Chapter 22: A 4,000 Experience Point Reward, You Son of a Bitch, System!

"Sister Dongyu, I wanted to ask, what kind of gift is generally good for a girl? I'm thinking of something a bit more expensive."

"For a girl? A girlfriend?" Zhou Dongyu looked quite gossipy.

"No, it's just someone I'm very close with—the kind of close where we’re practically inseparable, like... Zhang Yixing and Yang Xiaoxue."

"Oh, that kind." The spark of gossip faded from Zhou Dongyu’s eyes. "It depends on your budget. On the cheaper end, you could go for cosmetics or a handbag in the tens of thousands. If you want to spend more, you could go with jewelry, a nicer bag, or a watch. Those come in every price range."

"Is there anything that’s classy yet a bit more unique and refined?"

"In that case, go with jewelry. You should take a look at Van Cleef & Arpels."

Zhou Le silently noted the brand name.

After they finished filming the tattoo scene, they shot the grand finale that evening. Later, they all went out for a meal. Da Peng treated the crew to dinner as a gesture of hospitality toward their guest star, Zhou Dongyu. However, only Zhou Le, Da Peng, the executive director, and the screenwriter Su Biao drank a little, while the rest abstained. Zhou Dongyu was sent off that same night.

The biggest harvest of the evening was that Zhou Le’s experience points hit another thousand.

"I don't know which great ancient sage said it, but 'a man three-tenths drunk can act you to tears'—it is so damn true! I can practically feel the blood of 'acting talent' surging through my veins!" Zhou Le thought to himself while at the urinal.

No wonder Li Bai could write a hundred poems after drinking; once the alcohol hits, the imagination takes over, and the brain starts running at full tilt.

Right there in the restaurant restroom, Zhou Le watched as the system began issuing his 4,000-point experience reward.

【Medicine...】
【Traditional Chinese Medicine...】

Zhou Le’s eyes lit up. Wouldn't it be a huge win if he gained the skills of a veteran traditional Chinese medicine practitioner? Not to mention anything else, he could occasionally provide treatments for those actors and directors with weak kidneys—he’d never lack for connections then. Plus, once he mastered it, he could use it for his own health maintenance.

Then, the reward settled.

【Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapy.】

Zhou Le: "???"

He took a closer look. TCM therapy included massage, cupping, acupuncture, scraping, and moxibustion.

"Motherf—"

Zhou Le’s mood plummeted instantly. Was he expected to give prostate massages to those male directors?

"Stupid system."

"I bust my tail off pushing my acting skills to level you up, and you’re just going to lie there like a pig?"

"Do you think this is right? You shouldn't even be called the 'Best Actor System.' You should be called the 'Jack-of-All-Trades Slave System,' or maybe the 'Ultimate Middle-Eastern Laborer System,' right?"

"Go shoot a gun in the morning to earn three thousand an hour, go fight and collect protection money in the afternoon, perform drums at a bar in the wealthy district at night, and then head to a bathhouse in the middle of the night to give people massages and cupping."

"Six."

Zhou Le let out a long sigh. Just then, someone knocked on the door.

"Le'er, are you done? Is it my turn?"

Hearing it was Da Peng, Zhou Le pulled up his pants, flushed, and walked out.

However, over the next few days, Zhou Le realized the skill wasn't entirely useless; at least Yu Qian was very satisfied with his progress in this area.

"Le'er, when you have time, I'll take you to my place. Even though you call me 'Godfather' now, don't blame me for being a stickler for rules. Properly recognizing a godfather involves steps—inviting witnesses, serving tea, giving gifts..."

Zhou Le felt a surge of joy. The man had never brought it up before; he hadn't refused, but he hadn't agreed either. Now that he had mentioned it, it meant he truly accepted him.

"Alright, no problem."

Zhou Le began searching online for what he needed to prepare. Eventually, he found that the advice online was all over the place, and it was better to just ask Yue Yunpeng, who often visited the set because of his cameo as Xixi’s father and his close friendship with Zhao Yingjun.

Yue Yunpeng wasn't entirely sure either, but he offered to ask his master. That evening, Zhou Le learned he only needed to prepare a hat and shoes, as per the old Beijing traditions. After all, Yu Qian wasn't exactly lacking in expensive gifts; his home was full of antiques and collectibles.

Zhou Le took the time to get a junior massage therapist certificate. Otherwise, wouldn't his new skill go to waste?

Shortly after, Zhou Le met many old-school rockers on set. Whenever they visited, they would always go out for dinner, and Zhou Le was always dragged along. He was introduced as a new actor, a former construction worker, a professional drummer, a former part-time shooting range instructor, a certified professional massage therapist, and the future godson of Yu Qian.

This string of completely unrelated titles made the old rockers shout that it was simply "too rock and roll." He was, after all, the future godson of Yu Qian, the vice-chairman of the China Rock Association.

Zhou Le also witnessed their terrifying tolerance for alcohol. They returned at dawn every day and woke up at noon. Eventually, even Da Peng couldn't take it anymore and adjusted the shooting schedule to finish their scenes in one go, followed by one final big drinking session. Only then did things quiet down for a few days.

By that time, Zhou Le and the others didn't have many scenes left. Da Peng was running around constantly because there was a grand ensemble performance at the end; the big-name musicians like Paul Wong and Yip Sai-wing were easy to deal with, but the rest required constant rehearsals.

Zhou Le and the others had nothing to do but wait for the final wrap-up.

One day, after Da Peng finished re-shooting a scene where the shopkeeper played by Yu Qian patted the back of the character Zha Yao, he left. Yu Qian went back to the Deyun Society to prepare for his evening show. Qiao Shan went out to have fun with some of Zhao Benshan’s apprentices.

Xixi was doing her homework, and Zhou Le was helping her.

"Grandma has 20 chickens in five cages. Each cage has a different number of chickens. How did Grandma put the 20 chickens into the 5 cages?"

After Xixi finished reading, Zhou Le was full of question marks.

"???"

"Xixi, is this a first-grade math problem?"

"Yes."

"Are kids under this much pressure nowadays? Shouldn't first grade be about addition and subtraction within ten?"

"Brother Zhou Le, do you not know how to do it?"

Hearing this, Zhou Le’s competitive spirit flared up. In a fit of pique, he used both linear algebra and differential equations to solve it on the spot, coming up with seven different answers and filling an entire page of scratch paper.

Xixi stared at him, bewildered.

Not only was Xixi confused, but Nazha, who had come over to see what the commotion was, was also stunned.

"What is this? Just put one to five in the cages first, then distribute the remaining five however you want—as long as the numbers aren't the same, isn't that it?"

Zhou Le: "???"