The Stand-in Side Character Only Wants to Make Money – CH35

Chapter 35 – A Different Perspective

The good neighbor: “…”

The neighbor was quiet for a moment, accepted the cookie, and didn’t say much, only thanking Chen Bai for his over-the-top compliments.

Chen Bai accepted the thanks without hesitation and helped himself to another cookie.

The neighbor’s place was just down this road, in a good area. From the entrance of the complex, it was only about a three-minute walk to the subway station.

They entered the complex, went up the building, and took the elevator. By the time Chen Bai had nearly finished his cookie, he reached into his pocket for the water bottle he had bought earlier from the convenience store.

As he drank, the neighbor, without a word, took the bag back and carried it himself.

They arrived at the floor, and Xu Sinian unlocked the door.

By this time, it was almost completely dark outside, and the inside of the apartment was pitch black. He found the light switch, and with a quiet “click,” the room lit up.

The room was literally brightened. Chen Bai peered inside, squinting slightly.

The neighbor wasn’t kidding when he said the place was empty. It was spacious and very clean, probably because someone came by occasionally to clean it.

It was clean, but there was no sense of anyone living there—no signs of life. Only the essential appliances were there, neat and simple, like a model home.

As they walked from the living room to the bedroom, Chen Bai asked the neighbor, “Have you ever lived here?”

The neighbor replied that he’d stayed there twice for work.

Chen Bai nodded.

Though he had no proof and it made no logical sense, he felt that when the neighbor said ‘twice,’ it was ‘exactly’ twice.

This place was probably like the house of the God of Wealth—mainly unused, left to sit empty, with just two uses on record. He playfully threw a mock attack from behind, saying, “Damn capitalist.”

According to a ridiculous equation created by one anonymous Chen, all wealthy people were equivalent to capitalists.

The attack was fierce but ineffective. In an attempt to attack further, Chen Bai leaped up, trying to hang onto him with a mock chokehold.

With someone hanging on him, Xu Sinian calmly held the paper bag in one hand and grabbed Chen Bai’s wrists with the other, preventing him from falling. He carried him toward the entryway.

Cookies weren’t dinner, so after checking out the apartment, they would still need to go eat.

Chen Bai, his attack having failed, was carried back to the entryway. He was set down with both feet on the ground, experiencing firsthand the good strength of his neighbor.

—It did seem like the neighbor could probably knock out ten of him with a single punch.

As the front door was reopened, Chen Bai put on his mask and asked, “So, Comrade Xu, how much are you thinking of charging for rent?”

He continued, “But living here might be a hassle for me. What if you need the place for work…”

At that moment, the elevator doors opened in front of them, cutting him off mid-sentence.

A man wearing a floral hat stepped out of the elevator.

Realizing he had come to the wrong floor, the man stepped back into the elevator, but after hearing their conversation, he stepped forward again and asked, “Are you looking to rent a place, little brother?”

“Take a look at mine—utilities included, fully furnished with no damage, ready to move in two months from now, directly from the landlord, no agency fees, and cheaper than market price because I’m in a rush to rent it out.”

His speech was incredibly fast, finishing his entire spiel in the blink of an eye, even before Comrade Old Xu could announce the rent price.

Old Xu: “…”

Old Xu glanced down and noticed that after hearing two key words at the end of the man’s speech, Little Comrade Chen’s eyes lit up noticeably.

Chen Bai looked up at him.

Xu Sinian “…”

What started as showing someone a house turned into them looking at someone else’s house. Xu Sinian, carrying the bag, followed them down one floor.

The man with the floral hat lived downstairs and was planning to move abroad soon to live with his daughter. He had already started preparing for the move, but didn’t want to sell the apartment, so he posted an ad on social media to rent it out. Unfortunately, there had been no interest, and he was about to look for an agent.

He said it was fortunate that he pressed the wrong floor and happened to meet a potential tenant.

The “potential tenant” referred to Chen Bai, and the “happened to meet” referred to intercepting him midway.

After a quick tour, Xu Sinian noticed that even though Chen Bai had some doubts initially, he didn’t frown once throughout the visit, and by the time he heard the price, he was completely at ease.

Chen Bai and the man with the floral hat happily exchanged contact information.

