I Rely on My Versatility to Reach the Top of the Entertainment Industry [Ancient Times to Modern] - Chapter 53

This round, Lu Yuzhi was on offense, Louis on defense.

Jing Yi stared intently at the red sphere continuously bouncing in Lu Yuzhi’s hands, his expression completely focused.

As he watched, a middle-aged man suddenly appeared beside him. The man sat down at a neither too close nor too far distance—a comfortable safety boundary.

“Mr. Jing, hello.” The man initiated conversation, “I’m Lin Qian from Qianye Company.”

For the first time, Jing Yi responded without looking at the person, answering absently: “Hello.”

His eyes remained entirely fixed on Lu Yuzhi playing basketball.

Unlike his usual gentle and good-natured demeanor, Lu Yuzhi now appeared sharp and intense, his amber eyes filled with aggression. The small red sphere seemed like an extension of his own body as it hit the ground and immediately bounced back.

Louis attempted several times to steal the ball from Lu Yuzhi’s hands but was repeatedly fooled by his feints.

A smile touched Jing Yi’s lips.

“Mr. Lu’s skills are truly exceptional. Had his acting career not held him back, a gold medal would be within easy reach.” Lin Qian continued speaking, praising Lu Yuzhi while glancing sideways at Jing Yi again. He sighed, “I know I’m being rather presumptuous, disturbing you while you watch Mr. Lu play, but this is my only opportunity.”

“Hmm?” Sensing Lin Qian had ulterior motives, Jing Yi turned to look at him.

At that moment, scattered applause erupted from the court.

Lu Yuzhi had scored!

Regretting having missed the moment of the basket, Jing Yi frowned slightly: “May I ask if there’s something you need help with, Mr. Lin?”

Lin Qian wore an apologetic expression: “I wonder if Mr. Jing still remembers Zhou Nan? He previously encountered you on set and spoke inappropriately, offending you. I’d like to apologize on his behalf.”

Jing Yi recalled who Zhou Nan was.

Lin Qian continued: “I hope you can forgive him and put in a good word with Mr. Lu. After Zhou Nan finished filming ‘Northern Night City,’ several previously scheduled appearances were all canceled by the other parties. With no acting opportunities, he’s been very distressed.”

“We expressed our wish to apologize to Mr. Lu in person, but he didn’t accept it.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Jing. What would it take for you to let go of your anger and allow Zhou Nan to resume his acting career?”

Jing Yi looked at Lin Qian: “I’m not angry.”

“Then why…” Lin Qian felt awkward, “Could you please give us a clear path forward?”

Zhou Nan having no acting roles and being rejected by all endorsement deals had been troubling him for some time. Unable to bear seeing his beloved person so despondent, he had exhausted all means to find a lead that brought him to this private basketball gym.

Since there was no breakthrough possible with Lu Yuzhi, he could only approach Jing Yi.

Originally, Lin Qian had thought Jing Yi was angered by Zhou Nan’s remarks and had therefore complained to Lu Yuzhi, leading to the termination of Zhou Nan’s acting career. But now, it seemed that might not be the case?

Jing Yi’s expression truly didn’t appear to be lying.

“Mr. Zhou’s acting skills are quite good.” Jing Yi recalled Zhou Nan’s performance on set, then turned back to watch Lu Yuzhi play. “But don’t you think his behavior off-set was somewhat excessive?”

Using bodyguards to maliciously injure another person’s hand—such harmful intentions were truly beyond acceptable.

“This…” How could Lin Qian not know what Zhou Nan had done? Most of the time, he was the one cleaning up Zhou Nan’s messes.

“Setting aside the rudeness of his words, the malicious intent in his heart…” Jing Yi sighed softly. “Mr. Lin should focus more on Mr. Zhou instead.”

Lin Ye noticed that Jing Yi didn’t mention Lu Yuzhi at all, and his expression shifted slightly.

But knowing he was in the wrong, he ultimately said nothing more and stood up to leave.

Jing Yi continued watching the game.

