Chapter 67 Three Poor Children
After a day of repeated failures and unremitting "entanglement" with Li Jianyi, Xu Kun felt that he had gained a lot. On the way back on the bus, he was still muttering the lines silently, making people around him think that he had encountered a mental patient.
After getting off the car at Beishatan and walking around a few turns to the entrance of the alley, Xu Kun saw Chen Xuebin's broken van at a glance.
Xu Kun was a little surprised at first, but then he saw through the window that there was one more seat in the back row than usual, and he immediately understood what was going on.
Tsk~
No wonder he didn't go to the crew to build connections and look for ways today, it turns out he has found a potential stock.
When I returned to the courtyard, as soon as I entered the door, I heard Chen Xuebin in Baoqiang's room, enthusiastically making arrangements to go out for a meal.
"Brother Chen~"
Xu Kun walked to the sink, scooped up cold water to wash his face, and said loudly: "You can't forget the old one when you have a new one. I'm still waiting for you to pick me up in Nanluoguxiang."
When Chen Xuebin heard Xu Kun's voice, he hurried out of Baoqiang's room and said, "I can forget anyone but you. Let's go to Donglaishun Lamb Scorpion Restaurant. I have reserved four private rooms early in the morning!"
"No, I'm tired, let's quit."
Xu Kun lazily gave three consecutive licks, and then lowered his voice and said, "Brother Chen, you licked too much. Don't let people look down on you."
This meal was obviously aimed at the fourth person, Deng Chao.
Even though Deng Chao is doing worse than Bao Qiang now, he is a graduate of a serious school and can become a phoenix if he gets the chance - and with Chen Xuebin's intelligence, after seeing Xu Kun's arrangement for Deng Chao, he probably guessed that Deng Chao had been selected by the crew.
So Chen Xuebin even put his main business aside temporarily, hoping to seize this potential stock.
But he was obviously overdoing it, losing his sense of proportion and his identity - of course, Chen Xuebin might not feel that he had any status in front of Deng Chao.
Chen Xuebin wanted to explain a few more words, but Xu Kun simply pushed him out.
"Remember to sleep with your head facing down at night and control the water in your head."
After saying this, Xu Kun locked the gate.
At this time, Deng Chao and Bao Qiang also came out from the inner room. Seeing this scene, they looked at each other and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"It's okay."
Xu Kun shook his dripping hands and walked towards his room, saying, "Old Chen is not a bad person, he just wants to improve himself too much. He would squeeze out some Melatonin from any toad he catches, let alone meeting a potential stock like you."
Baoqiang took a few quick steps, took out the key and opened the door for Xu Kun - although he moved to the next door, he still kept the key to this room. Similarly, Xu Kun also had the key to his room.
Xu Kun came in and wiped his hands and face with a towel, then asked Deng Chao, "How are you today?"
Deng Chao was obviously more accustomed to this casual way of getting along. He laughed and said, "I was a little nervous. Baoqiang said that if I mentioned that I was from the Central Academy of Drama, I might be able to negotiate for 200 yuan a day, but in the end I chose 80 yuan."
"80 is a lot."
Xu Kun said to Bao Qiang, "Go to the front and prepare two plates of cold dishes to go with the wine, and ask Brother Lin to prepare three bowls of stewed pancakes - I want them with green bean sprouts."
"Okay~"
Baoqiang agreed and walked out.
Seeing that Deng Chao was somewhat embarrassed, Xu Kun casually said, "It's just a stewed pancake. It's not like you can't afford it. Come on, follow me in and move the table."
Deng Chao thought about it and it made sense. Although he couldn't afford to pay back the favor by eating the lamb ribs from Donglaishun for the time being, he could always repay the favor with a meal of stewed pancakes. He immediately felt a lot more relieved.
The two of them moved the table and chairs under the persimmon tree. Xu Kun dug out two bottles of Niulanshan from under the bed and asked casually, "How did Old Chen trick you into coming here?"
"Not Brother Chen."
Deng Chao took the initiative to wash the wine glass, squatting in front of the sink and explaining: "Baoqiang asked me to come here. I live a little far from the Beijing Film Studio. I have a job tomorrow and need to rush over early in the morning, so Baoqiang asked me to stay here for one night."
