Sister Cui carefully analyzed the shortcomings of this drama to Luo Yu. She was very worried that Luo Yu would immediately reject this kind of drama that was destined to have no ratings and no hot topic discussion. She was also worried that if she hid this and waited until Luo Yu went to the set just for him to turn on his heels and leave, then he really could forget about taking on any other roles.

Unexpectedly, Luo Yu smiled, “In my current situation, I am about to become a nobody in the entertainment industry. Being able to even film is an opportunity. So let’s talk about my role.”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

When Sister Cui heard this, one-third of her heart dropped back in place, but there was still two-thirds left hanging in her throat. Here comes the important point.

“The role I negotiated for you is called Bai Ying. He is the son of the villain criminal boss in the play. This character is a bloodhound who was not favored by his father and was brought up by his grandfather——a ruthless and arrogant person, but also paranoid and sensitive at heart… a cannon fodder villain. There are probably no more than five lines, and the total time of appearance is probably about ten minutes…” Sister Cui felt more and more guilty as she spoke.

In fact, Luo Yu knew very well what kind of role this was. However, in his last life, he rejected the role as soon as he heard the words “cannon fodder villain”. He was afraid that playing a villain would damage his image, and that he would be ridiculed by the water army under his opponent He Mu.

Oh, he wasn’t actually He Mu’s opponent, at best he was just He Mu’s punching bag.

“En.” Luo Yu nodded thoughtfully, “Although this character doesn’t appear much, his character is actually very captivating.”

“You… you really think so?” Sister Cui’s eyes lit up when she heard this.

Was it possible that the lines she prepared to persuade Luo Yu were not needed after all? Had Luo Yu’s belated youthful rebellious phase suddenly passed?

Sister Cui suddenly wondered if she should burn some incense at the temple next weekend.

“That’s right. And the role’s quick to die, quick to finish, and quick to get money.” Luo Yu said.

Sister Cui was choked by the phrase “quick to die”. She was not sure if the other was being sarcastic or not.

Luo Yu wanted to find a bottle of water for her to drink, but found that there was nothing in his house. The mess in the house almost frightened him as well, so he could only pat Sister Cui on the back.

“Luo Yu, please don’t talk nonsense, okay? There should be a taboo about death!”

“Okay, do I need to audition for this role?” Luo Yu asked.

“No, for such a small role… that gets the lunch box so quickly, auditioning is a waste of time.” Sister Cui said.

“Then let’s sign the contract quickly? If I don’t deposit a new check in the bank, I won’t be able to pay off the mortgage for this apartment.” Luo Yu raised his head and looked around.

“You still remember that you have a mortgage! I thought you were sitting around waiting for the loan to end and the bank to put your apartment up for auction!”

After saying that, Sister Cui took out the script from her bag and put it on the coffee table, “Do you want to read the script carefully? Although it’s only five lines long…”

“I will, don’t worry.”

Seeing Luo Yu regaining his spirit, Sister Cui stood at the door hesitating, but she didn’t know whether she should speak or not.

Seeing her expression, Luo Yu felt distressed——she was clearly the one working hard to find work for him, yet she still had to carefully take care of his self-esteem.

“Sister Cui, do you want to say that this role was originally intended for He Mu to guest star, but He Mu disliked that the role is small and a cannon fodder villain, so he rejected it? When you went to negotiate for this role for me, it’s because the producer considered ‘Luo Yu is He Mu’s dupe’, so they gave me the role?”

Sister Cui swallowed. She didn’t expect Luo Yu to guess what the producer was thinking.

It was not that she didn’t get a better role for Luo Yu before, it was just that when Luo Yu heard that the other party originally wanted to cast He Mu, but either because of the schedule or the salary, they couldn’t reach an agreement, so the role was given to the so-called “He Mu dupe” in the industry, Luo Yu, he would categorically refuse.

What he couldn’t stand the most was being ridiculed for eating He Mu’s leftovers.

Over time, Sister Cui could find fewer and fewer roles. Coupled with the brokerage company’s complete shelf attitude toward Luo Yu, Luo Yu was gradually marginalized.

Sister Cui hesitated for a long time before nodding.