Lu Yuzhi had already scored two consecutive baskets and was now going for the third.

Louis was drenched in sweat, clearly using all his strength to defend. Yet Lu Yuzhi’s breathing remained even and steady, likely due to his usual breathing techniques.

Jing Yi didn’t really understand basketball rules either, but whenever he saw Lu Yuzhi’s figure, he felt it was wonderful.

Perhaps as netizens would say… this was called “hot”?

Jing Yi took out his phone and seized the moment to take a photo of Lu Yuzhi.

In the photo, Lu Yuzhi was mid-jump, his raised arm lifting his shirt to reveal toned abs and part of his Adonis belt.

What would it feel like… to touch them?

Startled by his own thoughts, Jing Yi felt his face growing warm again.

On the court, Louis was breathing heavily.

Lu Yuzhi’s feints were too frequent, his crossover dribbles complex and varied. By the third basket, Louis had to exert his full strength to keep up. What terrified him was that Lu Yuzhi didn’t seem to have reached his physical limit yet—he still appeared completely at ease.

Had he… been too arrogant after all?

Louis’s blue eyes flickered with dejection, and in that brief moment of distraction, Lu Yuzhi seized the opportunity, bypassed his defense, jumped again, and scored.

The basketball slid through his fingertips, leaving Louis’s entire hand numb.

He wiped his sweat with his jersey and called a 20-second timeout.

Lu Yuzhi cast a cold glance at Louis before lifting his gaze to his own little one sitting obediently on a chair not far away.

Noticing the phone in the young man’s hand, he casually swept the hair from his forehead.

It was an obvious pose.

Other onlookers nearby chuckled and whispered among themselves, remarking, “Lu Yuzhi is really done for.”

“If he weren’t, why would he publicly announce it on Weibo?”

“That young celebrity is quite pretty—really quite captivating. It makes me want to try dating a man too. Seems like it might be nice.”

“Hey, you! Don’t even think about hitting on me!”

The group bantered back and forth, then turned their attention to Louis. One young man with red-dyed streaks in his hair approached Louis, squinting with a smile. “Mr. Brian, why not call it quits? We have an old saying in our country: ‘Beat a retreat when you know you’re outmatched.'”

Louis shook his head.

“No, we’ll continue.”

The match had begun, and even if it wasn’t going as he’d imagined, Louis would see it through to the end.

How could one know there was room for improvement without facing a powerful opponent?

The red ball bounced on the ground once more.

Fourth basket, fifth basket.

Louis failed to defend against either.

They switched offense and defense.

Louis began showcasing his skills, drawing occasional exclamations from knowledgeable spectators. Of course, they were gasping because every one of Louis’s signature moves was completely shut down by Lu Yuzhi.

Only now did sweat begin to trickle down Lu Yuzhi’s forehead.

“Lu Yuzhi’s stamina is truly insane,” one person whispered slyly to his companion. “I wonder how well that young celebrity can handle it.”

“I suppose it’s possible? Haven’t you seen the viral videos circulating on major websites? His wife is someone fierce enough to fend off a fierce tiger barehanded, crush walnuts with her hands, and perform acrobatic moves.”

“Honestly, I haven’t paid attention.” The man sounded puzzled. “If that young celebrity is really that impressive, then who knows who’s on top and who’s on bottom in their relationship.”

“Uh…” The others fell silent, at a loss for words.

It was unimaginable, simply unimaginable… the thought of Lu Yuzhi being the bottom…

Jing Yi never expected that Lu Yuzhi’s acquaintances would speak so bluntly, practically spouting all kinds of crude jokes without restraint.

Having overly sensitive ears really wasn’t a good thing.

Jing Yi tried his best to ignore their conversation and focused his attention on Lu Yuzhi.

Lu Yuzhi successfully stole the ball again and made another basket.

Louis’s breathing grew increasingly heavy, clearly having reached his physical limit.

When the last ball was finally snatched away, Louis collapsed onto the floor and asked, “Mr. Lu, I admit defeat in your basketball skills. I’m truly convinced.”

