CHAPTER 48: CHAPTER 0048 THIS MAKES ONE SEEM CULTURED (REQUESTING MONTHLY TICKETS)

Over the years, Qi Hao hasn’t been without his fair share of cultural learning.

But if he didn’t do well in school, how could he make a name for himself outside of it?

Can it really be that the teachers have been hindering his progress?

The life of an academic underachiever has two major skills: can’t do this, can’t do that.

So, Old Tian built Qi Hao’s persona as a cool and aloof male god.

If his mind is empty, he should speak less.

Fortunately, as time passed since his debut, and with his increasing experience, Qi Hao has managed to avoid any major blunders, whether in social situations or during interviews.

The only time it became an issue was when he was considered for the top four young actors, and his educational background was used as a weapon against him.

At that time, his contemporaries like Huang Xiaoming had graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, and Tong Dawei and Nie Yuan were from the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

If you look further back, Lu Yi and Ren Quan were also from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Li Yapeng was from the Central Academy of Drama, and even Hu Bing, who was only a stand-in during the first round, at least graduated from a specialized sports school.

Qi Hao was the only one with just a middle school education level.

A brain teaser often played by netizens was asking why Qi Hao didn’t have any high school classmates...

As his popularity grew, fewer people would comment about his education.

But this has always been a landmine for Qi Hao, ready to be stepped on at any moment.

Now, Qi Hao’s dearest friend, Tongzi, in a rare moment of good heart, gave him a pair of glasses that allow him to remember everything, solving all his problems.

So when others recite "Autumn’s chill lingers as frost descends late, leaving the fallen lotus to hear the rain," you might say "Autumn’s chill lingers as frost descends late, leaving the withered lotus to hear the rain."

When others say "July’s flowing fire" refers to extreme heat, you’ll understand it’s not what it means.

...

You know that you don’t necessarily have to say it aloud; preaching it everywhere can be annoying.

But you can’t afford not to know.

[Task 10 completed, reward received: Charm +10, script "Shaolin Soccer", Sven Glasses (System Version)]

[Task completed, gained training opportunity]

[Select one among the following NPCs for training: Yang Mi/Liu Shishi/Hu Ge]

[Now announcing the new task]

[Task 11: The relationship between celebrities and media is a love-hate one. As a promising figure favored by the system, you should bravely face the media and accept an interview now. Task difficulty: 3 stars, deadline: 60 days]

[Task completion rewards: Dialogue +10, song "It’s not a sin for a man to cry", initial career funding of 100,000 yuan]

This time, the system rewards for the new task have three items, but unfortunately, the third one isn’t a special item, just 100,000 yuan.

For some reason, seeing money now is just annoying.

If it had been one or two years after debuting, 100,000 yuan would have been a fortune.

Qi Hao still remembers being pulled into commercials just for being handsome, earning only tens of thousands per shoot.

Working on a music video for a pop star might pay more, but it would often mean getting taken advantage of a little.

Yeah, just a little bit, like that.

After all, if it’s too explicit, it can’t be released.

However, for the current Qi Hao, 100,000 yuan is not significant money anymore.

When he took on "Chinese Paladin 3," he earned 120,000 per episode, and the whole series brought him around four to five million.

This system’s mechanism, caused by a ten-year load delay, has its pros and cons: like benefiting Qi Hao with 630,000 Penguin shares, but also some outdatedly valued items at the 2000s standard.

Let’s forgive this crappy system because of the glasses.

As for the glasses, the system asks Qi Hao to choose one himself; he can go to any glasses store, pick any glasses, and they’ll become "system version" with the feature to remember everything.

So casual.

The downside is that it makes the system version seem low-end, not mystical enough.

Nonetheless, Qi Hao can at least choose the style.

He was worried before, thinking if they gave him golden glasses, should he wear them or not.

Wearing them would be creepy, not wearing them would be stupidly creepy.

Luckily, choosing glasses is tomorrow’s agenda.

Qi Hao has a night to think it over.

So, whom to spend this long night with?

Yang Mi? Liu Shishi? Or Hu Ge?

Seems not to make much difference; Qi Hao decided to give up.

Sprinkle Sichuan pepper at the neighbor’s door and numbs the one next door.

Not choosing anymore.

He must not take on projects like "Chinese Paladin 3" with no technical content, making him unable to select an NPC for training.

Actually, he didn’t choose "Chinese Paladin 3" himself.

It was a role Ziwen got for him.

Just as Qi Hao was about to enter the training space, the three options he had given up on began to change, revealing new names.

Eh, if you don’t choose, the options seem to refresh.

If only he knew, he wouldn’t have chosen Tang Yan last time.

Akasaka Reiko/Yamaguchi Sayumi/Li Lizhen.

Uh...

Looking at this absurd lineup, Qi Hao couldn’t figure out what odd rule the crappy system used to put these three names together.

Did my goddess Yamaguchi Sayumi break some heavenly rule?

Or is there some unknown perk that got skipped?

Without hesitation, Qi Hao chose Yamaguchi Sayumi.

Of course, Yamaguchi Sayumi’s acting isn’t particularly outstanding; she just has quite a few classic films and diverse genres.

The first Neon drama introduced to Huaxia starred Yamaguchi Sayumi in "Blood Suspicion," a heart-wrenching love story between a young man and a young woman with leukemia.

It was the first time leukemia was portrayed in a love story in front of Huaxia People, later adopted as a "national treasure" by Korea next door.

