From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

"Mom, I'm home."

Opening the door, closing it, going upstairs – a flurry of activity as swift as a tiger. Gloria dashed towards the second floor, her footsteps not pausing for a moment, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Mrs. Preston, filled with question marks, stood in the kitchen, peering out, "Gloria?"

She called out, but there was no response.

"Gloria!"

She called out again, but it was like shouting into the void.

Preston finally came to the bottom of the stairs, patiently asking, "Gloria, did everything go well today? You were so eager to participate in the filming of 'Friends,' I even called the school to ask for leave on your behalf. You promised me you'd prepare well for your exams in the coming period, and this is how you repay me? Hey, girl, you don't want me to get angry."

One second, two seconds—

Gloria reappeared at the top of the stairs, her face full of helplessness. She sincerely didn't understand. Next semester, she would be in twelfth grade. She was already a big girl. Why did her mother still treat her like a naive middle school student? When would her mother understand that she was capable of making her own decisions?

But, this was her mother. What could she do?

Hehe.

Gloria squeezed out a smile, obediently answering.

"Everything's fine."

Mrs. Preston's tone lightly rose at the end, clearly not quite believing it, "That's it?"

Gloria simply couldn't contain her excitement. Her mind was filled with the idea of going online. She wanted to properly search for information about that actor. Her mother was delaying her from chasing her idol. In her eagerness, words poured out one after another, and once the floodgates were opened, she couldn't stop.

"Good, very good."

Gloria couldn't control herself any longer, "Ah, yes, Paul, ah, ah, ah! Sorry, Mom, you know I signed a non-disclosure agreement, I can't give spoilers, but anyway, Paul, a perfect man."

"Actually, his name is Anson Wood, oh, God, I really like him so much."

Looking at her daughter, who couldn't stop screaming, Mrs. Preston wasn't surprised at all. Anyway, the object of her affection changed every now and then. Last month, she was infatuated with a certain singer, this month she was obsessed with novels, and there was even a new name every week. It was all the internet's fault.

Mrs. Preston maintained a smile, "Like Nick Carter, or like Harry Potter?"

And now, Gloria hadn't mentioned those names for quite some time.

Gloria completely didn't hear her mother's吐槽, "I like him even more than them. He, oh, Jesus Christ, he's different, really different."

Mrs. Preston nodded repeatedly, "Alright, alright, you shouldn't have forgotten about Miss Jones' book report tomorrow, if you haven't finished it…"

Gloria quickly nodded vigorously, "Of course, of course, how could I forget? Mom, you need to believe me, I finally know what love at first sight is all about. Reading those novels is no problem to understand now. I already know how to write the book report in my mind."

Mrs. Preston didn't say anything more. Although her daughter was always playful and didn't focus on her studies, she had one advantage: she always did what she said she would, from childhood to adulthood, always keeping her promises.

This wasn't the first time Gloria had "asked for leave" to go to concerts or travel, but Gloria's studies had never had any problems. Not only that, but her grades had always been excellent, otherwise Mrs. Preston wouldn't have been able to help her daughter lie and ask for leave.

Thus.

Mrs. Preston didn't say anything more, turning around and returning to the kitchen.

Tap, tap, tap.

A series of rapid footsteps came from the second floor. Mrs. Preston's face was full of helplessness. That little girl had started running again, unable to be quiet at all.

Thump.

Gloria plopped down, deftly turning on the computer and getting busy. Because she was in a good mood, she couldn't help but start humming an unknown tune.

La la la, la la la.

But—

Anson Wood, no search results.

How could it be!

Gloria thought she had entered it wrong, and then switched to several different spellings. Then she browsed some related news with "Friends" as the keyword.

All along, although "Friends" had good confidentiality measures in place, and the crew was tight-lipped, in a place as small as Los Angeles, reporters and paparazzi were ubiquitous. News of each guest star would be leaked in advance.

However.

Still nothing.

There wasn't the slightest sound. Gloria couldn't hide her disappointment.

Actually!

Suddenly, her head slammed heavily on the keyboard, letting out a wail.

Buzz.

Buzz buzz buzz.

Her brain was blank, and she couldn't help but see that face and figure again, every frown, every smile, every move, vividly replaying in her mind.

Like a film.

Unconsciously, time began to flow backward, returning to the wonderful time in Studio 24.

Then, Gloria came up with an idea, a possibility.

Maybe, she was the first person to discover this treasure?

So when she asked the man's name just now, she saw surprise and joy in those eyes, shallow ripples like the first ray of morning light passing through the treetops and falling into the deep mountains and dense forests, so that her heart beat uncontrollably. That kind of happiness and joy was actually bidirectional.

No way?

No way, no way, no way!

That would be too good.

Again, with a sudden movement, Gloria straightened her body, opened IMDB—the Internet Movie Database, created by Amazon, an online database of information about actors, movies, television, directors, film production teams, and so on.

Initially, IMDB only played the function of a database, but with the launch of the scoring system, it has evolved into a secret base for movie lovers. Not only can the scores of each movie released become public reference data, but the list of the 250 best films listed according to the scores has also become an authoritative list.

Without a doubt, in the present day of 2000, IMDB is a brand-new product developed by the entertainment industry on the Internet platform.

Everything is gathered here.

A burst of operation, a burst of search, and sure enough, she still didn't find Anson's information. The cast and production list of the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of "Friends" had not yet been announced.

But Gloria had already anticipated this.

No sooner said than done.

She immediately created a brand-new page—

Name, Anson Wood.

Birthday, ?

Height, ?

Weight, ?

Works, … …

After thinking about it carefully, Gloria still left the "Works" column blank, because she had signed a non-disclosure agreement and didn't want to cause trouble for herself or Anson.

Anyway, after waiting for the official episode information of the "Friends" crew to be updated, she could add it.

Thus.

Question marks, question marks, a series of question marks, all question marks, except for the name, nothing was known.

But Gloria wasn't frustrated, but instead had a kind of uncontrollable excitement.

Before her was a blank sheet of paper, waiting to be filled in. She knew that she would accompany Anson, filling in those question marks one by one, a brand-new future full of countless possibilities, starting from this point, unfolding before her.