The Basketball Came Flying on the Court

"Do you really not want me to introduce you to some people?"

"I may be leaving the industry, but I still have a few connections."

"They might not be that impressive, but for a newcomer like you, they'd be more than enough."

On a large bed, Zhao Ji, who played Lin Wanyu in iPartment, had flushed cheeks and sultry eyes as she watched the man sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window, lost in thought.

His name was Zhang Yang. He looked fairly ordinary—about on par with the Bai Gu Yanzus reading this novel.

He was an actor, or, more accurately, an unknown minor celebrity who had played a few roles.

But right now, he figured his most unusual identity was that of a reincarnator!

Someone who seemed to have been reborn ten years earlier in a parallel world.

"No need."

Zhang Yang turned to Zhao Ji with a smile. "We may not be boyfriend and girlfriend, but we shouldn't be exchanging favors, either."

"If I accepted your help, wouldn't I really be living off a woman?"

If he didn't have memories of his past life, he would've accepted that easy ride without hesitation.

He'd earned that shortcut through his own hard work. What was there to feel awkward about?

But as a reincarnator, he felt he needed to have some pride. He couldn't go down the same path as in his previous life.

"Once this opportunity's gone, it won't come again."

"After tonight, I'm traveling the world. It'll be hard for you to see me again."

Zhao Ji smiled softly, surprise flashing in her eyes.

When Zhang Yang had found a way to approach her through Shanghai Theatre Academy's drama club, he'd made his intentions perfectly clear.

She liked his handsome looks and silver tongue, too, and hadn't turned down his advances. They'd both gotten what they wanted.

She'd planned to give him a push before leaving the industry and help him get into the iPartment cast. She hadn't expected him to refuse.

Had she misjudged him?

"That's true."

Zhang Yang slowly got to his feet and walked toward Zhao Ji.

Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, and the butterfly dreamed it was Zhuang Zhou. He was still himself, only now he had another lifetime's worth of memories.

Lin Wanyu had been one of his early White Moonlight actresses. Now, he had the chance to get much closer to her.

"I can't let this chance pass me by."

Zhang Yang pulled back the covers and grinned.

"Actually, I really do just like you."

Zhao Ji: ?

Zhao Ji: !

"How did you become so..."

Exhaustion washed over Zhao Ji, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Looking at her profile, Zhang Yang began to reminisce.

"Was I reborn? Or did I transmigrate?"

"Truck drivers must have some side hustles."

"Not just side hustles. They probably have performance targets, too."

"I finally managed to make a hit short-form drama and get my foot in the door. What a cruel joke."

"My reincarnation seems a little unusual."

That afternoon, he'd been playing basketball with his roommates when a stray ball hit him on the head. His mind had been a little hazy ever since.

Because of that, he'd nearly lost the first few rounds of his match with Zhao Ji.

Of course, he'd made up for it by now—and still felt like that wasn't enough.

He'd already organized the extra memories in his mind.

In both his past and present lives, he'd been born in 1990. When he was in his final year of high school, his parents divorced and each remarried. He'd rebelled for a while, given up on himself, and eventually enrolled in the directing department of a second-rate arts college.

After graduating, he didn't want anything to do with his parents and refused their financial support. He got by on a face that rich women liked, the stamina of a mule, and directing skills that were decent enough, scraping along on the fringes of the entertainment industry.

He rented a luxurious place and drove a nice car. He didn't have much money, but could cover his basic needs, and he'd seen plenty of things ordinary people never got to see.

He paid the taxes he owed, and didn't sleep with anyone he shouldn't. As for women, well, as Liu Bei often said—

Then, in 2020, after celebrating his thirtieth birthday, he decided to change his life and see what things were like deeper inside the entertainment industry.

But without connections to investors, he couldn't even get a foot in the now well-established web-drama market. After thinking it over, he decided to take a detour and make a short-form drama first.

He scraped together a few hundred thousand yuan to buy the rights to a popular, shamelessly over-the-top wish-fulfillment novel, then hired some internet celebrities he knew inside and out to star in it. To his surprise, it blew up as soon as it was released.

After gaining both fame and fortune, he'd been ready to charge into the web-drama market.

A few of his college roommates heard the news and invited him to a roadside barbecue joint, hoping to land jobs as assistant directors.

They hadn't even started drinking when a truck suddenly came barreling over and sent him flying into the sky.

There was no doubt about it—he'd make the trending topics, and not just in the entertainment category.

"Good news: my phone and computer don't have any browsing history that would make me die of embarrassment."

