Trembling At A High Altitude

After Huang Xun, it was Li Teng's turn to ask Anna a question.

"Why do some men like to be Pretty Boys, especially for old women? Don't they find it shameful? Would normal women find such men disgusting?" Li Teng asked his question.

"They have already discarded their shame, so how could they feel disgrace? Such men are indeed disgusting. For us normal women, we'd avoid them like the plague," Anna knew why Li Teng asked this question and naturally cooperated with him.

Everyone looked at Pretty Boy Du Qing.

"I protest! This question is clearly personal slander!" Du Qing protested to the director.

"Did he mention your name? Why do you take it personally? Could it be that you've been a Pretty Boy for some old lady? And you don't feel ashamed about it? Disgusted?" Gao Fei rushed to answer Du Qing.

"Protest accepted, this question is irrelevant to Film and Television City, please ask another question," the director intervened, asking Li Teng to choose a different question.

"Protest accepted, and there is no penalty for his slander?" Du Qing expressed his dissatisfaction.

"Did he slander you? Did he mention your name?" Gao Fei rebutted Du Qing.

"Silence!" The director stopped the argument between the two and signaled Li Teng to continue.

"I'll ask a different question, okay? What is the complete process for an actor to level up?" Li Teng had no other questions, so he might as well ask this one ahead of time. After all, he could use the information later.

"I've only leveled up once, so I'll describe that process," Anna said.

"First, the account balance must exceed 100 points. It can only be the balance from regular performances—balances from debts accrued when newcomers first arrive at the Film and Television City can only be spent within and can't be used to lower the height of the stone pillar or for leveling up. When the real balance in the account exceeds 100 points, the option to participate in the upgrade performance from Extras to Minor Special Contract Extra appears."

"After confirmation, there will be three scripts for the promotion performance to choose from."

"Generally, they are scheduled within two days, and there is at least a three-day interval between two performances in the original crew, so it won't affect the performance schedule of the original crew."

"The promotion performance isn't much different from a regular performance. It could be various types of themes. The biggest difference is that among the eight actors, no one will be sent packing with a meal box. However, after paying 100 points for the promotion performance, only seven actors can be promoted. The one who fails to get promoted loses the 100 points, which is the same as paying a promotion fee for nothing."

"For the promotion from Extras to Minor Special Contract Extra, you pay 100 points, and it's a selection of seven out of eight. For Minor Special Engagement to follow the crew, you need to pay 200 points, and it seems to be six out of eight. For following the crew to Middle Special Engagement, you need to pay 400 points, which seems to be five out of eight. Finally, for Best Actor, it's one out of eight. The higher you go, the harder it gets, and the chances of losing everything increase."

"The promotion performance I took part in might seem strange to you."

"It involved a car racing theme, where you had to run twenty laps at a specific venue. Eight actors drew lots to pick their race cars, then competed on the track. The first seven to finish would be promoted, while the last one couldn't be promoted and lost the promotion fee."

"I had practiced racing before, and I had been leading for the first nineteen laps. Unexpectedly, on the final lap, my car suddenly malfunctioned and wouldn't start!"

"I had no choice but to get out and push the car forward."

"I fell from the first to the sixth place, but thankfully I wasn't far from the finish line. The last two had been in an accident and fell far behind, which allowed me to pass the promotion performance by the skin of my teeth," Anna recalled her close call when leveling up, still looking a little pale.

"What kind of performance is that? It's purely a test of racing skills! How can we amateurs who have never raced compete?" Elsa protested after hearing Anna's story.

"It's not always like that. In the crew I used to mingle with, I heard some people got promoted through singing, dancing, even drama, comedy sketches, or crosstalk competitions—prepare in half an hour, then perform on stage, and get rated by the audience, with the lowest score being eliminated," Anna added a few more words.

"I hope that when it's my turn for the promotion performance, it won't be too difficult. I can barely manage singing and dancing, but racing is out of the question for me!" Elsa grumbled.

Li Teng's questioning ended, and his question also earned Anna 3 points.

"Sister Anna, what happens if an actor jumps off the pillar?" the girl Daisy asked Anna.

"If you jump, you're certainly going to smash to death, then get carried back, resurrected, and wax-sealed," Anna replied to Daisy.

"I protest! It's my turn to answer now," Du Qing raised his objection to the director.

"The protest is valid; the last question will not earn points," the director supported Du Qing's protest according to the rules.

Now, Daisy could only pose her question to Pretty Boy Du Qing.

"I don't have anything else to ask," Daisy shook her head.

"Really? Come on, little sister, you can just ask anything!" Du Qing protested unwillingly to Daisy. Even one point is still a point, after all, it could buy three steamed buns; even a mosquito's leg is meat!

"No more questions," Daisy shook her head again.

This was permitted by the rules: newcomers could choose to ask questions or opt not to.

The questioning round concluded.

Since no newcomers joined the crew, there was no rookie lottery segment.

Therefore, they proceeded directly to the additional affairs segment.

"I have some good news to tell everyone," the director announced to the crowd.

"Haha, selected for the poster again?" Anna's joyful expression indicated that the director's announcements at this time were usually about being chosen for the poster.

"Yes, our revolutionary struggle scene shot yesterday was so outstanding that it has been chosen for this edition's poster at Film and Television City. Everyone will receive an extra bonus of 5 points," the director nodded in confirmation.

"That's amazing!" Everyone was elated.

"There's one more piece of news to announce!" the director began to speak again.

"Featured faces on the poster?" Anna guessed once more, looking forward to the possibility that the scene of her twisting her legs to defeat Feng Dahai would be prominently featured on the poster.

"In this shoot, the performers of the characters Anna and Donna performed exceptionally well, earning them the opportunity to be featured prominently on the poster. They will each receive an additional bonus of 5 points for this," the director continued his announcement.

"Congratulations!" Gao Fei expressed his congratulations to Li Teng and the other person.

"It's what you deserve," Elsa said, without a hint of imbalance in her feelings.

"You really did perform very well! I'm so envious of you," the young Daisy also spoke up.

Li Teng was not happy about the extra reward.

He was awarded an extra 10 points, but half of them had to go to the Black-hearted Doctor.

He only got 5 points, and his account balance had just barely reached 50.

To get water from the stone pillar, or take part in the advancement performance, he still lacked 50 points... in reality, it was 100 points, because he had to give half to the Black-hearted Doctor.

This journey had been too difficult!

"Actually, my performance was quite good too. Arguably, I was the one who performed the most splendidly in this scene. Why don't I get the chance to be featured prominently?" Huang Xun expressed his dissatisfaction. After all, if this scene was edited into the main drama, he would surely have the most screen time since the whole scene showed him analyzing for Feng Dahai.

Even if he analyzed Feng Dahai to death, it wasn't his fault!

"I also think you performed the best," Du Qing complimented Huang Xun reluctantly.