Chapter 3

     “Didn’t you promise to take me to the pinnacle of life?” Shi Xi touched her bald head and asked the system.

 

   【Victory and defeat are common in any competitive situation.】 

   【How can you see the rainbow without going through the storm?】 

   【You may have lost your hair, but you’ve gained strength!】

   【A week ago, you didn’t even stand a chance.】

 

     “You are right,” Shi Xi looked at the bald head in the mirror and made a smile: “After watching for a long time, the bald head is quite unique.”

     Lin Wenyi sent another message:

   【Shi Xi, although it is a pity that ‘Love’ was cut off, I have good news to tell you. When I applied for Love’s interview, I also applied for the third female role in “Phantom”. The interview was notified today! 】

 

     The system immediately stood up again:

   【Look, here comes a job! While the hype for Grave Digger is still a bit warm, let’s strike while the iron’s hot! 】

   【Not-so-new quest: Movie Debut,

     Details: The low-budget fantasy film ‘Phantom’ is casting actors. 

     Player goal: Female lead 3,

     Reward: Acting talent +10%,

     Penalty: Baldness plus one month. 】

 

     Shi Xi lay on the sofa, playing the role of a salted fish: “Just think about me going to the interview with a bald head, it’s really a beautiful scenery.”

     Time was running a bit short, and Shi Xi couldn’t find a wig. Then she realized that a bald head is really hard to match with clothes. No matter how she tried, she just couldn’t get the right look. Later, she figured it out – the clothes that best suited a bald head were a kasaya (Buddhist robe) and a haiqing (a type of Chinese Buddhist robe).

     She rummaged through the boxes and found a white modified Hanfu with oblique collars and buttons, and then put on a basin-shaped straw hat to hide the eye-catching bald head. Shi Xi looked at the mirror and said: “Okay, go out.”

     System: 【As long as you like it. 】

…

     The interview was held in a teahouse. As soon as Shi Xi entered the waiting room, she attracted everyone’s attention.

     The assistant wearing a work badge stopped Shi Xi and said to her: “Sorry, we don’t need tea art performances here.”

     Shi Xi was stunned for a moment and understood – the assistant mistook her for a tea artist in the teahouse.

     Her cheeks turned red and she said embarrassedly: “I’m here for an audition.”

     The two looked at each other and felt a little embarrassed.

     The people waiting for the interview inside couldn’t help laughing when they heard their conversation.

     The assistant smiled apologetically and gave her a script: “What’s your name? Let me register.”

     “Shi Xi.”

     Shi Xi took the script into the waiting area to prepare. There were more people coming to the interview this time than those who admired her. Because of the little episode just now, everyone knew her.

     As soon as she sat down, the girl next to her started talking to her: “I think you look familiar, are you the corpse digger?”

     Shi Xi nodded: “I know you, you played the second female role in “The Sweetheart of the Domineering Boss”.”

     “It’s kind of funny how seriously you’re saying that embarrassing name. ” The girl held out her hand: “Hello, my name is Tang Niannian. It’s not easy to make it to this round, so do your best.”

     Shi Xi shook her hand back: “You do your best too.”

     Tang Niannian asked her: “Why are you wearing such a big hat, isn’t it stuffy?”

     Shi Xi sighed: “I cut my hair badly.”

     Tang Niannian looked at her sympathetically: “Wearing a hat for the interview may affect your impression score, you should take it off later.”

     Shi Xi felt bitter, taking it off may have a greater impact orz.

…

     After reading the script for half an hour, the assistant called the names of Shi Xi and Tang Niannian and asked them to audition together.

     The way of interviewing in pairs is actually very cruel. Everyone knows that the actors in the same group are the most direct competitors.

     After entering the private room for the audition, Shi Xi saw the director and screenwriter drinking tea. The director Wang Ming was wearing a black Tang suit and had a kind face. The screenwriter Liu Ling had slender eyebrows and was a very charming woman.

     Wang Ming was happy to see Shi Xi’s outfit: “Are you here for an audition or to perform tea art?”

     “Hello, director. Hello, screenwriter. I’m Shixi…” Shixi bowed to greet them, but before she could finish her sentence, her straw hat thud fell to the ground.

     Wang Ming’s tea did a spit-take right out of his mouth when he saw the bald head.

     Tang Niannian next to her : “…” You can’t say that you cut it badly, it should be called cut off.

     Shi Xi didn’t expect the hat to fall off at the critical moment. She picked up the hat and apologized to the director and screenwriter.

     Shi Xi was about to put on her hat when she heard Liu Ling say, “No need to wear it.”

