The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1390 Heartbreaking
Around 1958, Johnny Cash was already a top singer in the United States, but he lost himself in the glamorous world of Vanity Fair.

He was arrested and spent time in jail.

Because of this, it was the first time he noticed the vast world outside the spotlight of Vanity Fair, where there was a group of forgotten criminals in the dark and rotten corners.

In Johnny's belief, he insists that everyone born into this world is a sinner, and life is a process of constant atonement and correction. Everyone should have the opportunity to be forgiven and reform. It is not terrible to make mistakes. What is really important is the courage to face mistakes and the perseverance to learn lessons and start again.

Human beings are not perfect, everyone makes mistakes, and mistakes themselves are not terrible.

After being released from prison, Johnny really began to pay attention to the people living in prison, those who were forgotten, abandoned and erased.

"I-Got-Stripes" is a song born in this context. Johnny used "Stripes" to describe the zebra pattern of prison uniforms, and used a cheerful and playful blues rhythm to show the bitterness and sadness hidden in the lyrics.

One mistake, just one mistake, could be the whole thing that defines their lives.

Here, in Las Vegas, Sin City, Johnny performs the song.

With a crazy and unrestrained posture, the stage floor seemed particularly hot for feet, and the tap dance steps swayed happily in the light rhythm.

“On Monday, I was arrested.”

“On Tuesday, I was in jail.”

Light and cheerful, yet one could sense a sense of teasing and mockery in Johnny's deep and hoarse voice. Behind the understated performance, one could faintly feel a slight tremor in the tail tone, but no one knew what was happening.

"On Wednesday, my trial started."

"On Thursday, they found me guilty and the gavel fell."

It was getting more and more cheerful, more and more turbulent, and it was venting down like a violent storm. At this time, it could be noticed that Johnny's cheeks were slightly flushed, and in the violent storm, his breathing rhythm was a little bit out of pace.

A transition, seamless, without any breathing room, the tremor in his voice became more and more obvious, and the sweat on Johnny's forehead revealed his weakness.

However, the magical thing is that Johnny did not pause. Not only that, he even ignored the normal principles of breathing and sang in one breath.

"I put on a prison uniform with zebra prints around the shoulders."

"I put on iron shackles, and they were around my feet."

He did it all in one go without taking a breath, and as a result, you could see Johnny's cheeks getting redder, little by little, at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Like a pufferfish that could explode at any time.

But Johnny refused to compromise or bow his head. He sang the entire song in one breath, then took a brief breath, but without pausing, he turned his head to look diagonally behind him.

June Carter: ???
Obviously, June Carter did not expect this scene. Halfway through the performance, why did Johnny suddenly go crazy and look at her inexplicably?
In full view of the crowd, the entire audience and band members followed Johnny's gaze, and everyone knew that Johnny was staring at June Carter.

Even someone as experienced on stage as June Carter was startled by Johnny's unexpected action, and her expression showed a bit of embarrassment.

But Johnny didn't care—

He stared at June Carter intently, the light penetrating his long and thick eyelashes, and shadows fell like a waterfall, covering his eyes, making it difficult to see the emotional fluctuations in his eyes, but the emotional tension could be felt from his passionate and breathless singing.

On the verge of exploding!

Dangerous!

There was no pause in the singing, and the posture and the scene made it seem as if Johnny was singing his heart out to June Carter, but this time it was not a love song.

"I put on a prison uniform with zebra prints around the shoulders."

"I put on iron shackles, which were wrapped around my feet, and they pulled me down." It was an accusation, anger, and a cry.

Originally, this should have been Johnny's cry to the prison, and this should have been the prisoners' protest against the prison.

But now, it has evolved into Johnny's accusation against June Carter, heart-wrenching, furious, and unreserved emotional outburst.

After not seeing each other again for several years, June Carter entered into her second marriage, while Johnny was still trapped in his own marriage.

Johnny heard that June Carter's second marriage was stable but unhappy. After experiencing a divorce, June Carter was overwhelmed by public opinion. Even though problems arose in her second marriage, she did not dare to divorce, for fear that she would experience pain again and that her children would experience pain again.

To make matters worse, June Carter's career also hit a bottleneck.

It was in this difficult situation that Johnny invited June Carter to tour with him, so that at least he could help open up her career.

June Carter agreed.

During the tour, Johnny continued to show his affection to June Carter, but June Carter always kept his distance.

However, all this fell into Vivian's eyes. Vivian did not believe in June Carter's chastity, but pushed all the faults onto June Carter. She thought June Carter was seducing Johnny and destroying her family. She fixed June Carter's every move with vicious and cursing eyes.

Such hostility was aggressive and destructive, almost completely destroying June Carter's defenses.

But June Carter has always been a bold and courageous woman, a unique pioneer even in the different atmosphere of the 1950s:

Rather than bearing accusations and criticism for something you have never done, it is better to let the other party continue to criticize you with a clear conscience after you have actually done it.

So, June Carter finally compromised and finally broke the last barrier with Johnny. All these years of persistence finally crossed that line.

After a brief moment of happiness and joy, a phone call brought June Carter back to reality.

A call from a child.

The child complained to her mother about her sister's disobedience and the trivial matters at home, which suddenly made June Carter realize that she was a mother with a family.

Same with Vivian.

She couldn't even look Johnny in the eye, his mere presence made her stomach burn.

But what's worse is that Johnny doesn't understand.

Johnny could not understand June Carter's torment and entanglement at all. Johnny did not think of Vivian and the children at all. Johnny had no idea that June Carter was thinking of Vivian's situation and difficulties.

For these things, only women can understand women, or only one mother can understand another mother.

June Carter regretted it, regretted her impulsiveness, regretted that she easily destroyed all the years of persistence, regretted her stupidity and willfulness.

She hated herself.

Then, June Carter was turned away by Johnny again.

But what about Johnny?
He didn't understand. Just as June Carter thought, he didn't understand anything.

Johnny couldn't understand June Carter's inconsistency at all. How could they suddenly turn against each other the next second when they were enjoying a happy time one second?

Johnny was trapped and angry. He rushed around but could not find a way out or an answer. He stared at June Carter aggressively, using music as shackles and accusations, and made his voice heard towards June Carter.

(End of this chapter)