America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 478 Stallone's Three Daughters

On the day of the press conference, countless red T-shirts crowded into Los Angeles City Hall, turning the entire hall red. The overcrowded City Hall resembled a premiere of a movie starring Martin Scorsese.

Some of the seats reserved for media reporters were taken over.

WarnerMedia reached an agreement with the city hall to broadcast the show live across the United States.

TMZ, on the other hand, bought the online streaming rights.

The press conference was a huge success from the very beginning.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio took the stage first, making some polite remarks and explaining the significance of today's ceremony. The focus of the discussion then shifted to Martin.

He declared passionately, "Martin Davis brought a fighting spirit to the city of Los Angeles. He repeatedly showed us that no matter how difficult the situation you face, as long as you bravely stand up, actively respond, and fight hard, you will ultimately be a winner!"

The audience erupted in extremely enthusiastic applause, ten times more so than when Antonio gave his campaign speech!

After the applause subsided, Antonio continued, "Martin holds extraordinary significance for the city of Los Angeles. His powerful fighting spirit and achievements in the fields of culture and art are all testaments to his unwavering loyalty to Los Angeles. To commemorate Martin's contributions to Los Angeles, we have decided to establish 'Martin Davis Day'!"

Applause rang out again.

Martin's supporters cheered loudly.

Antonio said, "Next up is Martin Davis."

Martin came up from the back of the stage and waved to the audience. The enthusiastic applause was like a thunderclap in a clear sky, shaking the entire city hall.

TMZ reporter Jodi felt something land on his forehead, touched it, and found it was dust.

She looked up and saw dust falling from the roof, a result of the thunderous applause.

When Martin went on stage, Mayor Antonio gave him a hug and exclaimed, "You're a hero, a city hero of Los Angeles!"

Politicians are the best actors; he grabbed Martin's hand and, facing the audience, raised it up with him.

Martin cooperated, smiling and waving.

Antonio then took a gold-plated certificate and presented it to Martin.

Martin held the enormous certificate in both hands, showing it off to the media cameras.

At this moment, as a celebrity, his social honor has undoubtedly reached a considerable height.

Martin stepped up to the microphone and said briefly, "Los Angeles is a city with a great spiritual heritage, and I am proud to work and live in this city!"

In New York, Natalie Portman watched the live broadcast and remembered that she hadn't filled out her Oscar ballot. She immediately found it, and although she had never seen a Batman movie and knew nothing about The Dark Knight, she thought Martin's actions were quite good. So, she filled in Martin's name in the first choice for Best Supporting Actor.

In Los Angeles, Sylvester Stallone is watching a live television broadcast with his three daughters.

The eldest daughter, Sofia, is thirteen years old and knows a lot. She said, "Dad, you can only be a hero in movies, but Martin can not only be a hero in movies, but also a hero who defeats bad guys in real life."

The second daughter, Sistine, said, "That's why I like Martin more than Dad!"

The youngest daughter, Scarlett, was still very young. She hugged her father's arm and said, "Daddy, I will always love you. In my heart, you will always be better than that Martin."

Sylvester Stallone affectionately pinched his youngest daughter's cheek.

Sofia pulled Scarlett away and asked, "Dad, why can Martin fight, but you can't?"

Stallone wasn't embarrassed by his daughter's comment, saying, "What Dad trained for was all for the sake of making good movies. What that young man Martin trained for wasn't just for show, it was also for real combat."

He frowned in confusion: "Is filming action movies this intense now? You don't even dare to speak without some real combat skills."

"Dad, why does Los Angeles have a Martin Davis Day?" The youngest daughter, now a traitor, chimed in, "Why doesn't Los Angeles have a Stallone Day?"

Stallone was momentarily speechless.

He thought for a moment, then could only bite the bullet and say, "There will be some in the future."

Sofia pursed her lips.

Sylvester Stallone is extremely exhausted. He has three daughters, each one a handful. Whoever wants to take them away should do so immediately.

Thinking about this, he felt a little envious of his old neighbor Tyson. Tyson's daughter was so settled, sitting there all day without moving much.

Stallone stopped watching TV and looked down at the Oscar ballots. He hadn't seen most of the movies on the nomination list.

Based on impressions gleaned from newspapers and television, and the persuasion of some others, Sean Penn was chosen for Best Actor, and Martin Davis for Best Supporting Actor…

Since he hadn't seen the movie, Stallone chose the person he was most familiar with recently.

That afternoon, Stallone mailed his ballot to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The eldest daughter, Sofia, and the second daughter, Sistine, were a real handful, insisting that Stallone find an opportunity to take them to Martin for photos and autographs.

Stallone asked, "You've met countless Hollywood stars, but I've never seen you ask any of them for autographs."

