When Joseph saw the expression on Hugo's face as he came out, he knew things had not gone smoothly. He had actually anticipated this; that woman was not easy to deal with. However, he still held onto a sliver of hope, which was why he insisted that Hugo attend the audition for "a river runs through it." After all, given Hugo's current situation, he did not have the luxury of being picky, but unfortunately, he still returned in defeat.Joseph had originally intended to go up to meet him because Hugo did not look to be in a good state, but he quickly stopped in his tracks due to the appearance of two provocateurs. The Hugo before his eyes really did look different from before; to be precise, different from before last night. The current Hugo looked much more sunny and bright, and his whole spirit was much more positive. Moreover, the current Hugo looked like a handsome young man, but with two points less impulsiveness and two points more humor. Hearing Hugo's mocking words to those two, Joseph could not help but chuckle.This should be a good thing, right? Joseph was not very sure.Watching Hugo walk past him, Joseph hurriedly followed. The two entered the elevator together, leaving the noise of the corridor behind on the third floor. Joseph carefully and thoroughly examined Hugo, as if he wanted to see through his handsome exterior and explore deep into his soul.Joseph's gaze made Hugo feel uneasy. He frowned and looked back. His first reaction was to ask directly, "What are you looking at?" However, those icy blue eyes of Joseph almost saw through his "disguise" and directly into the real Chen Hugo. This startled Hugo, who subconsciously avoided his gaze and foolishly fixed his eyes on the numbers above the elevator.With a "ding," the elevator arrived at the first floor from the third. Hugo feigned calmness and looked at Joseph. "What, aren't you going to ask about today's audition process?" Hugo had no idea what an agent's job actually entailed. Looking at the teams of top stars in the past, putting aside the extra configurations like makeup artists, nutritionists, and fitness trainers, just the essential agents, managers, assistants, and PR managers—all that complex equipment left Hugo confused. Naturally, Hugo felt that Joseph should show more concern for his audition results, which would also happen to divert Joseph's intimidating gaze.Joseph increasingly sensed something wrong with Hugo. Although he had only taken over the job as Hugo's agent from Ron Meyer for about a year, the way the two of them interacted was definitely not like this.Joseph did not deliberately hide his gaze. Hugo's heart skipped a beat. He did not know what the Hugo Lancaster before he transmigrated looked like, but it was absolutely impossible for them to be cut from the same mold; it was natural for others to notice something abnormal. Hugo thought about the situation of facing the Lancasters in the future; dealing with Joseph head-on now might be a good start.Thinking of this, Hugo simply looked at Joseph and directly clarified, "What's wrong? Is there something not right?"The elevator waited for a long time for the two to walk out, then closed again. Although no one pressed a floor, the elevator continued to go up; presumably, someone upstairs had pressed the elevator button.Joseph carefully examined the Hugo in front of him, his eyebrows raised slightly. Without much expression, he simply said, "No. I just feel like you've changed a lot, different from before."Hugo opened his mouth to retort, saying something about struggling on the edge of life and death last night, but suddenly realized that Joseph had not mentioned when he started to be different. If he brought it up himself, it would clearly be a guilty conscience. Thus, when the words surged to his throat, he swallowed them back. "Which aspects are you referring to?"Seeing that Hugo's behavior was very normal, Joseph paused, then continued, "Almost all aspects. Aside from this face, your entire mental outlook has changed." Joseph saw Hugo's warm smile and paused. "I mean starting from last night."The smile on the corner of Hugo's mouth remained warm, just like the nine o'clock morning sun in winter, dispelling all cold. "Joseph, if you had seen Jesus or an angel, I think you would also have a different outlook on life.""So are you saying you saw heaven yesterday and were called by the Lord?" Joseph continued, clearly unwilling to give Hugo too much time to think.At this moment, the elevator door "dinged" and opened, interrupting Hugo's words. This was the eighth floor. A hotel employee stood at the door. Seeing guests in the elevator, he bowed politely to show respect before entering the elevator. The employee saw that no specific floor number had been pressed in the elevator, so he asked, "Which floor, please?""First floor," Joseph replied casually. After the employee pressed the floor number for them, he stood to the side and said nothing more.Joseph had originally thought that Hugo would take the opportunity of having someone else present to escape the topic, but unexpectedly, Hugo continued, "No, I just walked on the edge of life and death, and I want to cherish my life now. At least, I don't want to lose consciousness while floating on clouds." Hugo did not say any grand ambitions or make