The man’s earlier rapid-fire explanation turned out to be accurate, and the rent was reasonable.

While it was several times more expensive than renting in a regular apartment building, compared to the general rent prices in the area, it was actually quite cheap.

The rental details still needed to be discussed further, but for today, exchanging contact information was enough.

With a promising lead on renting out his place, the man with the floral hat was pleased and saw them out with a smile.

With a potential rental secured, and no need to bother his good neighbor, Chen Bai was also happy. That evening, he splurged and treated his helpful neighbor to dinner as a thank you for his contribution to the house-hunting process.

They found a restaurant nearby, focused on quick service with no waiting. During dinner, the warm and chatty Auntie Jiang sent him a message, and he replied, briefly mentioning his afternoon of house-hunting.

Two seconds later, Auntie Jiang sent a message congratulating him on finding a suitable place.

Across the table, Xu Sinian’s phone, placed on his chair, buzzed slightly.

He unlocked it and glanced down, seeing that Auntie Jiang had sent a string of “hahaha”s.

Xu Sinian “…”

He didn’t reply and put his phone away again.

After dinner, having gotten used to commuting between the city and the outskirts, Chen Bai politely refused the good neighbor’s offer to drive him back to the film city, as the neighbor had work tomorrow. Pressing down his hat, he waved with a smile.

It wasn’t until Chen Bai’s pink-haired figure completely disappeared that Xu Sinian finally looked away and turned to leave.

Back in his car, just as he was about to grip the steering wheel, his phone rang.

It was Auntie Jiang, who had just sent that string of “ha”s.

He lowered the brim of his hat slightly, picked up the phone, and answered.

As soon as the call connected, Auntie Jiang greeted him warmly: “Didn’t manage to get him to live at your place, huh?”

Xu Sinian leaned back in his seat.

Auntie Jiang continued her friendly greetings: “First time getting intercepted like that, huh?”

After her teasing, there was another round of “ha”s—definitely his own mother.

Xu Sinian “…”

Xu Sinian tapped the steering wheel slowly and asked, “What do you want?”

Auntie Jiang didn’t have anything in particular to say, only mentioning that she hadn’t seen her dear son in a while and just wanted to call and check in. Oh, and by the way, she’d be heading abroad again soon, so he’d have to take care of his dear little brother over the weekend.

After this brief check-in, she said goodbye and hung up.

As the phone screen darkened, Xu Sinian glanced at it before starting the car, turning on the indicator, and stepping on the gas.

Xu Sinian “…”

On the other end, Auntie Jiang calmly put down her phone.

Next to her, Mr. Xu Ming looked over and said, “Weren’t you going to ask him what’s going on?”

Admiring a new photo of her and Chen Bai that had just been added to her album, Auntie Jiang smiled and said, “He didn’t deny anything I said, did he?”

Ever since she had seen that particular piece of clothing, she figured some things were no longer necessary to ask.

After all, her younger son, Xu Lang, had never once worn his brother’s clothes growing up.

She handed over her phone, growing more and more fond of it as she looked at it. “Isn’t he just adorable? And his personality is great too.”

Mr. Xu nodded, then glanced at the invitation on the table and said, “Looks like we won’t make it to Old Master Zhang’s event this time.”

The timing was unfortunate. They would leave just as the banquet was about to take place. People in the film industry don’t attend these events when they’re working, and leaving their high schooler alone at home felt much more reassuring than bringing him along.

Auntie Jiang rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Old Master Zhang should retire soon, don’t you think? As for that kid from the Zhang family… Zhang what’s-his-name, still the same as before?”

“Zhang Wenxuan,” Xu Ming replied, “Pretty much. He’s capable but still too playful.”

He added, “His friend Huo Chuan, though, is the real deal.”

They weren’t from the same circle, but Auntie Jiang knew a bit about them. “His taste in people is bad, though.”

She hadn’t had much interaction with them, but she did know that every time she saw him, Huo Chuan had someone new with him, yet all of them somehow looked oddly similar.

Even their temperaments were alike, to the point where they had heard about these little “love dramas” on several occasions. Lately, though, they hadn’t heard much about it.

Fortunately, her son had good taste.

