Standing at the intersection of Yonghuo Street, red lanterns replaced streetlights, low brick houses replaced skyscrapers, Chinese restaurants and tea houses replaced Western restaurants and cafes, and Chinese characters replaced English letters. It was like a haven in the Western world; just one street away, it was a different world.Hugo and Joseph stood at the intersection and saw the surrounding crowd slowly gathering. Everyone stood at a distance, whispering and pointing. Hugo had an inexplicable feeling: he had returned to old society or ancient times, like a widow with a chastity arch discovered having an affair and paraded through the streets, or a general who had lost a battle and returned to live in shame, or a murderer covered in blood crying out for injustice. When such people walked the streets, passersby dared not approach easily, but would gossip and condemn from afar, exchanging thoughts in whispers while showing disgust and spitting. In short, it was nothing good.This feeling was very strange and absurd. First, this was not ancient times, and he was not a criminal; second, about half of the people around were Asian, and there were definitely not few Caucasians. So, Hugo didn't know why he had such a ridiculous feeling. Was it because the light of the red lanterns created this strange sense of temporal displacement?The commotion surging from all directions made Hugo and Joseph uneasy. Both frowned and looked around, trying to find out what was happening.Yonghuo Street was actually very lively today, with at least two or three hundred people within sight, and even more dense crowds in the areas beyond their sight. But it was as if in an instant, the noise was isolated, forming an arc with Hugo and Joseph at the center, creating two worlds. This reminded Hugo of the new American drama "Under the Dome" which premiered in 2013. He and Joseph were enveloped in a force field, while everyone else stood outside the force field, pointing and unwilling to approach."Am I naked, and my clothes have disappeared? Or am I covered in blood and I don't know it?" Hugo tilted his head slightly towards Joseph and whispered. He didn't want to be conceited and think he was the focus of the entire street; that was too ridiculous. But the fact was, people outside the "force field" were all looking at him. Countless gazes shot over like thousands of arrows, accurately piercing Hugo's body. "Or are we planning a street performance, and they are clearing the venue for us, but I haven't realized it yet?"Joseph was made to laugh and cry by Hugo's series of absurd humor, and he couldn't help but burst out laughing. However, Hugo's next sentence made Joseph unable to laugh anymore, "Could it be that we've transformed?""Transformed..." Joseph felt his mouth twitching. Hugo's imagination... was truly wild."You know, I've transformed into a vampire, and you're... a bear-man or something," Hugo said with a smirk, looking Joseph up and down playfully.Three black lines appeared on his forehead. "Why a bear-man, not a werewolf?" Joseph regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. He shouldn't have asked."Because you look like a bear. When have you ever seen such a fat wolf?" Hugo replied. Alright, Joseph admitted he was being talkative, and now, he wanted to strangle Hugo! *Fist clenched!*If it had been a month ago, Hugo and Joseph would never have joked like this, but now, they were clearly much more familiar with each other and could be considered very good friends. Joseph began to regret: Should he have told Hugo about his family affairs! Or should he not have given Hugo advice on his father-son relationship... Damn it!But before Hugo and Joseph could continue to clarify their doubts, the situation around them changed again. Originally, everyone stayed in place and then slowly retreated, forming an empty force field around Hugo and Joseph. But now, people started moving forward again, like a siege, with one point pushing inward, then the sides of that point also caving inward, triggering a chain reaction that eventually caused the entire encirclement to shrink.That was what was happening now. A bystander approached Hugo, and then people around them began to move closer in twos and threes. Hugo only managed to ask, "Are they planning to fight?" Before Joseph could roll his eyes, someone shouted, "Hugo, is that Hugo Lancaster?"Hugo didn't know whether he should answer yes or no, because the crowd didn't give him a chance to answer. "Yes, it's Hugo! It's Hugo!" Immediately followed by a series of screams, "Big star, the big star has appeared!"Whoosh! The circle of people around them swarmed forward. Hugo estimated there were only about thirty people, but the scene was like an army of thousands... Uh, maybe it really was an army of thousands. Because after that shout of "big star," everyone around them began to stir. With Hugo and Joseph at the center, it was like a giant magnet, quickly attracting the surrounding crowd: fifty, a hundred, two hundred