Entertainment: The Path to Best Actor for Talented Actors

"Let's look for upscale hotels. See if the most expensive hotel in Harbin still has rooms available?"

Zhang Ze said something to Xu Qing and then looked down at his phone.

The most expensive five-star hotel in Harbin charges 3000 yuan per night for a regular suite and 28,000 yuan per night for a presidential suite.

Zhang Ze had thought that with such a high price, there would definitely be vacancies!

But the reality proved otherwise.

Even the presidential suite, which costs nearly 30,000 yuan a night, is not available!

"There are just too many rich people in China!" he thought to himself.

Even with his current net worth of two million, he made a huge decision before deciding to stay in the presidential suite.

Good grief, staying there for one day reduces your assets by 1%.

Even if he's an actor and earns money relatively easily, he still can't afford to live like this!

Having money but not being able to spend it is the most frustrating thing.

Zhang Ze's mind raced, trying to think of any other solutions.

"A living person can't let themselves die from holding in their pee!"

"Think again, there must be other ways!"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Zhang Ze.

"I've got an idea!" Zhang Ze exclaimed in surprise.

"What's your plan, bro?"

"Rent a house!"

"What, rent a house? Are you kidding me?" Xu Qing asked in surprise.

"No mistake, since we can't book a hotel, let's rent an apartment. There must be quite a few fully furnished apartments available for rent throughout Harbin."

"But we're only staying one night, wouldn't renting a place be too wasteful?"

Zhang Ze said nonchalantly, "I've already decided to stay in a presidential suite that costs 30,000 yuan, so what's the big deal about wasting money? As long as the total cost is less than 30,000 yuan, it's a profit!"

"Oh, is that how the accounts are calculated?"

Although Xu Qing had doubts about Zhang Ze's decision, her body readily began to carry out his orders.

Open a rental app in Harbin and start looking for listings.

Zhang Ze logged into 85.com, while Xu Qing viewed Anjiake.

When Xu Qing saw the prices above, which were only eight or nine hundred yuan a month and the most expensive was only two thousand yuan a month, she had only one feeling!

Cheap!

Too cheap!

In Beijing, where housing prices often reach 40,000 to 50,000 yuan per square meter, the two felt that the price of housing here, at only 7,000 to 8,000 yuan per square meter, was like a bargain.

Xu Qing muttered, "The houses here are so cheap, I'm tempted to buy one!"

"When I have money later, I'll buy a house all over the country, so I won't be homeless when I'm filming somewhere!" Zhang Ze joked with Xu Qing, his fingers scrolling through the webpage without looking up.

Finally, the two selected two houses that looked nice and dialed the numbers provided on the app.

"Hello! Do you have a house for rent on Anjiake?" Zhang Ze asked politely.

A young man on the other end of the phone asked, "Which apartment? How big is it?"

Zhang Ze mentioned the name of the residential complex and the size of the room.

"Oh, the apartment you mentioned is rented out now. If you need a place, I can recommend some others. Hey bro, how about we add each other on WeChat?"

The other person's tone softened!

Zhang Ze contacted three real estate agents at once, telling them that the house needed to be rented out that very night.

Two of them declined, citing the heavy snow and bad weather outside.

Only one boy, surnamed Qian, agreed to find a house for the two of them.

Zhang Ze spent 800 yuan to hire two taxis, carrying the two people's luggage, and took them to the address the boy gave him. It took less than half an hour.

Because they had the key, the agent didn't contact the landlord and took Zhang Ze and his companion directly to see the house.

It was snowing heavily outside, making walking difficult.

Zhang Ze directly asked the real estate agent surnamed Qian to take him to the house with the best renovation!

This apartment is over 80 square meters and has two bedrooms.

The house had just been renovated; the landlord originally intended it for his son's wedding.

Unexpectedly, the daughter-in-law complained that the house was too small and kept insisting on moving to a bigger one. The two sides couldn't reach an agreement, so the marriage fell through.

The landlord's son was so shocked that he decided not to get married again and went to work in Shenzhen.

The room was very clean and had a good layout.

Zhang Ze checked the water, electricity, and gas, and since everything was fine, he decided to rent it.

At 2200 yuan a month, in a new apartment building with an elevator in downtown Harbin, including heating, Zhang Ze felt it was a pretty good deal.

Because it was still snowing heavily outside and the landlord was unwilling to come over, the two parties agreed that Zhang Ze should pay a deposit and move in first, and the contract could be signed tomorrow.

Zhang Ze originally planned to rent the place for three months, but the landlord disagreed, thinking that it was not easy to find a tenant, and insisted on renting it out for a full year.

Zhang Ze didn't haggle with him and readily agreed.

Let's rent for one year then, but the payment method is one month's deposit and three months' rent in advance.

The old man, without suspicion, accepted the offer.

After Zhang Ze transferred two thousand yuan as a deposit on the spot, the agent said politely.

