Upon checking in to the motel, the kind Spanish old man had already made things very convenient for Simon. If Simon were to leave that motel, it would be difficult for him to find another suitable place to stay in a short time.
After some consideration, Simon found Roger Griffin after his shift that afternoon to discuss whether he could be paid a week's salary in advance.
The convenience store owner, who had the potential to be a real Scrooge, didn't instantly refuse but said that everyone's salary in the store was only settled once a week. Since Simon had only worked three days this week, if he wanted to settle his wages early, he would only receive three days' worth of pay for the week.
Simon wasn't going to quibble with Roger Griffin over a few dozen dollars. He readily agreed, knowing that three days' salary, plus what he had left in his pocket, would be enough to pay his rent. As for the time lag that would occur next week, Simon intended to find himself another temporary part-time job with more flexible payment terms.
Then, Simon's straightforwardness made his middle-aged boss, who wasn't purposefully making things difficult for him, a little embarrassed. With a pang of conscience, he rounded up the amount and paid him $100.
Leaving the convenience store, Simon walked for over twenty minutes back to the motel where he was staying.
This was a typical U-shaped motel, a white two-story wooden building with over ten rooms, and a few cars parked in the yard.
The Los Angeles sun was just right in the afternoon.
As Simon walked into the yard, he came across Diago Salgado, the motel owner, enjoying his leisure time, sitting under the eaves with a guitar, strumming and singing.
In Simon's past life's understanding, he had viewed the guitar as basically an instrument for young people. He had played it for a while during college but hadn't touched it again once he started working. However, in the eyes of Westerners, for whom music is a part of life, such a restrictive notion clearly didn't exist.
Simon found a chair and sat down next to the Spanish old man, listening quietly for a while.
The old man was playing an old Elvis Presley song, 'Blue Suede Shoes'.
If one didn't consider the heavy Spanish accent when humming, the old man's guitar skills were barely listenable.
As he made this assessment, Simon felt a little surprised.
His own guitar skills in the past were only enough to simply pluck out a song like 'Wonderwall' and certainly nowhere near the old Spanish man's level at this moment. Although the old-fashioned melody of 'Blue Suede Shoes' didn't suit Simon's taste at all, it was undeniable that the song was quite difficult to play.
However, with a moment's thought, Simon understood.
Among the other twelve memories now contained within his head, there was a top Hollywood film composer, so playing an instrument like the guitar would naturally be a piece of cake. Moreover, many other talented Hollywood elites were also guitar enthusiasts.
The old man leisurely finished singing a song, then turned to Simon and asked directly in Spanish, "Why are you back so early today?"
Simon didn't answer. He just smiled, took out his wallet, pulled out the $100 bill, and handed it to the old man, replying in Spanish, "Diago, this is my rent from last week, and thank you for your care during this time."
The old man nodded, took the money, but then glanced at Simon's wallet, teasingly yet with concern, saying, "Without this $100, you'll be hungry very soon, won't you?"
"Not at all" Simon shook his head and smiled, "I found a church nearby, I should be able to get some food stamps there".
Hearing Simon's idea, the old man laughed heartily and said, "I like young people like you who can adapt to circumstances, but doing that would be too impious. Here, do you know how to play the guitar?"
Simon saw the old man hand him the guitar, feeling a little puzzled, but still held it. Almost instinctively, he re-tuned the strings, and then began to pluck, playing the same song the old man had just played, 'Blue Suede Shoes'.
As soon as the melody began, the motel owner couldn't help but want to shake his head. This boy obviously knew a little guitar, but his playing was very clumsy.
However, seeing Simon's focused expression, the old man didn't interrupt him.
Then, Diago witnessed a small miracle that left him somewhat dumbfounded.
In just ten short minutes, Simon's playing transitioned from clumsy to skilful at an astonishing pace. The old man was also an amateur at guitar, so he found it difficult to precisely describe Simon's guitar level.
However, the old man deeply felt that if Simon's playing level was a mile behind his own ten minutes ago, then after only ten minutes, this young man's guitar skills had surpassed his by ten miles, even reaching a somewhat professional level.
As soon as Simon stopped playing, Diago immediately asked, "Son, did you learn guitar before?"
Simon nodded. He was equally surprised by his own performance and could only vaguely explain to the old man, "I did, but I haven't touched it in many years."
Diago obviously couldn't comprehend what Simon's 'many years' meant, given his youthful appearance, but at least he received a somewhat reasonable response to his surprise.
"In that case" Diago took back his guitar, put it in the case beside him, but then handed the full case back to Simon and said, "Give me your backpack, and take this to the beach. It's peak tourist season now, and I think with your skill, playing there for a few hours will be enough for your meals for the next few days".
