hollywood billionaire

Chapter 404: The Billionaire Who Hides Nowhere (Part )
"Remember, when you get to the door, don't panic, don't talk, and don't look around. Just follow me, keep your head down, and act as depressed as possible. Do you understand? Do as I say, and I guarantee you'll be able to get in."

"This plan sounds ridiculous? What do you mean? Do you know how many people we brought in yesterday? Over a hundred! There are nearly 80,000 people inside. Do you think the organizers will care whether one hundred of them entered through formal channels?"

"Listen, if you don't want to get into trouble, I'll return your money and you can go back to the hotel now, but don't ever say... Right, you're right to think so. What's the worst that can happen? I told you that if I can't get in, I'll return your money in full. Did you see our work IDs? Do you think his words are more effective, or mine?"

"You got it, boss. Follow me."

Douglas Perez calmly shook off a few sweat-soaked Andrew Jackson notes, glanced quickly left and right, and after making sure that he did not attract unnecessary attention, put the banknotes into the waist bag hanging diagonally in front of him, grinned at his younger brother Pedro dos Santos da Silva who was following closely beside him, and switched from English with a strong Latin American accent to a more comfortable, lazy, and extremely fast-speaking Spanish.

"These girls are the most talkative, asking this and that."

The three girls who had been secretly working as scalpers for two nights as security guards and were now hurrying with them to Gate 4 of the Las Vegas Festival venue were indeed the most inquiring, suspicious and reluctant-to-spend customers they had ever encountered.

If the three girls had not seen with their own eyes Douglas' gang bringing a couple into the venue and then walking back as if nothing had happened, they probably would not have made up their mind to pay them for "help".

"I don't know what they were talking about. They were talking too fast and I couldn't understand them."

Pedro first pointed his index finger at his ear, then turned it in another direction with a sly smile on his face.

"I just know that what they wear makes me want to help, and that's enough."

"You don't think you have a chance, do you, bastard?" Douglas deliberately slowed down his pace and admired the six round hills that could not be covered by sexy lingerie with Pedro. After noticing the doubtful look from one of the girls, Douglas even turned the tables, stared back with wide eyes, and whispered viciously, "Keep going, ladies, don't forget the role you are going to play now!"

After scaring the other party so much that he hurried forward two steps and dared not look him in the eye, Douglas stretched lazily and gave Pedro a smile that looked a little hideous no matter how you looked at it.

"I always put the right things——"

A sentence extremely disrespectful to women was uttered in Spanish, and Douglas and Pedro laughed at the same time.

"Listen, man, if you're really interested in them, I'll make a call and ask someone from the hotel to come cover for you." Douglas was almost happy enough. He put his arm around Pedro's shoulders, patted his chest with his other hand, coughed twice, and whispered jokingly, "It's up to you to decide what to do next and how to achieve your goal. There are ways anyway."

"I dont go."

Pedro's heart skipped a beat and he quickly shook his head.

"I'm not that interested in white chicks... making money is more important."

The first half of Pedro's words was undoubtedly a lie. When he was still in Brazil, he would hang out in Rio de Janeiro's Dias Ferreira bar street all day, often relying on his "exotic aura" to have sex with North American or European female tourists. Later, his gang business had some problems, and he ended up in Las Vegas. Although he was no longer as glorious as before, and even fell into the hands of Mexicans, his desire for fresh flesh remained unabated.

"Really not going?" Douglas raised his eyebrows and asked with interest.

"I really won't go." Pedro continued to shake his head firmly.

"I can always find someone to cover for you. Think about it again." Douglas drawled out his voice.

"I'm not letting anyone else do this job for me," Pedro shrugged. "To be honest, man, I can't have any of these girls today. I definitely can't do it right now."

