She just stood there, displaying all the coldness, sensuality, beauty, and arrogance that a famous actress should possess.

Especially that arrogance—even though Henry didn’t really understand women, he could feel it clearly—that was the indifference of Hollywood’s upper class toward the little people.

Although the other party could only be considered a minor celebrity in Hollywood, she was still not someone as obscure as Henry could compare to.

This woman’s reaction stung Henry, but he knew very well that in a place as realistic as Hollywood, respect was never equal, and others’ respect never fell from the sky—it had to be earned through one’s own actions.

Monica Bellucci certainly had the right to look down on him, especially since he had almost bumped into her by accident.

“As for what just happened,” Henry appeared very calm, his voice even calmer, and said naturally, “I’m very sorry.”

After speaking, he turned around and walked forward without looking back, as if nothing had happened at all.

If you want people like Bruce Berman and Monica Bellucci to respect you and bow their heads, saying more now is useless. If you could conquer others just by talking, the Koreans would have unified the world long ago.

This is a realistic society, not a fairy tale world.

Over the following week, Henry gained a deeper understanding of the realities of this world, and also understood why Ross returned to his old trade after getting out of prison.

For someone with a criminal record, trying to find even a slightly decent and respectable job is incredibly difficult.

Henry interviewed with two more film crews; after just a brief check of his background, they rejected him without a second thought. He was even turned away from a very small crew when he tried to get a menial job.

For a while, Henry cursed his ex and the hellish social environment of America almost every day, but before long, his mood would settle again.

People habitually attribute their success to themselves and their failures to the environment.

But such thinking is of no help in solving real problems.

Every attempt to find a job related to the film industry hit a wall, but Henry didn’t give up. He just realized that establishing himself in Hollywood was even harder than he had imagined or understood, and he became more pragmatic.

It wasn’t just the film industry—interviews in other industries that Henry attended also mostly ended in failure. This result was not surprising; how many legitimate companies or stores would hire someone like him, with no education, no skills, and a criminal record?

Was he really supposed to sell heroin and illegal firearms?

Henry knew very well that was a road of no return. He would rather choose a job as a mover at an auto repair shop than go down that path, but the work was tough and the low pay wasn’t paid daily.

Now, Henry was facing a money problem. He had already been very frugal, but his little over two hundred dollars was almost gone. If he didn’t find a way to get some money, he probably wouldn’t make it to the next payday at the auto repair shop.

One rare evening when he got off work on time, after returning home, Henry walked into the studio and his eyes fell on the camcorder sitting on the shelf.

This Canon camcorder still worked; Henry had tested it recently. As a film school student, photography was a basic course. Although this camcorder was a bit outdated, after using it a few times, he had grown attached to it. But now, forced by life, he could only consider selling it and the other two devices.

The camcorder, the laptop, and the police car radio receiver were all not new. Any one of them alone probably wouldn’t fetch much, but if he sold all three, Henry thought he could get by for a while.

However, after thinking it over, Henry decided to keep the laptop. In his spare time, he was also trying to write scripts for future blockbuster movies, and he needed the laptop for that. But his writing progress was not ideal, and even if he finished, the chances of selling it were very low.

Henry already knew well that most Hollywood movies didn’t start with someone writing an outstanding script, which was then discovered and invested in by a film company.

The mainstream way of making movies in Hollywood was that a film company, a big-name director, or a well-known producer would come up with an idea, then look for investors, and then hire a suitable screenwriter to turn the idea into a script.

In this kind of production model, the screenwriter and the script are not the starting point of a project, but just one link in Hollywood’s assembly line.

Of course, the chances of a newcomer and a new script being used are almost zero, though not entirely impossible. Henry just wanted to try his luck—maybe one day his fortunes would really change.

Picking up the camcorder and the police radio receiver, Henry left home, got into the black Chevrolet, and drove toward the intersection.

These were the tools that the former Henry had used to make a living, and now they were about to become the means for Henry to cover his basic living expenses.