Starting life as an actor — from zero.
At 0 years old, you are born.
Your parents are both "Hengdian drifters," working as background actors at the largest film and television base in China. Unfortunately, the biggest roles they've ever landed only had a few lines. So they place all their hopes on you.
Luckily, you have a system. As long as you put in effort, you can see tangible results.
You practice rolling over.
+1 Physical Experience
You learn to fake-cry.
+1 Acting Experience
You babble loudly.
+1 Line Delivery Experience
…
At 1 year old, you land your first role — playing a newborn princess. The only requirement: don't cry while being held.
You perform perfectly and receive an S-grade evaluation.
+500 Acting Experience
+1 Industry Reputation
Earned 100 yuan in pay
Your mother uses the money to buy you a piggy bank.
At 2 years old, you appear in a commercial, crawling around the floor in children's clothes.
+1 Fame
…
By the time she graduates from university, Zhao Jun has already accumulated 22 years of work experience as a "fresh graduate," crushing all competition and reaching the peak of her life.
Tags: Entertainment Industry · Strong Female Lead · System · Power Fantasy · Leveling · Growth
Protagonist: Zhao Jun
Male Lead: Liu Mingcheng
Supporting Character: Zhao Shumin
One-sentence summary: The growth journey of a child actor.
Theme: You reap what you sow.
Chapter 1
Age 0 — You are born. Every day is practice…
Liu Mingcheng opened the taxi door and first took the stroller out of the trunk. He carefully lifted his three-month-old daughter from his wife Zhao Shumin's arms and settled the baby inside, then helped his wife out of the car.
Next came the mountain of luggage.
Their relatives back in their rural hometown were warm and generous. Every time they returned, they brought back bags filled with things — free-range eggs laid by home-raised chickens, homemade pickled cabbage grown in backyard gardens.
This trip was no exception.
Since Zhao Shumin had just given birth, there were especially many eggs this time — two entire boxes stuffed full of native chicken eggs.
After another exhausting trip up the stairs, Liu Mingcheng finally moved his wife, daughter, and luggage into their rented apartment on the third floor.
Both Liu Mingcheng and Zhao Shumin were actors. They had been university classmates and were both from Sichuan–Chongqing. One had studied broadcasting, the other arts management. Neither was formally trained in acting, but compared to complete beginners working as extras in Hengdian, they had a slight advantage.
After graduating, they began struggling in Hengdian — starting as background actors and eventually becoming special contract performers. Five years later, they had finally saved a modest amount of money, married last year, and recently welcomed their daughter, Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun slept soundly in her stroller, completely undisturbed by the bumpy ride.
Zhao Shumin arranged two cushions on the sofa, building a little nest. She placed a small mat and blanket in the middle and gently laid her daughter there.
"Honey, should I stew the chicken with red dates or ginseng?" Liu Mingcheng asked, pulling a foam cooler from the luggage. Inside was a freshly slaughtered native chicken from their hometown.
Sealed in the cooler overnight on the train, it was still fresh. The two bottles of frozen water used as ice packs hadn't melted in the cold March air.
"With ginseng. More nutritious," Zhao Shumin replied without turning around. "There's some in the kitchen cabinet."
Liu Mingcheng chopped the chicken, added a few thin strips of ginseng, and set it to simmer on low heat. Then he began unpacking.
Their rental wasn't large — two bedrooms and a living room in a six-story walk-up building. They lived on the third floor.
It was close to the Actors' Service Center. Most of the neighbors were actors too; very few were locals.
This was Hengdian, the largest historical film and television base in China, located in Zhejiang Province. Winters were cold and snowy. Though it was already March, spring hadn't quite arrived.
Zhao Shumin turned on the air conditioner and adjusted it to a comfortable temperature just as Liu Mingcheng approached with a milk bottle.
He pressed it gently against the back of her hand. "Is this temperature okay?"
"Perfect," she said with a smile. "I'll wake Junjun up for milk."
Zhao Jun felt a pair of hands support the back of her neck and lift her up. She had intended to keep sleeping, but was lightly patted awake.
So she opened her mouth and began to wail:
"Waaah—"
Her crying had a steady rhythm. If Zhao Shumin listened closely, she might have recognized it as the same grating tempo as the neighbor's grandson practicing violin downstairs back home.
[Practicing fake crying. +1 Acting Experience]
[Practicing singing. +1 Vocal Experience]
Zhao Shumin quickly rocked her daughter and hummed softly. After only a few seconds, Zhao Jun calmed down and latched onto the bottle, drinking steadily.
