"Hugo, was that song you just sang an original?" After Alex figured out the sequence of events, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, his gaze toward Hugo deepening with even more worship.In fact, it wasn't a simple coincidence that Alex's words had touched Hugo earlier. Alex himself was a decisive person; otherwise, he wouldn't have resigned from a stable bank job to come to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of being an Actor. Even though his acting career hadn't seen much progress yet, Alex hadn't lost hope, nor did he have any regrets. He knew that the emotion of "regret" was useless for changing the status quo. Instead of sitting at home constantly complaining and making countless "what if I hadn't resigned" assumptions, it was better to stick to his choice and strive hard so as not to regret it. Therefore, Alex had naturally spoken those words.But the problem was that while Alex had such emotions in his heart, he wasn't necessarily able to turn them into musical notes. This ability was not something everyone possessed. Just now, Joseph and Alex could be said to have witnessed the creation of "dont look back in anger" with their own eyes, personally experiencing Hugo's magical process of evolution. Whether it was the melody or the lyrics, this song was definitely a masterpiece.When Hugo hummed softly with his warm voice, fragments of memories left in a blooming youth would surface in the mind—beautiful, sentimental, nostalgic, happy, painful. Everything had left an indelible mark on one's life. But Hugo's singing allowed these memories to flow past before one's eyes, sprinting toward the distant past, leaving only a brilliant silhouette, and then leading the heart's palpitations to sprint toward that blurred light and shadow of the future.At some point, the eyes were filled with shimmering tears, but these crystalline tears did not fall. Instead, they radiated a warm light along with the faint smile at the corners of the mouth. This kind of energy from music penetrated layers of external blockades, easily reaching the depths of the heart and shaking the soul.Both Joseph and Alex were shaken by Hugo; this was the purest essence of music. Even though Hugo didn't use any instruments for accompaniment, even though Hugo performed it as an a cappella, the trembling of the soul was not diminished at all. Not just Alex, but even the look Joseph gave Hugo now held a hint of respect.Hugo felt a bit uncomfortable being watched by the two of them. Although he had always been used to composing in the past—over seventy percent of Glory to Death's songs were handled by him—composing such excellent songs as "second chance" and "dont look back in anger" was a height he only reached after crossing over.Truly soul-stirring music must be a work that the creator expresses from the heart. Only when the resonance from deep within is perfectly combined with the melody can such an effect be achieved. Hugo had never been able to make a breakthrough before, but now, he finally did it. Both of the brand-new songs Hugo had composed so far were like this.Hugo couldn't help but sigh. This crossover had not only created acting opportunities for him, but the progress in music was an even more pleasant surprise. If he missed such an opportunity, Hugo wouldn't be able to forgive himself."Yes," Hugo said with a proud smile. His love for music was deep in his marrow, and that would never change.Alex's exclamation followed immediately, "Wow, then why don't you try to be a singer? Your songwriting is so excellent, and your live singing really moved me. i swear, I was already crying just now." Alex even touched his own watery eyes, proving his words with practical action.Hugo was directly amused by Alex's childish behavior. "Alex, tell me, if I just ran out like this and told a record company, 'Hey, I want to release a record,' do you think anyone would be willing?""Why not?" Alex was clearly full of infinite confidence in Hugo; he didn't understand Hugo's words at all.Hugo was suddenly choked up by Alex's purity.For a record company to release a record, they naturally had to go through calculations. It was impossible for them to actively pay to release records for everyone who was talented. Having talent didn't mean there was a market, and even if there was a market, it didn't mean they could make money. For a company, profit was the most important thing.And Hugo hadn't even sorted out a future for his career as an Actor yet; things wouldn't change at least until "scent of a woman" was released. So if he asked a record company to release a record for him now, no one would be willing. Not all Actors could become singers; this wasn't the 21st century where anyone could release a record. Similarly, not everyone could become Barbara Streisand, who is the only artist to date to have won multiple prestigious awards such as the Oscar, Tony, Grammy Awards, Emmy Award, and Golden Globe Awards.However, explaining these complex situations would be too troublesome, so Hugo finally said, "Because my movies don't make money, record companies aren't willing to believe my records can make money