Pulling into a McDonald's drive-through, Ronnie opened the glove compartment, took out a stack of coupons, picked out a Big Mac meal, and handed it to the cashier along with a dollar bill, two quarters, and a dime.
The Big Mac combo, originally priced at $2.59, is only $1.6 with the coupon.
Ronald picked up the meal wrapped in a paper bag and drove all the way back to his apartment.
People living in Venice Beach are not rich; most of the residents are middle and lower-income residents. It is mostly white, so the public security is good.
Ronald was a little hungry, so he went home and ate a Big Mac and drank a Coke.
This apartment has one bedroom and one living room. It is located in a relatively remote area of Venice and the rent is not high, less than $200 a month.
Except for being far from the city, there are no disadvantages. Ronald has a car and commutes to get off work every day, which takes more than half an hour each way, so he has no complaints.
After throwing the food into the trash can, Ronald took some clean clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
Remembering that he had to get up early tomorrow, he took a shower, washed up, and wanted to bed early. Ronald wiped the mist off the mirror with his hands, revealing a handsome face. His deep eye sockets, straight nose, and well-proportioned body were the result of years of physical exercise. No matter from which angle you look at him, he is a handsome guy.
After the comic book adaptation movie "Superman" was released last year, everyone said he looked like Christopher Reeve, who played Superman.
They do look a bit like each other. Ronald is also tall, 6 feet 2 (1.88 meters). However, Superman has black hair, while his hair is dirty blond, with the roots close to black and the ends more blond. His eyes are amber, with the inner circle near the pupil being dark brown and the outer circle being golden.
His hair and eyes were not the typical colors of a typical American, and his ancestors were from different countries.
Ronald changed his clothes and lay on the bed, missing his family in New York.
After crossing over, Ronald tragically discovered that he had no memory of his past life and only retained some skills, such as driving, drawing comics, and wrestling. He could only write but not speak English, so at first, he could only pretend that he couldn't speak.
Aunt Karen was very worried and took him to see a doctor. After a checkup, the doctor thought that he had suffered a blow to the brain, which led to a rare aphasia, and he had to learn to speak like a child again.
Ronald found a book for learning English and studied hard for half a year following the recordings. In addition, he was in an all-English environment and finally learned to speak again.
After that, he joined the high school wrestling team but couldn't adapt to freestyle wrestling, which required grabbing people's necks. He lost in the inter-school competition and didn't get a sports scholarship to college.
Until one day, when he accidentally picked up a camera from a classmate on the wrestling team, he discovered the most useful skill he had in his previous life - taking pictures.
Measuring light with bare hands, lighting, and guiding people to pose, it seems that he can take a qualified portrait without thinking. Was he a photographer in his previous life? He doesn't remember. But this skill can make money now.
Aunt Karen saved $200 and wanted to buy him a used car. This is a tradition of middle-class families in America: when a child becomes an adult and gets a driver's license, the father buys a used car for the child.
Ronald didn't buy a car but used the money to buy a second-hand Nikon F2 SLR camera and several rolls of film. From then on, he became a photographer, taking various portraits to make money.
After graduating from high school, Ronald did not have enough money to go to college, so he took a year off and worked to earn tuition. With more than $500 in "huge sums", he said goodbye to his aunt Karen and cousin Donna. It took him 12 days to get from New York to Los Angeles without flying.
He took a year off because he had no money. He looked like an 18-year-old boy, and clients didn't trust his photography skills. He didn't make enough money as a portrait photographer. In the countryside of Staten Island, there weren't many fast food restaurants looking for young people to work.
Soon, Ronald found that the easiest way to make money in portrait photography was to take audition photos for actors. It was easy and profitable. He could earn more than $100 for two A4-sized headshots. Not many people made movies in New York, so Ronald came to Hollywood to look for opportunities.
After arriving in Hollywood, he started taking some portrait photos. Word of mouth attracted clients, but when they saw that he was young, they were unwilling to believe in his ability and could only charge $30 to $50 per set for new actors who had not yet entered the industry.
Ronald wanted to join a film crew and have his name in the end credits so that clients could believe he was an "insider." He wanted to collect more money and save up enough money for tuition, books, accommodation, etc.
Later, I applied for a screenwriter position at New World Productions. After being selected, I didn't write a single page of the script but worked as a script reader for several months. Two weeks ago, my boss pushed me to work as an assistant on the set of "Rock 'n' Roll High School". My main job was to make coffee…
Feeling a little sleepy, Ronald set the alarm for 04:30 tomorrow morning and turned over to sleep.
…
After sleeping in the dark for an unknown amount of time, Ronald heard someone talking outside. He opened the door and walked outside. There was a white screen in the open space in the middle of the apartment. It seemed like someone was showing a movie.
In the dim light, Ronald found that many people were sitting in rows in front of the screen. Was this a party?
"Sit down!" someone shouted at him.
Ronald took the seat in the middle of the last row, next to the projector.
Suddenly, the screen lit up. Ronald was startled. A bunch of English words popped up on it, with the title in red capital letters:
"FBI WARNING".
Below is a line of fine print:
"Under federal law, the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or public display of copyrighted motion pictures may result in severe civil and criminal penalties (Title 17, U.S.C. §§ 501 and 508). The FBI investigates complaints of copyright infringement (Title 17, U.S.C. § 506)."
This is a copyright warning.
"Why hasn't it started yet? What movie is playing today?" The man was speaking.
After more than ten seconds, a picture popped up on the screen, and everyone fell silent.
A three-story white building appeared in the picture, and the sun shone gently on it. There was no one there, only a few crickets chirping, which contrasted with the quietness of the environment.
A few seconds later, a line of big red letters popped up at the bottom of the screen: "A New World Productions film, copyright @1979, New World Productions."
Huh?
It turned out to be a movie produced by New World Pictures, where I work. But why did they use the copyright for next year?
The camera turned to a large sign with green letters on a yellow background, reading Vince Lombardi High School. Below the sign was a sentence: "Winning is not the most important thing; it is the only thing."
Ronald's mouth is open. Isn't Vince Lombardi High School the name of a fictional school in the script? Could this movie be the "Rock 'n' Roll High School" being filmed today?
The scene changed, and a student appeared on the screen. He was looking at a map on the wall. There was a red cross on it, and under the red cross, it was written: "You are here."
"Where am I?" the student asked himself.
A group of players in rugby uniforms came over, grabbed the student, and carried him away from the screen. A female student wearing large black-framed glasses appeared on the camera, standing next to the platform for welcoming new students.
On the table were various chemical experiment utensils filled with red, green, and blue liquids. Next to them was a sign that read "Kate Rambeau, Science Club, Chemical Reaction Demonstration."
The scene cuts to another handsome boy, who is called Tom. Tom walks out of the teaching building and sits at the table to eat. Kate Rambeau approaches him to chat with him, but Tom, who does not understand romance, rejects her and starts reading a book.
The scene changed again, and another beautiful woman in red put on a Ramones record and started playing this strong rock music. The students begin to dance on the playground, and the red title "Rock 'n' Roll High School" appears.
It really is "Rock 'n' Roll High School"!
Ronald thought.
"Boss, change to a better-looking one," someone shouted.
"That's right, change to an action movie."
"Change to action. Fighting is more interesting."
"Is there any kung fu movies? Let's exchange it for that ..."
Suddenly, someone stood up, walked to the machine next to Ronald, and pressed a button, and the screen turned white again.
The machine spits out a black box. On the white label, four characters are written in red ink:
"Rock 'n' Roll High School."
"Boss, change the film!"
The man shouted, waving the black box - the videotape.
"Ah!" Ronald screamed and rolled off the bed.