From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

The thought of going to the cinema and spending time with a group of strangers, sharing a memory about a movie, made Anson's heart flutter.

There was a little bit of excitement.

It was even more delightful than the cheers and screams at the flash mob event; or rather, it was a completely different experience, yet it allowed him to see different possibilities in life.

Anson didn't continue to stand in the center of the square exposing himself, he walked to the side, found a bench, sat down in a low-key manner, quietly hiding himself, and obediently waited for Lucas to return with the tickets.

Not long after sitting down, a figure appeared in the diagonal front, casting a scrutinizing gaze.

Anson's heart tightened slightly, and he secretly cried out that things were not good.

If he were recognized here, the movie plan might fall through.

But Anson couldn't figure out how he was identified, as he hadn't made any special movements or actions, and had been sitting obediently on the side.

Could he be recognized without seeing his face, just by a back view and a profile?

Even AI facial recognition technology wouldn't be that powerful, right?

Isn't this a fantasy?

Unreasonable.

Perhaps, he was just overthinking, and there was a more reasonable explanation:

The other party had arranged to meet a friend here but hadn't seen their friend, so they were looking in every corner, and the other party simply hadn't recognized Anson.

Anson calmed down slightly, and like in the afternoon at the airport, he showed a calm and generous demeanor. As long as he was calm and firm enough, he could fool the other party.

So, Anson didn't avoid eye contact. Like an ordinary person being mistaken, he noticed the warmth of the gaze and naturally looked up.

"Anson!"

An exclamation of surprise.

Anson: ? ? ? This works?

But the next second, Anson also saw the figure in front of him, and couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise.

"Jack?"

Jack Forrest, the New York teenager, the boy who had fled his home with his mother to escape domestic violence, actually appeared here.

But shouldn't Jack be in Portland? Why is he in San Francisco?

Could it be that Jack's father had found them, or had they encountered other troubles? So much so that they had to leave Portland?

Various thoughts surged in his mind, and for a moment he couldn't distinguish them clearly, leaving only surprise and joy mixed together, swarming up.

Not only Anson, but Jack also had a face full of surprise, unabashedly smiling, even jumping up and down twice in place, giving Anson a solid hug.

Anson's first reaction was to dodge—

A conditioned reflex formed recently, his body could no longer adapt to the waves of heat and frenzy, and he subconsciously tried to distance himself.

However, the enthusiastic Jack didn't care at all, and continued to take a step forward, still accurately embracing Anson, his chest filled with cheerful laughter.

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations on the great success of this work, you are now a big actor."

Along with that, Anson's mood also lifted, the tension and anxiety slowly smoothed out bit by bit in the warmth and enthusiasm of the embrace, and involuntarily, a smile crept onto the corner of his mouth, and the tense lines of his shoulders relaxed, regaining his usual demeanor outside of Lucas.

Anson deliberately put on a stern face, "So, this is the reason you came all the way to say hello to me?"

Jack was stunned, and waved his hands repeatedly, "No, I didn't, I just saw you, I was so happy, I, I really didn't expect... sorry..."

Speechless and flustered.

This time, it was Anson who was flustered. Looking at Jack's cheeks flushed red, almost about to cry, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He shouldn't have joked with this little guy, knowing what he had been through.

"Jack, Jack!"

"Sorry, I shouldn't joke around casually, I didn't mean to blame you."

Anson called out to Jack repeatedly, looking brightly into Jack's eyes, which made Jack calm down a little, but his eyes still carried a hint of uncertainty.

Anson showed a smile.

"I'm serious. In fact, I'm very happy to meet an old friend here."

Sincere, simple, but you can feel the closeness in his words.

Anson also relaxed, "This shows that I have completed an excellent job."

Jack nodded vigorously, "Until now, I have truly realized that you are an actor, although I saw you in Portland last time, but the big screen is still different."

Anson raised his eyebrow slightly, "Oh, I thought you had already seen 'Spider-Man'."

Jack nodded, "I've seen it."

With a look of frankness, "But that's an idol movie, isn't it?"

So direct, yet so sincere—

As people grow older, they become less and less fond of the truth, because the truth is often hurtful, and then life is wrapped in layers of illusory lies, until they can no longer touch reality, stuck in a limbo.

Therefore, truth is good, truth can make people feel the existence of gravity again.

Anson was hit head-on, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond, but recently he had been completely wrapped in colorful bubbles, and suddenly touching the truth, the feeling of being down-to-earth returned to his blood, and Anson needed such moments, which was why he wanted to go to the cinema.

Thus.

"I can't deny it."

Anson spread his hands with a frank face and admitted it.

Jack was a little restrained, scratched his head again, moved his mouth but didn't know how to respond.

Anson continued, "But it's good this way, because the payment arrived smoothly, they paid for my work, and it was worth a lot. To be honest, I like this kind of work, it makes things simple."

"Hey, why should we resist it?"

The frank attitude made Jack slightly stunned, tilting his head to carefully examine Anson, until he confirmed that Anson was not joking and there was no reluctance, he opened his mouth in surprise, "So it can be interpreted this way, in this way, it doesn't seem so bad for actors to act in bad movies."

Anson shrugged lightly, "If there are enough zeros on the check. Hey, we won't discuss the question of whether money can buy love for the time being; but money should be able to buy a project, a collaboration."

"Ha."

Jack couldn't help but laugh, "You are different. Haha."

The smile, so clean and so pure.

Along with that, a smile also quietly crept onto the corner of Anson's mouth.

He missed such moments, moments of chatting freely and shooting the breeze with friends, things could become simple.

Maybe Jack was just a middle school student, just a child in the eyes of others; but in Anson's eyes, he was a friend.

Then.

Anson remembered a key point at this time, because he was enjoying the conversation so much that he almost forgot, "Why did you come to San Francisco? Is something wrong, how is your mother, is she doing well now?"