Hypocrisy

Hugo reached the elevator and looked at the number displayed above. It changed from 4 to 3. His eyebrows unconsciously gathered in the middle as he looked to the sides. Then, on both sides of the elevator door, he saw the huge Arabic numeral "5," and Hugo immediately realized that he messed up.

The audition was on the third floor, but he came to the fifth floor, so he naturally couldn't find anyone. However, he unexpectedly ran into Brad. Hugo remembered the embarrassment of accidentally entering the ladies' bathroom last night and couldn't help but groan as he slapped his forehead. He really was confused. Hugo quickly took the elevator again, after double-checking that he had pressed the button for the third floor, he closed the elevator door and slid down to the lower floor.

As soon as the elevator door opened, the ambient noise, different from the coolness of the fifth floor, came through from the right. Hugo walked out of the elevator and saw the lively scene in the hallway, which was clearly the audition site for "A River Runs Through It". In fact, there were not many people who came to the audition today, only about thirty people. As Joseph said, this was for the main characters to come to the interview, not a large-scale public interview. Most likely only actors with talent agencies would be able to get interview opportunities.

As Hugo stepped out of the elevator, he curiously surveyed his surroundings, trying to spot a familiar face, just as he would if he were to see Brad Pitt. Hollywood, only twelve hours ago, was a distant kingdom for Hugo, as if it were two separate worlds, and the only contact he had with Hollywood was through the screen, with no overlap. But now, Hugo was standing in Los Angeles, at the audition site of "A River Runs Through It", in the golden decade of Hollywood movies, and it was simply incredible.

"Hey, isn't that Hugo Lancaster who just won the Golden Raspberry Award?" A greasy voice interrupted Hugo's curious gaze. Hugo turned around and saw a man about 5 feet 8 inches tall with shoulder-length golden straight hair walking towards him, "Thank you, really thank you, our dream has finally come true." The man exaggeratedly imitated Hugo's acceptance speech at the Golden Raspberry Award ceremony.

"George, no, you forgot, it was written in the newspaper that Hugo's first 'thank you' was said with tears and stuttering, he couldn't even finish it. Your delivery is too smooth, this performance won't pass." Another man with black curly hair walked up and stood next to the first man, with a teasing smile on his face. He wiggled his eyebrows at Hugo, as if he were a circus trainer teasing a poor animal.

Hugo looked at the two clowns in front of him. He knew that the news of the Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony last night could not be concealed from the public, but he thought it was the early 1990s. The Golden Raspberry Awards had not attracted so much attention yet, let alone live television, and the Internet had not risen as well, so the speed of news dissemination was not so fast. But now it seemed that the highlights of last night's news were already broadcasted by this morning.

"Sorry, you are..." Hugo smiled politely like a gentleman, but this one sentence was enough to immediately choke the two people in front of him. The meaning of this sentence was obvious: where are you coming from? What qualifications do you have to comment on me?

The blond man with straight hair changed his face immediately as he raised his voice angrily, "You don't deserve to know who we are, but you on the other hand have been nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award three times in just short two years. It's a shame to know how bad your acting skills are."

The black-haired man next to him also chimed in, "Yes, if it were me, I would hide at home and not come out. I still came to the audition even though I participated in such a trashy award ceremony as the Golden Raspberry Award. It's a shame for actors that you were so moved by the award that you were at a loss. I feel ashamed for you, and we, on behalf of all actors, openly despise you."

Hugo had not been able to fully adjust to his time travel until now, as events had come one after the other and his mind remained in 2014, but his soul was truly in 1992. But facing these two clowns, Hugo suddenly felt a sense of joy, as the chaos brought by time travel was now full of humor.

"Why, are you envious?" Hugo spoke with a sincere smile on his face, as if he were expressing his inner feelings. There were no negative emotions involved, but his words were quite derisive. "I'm worried about Stallone. He didn't know what to think when he heard your remarks 'on behalf of all actors'."

"If you want to compare with Stallone, wait until you shoot "Rocky"." The blonde straight-haired man shouted angrily. Although Sylvester Stallone had shot "First Blood", which was hated by professional film critics, he had also shot "Rocky" which won the Oscar for Best Picture and won the nomination for Best Actor. Not to mention "Rocky"'s $117 million box-office feat at a cost of $1 million. "Actors still have to talk about their works after all. Besides "Dead Poets Society", what other works are worth mentioning? No, no!"

