From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

… … Someone's heart is breaking in the corner, on the street corner where losers wander. If you can cross the river of tears, you will find me in the arms of the blues.

Without any other accompaniment, just a guitar, Johnny Cash held his guitar and stood in front of the microphone, humming softly. The light and lively melody still made the audience clap to the rhythm. The tidal wave of applause surrounded the guitar strings, and the whole audience joined hands to complete the performance.

This made Johnny's sweaty brow relax, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Turning his head, Johnny saw June Carter.

June Carter, who had finished performing before Johnny, changed into slippers, took a Coke, and came to the side of the stage to enjoy the performance. It could be seen that:

She was very relaxed and comfortable, swaying gently with the melody, her light blue skirt swaying gracefully, and the corners of her mouth also turned up in a relaxed manner.

June Carter and Johnny's eyes met, and June Carter's smile widened, as if she was enjoying Johnny's performance.

Yeah, you'll find me in the arms of the blues.

Johnny withdrew his gaze and continued to sing, bringing the song to a perfect end.

Applause rang out.

Moreover, not only that, but along with the applause, the audience at the back of the theater couldn't restrain their excitement and stood up one after another, creating more commotion.

In the frenzy of applause, whistles, cheers, roars, and other sounds flew up and down. More and more audience members stood up, even waving their arms constantly, trying to attract Johnny's attention. The rolling heat wave instantly filled the entire theater space, and it continued to rise and continued to explode.

However, there was one exception.

Opening his eyes again, the corner of his eye inadvertently caught sight of June Carter's skirt. She turned around, holding the Coke, and left with a smile.

Leave?

She just left like that? How could she just leave like that, lightly and carelessly? Leaving him alone to suffer here, like a fool?

The smile on the corner of his mouth froze slightly, and his brain didn't even have time to process it. The corner of his eye caught her skirt, and the words had already broken free from their restraints and blurted out.

Hey, folks, let's invite June Carter to the stage again, what do you say?

June Carter was completely stunned, almost choking on the Coke: Why did her name come up?

Maybe she'd be willing to sing a duet with me.

Ah, ah, ah.

The theater immediately reacted, and applause thundered, mixed with the screams and shouts of those who didn't mind a little excitement. The rolling heat wave instantly burst out with unbelievable energy. Looking around, you could see many people starting to whistle directly. The entire theater was filled with a sea of fire, and the atmosphere continued to climb.

Roar, roar, roar.

Waves of heat, one after another.

Johnny turned his head to look at the side of the stage, a complicated look in his eyes, the pleasure of mischief and a hidden expectation. The conflicting emotions gave rise to a kind of guilty pleasure. He couldn't help but raise his chin slightly, looking down at June Carter condescendingly.

However, June Carter didn't have time to carefully distinguish Johnny's expression. She was just surprised and flustered, and subconsciously refused.

No, no, no, no, no.

June Carter shook her head repeatedly, constantly waving her hands at Johnny, trying to stop this farce.

Johnny turned to face June Carter—

No?

Another refusal?

Johnny didn't understand. It was clear that June Carter also had feelings for him, it was clear that there was a spark between them, but why did June Carter reject him again and again.

Why?

Was it just playing hard to get? Or was she toying with his feelings?

Johnny looked at June Carter, who was shaking her head repeatedly, and an evil psychology took over. A kind of cat-and-mouse pleasure even flashed in the depths of his eyes.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, "Now. As soon as possible. June, I've never sung a duet with you before."

June Carter was completely flustered and didn't notice the change in Johnny's eyes, but she refused, using every cell in her body to reject this situation.

June Carter shook her head, not concealing her resistance at all, "I'm wearing slippers. I can't go out like this."

Johnny leaned close to the microphone. Although the audience couldn't hear June Carter's voice, he could relay it. He spoke directly into the microphone and began a conversation with June Carter, "They don't care if you're wearing slippers."

Please, this is the climax of the night.

He wouldn't let her escape again.

Johnny turned to look at the audience, showing a handsome and unrestrained smile again, "Folks, let's shout together."

June! June! June!

The voice was not high-pitched, but deliberately lowered, creating momentum in a low-pitched way.

Once, and then again.

June!

Finally, the audience in the theater, who were in a frenzy, didn't have time to think, or even weren't sure if this was the performance they were eager to see, but anyway, they just joined in the fun.

Slowly, slowly, the shouts of the audience in the theater drowned out Johnny's voice, as if a tornado was forming.

June Carter couldn't believe it—

In this kind of atmosphere at a show, if she refused to go on stage today, offending the audience was one thing, and offending the theater was another. In the future, when other theaters wanted to invite June Carter to perform, that group of men could easily make things difficult for her with a label of "refusing to cater to the audience."

June Carter couldn't believe that Johnny had put her in such a predicament.

She didn't understand what was wrong with Johnny, and looked at Johnny with a bewildered expression, spreading her hands and protesting silently.

However, Johnny didn't care.

He had finally caught her, and he refused to let go.

Johnny turned to look at June Carter again. Not only him, but everyone else on the stage also turned around to look over, creating pressure.

Now, June Carter had no room to refuse at all.

Johnny noticed June Carter's stubbornness and boldness. His eyes wavered slightly, but now, he had no way to turn back.

So, Johnny said, "Please, June, prove Elvis wrong."

He said you'll never perform unless it's written into your itinerary.

The audience in the theater burst into laughter, instantly understanding the hidden sarcasm in Elvis's joke. One or two people became excited, and the shouts became more and more excited.

June! June! June!

Uniform and consistent, the waves of energy rolled, and no one in the entire theater was surprised. Everyone was just joining in the fun.

This scene completely stunned Mangold in front of the monitor—

Unbelievable, the actors and the audience cooperated so tacitly. Back and forth, singing and responding, the whole atmosphere was completely created. At a certain moment, even Mangold broke the space-time barrier and entered that world, as if he was really witnessing Johnny forcing June Carter to go on stage for a joint performance.

Mangold still remembers June Carter telling him personally: At that moment, I was furious. Honestly, I really wanted to strangle him, he ruined everything.

The same is true in the camera lens in front of him.

June Carter was furious.