New York in autumn has a magnificent beauty. Renly has always believed that, as the world's first capital, New York should be a city that does not pick the seasons. It will be extremely busy and noisy throughout the year. The scene of the city seems to be frozen by a steel forest. generally.
But only after living here did I realize that autumn belongs to New York. It lacks the vitality of spring, the blooming flowers in summer, and the tranquility and serenity of winter. In the autumn here, the dry air spreads the comfort of the sky and the earth, and the loose and lazy sunshine walks through the cement buildings. Here comes a touch of greenery from Central Park, giving the wide streets and crooked alleys a chic charm.
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This afternoon is really too beautiful to linger.
Renly stayed at Mount Sinai Hospital all day, forgetting the noise of Toronto, the scorching heat of the spotlight, and the hustle and bustle of the surging crowd, and concentrated on volunteer work. It wasn't until night fell that Renly hugged and said goodbye to head nurse Anita Tunissa, put on her baseball cap again, and disappeared into the colorful New York night.
Returning to the Pioneer Village again, the door does not seem to be much different from before, it has not become more noisy and crowded, nor has it become more deserted and boring, it seems that this is just another normal Monday. Later, Renly realized that in the interview, no one mentioned the filming location of the "Cleopatra" YouTube video, and the Pioneer Village had not been exposed. He still thought too much.
Pushing open the dark red wooden door, "Welcome." Janice Black's familiar mid-bass sounded, and then she saw Renly in front of her, her whole face bursting with joy, "Little guy, you Back from Toronto? We read The Times yesterday and you're in the limelight this time! Now everyone can't wait to get into the cinema!"
Times, for Americans, there is only one newspaper that can use such an acronym, "The New York Times". Even in Los Angeles. This shows the strong influence of the "New York Times" in American mainstream culture.
"Including Stanley?" Renly's rhetorical question made Janice smile brightly.
Stanley Charlesson is an old die-hard, a staunch supporter of jazz bars and a staunch boycott of movie theaters. He does not reject movies, but protests that the commercialized form of entertainment in the cinema is making people forget the essence of art. If necessary, Stanley is willing to go to Broadway to see a play, and occasionally catch a glimpse of the movie with everyone in the bar. Never mind, but he hasn't been to the cinema in years.
Janice spread her hands with a helpless expression on her face, "We all know what a stubborn old guy Stanley is." Apparently, Renly couldn't get Stanley into the cinema either.
Renly spread his hands, showing a helpless expression, "Looks like I need to keep going." This made Janice smile.
Walking into the bar, it is still early, far from the peak time, and since today is Monday, there are even fewer customers. Everyone gathers around the bar in a scattered manner, chatting in whispers, Hearing the sound of the door opening, everyone cast their gazes and were about to go forward to entertain them, but when they didn't want to, they saw Ren Li's face, and everyone suddenly showed a happy expression.
"Quick, quick, Renly, take a photo with me." Neil Tucson rushed over excitedly with his phone in hand, "I was chatting with a friend the other day, and I showed them off that I knew Lanly. Eli Hall, the guy who dated Natalie Portman at the Toronto Film Festival, and they didn't believe it, I must leave proof now!"
Renly rolled his eyes without giving any face, avoiding Neil's pouting action, and then walked to the bar chatting and laughing with the other waiters, and Neil's unwilling voice came from behind him, " Hey, one, Renly, just one!" Then he sprinted over, threw himself on Renly's back, and hugged everyone on his shoulders, but everyone slapped Nikki with disgust. Er pushed it away.
I don't know who said, "Renly is expensive now, take a picture for ten dollars!"
Renly gave him a contemptuous look, "Am I that cheap? To use ten dollars to measure our friendship? At least a hundred dollars!"
Everyone paused, then collectively laughed.
Stanley came out from the backstage direction, looked at it, and saw Renly in the crowd, with a big smile on his face, "I heard such a commotion, I knew it must be you back." That faint smile was like that of a father seeing the return of the wandering child. There was not much excitement, but it was filled with warmth.
Stanley stepped forward, gave Renly a hug and welcomed him, "Thank you." The smile on the corner of Renly's mouth rose slightly, and he patted Stanley on the back. The words of thanks were all there. In silence, after letting go of his embrace, he heard Stanley waving at the group of tails behind him, "Go, go to work, Renly can be received by me."
