162: Chapter 163 Life as an Extra (Part Two)

As a cannon fodder character earning 150 a day, Chen Sheng was so cheap that he was easily selected.

A group of them boarded two buses and were driven straight to a desolate, mountainous area.

Chen Sheng looked around and immediately realized this was an anti-Japanese war drama. He didn't know if it was one of those absurdly exaggerated ones, but the Staff Member's eye for casting seemed a bit off. After the group got off the bus, a Staff Member quickly ran over. After conferring with the extras coordinator, he immediately pointed at the crowd and called out, "You, you, you... and you, those whose names were just called, put on the Japanese soldier uniforms later. The rest of you wear the Eighth Route Army uniforms."

Seeing that he had been called by the Staff Member, Chen Sheng's mouth fell slightly open, while he cursed internally, "With my upright and honest looks, I clearly have the face of a hero. Yet you, damn it, are making me play a sleazy Japanese soldier."

This wasn't just poor eyesight; this was damn near blind.

Ugh, Japanese soldier? Even a dog wouldn't play one...

Especially when the Staff Member led them to the costume area, Chen Sheng looked at the pile of clothing on the ground that reeked of a mixture of sweat and foot odor—a stench so strong it made his eyes water—and he felt a deep, instinctive resistance.

However, after he reluctantly changed into the costume and the Staff Member came over to explain the scene, he heard that they were about to shoot a scene where the Japanese soldiers raid a village. Once filming started, they were expected to kill anyone they saw and pounce on any women...

Chen Sheng could only say that while dogs might not play Japanese soldiers, he had to.

After accepting his role as a "Japanese soldier," what followed was a long wait.

From arriving at this desolate, mountainous wilderness at the crack of dawn until nearly ten in the morning when the sun was high in the sky, the props team finally finished setting up the battlefield. At the Staff Member's signal, Chen Sheng followed his newly acquainted "Japanese soldier" brother onto the set.

What followed was a long rehearsal.

"You, you, you, you five form a group. Enter from here later and walk in that direction."

"You, you, you, you four form a group. Enter from here later and walk in that direction. Once you encounter the Eighth Route Army, open fire immediately. When you see the blood packs explode, drop to the ground right away. Don't give me any unnecessary movements. If I catch anyone pulling any funny business, get out immediately."

"You, you, you..."

The Staff Member first divided the people into groups, each with a veteran extra or a featured extra leading it, and the instructions were primarily directed at them.

As for cannon fodder like Chen Sheng, who earned 150 a day, he didn't even have the qualifications to follow behind a featured extra; he could only follow the veteran extra to "raid" the peripheral areas.

After all, those featured extras walking in the center area had to brave the hail of bullets.

After the Staff Member finished explaining, he immediately called the extras over. Once everyone was in position, a man—whom the Staff Member addressed as Director, but whom the veteran extras called Assistant Director—walked over with a slow, swaggering gait and asked the Staff Member, "Is everything arranged?"

"Everything is arranged."

"Alright, let's run through it a few times."

Upon receiving the Assistant Director's order, the Staff Member quickly shouted to the extras, "Everyone, listen up! After we start, everyone follow the routes I just described. Stop where you're supposed to stop, fire when you're supposed to fire. Everyone, stay sharp..."

After rattling on for a while, the Staff Member finally handed the megaphone to the Assistant Director and respectfully asked, "Director Cui, everything is set. We can start at any time."

The Assistant Director took the megaphone, "Everyone, pay attention. Once I count 3-2-1, start moving... 3, 2, 1, Action!"

As "Action" was called, the cannon fodder immediately started running.

While running, they didn't forget to blurt out a few familiar phrases.

For example:

"Sakigake~~", "Shina-jin~~", "Yoshi~~", "Baka~~", "Hana-musume~~"

Seeing this, Chen Sheng suddenly understood.

No wonder when watching anti-Japanese war dramas in the past, he could always hear these words from the little Japanese soldiers; the root of it was right here.

However, as a new extra, Chen Sheng felt a sense of shame that kept his mouth firmly sealed; in any case, he couldn't bring himself to shout along.

But he also firmly remembered the instructions from his "Japanese soldier" brother: "Just do whatever the captain at the front does."

So when the captain at the front raised his gun, Chen Sheng also raised his. As for where he was aiming, sorry, he didn't know either.

However, speaking of guns, Chen Sheng had to give this production team a bad review.

