The balcony had a solid brick railing, with a clothes-drying rack on top. In the corner against the wall, there was a clothes pole missing one prong, and a chipped flowerpot filled with soil—but no flowers. Standing on the balcony and looking out, all you could see were those two- or three-story rural houses.

Ever since Hengdian Group developed Hengdian into a film and television base, many local residents had partitioned their own houses into small apartments to rent out to outsiders. The building where Henry Clark lived was also three stories high, with about four single-room apartments like his on each floor.

His room was at the easternmost end, with just one room between his and the stairs. Today, when he went up and down the stairs, he didn’t see anyone next door and had no idea if the neighbor was male or female.

“Little Grace, my room’s pretty tidy, right?” After washing his hands, Henry Clark looked around the room with satisfaction and spoke to his wrist.

“Very nice, master.” When there was no one else around, Little Grace was a pretty good conversation partner.

“I’ve got my actor’s permit now. Tonight I’ll go wait for a role. According to David Bolton and Philip Thompson, they’re short on people lately, so I should get notified and assigned a role soon. Haha, once I complete the [Get the First Kill] mission, I’ll get the newbie gift pack. Little Grace, give me a hint—what’s in the gift pack?”

“Confidential.”

“Lame.” Henry Clark stretched lazily. “Little Grace, call Julia Howard for me.”

“Okay.”

Little Grace quickly dialed Julia Howard’s number. Henry Clark sat back in his chair, balancing on two legs: “Hey, Sister Xue, are you busy?”

“I’m waiting for a role with the crew. What’s up, little Haozi?”

“Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to let you know I’ve worked things out with James Mason and rented his place. Wanted to say thanks.”

“How’s the place?”

“It’s good in every way.”

“That’s great. Did you get your actor’s permit?”

“Got it. Planning to go wait for a role at the old union tonight.”

“Nice, nice.”

Since he wasn’t that close with Julia Howard, they only chatted briefly before hanging up. After the call, it was already 5:30. Henry Clark touched his stomach, which was growling with hunger—young people just have such fast metabolisms, it’s easy to get hungry.

Henry Clark called Charles Young: “Charles Young, are you heading to the old union now?”

“I’m just about to eat. After dinner, I’ll go wait for a role at the old union. What about you, have you eaten? Want to go together?”

“Sure.”

The two agreed to meet at Shaxian Snacks, each ordered a chicken leg rice, finished quickly, and then excitedly headed to the old union. The old union was next to Dazhi Zen Temple, on the same street as the Marriott Hotel. It was a building modeled after ancient architecture, with a sign above the door reading “Actors’ Guild.”

There’s definitely a difference between a union and a guild, but people were used to calling the actors’ guild the old union.

Now, the actors’ guild had already moved to Huaxiayuan, and this old union just kept the sign up and was usually closed. When extras came to wait for roles, they’d either wait in the small shop next door or outside the door. The shop was fairly spacious, with two pool tables, a few mahjong tables, and a TV in the corner.

There weren’t many people waiting for roles that night—just a dozen or so. A few were playing pool, a few were playing cards, and the rest were watching TV.

Henry Clark walked into the shop and headed straight for the counter: “Boss, a pack of Yuxi for twenty.”

Charles Young followed: “You smoke? And such good cigarettes?”

“I don’t smoke. They’re for sharing.”

Charles Young thought for a moment and bought a pack of Yuxi as well.

While paying, Henry Clark caught sight of a piece of paper on the counter, with big characters at the top: “New to Hengpiao.” Henry Clark thought it was a handout from the actors’ guild, so he picked it up to look. Turns out it wasn’t. It read: “New to Hengpiao (extra).”

“I’m an old Hengpiao. I can take you around on my motorcycle to find a place to rent, and help you with all the things you need to do as an actor—getting your actor’s permit, temporary residence permit, a bank card at CCB, and so on. I’ll help you get settled as quickly as possible. If you try to do all this yourself, you’ll waste two days running around for nothing. I offer a one-stop service so you can just wait for roles.”

“This can save you a lot of unnecessary expenses. You just need to pay me a small amount for gas and my trouble. [100 words omitted here.] Call for details: 150XXXX6119, Little Clark (permanently valid).”

So it was just a little business flyer.

Charles Young leaned over and said, “People actually do this? If I’d known, I would’ve called him. I ran myself ragged the last two days, and just the bus fare cost me over a hundred.”

“I was lucky. Today an old Hengpiao took me to find a place, so I didn’t waste much money.”

As they were talking, Henry Clark’s phone buzzed with a text from David Bolton: “6:30 pm, group extra for ‘Before Dawn Breaks,’ meet at the old union. If you can’t make it, reply to this message.”

Henry Clark read the message, feeling a surge of excitement—he got a notice so quickly! But Charles Young’s phone didn’t move. After waiting a bit, Henry Clark asked, “Charles Young, didn’t David Bolton text you?”

“Nope. Did he text you?”

“Yeah, told me to wait here at 6:30 and go to the ‘Before Dawn Breaks’ crew.”

“You’re really lucky—first day and you already got assigned a role.” Charles Young said, a little enviously.