Chapter 1152: Gray Orbit
Translator: Lordbluefire
“What do you think of it?”
Sun Mo opened a bottle of fruit juice and poured a glass for Emma.
“I want wine!” Emma pouted.
“Wait until after you become an adult!”
Sun Mo naturally wouldn’t let Emma drink alcohol.
“Che, In any case, my 17th birthday is almost here!”
Emma wrinkled her adorable nose. “At that time, I’m going to drink till I drop!”
“Continue. How did you reply to that director?”
Sun Mo wanted to understand the situation more so when he needed to deal with the other party, he could do so with greater assurance.
“I rejected it!”
Emma sat on the floor and stretched her legs outward, placing her hands at her side to support her body. “I feel he is very talented, but his script is simply too much of a fantasy!”
“Very talented?” Sun Mo frowned. “It seems that you need to attend a few classes on guarding yourself against deceit!”
“Eh? You are saying that he’s a swindler?”
Emma was shocked. She then thought back to that director’s appearance when she met him. “That shouldn’t be the case. Although his dressing style was a little sloven, his speech and actions showed that he had evidently received high-tier education before.”
“All swindlers will disguise themselves!”
Sun Mo was speechless.
What were movies?
They were entertainment!
Naturally, there were also people who shot education films as movies. In any case, it was something for people to pass time.
For the top-class and middle-class people, after they filled their bellies, they had all the time in the world to watch movies. But for people living in the lowest level, from the time they opened their eyes till they closed them, they were contemplating on how they should earn money so they need not suffer hunger.
The vast majority of people had no money, and they also had no time to watch a movie.
But even so, movie theaters still existed underground. It was just that they were only playing low-budget and low-quality B-grade films. They depended on blood, violence, and women to get cheap entertainment.
Shooting a high-end cultural film?
Sorry, the education level of the people in the subterranean world wasn’t high, and their level of culture was too low. They wouldn’t be able to admire it.
“So, no matter what that director tells you, he only wants to hire you for your face and wants to swindle you to act in a low-budget B-grade film.”
Sun Mo persuaded.
This was still fine. At the very least, that person was a director and not a swindler.
“Ah? Is society so terrifying?”
Emma was afraid now.
“That’s right. If he continues to pester you, just placate him for now and wait for me to arrive!”
In this subterranean world where there were no laws, Sun Mo preferred using violence to solve his problems.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of a door being slammed rang out in the corridor. After that, scoldings and shoutings could be heard.
Sun Mo calmly drank his wine.
Such things were very common when living in a cheap rental house like this. But today, there were also sounds of children crying.
“It seems to be from next door?”
Emma pricked her ears before staring pleadingly at Sun Mo.
“I’ll go take a look.”
Sun Mo rose from his seat.
After opening the door, he saw a drunken man currently arguing with that elder sister that lived next door. The man was even hitting the woman.
That pair of siblings were currently staring at the drunken man with a wooden stool and a rusty iron rod in their hands.
“Are you guys okay?”
Emma hid behind Sun Mo and poked her head out.
“You’ve disturbed my rest!”
Sun Mo coldly spoke.
“Do you believe that this daddy will cripple you?” The drunken man cursed, “Scram and return to your sleep!”
Sun Mo’s lips curled as he walked over.
“Why? You want to fig.h..wuwuwu!”
Before the drunken man could say the word ‘fight’, Sun Mo already grabbed his head and smashed it into a wall.
Bang!
“Have you awakened from your stupor?”
Sun Mo asked.
“Sun Mo, don’t injure him!”
The elder sister next-door begged.
“Don’t let me see you again or I’ll break your limbs!”
Sun Mo tossed the drunken guy out. “Scram!”
“Fei Suzhen, I won’t give up!”
The drunken man placed one of his hands on his forehead to stop the bleeding before he staggered away.
“Sister, what’s going on?”
Emma was worried.
Fei Suzhen shook her head.
“Elder brother, you are so impressive!”
The pair of siblings stared at Sun Mo with stars in their eyes, as though they had seen a superhero.
“See you guys tomorrow!”
Sun Mo pulled Emma into the room. “Didn’t you see that she is not keen on discussing that guy?”
“That pair of siblings are very adorable. I wonder what sort of character their father is. Why wouldn’t he want such obedient children?”
Emma was very angry.
(Indeed, all men are scums!)
Every day in the subterranean world was a busy and ordinary day. If the boys wanted to save the world, they first had to fill their stomachs.
That director kept trying to persuade Emma, but she rejected all his attempts. He could only settle the second-best and try to shoot some of Emma’s ordinary life without disturbing her.
“Isn’t this voyeurism?”
Emma warily stared at this uncle with a stubby beard as she solemnly warned him, “That’s illegal!”
“So, this is why I’m telling you about this!”
