From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Huff, huff.

Nicholas Flynn was sprinting with all his might, the roaring wind continuously pounding in his ears. The clamor and splendor of the entire world were swept into the beating of his heart, turning into a chaotic blur flowing backward from the corners of his eyes, making him feel like the protagonist in a Hayao Miyazaki film.

Too bad, he lacked a Totoro.

The sounds of horns, engines, and chatter intertwined, the entire city a noisy mess. Traffic was jammed, taxis deeply stuck in a sea of vehicles, unable to move at all, turning the back seat into another form of prison.

Thus.

Nicholas chose to get out of the car and use his own feet to run towards Washington Square.

Anyway… it's just… just four blocks… just four blocks.

Huff, huff.

Nicholas was out of breath, a fire burning in his lungs, a myriad of sounds roaring in his ears, and suddenly, everything went black.

He needed to catch his breath.

With great difficulty, the city finally stopped spinning. Nicholas reopened his eyes and started walking again. After crossing the street corner, his destination was right in front of him.

Since 1007, New Year's Eve in Times Square, New York, has been one of the grandest, most lively, and most magnificent carnivals, mobilizing a million people to gather and await the New Year's countdown.

Therefore, the scene before him was not comparable to New Year's Eve a few days ago.

It was just a feeling.

Nicholas could clearly feel that all directions – east, south, west, and north – were filled with crowds. Washington Square in front of him was like a magnet, attracting people from Friday's festive night one after another, creating a miracle.

Shocking, magnificent.

Even the battle-hardened Nicholas completely lost his ability to speak.

“…It's actually New York!”

“How did Anson do it?”

“I didn't expect it, really, I never would have expected it.”

“I thought it would be the same as the other cities before…”

“You're not alone, everyone has been caught off guard by Anson again.”

“Who would have thought it would be NYU, but thinking about it, it all makes sense, after all, Little Frank Abagnale is best at this…”

“Washington Square? Damn it, it's actually that damned Washington Square?”

“They said no tickets, free admission, really?”

“Wow, just when everyone thought the surprise was over and everyone had seen through the routine, Anson actually came out again and shouted 'Surprise!'”

Chatter, chatter,

Countless noisy sounds were interwoven into a large net that swept over him, and it was easy to catch the keywords in the fragmented words:

Anson.

As people said, Anson had once again broken expectations and brought surprises, interpreting the true meaning of a flash mob surprise in a completely new way.

Then, New York went crazy.

Nicholas noticed one thing: after anything was associated with Anson, it seemed to become magical, sweeping through everything in a way that broke all cognition, so that they, one by one, could only passively follow behind. Such surprises and shocks were completely overwhelming.

Just now, the latest rumor appeared—

Many senior movie fans and hardcore fans predicted with certainty that Anson would definitely come to New York and make a surprise appearance at the AMC theater in Times Square.

From the analysis of the situation, it was reasonable.

If Anson did arrive in New York tonight, Times Square, as a landmark, should not be missed. It would perfectly conclude the event in the city center of New York and set off a wave of movie fan frenzy in Times Square, without a doubt; this, this, this was a very convincing 'inside information'.

So, a group of viewers went to Times Square, not just the AMC theater, but also all the surrounding movie theaters, large and small, and even all the shows at different times of the night were snapped up.

And now?

They were all flocking to Washington Square. The screening rooms of those sold-out shows in the movie theaters were almost all emptied, becoming ghost screenings.

The amazing thing was that when these viewers learned that Washington Square was free and did not require any fees to enter, no one refunded their tickets.

This matter once caused controversy. Many professionals believed that this was an act of brushing the box office and needed to be strongly resisted. They should let 'the audience who really want to watch the movie see the movie' instead of 'letting a crazy idol meet-and-greet event disrupt the market'.

It even appeared in authoritative media such as 'The New Yorker' and 'The New York Times'.

However, people had different opinions on this. There were many voices of opposition and criticism, and there were also many voices of agreement and support.

This indirectly verified again that a popular person attracts a lot of controversy.

Similarly, this also directly proved that the topic of 'Catch Me If You Can' remained high.

Even in a big city like New York, even after two full weeks of flash mob events, even though the routines and patterns had long lost their novelty, this flash mob event still reached its peak again in an unbelievable way.

At this moment, Nicholas was experiencing this with his own body—

Standing in the vast sea of people, he felt like an ant, like dust, or like a drop of water, eventually evolving into a part of the rolling heat wave.

Ah, ah, ah!

Screams, cheers, and shouts completely surrounded Washington Square.

The Fox TV helicopter could see the scene from the air. Not only Washington Square, but the surrounding two blocks had also been paralyzed—

The New York Fire Department and traffic police were dispatched immediately, fully engaged in their work.

Everything originated from the small black dot in the center of the stage.

Looking down from the sky, it was just a black dot, no different from other black dots; but the amazing thing was that that black dot was able to stand out, like the North Star; easily catching the eye.

The whole place was chaotic and noisy, like devout believers prostrating before a god and kissing the surface of their shoes, returning to calm under Anson's command—

The chaos that was on the verge of losing control in the previous second calmed down in the next second. Even magic was not so magical, yet it was being staged before his eyes.

Even Anson himself was very surprised.

He looked down at his right hand and sighed, "I need the Sorting Hat's help to confirm my house."

Haha.

The audience roared with laughter.

This was Anson, able to become the focus of the audience and control the overall situation with ease, like Moses in the world.

But even Anson himself did not understand how the scene before him had happened.

“So, if I want to create a miracle of the Red Sea, can someone tell me the spell and gestures?”

In a burst of bustling laughter, the audience in front actually unbelievably made way for a path, but Anson raised his hand in a panic to stop everyone.

“Stop, stop, I don't want to receive a call from Area 51 or the FBI after I go home. I swear, I'm innocent.”