They stayed at a hotel that night. The fan event would begin at 6 PM and last two or three hours. During the day, there was also a commercial shoot scheduled.
The moment Chu Zhi rejected Koguchi Yoshihiro's offer, he completed the [Reject Industry Invitations ×10] achievement and earned 4 more Personality Coins.
Out of those ten rejections, at least four were probably aimed at Koguchi. That guy was practically an elite boss for farming achievements.
The thought made Chu Zhi chuckle.
He pulled out his pocket-sized copy of The History of the Song Dynasty. He had already finished both the New Five Dynasties History and the Old Five Dynasties History, but he still had a quota of pages to hit today.
An hour and a half passed in a blink. Chu Zhi glanced at the time, surprised to find it was already a quarter past midnight.
"Time really is too short in a lifetime. Seriously, who has time to sleep that much? Anyway, I made four Personality Coins today."
He spoke to the system, "Open the Oddities Mall. I want to redeem the 'Sleeping Pig Elixir'. What a name, though. So tasteless."
[Oddity: Sleeping Pig Elixir] Function: You sleep like a dead pig.
PS: Shut up. Just say a number. In five seconds, you'll be in deep sleep.
Price: 3 Personality Coins
Chu Zhi had had his eye on this item for a while but hadn't pulled the trigger until now. Everyone knew seven or eight hours of sleep was ideal, but deep sleep only accounted for a quarter of that—about two hours.
Reaching deep sleep wasn't easy. Studies showed that just four hours of quality deep sleep could be better than eight hours of average sleep, but pulling that off was almost impossible.
There was just too much he wanted to learn. So, cheating time a little seemed reasonable. He pulled out the black liquid, the so-called "elixir."
He drank it in one go. The taste wasn't bad at all. Slightly milky, even. "Nice. This actually tastes great."
"I'll sleep around three and get up at seven," Chu Zhi calculated. "That gives me another two or three hours to burn."
He packed his history book back into his suitcase. As long as he sorted his change of clothes, the rest would be handled by his assistant, Xiao Zhu.
"If only I brought my xun... I could've recorded a clip for social media." He had picked up a few tricks on the instrument while working on the arrangement for "The Drunken Concubine Reimagined."
Since that was out, he moved on to other matters. One was the plan for the variety show Journey Among the Stars. The fee was still being negotiated, but the production side was clearly starting to budge.
Chu Zhi always joined variety shows with clear goals. For I Am a Singer-Songwriter, he had three mini-objectives: broaden his fanbase, promote New Chinese Style music, and, if possible, win the whole thing.
First stop is Hokkaido, so I'll definitely need to pull in some fans from Japan. Having an international fanbase really boosts your overall ranking.
"If I complete this mission, I might even use my last song voucher for a Japanese track. Best case, I can gain fans without spending a dime."
He started drafting a plan, then turned his attention to translating Stray Birds into Japanese for local publication.
To be honest, even though physical book sales were declining globally, Japan's publishing industry was still holding strong. They really knew how to make it work.
A big reason was Japan's active resistance against web fiction. Back in the early 2000s, they had mobile fiction platforms like Magic Island and even hits like Sky of Love. But mainstream media headlines like "Mobile Novels Will Kill Authors" quickly crushed the trend.
Thankfully, Chu Zhi had drawn the "Fluent in English" and "Fluent in Japanese" talents. His expectations weren't too high—once he got all eight language proficiencies, then it'd be time to flex that polyglot card.
Why did his thoughts always bounce between acting and flexing? Simple. If all that effort wasn't for being able to show off in style, then what was the point?
At 2:50 AM, Chu Zhi finally went to bed.
Time passed, and the moon quietly handed the sky back to the sun. All kinds of creatures, helpful and harmful alike, began to stir.
"Damn, I feel great!" Chu Zhi jumped out of bed. The combination of the Sleeping Pig Elixir and the Dreamy Choco Delights had left him feeling like he'd had the perfect nap.
Hmm—scratch that. Oversleeping usually made you groggy.
He glanced at his coin balance: 7 left. He had used 3 coins and a song voucher to redeem The Drunken Concubine Reimagined the other day.
Thanks to this schedule, he was getting three or four more productive hours a day than the average person. Over time, that added up to something terrifying.
"Those three coins yesterday? Totally worth it. If you think about it, that's extending your lifespan by one-sixth to one-eighth."
And with that, the workday began.
Today's shoot was for a commercial backed by the city government of Shancheng.
Riding the wave of short video platforms, Shancheng had successfully branded itself as a trendy tourist destination. Though Chu Zhi, a native, never quite got the hype, he figured anything that boosted the local economy was good.
He was the tourism ambassador for the Chengyu Twin Cities Project. The ad paid well—over 100,000—but money wasn't the main reason. He also just wanted to give back to his hometown.
Plus, with his popularity, it made sense to represent both Shancheng and Rongcheng. It wasn't strange at all; the two cities often collaborated on promotions and had a good relationship.
There was even an old joke online: Want to offend both cities at once? Just say, "Isn't Shancheng the capital of Sichuan Province?"
"Shancheng's gone mad trying to build its tourist image," said Lao Qian nearby.
"What do you mean?" asked Xiaozhu, moving closer.
Wang Yuan was off to the side, focused on the shoot. She wasn't interested in gossip that didn't involve Chu Zhi.
"My friends in Shancheng always get these texts around Labor Day or National Day," said Lao Qian. "Stuff like, 'During the holiday, areas like Jiefangbei, Hongyadong, Chaotianmen, Raffles City, Grand Theatre, and Changjia Wharf will be extremely crowded. Please avoid peak hours to provide a better experience for out-of-town visitors and show our city's hospitality.' Translation: stay home during your vacation."
"Also, lots of tourists love taking photos, so the traffic department often shuts down roads and bridges just for them. Like Qiansimen Bridge—gets closed at the drop of a hat," he added.
"Ugh." Xiaozhu grimaced. It was a bit extreme, but you had to admit, it made things convenient for tourists.
Shancheng had plenty of attractions: Hongyadong, Ciqikou, Jiefangbei, the Yangtze Cableway. The shoot bounced between all four locations, and Chu Zhi cooperated fully.
By July, the city had fully earned its "oven" nickname. It was blazing hot.
Xiao Zhu was constantly wiping sweat with wet wipes. Wang Yuan, feeling sorry for everyone, bought ice water. Lao Qian, meanwhile, was wondering: If Chu Zhi got a tan, would he still be this handsome?
"Man, this weather makes a sip of ice water feel like heaven." Chu Zhi checked if the team had enough to drink.
"We're staying in the shade. We're fine," Wang Yuan replied.
Satisfied, Chu Zhi nodded. "The film crew's working hard too. Wang-jie, could you order a few dozen cups of plum juice?"
"On it. Leave it to me," said Wang Yuan.
The shoot was supposed to wrap by 3 PM, but delays and other issues pushed it closer to 5.
Chu Zhi asked Lao Qian to treat the film crew to dinner, then hurried to the International Expo Center.
Time was running tight.
"Qiu-ge, is that a traffic jam ahead or just a light?" Chu Zhi asked anxiously from the backseat.
"Traffic light. Map says no congestion... yet," Qiu-ge answered.
Thank goodness. Chu Zhi let out a sigh of relief.