"Bad news: my phone has videos of me working on my acting skills with internet-celebrity girls and minor actresses. I never deleted them."

"Hopefully no one gets hold of them and posts them online. Otherwise, I'll become the next Brother Guanxi."

As his headache eased, Zhang Yang began thinking about what was different between this life and his last.

Nothing had changed before 2004. But in January of that year, while visiting Hengdian, he'd caught the eye of Cai Yinong, head of Tangren. She'd invited him to play Wang Xiaohu, the childhood friend from the same village as the male lead Li Xiaoyao in Chinese Paladin.

After asking his opinion, his parents decided to support his acting career. As his guardians, they'd signed a seven-plus-three-year contract with Tangren. Less than three years remained, and it would expire in January 2014. (This will be resolved quickly and amicably later, and the protagonist will show what he can do. I'll explain for the readers who asked about this.)

After that, he began his acting career at Tangren. In 2005, he played the young Yang Silang in Young Warriors. In 2006, he played the young Yin Zhiping in The Legend of the Condor Heroes. In 2007, he had a supporting role in Strange Tales of Liaozhai: Xin Shisiniang, along with plenty of other minor roles.

He was good-looking and talented. Cai Yinong hadn't refused to promote him because she didn't want to; he was simply too young, and there weren't any suitable roles for him. On top of that, Cai Yinong was deeply entangled with the Hong Kong and Taiwanese side of the industry and always had to hand half the opportunities to their actors.

Then, in the summer of 2008, when he was eighteen, Cai Yinong promised him the role of Xu Changqing, the second male lead in Chinese Paladin 3.

He'd been excited for ages, studying the character so obsessively he neglected sleep and food. Then, shortly before filming began, he was told that Huo Jianhua had taken over the role.

Lin Gengxin, Liu Shishi, and others had faced the same kind of treatment. All Zhang Yang could say was, "Their bloodline is pure."

But not only did he lose the promised second male lead, he didn't get the third male lead, Chonglou, either, because they said he wasn't right for the part. Yuan Hong got Yun Ting, leaving him with He Biping, a clerk at Yongan Pawnshop.

From 2004 to 2008, from Chinese Paladin 1 to Chinese Paladin 3, Old Hu went from one male lead to another, while Zhang Yang went from the male lead's childhood friend to a clerk in the same shop as the male lead. It was downright laughable, and it left him resentful of Tangren.

In 2009, his parents still divorced because their relationship fell apart, and each remarried. He was once again the odd one out. But perhaps because he'd been in the acting world since middle school, he didn't give up on himself this time. He got into Shanghai Theatre Academy's acting department, ranking first in both the arts and academic portions of the entrance exam.

After that, he focused on honing his acting skills at school and building connections with the faculty, preparing for his future. In the meantime, he played a supporting role in Threads of Fate and the lead in one episode of The Vigilantes in Mask.

Today was March 9, 2011, and the second semester of his sophomore year had only just begun.

He'd come to the basketball court with a few roommates. During a break, a basketball had hit him on the head.

That blow had brought back memories of his past life.

They'd fully resurfaced after he met Zhao Ji.

"A basketball came flying on the court, and now I finally know who I am?"

Zhang Yang thought to himself with a hint of self-mockery.

He was fairly sure he'd been reborn rather than transmigrated. The memories in his mind were proof.

Anything related to his life, or to the entertainment industry—TV shows, movies, variety shows, novels, and the like—was crystal clear. He could call it up frame by frame.

He suspected that before his death, he'd been so fixated on the entertainment industry that he'd "sacrificed" the rest of his useless memories, strengthening the ones related to it so he could make his way in the industry and reach its inner circles. That obsession had also affected the changes that began in 2004.

But if he'd had a choice, he would've wanted his obsession to be making money.

Then he'd remember every way to get rich quickly and become a capitalist with ease.

Wouldn't it be better to use capital to storm into the entertainment industry?

He could even shape the whole industry however he wanted.

What a waste of this second chance at life.

"Since that's the case, I'll make good use of these extra years of entertainment-industry memories and have some fun!"

"First, I'll make my way in the entertainment industry and build up my capital. Later, I can become a big-shot investor, maybe by starting a short-video platform or something."

Just as Zhang Yang was thinking about what to do next, his mind suddenly cleared, as though a heavy burden had been lifted.

A high-tech-looking Jade Tome appeared in his mind, with five large characters written on it: Entertainment Industry Opportunities.

"Entertainment Industry Opportunity Manual?"

"Is this my cheat?"

A new book has begun! If you've read a few chapters and enjoyed them, please add it to your collection.

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