The smile on Luo Yu’s lips did not diminish, and there was a hint of a playful tease in his tone: “Are you still worried that the trolls on social platforms will habitually ridicule me for copying He Mu’s school idol image? That if I accept this role, those trolls will come out to harass me again, and He Mu’s fans will come to mock me for picking up He Mu’s leftovers?”

Sister Cui nodded stiffly, “You… how did you know?”

“I guessed it.” Luo Yu patted Sister Cui on the shoulder, “Just put your heart back in its place. Whether this role is leftovers or delicacies is not decided by He Mu’s fans. And I, Luo Yu can act, but He Mu is not that material.”

“Anyway, don’t pay attention to He Mu and his group of brain-dead fans who have been brainwashed to believe that their gege is the best in the world! One must not bother with rotten people and charge forward courageously!”

Sister Cui was probably the only one on the Internet who would call He Mu a rotten person.

Luo Yu leaned into Sister Cui’s ear and whispered, “Sister Cui, you must help me get this role and sign the contract strictly so that the producer finds it troublesome to replace me. Believe me, soon, He Mu will live for this role, die for this role, and hit the wall for this role. He will hire a bunch of internet trolls to smear me, but he still won’t be able to snatch it from me, and it’s useless even if he vomits blood from the vexation——how satisfying.”

Sister Cui choked, “How could He Mu want to take back this role? Are you just comforting me?”

“Secret.” Luo Yu put his finger to his lips and tapped it.

“Okay, as long as you can withstand the pressure, I, Cui Zhuxin, will accompany you to the end!”

After Sister Cui left, Luo Yu looked at his apartment, which was messier than a doghouse, covered his eyes and sighed.

“Luo Yu, Luo Yu, such a small matter yet you can be hit down like this.”

After saying that, he bent down and started to clean up the place.

First, he sorted the garbage and threw it out quickly. In two days, cockroaches would probably come out in swarms if he didn’t.

Then he separated the jumble of clothes according to color and texture and put them in the washing machine.

Among them was an ink-style shirt with a world-renowned brand logo.

Luo Yu held the shirt up to his shoulders and looked in the mirror. It was a pity that such an expensive shirt could only be worn at home or casually because it was out of season and he could not wear it on shows or participate in activities, otherwise he would be laughed at.

“Why send clothes? It’s better to give me cash.”

Luo Yu said this, but still took the shirt and washed it by hand.

He wasn’t planning to find a chance to wear it, but he was thinking that selling it would help pay for the mortgage.

After tidying up the house, Luo Yu went to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities.

For example, clothes drying racks and portable clothes ironer.

He pushed the cart and hesitated in front of the supermarket’s freezer.

Before he came to the supermarket, he took a special look at his savings. It had just reached six figures. Tomorrow was the day to pay the mortgage fee, and then he would be living a frugal life.

Huh, was yogurt so expensive ten years ago? A box so small actually costs more than ten yuan?

Luo Yu picked them up and compared them one by one to see which one was more cost-effective. When he looked up, he saw two girls taking selfies with their mobile phones opposite the freezer. He smiled helplessly.

How could he forget that at this time, he was not a complete nobody yet and could at least be recognized by his name in the entertainment industry. Why did he forget to wear a mask when he went out to the supermarket?

Luo Yu simply crossed his arms and looked at the two girls with a sarcastic smile, as if to say: Taking a selfie in front of the freezer, should I praise you for your wonderful non-physical performance?

When the two girls realized it, the expression on their faces immediately changed, they put their mobile phones in their pockets, and turned around and left without stopping.

Luo Yu would not be too pretentious to think that they were fans of his. According to his experience, they were probably fans of He Mu and wanted to take the opportunity to take some ugly photos of him and post them on Weibo or in their chat group to laugh at him.

Luo Yu continued to choose yogurt indifferently.

After the two girls left the refrigerated area, one of them, Huang Yu, immediately posted the photo she just took to her Weibo:

[Look at this down-and-out male artist who is shopping in the supermarket]

She first uploaded a photo of Luo Yu with his head half lowered, holding a box of yogurt and studying the shelf life. He was wearing a simple white shirt and casual pants, looking completely like any non-celeb, and there was not even an assistant around to help push the cart. 

