The birth of an actor

Chapter 34 Top-Tier Lung Treatment
Anxin could tell that Fan Bingbing was not entirely ignorant about money management, but she also had absolutely no experience with it.

Because she actually wanted to invite Anxin to eat hot pot for lunch.

The hot pot restaurant is called Donglaishun.

According to her:

"Donglaishun is so famous, everyone in the country knows it, let's go and try it."

Then Anxin stopped her.

Actually, he didn't know what the price of Donglaishun was in 1996, but he vaguely remembered that when he went there for the first time in his junior year of college, the four of them spent more than 500 yuan on a meal.

While it's possible that the four male PE students wearing white socks were a bit too big a eater... even with a 20% price reduction, a meal for two would still cost at least a hundred or two.

It's almost as good as Quanjude.

She only has about 300 yuan left in her account. If she continues to spend like this, she won't even need to wait until next month; by the second half of this month, she'll be broke from Alipay.

So Anxin directly refused. The two of them found an authentic Lanzhou noodle shop for lunch. Amidst the envious gazes of a group of out-of-towners, they added five yuan worth of meat, ordered a cold dish and two bottles of soda, spending less than twenty yuan in total.

But Jingye's extravagance still intimidated a group of migrant workers from other places.

However, Fan Bing wasn't very happy with the meal because she felt the meat wasn't as good as the braised beef that Grandpa Ye had brought back that morning.

During the meal, she kept chattering about how amazing the performance training class she had gone to that evening was.

They made statements like, "I heard that all the teachers are from the Beijing Film Academy," "There's absolutely no deception involved," and "Otherwise, why would it cost 450 a month?"

I listened to the whole thing without really understanding it, but I actually quite liked the peanuts in the cold dish.

It has a good flavor.

After finishing the meal, Fan Bing didn't go home. Instead, she bought two popsicles for 50 cents each and returned to Anxin's place with him.

After learning that Anxin had rented several videotapes, she wanted to watch them together.

It didn't matter to put my mind at ease. After taking her home, I said:
"You choose."

Then he picked up the thermos, which had no lid and was only covered with a piece of gauze, found a cup, and planned to pour her a cup of cooled boiled water that he had made that morning.

"water."

"Hmm, let's watch 'Teahouse'. It features a lot of retired professors from the Beijing Film Academy. Maybe we'll run into them tonight."

As the girl spoke, she put "Teahouse" into the video recorder and then folded up the comforting mattress.

Anxin asked, puzzled:
"what?"

"I'll lie down and watch."

"I know, I mean, what are you going to do with it?"

"It's windy today. It picked up a lot of dust this morning, and I'm all dirty."

As the girl spoke, she took off her shoes, leaned against the wooden board, and lazily yawned.

Anxin shrugged indifferently and walked out.

When the others returned from the public restroom, he suddenly discovered that... Fan Bing had already fallen asleep.

He was curled up on the wooden board, fast asleep.

The television broadcast the message, "I love the Qing Dynasty, I'm afraid it will perish."

"..."

He was speechless for a moment, but still sat down on a chair and started watching TV.

But as he looked around, his eyes unconsciously drifted toward the bed.

His gaze wasn't fixed on any sensitive areas, but rather on the girl's feet.

She was wearing white socks today, but the soles of her feet were slightly yellowed.

The two socks have a worn, aged look, as if they've been washed frequently.

The white doesn't even look so white anymore.

Besides, he's not a foot fetishist. Although her feet are quite pretty, he can't be a foot fetishist just because of her yellowed socks.

He was looking at the girl's heels.

The socks at the heels were just a thin layer of thread, clearly weathered, while there were a few dark red streaks at the heels.

Is there bleeding?
Are your shoes rubbing your feet?

His gaze unconsciously fell on the girl's pair of Li-Ning sneakers.

He bent down slightly and glanced at the shoe, and saw that the cotton padding at the back of the shoe was worn out.

But strangely, these Li-Ning shoes look brand new.

At least in appearance, it is white where it should be white, and bright where it should be bright.

It's clearly well-maintained.

He thought to himself that this girl had really figured out how to be "noble" in public but suffer in private.

There are shoe repair shops all over the street. Why bother going through all this trouble when you can just ask a shoe repairman to fix the back and put a sponge in it?

He was somewhat speechless, but after thinking for a moment, he still went out. He went to a pharmacy in the alley, bought a bottle of Federal Dexterity, and came back.

The weather was indeed hot; when he came back from this trip, his back was also covered in sweat.

With the electric fan blowing and me getting up early, I gradually felt a bit sleepy.

The problem is that there's only one bed and one chair in this room.

He could only yawn lazily and slump onto the table.

I can't concentrate on watching TV anymore, I should go to sleep.

Who would have thought that when they opened their eyes again, the clock on the wall was already pointing to 3.

He blinked groggily, turned his head, and found Fan Bing fast asleep, sprawled out on her back.

So he quickly got up and went to the bedside:

"Hey, wake up, wake up."

"what?"