     Shi Xi froze. Did he want to eliminate her directly?

     Liu Ling put down her teacup and came to Shi Xi. She dipped her index finger in lipstick and touched Shi Xi’s eyebrows. She turned around and asked Wang Ming, “Does she look like Wu Chen?”

     Wang Ming slapped his thigh and said, “She’s a perfect fit! It’s like she stepped right out of your script. Let’s her try it!”

     Liu Ling brought two new scripts and handed them to Shi Xi and Tang Niannian, “Give you 10 minutes to prepare. Change this scene. Shi Xi plays Wu Chen and Tang Niannian plays the fox demon Bai Ying.”

     Shi Xi read the new script attentively. The fox demon Bai Ying is the third female lead in this movie and the role they were supposed to interview for. Because the script they got before was just a fragment, it was the first time she heard of the role of Wu Chen.

     This scene tells the story of the Buddhist Wu Chen who was ordered by his master to go down the mountain to save sentient beings and saved a fox demon with a broken tail on the way. The fox demon only wanted to dig out Wuchen’s heart of Buddha so as to heal her broken tail. Unexpectedly, this Buddhist was completely different from the monk who cut meat to feed the eagle in the storybook. He was a complete black-cutting black. After seeing her evil intention, he immediately used the immobilization technique to immobilize her.

     Shi Xi had no experience in cross-dressing, but the acting talent given to her by Lin Ying could help her understand the role. As soon as the ten minutes were over, she already had the image of Wuchen in her mind – beautiful appearance, androgynous, with a cinnabar mole between the eyebrows, a character that was both good and evil, and a smile with peach blossoms in the eyes.

     Shi Xi and Tang Niannian looked at each other, put down the script, and entered the state.

     Tang Niannian was “frozen” and glared at Shi Xi: “You stinky monk, let me go!”

     “Little fox, it’s wrong to repay kindness with hatred,” Shi Xi curled her lips, and the evil spirit penetrated the surface of uprightness and seriousness: “I will encounter a disaster soon. If you want a Buddha’s heart, stay by my side. When I die, the Buddha’s heart will belong to you. But in the meantime, you have to follow me to do good deeds and save people from fire and drowning.”

     Tang Niannian met Shi Xi’s eyes and was brought into the play by her in an instant. The lines blurted out: “Dead bald donkey! I am a demon, not a pet tamed by you!”

     Tang Niannian’s line was very explosive, and her chest was still heaving violently after she finished speaking. Shi Xi was the first to leave the play and patted Tang Niannian’s shoulder comfortingly.

     “Good, good, good.” Wang Ming applauded and said three good words in a row.

     Liu Ling also had a smile on her face, obviously very satisfied with their performance.

     After leaving the private room, Tang Niannian asked Shixi for her contact information and praised her sincerely: “I didn’t expect you to have such good acting skills. I really mistook you for Wuchen just now.”

     Shixi smiled: “You acted very well too.”

     Tang Niannian: “I hope we can become colleagues.”

     When going downstairs, Shixi was stopped by the manager of the teahouse. The manager looked at her with shining eyes: “Little girl, do you want to work part-time?”

     “No.” 

     After all, I, Shixi, am a serious artist. Even if I am not popular, I can’t be casual…

     Manager: “Part-time job fee is negotiable, and we provide a top-notch dinner worth 3,999 yuan!”

     Shixi’s stomach growled: “What part-time job?”

    It turns out that this teahouse is a very popular chain brand with a million followers on their Douyin account. It usually posts short videos showcasing tea art and food. They had invited an internet celebrity to shoot today, but unfortunately that person couldn’t make it due to sudden emergency.

     The manager saw Shixi, who was dressed in Zen, and felt that she was very suitable for today’s theme. After learning that Shi Xi was an actor, the manager was even more satisfied.

     After Shi Xi and the manager agreed on the part-time fee, she told her agent, changed into the clothes provided by the teahouse, and filmed a few videos of making tea and tasting tea.

     After the filming, the teahouse really prepared a fine and sumptuous dinner for her. Shi Xi was about to start eating when she suddenly heard a faint sigh.

     She paused and looked around the private room, but found nothing unusual.

     “It smells so good.” Shi Xi heard someone talking again, this time much clearer than the last time, a slightly childish boy’s voice.

     Shi Xi pricked up her ears and listened for a while, but didn’t hear the second sentence. She was a little relieved. Maybe someone was talking outside the door. It’s impossible to encounter ghosts while eating, right?

