang Yechu's tone was calm and even.
"Oh, did I bother you?" Luo Qianqian said with a coquettish smile. "Here you go~"
Shang Yechu reached out to take it, but Luo Qianqian's fingers loosened. The copy of "Jane Eyre" fell to the ground with a "thud."
Shang Yechu finally looked at Luo Qianqian properly.
Luo Qianqian looked back at her with a provocative smile.
Shang Yechu was silent for a moment, then bent down and picked up the book.
She was already sitting on the stool, so bending over was effortless. After picking up the book, Shang Yechu accurately turned to the page she had just been reading and continued reading.
Seeing that she dared to ignore her like that, Luo Qianqian's face flushed red with anger. She couldn't help but say sarcastically, "What are you pretending for! Ugly as you are, yet you dream big! Still indulging in pipe dreams!"
Shang Ye pretended not to hear.
"Always putting on airs! Like a lapdog! You're the most enthusiastic one among all these extras! Don't you ever take a good look at yourself in the mirror?"
"Go back to your old ways, you ugly bastard! You'll never amount to anything!"
Shang Yechu turned another page of the book.
Seeing that this person was unyielding, Luo Qianqian became so angry that her face turned red, and she walked away with a clang in her high heels.
The system, having witnessed the entire incident, couldn't help but ask, "Host, why is she bothering you for no reason?"
Shang Yechu turned another page and slowly said in her mind, "You told me yesterday that your computer was the most advanced in the same batch of systems, how come you can't even see this?"
System: "The system core and computing power are of course the most advanced. But I cannot fully understand your human emotions."
Shang Yechu did not answer, and the system continued, "Humans often do things that are incomprehensible and meaningless. Even though the thing does not benefit them at all, they will deliberately waste time on it."
For example, what Luo Qianqian just did.
"It's meaningless..."
Shang Yechu murmured.
Shang Yechu lowered her head, the copy of Jane Eyre in her hand turned to the middle.
Shang Yechu murmured, "Acknowledging that I am good will not bring her happiness, but only humiliation."
The system paused for a moment, then said, "You're reading page 119 of Jane Eyre. But what does that have to do with our conversation?"
"As expected of a system. Blind to the eyes and heart, completely ignorant of human nature."
"..."
The system coldly replied, "Host, my 'eyes' can scan your entire world in a second. They're far superior to yours. As for 'hearts,' I don't possess such a thing. My core is composed of information streams."
Shang Yechu chuckled softly: "Sorry."
She apologized so easily that the system was at a loss for words.
Shang Yechu turned another page and smiled, "Alright, I won't make things difficult for you anymore."
"Luo Qianqian is the lover of Assistant Director Si from the previous film. Assistant Director Si helped her get a role as a tragic maid in this film."
"This maid is the female lead's sister. Although she will only appear in the first episode, she has more screen time than Luo Qianqian has ever had in a drama."
"Just before filming, the director noticed her red fingernails—she was playing a laundry maid, how could a laundry maid have such fingernails?"
"Even though it's just a low-budget web series, this kind of mistake is unacceptable."
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