Simon only paused for a moment before readily handing over the backpack that had been inseparable from him these past few days. He took the guitar case and slung it over his shoulder, then, still pushing his luck, he smiled at the old man and said, "Diago, you've lent me your Gibson guitar, lend me your car too. It'll be dark by the time I walk from here to the beach."
"You little rascal," the old man shook his head, but still took out the keys and handed them to Simon, then deliberately added in a very mercenary tone, "Don't forget to put gas in it".
The long coastline of Los Angeles boasts many famous beaches, and among them, the most bustling is undoubtedly Venice Beach, adjacent to Santa Monica Beach.
In addition to countless tourists from all over the world, the pedestrian street of Venice Beach was also a gathering place for various street performers, artists, painters, cyclists, rollerblading enthusiasts, and other groups, making the entire beach feel like a lively carnival.
Simon drove for over ten minutes to reach Venice Beach, paid two dollars to park his car in the paid parking lot, and then, with guitar on his back, stepped onto the famous pedestrian street by the beach.
A moment later, Simon came to a halt at a street corner with a decent flow of people.
He placed the guitar case at his feet, held the guitar, and reacquainted himself with the feeling, then randomly picked Elton John's 'Rocket Man' from his memory and began to sing and play.
With the calm state of mind gained from having lived two lifetimes, Simon didn't feel any embarrassment about busking on the street. He felt it would be more embarrassing for a grown man not to be able to support himself.
The suddenly unleashed superb guitar skills unconsciously attracted the attention of people passing by. Although Simon, fully focussed on his playing, rarely interacted with those who stopped to listen, there were always groups of two or three tourists gathering nearby, listening to a few songs, dropping some change, and then leaving.
Unbeknownst to him, the sun began to sink towards the horizon, and the orange-red light cast from behind Simon stretched his shadow longer and longer.
From four o'clock until now, nearly three hours, Simon didn't feel particularly tired.
Glancing at the guitar case at his feet, which was filled with a thick layer of coins, Simon thought that perhaps he wouldn't need to find a second part-time job after all, and could instead use his time for more productive pursuits.
Thinking this, he was about to finish the last song and then pack up, when a hand reached over from the side, hovering above the guitar case.
It was a very beautiful hand, slender, long, with fiery red nail polish.
It was clearly a woman's hand.
These thoughts flashed through Simon's mind, but in his lowered gaze, he noticed that the beautiful woman's hand didn't seem to intend to put money into the guitar case; instead, it reached for the only $10 bill there.
This was too much.
So Simon raised his right foot and gently stepped on the hand that was trying to 'do evil'.
The owner of the hand didn't seem to anticipate Simon's action, and Simon didn't expect the hand wouldn't dodge. So, it wasn't until Simon's right foot landed that a somewhat exaggerated female voice came from beside him.
"Oi, little boy, how could you step on someone? That's awful!"
Simon reluctantly pressed down on the strings, withdrew his foot, and turned to look to the side.
Janette Johnston, who was squatting beside the guitar case, was glaring at him with an accusatory expression, as though completely lacking any awareness of having just being caught red-handed.
Kathryn Bigelow stood beside her friend, her expression helpless, and she smiled apologetically at Simon.
Simon directly ignored the frantic woman still squatting on the ground and looked at Kathryn with delight. He had called Kathryn once after meeting Jonathan Friedman last week, but unfortunately, no one answered, so he had to leave a message.
He didn't expect to run into her by chance at this moment.
Kathryn was still dressed simply in a shirt and trousers today, looking very pleasing to his eyes.
Simon looked the woman up and down and then said, "What a coincidence, Kathryn, what are you two doing here?"
Although the boy's gaze held no aggression, Kathryn still felt a little uncomfortable and slightly averted her gaze, saying, "Jenny's studio is over here. I had a production meeting in Beverly Hills this afternoon and came to meet Jenny to go back to Malibu together".
Simon nodded and said, "So, is it 'Near Dark'? How are the preparations coming along?"
"Casting is about to finish, but the production company has had some funding issues, so it might be a few months before filming starts" Kathryn said, then added, "I saw your message. Also, Mr. Friedman called me. He thinks highly of you, but he was very surprised by your age".
Simon smiled, glanced at his watch, and then said to Kathryn, "I haven't properly thanked you for your help yet. Since we've met, how about I treat you to dinner?"
Having been ignored by Simon all this time, Janette already felt a strange little resentment. Now, hearing him say this, the woman immediately pointed at the loose change in Simon's guitar case and said in a teasing tone, "Little boy, you're not planning to treat us to dinner with this money, are you?"