——

After parting ways with Auntie Jiang’s good son, Chen Bai took the subway and then a bus, finally returning to the film city.

His poor study buddy had a night shoot tonight, and it was going to run late. Since it was still early, Chen Bai decided to sneak in some extra time.

His friend, Qing Zhou, had taken a break from streaming for a couple of days, so he found some old friends to play with instead. They hadn’t talked in a while, but they still got along great.

During the game, however, his phone—face down on the table—kept buzzing, the vibrations so frequent they could be felt through the keyboard.

After finishing a round, he took a brief break from the game and picked up his phone to check.

It was a string of messages from someone named Zhang-something, filling up the whole screen. Without time to read through everything, Chen Bai skimmed the key points, realizing the person was asking if he had time one evening this month, saying there was a dinner party they wanted to invite him to.

The short version was: it would take up time, but there was no money involved.
That day was a weekend two weeks later. The restaurant was closed, and he had the day off, so technically, he had time.

But his time was valuable and needed to be spent making money.

Thus, Zhang Someone’s invitation was promptly declined.

After replying to the message, the pink-haired boy set his phone down. As soon as his hand touched the keyboard, his phone buzzed again.

His eyelid twitched. He said, “Hold on,” and picked up the phone again.

To his surprise, it wasn’t the money-making friend who had messaged him, but the god of wealth himself.

The generous god of wealth had come to deliver gold coins again.

Unlike Zhang Someone, the god’s message was brief and to the point, no extra words: He wanted company at a dinner party, offering 200,000 yuan for the gig.

Master Chen, the professional companion, accepted the job without a moment’s hesitation.

It was 80,000 more than last time. He wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like his salary had gone up.

Who knew this job had room for promotion?

A raise of 80,000 in one go—Chen Bai was grateful for the god of wealth’s generosity. He almost habitually sent an emoji in thanks but quickly remembered it wasn’t his style and held back just in time.

He couldn’t stop his live stream for too long, so after replying, he really didn’t touch his phone again.

That night, he streamed until two in the morning. The next day, still fueled by black coffee, the pink-haired boy survived.

Eyes wide open, sipping coffee, he was finally able to take a break. Meanwhile, his fellow actor, who had slept the whole day at the hotel, was full of energy and surfing the internet early in the morning.

While sipping coffee and reading his script, he finished the last sip and was nudged by his co-star.

With a keen sense of environmental consciousness, he tossed the trash into the bin and asked, “What is it?”

The co-star showed him his phone and asked, “Why is your name on the cast list for ‘The Ordinary Road’? Same name and all?”

The name ‘The Ordinary Road’ sounded vaguely familiar—it had been a while since he’d heard it. Thanks to the reminder, Chen Bai remembered the last show he was in was called that.

He recalled his money-making friend telling him ages ago that the show had wrapped and entered the editing stage. It had been quite some time, so it was probably done by now. He asked, “Is it out?”

“No, I just saw the cast list,” his co-star waved it off. “They’re promoting it right now, and the trailer drops in a few days.”

Chen Bai nodded and went back to flipping through his script.

‘The Ordinary Road’, adapted from the classic novel by a famous contemporary author, had been in the spotlight since its inception. During filming, it occasionally trended on social media, and its buzz never really died down.

However, not all the buzz was positive. Many fans of the novel were afraid the TV adaptation would distort the original plot and the author’s core message. Others worried about the actors’ performances.

While some fretted, others had been eagerly anticipating it from the start.

Even before the trailer was released, ‘The Ordinary Road’ had already made it to the trending list, and its popularity kept climbing.

The day the trailer was released, the slightly cooling buzz shot straight to number one in real-time searches.

The first trailer for ‘The Ordinary Road’ was just over a minute long and was simultaneously uploaded to all major platforms.

In that minute, the trailer told an incredibly captivating story—about choices, transformation, life, and warmth.

Unlike most trailers that end with the male or female lead, this one concluded with a bright, contrasting shot after a series of dark, dramatic scenes.

The shot was warm and clean: Outside a slightly worn wooden window, the shadows of trees swayed gently, accompanied by the sound of cicadas. At the sunlit desk, a young man in a linen shirt lowered his head, gently set down his pen, and closed the book covered in green leaves.