"Sir, here is the room key. Please take it and use it for now. Remember to come to our store tomorrow to sign the contract."

After seeing the agent off, Zhang Ze and his companion carried their luggage upstairs.

The two of them, slightly out of breath, sat down on the sofa to rest.

"This is too thick, I'll sweat as soon as I move around!" After only two minutes, Zhang Ze felt sweating and took off his down jacket.

"It must be because the room temperature is too high. I feel that the heating in Northeast China is warmer than the heating in my hometown in Shandong."

Xu Qing also took off her down jacket, looking at him with admiration, and said, "Brother, you're really something! You actually came up with this idea. I thought we were going to have to spend the night at the airport!"

Zhang Ze got up and walked around the room, looking at the room's decorations.

"No problem at all, your brother's clever mind solved this little difficulty in no time!"

He had a smile on his face, clearly satisfied with the house.

"It's such a waste to rent for a year. We're going back to our hometown for the Chinese New Year in a few days, and who knows when we'll be able to come back again!"

"This house will be vacant for a year. The landlord is so awful. He knows we're in trouble, but he's deliberately taking advantage of us. Renting it for even half a year would be a waste," Xu Qing complained.

"Hehe, it's okay. We'll sign the contract with your ID tomorrow. When you pay next time, we'll just breach the contract. Including the agency fee, it'll only be five months' rent."

"It's only ten thousand yuan in total, much cheaper than staying in a presidential suite!" Zhang Ze said nonchalantly.

"Besides, this house won't be empty for long. After the New Year, I'll have my mom bring my aunt and the rest of my sisters to the Northeast for a trip, and they can stay here." Zhang Ze clapped his hands as he pushed the luggage into the bedroom.

"Wow! Bro, you're so cunning! Were you already planning to break the contract? No wonder you agreed so readily."

"I'm not being cunning, it's just the wisdom of life. Besides, he gets a deposit, so he's not at a disadvantage!"

At this moment, Xu Qing suddenly ran up to Zhang Ze with her eyes darting around and said, "Brother, actually we have another way that is even cheaper."

"Let's sneak away tomorrow! Since we didn't sign a contract, we can just consider the two thousand yuan deposit as a hotel deposit!"

Xu Qing whispered in Zhang Ze's ear, her voice so soft it sounded like there was a surveillance camera in the room.

"Actually, there's an even cheaper option. If you give that agent a thousand yuan, he can use his key to open the door and let us stay for one night!" Zhang Ze said with a smile.

"Oh yeah! How come I didn't think of that! Oh dear, we should just stop the agent from contacting the landlord!" She slapped her forehead in frustration.

Zhang Ze raised his hand and tapped Xu Qing's forehead. "Have you considered that while it might save money, it's a bit unethical?"

The room was very warm; you could wear just a thermal undershirt.

Because they had no blankets, the brother and sister spread their extra cotton-padded clothes on the bed and covered themselves with blankets to get through the night!

The next day, the brother and sister slept in late, not waking up until after nine o'clock!

With no food in the room, the hungry brother and sister, bundled up in their thick down jackets, went out onto the street. After having breakfast at a breakfast shop, they went to the real estate agency's office.

After waiting for about half an hour, the landlord came over, and Xu Qing signed the lease contract using her ID card.

Zhang Ze wore a mask throughout and did not appear in public.

Let him find some of the feeling he had when he was a child, coming up with bad ideas behind the scenes and encouraging his cousin to step forward and do bad things!

You should start messing with your cousin as early as possible!

As they grow up, they become more shrewd and harder to fool!

After signing the contract, the two purchased all their daily necessities at a nearby large supermarket in one go.

When my mom and the others come over, everything will be ready.

At noon, the car sent by the film crew to pick up the two finally arrived.

The driver was a middle-aged man in his fifties, rather thin. Zhang Ze planned to treat the driver to lunch.

But the driver refused!

"Teacher Zhang, I won't eat lunch. I'll just grab some bread on the way."

"Let's hurry back! The road is difficult to travel, and there's some traffic. If we're delayed, it will be a big problem if we don't get there before dark!"

Hearing the driver speak very seriously, Zhang Ze didn't insist.

Walking at night in this heavy snow is indeed very dangerous!

The driver brought over a Toyota Prado SUV with snow chains strapped to its tires!

This large Class A SUV has a lot of space.

The large tires and tall, sturdy body give people a strong sense of security.

On the way, Zhang Ze asked, "Driver, are you a local?"

The driver was very outgoing, speaking in a loud Northeastern accent, "I'm a local. I know every street in our area like the back of my hand, so don't worry about me!"

Hearing the driver's words, Zhang Ze felt much more at ease.

He was worried and fearful the whole way, afraid that the car would suddenly break down and he would be in a terrible predicament.

Fortunately, he was lucky and finally made it to the film crew's location after a bumpy journey.