Neil suddenly wailed, "Stanley!"
But Stanley and Renly ignored him at all, and walked straight to the deck next to him, and Neil once again became the object of everyone's fun.
After a simple greeting, Stanley asked, "Last week, a young man named Ed Sheeran came to the bar and said that you introduced him?"
Renly patted his head, annoyed at his forgetfulness—he forgot to call Stanley about it, first in the City of Voices, then in Toronto, too much has happened in the past two short weeks, "Yes. Yes, he was introduced by me. Sorry, I forgot to call you."
Stanley chuckled, "I know he's not lying. After all, not many people know your name now. Since he can say your name and find the pioneer village, then it's true."
Renly smiled relievedly, "It's the first time I recommend someone to come here, I seem to be too irresponsible."
"It's good if you know." Stanley suddenly lowered his face and said seriously, but before his serious expression could be maintained for a second, he burst into laughter, "I gave him a chance, Monday to Wednesday. , perform three nights in a row, each night for thirty minutes, and see how it works. I trust your vision."
"That means, he will be here tonight?" Renly showed a look of surprise. He didn't expect that Ed would actually obey the casual agreement at the beginning, "Then let's wait and see. Tonight. Who else joined the show?"
"There is also a group of amateur bands from the university." A trace of loneliness flashed between Stanley's eyebrows, "The recent economic situation is not very good, and the business of the bar is up and down. Not long ago, a record company approached me and suggested that I play There are some small concerts here, not too many, maybe one a month, I'm thinking about it."
Renly knows that this kind of concert is actually a kind of commercial performance. The record company borrows the signboard of Pioneer Village to gild its own independent bands, and can also attract some professional and senior fans; and Pioneer Village can not only Reap a fortune with tickets, and at the same time, you can publicize the name of the office in the general public. It seems like a win-win situation.
But Stanley has rejected this approach over the years because it is too commercialized and would undermine the authority of the pioneer village in the hearts of veteran fans. Imagine the hordes of Jonas-Brother fanatics flocking to the pioneer village? This is a terrible thing. Perhaps the beginning of the fall of the pioneer village.
Now that Stanley was seriously considering it, Renly understood how serious it was.
Persistence in dreams has never been easy. Renly admired Stanley's ability to persevere for so many years. But now, Renly is not qualified to ask Stanley to continue. It is not so easy to operate a pioneer village. Although Stanley has never disclosed it, Renly knows that the operation is always in a difficult state.
Stanley sighed lightly, as if he wanted to vent the troubles between his eyebrows, "How is it? Are you going to perform on stage tonight?"
Renly's expression paused for a moment, and then said jokingly, "You set up so much just now, shouldn't it be just for this last sentence?"
In the face of Renly's straightforward answer, Stanley laughed heartily, "Don't take yourself too seriously, I just value a free labor force." This sharp counterattack also made Renly laugh, " In fact, there are only two groups of singers tonight, and the schedule is relatively empty. I just thought that maybe you would like to play on the stage and recreate the scene of the original street performance with Ed."
Business on Monday was relatively quiet, but there were always at least three groups of singers in the past.
In Renly's mind, the scene of Heather's efforts to sing today could not help but emerge. What would it look like if Heather stood on the stage in the pioneer village? What if Heather stood on the stage of "American Idol"
"I don't see a reason for my refusal." Renly spread his hands, "Just, I didn't come out with my wallet today, and I haven't had dinner yet." So, use the show to pay for dinner.
"Haha." Stanley laughed happily, "It seems that I earned it."
"Yah", the door of the bar was pushed open again. Since there were really no customers in the bar at this time, there were only two tables in total, so the sound was particularly obvious. Renly turned his head to look at it reflexively, and then listened to Janice. shouted loudly, "Stanley, tonight's show singer is here."
"He's early." Stanley looked at his watch and said with a smile, "I don't know if he came early to prepare for the show, or came over for dinner like someone else?"
The sarcastic tone made Renly smile and stood up, "Leave it to me." After speaking, Renly walked towards the gate, and in the distance, he could see a guitar on his back. Ed Sheeran, standing bewildered at the entrance, like a lost lamb.