They had long heard that Luo Yu’s brokerage company, Zhuque Media, would terminate his contract when the five-year contract expired. In addition, Luo Yu had no work during this period. In order to save money, even his original team was disbanded. They didn’t believe it at first, but it seems to be true.

Those who followed Huang Yu were He Mu’s fans, and she was ready for everyone to laugh with her.

But what she didn’t expect was that after five or six minutes, no one recognized Luo Yu in the photo, and there were actually people commenting excitedly below exclaiming “so handsome”!

[Yah! Is this little gege also a male artist? He’s so tall, is he a model?]

[This kind of elegant shoulder length hair tied behind the ears, and artistic aura is so eye-catching!]

[Little gege’s eyelashes are so long! The bridge of his nose is also so high!]

[This angle actually makes him look a little pitiful and endearing. The blogger’s photography skills are getting better and better! Like!]

Huang Yu, who was staring at Weibo, was dumbfounded and angrily pressed the button quickly to reply: [What little gege! See it clearly! This is Luo Yu! Luo Yu! Luo Yu!]

One must say important things three times!

Suddenly, countless people expressed doubts on her Weibo.

[? ? ?]

[Luo Yu doesn’t have this hairstyle… right… The last photo I saw of him seemed to have short hair?]

[Your last time was a few months ago, right? This guy might be thinking that growing his hair down to his waist will get him filming roles!]

[Did you mistake the wrong person?]

[What Luo Yu copied is our gege’s school idol image, but the one in the photo looks more like an art student from an academy of fine arts!]

[Don’t make a mistake and attract trouble to He Mu gege! ]

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Huang Yu was so vexed that she immediately posted the second photo with the caption: [Look clearly who this is!]

The man in the photo was looking at the camera with his arms crossed. He did not dodge or shy away. His face did not show the anger of being secretly photographed. On the contrary, he had a calm smile that had a certain charm in its sarcastic tilt. His eyes were clear and bright, shining under the lights of the supermarket.

[? ? ?]

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The sound of gurgling water came to Luo Yu’s ears, his world seemingly soaked in icy water.

He began to struggle, but his body lost strength due to lack of oxygen. Even so, his hands were waving as hard as he could to grab the life-saving straw in this void.

But his body sank deeper and deeper, and the boundless darkness covered over his head.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Someone was still smashing the glass window, bang after bang, determined and frantic.

Thank you… don’t bother anymore… don’t be dragged down yourself…

Luo Yu touched the vibrating glass with his last strength, just like the last beating of his heart.

“Bang, bang, bang——bang, bang, bang——”

Luo Yu suddenly woke up and opened his eyes to find a patch of bright light above the swaying water surface.

“Luo Yu! Luo Yu, I know you are in there! Come out and let’s have a good talk.”

That voice seemed to have traveled through a decade to his ears.

Luo Yu sat up suddenly, hearing the sound of water splashing back down into the water after breaking its surface. He wiped away the water droplets on his face and found that he was sitting in a bathtub!

What happened? Why was it a bathtub?

He was clearly sitting in the car heading to a certain heavyweight film festival. After more than a decade of ups and downs, he finally got a nomination for Best Supporting Actor based on his own strength, and according to the organizer, this award was 80% his.

But when he was passing along the riverside avenue, in order to avoid the paparazzi, his car accidentally ran off the road and fell into the river.

He still recalled the loud sound and huge impact when he fell into the water, which almost knocked his soul out of his body. The river water poured in, and on top of this extremely bad luck——the buckle of the seat belt and the hem of his suit were stuck together, unable to be disentangled at all…

He didn’t expect that the award-winning film that had been produced after his decade-long accumulation would become his parting work.

But why did he wake up in a bathtub now?

And this bathroom seemed unfamiliar at first glance, but gradually… a familiar feeling came to his heart.

Wasn’t this the small apartment he bought with a loan more than a decade ago?

“Luo Yu, I have tried my best. This is the most significant role I can get for you so far. If… if you are not willing to even take this role, I really… really don’t know what to do.”

