Hugo rubbed his temples with a vague pain and sat at the entrance of the stairs from the second to the first floor. He originally planned to go downstairs to throw garbage, but he saw a group of paparazzi guarding the door of his house from the window. This made Hugo's steps hesitate. Finally, he stopped at the stairs and sat directly on the steps, looking down at the paparazzi wandering outside the window, staring blankly.

Over the past week, Hugo has been tangled by reporters to the point of fear. He has been having a nightmare these days. In the dream, he stood in an empty playground, and then countless dark camera lenses were rushing towards him, just like countless spiders rushing up. It didn't even need a flash light to make Hugo feel breathless, and the dense phobia made Hugo get goosebumps all over his body. There were faces behind the cameras, but no facial features were visible. It was just like the dementors in the Harry Potter series, and nothing could be seen under the hollow hat. These black holes seemed to absorb Hugo's happiness, sucking all his emotions in his heart, and then surrounded by countless cameras, just like an ants devouring an elephant, eating him directly.

In the nightmare, Hugo struggled and tried hard, trying to get rid of these shots and want to escape from the shackles of dreams, but he always failed. He waited until he was completely overwhelmed by the camera before he could wake up from the dream with sweat. This made Hugo's sleep quality plummet and his whole body became depressed.

Hugo has always known that becoming an artist means being surrounded by spotlights, and every move of public figures will be taken under a magnifying glass to observe or even a microscope. Hugo thought he was mentally prepared and he had the nerves to deal with all this. Even after facing Anthony's provocation, Hugo quickly calmed down and thought of a solution.

But Hugo finally underestimated the power of the media. The speculation and tracking of "big brand suspicion" during this period almost shattered Hugo's life. The reporters were like leeches. Once they touched Hugo's skin, they would not leave without sucking blood, which made him miserable. Hugo tried various methods, remained silent, was angry, and explained it to others, but there was no effect. The reporters were still unwilling to give in. Hugo's self-proclaimed tenacity nerves have been facing the test of fire. The invasion of the nightmare made him begin to be afraid to face the camera and the reporters.

It’s like now that he doesn’t even dare to walk downstairs to throw garbage when he sees the reporter outside. It’s really ridiculous.

Hugo wanted to pull a sarcastic curve to mock his incompetence and cowardice, but he found that he had no power to smile, even a sarcastic smile. He rubbed his temples that were constantly twitching, and it seemed like a group of villains were beating drums and drums in his head. The tendons on his back were straightened, which forced Hugo to lean against the wall and closed his eyes, hoping to relieve this bad headache a little.

"Get up! Don't block the way." A irritable voice came from behind. Hugo didn't have to open his eyes to know that this must be Ernst Lehman who lives on the second floor.

Hugo wanted to open his mouth and say something, but found that he suddenly didn't want to speak. Recently, he said too much to the reporter, so he felt that speaking now is a burden. This is really ridiculous. I didn't expect that he would be afraid of speaking one day. It's ridiculous. Hugo snorted lightly and expressed contempt for himself.

"Are you going to die? If you want to die, go out and die again, don't dirty the corridor." Ernst pushed Hugo's back with a hard object. Hugo guessed it was Ernst's crutch, which made Hugo, who was sore all over his body, feel as if he was about to fall apart.

Ernst's words were so ugly, and Hugo was so uncomfortable that he couldn't help but say irritably, "Don't worry, I will never die earlier than you."

Hugo turned his head and looked at Ernst angrily, expressing his dissatisfaction. Although the turning of his head made Hugo's head hurt so much that it seemed to explode, Hugo strongly suspected that he had a cold, which was so beautiful; but Hugo had no time to take care of his head at this time, and his hazy gaze saw Ernst in front of him.

At this time, Ernst was wearing a thick cotton jacket, as if he was about to flood his thin body. The wrapped scarf covered most of his cheeks, but it could not block the aging of his forehead and corners of his eyes. The layers of wrinkles were so clear, and Ernst's turbid eyes were even more blurry at this time, as if the ray of light would disappear at any time.

Hugo realized that Ernst was close to death compared to himself. Although he didn't know how old Ernst was, he looked at least seventy years old. His words just now were a little too much, which made Hugo stunned, and then sighed, "Sorry, I shouldn't say that." Hugo turned around and twisted his bones back to feel soreness, "I'm in a bad mood, but I shouldn't be angry with you, sorry."

