Going back to 18, demanding 30,000 yuan in compensation from the school beauty.

"Teacher Lin, you need to portray that sense of helplessness that comes with middle age. Only then can the transition to the scene where the protagonist returns to his eighteen-year-old self show the excitement and fervor of regaining his youth..."

On a film set in 2026.

After a scene was reshot more than a dozen times, the director pulled Lin Zhao, one of the main actors, aside to explain the scene, his tone already very impatient.

This is a remake of a movie called "Back to 18", which tells the story of a down-on-his-luck man who is unexpectedly reborn at the age of eighteen and rediscovers his youthful passion.

Lin Zhao plays the second male lead in this drama, portraying a middle-aged version of the male lead.

My participation in this film was not voluntary.

He has worked in the entertainment industry for more than ten years and played many roles, but he has never made a splash.

I was originally planning to change careers and leave the entertainment industry.

Who would have thought that two years ago, he accidentally starred in a short drama, which became an instant hit across the internet after it aired. He seized the opportunity to switch to a new track and is now one of the top male celebrities in the short drama industry.

His return to the big screen this time is not because he wants to come back to prove himself.

Rather, the production company was drawn to his popularity in the vertical screen genre, and the fact that he resembled the top male lead of the show led to their offer.

Lin Zhao herself has the personality of preferring to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond.

He now has resources and popularity, and his career is booming. Apart from having to choke actresses more than 200 times a month, which is a bit tiring for his hands, he is very satisfied with his current career development and has no desire to go back to the screen to suffer.

But the company wanted to repay a favor, so I reluctantly accepted the role.

He accepted the role, but couldn't bring himself to perform it.

He is now enjoying immense success and has no idea how he feels about the character who is down on his luck, so he is unable to get into character for a long time.

The director had no way to deal with him.

Inviting a god is easy, but sending him away is difficult; we had no choice but to grit our teeth and continue filming.

One scene took more than three hours to film, and we barely made it through.

Finished work and went home.

In the car, Lin Zhao closed her eyes and took a nap.

As the car passed through the tunnel, the cold white lights crisscrossed, leaving flickering marks on my eyelids.

Vague childhood memories suddenly flashed back.

Small county town, old buildings, big banyan tree...

A sweltering afternoon, a summer filled with the chirping of cicadas...

A loving young couple, and a toddler taking his first steps...

He slowly drifted off to sleep...

……

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

2010 years.

People's Hospital, Hoai An County, Gangwon Province.

The wooden door was charred and splintered, the interior walls were white on top and blue on the bottom, and there were winding cracks on the ceiling.

In the ward, the heart rate monitor emitted a regular beeping sound.

The sleeping boy's finger suddenly twitched.

Lin Zhao suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the mold spots in the corner of the wall, and he breathed heavily.

The noise caught the attention of the nurses on rounds.

"You're awake? How are you feeling? Is anything bothering you...?"

The gentle inquiry carried the social warmth unique to a decade or so ago.

Lin Zhao looked at her, her eyes blank.

"I was just heading home from the film set, what am I doing here... Ah, a car accident!"

Fragments of memories surfaced in my mind.

But they soon realized something was wrong.

The scene of this car accident looks a bit unfamiliar!

Even though it was already evening when I finished filming, the nanny van was driving through the cross-sea tunnel.

But the car accident happened on a chaotic downtown street, under the scorching midday sun.

"hiss……"

Headache!

In my mind, fragments of memory are automatically reassembling, like building a jigsaw puzzle.

This process caused severe headaches.

The nurse panicked and called the doctor, and then there was a flurry of activity with various tests.

After the examination was over, Lin Zhao had calmed down, but she was completely numb.

—I've been reborn!

Oh, no, I should say I traveled through time.

She transmigrated to a parallel world in 2010, into the body of another 18-year-old version of herself.

The reason it is considered a parallel world is because most of the memories of this body are completely different from my own.

The only time their paths overlapped was before they were six years old.

That year, my mother, Liu Meili, had an affair with a nouveau riche. After being discovered, she quickly divorced him and got a trendy perm to go to Shanghai to become a wealthy housewife.

Before leaving, let Lin Zhao choose between her parents.

He chose the wool roll and went to Shanghai.

This body, however, made the opposite choice, staying in this underdeveloped southern county with its father, a high school teacher.

The same choice, different options, split into two parallel worlds that go in completely opposite directions.

"All indicators are normal. The headache is likely caused by a concussion. Rest and observe for a while longer..."

The middle-aged doctor, with a full head of hair, gave the diagnosis, then smiled and remarked, "To be saved from such severe injuries, only being unconscious for a few days, and waking up as a perfectly healthy person... it's good to be young!"

