Chapter 42

November 27th, Thanksgiving Day.

Early in the morning, the Ye family set out, driving to Disneyland in Los Angeles, "This is the happiest place on Earth, come and enjoy the fun!"

The park was bustling with visitors, filled with the laughter of both adults and children. After entering, the four of them went to the Sleeping Beauty Castle first. Of course, this wasn't their first visit, but Dodo was always so happy, her smile revealing her pearly white teeth. When surrounded by Mickey, Minnie, and other character performers, she was even more reluctant to leave.

Ye Haogen kept taking photos, trying to capture these joyful moments, directing his family to pose, "Qiao, lift Dodo up, yes, Wei, be serious, smile!"

"YEAH!" Ye Wei exaggeratedly made a V sign with his hands, like Edward Scissorhands, and the click of the camera captured the moment!

One photo after another, they enjoyed a sumptuous lunch on the Tomorrowland Terrace, rested for a while, and then continued to explore the various attractions in the afternoon.

It was impossible to see everything in Disneyland in one day, let alone the adjacent Disney California Adventure Park. So, disagreements easily arose about which attractions to visit. Dodo wanted to ride the carousel in Fantasyland, while Ye Wei wanted to ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds, which Dodo was too short to ride.

The family's happiness naturally centered on Dodo, so Ye Haogen and Gu Qiao took her to Fantasyland, while Ye Wei went to ride the roller coaster and would meet up with them later.

However, when Ye Wei arrived at the Matterhorn Bobsleds, he found a long queue, and it would take at least half an hour to get a ride. He wanted to get a Fastpass, but the passes were already gone, thanks to the crazy Thanksgiving visitors!

Either wait in line or leave, he chose the latter. He had ridden it before, so he decided to wander around Fantasyland.

Visitors came and went, many pushing baby strollers. Ye Wei walked among them, feeling a bit alone. Then he saw a staff member selling balloons by the greenery, holding dozens of large, colorful balloons, and walked over, thinking of buying one for Dodo.

It was quiet there, with no one in line to buy.

"Can I have a colorful balloon? How much is it?" Ye Wei asked while taking out his wallet.

"Oh my friend..." The Latino uncle looked distressed. Ye Wei asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?" The uncle said urgently, "I need to go to the bathroom. Can you hold these balloons for a moment? Please... I'll be back in five minutes, thank you..."

The uncle forcefully handed the balloon strings to Ye Wei, "White ones are $5 each, colorful ones are $10 each, cash only. If someone buys, please help. Thanks."

"OK, go ahead, urgency comes first." Ye Wei shrugged and took the balloon strings. The uncle ran off like a rocket.

He looked up at the floating balloons and the passing visitors, and called out with interest, "Selling balloons, beautiful balloons!" This wasn't something that happened every day, so he decided to see how many he could sell before the uncle returned.

"Kids!" He waved his hands, walked into the middle of the road, and approached a white family of five, "Look at these beautiful balloons, don't you want one?"

The two children's eyes lit up, and he continued to sell, "These aren't ordinary balloons, but magical flying machines, like witches' brooms! They can take you to Fantasyland! Mickey, Minnie, and Donald Duck are waiting for you there. The colorful balloons are the swords of heroes, and the white ones are the wands of magicians!"

"They're just overpriced, fake balloons..." The older sister rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you're not guests of Fantasyland." Ye Wei didn't care, as it wasn't his responsibility to sell them.

"Mom, I want one, I want to be a magician!" The little girl was eager, and the little boy said, "I want one too! But a colorful one!"

Their parents naturally paid, as long as the children were happy.

"Here, Fantasyland is just ahead, have fun!" Ye Wei took the money, smiled, and handed a white and a colorful balloon to the children, then moved on to the next passing family, "Fantasyland is under attack by the Evil Spirit Empire! King Mickey is recruiting heroes and magicians to defend, will it be you!?"

Before long, the balloons left his hands one by one, and the dollar bills filled his pockets, nearly half of them sold. He was quite satisfied with his marketing skills.

At this moment, he saw a blonde little girl passing by, and immediately approached her, "Selling balloons, Fantasyland is waiting for you to join!"

"Sir." The little girl saw him and thought he was a staff member, her round face breaking into a smile, "I got separated from my parents, I'm lost."

"Lost?" Ye Wei was taken aback and looked at her.

The girl looked about 8 or 9 years old, with light golden shoulder-length hair, not tall but well-proportioned. She wore a red long-sleeved T-shirt with a Mickey Mouse pattern, children's denim overalls, and brown short boots, looking slim and cute, with a bit of mischief.

Her features were delicate, with long eyebrows, big eyes, and slightly pointed, elf-like ears. When she spoke, she revealed two white front teeth with a small gap, her smile innocent.

Her appearance was very approachable, easily making people feel good.

"Yes, lost..." The little girl stuck out her tongue, her eyelashes fluttering, a bit embarrassed, "We were supposed to go to Tomorrowland, but somehow I ended up here alone."

"OK." Ye Wei responded, this wasn't unusual. When he was young, he would get lost every time he came to the park, sometimes even two or three times in one day.

So he knew what would happen after getting lost. You would soon be found by the staff and taken to the childcare center. To avoid disrupting others' fun, the park wouldn't make announcements, but would use other methods to find the parents, usually within half an hour.

"Sorry, little girl, I'm not actually a staff member here. I'm just a visitor helping someone with the balloons."

