Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Ren Pingsheng, wearing a black down jacket, walked slowly through the Shanghai Theatre Academy with his hands in his pockets.

After Lin Gengxin learned that he was in Shanghai, he called him and said that he wanted to invite him to dinner to talk about some things.

Ren Pingsheng was momentarily dazed as he looked at the groups of college students on the roadside, some carrying books and others with clear, innocent eyes.

If I hadn't been swindled out of my entire fortune by those so-called "artistic and literary young women" in my past life, perhaps I would have been just like them, full of hope for the future.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs".

Beneath his 23-year-old exterior lies a 40-year-old soul, battered and bruised by society.

Those unrealistic youthful dreams were strangled by his own hands on the very first day of his rebirth.

Walking towards the basketball court, I could hear a loud, arrogant Northeastern accent from afar.

"Pass it! Fu-zai, you damn well better pass the ball! I'm wide open, I could take eight steps and do a layup!"

Ren Pingsheng walked closer and saw that there were six people playing half-court.

Lin Gengxin, wearing a thin jersey, stood out in the crowd with his tall and slender figure, gesturing wildly as he called for the ball.

The interval between rounds.

"Lin Gou!" Ren Pingsheng shouted from the sidelines.

Lin Gengxin turned around, his eyes lit up, and he ran straight over.

"Brother Sheng, you're here!"

He turned and waved to the group of sweaty guys on the field, "Come on, let me introduce you, this is Director Ren I told you about!"

Several boys stopped and curiously looked at the young director, who was about their age but had a much more composed demeanor.

"Brother Sheng, this is Fu-zai, Jiang Jin-fu, a freshman," Lin Gengxin said, putting his arm around a muscular, sunny young man next to him.

Ren Pingsheng nodded. "With that physique, it would be a real waste if he didn't go into boxing."

His gaze swept over the other two.

One of them was quite handsome, and it seems he acted in some period drama in later years; his name was Wei Qianxiang.

And another...

Ren Pingsheng looked at the boy with a buzz cut, an innate air of bad luck between his brows, and wearing a cringeworthy yellow tracksuit, and his eye twitched involuntarily.

Golden Armor Warrior?

Zhang Dapao, the most daring man in Love Apartment?

"This is Li Jiahang, a junior in college. He just finished filming a tokusatsu drama and is worried about not getting any roles," Lin Gengxin introduced his brothers.

Li Jiahang smiled shyly, "Hello, Director Ren."

Before Ren Pingsheng could exchange a few pleasantries, Li Jiahang's phone rang.

He answered the phone, his face lighting up with delight. He covered the receiver and shouted to the others, "Guys, Director Wei Zheng is looking for me! You guys call him first!"

After saying that, he grabbed his coat and ran away.

"Hey, that son of a bitch, he runs really fast!" Lin Gengxin cursed, then turned to Ren Pingsheng, his eyes darting around. "Brother Sheng, want to make up the numbers?"

"Me?" Ren Pingsheng waved his hand. "I'm not wearing sneakers, and I haven't played in a long time."

"Come on, let me show you the skills of Rukawa Kaede from the Shanghai Theatre Academy!"

Without further ado, Lin Gengxin shoved the basketball into Ren Pingsheng's arms.

It's hard to refuse such hospitality, so I'll take this opportunity to stretch my muscles.

Ren Pingsheng took off his down jacket and walked onto the court.

Sweat and panting, the thud of basketballs hitting the plastic court, and the unrestrained shouts and curses of young people.

He didn't try as hard as Lin Gengxin to perform or dunk.

He hasn't played ball in a long time. In his previous life, his waist started to give out when he was in his thirties. Although he has the body of a twenty-three-year-old in this life, he hasn't touched a ball in so many years, and his awareness is completely out of sync.

He simply moved around the court quietly, passed the ball, and occasionally took an open mid-range shot.

Watching Lin Gengxin argue heatedly with Jiang Jinfu over a single goal, and seeing these boys who would later experience all sorts of drama and betrayal in the entertainment industry, laughing like fools over a basketball.

Ren Pingsheng's heart, which was usually shrouded in all sorts of calculations, skipped a beat for the first time, which was extremely rare.

