Outside, the sky was full of stars. The sky was like a light - colored long skirt, dotted with dazzling diamonds. The evening breeze was gentle, caressing softly. The small town of Burbank in front of me was quiet and peaceful. Faint voices could be heard, just like the silent sea.


    "Why did you come out?" Lenny walked up to me from behind and stood beside me.


    "Don''t laugh at me. I''m so nervous that I''m afraid I''ll have a heart attack if I stay inside." I shrugged.


    Lenny didn''t respond to me immediately. Instead, she looked at the sky and sighed softly: "So the sky in Burbank is so beautiful!"


    I burst into laughter: "Isn''t it the same sky in Burbank and Hollywood?"


    Lenny looked at me and shook her head: "I don''t think so. In Hollywood, on the balcony at home, even the brightest sky will become gray. The people around, all they want to do is to make money. They rack their brains and want as much as possible. Who will still notice whether the sky is blue or the stars are bright? Who will live like them?" Lenny pointed to the old people walking in the small town and the family playing in their own yards.


    "You said so. I''m not a good person either. I''m the same as them. All I see is money in my eyes." I said self - deprecatingly.


    "You''re not!" Lenny looked at me firmly and stared into my eyes: "You don''t make movies just for money. Otherwise, why would you make the people in the cinema cry? Why would you give a job to an old man who can''t even move freely? Why would everyone on Harvey Street trust you so much?"


    "How do you know these things?"


    "Some are what my dad told me, and some are what Heidi told me." Lenny lowered her head, fiddled with her hair with both hands, and said to me gently: "I really envy Dietrich in the movie. Actually, if possible, I want to come to your company to work. Even as an ordinary stagehand."


    I opened my arms in a welcoming gesture: "Then you''re welcome. Our DreamWorks is short of people now. As long as your dad agrees."


    "Don''t watch the movie well. The two of you are making love here!" When Heidi and I looked at each other, Heidi walked out from inside. Her big, suspicious eyes were swollen because of crying. She swept her eyes at us and said to me loudly: "Mr. Corleone, Lenny is just a little girl. Don''t take advantage of her. Lenny, come on, go in quickly. Bush will be in danger soon. Come on, come on, go in quickly."


    Heidi didn''t wait for an answer. She pulled Lenny and pushed open the door of the cinema and drilled in, leaving me standing alone outside.


    About ten minutes later, Fatty and Gans also came out.


    "Boss, I can''t stand it anymore. The atmosphere inside is too tense. I can''t stay!" Fatty covered his chest and breathed in the fresh air outside in big mouthfuls.


    "What''s wrong?" I asked.


    Gans smacked his lips and said: "Boss, there isn''t even a coughing sound inside. Everyone has their eyes wide open staring at the screen. The air seems to be filled with lead. I''m so nervous that I''m about to wet my pants."


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    "Do you think they like this movie?" I asked tentatively. To be honest, I really wanted to know the answer now. It was simply a torment to guess outside.


    "I don''t know. Everyone is just clutching their hands and having a straight face. It''s hard to tell." Fatty spread his hands.


    I looked at Gans again. Gans said: "I think it''s about right. Seeing how touched they are, I feel that this is the most proud thing we''ve done in so many years!"


    "Never mind! Let''s wait. There are still half an hour left." I sat on the steps, took out a cigarette from my pocket, but found that I couldn''t light it no matter what: my hand was shaking too much.


    There was no sound in the cinema at all, not even a little. As time passed, my heart became heavier and heavier. Gans and Fatty kept comforting me, saying that as long as no one left halfway, it meant that the movie was okay.


    One hour passed.


    I looked at my watch. There were still three minutes left. Three minutes later, the movie would be over.


    But the cinema was still like a midnight cemetery, silent and soundless.


    "Boss, the movie is over!" Fatty looked at his watch and shouted to me.


    "I can''t stand it anymore! Are these people asleep!? Why is there no sound at all!?" Gans had completely lost his mind.


    Five minutes. Five minutes after the movie ended, no one came out from inside. I felt as if I were standing outside a valley, and I couldn''t even hear the sound of the camera turning inside.


    "Gans, Berg, it seems that we have failed!" I was all sweaty, sat on the ground, just like falling into an abyss without a bottom.


    There was no applause, no excited crowd at the end of the screening. My first movie actually failed!


    More than a month''s effort, everyone''s dream, just like this, was shattered!?


    "Boss, it can''t be! Listen, listen inside!" Gans pulled me up and pushed me to the side of the door with Fatty.


    Snap!


    Snap, snap!


    Snap, snap, snap!


    Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap!


    The applause I was looking forward to sounded!


    It sounded in the silence five minutes after the movie ended!


    No! It sounded after an hour and eight minutes of silence!


    "Boss! We made it! We made it!" Gans and Berg cheered and jumped around. They pushed the door of the cinema to the side and pushed me to the middle.


    A beam of light was projected from the cinema onto me.


    Everyone inside stood up collectively. There were tears on their faces, and they clapped their hands vigorously. Whistles and cheers rose one after another, continuous and long - lasting.


    I was dizzy! The dazzling light made me dizzy! And this applause, the surging applause, pressed down on me like a torrential rain, almost knocking me down.


    I couldn''t see the steps under my feet, and everything around me gradually blurred in my sight.


    All the hardships, the ridicule and contempt I had suffered before, all melted away in the tears.


    From the door to the steps below the screen, there were a total of several hundred steps, but it seemed extremely long, as long as a lifetime.


    I saw Carl Laemmle, who had been cold to me before, wiping his tears while smiling at me. I saw the Warner brothers squeezing in front of my dad and addressing each other as brothers. I saw Fox clapping his hands standing on the chair. John Cohen and Old Man Ma rushed to the stage with flower baskets in their hands, shouting loudly. And Grant had already reached a crazy state. He pounced on me, hugged me tightly, and made my whole body sore.


    The 200 people in this movie were all crazy. It was impossible for Old Man Ma to walk to the prepared microphone and signal everyone to be quiet.


    I stood on the stage, standing beside Old Man Ma. I could only wait until they calmed down a little before speaking.


    One minute, two minutes. The applause lasted for a full quarter of an hour before it gradually stopped.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, I dare say that I have seen the most touching movie in my life! An incomparably wonderful movie! I think that after more than half an hour, the audiences who will see this movie in the other 200 cinemas in Los Angeles will also have the same exclamation as me! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome tonight''s hero, our Mr. Andre·Corleone!" Old Man Ma was so excited that his face was red. He pulled me to the microphone.


    The applause sounded again, one wave higher than the other. I could only stand modestly in front of the microphone, smiling at the cheering crowd below.