Car accidents and leukemia are Korea’s favorites.

Bizarre plots, romantic love, they’ve milked tears from men and women, old and young.

The character Sachiko played by Yamaguchi Sayumi has also become the heart’s white moonlight for teenagers.

A typical example would be Zhang Yimou.

This introverted guy from the northwest doesn’t say it out loud, but his film casting reveals everything.

Generation after generation of "Zhang Yimou’s Girls" bear a striking resemblance to Yamaguchi Sayumi.

The first generation "Zhang Yimou’s Girl," Gong Li, was immediately dubbed "Little Yamaguchi Sayumi" when she debuted.

Another young man from a small town in Shanxi named Jia Zhangke frankly admitted that his room used to be full of posters of the goddess Yamaguchi Sayumi.

Actually, Neon people are the same; the inherently restless Beat Takeshi liked Yamaguchi Sayumi very much, yet regrettably never got to meet her in person!

Later, when filming "Beyond Evil," Beat Takeshi decided to cast Yamaguchi Sayumi’s husband Miura Tomokazu in an important role.

Every time Beat Takeshi invited Miura Tomokazu out for tea, it was just to meet Yamaguchi Sayumi in person.

Ma’am, you wouldn’t want your husband to lose this role, would you?

But every time, he would leave empty-handed.

So when shooting the sequel to "Beyond Evil," Miura Tomokazu’s character was killed off as soon as he appeared.

Qi Hao didn’t have any particular obsession with Yamaguchi Sayumi.

He just quite liked Yamaguchi Sayumi’s "The Dancing Girl of Izu."

Then he used Zhang Yimou’s, Jia Zhangke’s, and Beat Takeshi’s goddesses as training NPCs, which was inexplicably thrilling and subtly satisfying.

Next time he sees Zhang Yimou, he’ll definitely have a sense of superiority.

Actually, "The Dancing Girl of Izu" is a remake; the earliest was Tanaka Kinuyo, followed by Yoshimura Sayuri, then Yamaguchi Sayumi, and even Yoshimura Sayuri’s and Yamaguchi Sayumi’s versions were directed by the same Nishikawa Katsuhiko.

You can’t say Yamaguchi Sayumi acted better than the two predecessors, but that sense of first love is indeed spot on.

So after Qi Hao chose Yamaguchi Sayumi, the training instance was also "The Dancing Girl of Izu."

However, once inside, he discovered a major problem.

He couldn’t bloody speak Japanese!

Damn!

As a training NPC, Yamaguchi Sayumi was also quite at a loss.

The two talked past each other like a chicken talking to a duck, and after messing around for a while, they finally started acting, each only able to perform their own parts.

Qi Hao finally got to indulge a bit in being Miura Tomokazu.

The next day, Qi Hao took a leave and went to a glasses store that could make lenses on the spot.

He chose the sturdiest frames and bought the most scratch-resistant lenses.

He wasn’t sure if the system would replace another pair if these glasses broke.

When he appeared on the set, Qi Hao was already wearing glasses.

No prescription, mainly for blue light protection.

When playing on the phone or computer, there’s a good chance it’ll have a tiny bit of effect.

"Boss, why are you wearing glasses?" Zhang Nan asked curiously.

In the morning, Qi Hao said he had something to take care of and left mysteriously, returning with a pair of glasses, which seemed particularly odd.

"To look refined..." Qi Hao murmured softly.

"Refined..." Zhang Nan instinctively wanted to say "refined scoundrel," since these words often go together.

But it’s just a small thing, not a big deal.

The boss likes it, so that’s good.

After all, Qi Hao did look a bit more refined and reached a new level of handsomeness after wearing glasses.

"In the future, I’ll leave my glasses in your care. Make sure to take good care of them, don’t let them get bumped or lost."

Qi Hao confirmed with the system.

If these glasses break, they can be repaired and still be usable, but if lost, he would also lose his photographic memory ability.

However, the person who finds the glasses wouldn’t gain the corresponding ability either.

These glasses belong exclusively to Qi Hao.

Qi Hao + glasses = photographic memory.

"A woman gave them to you?" Zhang Nan could only interpret it that way.

"Uh... don’t always think about women. If you’re missing your wife and kids, I’ll give you some time off to visit them. Here, shuttling between the hotel and the set, with Yang Liu around, is enough."

Qi Hao hesitated for a moment but couldn’t categorize the glasses as a token of love.

Because he has no woman.

"They’ll come to Zhejiang Province for a trip in a couple of days; you’ll meet them then." Zhang Nan shook his head.

"If you’re not leaving, then help me with something." Qi Hao was quite unceremonious.

"What thing?"

"I want to do a media interview..."

If it were Old Tian here, he would think Qi Hao was acting up again, but Zhang Nan didn’t find it strange.

Rather, he asked very seriously, "Is there something you want to announce?"

"No, just feel shooting films is too boring, we’ve been filming for over two months since we started in February."

"Then there’s no need for a press conference."

Zhang Nan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Qi Hao was about to announce a relationship or something.

"Just arrange it as you see fit."

Holding a press conference at this time, for what, to clarify he’s not gay, or to clarify the rumors of a relationship with Yang Mi are false.

There’s no need to clarify these deliberately.

"Then let’s arrange a media visit to the set. Earlier, those from Sugarman wanted to arrange media visits, but we refused them."

Zhang Nan thought for a moment, believing this could meet the boss’s requirements.