He had assumed the guns in the production would be those realistic prop guns that, aside from not being able to kill anyone, could make noise, produce sparks, and were almost identical to real guns.

When he first heard it was an anti-Japanese war drama, he even thought he could use this to satisfy his itch to fire a gun.

After all, what boy isn't obsessed with firearms?

However, the reality was that while there were realistic prop guns, they were for the lead actors and featured extras. For extras like Chen Sheng, they were given props that were worse than firewood—they couldn't make noise or spark, and some were so ridiculously fake they didn't even have a trigger to pull.

It was just pure aiming. Then, at the designated time, he would just make "bang" sounds with his mouth for as many shots as he wanted to fire, then lower the gun and follow the captain at the front to the next location.

Besides shooting, Chen Sheng's squad also had the task of surrounding the "flower girls." This was the reason why, even if a dog wouldn't play a Japanese soldier, he had to. But when the actual surrounding began, Chen Sheng had to give the production team another huge bad review.

First, the Japanese soldiers, villagers, and soldiers rehearsed their movements separately. When the Assistant Director felt it was good enough, he gathered all three groups together for a joint rehearsal. It was only then that Chen Sheng discovered that the "flower girls" they were responsible for surrounding were all, damn it, middle-aged aunties.

Wearing big floral padded jackets and headscarves, they looked passable from behind, but when they turned around, Chen Sheng couldn't help but curse, "Oh my god, if I have to film this for a day, I'm definitely going to have nightmares tonight."

Their faces were full of wrinkles, and some had big yellow teeth when they smiled...

He didn't know where they found this group of treasures.

Of course, if it were just that, it wouldn't warrant a huge bad review. The key lay in the "Japanese soldier" brother he had recognized. During the joint rehearsal, he quietly leaned over and whispered to him, "Little Chen, when we surround the villagers later, just follow me and make sure to hide behind me."

"Brother, what's the reason for that?" Chen Sheng quickly asked in a low voice.

The older brother pursed his lips toward the "treasures," "That group of them loves to take advantage of the chaos to grope young, strong guys like you. You better be careful, or by the end of the scene, you'll have been touched all over."

"WTF! They're that horny?" Chen Sheng widened his eyes.

"Just wait and see."

Soon, the three groups were in position. As "Action" was called, the sounds of gunfire, artillery, shouting, and pleading echoed once again across the desolate wilderness.

Chen Sheng held his gun, walking with a duck-footed gait, following his "Japanese soldier" brother. Every now and then, he would randomly shout "Bang!" into the air. Soon, the group arrived at the second location. The villagers entered, and Chen Sheng and the others immediately followed the regulations: rubbing their hands together, putting on sleazy smiles, and then pouncing toward the villagers while shouting things like "Flower girl."

The chase of the villagers officially began.

During the chase, Chen Sheng kept his "Japanese soldier" brother's words in mind, following by his side... no, behind him. He soon realized how wise that decision was.

During the chase earlier, a Japanese soldier successfully intercepted a flower girl. According to the plot, this soldier needed to drag the flower girl into a nearby house to create the impression of beastly behavior.

However, the reality was that the soldier caught the flower girl, but the soldier looked like he was at a funeral, while the flower girl looked at him with amorous eyes. The soldier's steps were stiff, while the flower girl was pulling the soldier into the room.

Originally, the scene should have ended once the two entered the room, but looking at this situation, Chen Sheng had reason to suspect that entering the room was just the beginning.

That was just for the flower girls who were assigned to be dragged into the rooms.

As for those flower girls responsible for running away, seeing that their sisters had gotten a taste of meat, they indicated they also had to have a sip of soup.

Thus, on the scene, those flower girls responsible for running away would constantly appear to trip and fall to the ground in panic... no, more accurately, they fell onto the corpses of the "Japanese soldiers" who had been killed by the soldiers.

It was the hands...

Chen Sheng swept through, seeing many flower girls who had fallen onto the "Japanese soldier" corpses, their hands grabbing at the "Japanese soldiers'" chests, feeling around. Some, with skilled techniques, even slipped their hands inside the clothes in the blink of an eye.

Even that wasn't the most excessive part.

Chen Sheng even saw no fewer than five people whose hands, upon falling, aimed for three inches below the "Japanese soldier" corpse's abdomen. When they pushed themselves up, they turned their palms into claws, and the strength of that grab directly made the corpse's limbs perform a natural reaction.

Tsk tsk~~