Henry Clark didn’t know how to comfort him, so he could only say, “Maybe they’ll send it to you in a bit.”

That “bit” turned into an hour of waiting. Several coach buses arrived and took away quite a few people. But no group leader came down to recruit on site. Around 6:35, the bus for the crew of “Before Dawn Breaks” arrived. Henry Clark saw David Bolton sitting in the front passenger seat, sticking his head out and shouting, “Those for ‘Before Dawn Breaks,’ get on the bus.”

The four people playing poker put away their cards and boarded the bus with Henry Clark. These people were also with the “Before Dawn Breaks” crew, which Henry Clark hadn’t known before.

Charles Young watched Henry Clark get on the bus, his expression a bit stiff. Henry Clark didn’t know how to comfort him either. He wanted to mention it to David Bolton on his behalf, but couldn’t bring himself to speak. Since David Bolton hadn’t texted Charles Young, it was clear he didn’t want him. Besides, Henry Clark wasn’t that close to Charles Young—they’d only just met that day.

“I’m heading off now.”

“Yeah, go ahead. I’m heading back too.”

The bus started up and left the old union hall. Henry Clark’s first ever scene in his life was about to begin.

Chapter 007: Standing in Front of the Camera

“Before Dawn Breaks” is a spy drama set during the Liberation War, depicting the outbreak of espionage, counter-espionage, and counter-counter-espionage between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party. The directors are Yu Ding and Xie Ze, and the main cast includes Yang Shuo, Hu Jun, Gan Tingting, Guo Zhenni, and others.

This was information Henry Clark found on Baidu using his phone while on the bus.

It was Henry Clark’s first time working as a background special, and he was a bit nervous. The dozen or so people on the bus all seemed to know each other already; he was the only newcomer and couldn’t really join in their conversations. So he just fiddled with his phone, looking up information.

The name “Before Dawn Breaks” sounded pretty good. Henry Clark had seen “Hidden” and heard of “Before Dawn,” but never expected to end up in a crew like this. The crew had chosen such a name, clearly determined to surpass “Hidden” and “Before Dawn” and make an even better spy drama.

“What will I be playing later?”

Putting away his phone, Henry Clark crossed his arms and turned to look out the window, his mind surging with emotion. It was already past 6:40, and the sky was gradually darkening. The streetlights on both sides of the road had already come on. Hengdian, shrouded in mist, wasn’t very clear to see. The Nanjiang River they’d just passed by wound gracefully until it disappeared from view.

The bus headed straight for Guangxiang Street—actually called Guangzhou Street and Hong Kong Street—one of Hengdian’s six classic scenic areas, modeled after the old look of Guangzhou and the charm of Hong Kong around 1840. The filming location for the “Before Dawn Breaks” crew was on Guangxiang Street. Shortly before 7:00, the bus arrived at Guangxiang Street.

Soon everyone got off the bus, and Henry Clark finally saw a real film crew at work. They were on Queen’s Road, with several business vans parked haphazardly outside. A big crowd was gathered together—some setting up tents, some raising camera cranes, others carrying cabinets and other props across the avenue.

It was bustling and busy.

Henry Clark, mixed in among the background special actors, looked around curiously.

“Extras, background specials, come over here, come over here, Big Boss Stone is going to take roll call.” David Bolton stopped everyone from wandering off and had them all gather together.

Then a big-bellied, portly man walked over, looking very serious and unsmiling. “I’m going to take roll call now.”

When their names were called, people responded with “here.” Henry Clark was called as well.

After roll call, Big Boss Stone told David Bolton, “You take them in a bit, I have something to do so I’ll leave first,” nodded to everyone, then hopped onto an electric scooter and left the crew. The scooter nearly fell apart under his weight; after starting up, it sputtered and whined for a while before finally picking up speed and heading out of the scenic area.

As soon as Big Boss Stone left, David Bolton ran into the crew, then brought over a bespectacled middle-aged man and a round-faced young woman.

“Director Warren, all the actors are here,” said David Bolton.

The bespectacled middle-aged man glanced over, a bit impatient. “Extras go to Group One to change clothes. Little Grace, you take them over. Background specials, come with me.”

The round-faced young woman, Little Grace, led the extras—ordinary-looking people of average height—off to one side. Henry Clark and a dozen or so other background specials followed Director Warren to the other side. David Bolton came along too; he was a small team leader and also picked up some extra work as a background special. He kept trying to find things to say to Director Warren along the way.

“What’s Director Warren’s position, director or assistant director?” Henry Clark quietly asked a background special next to him who looked friendly.

The background special whispered back, “On-site assistant director, basically the director’s assistant.”

As they spoke, Director Warren led the background specials to an Iveco van, then called over the props team to hand out a set of clothes to each background special. The props manager was a woman in her thirties or forties, holding a big pile of neatly folded clothes and letting everyone pick for themselves. There were Republican-era long gowns and a few sets of military uniforms.

Henry Clark set his sights on a military uniform—a Nationalist Party uniform, which he’d never worn before. So when it came time to pick clothes, Henry Clark took a military uniform. The clothes looked a bit faded from washing, but were still fairly clean, without the musty smell that props costumes are rumored to have.

It’s said that in many crews, the props costumes are never washed, used by many people over and over, and get really dirty.