     She picked up a piece of abalone. The abalone that had been carefully cooked for a whole day was shining with an attractive luster and fragrant.

     Shi Xi brought it to her mouth, but before she took a bite, she heard someone say, “This abalone must be delicious, woo woo woo…”

     Shi Xi’s head felt numb for a moment, and this time she was sure that the voice came from behind.

     Shi Xi put down the abalone, turned around suddenly, and saw a pale ghost face with green runes painted on it!

     This ghost looked only about sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed as a Taoist priest, with messy hair sticking to his cheeks and a dirty body. He seemed to be unaware that Shi Xi could see him. He stared at the abalone in the bowl with his dark green eyes wide open, and said with a bit of disappointment, “Why don’t you eat it? I really want to know if it tastes good…”

     “…” He was watching a food show.

     Seeing the little Taoist priest so disappointed, Shi Xi softened her heart: “Do you really want to eat?”

     The little Taoist priest looked at her in surprise: “Donor, can you see me?”

    Before Shi Xi answered, the little Taoist priest looked at her bald head and said in a voice of sudden enlightenment: “You are a monk, so you can see me.”

     After saying that, he even made a namaste gesture to her.

     “I’m not a monk, it’s a bit troublesome to explain so I won’t explain,” 

     Shi Xi asked him: “You are a Taoist priest, you should know what I have to do to let you eat it?” 

     The little Taoist priest’s eyes lit up little by little, and the runes on his cheeks emitted a faint emerald light. He said happily: “As long as the donor puts a stick of incense on the bowl and recites my name and birth date, I can enjoy it!”

     “Then you wait.” Shi Xi remembered that the teahouse enshrined the God of Wealth, and there must be a reserve of incense.

     She found the manager and borrowed some incense and lighters from her.

     She ate in the private room and could not affect other customers. The manager did not ask much, but only reminded her to pay attention to fire safety.

     Shi Xi lit the incense, put it into a bowl of white rice, and recited the name and birth date she had asked from the young Taoist priest: “Zhang Qingyu, come and eat.”

     “I’m here!” Zhang Qingyu sat opposite Shi Xi, and he hooked his finger, and a pair of chopsticks appeared in his hand.

     Shi Xi put the whole plate of abalone in front of Zhang Qingyu: “Don’t you want to know the taste? Eat it quickly.”

     “Thank you, benefactor.” Zhang Qingyu picked up the abalone with chopsticks. There was no less abalone on the plate, but there was an extra piece on his chopsticks. It was a little transparent, probably the soul of the abalone.

     Zhang Qingyu put the abalone into his mouth, and two lines of tears slid down the corners of his eyes. He looked at Shi Xi with tears in his eyes: “Donor, you are such a good person. I haven’t eaten for several years.”

     “Don’t cry…” Shi Xi put the red rice sausage, fried rice with butter, and bird’s nest in front of him in front of Zhang Qingyu: “These are all for you, eat as much as you want.”

     Zhang Qingyu wiped his tears with the back of his hand, and new tears flowed down: “These foods are really… so delicious.”

     Shi Xi thought of Lin Ying. No one knew she had passed away before, and no one burned offerings for her. Shi Xi didn’t know that ghosts also need to eat, so he didn’t arrange anything for her. She probably hasn’t eaten for more than ten years.

     Shi Xi lit another stick of incense and called Lin Ying out to enjoy the food together.

     A graceful figure in cheongsam quietly descended in the smoke.

     Zhang Qingyu put down his chopsticks, greeted Lin Ying, and exclaimed: “Donor, you actually have a companion spirit. You are indeed not an ordinary person.”

     “It’s not a companion spirit. Lin Ying and I are partners,” 

     Shi Xi greeted Lin Ying: “Sorry, Lin Ying, I didn’t know you guys also need to eat. I won’t let you go hungry in the future. Come on and eat.”

     “My Master already prepared some snacks for me,” Linying pulled out a plate of osmanthus cakes, salted egg yolk pastries, soy sauce chicken, and a bottle of peach blossom wine, and generously offered them to Zhang Qingyu, saying, “Daoist priest, why don’t you join me?”

     Zhang Qingyu shed tears of envy. He looked at Shi Xi and whispered: “Donor, can I be your partner? I’m pretty good.”

 

   【New task: Send the soul back to the temple

     Details: Taoist Zhang Qingyu’s soul is trapped in a fixed area by a confinement array. Please help him return to Wuyou Temple,

     Reward: Inherit Zhang Qingyu’s magic talent;

     Punishment: No taste for food for a month. 】