This kind of purity, which doesn't require weighing pros and cons, is something I'll probably never experience again in this lifetime.

Near the end of the final quarter, Lin Gengxin suddenly stopped at the top of the arc, raised his hand to shoot, and while the ball was still in the air, he turned back to Ren Pingsheng smugly, "Coach Ren! Did you see that!"

With a loud thud, the ball hit the rim and went out.

A few people walked to the sidelines. Ren Pingsheng picked up a bottle of mineral water from the ground, unscrewed it, drank most of it, and then sat down after catching his breath.

Lin Gengxin gulped down half a bottle of water, and before he could even put the bottle down, his eyes were already darting around restlessly.

Several female students, all wearing the same long down-filled school uniforms but with either tight jeans or leggings and tall boots on their lower bodies, walked by from the sidelines, their youthful laughter echoing over.

"Tsk tsk tsk, that figure..." Lin Gengxin started rambling on and on, "Brother Sheng, being a director must be great, right? The crew must be full of beauties like this all the time. Tell me honestly, how many have you slept with?"

"No," Ren Pingsheng said calmly, twisting the bottle cap.

"What a load of bull!" Lin Gengxin rolled his eyes. "Who would believe that? You're a director! You hold the power of life and death in your hands. Wouldn't all those young girls be swooning over you? You can fool people outside the industry, but don't try to fool us with this."

Seeing that Ren Pingsheng remained silent, he seemed to realize something and leaned closer, "You have a sister-in-law?"

"No, not at all."

"I just want to say, you're a famous and well-connected director, and you don't even have someone to warm your feet. Don't you think that's a waste?"

Ren Pingsheng did not answer immediately.

girlfriend?

Almost a year after his rebirth, he had never thought about this matter.

There was really no time to think. From searching for Arc to starting my own business, every day was filled with tasks.

To put it more bluntly, he also had an instinctive hesitation about this kind of relationship.

But there's no need to say these things to these greenhorns who haven't even entered society yet.

Looking at Lin Gengxin's gossipy face, Ren Pingsheng chuckled and scolded him.

"Stop thinking about useless things. Women who can't help you make money are just a burden. A good woman is one who can help you make money."

Upon hearing this, Lin Gengxin rolled his eyes.

"Vulgar! So vulgar! Brother Sheng, your level of sophistication is lacking."

He got more and more excited as he talked, leaned back, put his hands behind his head, and said, "Remember my girlfriend, Naogu? She's a true Shanghai native, and her family lives like this!"

He gave a thumbs up. "What do you call this? This is called finding someone who's already rich and avoiding twenty years of detours!"

Looking at his smug, gigolo-like demeanor, Ren Pingsheng couldn't help but tease, "Pretty proud, huh? The Shanghai Theatre Academy's most handsome guy living off a woman? Why don't you speak louder so the whole playground can hear your grand ambitions?"

"What's there to be afraid of? I'm a kept man because of my own abilities!"

Just as Lin Gengxin was about to stand up and shout, Jiang Jingfu, who was standing next to him, suddenly gave him frantic winks and coughed violently.

"Fu-zai, is there phlegm stuck in your throat?"

It took him a while to realize something was wrong, and he glanced to the side.

Not far away, Wang Rong, carrying several cups of milk tea, stared intently at him with a livid face.

"Holy crap!"

Startled, Lin Gengxin swiftly picked up the down jacket from the ground and pulled Ren Pingsheng up.

"Hurry, hurry! Brother Sheng, let's go, let's go eat!"

As he dragged Ren Pingsheng along, he shouted to Wang Rong without turning back, "Honey, I was wrong! I was talking to the director about serious business. I'll come straight to the internet cafe to find you after I'm done!"

Ren Pingsheng, panting from being dragged along, asked with amusement, "What, you still have the mind to go online?"

"Of course! Today I'm going to get my revenge!" Lin Gengxin gritted his teeth.

"There's some idiot in Zone 1 called 'Principal of the Cannon Academy,' who calls me a noob in the game every day. Today, I'll show him the true power of the dream of nine hundred million girls!"