Li Tao is one of the leaders at Anhe Film and Television Base, holding a lot of connections with various production crews.
Usually, he's mainly responsible for recruiting extras for major production crews, acting as an intermediary, which earns him a lot of respect among the extras.
If you want to become an extra and enter this industry, you basically have to get through the leaders first, which is why Ye Tong treats him so attentively.
"Brother Tao, my sister also wants to be an extra. Do you see any suitable opportunities to help her out?" Ye Tong approached Li Tao to chat after he finished arranging today's extras work.
Li Tao raised an eyebrow, looked through the crowd in Ji Ning's direction, "This one?"
Ever since they got off the car, he had noticed this person. Really good-looking, but lacks awareness.
Ye Tong immediately nodded, "Yes, my Sister Ning, she's quite introverted and doesn't like to talk much."
"If you don't like to talk, you can't be a good extra."
"That's why my mom was afraid she'd become reclusive, so she asked me to bring her out for some practice."
Ye Tong accompanied with a smile, and Li Tao scrutinized Ji Ning again, "Her looks are quite outstanding. Has she studied acting?"
"No, she's a complete newbie. Perhaps you could arrange some crowd filler roles for her." As Ye Tong spoke, she discreetly slipped something into Li Tao's hand.
Li Tao accepted the item, his smile growing a bit broader, and he pretended to scold Ye Tong, "Xiao Tong, you're saying it wrong. Not just anyone can be an extra. Even crowd filler roles require acting. I'm only doing this because of you; otherwise, I wouldn't be so easygoing."
"Thank you, Brother Tao." Ye Tong's sweet-talking seemed free of charge, prompting a bigger smile from Li Tao.
"Sister Ning, come over quickly. This is Brother Tao, our leader, and he will arrange roles for us in future performances."
Ye Tong introduced enthusiastically. Ji Ning didn't refuse, walked over slowly, glanced at Ye Tong, and imitated Lin Yuanyang's manner during their first meeting, extending her right hand, "Ji Ning, nice to meet you."
Li Tao was momentarily stunned, then shook Ji Ning's hand, laughing, "Ji Ning, that's a famous name."
Ji Ning withdrew her hand without responding.
Ye Tong immediately continued, "Indeed, Brother Tao, you don't know how much our family likes Chairman Ji, so they named my Sister Ning after him."
Li Tao chuckled, but his glance towards Ji Ning became slightly indifferent, "Go find Ah Ru to sign the contract later. Join the team tomorrow."
"Well... Brother Tao... my sister lost her residency ID, could you..."
Li Tao glanced at Ye Tong, gesturing towards her. Though he smiled, there was a knowing depth in his eyes, "Xiao Tong, you've been around here long enough. You should know our rules..."
Ye Tong immediately slipped something else into his hand, "Brother Tao, my Sister Ning just arrived in Anhe and hasn't reapplied for the ID yet, please be lenient."
"Then come again in a few days, good things are worth waiting for." Li Tao pushed back the item she offered.
Ye Tong hurriedly said, "Brother Tao, my Sister Ning is a special recruit at Anhe Middle School, see..."
"Special recruit?" Li Tao was evidently intrigued by these words, and he sized up Ji Ning again, no longer pushing back the item Ye Tong handed over.
"It's not easy to get into Anhe Middle School as a special recruit. Being one means you must have some skills."
"Yes, my Sister Ning has good physical fitness."
Big appetite, good physical fitness should be alright.
Ye Tong glanced at Ji Ning's slim figure, forcing herself to lie.
Li Tao looked at Ji Ning a few more times, still skeptical, although this girl looked decent, her physique seemed weak, like wearing a sack in sportswear.
"Xiao Tong, don't fool me, this physique looks... oh shit..."
Just then, the frail girl crushed a corner of the stone table not far away as if squeezing a grape.
"Sorry, this one is a bit fragile." Ji Ning stepped back two steps, hiding the small stone in her hand behind her, as if she'd accidentally broken it.
Li Tao was so startled he almost questioned reality. After a moment of shock, Ye Tong was thoroughly excited, "Brother Tao, my Sister Ning's physical fitness is okay, right?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Can she sign the contract?"
"Yes."
Watching the two walk away, Li Tao stood in place dazed for a while before curiously approaching the crushed corner of the table; the broken edge was very neat, not like it was broken by human hands.
"Hey? Where's the prop table? Where did you move it?"
"..."
No wonder it could be crushed.
Li Tao amusingly cursed himself as a fool for being so easily fooled.
But he didn't bother the two further.
After Li Tao left, a deputy director from the crew suddenly ran over, looking heartbroken as he inspected the table, "Oh my, my Dragon Rock table, who did this?"
The nearby props master gulped in fear.
Dragon Rock?
Could it be that hardest rock on the planet?
***
On the other side.
Ye Tong cautiously handed the signed extra contract over to Ji Ning, smiling as she congratulated, "Congratulations, Sister Ning, on successfully finding a job. This is the first step to self-reliance. Sister Ning, you're amazing, you can actually break a stone table with your bare hands?"
"It's a prop."
"Hmm?"
"The table is very soft."
"...Let's go."
To celebrate Ji Ning finding a job, Ye Tong specially took her to the big market to buy two pounds of bargain meat.
Ji Ning watched Ye Tong flexibly maneuver through the crowded crowd, soon returning with a small piece of freshly cut pork leg.
"Lucky, there's still pork leg, I bought two pounds, I'll make you braised pork back home."
Ji Ning glanced again through the crowd, at the large chunk of fresh meat still left on the chopping board, pursing her lips.
Ye Tong followed her gaze, replying somewhat awkwardly, "The bargain meat is limited supply."
"Mm." Ji Ning withdrew her gaze and looked into the cart filled halfway with potatoes, with a special offer yellow sticker saying buy three pounds get one free.
"Ah, eggs are buy one get one! Sister Ning, keep an eye on our stuff."
When Ji Ning looked up, Ye Tong had already vanished into the 'egg-snatching' army.
What a remarkable girl...
Listening to the cacophony in the market, the corners of Ji Ning's mouth couldn't help but rise a bit.
"Young man, you're buying so many potatoes, can you spare me two pounds? It's too crowded over there, I can't compete with them..."
Ji Ning glanced at the elderly lady beside the shopping cart, eager and restless, and decisively pulled the cart a few steps back, acting like she hadn't heard a thing, and directly pushed the cart away.
"Hey, young man..."
"Nowadays young people, really don't know how to be considerate."
"Why not spare me two pounds? There's still a lot over there, isn't there?"
The murmuring of the elderly lady traveled far, causing quite a few people to turn and look.
Ji Ning turned a deaf ear, pushing the shopping cart unhurriedly away until the market's noise drowned out the murmuring.
"Phew... Sister Ning, you scared me, I thought you were going to give her the vegetables." Ye Tong appeared out of nowhere, swiftly approaching with her spoils of war in hand.
Her clothes were a bit wrinkled, and the long hair neatly tied at the back of her head had become quite loose.
"Sister Ning, let me tell you, there's always this type of elderly in the market who like to take advantage, seeing you're young and unfamiliar, they'll bully you for being thin-skinned. My first time here, I lost a lot of good-picked vegetables to someone like that. I thought I was doing a good deed, but guess what?"