any heart-wrenching statements; he just self-deprecatingly remarked in a tone of infinite regret. But it was precisely these simple words that made Joseph quiet down as well.Indeed, a lot happened last night. If one were to say that Hugo breaking and then rebuilding himself led to these changes, then it would not be surprising at all. Moreover, the current Hugo's personality was much more likable than before; this was a positive signal, wasn't it? Thinking of this, Joseph did not bring up this topic again. Instead, he hoped that Hugo's change would continue and that he would not revert to his old ways after a period of time.The journey to the first floor, leaving the elevator, the valet bringing over that dilapidated Volkswagen Golf, and all the way until the two left the Four Seasons Hotel, neither Joseph nor Hugo spoke again, each immersed in their own thoughts."So, you haven't asked about the audition just now; is it because you already knew the result, or is there something I don't know about?" Hugo took the initiative to break the silence. He did not know if Joseph bought his previous remarks, but at least on the surface, Joseph did not have any more questions. Therefore, what Hugo needed to do was to remain calm, act as if nothing had happened, and not make a fuss or scare himself; this would instead minimize Joseph's suspicion.Hugo carefully thought about the audition process just now. He felt that his failure seemed destined, and the fact that Joseph had not asked a single question after coming out of the conference room was really too abnormal.Joseph was driving. The Four Seasons Hotel where they auditioned today was in the city center, and it was currently the morning rush hour, so the roads were very congested. He took a moment to glance at Hugo, then sighed in a low voice. Joseph knew that this matter could not be hidden from Hugo, which also indirectly proved that his suspicions about Hugo's abnormality were unnecessary; he was still the same young man full of wisdom as before."Tracy is one of the producers of 'a river runs through it.'" Joseph avoided his gaze, not daring to look at Hugo, and then added, "She was specially invited into the crew by Robert Redford after the project was confirmed, so I did not receive any news beforehand."Tracy? Hugo searched through the memories in his mind, and a flash of inspiration struck. "You mean Tracy Jacobs?"A look of surprise appeared on Hugo's face. He was surprised that he had actually remembered this name, and the secrets hidden behind this name. But in Joseph's eyes, it turned into anger and astonishment. Joseph pursed his lips slightly. "Hugo, sorry, I shouldn't have insisted that you attend today's audition." Unfortunately, Joseph did not get a response from Hugo, because Hugo had already fallen into his own thoughts.The existence of unspoken rules in any industry is a fact, and it is also inevitable. Hugo was very clear about this. In the United States, due to the existence of the Screen Actors Guild, protection measures for Actors are already very complete, and the era when unspoken rules were rampant has already been greatly controlled.In order to avoid black-box operations, every audition in the current casting process requires the director, producer, and agent to be present at the same time. The so-called producer, also known as the "presenter," is the investor of the film or someone who can bring in sponsorship; the commercial nature of the film determines that the producer is an important part of a film and has the right to participate in all affairs of filming the movie. The so-called agent includes two types: one is the Actor's own agent; the other is for Actors without an agent, where the Screen Actors Guild sends a public agent to protect the Actor's rights and interests.Casting needs to be decided by all three parties together, which is also the greatest limitation on black-box operations. Even if an Actor is willing to be subjected to unspoken rules and simultaneously bribes all three parties, it does not mean they can get the role. Because no one can afford to take responsibility for the failure of a movie. The director can't; it's the development of their own career. The producer can't; independent producers spend their own money, and affiliated producers have companies supervising them behind the scenes; failure means the failure of their work. The agent certainly can't; their remuneration comes from a share of the Actor's salary, and the failure of an Actor's work has no benefit for them.Therefore, under this system, so-called unspoken rules and black-box operations have indeed been minimized.But on the other hand, if one could get plenty of acting opportunities by encountering unspoken rules, how many people would refuse? Simply put, sleeping with a director or producer to get an acting opportunity is a shortcut to fame for many Actors; it is truly a bargain of a deal, and many people are willing to give it a try.In other words, unspoken rules are no longer dark and cannot see the light; they are directly put on the table, evolving into "Zhou Yu hitting Huang Gai," where one is willing to hit and the other is willing to be hit. And among these "Huang Gais" who followed one after another in Hollywood, the Hugo Lancaster before last night was one of them.