The little girl looked confused, and Ye Wei smiled and shrugged, "But I know where Tomorrowland is." He pointed to the east, "That way." The girl looked in that direction and suddenly had an idea, "Can you take me there?"

"Um..." Ye Wei was about to say something when the Latino uncle finally returned, looking relieved, "Sir, thank you for your help, you're a good person!" Ye Wei handed the money and balloons back to him, "No problem, I sold 12 balloons for you, the money is here."

Twelve? In just a short time? The Latino uncle was stunned, unable to imagine how this young man did it...

"Also, I want to buy one myself." Ye Wei gave the uncle 10 dollars and took a colorful balloon, noticing the blonde little girl watching, he asked, "Do you want one?"

"I don't have any money." The girl pursed her lips and frowned.

Ye Wei took out more money and bought a white balloon, handing it to her, "Here, it's a gift." He felt a bit regretful, thinking that if it were a month ago, he would have bought all the remaining balloons for her, just because he was happy.

"Thank you..." She took it with surprise, her big eyes wide open, as if she couldn't believe it.

"I'm off, you can ask this uncle for help." Ye Wei smiled, turned, and walked towards Fantasyland, the colorful balloon floating in the air.

However, after walking just ten yards, the little girl ran up from behind, calling, "Sir, sir!" Ye Wei turned to look at her, "What's wrong?" The little girl smiled, "That man looks scary, can you take me there? My parents must be waiting for me in Tomorrowland, I know."

Ye Wei pursed his lips, "Alright, follow me, today is destined to be a day of helping others! I like it, good deeds bring good returns!"

He led the way to the east, the little girl walking briskly beside him, holding the balloon, and enthusiastically introduced herself, "I'm Anastasia, Anastasia Roberts, what about you?"

"Ye Wei, you can call me Wei." Ye Wei glanced at her and introduced himself.

"Wei, nice to meet you." The girl smiled warmly, and Ye Wei said, "Nice to meet you, Anastasia." She immediately frowned seriously, "Call me by my full name, Anastasia, and I like the pronunciation 'Ah-na' rather than 'Ann-na'."

"Alright, Anastasia."

"I'm 9, my birthday is on December 8th, then I'll be 10, what about you?"

"How old do you think I am?" Ye Wei became interested, as age was a current issue for him, and only in front of children was he considered an adult.

"Hmm, 18?" Anastasia blinked, guessing a number.

"15, had my birthday." Ye Wei revealed.

"Wow, that's 5 years older than me, not much." Anastasia looked at herself, shorter by half a head, "You're so cool, working at Disneyland at 15."

If he had been drinking water, Ye Wei would have spat it out, laughing, "I'm not a staff member, Ah-na!" Anastasia said, "Oh, right, you're just helping, that's still impressive. Are you from Los Angeles?"

"Yes."

"I'm from Denver, do you know it?"

"Yes, it's a cool place, full of gold, but I haven't been there."

"Welcome to Denver sometime." Anastasia continued, bouncing as she walked, "We came to Los Angeles for work. I've been auditioning almost every day recently, so we decided to spend Thanksgiving here."

She was very talkative, warm, and innocent, seemingly eager to tell her new cool Asian friend everything about herself.

"So you're an actress?" Ye Wei was surprised and looked at her again, always finding her expressive and full of spirit, a young actress indeed?

Actually, in Los Angeles, this wasn't unusual. You could ask any server in a restaurant, "Do you want to act?" or a parking attendant, a street performer... and get the same answer: "Of course, I'm an actor!" How many actors were among the park visitors? Too many to count.

What surprised him was that this little girl's appearance and aura were very suitable for "Annie," even her name was similar...

"Yes, I'm an actress!" Anastasia nodded proudly with a smile.

"Have you been in any productions? Movies? TV?" Ye Wei asked quickly, amazed by her cute, proud, and mischievous smile, and her expressive face, frowning, wide-eyed, and smiling wryly... She was definitely Annie, she was Annie!

"Yes, I started performing on the church stage when I was 5; then at 8, I took some acting classes; this year, a talent agency in Los Angeles signed me, and I've auditioned 42 times! I successfully shot a national commercial for Betsy Boop dolls, have you seen it?"

Anastasia spoke excitedly, and Ye Wei's eyes widened, "No wonder you seem familiar!" She added, "Now I'm auditioning for many movies, but haven't succeeded in any yet." She pouted, then suddenly became excited, "I made it to the second round of auditions for 'The Trouble with Daisy,' my mom says this one has a good chance."

'The Trouble with Daisy'? Ye Wei remembered seeing information about it in industry magazines. It was indeed in the casting stage, a film adaptation of a novel, a heartwarming story about a little girl and a dog named Winn-Daisy!

He was a fan of dog novels and had read this one. The film was directed by Chinese director Wayne Wang, so he paid more attention...

A little girl and a dog!

"Oh my God!!" Ye Wei couldn't help but exclaim, it was her, it was her! His heart raced, this was a miracle. If she could star in 'Angel's Dance' and 'The Trouble with Daisy,' with her talent, she would definitely become famous, creating a miracle like Phil Collins did as an extra in 'This Is Spinal Tap'!

It was her!

Anastasia Roberts, or... Anastasia Roberts!

His eyes sparkled, and he laughed, "Anastasia, I'm preparing a short film, and you, you are the perfect lead! No one else will do, only you!"

"Me?" Anastasia looked at him, her clear green eyes wide open.