[Consumed 100ml formula. +1 Constitution]
Ignoring the system notifications, she drained the bland milk without complaint. If not for the daily nutrition cap and the experience limit for repeating the same skill, she could have fake-cried while drinking milk all day long.
Watching their daughter smack her lips adorably, Zhao Shumin and Liu Mingcheng exchanged a tender smile — completely unaware that Zhao Jun was deep in thought.
How could she unlock another way to train her skills?
She didn't know whether she had transmigrated or been reborn. All she knew was that this was not her first life — yet she remembered nothing of her previous one.
Given a second chance, she had become a newborn baby, equipped with an "Actor Life" system that came with no instructions and required her to figure everything out on her own.
The system provided data references. So far, Zhao Jun had unlocked attributes including:
Constitution
Acting
Charm
Temperament
Intelligence
Vocal
All were activated during her first month of life through accumulated experience.
There were no categories — just a simple list arranged in the order of activation. Zhao Jun had reorganized them by total experience points.
Currently, Constitution and Acting were her highest, both exceeding 300 points and reaching Level 2.
The leveling system was straightforward and brutal:
100 XP → Level 1
+200 XP → Level 2
+300 XP → Level 3
…and so on. Each level required 100 more XP than the last.
Aside from the Attributes page, there were two other tabs: Tasks and Shop, both plain and utilitarian — like Excel spreadsheets.
Tasks were divided into daily missions and achievement missions.
Daily tasks included practicing fake crying and other exercises for small amounts of XP, with a daily cap.
Achievement missions included things like:
"Win Best Actress at XX Film Festival"
"Star in a film that grosses over 10 billion yuan"
"Reach 1 billion fans"
These were far beyond her reach. Out of sight, out of mind — she sorted the list in reverse order, putting the simplest tasks at the top.
Now she saw:
"Act in a TV drama"
"Act in a film"
"Play a role with at least one line"
"Appear on screen for ten seconds"
Regardless of difficulty, every task rewarded points and items. Points could be exchanged in the Shop.
The Shop contained items like:
Energy Recovery Potions
Dream Role Experience Cards
Rapid Injury Recovery Potions
The entire system existed solely to serve Zhao Jun's acting career. It seemed to limit her future path — but she didn't resent it.
Perhaps this had been her unfinished dream in her previous life.
Fully awake now, Zhao Jun refused to sleep. She babbled enthusiastically, practicing baby talk while waving her arms and kicking her legs — completing her daily training quota.
When her father finished cooking, he brought the dishes to the table and wheeled Zhao Jun's stroller beside it before sitting down.
"I've put tonight's rice in the cooker," Liu Mingcheng reminded his wife. "Just press the button in the evening. I made two extra dishes — heat them in the microwave. The chicken soup needs a few more hours. Perfect for after your nap."
"I'm not disabled," Zhao Shumin teased, though warmth filled her heart. "You're not coming back tonight? Pulling an all-nighter already? Can you handle it?"
Liu Mingcheng sighed. "No choice. I haven't worked in a while. During the New Year shortage, others were taking roles. Now if there's a good part, they'll prioritize them."
Zhao Shumin placed some food in his bowl. "I should start looking at auditions again these next few days."
She had stopped working during pregnancy. Early on, her symptoms weren't severe, and she continued acting. But as she gained weight, it became difficult to land roles. Since there was no work, she returned home to rest.
Beyond basic background roles anyone could take, featured extras and contract actors had appearance requirements. Cameras added visual weight — healthy and well-proportioned actors could already portray "slightly chubby" characters. Heavier roles were reserved for specialty actors, making competition fiercer.
As for playing pregnant women — no production would hire a real pregnant woman. A fake belly was far cheaper and far less risky.
Pregnancy and childbirth dealt a heavy blow to women's careers — even in acting, where gender already restricted roles.
Liu Mingcheng frowned. "You don't need to rush back to work. We still have savings. I can earn. I'll take foreground roles if I have to. Didn't we agree? My mom retires at the end of the year. Once she finishes the handover, she'll come help take care of Junjun. Then you can resume."
Zhao Shumin gave a bitter smile. "We wish. I checked the special-contract groups yesterday — way more people than before New Year. Roles get snatched instantly. Now they set hard requirements — specific height, under thirty… If you don't qualify, you don't even get an audition. I'm almost thirty. I only have one or two good years left to save more money."