Lin Yuan's Pursuit

Seeing the positive reception of the new promotional video, Taylor felt a mix of joy and sorrow, her emotions a tangled mess.

There's a saying: Others only care if you fly high, while those who care about you will worry if you're tired from flying.

On one hand, Taylor was happy for Lin Yuan. His career was becoming more stable, and he was not far from soaring again.

But on the other hand, it was also the first time she saw the price Lin Yuan paid for his career.

She first became a fan of Lin Yuan because of the sword dance in the promotional video for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." In the video, Lin Yuan, dressed in white, seemed like a celestial being.

It was an ethereal image, radiating pure beauty.

But this beauty was built on illusion, inherently detached from reality.

However, Lin Yuan's next two films revealed his true self:

The serene, white-clad youth from before wasn't him. The real him was the one who risked his life, enduring pain and injuries during filming.

To be glorious in front of others, one must suffer behind the scenes.

Who achieves success easily?

Every time Taylor saw Lin Yuan fall heavily to the ground in the videos, his eyes bloodshot, she couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart, holding back tears.

She wouldn't foolishly advise Lin Yuan to stop; it was the path he chose, and she chose to support him silently.

What she could do was work harder in her own daily practice, debut sooner, and be able to help Lin Yuan.

Taylor gazed at the moon outside the window, wondering in her heart: What is Lin Yuan doing now?

... (I am a dividing line)

Lin Yuan was looking at the bustling New York night view outside his window.

Tomorrow at midnight, the premiere of "The Fast and the Furious" and "Jurassic Park 3" would take place.

Under the joint promotional campaign, these two films secured initial screening rates of 15% and 25% respectively.

Although these figures seemed low compared to "The Mummy Returns'" 40% initial screening rate, Lin Yuan was quite satisfied with the results given the low promotional costs for these two films.

After all, while these screening rates weren't top-tier, they certainly weren't low.

And they were only initial rates; they would be adjusted gradually based on word-of-mouth and attendance.

Lin Yuan had prepared various contingency plans and was confident that both box office revenue and screening rates would continue to rise.

He believed that with the success of these two films, his future acting career would be broadened, officially embarking on the path to superstardom.

In fact, since his rebirth, Lin Yuan had given much serious thought to the kind of life he wanted to live.

Rebirth was a gift from heaven; to drift through it aimlessly would be the greatest disrespect to life.

Understanding what one truly desires isn't that easy.

What do you want most?

For many people, the first reaction is: Money!

Then, a detestable phrase immediately pops into their minds:

"I have no interest in money."

This statement is quite ostentatious and can give off a hypocritical vibe.

For the vast majority of people struggling to make a living, hearing this phrase would immediately ignite their anger:

You might not be interested, but I am!

If you're not interested, why earn so much money?

If you're not interested, why not share it with me?

You've taken all the money, and you still want to say pretty words and act cool?

Therefore, saying this in public is bound to be unpopular and will only invite ridicule.

However, if viewed from another perspective, it can also prove that he wasn't entirely lying:

He's already the richest man; are there things more important and worth pursuing than money for him?

Clearly, there are.

When people lack money, they consider money their primary pursuit.

But once they have plenty of money, the vast majority of people develop higher-level pursuits.

Standing at the forefront of the era as a reborn individual, things that ordinary people strive for—money, fame, women—become easily attainable for him.

With more choices, confusion and bewilderment can arise.

It's not that money isn't appealing, nor that beautiful women aren't tempting, but once one gets lost in them and loses themselves, they will regret wasting this precious rebirth when old age approaches.

He had also read many rebirth novels, and the methods many protagonists used to make money weren't suitable for Lin Yuan.

For example, some protagonists, after being reborn, would buy Bitcoin and hold it for a few years, making hundreds of billions of dollars. Is it really that easy?

The world isn't that simple. The reason Bitcoin's price later soared was not only due to its essential function for private payments but also because of the countless promoters pushing it behind the scenes.

Because everyone benefited from Bitcoin's price surge, they all pushed together.

You're holding back too many chips; you can't be bothered with such small returns.

But if you eat up most of the chips yourself, will these behind-the-scenes manipulators still push? They'll just choose to start a new game, create another Litecoin, Ethereum, or something similar.

And do you have the ability to set up this game yourself?

Even if you had the ability, as a reborn individual, would you really spend your mental energy and foresight on this?

For example, some protagonists are reborn and dive into real estate, earning the dividends of the era.

Lin Yuan also chose not to go down this path. Setting aside the fact that real estate dividends inherently come with a parasitic attribute, he also strongly disliked the constant need to lobby government resources.

He didn't want to socialize with a bunch of middle-aged men with bulging bellies, exchanging insincere words and toasting each other, engaging in dirty deals. He fundamentally rejected such things.

Starting an internet company? Investing in high-tech industries?

If you want to control a company and get the biggest slice of the pie, you have to be hands-on. Expecting to make an early investment and just wait for it to take off?

Which founding emperor didn't conquer their empire with their own hands?

Without sufficient backing to eat this cake, being a hands-off manager will only lead to being sidelined, having your equity diluted, and then being kicked out.

Moreover, for Lin Yuan, even if he were willing to work diligently to build a company, there would still be a ceiling.

His Chinese heritage could allow him to play both sides in certain situations between two major powers, reaping many benefits.

But if he wanted to venture into fields related to the lifeline of the national economy, if he wanted to own the means of production, it would immediately become very awkward.

Neither side would truly consider him one of their own. And why should you, a Chinese person, hold such a powerful artifact?

What other paths are left?

Go into politics? This is America, does he, a Chinese person, think he can reach the heavens?

Fortunately, Lin Yuan's eyes were not blinded by various desires.

He knew very well what he wanted. More than money and power, he wanted fame.

A hundred years later, his name would still be a legend, and future generations would still be recounting his story.

His achievements would become an immortal monument, admired by countless people.

This was the life Lin Yuan desired.

To achieve this, he not only had to reach the extreme but also break through the extreme, to reach a level unimaginable to ordinary people.

Fortunately, with the system's support, this path to becoming a super action superstar was feasible.

He would surpass Jackie Chan, surpass Bruce Lee, surpass any superstar in history, and become a unique, unparalleled super superstar.

Maslow's five levels of needs, the highest being self-actualization, Lin Yuan deeply agreed.