Lu Yuzhi curled his lips coldly and slammed the basketball hard, its bounce trajectory perfectly aimed at the first person who had made the crude remark.

The man, suddenly hit in the face by the basketball, rubbed his nose and said, “Lu Yuzhi, you really never step down from your godly pedestal, do you? You can still hear what I’m saying while playing ball.”

Lu Yuzhi walked over to Jing Yi, picked up his jacket, and took Jing Yi’s hand.

Noticing the suspicious blush on Jing Yi’s ears, he glanced sideways at the man who had been hit.

“My apologies, my apologies! Please forgive our loose tongues, sister-in-law!” the hit man hurriedly apologized. “There are shower facilities in the gym. Why don’t you freshen up before leaving?”

Lu Yuzhi led Jing Yi toward the gym’s showers.

He had already arranged for someone to wait in the shower room with fresh clothes, so they could change directly after washing up.

Seeing the person holding clothes and bowing to Lu Yuzhi, Jing Yi finally understood that Lu Yuzhi might have planned in advance to play basketball with Louis.

He took the clothes and stood outside Lu Yuzhi’s shower stall.

“I’ll wait for you.”

Lu Yuzhi smiled, pulled Jing Yi close, and kissed his cheek. “So well-behaved, wifey.”

“Who’s your wifey…” Jing Yi said sternly. “Go take your shower!”

Lu Yuzhi closed the door.

Listening to the sound of water from inside, Jing Yi stood quietly with downcast eyes.

After two or three minutes, a sudden thud came from inside.

It sounded like Lu Yuzhi had fallen!

Jing Yi placed his hand on the door, about to speak, when the door opened under his light push.

Through the steam, Lu Yuzhi’s gaze met his as he leaned against the wall.

Broad shoulders, narrow waist—everything was clearly visible.

And also…

Jing Yi pressed his lips together and closed the door. “Be careful.”

A flicker of amusement passed through Lu Yuzhi’s eyes. “Okay.”

After a while, Lu Yuzhi reached out for his clothes.

Jing Yi handed them to him piece by piece.

“Where would you like to go later? You’ll start filming in a few days, so you probably won’t have time to go out,” Lu Yuzhi asked as he dressed.

Jing Yi thought for a moment, then searched on his phone for where to watch Lu Yuzhi’s movies. Seeing someone suggest that couples wanting to watch old films could go to a private cinema, he proposed, “How about we go to a private cinema?”

Lu Yuzhi opened the door.

“A private cinema? What movie do you want to watch?”

Jing Yi reached out to adjust Lu Yuzhi’s collar and said softly, “Your movies.”

Lu Yuzhi looked down at the person before him, his eyes filled with deep, unconcealed affection. “Then let’s watch at my place. Actually, you could move in with me.”

Jing Yi looked at Lu Yuzhi for a long time before nodding. “Then let’s go handle the lease termination procedures another day.”

Just as the two had agreed, they stepped out of the sports hall and discovered Louis was still playing basketball.

Louis appeared much more at ease when playing against them, even having the leisure to glance in their direction.

Seeing Jing Yi emerge, Louis made a time-out gesture and ran over to him.

As Jing Yi wondered what Louis was up to, he saw Louis bow. “Sister-in-law, please ask Big Brother to teach me how to play basketball.”

“I’m not your sister-in-law…” Jing Yi corrected helplessly. “You should discuss it directly with Yuzhi.”

Louis straightened up, his eyes no longer holding the previous excessive enthusiasm. “They said Brother Lu listens to you—definitely henpecked—so approaching you would be more effective.”

Lu Yuzhi glanced at the group in the court who were now deliberately looking anywhere but at him, his lips pressed into a thin line.

After a long pause, he withdrew his gaze. “I don’t have time to teach you. I’ve already trained them before—just have them practice seriously with you. If they refuse, I have some materials here you’ll probably find very useful.”

The group in the center of the court collectively made bitter faces.

Words have consequences—this was a lesson they vowed to remember forever!