A Chance Encounter: The Beginning of Fate

Late June 1998, around 6 p.m. in Kyoto's HD district.

While eating his fried rice, Zhou Yan pondered his next steps; he didn't want to remain an extra here forever.

Just then, a commotion caught his attention.

"I'm talking this loudly, what the hell are you going to do about it?" a bald man shouted.

"Brothers, I just asked you to keep your voices down. You're making too much noise and disturbing us," a voice with a clear Cantonese accent said.

"Why waste words with them? Just beat them up and they'll behave," Scarface, the bald man's friend, suddenly got excited, whether from drinking too much or from hearing that the other person had a foreign accent.

"I'm telling you, don't do anything reckless. I'm a leader at CCTV, and I know people at the police station," a man hurriedly stood up, trying to intimidate the group.

Zhou Yan heard the arguing and looked over. The table on the left was full of men, all of them fat and strong, with broad backs and thick waists, and they looked very fierce. There were six of them in total. The table on the right had both men and women, but only five people, and they were clearly less imposing.

"Huh?" Zhou Yan looked at the woman at the table to his right and suddenly realized, "Isn't that Yang Jie, the director of 'Journey to the West'?"

"That's Cao Rong. No wonder she looks so familiar," Zhou Yan recognized two of them instantly, while the remaining three were completely unfamiliar to him.

"Who the hell are you trying to scare? Do you think I'm easily frightened?"

"Fuck them, beat them to death!"

The bald man and his group had all drunk quite a bit, and since they outnumbered each other, they attacked without saying a word.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't do it."

"what……"

Chaos erupted instantly. The group at the right table was no match for them. Apart from Cao Rong, the other four people were pushed to the ground, and some even got kicked.

"Holy crap, they've started fighting!" Zhou Yan reacted quickly, forgetting about his meal, and rushed over to help.

Director Yang Jie and his team are clearly no match for them.

Although Cao Rong had practiced martial arts, her actual combat ability was not strong.

He can win one-on-one, can barely handle one-on-two, and struggles against three.

Moreover, these burly men were strong and fierce, causing Cao Rong to retreat in defeat.

Cao Rong received several punches to the face, and her left eye was bruised and she could barely open it.

With a "thud," the hook-nosed man picked up a chair from the ground and slammed it hard onto Cao Rong.

Cao Rong felt a sharp pain in her back and then fell to the ground.

These people didn't stop; they continued to punch and kick, taking turns to attack him.

"So you know people at the police station, huh?" Scarface stepped forward, grabbed the other man's hair, raised his fist, and punched him in the head.

On the other side, the bald man picked up the wine bottle from the ground and headed towards Director Yang Jie.

Director Yang Jie's eyes were filled with panic and fear.

Zhou Yan was incredibly fast. He rushed forward and delivered a powerful flying kick to the scarred man.

This flying kick was incredibly powerful.

Caught off guard, Scarface was instantly kicked away by Zhou Yan, rolling two meters away like a gourd, and fell to the ground screaming in agony.

Without thinking twice, Zhou Yan rushed toward the bald man.

"You even have backup?" The bald man saw Zhou Yan and approached him with a beer bottle in hand.

Zhou Yan's face was serious, but he remained fearless in the face of danger. The fact that he dared to take action proved that he was not afraid.

The bald man grabbed a beer bottle and slammed it down on Zhou Yan.

"Watch out!" Director Yang Jie shouted.

Zhou Yan reacted extremely quickly, his hands meeting the challenge head-on with speed and precision. He grabbed the bald man's wrist, turned around, and pinned him against the man's chest, delivering an over-the-shoulder throw.

"Thump," a dull sound rang out as the bald man landed heavily on the ground.

Like an earthquake, the earth trembled slightly.

"Ah..." The bald man loosened his grip on the bottle, feeling as if his whole body was falling apart, and groaned in pain.

Everything happened so fast that before anyone could react, Zhou Yan had already dealt with his opponent.

"Damn it!" The three men who were beating Cao Rong lost their composure and rushed over together.

"Be careful," the man behind Zhou Yan hurriedly reminded him, afraid that Zhou Yan would be taken advantage of.

Zhou Yan stared at the three people rushing up, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the bench next to him.

He grabbed it and slammed it hard at the person in front.

"Bang!" The bench struck the other person's head and shattered.

The bench was of very poor quality; it shattered into pieces when it hit someone's head.

Blood continued to flow from the man's head. He fell to the ground, clutching his head and screaming in agony.

Seeing Zhou Yan's ruthlessness, the remaining two stood there dumbfounded, instantly sobering up considerably.

Going forward is not an option either.

Running away isn't an option either.

"Get lost," Zhou Yan said, despite his young age, he was extremely ruthless.

The remaining two had no intention of fighting back; they were truly terrified of Zhou Yan.

Upon hearing Zhou Yan's words, the two hurriedly stepped forward, helped the three people who had fallen to the ground up, and quickly left.

"Are you alright?" Zhou Yan hurriedly stepped forward and helped Cao Rong up from the ground.

"I... hiss... I'm fine..." Cao Rong grimaced in pain as she spoke.

Zhou Yan looked at Cao Rong's appearance: her left eye was bruised, her left cheek was swollen and red, her mouth was bloody, and her clothes were covered with footprints. She looked very pitiful.

Zhou Yan wanted to laugh, but he couldn't.

"Xiao Cao, are you alright?" Yang Jie and the others stood up and came over, their faces full of concern.

"I'm fine," Cao Rong tried to deny it, but waves of pain shot through his body and face, making him grimace. "I'll be fine after a while of rest."

Seeing this, Yang Jie and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as nothing serious happens, it's fine.