The uncle carried a bag, and there was a small-size video camera hanging around his neck. “Naturally, because I have trouble living my life, I don’t have money to pay you for this. But I can promise you that after this movie is screened, you will be able to enjoy a share of the profits!”
“Emma, do you need my help?”
The chef uncle walked over with a vegetable knife.
“I don’t lack money!”
Emma stared at the camera of the slovenly-dressed uncle as her lips twitched.
In university, she had attended performing classes and toured the shooting scenes of movies before. The investment in those movies all exceeded tens of millions, and they were shot using expensive equipment. But in the end, such movies would also have a chance to fail. If a movie was shot by your lousy camera, wouldn’t it simply be like an ordinary video shot by a family?
Screening it?
How many drinks did he have last night to make him so drunk?
“I’m talented!” The uncle laughed arrogantly. “And that’s enough!”
“Can talent block a bullet?”
A voice suddenly drifted over. The uncle turned his head and saw a young man clad in a black suit standing beside him.
“Wow, perfect!”
The uncle exclaimed and immediately stretched out his hand to touch Sun Mo.
Pak!
Sun Mo stretched out his hand with lightning speed and grabbed hold of the uncle’s index finger before he forcefully wrung it.
“Pain, pain, pain!”
The uncle shouted in pain, but his eyes never left Sun Mo. He kept continuously surveying him and the amount of admiration in his eyes grew. Hence, he decided to try and persuade Sun Mo too.
“Your body figure and demeanor will be a waste if you don’t act in movies. So, come and participate in the movie I’m shooting, alright?”
The eyes of the uncle glowed with a fanatic light. “I’ll definitely make you a movie superstar!”
“Why do I feel that these words are so familiar?”
Emma recalled that this man said the same thing to her half a month ago.
“I’m an android!”
Sun Mo’s tone was like the coldness of winter snow.
“No problem. It’s just such a coincidence that I need an android male lead. Oh right, you guys are a couple, right? That’s simply too perfect. You all can partner up in my movie!”
The uncle did his best to persuade them.
“Eh? Can it work?”
Emma began to feel some interest. Being able to have a share of the profits or not wasn’t important. The main thing was that she could shoot a movie together with Sun Mo and enjoy time together.
“I’m not interested!”
Sun Mo gestured for Emma to leave. He was here to fetch her from work.
“Wait, please halt!”
The uncle chased after them and stuffed a notebook to Emma. “This is the script, please just take a look at it!”
During the night, Emma flipped through the script and actually cried.
“What’s wrong?”
Sun Mo was curious.
“It’s very touching!”
Emma evaluated.
“Let me take a look!”
Sun Mo could be considered skilled in literature and arts. After he flipped through the script, he admitted that this uncle indeed had some literature foundation. Also, from the looks of things, his directing ability wasn’t too bad either.
Because this script consisted of over ten pages and there were even images in panels alongside, Sun Mo’s mind was filled with many scenes and he felt that the concept of the story was excellent.
“Why don’t we go and act based on the script?”
Emma stared fixedly at Sun Mo.
“Do you want to die?”
Sun Mo rolled the script up and rapped Emma’s head with it. “A poignant love story between an android and a human? He really dares to write it. However, no actors would be willing to act in this!”
“Why?”
Emma didn’t understand.
“Think of your past attitude toward androids!”
Sun Mo was speechless.
It was like in a country of his past world where black people were exploited as slaves, a director wanted to make a movie about a black person and white person falling in love to break the invincible shackles society had placed on them.
Leaving aside whether androids could accept it or not, humans would surely feel offended. It would be strange if this movie could even be screened.
And upon encountering extremists from both races, it might even be possible for the actors to be assassinated.
“Ah?”
Emma felt somewhat embarrassed and clutched her hair.
“It’s best for us not to touch this type of thing!”
Sun Mo warned repeatedly.
If she shot this movie, not only would there be trouble for Emma, but it would also bring trouble for her family. After all, her father was the mayor of a city.
“Mn!”
Emma decided to give up.
On the second morning, Emma went to work. She saw a package at the shop’s entrance and decided to bring it in so she could hand it to the boss when he arrived.
“Boss, who sent this?”
Emma was very curious.
Because the package didn’t have the sender’s name and address.
At the start, she thought it might be a prank, or this might be a vile competition method used by a business rival. Maybe the package would contain the corpses of small animals. But after the boss saw the package, he actually smiled very warmly.
“My kids!”
After the boss spoke, he brought the gift back to his bedroom.
“Does the boss have kids?”
Emma asked the chef.
“The boss isn’t married but has plenty of kids!”
The chef was also a single guy that was taken in by the boss over ten years ago. Hence, he knew quite a lot.
“Illegitimate children?”
Emma was musing maybe that was the reason why the boss was so poor. All the money he earned must have gone to child support payments, right?
“Stop asking!”
The chef refused to answer.
At night, Emma returned to their rented room. When she saw the pair of siblings sitting at the stairway entrance, she smiled and passed some sweets over.