Fan Bing subconsciously opened her eyes, stared at An Xin's face for a few seconds, and then quickly came to her senses:
"Oh dear! What time is it?!"

Anxin pointed to the wall, and the girl's lips twitched...

It’s over.

This afternoon's "shift" has already missed the most important time.

And perhaps because she'd been so busy these past two days, she was genuinely tired. So she yawned.

"Ha... um. Then I won't go this afternoon, I'm going back now, see you tonight." "Wait a minute."

Seeing that she was about to put on her shoes, Anxin quickly handed her the Band-Aid and moved her own slippers next to her feet.
"How about you repair these shoes?"

Fan Bing was taken aback. She glanced at Band-Aid, then followed An Xin's gaze to her right heel.

Upon seeing the trace of blood, he showed no embarrassment.

It seems that ever since she was chased for rent, she has become less "concerned about saving face" with Anxin.

He shook his head naturally.

"It can't be repaired. If it were repaired, we'd need to add a sponge... These shoes are worn down because they're too small. Adding a sponge would make them even tighter."

"Why don't you just wear a pair that aren't too tight?"

"...This is the only pair of shoes I own. Oh right, are you free this afternoon? If not, how about we go shopping? I'll buy a pair of shoes."

"Okay, where to? Yansha?"

The girl's lips twitched:
"Do I look like someone who can afford things in Yansha? I'm going to the zoo! I'll buy a pair of shoes and two short-sleeved shirts."

"Row."

Anxin responded with a soft "yes":
"Let's go?"

"Let's go. I need to use the restroom first."

The girl took off half of her sock and tore open the Band-Aid, and Anxin then noticed a blood blister on her heel.

"...Should we expose it?"

"I can't choose them, they'll leave scars. What if someone asks me to do a high-heeled shoe commercial later?"

To that, I'd say, "You're not a foot model."

After watching the girl apply the Band-Aid, the two walked out together.

Having been to the zoo clothing market before, Fan Bingbing wasn't particularly curious. The two rode their motorcycle under the blazing sun until they arrived at the big red sign. When they got off, Fan Bingbing was already limping.

"pain?"

"Hmm, it looks like it's broken... Oh no, it's really broken."

Anxin looked down and sure enough, the blister had burst after only a few steps with the Band-Aid on, and the sock was stained red.

"What should I do? They definitely won't let me try on the shoes..."

While she was fretting, Anxin had already walked directly to the sock vendor at the door.

"Three pairs for two yuan, pure cotton from the South..."

He handed over two yuan, and the two pairs of black and one pair of white shoes were in his hands.

Fan Bing paused for a moment, then suddenly burst into a silly grin:
"Hehe, you're so smart."

"Just change into the black ones."

"Ah."

She responded and stepped on the motorcycle pedal, taking off her shoes and socks.

The moment she took off her socks, Anxin's eyes became somewhat dazed.

The pink toes were so dazzling in the afternoon sun that they made one's eyes spin.

I must say, she is indeed quite suitable to be a foot model.

Those feet... I bet they'd be incredibly attractive to foot fetishists.

"Aren't my feet pretty?"

"I don't know if it looks good, but it smells pretty strong."

"Get lost, don't even try!"

The girl spat, then seemed hesitant and asked uncertainly:
"Does it really taste good?"

As she spoke, she sat on the motorcycle, spread her legs, brought them to her nose, and gave a superb lung-like breath.

"Hiss...no."

She looked confused and stretched her leg out in front of her:
"Smell it?"

Anxin rolled her eyes:

"Who's going to smell your stinky feet? Hurry up and put on your socks so we can go buy shoes."

"Oh, good."

Soon, a girl wearing black socks caught up with him and stuffed a wad of money into his hand.

"There are a lot of thieves here. Here, please hold this for me."

Anxin looked at the bustling crowd in front of her and clutched the few banknotes directly into her hand.

The zoo clothing market of this era was a paradise for the poor. Clothes cost ten or twenty yuan a piece, shoes cost seventy or eighty yuan a pair, and the most expensive items were only a little over one hundred yuan.

And most importantly, you can buy "brand name" products.

Putting everything else aside, a pair of Nikes costs four or five hundred yuan in a specialty store, but you can buy fakes with a checkmark on the upper here for sixty or seventy yuan.

The kind that doesn't hide anything at all.

The zoo not only encompasses retail but, more importantly, wholesale.

As the two were strolling along, Fan Bing suddenly stopped and nudged An Xin's arm:

"Hey, don't worry, look at this."

"?"

Anxin subconsciously turned her head and saw the girl standing in front of a sign.

The sign had a line of text written on it:

"Hiring: Male and female models. Design and styling of merchandise. Daily pay. Details to be discussed in person."

He blinked, somewhat puzzled about what "copying and wearing" meant.

But Fan Bingbing's eyes suddenly lit up.

"This company is hiring models. Let's go ask them."

As she spoke, she pulled Anxin directly into the shop called "Fashionable Western Clothing" and spoke frankly to the female owner who was eating a bowl of noodles:

"Hello, boss, do you need models for your store?"

(End of this chapter)