Hugo opened his eyes wide in surprise. He was unaware that this body had previously acted in "Dead Poets Society", which was an unexpected delight for him since he was a fan of the movie. He didn't remember seeing his current face in the cast of the movie, but he thought he could look into it if he had the chance. However, now was not the time to reminisce. He paused for a moment, then continued, "Yes, I only have one "Dead Poets Society". What about you guys? What's your most notable work?"

At this moment, most people's attention was focused on the gold-haired man and the black-haired man whose voices were too exaggerated, interrupting all the people who were preparing for the audition. And due to people's nature of watching a show, they couldn't help but look over. When they saw that the person in the dispute was Hugo Lancaster, they suddenly realized that today's headline in the "Los Angeles Times" must be the focus of everyone's discussion. Whether it was the first actor in the history of the Golden Raspberry Award to personally attend the award ceremony or the tearful thank-you speech, it was enough to make Hugo the best topic of conversation after dinner.

People who came to audition are naturally insiders, and everyone originally thought that Hugo would face the siege of two people, and would be caught off guard, after all, the fact of last night's award ceremony made it impossible for people to straighten their backs, and a little ridicule would probably make them want to hide under the table. This was also the reason why no one in Hollywood was willing to attend the Golden Raspberry Award, as this was definitely a shame.

Surprisingly, Hugo's confident and unassuming response actually made the two attacking people look flustered. People not only wouldn't ridicule Hugo, but would be unconsciously influenced by Hugo's positive energy. Especially when Hugo finally said "what's your most notable work", accompanied by Hugo's polite smile, everyone else at the scene laughed out loud - this ridicule was obviously given to these two unknown actors.

Although Hugo was a bit nervous, he would make some mistakes of going to the wrong bathroom or pressing the wrong elevator button. He always looked like a friendly big boy with a sunny smile, but that didn't mean he was a fool. He wouldn't be shamed into running away when bullied. On the contrary, he would fight back in his own way!

The two men were immediately embarrassed by Hugo's counterattack. They originally wanted to satirize Hugo, but it came bite them back instead. The man with the black curly hair held back for a long time amidst the harsh laughter, but just couldn't help and said, "Maybe "A River Runs Through It" will become my masterpiece!"

"Yes, "A River Runs Through It" will be my masterpiece", said the blond man with straight hair.

Hugo nodded meaningfully to show his understanding, but then said, "Are you so confident?"

"Of course, the one who finally succeeds in the audition is definitely not going to be you!" The golden straight-haired man desperately wanted to get even with Hugo, so his grim face finally eased a little. He was triumphant again, as if he had already seen the appearance of Hugo leaving dejectedly. The black curly-haired man nodded continuously by the side, and his expression was clearly much more cheerful.

Hugo did not refute this sentence. Although he did not have full confidence in himself, he would try his best at least once. As for the result, he could not control it. Because the right of speech was no longer on him, and the right of speech would not be on the two unknown people in front of him, so there was no need to refute this sentence at all.

"Who is the representative of the two of you?" Hugo nodded to show that he understood the meaning of their words, while throwing a bomb.

As soon as this sentence came out, the two men immediately looked bad. The two men looked at each other. Indeed, everyone wanted the role of the first actor Paul, but there was only one position. So who was playing it? They are also competitors.

Many of the bystanders burst into laughter again. Everyone thought Hugo was really a wonderful person. Not to mention the exciting words on the Golden Raspberry Awards, today's witty counterattack was enough to make people have a wonderful day.

Hugo stepped forward to pass the two men and join the other auditors, but only after taking a step, he stopped again and turned back and asked, "Excuse me, after talking for so long, I still don't know your names. May I know who you are?" This question was like salt on the wounds of the two men, and the anonymity of the nobodies was thoroughly stamped on their heads.

The blonde straight-haired man immediately barked angrily at Hugo's back, "My name is George Wood! His name is William Stone!"

"Wood, stone..." Hugo nodded and repeated, "Wood, Stone, nice to meet you." Hugo waved his right hand politely and then turned away.

The polite and calm words were prickly, but the two men couldn't refute them. They could only helplessly watch Hugo walk towards the corridor with a brisk pace.