either." This simplified everything and summarized all the issues at once.Alex immediately began to complain in a low voice, "These businessmen are really only interested in profit.""Haha, you can't blame them for that, can you? Because we also need money to maintain our lives," Hugo said with a light laugh.In fact, after crossing over, Hugo's first thought wasn't acting, but music, because that was a dream deep in his marrow. But compared to music, the opportunity to act came first, so Hugo seized it. Now, Hugo also clearly realized his situation. Before his acting career took off, it would be difficult for his music dreams to make a breakthrough. So, instead of agonizing over it, it was better to relax and follow the pace of opportunity. Perhaps everything would work itself out in the end."Go get some rest quickly. We have to go to the second-hand furniture market today, and we can't do without enough sleep." Hugo stood up and said cheerfully. Music was truly a magical thing. Once Hugo turned all his inner emotions into musical notes and wrote them down, his whole being felt lightened, and negative emotions were swept away."Right, right, sleep," Alex said, raising his voice, but he still sat motionless on the sofa, clearly too lazy to move."You're taking up my bed." A resentful sentence from Joseph made Alex jump up immediately. He said "Sorry" with a face full of smiles and then headed toward the room clutching a pillow. But just as he entered the room, Alex came out again and walked straight into the bathroom opposite. Facing Hugo and Joseph's surprised expressions, Alex chuckled, "Forgot to take care of my biological needs; I was actually woken up by the urge just now."Awkward. Hugo had thought Alex was woken up by the sound of their chatting, but it turned out he wasn't.Early the next morning, Joseph, Alex, Hugo, and the newly arrived Carl, all four of them went to the second-hand furniture market to buy furniture. Since there was currently nothing in the house, almost everything needed to be purchased. However, all four were poor guys with empty pockets, so they could only buy things in order of necessity, purchasing the daily essentials first and waiting to supplement the other furniture bit by bit in the future.At this moment, the four of them stood at the entrance of a second-hand appliance store, looking at a twenty-nine-inch color TV at the door. It was priced at six hundred dollars, which was already equivalent to a month's rent for them. In fact, Joseph, Carl, and Alex all wanted to leave, but unfortunately, Hugo was unwilling to go, and their feet couldn't seem to move away either."Hugo, let's just go. A TV isn't a necessity; it doesn't matter even if we don't have one," Alex advised. He still couldn't help but sound a bit excited when talking to Hugo, though it was much better than yesterday. If he kept "worshiping" Hugo as an idol, their future days of living together would probably be very weird, so Alex was also constantly adjusting his mindset.Hugo looked at Joseph and Carl. "Do you guys think so too?" Carl hesitated and nodded. Joseph actually wanted to nod too, but he didn't react immediately, just looking at Hugo. Hugo knew that everyone actually wanted to buy a TV, but they really didn't have enough funds at the moment. "Alex, do you still want to stare blankly at an empty low cabinet?"Hugo was referring to yesterday when they got home and Alex had sat with the remote control, staring blankly at the empty low cabinet. It looked very comical, reminding one of a comedy from the silent film era. Only after asking did they find out that there had originally been a black-and-white TV in the house, but it had broken down and couldn't be fixed, so Alex hadn't bought another one.It was already the nineties, and TVs were basically universal. The price of black-and-white TVs wasn't considered high, but the price of color TVs remained high, even for second-hand ones. But for people's lives, everyone was already used to the existence of television; it would indeed be very difficult to endure a home without one.In Hugo's view, he already had no cell phone and no computer. If he didn't even have a TV, life would be so dull and tasteless, so he was very persistent.Hearing Hugo say this, Alex immediately laughed sheepishly. Hugo looked at everyone's expressions again and finally made the decision. "Money is earned to be spent; it won't multiply if it stays in your pocket. It's better to spend it in the right places to improve our lives. It's settled then; we'll buy two. That one will be for you." Hugo said the last sentence to Joseph. "I can't give you extra bonuses yet, but a small reward is still possible."Hugo was quite generous in buying two twenty-nine-inch color TVs at once, but then he broke character himself and said seriously, "How about it? Do you suddenly feel like I've become a lot more handsome? Does my image seem tall and mighty?"With this joke from Hugo, the surge of emotion in their hearts was diluted quite a bit. Joseph added wordlessly, "Nouveau riche." This made Carl, who was next to him, burst out laughing because it was a very fitting description.