After Hugo finished speaking, he took a deep breath, adjusted his irritable mood, and prepared to stand up, "Sorry, I'll stand up now." Hugo knew that he was sitting on the stairs blocking Ernst's path.

Unexpectedly, Ernst knocked Hugo's shoulder and signaled him to sit down. Ernst said in an irritable voice, "Don't worry, although I'm very old, I'm very healthy. Maybe I'll live longer than you. Who knows if you will die if you overdose."

The old man was really merciless in his speech, which made Hugo chuckle, "Enst, I know you don't like me, but there is no need to curse me."

Ernst snorted softly, "I'm not a wizard, I curse you without any lethality. Why, are you still worried that I will end you with a knife? Then you are useless." Ernst's irritable voice made Hugo's tired mouth curl a helpless curve. The old man really had a sharp mouth, "I think you look depressed and unscrupulous, can it be because of the crows outside, right?"

Hugo smiled unkindly when he heard Ernst describe the reporters like this, and nodded, "Yes, their screams gave me a headache."

"It's useless." Ernst gave Hugo a contemptuous look, as if he was despising the mastiff defeated by a cat, making Hugo feel a black line falling down on his forehead. Then he saw Ernst sitting slowly next to Hugo. Hugo looked at the ground and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Ernst. "It's really useless to be scared by the reporter. They are not ancient dragons." Then Ernst sat down.

Looking at Hugo's shocked look, Ernst was very comfortable and put his crutch on his knees. "I remember you were filming a movie, right?" Hugo nodded blankly. He did not expect Ernst to talk to him. This was the most normal exchange between him and Ernst in a year. It was really surprising. "The media is part of your work. You need to use these crows to promote them. At the same time, these crows also need to use your power to make a living. You are in a relationship of mutual help, why should you be afraid of them?"

Ernst glanced at Hugo, and the taste of contempt was obvious. "These crows were very irritable, some were good and some were bad, some were positive and some were negative. If you listen to them all, then you are not irritable yet. You might as well stop making movies and just watch what they shout every day."

"I..." Hugo tried to defend himself. He didn't read the reporter's comments all day, but Ernst didn't give him a chance at all. "Tsk, don't deny it. If you don't care about these crows, why sit here stupidly?" Ernst pointed to the garbage bag at Hugo's hand with a crutch, making Hugo's cheeks flushed a little.

"It's like no one is perfect. No one can get everyone's love. If you want to be loved by everyone, then currency is your choice, preferably a check or something." Ernst's rough words were like rubbing matte paper on the blackboard. It was very ugly, but the comedy effect was excellent, which made Hugo laugh a little, "Don't you think you are perfect, right?"

Hugo quickly shook his head and denied it.

"You're a little self-aware." Ernst smashed his mouth, looked at Hugo's restrained face, and then said, "So, those crows must have good or bad views on you. When every movie comes out, those critics who claim to be professional and actually justify themselves must have also praised and shouted. How to filter these remarks and how to view these statements is the most important thing."

Hugo listened carefully. Although Ernst's words were rough, they were all truth. "Why do they say you are good? Is it really good or just a compliment? Criticism and condemnation are why? Is it true that you point out your mistakes for your good? I hope you correct them or to gain the focus on nonsense. You must distinguish the meaning behind these noises and then ignore those useless things."

In fact, Hugo also knew these truths, but what he knew in the past was too general, and after this incident, it was a personal experience. Now, when Ernst mentioned it, Hugo's head gradually became clearer.

"The most important thing is not to affect your mood because of the words of these crows. People will be happy when they say you are good, and people will be frustrated when they say you are bad. This is too cheap. You must know that this is just a crow. You are you. Sticking to yourself is the most important thing." Ernst said hatefully, revealing his contempt for Hugo again, "Roll in this circle. If you can't learn this, just hide in your mother's arms."

Hugo couldn't help but laughed softly. He could finally show a real smile, but in Ernst's eyes, he was very puzzled, "Why are you laughing at? A woman appears?" Ernst actually looked around in cooperation. It was obvious that his simple movement was very funny at this moment.

Hugo held back his smile, "No, no, just..." Hugo's gaze fell on the stairs, "You sat on the gum, do you know this, right?" Hugo wanted to remind Ernst just now, but unfortunately he was interrupted.
Chapter completed!