Chapter Thirty-Four: Not Just Anyone Can Be My Godson! (Third Update)

When Zhang Ying was washing up in the bathroom, she had already woken Li Shixin, but after the double dose of peak chewing gum and the aftereffects of their bliss, his body was still sore all over, so he stubbornly stayed in bed. He lay there for quite some time, until the sun was shining right onto his behind before he finally got up.

After washing up, he tidied himself and went upstairs. It had been two days since he had gone to the Actors’ Guild to register for his actor’s license, and today was the day to pick it up. Although Li Shixin didn’t mind taking the bus himself, Zhang Shuo hadn’t been working these past two days—why not make use of free labor?

But as he reached the upstairs hallway, before even stepping into 502, a cacophony of noise and a plume of smoke greeted him head-on. Moving closer—

Well, what a sight. Inside 502, a crowd had already gathered; two mahjong tables had been set up in the living room, and Zhang Shuo was at one of them, building his “Great Wall” of tiles.

Seeing Li Shixin squeeze through the crowd to join them, Zhang Shuo raised an eyebrow. “What’s up, old man, are we disturbing you? Don’t move! I’m calling the three of circles.”

With the onlookers’ curious stares upon him, Li Shixin stood behind Zhang Shuo with a smile and mentioned he wanted to head to the guild to collect his actor’s certificate.

“You’re in a hurry, aren’t you, old man?” Zhang Shuo stubbed out his cigarette. “If we go now, we might have to wait there until it’s ready. Let’s go in the afternoon, I’ll drive you over.”

“Fine by me.” Li Shixin wasn’t in a rush. He just stood behind Zhang Shuo, glanced at his tiles, and said nothing, smiling. There’s an old saying: don’t go for the edge, don’t go for the middle, meld before you chow. Zhang Shuo’s hand was weak, even if he won it’d be a measly hand, insisting on waiting for a four of circles sandwiched between three and five—which was a long shot, since two of the four tiles he needed were already played.

Playing mahjong like this… tsk tsk. Li Shixin shook his head; it was no different from handing out money.

Sure enough, while he was thinking the hand was unwinnable, the next player took one of Zhang Shuo’s discarded tiles and won with a pair meld. The onlookers erupted in laughter:

“Zhang, that’s four consecutive hands you’ve fed! Terrible luck! Maybe you should step out and let me in.”

Having lost again, Zhang Shuo was annoyed. “Go, go, go! I haven’t lost the whole round yet.”

At that moment, the person sitting across from him, still building his tiles, chuckled, “You guys don’t get it. Zhang isn’t unlucky, he’s just looking out for us. Hey, Zhang, got any good roles lately? Put in a good word for your buddy, will you?”

Li Shixin recognized the speaker. It was none other than the buck-toothed fellow who had gone with him on his first day in Rongdian to play a traitor in the “Final Road” crew.

Zhang Shuo shook his head as he stacked his tiles. “‘Final Road’ isn’t filming right now. I can barely make ends meet, not a single notice, so where am I supposed to find you a role?”

At this, the buck-toothed guy glanced at Li Shixin behind Zhang Shuo and teased, “Bro, you just acknowledged a godfather, your luck should be on the rise! What’s going on? You got a godfather but your luck is still stuck?”

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps echoed from the hallway. Zhang Ying squeezed through the crowd, flushed and out of breath, complaining, “Why aren’t either of you answering your phones?”

“Huh?” Zhang Shuo pointed at the room around him, bewildered. “My phone’s in the other room, didn’t hear it.”

Li Shixin shrugged. “Mine’s downstairs.”

“Something up, girl?” he asked.

Zhang Ying wiped the sweat from her brow and panted, “The props from yesterday—the crew loved them! The director brought people over in person, insisting on learning from us! Godfather, I know you modified all the props, please come with me, I can’t handle this situation alone!”

Li Shixin raised his white eyebrows, hands clasped behind his back. Not bad, yesterday’s hard work hadn’t been wasted after all—someone with a discerning eye, finally.

“Sis, which crew? Is it that ‘Spring Dawn’ you mentioned?” Zhang Shuo perked up, clutching his mahjong tile.

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go! I’ll get the car! I heard their director Jiao landed a new project, I’ll go with you. Maybe I can snag some extra work for our background actors.”

The moment he heard this, Zhang Shuo dropped his tiles and dashed out. At the doorway, he suddenly remembered something. “By the way, sis, did the director say anything about paying the old man for training—like, any tuition or fees?”

Seeing her brother’s greedy look, Zhang Ying burst out laughing. “The director already said our studio would get all the small props work on their next show. Should be over a hundred thousand. What more do you want?”

“Deal! A hundred thousand is good! I’ll go get the car, you and the old… our godfather, hurry down!”

Hearing that his sister’s studio had landed a big job, Zhang Shuo scampered down the stairs with glee.

At that moment, the whole room was dumbfounded. Who were these people? Every one of them a veteran extra struggling in Rongdian for years!

Seeing Li Shixin, out of nowhere, making connections with a crew director, their eyes were practically red with envy.

Ding! Received 13,411 points of applause tinged with strong envy and jealousy!

Ding! System level upgraded to three.

Basking in the crowd’s stares and the prompts ringing in his mind, Li Shixin calmly sat down at Zhang Shuo’s spot. After restacking the tiles, he casually discarded a one-dot.

“Running off mid-game isn’t right—come on, let’s at least finish this hand.”

Seeing Li Shixin sitting at the table, the others smacked their lips but their eyes remained complicated.

“Ahem,” buck-tooth across from him cleared his throat, forcing a smile. “Old man, uh… are you taking any more godsons?”

“Don’t move, meld!” Li Shixin claimed his five of characters but didn’t answer, instead turning to Zhang Ying, “Ying, how much is your brother worth? What’s his income?”

“Huh?” Zhang Ying was taken aback, but then counted on her fingers. “Not much, just two apartments in Rongdian, a dozen rental units, and maybe ten or twenty thousand a month from crew gigs.”

“Oh.” Li Shixin nodded and looked at buck-tooth. “And you?”

“Uh…” Buck-tooth grinned sheepishly. “Working with crews, I make four or five thousand a month.”

Li Shixin curled his lip. “Anything else?”

“Um… My Alipay credit line is eighteen thousand?”

Li Shixin curled his lip again, drew a seven of characters, and slapped it down on the table. “Won! Pure suit with four melds, thirty-two multipliers, pay up!”

While the others at the table settled up, Li Shixin slowly stood, looked at buck-tooth across the table, and chuckled, “Doesn’t matter if a young man has money, and it doesn’t matter if he can pamper me. What matters is your attitude… and right now, you’re too impatient.”

After collecting the cash, Li Shixin clasped his hands behind his back and walked to the door. As he passed buck-tooth, he patted his shoulder. “Keep trying, young man. Not just anyone can become my godson.”

With that, he raised his eyebrows, and followed the barely-suppressed laughter of Zhang Ying down the stairs.