Chapter 1: To be honest, I'm an actor!
"People often ask me that since I'm so handsome, why not become a film star! I must confess to you all, in fact, I am an actor!
You guys must know about 'Ye Wen 2' that was heavily promoted recently and soon to be released, right? You'll find me playing a role in it...”
On the bustling, brightly lit streets of Hong City at night.
Holding simple live-streaming equipment, Xu Lu roamed while making casual conversations with the few tens of viewers in his live room.
Though the number of viewers wasn't much, considering his handsome looks, he could occasionally receive some gifts and rewards, which made his life slightly better off.
As Xu Lu himself admitted, though he was an actor, he was positioned way below the eighteenth tier in the circle, and couldn’t make much money from acting at all.
However, the live room viewers didn't even believe his identity as an actor and were discussing:
"Anchor, your lie is of such low quality. It's so easy to see through, or why aren't you in the promotional poster of Ye Wen 2!”
"The anchor didn't say what role he's playing. Maybe he was an extra, that is also considered as acting!”
"In truth, with this anchor's looks, I think there won't be a big problem to become a minor star, but it’s a pity that no one discovered him.”
"Why even bother becoming a minor star, if I had his looks, I would definitely hang around the upscale residential areas to attract wealthy cougars.”
"Ha-ha, you're daydreaming. First of all, could you accept the fact of being a boy toy for wealthy cougars?”
"What does being a boy toy for wealthy cougars mean? So, they like playing ball now? I need to gather more intel on this!”
"Hah! Please use the search function wisely; otherwise, you may get a shock.”
...
Xu Lu could only chuckle helplessly as the live stream viewers began to veer off onto the topic of 'wealthy women'.
Right then, a commotion erupted not too far away. He quickly addressed the audience via the camera:
"Everyone, let's put the wealthy women discussion on hold for a moment. Let's continue to enjoy the night view of Hong City. There's something exciting happening up ahead. Let's go have a look!"
As soon as he finished speaking, thanks to his long legs, Xu Lu reached the edge of the crowd in no time.
There, he discovered what had gathered the crowd. It was a street challenge game.
A somewhat burly man with a dark face, presumably the host of the event, had erected a horizontal bar in the middle of the area. There was a sign next to it that said:
"Hang on the bar for 100 seconds, and win 1,000 Yuan!"
At this point, there was a man hanging from the bar being timed, with a countdown clock flashing on the side.
A couple of other people exuding confidence in their arm strength appeared eager to join the challenge. Surrounding bystanders were whispering among themselves.
"Hang in there! Only 10 more seconds and the 1,000 Yuan prize is yours!" The host, with an oily sheen on his face, shouted loudly. Looking at his hearty behavior, you would think he wasn't the one potentially losing the money.
The man hanging from the bar perked up at these words.
Simultaneously, the onlookers started the countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7...6. Oh no, you are only a few seconds away. Why did you drop off?
Turns out, the man, who seemed pretty spirited just a moment ago, suddenly let go and fell, before the final 10-second countdown was complete.
Upon hearing the surrounding murmurs of pity, he stared at his hands in a stupefied manner, evidently still reeling.
"Young man, it's such a shame," the swarthy stall owner sympathetically said, patting the man's shoulder. "If only you could've hung on a few more seconds. What a pity!"
He looked as if he were eager to free his pockets of extra cash, to hand it to someone else as quickly as possible.
The man who'd just fallen from the horizontal bar finally snapped back to reality, smacking his thigh hard as he exclaimed,
"Damn it, I was so close to hanging on, but then my hand slipped, and I fell... Ah..."
By now, the crowd's attention had moved away from him as another person stepped up for the challenge.
The booth owner reset the timer again. As the red light continued to flash, the second challenger was hoisted up.
With his muscular arms, it seemed to the crowd that this second challenger stood a fair chance. Their gazes alternated between the man and the timer.
"I wonder if this challenger can hold on for 100 seconds? I don't think that should be too hard, right?"
"The last guy already held on for almost 90 seconds. This one should easily do 100 seconds. But if it's that simple, wouldn't the booth owner be at a loss?"
"Perhaps the sullen-faced booth owner is rich and is simply out here for a bit of fun!"
"Seriously? Easy come, easy go? Hehe, if that's what you think, then you must be the fool…”
The live network audience's attention was now also focused on this challenge game.
Meanwhile, the second challenger quickly approached the end of his first minute.
Although he seemed to be having a harder time than when he initially started, he managed to hold out for the next 40 seconds, which was presumably not a major issue.
Sure enough, time quickly moved into the last 10 second countdown, and the spectators once again joined in the chorus:
10, 9, 8....4, 3, 2...Holy smokes!
Much to everyone's surprise, the second challenger fell in the final two seconds, just a step away from success!
This once again prompted the onlookers to express their pity, and this time the disappointment was even more intense:
"Oh my God, he was just one second short. The 1000 yuan prize just flew away like that. What a pity!"
"He must have been under too much pressure. If it were me, I would just close my eyes for the last 10 seconds..."
"Cough cough, I have this feeling that there is something fishy here. Can this thing really not hang for 100 seconds?"
"It shouldn't be that way. The first 90 plus seconds were hanging right there, no problem at all!"
"Though it's just 100 seconds, hanging there actually consumes a lot of energy, so it is understandable even if he couldn't hold on at the end..."
Amid the discussions from the audience, the vendor with a grim face comforted the person who had failed the challenge.
Ignoring the facts, the stall owner seemed even more disappointed than the challenger, and if not for the principle of 'rules are rules', he would have directly awarded the 1000 yuan prize to the challenger!
Following the failure of the second challenger, someone else also took up the challenge for the 1000 yuan prize.
Regrettably, no one managed to hang on that horizontal bar for 100 seconds without exception.
The less competent ones lost their strength and fell off after hanging for sixty to seventy seconds. The more formidable ones, just like the first two challengers, couldn't hold on through the final 10 second countdown.
And so, the atmosphere among the crowd gradually cooled down.
Seeing no one stepping up to the challenge after a while, Xu Lu decided to give it a try, enticed by the 1,000 yuan cash prize.
However, just as he was about to step forward, a rather unsightly man from the crowd beat him by a second, addressing the stall owner, "Sir, I want to give it a try. It seemed pretty simple from what I observed earlier, I just need to hang on a bit longer at the end!"
Spotting someone stepping forward, the sullen-faced stall owner was still warm and welcoming, wholeheartedly agreeing, "Exactly, if you can hold on for the initial 90 seconds, you can surely bear the hardship for another 10.
Alright, this grand prize of 1,000 yuan is waiting for the first successful contender, wonder who would take it away." As he spoke, the man began his challenge, prompting the stall owner to restart the stopwatch.
Because there had been too many failures before, the enthusiasm among the onlookers wasn't as high this time.
It wasn't until the last 10 seconds of the countdown that everyone started to perk up a little.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6... 3, 2, 1.......
"Congratulations, you're our first successful challenger!"
While the crowd was still somewhat flabbergasted, the dark-faced stall owner was the first to reach the triumphant contender, exclaiming excitedly.
Indeed! This challenger had successfully managed to hang on the horizontal bar for 100 seconds, and the stall owner was already pulling out the 1,000 yuan cash prize.