By this time, it was getting dark, and they had walked for a full four hours to cover less than two hundred kilometers.

When Zhang Ze and his team arrived at the location, the main cast members stood up to greet them!

Teacher Zhang Jiayi has a bad back, so he bent over and came over to help carry the luggage.

"We've been waiting for you! The hot pot is all set up inside. Let's go in and turn on the fire to warm up!"

Teacher Zhang Jiayi was very easygoing, and the other staff members helped carry the luggage into the room.

Zhang Ze quickly greeted everyone.

"Xiao Wang, take a few people and put Teacher Zhang's luggage at Old Liu's house! Also, don't forget to take this little girl to the cafeteria for lunch!"

"Okay, director, don't worry! It'll be handled perfectly!"

Xiao Wang is a boy who is about 1.7 meters tall. He was wearing a hat and covered up completely, so you couldn't tell how old he was.

The director smiled and explained, "This village isn't big, with just over a hundred households. The film crew and the village have agreed to arrange accommodation for two to three people per household."

"In addition, the production crew has a dedicated canteen, so everyone doesn't have to eat boxed lunches in the freezing cold!"

Zhang Ze nodded after hearing this, agreeing that the director had done the right thing.

In temperatures of minus thirty degrees Celsius, if you eat a boxed lunch and the other half freezes before you've even finished half of it, that's just too outrageous!

Xu Qing followed the crew members to put away their luggage, while Zhang Ze followed the actors into the room!

There were two hot pots on the table in the room, and a whole table of ingredients were already laid out!

At this moment, Teacher Song Jia began to put hot pot base into the pot, and a familiar aroma began to spread in the room.

There were about twelve people in the room, and two tables were set up to form a long table.

The group sat together, each with a small stainless steel basin in front of them.

At this moment, the assistant director handed a new stainless steel basin to Zhang Ze. "Teacher Zhang, there are too many people and it's difficult to manage tableware. The crew will provide a small basin. Please mark it with a pen and put it away properly after you finish eating!"

Zhang Ze nodded to indicate that he understood.

The meal was quite interesting; a large group of actors sat around a hot pot, slurping their food from small stainless steel bowls.

The house was filled with fragrance and bustling with noise, while snow was falling heavily outside!

It seems like it's been snowing for almost forty hours!

After a hot pot meal, everyone got to know each other much better.

The meal, which included eating and playing, lasted for more than two hours.

After the event ended, Xu Qing came over and led Zhang Ze away.

After walking for about several dozen meters, the two arrived at a farmhouse courtyard.

This is the family the film crew arranged for the two of them to stay at!

Upon entering the room, Zhang Zecai saw the owner of the house.

An old man who was about sixty years old and two young girls who were about twenty years old.

"Grandpa, I'm so sorry to trouble you! I'll be staying at your house for the next couple of days." Zhang Ze said, warmly grasping the old man's hand in gratitude.

The old man was simple-minded and somewhat reserved, saying that he would make himself at home here and not to be shy.

To express his gratitude, Zhang Ze took out a pack of Taishan cigarettes from his suitcase and handed it to the old man.

This is a cigarette brand produced in their hometown; it shouldn't be available in Northeast China!

Although the film crew would settle the accommodation fees with the farmers, Zhang Ze still felt more at ease having a small gift for them.

Old Liu couldn't refuse, so he accepted Zhang Ze's gift and began to savor the cigarette Zhang Ze offered.

People in Northeast China tend to rest early; they start making their beds and going to sleep as early as 8 p.m.

Old Liu's family had five rooms, and he arranged for Xu Qing to stay in the room of his married daughter. Zhang Ze stayed in another guest room.

Old Liu slept on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the master bedroom with the two girls!

From what I just learned, the two girls are Old Liu's nieces, and they call Old Liu "Uncle Liu".

My uncle suffered a mental breakdown after his wife passed away a few years ago.

My daughter got married not long ago, and I feel the house is empty and cold. I have lost all hope for life.

So, the families of his two sisters often came to his house to help him cook and keep him company.

It was midnight, and the room was completely dark.

Zhang Ze was fast asleep on the warm kang (a heated brick bed).

Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that Xu Qing had actually run onto Zhang Ze's kang (heated brick bed) with her quilt.

"Why are you on my kang (heated brick bed) instead of sleeping?" Zhang Ze exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm scared to sleep alone, I want to sleep here with you!" Xu Qing spread the quilt next to Zhang Ze by the moonlight.

"Go back right now! What's the meaning of you, a young woman, sharing a bed with me?" he scolded.

"What's the big deal? When we were little, we used to sleep on the same kang (heated brick bed) at my grandma's house all the time!"

"Besides, Grandpa Liu next door sleeps on the same kang (heated brick bed) with his two nieces! It's perfectly normal for a whole family to share a kang in Northeast China!"

Xu Qing, wearing thermal underwear, crawled into bed and refused to come out despite Zhang Ze's calls.