"Because Martin is one of a kind!" Sofia declared confidently. "When we were kids, we always idolized you, our dad in the movies. But as we grew up, we realized that movie characters and reality are two different things."

Sistine continued, "Martin is your movie character brought to life. We idolized your movie characters when we were kids, and now we idolize Martin. Isn't that normal?"

Stallone, realizing he couldn't win the argument with his two daughters, simply said, "Alright, I'll take you to see him for a photo and autograph when we have the chance."

In the following days, various reports about Martin appeared everywhere in the media.

Martin's PR team, along with the Dark Knight production crew, continues to work hard to promote Martin's bid for Best Supporting Actor.

Beverly Hills, Martin's neighbor's house.

Charlize Theron sat in the living room with Oscar ballots and the list of Oscar nominees laid out in front of her.

Holding a pen above the nomination list, she closed her eyes and let go. The pen landed on the name closest to which she selected the corresponding award.

Charlize didn't have much time to watch movies, so she used this voting method, which is generally considered the fairest and most impartial among Oscar voters.

Stuart Townsend came downstairs carrying two bags of trash, glanced over, and saw Charlize filling out Oscar ballots. He remembered reading in the newspaper that his neighbor Martin Davis had been making headlines lately.

The last time Martin Davis threw a party, he didn't know why, but he had a very bad impression of that person, and always felt that having such an outstanding neighbor was not a good thing.

Stuart cautioned, "Don't vote for Martin for Best Supporting Actor."

Charlize, who was about to close her eyes and throw her pen, opened them upon hearing this and asked in surprise, "Why?"

Stuart stated directly, "Because I don't like him."

Charlize found it baffling: "He's a nice guy. Even though he was in the hospital, he had Lily Carter send us gifts during the holidays."

"What? He sent a gift?" Stuart's anger flared instantly. "Why didn't I know?"

Charlize said, "You weren't home at the time."

Thinking about Martin's exposure over the past month and the heroic deeds he had performed, Charlize picked up her pen and filled in "Martin Davis" as the first name on the ballot for Best Supporting Actor.

Stuart snapped, "Didn't you hear what I said?"

Charlize remained calm: "This is my vote, and it's my freedom to choose whoever I want."

"You..." Stuart stared at her.

Charlize simply looked up at him.

Stewart finally took a step back, turned around and left the villa, picked up two large bags of trash, and went out the side door to throw them away in the alleyway between the villa and Martin Davis's mansion.

There are two rows of trash cans in the alley. The one closer to the other side of the alley is Martin Davis's personal trash can.

When Stuart came out, he saw two girls in community worker uniforms standing in front of the trash can, rummaging through its contents.

He couldn't help but ask, "Who are you? What are you doing?"

Tony, who had only been working there for a few days, turned around with a big smile, picked up the spray bottle, and said, "Recently, we've received complaints from many domestic helpers about cockroach infestations in their trash cans. We're here to deliver insecticide."

When Stuart saw that the two men were wearing community worker uniforms and had work badges pinned to their left breasts, he didn't think much of it and said nothing more.

Toni and Elsa packed their things, closed the trash can, took off their work gloves, smiled at Stewart, and left.

As soon as they stepped outside, Elsa repeatedly touched her chest, saying, "That scared me to death!"

Tony was much bolder: "What are you afraid of? We're official community employees now!"

Elsa was still worried and pulled Toni away quickly, saying, "Let's go back now, so no one finds out."

Tony slung her bag over her shoulder, a hint of regret in her voice: "It's a pity I didn't find anything."

I didn't find what I wanted at all.

Inside the alley, Stuart threw two large bags of garbage into a trash can, but didn't go back immediately.

He wasn't a very petty man, but thinking about Charlize Theron's attitude earlier, the anger that had been ignited within him burned even brighter.

My whole body was practically on fire.

But since last year, Stewart has dared not vent his anger on Charlize anymore, because if they break up, the house he lives in, the luxury car he drives, and even the credit cards he uses could all disappear.

Looking at the trash can in front of him, Stewart couldn't control himself and kicked it repeatedly with such force that the metal trash can was slightly deformed.

After venting, he felt a little better.

He opened the side door, went back inside, picked up two more bags of trash, and went out to throw them away again.

After throwing it away, Stewart seemed to treat the trash can as Charlize, kicking it several more times to vent his anger.

The deformed area has become slightly larger.

Back home, Stuart discovered that Charlize had sealed the Oscar ballots and was about to go out to mail them.

He asked, "Do you need my help?"

Charlize shook her head: "No need, I'm just going out for a bit."

As Oscar ballots are mailed from Academy members to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the 81st Academy Awards ceremony is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)