The screen darkened as the book closed.

[The casting is perfect! Every character fits so well! The female lead really nailed that resilient vibe!]

[I need every bit of info on the actor in that final shot within three minutes! Don’t make me beg!]

[A-Huai is my favorite character in the whole book! This actor is exactly how I imagined him! Who else feels my excitement?]

[(Double take) Wait, isn’t that 8.91? Wow, your black hair looks so good!]

[Original novel fans, a friendly reminder: Don’t fall for A-Huai or ship him with anyone. (Seriously)]

[No plot changes! I even spotted a few scenes that match the novel exactly! This level of effort deserves success!]

The adaptation remained faithful to the novel, the production team’s aesthetics were on point, the leads were talented, and the supporting cast was impressive. Within a short time, the trailer’s views skyrocketed across platforms.

Fans were quick to start remixing the trailer, turning the minute-long video into all sorts of edits.

Some even took stills from the trailer, carefully refining them into perfect wallpapers.

The final shot of the trailer, along with those of the leads, quickly became some of the most shared images.

The scene’s composition, colors, and characters were so well done that as it circulated, it degraded into a pixelated blur, almost like a meme.

The trailer had only just dropped, and there was still a long way to go before ‘The Ordinary Road’ was fully released.

During this time, the pink-haired boy was busy studying and making a final push to fill in his stream hours. Other than chatting with a few friends, he barely touched his phone.

Every day, there were different people lingering outside the hotel. Unless it rained, there were quite a few. He hadn’t noticed any real changes, except that more people seemed to be saying hello to him lately.

It was his money-making friend who finally found him and asked if he had any photos of himself with black hair.

Not to brag, but Master Chen’s photography skills were so terrible that his gallery had no photos worth sharing of himself.
The agent thought so too. She wiped her face, forcing herself to accept reality, and then said, “Your hair must be getting pretty long by now, right?”

The pink-haired boy instinctively raised his hand to touch his hair, only to remember he couldn’t feel it anymore. He pulled his hand back and nodded, “Yeah, it’s gotten pretty long.”

Sometimes, when playing games, it would block his view. Fortunately, he had a long binder clip that he originally used for holding notes, which he could use to clip his hair back just enough to see the computer screen clearly.

At this point, once the pink hair was cut off, he would be back to his old self.

Chen Bai said, “It’s just cutting off hair of a different color. I could do that myself…”

Master Chen wanted to mention that he had cut his own hair several times and had gotten quite skilled at it, but under his money-making partner’s gaze, he wisely refrained from saying more.

Gao Qian said, “Next time you’re off, I’ll take you to get a haircut.”

The sudden sense of caution made no logical sense, but she chose to trust her intuition, firmly deciding that she would personally take him to a styling studio.

The pink-haired boy put down his phone, which he’d been about to use to look up contact info for the nearest convenience haircut place, and said, “…Alright.”

Though they said they’d wait until the next time he had a break, when he actually had both a break and some free time, it was already the weekend after next.

Remembering the 200,000 yuan gig he had that day, Chen Bai shot out of bed and got into his money-making partner’s car right on time.

Since he didn’t need to take the subway that morning, he could even catch up on some sleep in the car.

The styling studio was the same one where he’d dyed his hair pink last time. The people there remembered him and greeted him as soon as he arrived.

Just like last time, once he sat down, he soon found himself listening to the professionals discuss his look. Each person chimed in, and they even pulled out concept sketches.

He couldn’t help but feel that they’d spent enough time talking to have already finished several haircuts.

But kind-hearted Chen Bai didn’t say anything. Instead, he took one last glance at the message sent by the god of wealth’s personal assistant before closing his eyes and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, after a nice nap, his pink hair had turned black.

After a shampoo and blow-dry, the warm air blowing in his ears started to make his eyelids droop again.

It wasn’t until he heard someone say “done” that he suddenly jolted awake.

His agent was already beside him, expertly pulling out a phone, telling him to look at the camera, and preemptively advising, “Don’t move your hands.”

Chen Bai “…”

Before he could strike the universally loved peace sign pose, it disappeared into oblivion.

