From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

In his previous life, he had grown accustomed to being alone.

He would do anything that could earn money; he had no choice, no room to breathe, and even in the dead of night, he didn't dare to secretly break down, because he had to get up the next day and continue running.

He couldn't stop.

Once he stopped, the last bit of strength he was desperately clinging to might crumble, and then he would never be able to stand up again, never be able to hold on.

If he fell, what would happen to his mother? How would they continue to live?

Ten years. Fifteen years.

Those days of constantly moving forward in the darkness were truly too long, merely running numbly, merely using the inertia of constant forward motion to barely maintain the status quo of life, to the point that time lost its meaning, to the point that his former life seemed like a lifetime ago, to the point that he had forgotten those bright days, to the point that he had forgotten the taste of happiness—

He couldn't and didn't dare to be happy.

Everything had been put on pause.

So much so that he was stunned by Lucas's matter-of-course words.

He didn't even know how to respond.

He was at a loss.

Lucas noticed his brother's silence and subconsciously looked over, his expressionless face revealing a hint of concern as he called out.

"Anson?"

Anson was stunned, merely reflexively looking over in the direction of the voice, "Hm?"

Lucas's brow furrowed slightly, "Are you being mistreated? If you don't want to do it, it's okay to give up and go back to school."

School?

That all seemed so, so far away, as if it were a matter of his previous life—

Yes, it truly was his previous life.

He had a second chance, a chance to start anew.

This time, he wanted to seize it properly.

He raised his eyes to look at Lucas, whose expressionless face showed a hint of concern, quietly looking back at him. Although Anson was still not quite used to it, he could feel the bond deep in his soul, and he could also feel the genuine care. His mindset couldn't help but change a little.

Perhaps he didn't need to face the Wood family with a perfunctory attitude.

"Do you know? The director praised me highly today and even added more scenes for me." In his mind, Anson should have said it in a boastful, smug, cocky, and arrogant way, creating a slightly exaggerated comedic effect, but when he actually said it, it seemed much more plain and simple.

Lucas was rather unaccustomed to it, "Isn't that to be expected? In anything, as long as you put your heart into it, you can always do your best."

His face was full of matter-of-course expression, without any surprise, and he changed the subject, "But I'm serious, if you don't like it, there's no need to force yourself."

Simple words, but revealing one hundred percent support. This time, Anson didn't continue to joke or evade, but nodded lightly.

"Okay."

He said.

Perhaps happiness wasn't difficult, at least not as difficult as he had imagined—

Sometimes, it was just a bag of potato chips; sometimes, it was just a visit; sometimes, it was just a word of support.

That was already enough.

The corners of Anson's mouth turned up slightly, and then he stuffed two potato chips into his mouth, concealing the light arc. He still needed some time to adjust. He glanced at Lucas out of the corner of his eye and changed the subject somewhat stiffly, "What about you? Is work going well?"

Lucas was a little surprised and quietly looked at Anson.

Anson was puzzled, his heart skipping a beat. Could it be that he had slipped up and said something he shouldn't have?

Lucas said in a calm tone, "Ah, Anson has grown up. He actually knows how to care about others."

"If Mom knew, she would definitely be moved to tears and give you a big hug, exclaiming that our Anson has finally grown up. In the future, if anyone says that our little guy is not doing his job properly, Mom will roll up her sleeves and beat them back."

Teasing, obviously, it was teasing.

Anson: ......

He glanced at Lucas with a speechless expression. After the brief emotional fluctuations just now, he had regained some reason and immediately launched a counterattack, "There's no way. A certain insensitive blockhead completely refused to cooperate with Mom's performance. If I were like that too, Mom would be too pitiful."

Lucas: ......

Anson was indeed serious—

Having experienced the life of a working stiff in his previous life, Anson truly understood one truth: if you rely solely on the bank, on saving money, on being frugal, you will never get rich. The real way to make money is to use money to generate more money, to roll money over money, investing, stocks, wealth management, entrepreneurship, and so on and so forth.

Of course, for ordinary people, there are risks involved. After all, the stock market is a meat grinder, with a nine-out-of-ten chance of death.

But Anson was different.

In fact, Anson's knowledge of investment and financial management in his previous life was limited. At first, he didn't need to know, and later, there was no need to know. Even if he was reborn, he couldn't transform into an investment master overnight.

But he wouldn't miss the major events in the tide of the times. Even if he knew nothing about investment and finance, he should know that he shouldn't miss tech giants, shouldn't miss social networks, shouldn't miss new energy, shouldn't miss streaming media, shouldn't miss virtual currency, shouldn't forget the real estate bubble of 2008, and so on.

He didn't need to take risks.

But the problem was that he was a liberal arts student who had never studied investment or management. Although he had a treasure trove of "foreknowledge" in his mind, he didn't know how to use it. He needed a true professional to turn his knowledge into numbers in a bank account.

Right now, there was a suitable candidate in front of him.

However...

Anson didn't plan to be too hasty, otherwise he might accidentally reveal his "alien" nature; nor did he plan to bet everything on one throw. There was still plenty of time in the future for him to plan step by step and let the water flow slowly.

What's more, the film salary from "The Princess Diaries" hadn't arrived yet, and his current working capital was limited, so there was no need to rush to get everything done in one step.

Start with primitive accumulation first.

Today, he was just planting some seeds.

However.

Even if it was just some seeds, it was still an accident for Lucas, a real accident—

This time, he carefully looked at Anson for a while, not hiding the exploration in his eyes.

Anson, who had grown up doing whatever he wanted since he was a child, seemed to have really grown up.

Lucas was a little gratified, but at the same time, he was also a little sad.

It seemed that Anson had indeed learned something in Hollywood, but he didn't know what grievances he had suffered. After all, that was a glamorous arena that devoured people without spitting out their bones.

Lucas's eyes flickered slightly, "If you hadn't said it, I would have thought you had been replaced by someone else, that your body had been occupied by an alien and you had completely changed."

Anson: ... ... Help.

First update.