America: Child stars start with The Shining

As night fell, the path leading to Dorothy Chandler Hall became even brighter than during the day.

The area around the Los Angeles Music Center in California was already packed with reporters, all craning their necks and hoping to capture some meaningful footage.

You know, a lot happens at every Academy Awards.

If some of these images could be successfully captured, they would definitely cause quite a stir.

Therefore, from this moment on, these people have already begun to compete with each other.

Whoever can find a more advantageous shooting angle has a greater chance of occupying the most prominent position on tomorrow's front page.

Conversely, if they return empty-handed tonight and go back to the newspaper office tomorrow morning, they will certainly not receive any consolation.

Most of the time, the editor-in-chief would slam his fist on the table, throw the headlines of other newspapers in front of him, and then point at the photos and headlines and berate them mercilessly.

Brody was one of them. He arrived at the scene early, with a camera slung over his shoulder and a spare lens in his hand. He was constantly adjusting the equipment, afraid that something might go wrong at the most crucial moment.

This wasn't the first time he'd come to the Oscars.

But he was still a little nervous, because he knew very well that although the night looked incredibly lively, for a reporter like him, very few of the images could actually be captured.

Most of the time, they just stand in the cold wind and crowds for hours, taking a bunch of ordinary, generic celebrity photos that anyone could take.

Then, I went back to the editorial department to wait to be picked over, and in the end, I only got an inconspicuous spot in the corner of the page.

Brody sighed and stopped thinking about these trivial matters.

Before him, a bright red carpet stretched from the entrance all the way to the front of the hall, dazzling under the lights.

The area outside the fences on both sides of the road was already crowded with movie fans and onlookers.

The TV presenter was excitedly broadcasting live to the camera, while security personnel kept gesturing for the crowd to back off, but they couldn't quell the increasingly agitated atmosphere.

Car headlights finally began to slowly approach from afar.

"Hey! A vehicle is coming!"

It's unclear who shouted first, but upon hearing this, Brody immediately perked up, raised his camera, and got fully prepared.

The first limousine came to a smooth stop in front of the red carpet.

The car door opened, and a female celebrity leaned out of the car, immediately triggering a flurry of camera shutter clicks.

Brody also raised his camera and took a few pictures, his movements clean and efficient, but after taking the pictures, he couldn't help but shake his head.

These photos are pretty, but they have absolutely no value.

Hundreds or even thousands of similar photos will appear tomorrow, attracting no attention whatsoever, because people will only pay attention to the reports from those media giants.

If a small, niche entertainment magazine like theirs were to publish such photos, probably no one would want to read them.

Over the next half hour, the red carpet gradually became lively, with one limousine after another pulling up and actors, directors, and producers taking turns to appear.

The atmosphere at the scene was gradually heightened, and the sound of camera shutters was almost constant.

Brody, however, became increasingly disappointed.

Fuck, in previous years we could at least get pictures of male and female celebrities getting out of a car together, but this year it's just a bunch of boring old men and some veteran actors from the film industry making an appearance. It's impossible to generate any interesting topics at all.

Just as he bent down to change the film roll, a familiar reporter next to him suddenly nudged him with his elbow.

"Hey, Brody, look over there."

Brody looked up and followed the direction the other person was pointing.

A black limousine slowly drove into view.

The car was inconspicuous, even excessively so, but for some reason, the reporters who specialized in entertainment news had already leaned forward.

Brody immediately realized something was wrong and quickly pushed his way forward, shouting all the while:

"Hey! Make room for me!"

"Fuck! Can you stop pushing your way in? This place is packed with people, can't you see that, kid?!"

Brody completely ignored these comments. They were all colleagues, and he didn't care about such things. As long as he could take enough valuable photos, that was enough for him.

He instinctively gripped the camera tighter, squinted, and stared at the car that was gradually coming to a stop.

Then, the car door opened, and the first thing to step out was a black leather shoe that had been placed on the red carpet.

Immediately afterwards, a rather thin boy stepped out of the car.

Brody was taken aback at first, but recognized the face in the next second.

It's Charles, the kid who's been frequently appearing in entertainment news lately, whose rumored affair with Jodie Foster is practically common knowledge.

Thanks to that shooting incident, this previously unknown child star quickly gained everyone's attention.

Even so, it still didn't generate enough buzz. There are too many unsubstantiated rumors like this in Hollywood. Without solid evidence, viewers and readers won't buy it, and repeated hype isn't very valuable.

Brody sighed, snapped a few photos, and was just about to put down his camera when he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be another figure inside the black limousine.

The next second, the other car door opened as well.

A familiar figure stepped out of the car and stood beside Charles.

Jodie Foster.

The scene was quiet for a moment, then erupted into a commotion several times more intense than before.

"Look this way!"

"Judy! Ciel! Over here!"

"Could you guys stand a little closer!"

Brody was stunned for a moment, and then he felt people pushing and shoving him from all around.

"WTF! The gossip that's been circulating lately is actually true?"

He was incredulous, but there was no time for him to hesitate. He immediately raised his camera and, surrounded by excited reporters, pressed the shutter repeatedly, seizing the moment to capture the scene before him.

Click!

In the shot, Judy turned her head to the side, her smile appearing very composed. Charles stood beside her, his chin slightly raised, his expression calm.

There was no physical contact between the two, but it was precisely this perfect sense of proportion that made it easy for people to have inexplicable associations.

And this is exactly the kind of scene that gossip enthusiasts love most.

While taking photos, Brody quickly came up with a headline for tomorrow's page in his mind.

Jodie Foster and her rumored lover went to the Oscars.

Brody couldn't help but lick his slightly dry lips, his finger pressed on the shutter button, almost reluctant to move it away.

This was absolutely huge news that no one present could have predicted!

Jodie Foster actually dared to appear at the Oscars with the child star she was rumored to be having an affair with, and they even got out of the same limousine!

Who could believe that?!

Reporters jostled and pushed forward, and almost all the cameras that were originally shooting other celebrities were turned around to focus on the two highly talked-about figures in the center of the red carpet.

Even when Spielberg walked over, no one paid any attention, leaving him standing next to Judy and Charles with a slightly helpless smile.

Who would have thought that one day he would become someone else's background figure on the Oscars red carpet.

Charles took a deep breath.

Even though he had anticipated that tonight's events would not be peaceful, and had even intentionally steered things in this direction from the beginning, he was still frightened by the group of reporters who were almost out of control.

"Ciel, look this way!"

Why are you and Judy together tonight?

"Mr. Spielberg, are you promoting your new movie?"

Charles ignored the questions; in this situation, silence was the best course of action.

Just then, Judy walked over from the side. She seemed very at ease and looked quite relaxed.

Clearly, she's experienced this kind of scene far too many times.

Judy glanced at Ciel, who was standing still, and teased him with a smile:

"What's wrong? Are you scared stiff?"

She gestured with her chin toward the end of the red carpet and said:

"We should go now. We can't stay here too long. Look, Spielberg is already getting impatient waiting behind us."

Upon hearing this, Charles walked to Judy's side and naturally took her arm.

The two walked together along the red carpet.

Behind them, countless flashes illuminated the scene.