Urban System in America

So, what’s the budget of this movie?" Rex asked, tilting his glass slightly.

Hearing the question, Aren’s eyes lit up. He stared at Rex with a mix of shock, excitement and elation, his mouth slightly agape as if unable to believe what he’d just heard. It was as if someone had just handed him a golden ticket, which he didn’t even expect. Still, he managed to rein in his eagerness with a sheepish grin.

"A hundred grand," he said in low voice.

Rex nearly spat out his wine. He choked, coughing, blinking at Aren as if he’d just grown a second head.

"A hundred thousand?" he repeated, incredulous.

Aren blinked innocently. "Yeah..."

Rex coughed, laughing under his breath. Honestly, as much as he didn’t want to boast, a hundred grand wasn’t much for him now, but context mattered. And if his memory serves right, Paranormal in his past life was filmed with fifteen thousand dollars. Total. And had gone on to gross nearly two hundred million.

’This kid? Is he trying to take me for a fool?’ Rex thought so.

So he coughed and said, "Looking at the script, it doesn’t seem like it requires such a big budget," Rex said, tone deliberately casual as he swirled his glass. He studied Aren carefully, his gaze sharpening."Are you trying to fool me after telling a teary story?" Saying this, he stared straight into Aren’s eyes.

But instead of feeling embarrassed,Aren met his gaze, not even flinching. Instead, he grinned and shrugged, utterly shameless.

"You looked rich," he said with disarming honesty. "I thought why not try to increase the budget? Anyway, you rich people don’t lack a hundred grand—and better the budget, better the movie."

Rex stared at him, momentarily speechless. He couldn’t decide whether to be offended or impressed. This kid had guts. Shameless guts, but guts nonetheless.