Caught in Affairs with Superstar-Chapter 1109 - 630: Stunned (Part 2)

When Zhou Lan promised him this, Huang Zicheng was stunned.

He had other retired athletes around him, unlike those highly sought-after celebrity-level players. Those who hadn’t achieved particularly outstanding accomplishments often ended up teaching at universities or high schools, or coaching at professional clubs. Those less fortunate missed the best timing, or faced midlife unemployment. For people like them, with such specialized skills, the choice was very limited.

Huang Zicheng had seen many of his seniors struggling to make ends meet, rushing around for basic necessities.

His family’s financial situation was quite average; his parents were ordinary people. Over the years, they had invested a great deal to support his training, just like countless other humble families — ordinary, simple, hardworking.

After being forced to retire due to injury, Huang Zicheng’s biggest worry was what to do in the future.

What could a young athlete like him, who hadn’t even attended college, do?

Nothing at all.

He even started searching online for how to become a food delivery driver.

At this time, Zhou Lan suddenly appeared and told him that as long as he followed her, as long as she was in the business for One Day, he wouldn’t lack a bowl of rice to eat.

If it were anyone else, Huang Zicheng would consider them a fraud, but there was a miraculous force about Zhou Lan that made him instinctively want to trust her.

Later, when he looked up her information online, he realized that she was indeed a very famous agent, with her own dedicated profile, even featuring her photo.

The artists this agent managed included Zhou Yun.

Huang Zicheng was uneasy about the uncertainty of the future, but this became the first guiding light he saw while lost in the fog. He followed this light out of the fog, embarking on this path.

Zhou Lan personally met with his parents, showing them the contract and asking them to entrust him to her in his presence.

She wasn’t a gentle-tempered person; her words and actions were somewhat assertive, but she paid attention to meticulous details.

He followed her with a suitcase to the bustling city of Shanghai.

He was still worrying about where to live, what to eat, and how to get by in the coming time.

She had already arranged a dormitory for him, topped up credit in five restaurants nearby to cover his meals, and got him bus and metro cards.

On the day he moved in, she brought over a case of clothes and daily necessities.

"If there’s anything lacking, just let me know. Don’t be shy. I’ll arrange acting, dance, and music classes for you," she said. "In some time, another person your age will move in. You should get along well and enjoy your classes first. There’s no rush for work; we’ll focus on basic training first, including how to speak and manage expressions. I’ll arrange teachers for your training."

Looking back on that initial period, Huang Zicheng felt a sense of surrealism.

During that time, he was constantly anxious, afraid of being perceived as incompetent or unable to be an actor, worried that Zhou Lan would regret and not want to mentor him anymore.

In fact, he had already signed a contract, which included clauses to protect him. As long as he didn’t breach the contract, he could receive a monthly stipend of 2000 yuan, with the contract remaining active.

He stumbled through his first show, first film shooting, first commercial, first event... and just got through it all.

Huang Zicheng knew he was lucky.

The longer he worked in the industry, the more people he met, the more he realized his fortune.

Lucky to have a face with storytelling potential, chosen by Zhou Lan.

Lucky to have met Zhou Lan instead of a malicious agent, not falling into traps or being exploited by unscrupulous agencies.

Lucky to become a junior under Zhou Yun, granting him a title that prevented him from being bullied as an inexperienced newcomer wherever he went.

Just like this time when joining the team, others only kept their distance or subtly excluded him, but dared not openly mistreat him.

Huang Zicheng had seen other lesser-known actors being bullied in other crews.

He looked up at the pitch-black night sky, not a single star in sight tonight.

The cold wind blew bitterly.

He stood by the roadside with his hands in his pockets, waiting for the ride-sharing car to arrive.