Wishing Star of All Heavens and Myriad Realms

Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 Wishing Star Across Myriad Realms

In the quaint inn, a group of wandering travelers dressed in ancient costumes ate and chatted in twos and threes.

In the corridor on the second floor of the inn, Li Ling, dressed in a white robe, pursed his slightly dry lips.

He took a deep breath, adjusted his breathing, and focused intently on the first floor, or more precisely, on an empty wooden table on the first floor.

"Scene 32, Shot 1, Action!"

A shout came from the second-floor corridor, and Li Ling took a deep breath.

With a running start, he used the force of the wires to flip in mid-air, soaring over the second-floor wooden railing before crashing straight down onto the wooden table that had already been prepared on the first floor.

"Bang!"

The entire wooden table was smashed to pieces by Li Ling, who lay unconscious on the shattered surface.

"Cut! Okay, that's a pass!"

Behind the camera, the bearded director called for a pause.

At this moment, Li Ling, who had been pretending to be unconscious, opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. He reached out and stood up, holding onto the wooden bench next to him, and rubbed his chest, which felt a little stuffy from the fall.

Although he was protected and the wooden table had been prepared in advance so that it would fall apart with the slightest touch, falling from the second floor still gave Li Ling quite a hard time.

"Now we're reshooting a close-up shot of the male lead's face as he falls from the second floor. All units, get ready," the bearded director commanded.

Li Ling quickly stepped out of the camera's view, removed the wire from her body, and went to the rest area. She hurriedly drank some water and breathed a sigh of relief, which eased the tightness in her chest that she had felt after the fall.

While drinking water, Li Ling looked enviously at the first floor of the inn.

The wooden table that was originally broken has been replaced with the male lead of this TV series, a young actor who has recently become quite popular. They are currently reshooting a scene where the male lead falls from the second floor and smashes the wooden table on the first floor.

"Once I get through this difficult period, I need to hone my acting skills and try to get a role with screen time, not for fame, but just to earn more money," Li Ling thought to himself.

That's right, this is the filming location of a martial arts drama in Hengdian World Studios. Li Ling is currently a stunt double for this crew, commonly known as a 'stuntman'.

Li Ling is 1.85 meters tall, a handsome guy with a very sunny and tough temperament. He looks very similar to the big star Chen Kun, otherwise he wouldn't have been chosen as a stand-in for the male lead in a TV series.

Li Ling attended a second-rate sports university. After graduating and entering the workforce, he discovered that the employment pressure on college graduates was beyond his imagination.

His classmates, those with connections got into the provincial sports team and the national team; those with connections got into state-owned enterprises and large private companies; and those with wealthy fathers went home to become second-generation rich kids.

Someone like him, who has nothing, can only grit his teeth and try to make his way in the world.

Being handsome doesn't put food on the table! A sunny, rugged charm is utterly useless!

You can't blame anyone else; it's your own fault for not studying well back then and not getting into Tsinghua or Peking University, or any other 985 or 211 university!

Li Ling came from the countryside. He was not afraid of hardship or fatigue, but reality told him that it was not like that at all.

Because she studied sports at a second-tier university and didn't have any specialized skills, Li Ling could only look for jobs with low barriers to entry, such as sales and insurance.

Companies in sales and insurance have low entry barriers and recruit a large number of salespeople every year, mainly to acquire the resources of these newcomers.

They train you, brainwash you, paint a rosy picture of the future for you, and then encourage you to sell the company's products to your relatives and friends.

Li Ling's family is from the countryside, and he has no connections in the city, so he has no relatives or friends to sell to. Besides, even if he did, he wouldn't want to cheat his relatives and friends out of their money—it would be against his conscience!

Li Ling had no choice but to bite the bullet and start developing new clients.

Developing new customers is not so easy. As soon as people hear that you are a salesperson, their attitude changes immediately. Some say they don't have time, while others even call security to kick you out.

Unfortunately, after changing jobs several times in the two years since graduation, I still haven't achieved anything.

A year ago, my father suffered a stroke and was paralyzed and hospitalized. The monthly medical expenses were a large sum of money.

The family was not well-off to begin with. Her mother stayed in their hometown to take care of her father and couldn't go out to work. Her younger brother and sister were in school and needed living expenses, so Li Ling could only struggle to make ends meet outside.

I had hoped that after graduation I could earn money and alleviate my family's financial situation, but reality has proven to be cruel.

By chance, through a friend's introduction, Li Ling came to Hengdian and became an action stuntman.

Because he graduated from a sports college, Li Ling has excellent athletic ability and physical condition. He has made rapid progress in some difficult martial arts moves after humbly learning from others. After practicing a move a few times, he can perform it very well.

Although stunt work is dangerous and often results in injuries, the pay in this industry is relatively high.

It could involve performing some high-difficulty stunts, such as Li Ling falling from the second floor just now, or fighting in the air while suspended by wires more than ten meters high.

At the end of the day, stuntmen can earn 500 to 1000 yuan. For some small stunts, even after deducting the leader's cut, they can still earn 300 to 400 yuan a day.

Because of his good looks, good temperament, and the simplicity of a rural person, Li Ling often helps the crew with whatever he can. In the year or so that he has been working as a stunt double, he has become very popular.

The crew's production assistants and assistant director did recommend some screen time for Li Ling; he's tall and handsome, it's a shame to just use him as a stunt double.

He declined all of these offers. Although stunt doubles don't appear on screen and their work is tough and tiring, they earn one or two times more money than those low-level extras.

A little hardship is nothing!

Of course, this didn't come without a price. Since becoming a stunt double, Li Ling has been covered in injuries, but he is happy to do so.

I feel really happy when I can send more money home every month.

As for the romance that many people pursue, I'm not considering it for now. I'll wait until my father's condition stabilizes and I've saved up more money before thinking about it.

Life has many flavors, and everyone has their own way of living. Like drinking water, only the person drinking knows whether it is hot or cold.