Without managing to make the photo-worthy gesture, the freshly black-haired Chen Bai pulled out his phone and opened the camera to snap a picture of himself.

“…”

This person had a knack for finding the most unusual angles, which were normally hard to come by. In a way, it was a unique talent. His agent glanced at the new photo twice and asked, “Why are you taking pictures?”

The photography prodigy, Master Chen, ruffled his hair and replied, “To send to my friends.”

Gao Qian: “…”

She felt a pang of sympathy for his friends.

She sent over the photo she had taken and gently suggested, “Maybe you could send them the one I took instead.”

In the end, Master Chen decided to send both the picture he took and the one Gao Qian had taken.

His agent wiped her face, gave up trying to persuade him, and quietly continued taking pictures.

In the photos, the person had his head slightly lowered, strands of hair falling over his face, his eyes reflecting the light from the phone screen. He had no expression at first, but as soon as a message popped up on the phone, a smile spread across his face.

He looked up and said, “My friend says both look great.”

This compliment seemed to genuinely boost his confidence, as he straightened his posture.

“…”

The agent finally understood where his confidence in sending those photos to his friends came from.

After the haircut, the agent handed him a hat and mask, and swiftly sent the overly confident person on his way.

Outside the studio, the photography genius got into a car that was already parked by the roadside.

The driver was from the Huo family. He had driven him twice before, so they were somewhat familiar with each other. After exchanging greetings, they set off.

This time, the gig wasn’t to directly accompany the god of wealth to the dinner event. First, they were headed to the familiar estate he had been to before. The god of wealth’s family was thoughtful enough to arrange for a car to pick him up.

Leaving the city, the car took the mountain road again, heading to the familiar estate. Last time, he had gotten out at the gate, but this time, the gate opened early, and the car drove straight inside. He got out in front of the main entrance.

The butler was already waiting by the door. He approached and bent down, ready to open the car door.

But before he could reach it, the car door popped open on its own, as if it had springs, and the person inside had already stepped out.

He had only met the butler once before, but upon seeing him again, he still remembered and greeted him with a smile, calling out, “Uncle Wang.”

The butler, Uncle Wang, smiled back, his face deeply lined with genuine warmth, and led him inside.

Turning into the living room, the only person there was his online friend, Huo’s mother, Zhang Ling.

Uncle Wang explained, “Mr. Huo is in the study, and Miss Huo is still in her room getting ready.”

Zhang Ling, seated in her wheelchair, casually adjusted the blanket on her legs and said, “See? No one talks to me when they’re home.”

As she spoke, she looked up at him and paused for a moment, then smiled and gave him a second look. “You look good like this too.”

Chen Bai thanked his friend for the compliment and said, “They’ll be down once they’re done.”

He glanced at a vase on a nearby cabinet with a few simple flowers arranged in it and said, “I only found out I was coming here this morning, so I didn’t have time to buy flowers.”

Zhang Ling waved her hand with a smile, “No need, it’s enough that you’re here.”

She added, “The flowers in the garden have just bloomed, and they look beautiful. Would you like to see them?”

Since the god of wealth and his sister hadn’t come down yet, Chen Bai decided to go with his online friend to see the flowers.

Uncle Wang and the other staff didn’t follow. Only the nurse pushing Zhang Ling’s wheelchair accompanied them.

The estate was large, and so was the back garden. Most of the plants were green, except for one tall tree near the pavilion that was covered in a dazzling white blossom. The white was so bright it was almost blinding.
The person sitting in the wheelchair looked up with a touch of nostalgia in their eyes and said, “This was planted when those two were still young, and now it’s grown so tall.”

The flowers were indeed beautiful. Chen Bai responded but found it hard to imagine what the god of wealth looked like as a child.

As they moved from the small path to the pavilion and stopped, he looked up at the flowers, trying to figure out what species they were. While looking, he started chatting.

He couldn’t figure out the species, and his neck started to ache, so he gave up and turned back to chat with his good friend.

His friend took a sip from their water bottle and, as casually as chatting, asked what he thought of Huo Chuan.

Caught off guard, Chen Bai said, “Huh?”

He felt like he had heard this question from someone else not long ago.

Was it popular for parents to ask their friends this kind of thing nowadays?