In early August of 2001, in the family housing area of Ningyuan Agricultural Machinery Factory.
Sunlight filtered through the old elm trees, casting dappled shadows on the red brick walls. The crisp sound of a bicycle bell rang out, echoing like a melody through the times.
Seventeen-year-old Chu An had his backpack hooked on his elbow, hanging limply behind him. He was staring blankly at the unit door, looking a bit dazed. "So this is what they mean by time travel."
He had gone from being a middle-aged man from another parallel world back to a seventeen-year-old boy, full of energy. He felt light and free, as if he could soar with the wind.
Of course, he had also gone from being a well-known agent with millions in assets to a naive high school kid with just two fifty-cent coins in his pocket.
Well, it wasn't all that bad.
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He tossed the two coins up lightly, caught them steadily, then strode toward the unit door, ready to embrace his new life.
"Ka!!"
A loud, angry shout startled Chu An, causing him to jump. The previously calm atmosphere shattered, and a heavy laughter echoed around.
Not far from Chu An, behind the camera monitor, a bald man suddenly jumped up. "Casting director! Where the hell are you!?"
The camera crew, sound technicians, and stagehands all shrank back in fear.
Alright, he was on a film set—Chu An had broken character.
Director Lu Mingze, clearly enraged, screamed hysterically, "Where did you find this extra? Are you even professional?"
After scolding the casting director, he rushed over to Chu An. "You!! Did you even look at the script!?"
"You're being rejected by a girl! You need to show disappointment and helplessness, and maybe even a little teenage anxiety, got it!?"
"And!" He was so worked up, spit almost flying into Chu An's face as he grabbed his shoulders, spun him 90 degrees, and pointed toward a pure, glowing beauty. "What are you doing? Can't you act with her? Why are you smiling at the door!? Keep smiling!!"
Lu Mingze was a big name in the Chinese TV industry, but he was also infamous as a tyrant on set, unwilling to tolerate any unprofessional behavior in his domain.
He unleashed his fury on Chu An, not caring whether the actor ended up crying or breaking down in frustration. He wasn't worried about adding one more clueless kid to his list of crushed actors.
Chu An could only look at the director apologetically. Sorry, couldn't hold it in.
But, honestly, it wasn't entirely his fault. Who wouldn't be disoriented after time traveling from their forties back to when they were sixteen or seventeen?
After the rant from Lu Mingze, Chu An finally figured out the situation.
Yes, he had indeed traveled to a parallel world. Yes, the year was 2001 in this world. Yes, he was in the same family housing unit as the Chu family. The building, the unit, everything seemed right.
But the real issue was that a few days ago, Chu's father, Chu Jianjun, had rented out their apartment to the film crew for location shooting. Then, the casting director had mysteriously visited last night, handed Chu An a thousand yuan, and asked him to play a role.
And then, he traveled here—right to the film set downstairs in his own building.
As for the girl he was supposed to act opposite, she was the female lead of the show. They were in the middle of a scene where she was rejecting his confession.
At that moment, the girl had turned to the corner, quietly reading her script, showing no signs of blame or sympathy for Chu An. In short, she was ignoring him.
Normally, being publicly berated like that would make any seventeen-year-old boy feel embarrassed and awkward, but for Chu An, it didn't really have much effect.
Having been in the entertainment industry for half his life, this was nothing more than a small scene.
Lu Mingze was still roaring. Seeing Chu An remain silent, his voice grew louder. "Say something!! Can you act or not!?"
Chu An looked up at the director and, in a dazed manner, blurted out, "How about... you take ten bucks off my fee?"
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone in the crew, and even the onlookers, froze.
Even the female lead, who had been reading her script, looked up at Chu An, her lips twitching in disbelief.
"I'll take it," Lu Mingze was stunned, thinking to himself, A whole crew is wasting their time, and you think ten bucks will make up for it?
"Bah! This isn't about money!!"
He was too angry to speak, glaring at Chu An, who was pretending to be clueless, before managing to squeeze out, "What were you thinking?"
More than angry, Lu Mingze was curious. Does this kid have a screw loose?
Chu An didn't care about the director's questions, firmly replying, "Don't worry, director! I promise there won't be a next time!"
"I..." Lu Mingze realized that this clueless kid was just completely out of sync with him. I say east, he says west!
After sizing up Chu An again, he suddenly gave up, calling to the whole crew, "Take a ten-minute break! Give 'Chu Shí Kuai' some time."
Unable to recall his name, he just called him "Chu Shí Kuai" and retreated back behind the monitor to sit down. He blankly picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, then spat it all out with a loud "Pfft."
Well, Lu Mingze had been made to laugh by his own anger.