Then, Yang Jie looked at Zhou Yan.

"Thank you, young man," Yang Jie said gratefully.

If it weren't for Zhou Yan, their group would have been in grave danger.

If the filming of "Journey to the West Sequel" is delayed because of them, then they are the sinners of the entire crew.

"You're too kind. I just happened to run into you," Zhou Yan said modestly, without a trace of arrogance.

"Young man, have you eaten?" Teacher Wang Chongqiu asked.

"I was eating across the street when I saw what happened here, so I ran over to help. I didn't even have time to eat," Zhou Yan said, forgetting about eating when faced with this situation.

"Perfect timing, we haven't eaten either, let's eat together," Wang Chongqiu and his group had come to eat and discuss business, but they didn't expect to encounter this situation, and instead of eating, they got beaten up.

"This...isn't that a bad idea?" Zhou Yan hesitated.

"What's wrong with that? You saved us, and we haven't even thanked you yet," Yang Jie and the others pulled Zhou Yan to another place. They didn't want to stay there anymore; they were traumatized by it.

On the way to the hotel, Zhou Yan also got to know the other three people: Wang Chongqiu, the cinematographer of "Journey to the West Sequel", Dai Yinglu, the screenwriter, and Hu En, the producer.

In particular, Mr. Hu En is not only the producer of "Journey to the West: The Sequel", but also the director of the National Television Drama Production Center. He is an absolutely big shot.

It's quite a coincidence that Director Yang Jie and his team just finished filming their scenes for "Buddha Subdues the Roc" today. Because they were heading to another filming location, they were packing up until 9 p.m.

It just so happened that Mr. Hu En was visiting the set, so he invited Director Yang Jie and others out for barbecue.

He even chose the place to eat.

Cao Rong wanted to show off in front of Teacher Hu En, but she didn't expect to run into a group of drunkards. Not only did she get a beating, but she also dragged everyone else into it, and Zhou Yan got the benefit for nothing.

……

The atmosphere at the veterans' restaurant in HD District is lively.

"Xiao Zhou, thank you for today. I'll toast you with tea instead of wine," Director Yang Jie said, looking at Zhou Yan with eyes full of affection.

This kind of affection is not romantic love, but rather the kind of affection elders have for younger generations.

"Director Yang, you're too kind," Zhou Yan hurriedly stood up. "You're my elder, how can I let you toast me? I'll toast you instead," Zhou Yan raised the wine glass in front of him.

Zhou Yan adopted a very humble attitude when facing Yang Jie and the others.

"Xiao Zhou, judging from your appearance, you shouldn't be very old," Hu En said, showing great interest in Zhou Yan. He kept chatting with him on the way and learned that Zhou Yan was from Jizhou in eastern Shandong.

"Teacher Hu, I'm seventeen years old this year," Zhou Yan said somewhat guiltily.

If we consider his age in years, he will officially turn seventeen this September.

"Seventeen years old?" Everyone was surprised. They guessed that Zhou Yan wouldn't be too old, but they didn't expect him to be underage.

Cao Rong lowered her head in embarrassment, not wanting to speak.

It's shameful that a martial arts instructor like myself is inferior to a seventeen-year-old.

"The school's out for break so early?" Wang Chongqiu asked, his face full of confusion.

His first thought was that the school was on summer vacation and the other party was visiting Kyoto.

"Teacher Wang, I have already graduated."

"Graduated?" Yang Jie and the others were even more curious. "You graduated so early?"

"After graduating from elementary school, my parents sent me to the Songjiang Martial Arts School in the next city to learn martial arts. I studied martial arts there for six years and just graduated recently," Zhou Yan explained.

"No wonder you're so skilled, you've trained before," Cao Rong felt much better.

It's not that I'm weak, but that Zhou Yan is capable.

"You even studied martial arts at Song Jiang Martial Arts School?" Teacher Hu En happened to know about this martial art.

"Yes, last year I represented our martial arts school in the National Games and won the men's all-around championship and the mixed team silver medal," Zhou Yan said calmly, recounting his achievements.

Cao Rong was even more surprised to hear this, "You also won the men's all-around championship and the mixed team silver medal?"

"It was also good luck," Zhou Yan said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"No wonder you looked familiar. I've seen your performance on TV; it was really good."

"If your teammates hadn't dragged you down, you would have had no problem winning the mixed team championship with your performance."

"It's truly remarkable that he has achieved such results at such a young age."

Everyone exclaimed in admiration, knowing that these were gold and silver medals from the National Games, extremely valuable.

"How many days are you planning to spend in Kyoto?" Dai Yinglu asked casually.

"Teacher Dai, I'm not here for sightseeing," Zhou Yan shook his head. "I've been working as an extra near the Beijing Film Studio for the past few days. Although I don't earn much, it's enough for me to live on."

Zhou Yan's expenses are very low. He eats meals provided by the film crew and takes transportation by running, which both exercises his body and saves money.

"Have you been working as an extra all this time?"

"Yes," Zhou Yan nodded.

"Director Yang, isn't the role of Prince Moang still vacant? I think we can let Xiao Zhou give it a try," Dai Yinglu said, turning to Director Yang Jie beside him.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan couldn't help but look at Director Yang, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Director Yang hesitated for a moment, "It's fine, but the age is a bit inappropriate. Xiao Zhou is too young."

"Age isn't a problem. After all, Prince Moang belongs to the dragon race, so being younger would be appropriate," Wang Chongqiu also spoke up for Zhou Yan. "Besides, young Zhou is handsome, which fits my image of a dragon prince perfectly."

Director Yang Jie nodded slightly. "In that case, let Xiao Zhou give it a try!"