After finishing the meal, James Mason rode his battered electric scooter, took Henry Clark along, and made a trip to the Agricultural Bank. Henry Clark didn’t have enough cash in his pocket, so he needed to withdraw some from his card to make up a thousand yuan. Back at the rental room, James Mason handed the contract to Henry Clark, and also wrote a letter of authorization, basically stating that he was transferring his rental to Henry Clark, serving as proof and the like.

Henry Clark only half-understood the contract, but James Mason then called the landlord, who also agreed, so Henry Clark finally felt at ease and handed over the thousand yuan to James Mason.

James Mason packed up quickly, called a motorcycle taxi to move his luggage, and by about twelve-thirty noon, everything was settled.

“Xiao Xu, the place is yours now. I’m off.”

“Take care, Brother Mason.”

“Yeah, you should take a cab to the union to get your temporary residence permit. I won’t go with you.”

“It’s fine, I’ll just grab a cab.”

“Alright then, that’s it. I wish you fame in Hengdian soon.”

“Haha, definitely.”

And so, the old Hengpiao James Mason hurriedly left. Looking at the empty, single room with only a bed, table, cabinet, and stool left, Henry Clark suddenly felt a wave of emotion. He began to waver a bit about his reckless decision to come to Hengdian in pursuit of his dreams.

Hengdian—every year, hundreds of film and TV productions are shot here, and countless actors set out from here to become famous. But those who make it are never the Hengpiao crowd—not these nameless extras running around, nor the corpses lying around with no identity, nor the background actors with or without screen time.

There are plenty of people like James Mason, who have been hustling for a year or two and are still doing background work. Just the registered actors in the actors’ union number in the tens of thousands, with several thousand residing in Hengdian long-term.

The competition is fierce, not only internally but also externally. As Hengdian develops, actors from Beijing are flooding in, relying on their experience and seniority to snatch resources from the new Hengpiao. Most of the Beijing actors are graduates from film academies, with professional training and solid foundations.

In addition, actors from the SH, Suzhou-Hangzhou, and Shenzhen-Hong Kong areas are also flocking to Hengdian. The rapid development of Hengdian has created huge demand for extras, but with so many competitors coming in, the upward mobility for new Hengpiao has been severely squeezed.

“Can I really make it in Hengdian?”

Henry Clark stared at the posters on the wall. Except for the still of Wu Meiniang, the rest were all celebrity posters—Andy Lau, Jay Chou, Liu Yifei. James Mason really liked quite a few stars.

“One day, will I have my own poster, put up on the wall by my own fans?”

“I don’t know.”

“But if I don’t try, how will I know what the future holds! I, Henry Clark, am not James Mason. Just because others don’t make it, doesn’t mean I won’t! Sooner or later, I’ll be successful and famous. Dammit, I didn’t come to Hengdian just to look at stars—I’m here to become a superstar myself!”

With a flourish, Henry Clark hummed as he reached out and tore down all the posters of Andy Lau, Jay Chou, and Liu Yifei. Rather than staring at others’ brilliance all day, he’d rather look at a blank wall. But when his hand touched the Wu Meiniang poster, he suddenly stopped. That still of Fan Ye was just too dazzling.

“Fan Ye, for the sake of those two assets, I’ll let you stay.”

Chapter 005: Actor’s Certificate in Hand

Crumpling the posters into a ball and tossing them into the trash bin left by James Mason, Henry Clark gathered his thoughts. He dug out a few clean clothes from the box and changed—he’d be going to get his temporary residence permit soon, so he had to look sharp. He went to the bathroom sink and used some water to smooth his hair.

There was a cracked mirror in the bathroom, split in two. Looking at himself in the mirror, Henry Clark was quite satisfied—a tall, handsome young man.

“Xiaobao, what time is it?”

The smart entertainment watch on his wrist immediately announced the time: “It is now twelve forty-five in the afternoon.” This was one of Xiaobao’s functions—intelligent voice time reporting. For Xiaobao, with its advanced AI, announcing the time was a piece of cake.

“Mm-hmm, twelve forty-five. Time to go.”

He straightened his collar, grabbed his money, card, phone, and documents, and Henry Clark stepped out, locking the door behind him. The door had two locks—one built-in, and one padlock that Henry Clark had just bought. After locking both, Henry Clark finally felt at ease and left.

Hengdian is like a small county town, so after stepping out, Henry Clark walked along Xingsheng Road to the intersection and quickly flagged down a taxi.

“Driver, to the actors’ union near Huaxia Garden.”

“Going to get your actor’s certificate?” The driver started the car and chatted with Henry Clark.

“Yeah.”

“You look like a student. Why did you come to Hengdian so early? Are you here just to get the certificate, planning to come back and play as an extra during summer vacation?”

Every summer, lots of students come to Hengdian to be extras and experience the actor’s life, but that wasn’t the case for Henry Clark: “I’m not a student anymore. I’ve graduated and I’m here to try my luck in Hengdian.”

“Really? You don’t look like a college graduate—too young.”

“I graduated from high school.” Henry Clark was a bit reluctant to say it—not going to college felt a little embarrassing.