people... Soon, Hugo, this honey, was surrounded by countless bees. If someone with trypophobia looked down from above, they would definitely faint instantly."What in the world is happening!" Hugo felt his thoughts couldn't keep up. One moment he and Joseph were walking happily on Yonghuo Street, thinking about what to eat for dinner, the multitude of choices making Hugo completely forget himself; the next moment, the two of them became sandwich cookies, and red bean paste ones at that—because they were almost crushed."Fans." That was the only thing Joseph could say; he was now too preoccupied to help himself.What? This was Hugo's first reaction. The last time, during the opening weekend of "A Few Good Men," Hugo was surrounded in a movie theater. That seemed like only three weeks ago. The fans' enthusiasm and politeness left a deep impression on Hugo. Of course, that fervent popularity still lingered in his mind, but why was today's encirclement so exaggerated? Had the world gone mad?The world had indeed gone mad.It felt like thousands of people were surrounding Hugo. Hugo only felt countless hands reaching for him, and these hands were very unruly. Some grabbed his chest, some grabbed his crotch, and they weren't just touching; they were grabbing fiercely, as if they had a deep grudge against Hugo, not controlling their strength, just grabbing hard. Hugo was certain that his chest and back had been scratched raw, and the burning pain made him wince.Joseph's first reaction was to stand in front of Hugo. This kind of work should be for an assistant and manager, but since Hugo only had Joseph, Joseph had to shoulder this important responsibility: protecting his artist. Although Joseph was sturdier than Hugo, unfortunately, their height difference wasn't significant, and Hugo was also a tall man, so the part Joseph could block was limited.Joseph was even worse off than Hugo at this moment. Most of the attacks from the front were directed at him. Some even threw punches, giving Joseph a heavy blow to the stomach, and he almost threw up, making Joseph suspect these were not fans at all, but enemies. And there were many hands directly Pounce Joseph's head. You know, Joseph was a full six feet two inches tall. Although such a height couldn't be described as standing out from the crowd, he was still taller than most people, so the fact that someone was waving their hands at Joseph's head meant it was truly insane.The people around kept screaming, "Hugo! Ah! Hugo!" But these sounds eventually evolved into "Star! Ah! Star!"Hugo couldn't hear the shouts clearly; he only felt his eardrums buzzing, and he was held in place by the pushing force surging from all directions, completely unable to move. Countless fragmented screams and shouts drilled into Hugo's head, making him feel like he was about to explode.The scene was completely out of control at this point. Shouts mixed with the surging pushing and shoving had turned into screams. Hugo strongly suspected that someone might have lost their balance and fallen. But Hugo was unable to deal with these situations at the moment. His vision was filled with distorted faces, shouting "Autograph, autograph" at him, like a series of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" twisting and extending before his eyes. This feeling was terrifying, like volcanoes erupting before him.Individual strength was so small in the face of the collective. Joseph and Hugo had no power to resist. Joseph quickly turned around, yelled "Go!" into Hugo's ear, and then shielded Hugo's shoulder. The two tried to find a gap to escape through the crowd, but the scene was completely impenetrable, making it impossible to move an inch.When the people around saw Hugo trying to leave, they frantically shouted, "Autograph! Autograph!" as if Hugo would absolutely not be able to leave today if he didn't fulfill their wishes. But at this point, Hugo had no energy to give autographs to anyone; he could only pray that he could escape safely, which would be a miracle.Joseph and Hugo, two men, struggled to move through the deluge with their own strength. At first, the surrounding crowd moved with their position, but as the two moved faster and faster, many people began to lose track of them, resulting in them spinning in place like headless flies.Hugo pulled Joseph's arm, bent down, hid his height in the dense crowd, and then, mimicking a football player's stance, used his shoulder to clear a path, forcefully carving out a way, and then successfully escaped under the gaze of the people.If there were fewer people, everyone could maintain their focus on Hugo; but with more people, and Hugo deliberately keeping a low profile, the focus would quickly blur and eventually be lost. So, Hugo and Joseph both successfully escaped, while the surging crowd behind them still swarmed, searching for Hugo's figure. Now, the shouts suddenly became clearer, with cries of "Hugo," "Autograph," and "I love you" mixed in with screams, rising and falling.