The woman outside the door sighed deeply. It was the kind of helplessness after experiencing many layers of pressure, and it was also the last tolerance for the person on the other side of the door.

Luo Yu turned his face sideways and looked at the door in disbelief.

He had thought of this moment countless times in the past ten years, and regretted it countless times. He had willfully let down the other’s efforts and hard work, and also rejected the opportunity to make a comeback.

“Is it… Sister Cui?” Luo Yu’s throat bobbed, and a certain kind of expectation surged into his heart, boiling and burning like the wind fanning a fire.

After hearing his response, Sister Cui’s shoulders trembled obviously and she said loudly: “Besides me, how many sisters do you have?”

Luo Yu’s fingers clasped the edge of the bathtub so hard that they turned white.

What was going on? Why would he return to his old apartment from ten years ago? Sister Cui, the manager who had become extremely disappointed with him and left long ago… Why was she outside his door?

“Sister Cui, please sit on the sofa for a bit. I… will clean myself up and come out, okay?”

Sister Cui outside the door was stunned for a moment, and said half-jokingly: “I thought you had long given up on caring about your image, yet you are still willing to clean and dress up? Is this a courtesy for my sake?”

Luo Yu took a deep breath, calmed down and said, “If I don’t maintain my image, don’t even mention the directors, Sister Cui yourself will even look down on me.”

Sister Cui’s eyes suddenly turned red and she let out a laugh, “It’s good that you know. I’ll wait for you however long as you want.”

After saying that, Sister Cui returned to the living room, but as for Luo Yu’s sofa… there was really no place for her to sit.

Wrinkled clothes were waddled into various shapes, boxes of instant noodles, and unfinished lunch boxes from convenience stores were left laying around in a disorderly manner, and there was even a rancid smell.

Sister Cui finally managed to clean up a piece of pure land. As soon as she sat down, she found a cigarette butt in the gap of the sofa.

“Luo Yu! How many times have I told you! Don’t lie on the sofa and smoke. What if the ash falls and causes a fire!” Sister Cui couldn’t help shouting.

If it was normal, the other would either remain silent or ask coldly, “What does it have to do with you?”

But this time, the person in the bathroom said loudly: “I’ll quit smoking——except when a role requires it, I won’t smoke anymore!”

Sister Cui blinked her eyes and pinched herself hard again. The pain stung so bad that her face almost wrinkled into a prune. But looking at the red mark on her arm clearly reminded her that this was not a dream.

Luo Yu stepped out of the bathtub, and the feeling of his feet touching the ground was so unreal. He leaned on the sink with both hands and looked at himself in the mirror. A blurry outline was reflected in the mist. His heartbeat was racing. He didn’t know what kind of himself he would see.

He stretched out his hand to wipe away the fog on the mirror, revealing a downcast but clearly attractive face.

Somewhat long bangs covered his eyes, which were dim and dull, and made him look sleepy. The stubble on his chin had not been shaved for who knows how long, and the whole person seemed to be an encyclopedic image of the word “depression” in capital letters.

“Cui… Sister Cui…” Luo Yu shouted.

“What’s wrong? Did you fall in the bathroom?” Sister Cui quickly stood up.

“I just want to ask how old… am I this year?” Luo Yu asked.

“Did you damage your brain in the water?”

“I just want to reflect a bit.” Luo Yu said.

“Okay, reflect on it! You are still three months away from turning 26! You are still young among third- and fourth-tier actors. As long as you don’t continue to be in a slump, you still have the possibility of turning things around! Although you prepared for the role for a long time only for it to be snatched away by He Mu, your performance still left a deep impression on the director during the audition. The director told me privately that he will definitely notify you of another opportunity! As long as you don’t run back into a dead end, it doesn’t matter if you are twenty-six or thirty-six, it’s still not the end of the road!”

Luo Yu stood dazed for three seconds, raised his hand to cover his eyes, and a smile appeared on his lips. 

Not the end of the road?