They didn't even praise their own medical skills.

Out of habit, Lin Zhao tried to raise her neck to express her gratitude, but the smiling doctor pressed her back down onto the hospital bed.

Suddenly, there was a noise at the door.

"Linzi, you're awake!!"

A lean young man suddenly appeared, almost leaping to the bedside. "You're finally awake! You scared the hell out of me! Do you know you almost died...?"

Lin Zhao stared at that face.

Based on the memories left by this body, they quickly identified "their" deskmate, Sun Jiajun.

Sun Jiajun was almost moved to tears.

Such direct and pure emotions left Lin Zhao, who was used to playing domineering CEOs, at a loss, and she could only use the weakness of waking up from a serious illness to cover it up.

Sun Jiajun was completely unaware of this, and stood there pounding his chest like a gorilla.

Several teenagers followed behind him, most of them relaxed, except for one girl with bangs whose eyes looked pitiful, with a hint of timidity and unease.

——Anmeng!

The undisputed class beauty of Class 7, Grade 12!

In her first year of high school, she danced to "Zhaojun's Departure from the Frontier" at the school's New Year's Eve party, causing a sensation throughout the school and securing her position as the school's most beautiful girl for three years.

Lin Zhao, an honest man, never participated in the debate about who was the class beauty or the school beauty.

Feelings of attraction?

No, it's just a female creature.

Unrequited love?

Stop messing around, I want to go to university!

Lin Zhao had no feelings for An Meng other than those of classmates.

But despite being called the class beauty or school beauty, the girls seem to have a strange illusion that all the boys in the class or even the whole school are their private property.

"I can't be your girlfriend, but you can't not like me!"

An Meng harbored this idea, but she couldn't ask all the male students in the school to check one by one.

As a result, the boys sitting around her suffered greatly.

Lin Zhao, in particular, is academically excellent, honest, and handsome without realizing it, making her the perfect target for the school beauty to carry out "charm bullying".

She sat right in front of Lin Zhao, often turning around to ask him math questions, and frequently praising him with phrases like "Lin Zhao, you're so amazing!" She wouldn't stop until she had him blushing.

The original owner was extremely annoyed by this.

Unfortunately, having had very little contact with the opposite sex since childhood, and being gentle, honest, and kind-hearted, he was powerless to resist and could only deal with it reluctantly.

a few days ago.

After the college entrance exam scores were released and college applications were submitted, everything was settled, and the whole class discussed having a get-together.

As soon as the class group chat was set up, An Meng privately sent a QQ message to Lin Zhao, begging him to bring her a cup of milk tea.

Lin Zhao didn't want to bring them along because it wasn't on the way.

But he couldn't resist the school beauty's expert use of coquetry and cuteness, so he had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

Then, on the way to buy milk tea, an accident happened...

Combine the information in your mind.

Lin Zhao saw through the green tea's clumsy tricks at a glance. It was nothing more than vanity that led her to treat Lin Zhao as an NPC to be seduced.

If the accident does not occur.

Lin Zhao arrived at the party with milk tea. When his classmates saw him, they would immediately assume that he was pursuing An Meng and would urge him to confess his feelings.

This is the effect Anmeng wanted.

"How clumsy..."

Lin Zhao almost burst out laughing.

at the moment.

An Meng, wearing a white dress, her eyes slightly red, moved to the edge of the bed, her tone carrying just the right amount of worry: "Lin Zhao, I'm sorry... It's all my fault. If you hadn't been trying to buy me milk tea, you wouldn't have gotten into this accident..."

As she spoke, her eyes reddened further, and she looked like she was about to cry.

A classic victim stance is most likely to trigger a man's protective instincts.

If it were the original Lin Zhao, seeing the school beauty's attitude, she would probably have already waved her hand in forgiveness and said it was just an accident.

I'm sorry.

The person lying in the hospital bed now is no longer the original honest high school student, but the richest man in China who is a professional short-term domineering CEO, allergic to women, and a cold and ruthless prince of the capital who never smiles!

Lin Zhao has acted in the hospital scene at least 80 or 100 times. When the plot progresses to this point, the truth is usually revealed, the misunderstanding is cleared up, and the villains are immediately punished.

Lin Zhao: Isn't this outside my comfort zone?!

He looked at An Meng quietly, his eyes calm and unwavering, without any pity or anger, only an almost indifferent scrutiny.

The powerful aura instantly startled An Meng, causing her eyes to glaze over and her breathing to become inexplicably rapid.

"If apologies were enough, what would we need the police for?"

Lin Zhao spoke coldly, his tone calm yet domineering, "Talking nonsense is useless! You pay me 30,000 yuan, and we'll call it even."

The entire ward fell silent instantly.