“Has your mom returned yet?”
Emma shook the plastic bag in her hand. “Why don’t you two come and sit in my house? I bought beef today!”
Gurgle.
The younger brother gulped down a mouthful of saliva. Let alone beef, they couldn’t even afford to eat the lower-priced pork meat.
“Thank you sister, my mom has returned. We will be able to have a meal just a while later!”
The elder sister rejected. After all, their mother had said before that the couple staying next door wasn’t rich as well. It was best not to make trouble for them.
They already felt very embarrassed after eating Emma’s sweets.
“She has returned?” Emma was puzzled. “Why doesn’t she go home then?”
“Mom is still working!”
The young brother explained.
“Oh!”
Emma continued to head up. When she arrived on the third floor and glanced at her neighbor’s door, she instantly blushed because there were sounds of people having s*x from within.
After that, her expression turned unsightly.
Could Fei Suzhen’s job be a prostitute?
“Let’s enter our house and not stay here!”
Sun Mo urged. He didn’t feel bewildered.
After washing up, Sun Mo was cooking dinner. Emma sat beside the table and had a heavy expression.
“That elder sister is working in those jobs!”
Emma suddenly spoke.
“I think only part-time? After all, the economy isn’t too good nowadays and she has two kids she needs to raise!”
Sun Mo sighed.
Recently, the unemployment rate in the subterranean world had surged. More and more jobless people chose to join gangs.
“…”
Emma fell silent.
“Just eat!” Sun Mo smiled. “I managed to get a gaming console today!”
After eating, the two of them sat closer to the television and were preparing to play some games, but they suddenly heard sounds of quarreling outside.
Sun Mo opened the door.
Fei Suzhen covered her head and cowered back, leaning against the wall. A middle-aged man with a huge stomach was currently hitting her.
“F***, an android like you also dares to go to the streets to sell herself? Are you treating me as someone easy to hoodwink?”
The middle-aged man was very angry.
“If it wasn’t for this daddy being perceptive, I would have been swindled by you!”
In the corridor, many doors opened as everyone poked their heads out for a look.
“I...I’ll only charge you one-third of the normal price!”
Fei Suzhen, who was only wearing undergarments, was so embarrassed that she turned red. She wanted to crawl back into her house, but she was dragged out by the middle-aged man pulling her hair.
“F*** you. Androids like you are not worth a single cent. Pui, how f***ing unlucky!”
The middle-aged man cursed venomously and spat a mouthful of phlegm on Fei Suzhen’s hair.
There was something wrong with his words.
Sun Mo understood that this era had very mature android-manufacturing technology. One could manufacture any type of androids they wanted to.
Even for the rich, they would also custom-order extremely luxurious androids and use them to satisfy their biological needs. In fact, the feeling was even better compared to real humans.
Fei Suzhen belonged to the best class of serving-type androids. Usually, androids like her would be working as housekeepers in rich families. They naturally would have this function.
This middle-aged man was looking for trouble simply because he didn’t want to pay. At the same time, he wanted to vent the sullenness and vexation that had accumulated in his heart due to his work.
“I...I’ll return your money.”
Emma pleaded.
“F*** you. Do you think that this daddy is someone who can’t afford to pay? It’s just that this daddy hates androids!”
The middle-aged man roared. He wore his leather shoes and kept kicking and trampling on Fei Suzen’s body.
“Don’t hit my mother!”
The pair of siblings ran up the stairs. They immediately rushed over when they saw this scene.
“B*stards!”
The middle-aged man lifted his leg and kicked out.
“Nooo!”
Fei Suzhen lunged over and hugged the middle-aged man’s thigh.
“Scram!”
The middle-aged man raged, but at the next instant, his head was grabbed by Sun Mo and smashed against the wall like how one would crack walnuts.
Bang!
The middle-aged man felt dizzy. Blood flowed from his forehead, causing his vision to blur.
“B*stard, wanting to leave without paying? How shameless!”
After Sun Mo finished speaking, he smashed the head into the wall again.
“Who the f*** are you?” The middle-aged man raged. “Do you know who this daddy is?”
Sun Mo’s answer was simple. He grabbed the middle-aged man by his hair and kept slamming his head on the wall.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Sun...Sun Mo, don’t hit him anymore!”
Fei Suzhen pleaded. If this matter got blown up, this man would surely take revenge on her.
“Don’t worry, he has no ‘next time’!”
Sun Mo smiled and consoled Fei Suzhen.
After hearing this, the middle-aged man grew terrified. “Big brother, please spare my dog life.?I won’t dare to do this again in the future!”
“Pay up!” Sun Mo requested.
“Ah?”
The middle-aged man was stunned. This android had no owner. It wasn’t illegal even if he killed her. (Why should I pay then?)
“Seems like your punishment isn’t enough!”
Sun Mo cast a glance at those people in the corridor as he dragged the middle-aged man while he walked away.
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