When he was young, he felt that being robbed of the role he needed to make a comeback by He Mu, a top star, and being belittled as “He Mu’s dupe” by his rival’ capital marketing, which led to ridicule by the public, being treated as junk and thrown away by the brokerage company he had sincerely trusted in, his Weibo being filled with attacks from anti-fans every time he went to audition for a role, unable to find a new brokerage company… He Mu let Luo Yu understand what it meant to be a champion right after debut, whereas Luo Yu never even made it to the starting line in the end.

After a decade of hard work in his previous life, constantly hitting a wall and constantly looking for new ways out, he understood that what he was facing at this moment was not a dead end at all, but a turning point.

It was just that in his previous life, he had too much self-esteem and didn’t know what was good for him.

The twenty-six year old Luo Yu had youthful capital, vitality, and endless possibilities for matching roles that the thirty-six year old did not have. It was just that at the time, he was living within the frame of labels and scripts designed by others and did not understand this fact clearly.

In this life, he must not bother with rotten people and charge forward courageously.

“Why is it suddenly quiet?” Sister Cui worriedly put her ear to the door.

At this time, the sound of the electric shaver could be heard, and the buzzing sound finally made Sister Cui exhale.

Soon, his chin became much cleaner, and the superior jawline appeared in the mirror.

Luo Yu smiled lightly, then picked up the hair dryer to blow dry his hair. He then found a hair pin and clamped the disheveled hair back from his forehead, revealing a clean and smooth forehead.

“Sister Cui, can you please help me get a change of clothes?” Luo Yu called.

“I’ll go look for it.”

Sister Cui opened Luo Yu’s closet and found that it was also a mess. She didn’t know how long it had been since it had been tidied up. She finally found a white T-shirt and loose casual pants and handed them through the crack of the bathroom door.

After Luo Yu took it, he quickly put it on.

He looked at himself in the mirror. He was 185 cm in height, with a straight back, wide shoulders and narrow waist. He was clearly a walking clothes rack. How many male stars had good-looking facial features but not a good figure like him. He was lucky enough to have natural good looks, yet he spent his time cosplaying a corpse in the tub, what a total waste.

He opened the bathroom door and strode in the direction of Sister Cui.

Sister Cui looked calm, but her clenched fingers revealed her anxiety at the moment. She didn’t know whether Luo Yu’s sudden change was just a fluke or a determination to rise up again.

“Sister Cui!” Luo Yu hugged her and tightened his arms.

This agent still maintained relations with him in the industry when he was negative and depressed, running around to find roles for him. Even if the brokerage company disbanded Luo Yu’s team, Sister Cui did not give up on him. It was a pity that he couldn’t live up to the support at that time, and failed to be worthy of the hard work of this iron lady.

Since he could live a new life, he would not let her hard work go to waste again.

“You… what’s wrong with you?” Sister Cui patted Luo Yu’s back dazedly.

“It’s nothing. Didn’t you say you negotiated a role for me?”

Luo Yu let go of Sister Cui and let her sit back on the sofa. He waved away the debris on the coffee table and sat across from her.

Sister Cui looked at the young man in front of her. He appeared indolent and casual, but also revealed a hint of mature calmness. She was a little unable to recover from her daze.

His eyes no longer look dispirited, but instead all the gloom was swept away, like a finely carved jade stone with the dust wiped clean and placed by the window, shining and brilliant.

The hope that was about to be extinguished in Sister Cui’s heart began to burn again.

“I… what I want to tell you is that there is a script called “Counterattack”. It tells the story of an undercover agent who goes deep into a criminal gang, deals with various forces, continuously gains the trust of the boss, gathers evidence, and finally takes down the gang in one go. The director Wang Daheng has been confirmed, the male lead is Lin Qiao, and the female lead is Li Lanyun.”

“En.” Luo Yu nodded.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“I know that Director Wang has a background in making specific TV series. His works are more streamlined and stereotyped, and young people and even middle-aged people don’t watch them.”

Luo Yu didn’t have a big reaction, which gave Sister Cui the courage to continue talking.

“I read the script… and it is indeed quite stereotyped. There is no captivating dramatic conflict. Even the lines can be guessed after hearing the previous sentence. Lin Qiao and Li Lanyun are not popular actors either… but because of the subject matter, it’s a guaranteed satellite television show.”

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