"This boy."
Xu Kun unscrewed the Niulanshan and shook his head, "One night is not enough. He probably wants to stay here."
Baoqiang just came back with some cold dishes, and while putting them on the table, he said with a silly smile: "Brother Chao's acting is really good, I just want to learn more from Brother Chao." "Bullshit, you just want to get someone to share the house!"
Xu Kun exposed it with disdain.
Bao Qiang scratched his head and said, "I used to live in a basement with eight people, but I couldn't get used to the quietness of the room. Besides, it would be a waste to leave such a big room empty."
As he said this, he smiled at Deng Chao embarrassedly.
When Deng Chao first came to this small courtyard, he actually felt a little uncomfortable. Wang Baoqiang, a small and unremarkable extra, could live in such a place, while he, a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama, could only afford to rent an illegal shack for two hundred and eighty yuan a month.
Now that he heard that Baoqiang had lived in a basement with others before, Deng Chao felt a little relieved and became more curious about the origins and experiences of the two people in front of him.
Seeing that he wanted to ask but was too embarrassed to do so, Xu Kun briefly told him about Baoqiang's deeds while he was serving the stewed pancakes.
After hearing Baoqiang's experience, Deng Chao couldn't help but open up and pour out his own grievances.
His hometown is Jiangxi. In fact, his parents' jobs are pretty good and they both have stable jobs locally.
But because it was a reconstituted family, the father brought the eldest brother and second sister, the mother brought the eldest sister, and with Deng Chao, the product of a second marriage, the four children made the family unable to bear the burden.
When he was in school, his tuition was raised with the help of his eldest sister. So since his junior year, he refused to take a penny from his family. He also took the initiative to send back the remuneration for guest appearances so that his parents and eldest sister could make up for the deficit they had accumulated over the years.
Seeing tears in Deng Chao's eyes when he was moved, Baoqiang wanted to comfort him, but when he looked at Xu Kun opposite him, he held back.
"Cry a chicken feather."
Xu Kun rolled his eyes and said, "You and Baoqiang are pretty good. At least you have a good father and a good mother."
Seeing Deng Chao's puzzled expression, Xu Kun did not shy away from explaining his family situation briefly.
"Since the day I dropped out of school at the age of fourteen, I considered myself an orphan!"
Deng Chao was speechless for a moment.
Wang Baoqiang could tell at first glance that he came from a poor background, but he didn't expect that Xu Kun, who looked rich and powerful, also came from a poor background - and his situation was so similar to his own, and even worse off than his.
When Deng Chao was 15 years old, he had a conflict with his parents because of his rebelliousness. He ran away from home and fled to Guangzhou. He naturally knew how difficult it was for a teenager to survive alone.
At that time, it was his parents' persistent search that finally saved him from depravity.
And Xu Kun's parents...
Judging from Xu Kun's performance, it is clear that he has probably been ignored all these years.
Deng Chao raised his glass and said to Xu Kun sincerely, "You are the one who is more miserable."
Xu Kun was chewing peanuts and didn't bother to pay attention to him.
Deng Chao took a sip, put down his glass, and suddenly had an idea: "Don't you think God brought the three of us poor kids together? Could it be that he has some special idea? Why don't we just become sworn brothers?"
"Do you think it's the Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood between Liu, Guan, and Zhang?"
Xu Kun sneered, "We've only known each other for one day and we're already sworn brothers. What if you have bad intentions and want to take advantage of us?"
If Xu Kun had been awkward and reluctant, Deng Chao might have felt unhappy, but Xu Kun said it so bluntly that Deng Chao could only laugh and not argue with him.
And the joke about sworn brotherhood naturally came to nothing.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Xu Kun took out a stack of notes from his cowhide bag and threw them to Bao Qiang, saying, "Take some time to think about it. This role is quite suitable for you, and you have more scenes than the character I played, Ji Du. When we find a suitable opportunity, I'll take you to the crew for a tryout."
"What role?"
Deng Chao moved closer out of curiosity and found that the title read: Little Eunuch·Dala Wu.
(End of this chapter)