From being a security guard at Lapa, the most prestigious nightclub in South America, whom everyone wanted to know, to being a valet parking attendant outside the Hard Rock Hotel, a second-rate casino in North America, whom no one would even look at a second time, Pedro knew very well that, stripped of his halo, he could no longer rely on his mediocre looks to attract any woman he liked - no matter how easy they looked to get, they would not be the feast prepared for him - Pedro had to find a way to make more money in this gilded city that never sleeps, make a comeback, and return to a life of luxury.

"Whores only follow the money. What I need to solve now is to put more of this in my pocket." Pedro put his thumb and index finger together and rubbed them gently. "Where else can I make money faster than here?"

As Pedro said, the Mad City Music Festival that they had worked so hard to infiltrate was the easiest money-making opportunity Pedro had encountered in a long time.

He only needs to use the identity of a security guard to bring people into the backstage, and he can easily earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars every night.

This is real cash that fell into his hands.

"That's what smart people do." Douglas pointed to his temple and smiled. "Work hard. There are five or six hours left today, and there's a whole day tomorrow. Keep up the good work, and after the festival, I'll take you to Cabo to have fun for a week."

"Capo?"

Even though Pedro already knew that Douglas, as the leader, had much more money in his hands than he himself got, he still seemed a little surprised.

“Can…can you earn that much?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to.”

Douglas waved his hand casually without giving a direct answer.

"Yeah."

Pedro stood where he was, smacked his lips, then took two quick steps to catch up with Douglas.

"But... bro, are you sure we can do this?"

"Of course we can't do this." Douglas turned his head and glanced at his younger brother behind him strangely. "This is why we can make so much money, isn't it?"

"No, I mean... I know this is... illegal." Pedro put his right hand on his waist, as if this gesture could help him lower his voice. "I mean, should we be more low-key? We have to let in at least one or two hundred people every day. With such a large flow of people, we will be discovered sooner or later, right?"

"Seventy-five thousand people... two hundred people." Douglas raised his hands in front of Pedro and gestured randomly. "Do you think I was just fooling those girls? I'm telling the truth. Mad City doesn't care if we little guys break the rules. Do you know how much this music festival costs?"

"Well... tens of millions, maybe." Pedro answered uncertainly. The project had reached this level, and the total amount was definitely a number he had never seen before, and would never dare to imagine.

"Fifty million."

Douglas spread out the five fingers of his right hand and spoke with certainty, as if he was the financial director who managed the general ledger of the music festival. In fact, this number was also the information he vaguely heard when he hurriedly passed by two stage workers. Douglas couldn't be sure of its authenticity, and because he really didn't pay much attention at the time, he couldn't even assert that they were talking about the production costs of the Mad City Music Festival. But there are always such people in this world who are full of confidence and boastful, and Douglas is a typical representative of them.

"Shit, the cost is so high, can we make back the money?"

"Of course we can make a profit. For example, the advance ticket price for three days is 580 US dollars, and if there are 75000 people, then that's..."

"How much is it?" Pedro asked Douglas, who was suddenly stuck.

"Yes……"

Douglas looked up at his math teacher whom he hadn't seen for many years, but who should be in heaven now, looking down at him.

"That's enough anyway."

"alright."

"What I'm saying is that when a man can take $50 million and make a lot more than $50 million with it ... he's going to be very tolerant of those of us who live under his rule."

Having said that, Douglas pointed to the booth area that was gradually shrinking behind them.

"Look at all the people he's partying with, do you think he has time to mind us?"

"Those people standing next to him are...Taylor Swift, and Snoop Dogg...and Dr. Dre?"

"It seems like you've been reading USA Today a lot lately." "I don't know much about Hollywood stars, but I definitely recognize these faces."

"Excuse me, um..."

The three girls who had sneaked in because they heard some important names and were attracted by the conversation between Douglas and Pedro easily locked onto the tall blond figure at the front of the booth. They first whispered to each other excitedly, and then the one with the best looks and the hottest clothes asked Douglas.

"Excuse me, is that the VIP area?"

"Yes." Douglas glanced at the other person and bared his teeth. "The powerful people sat there and watched the crowd suffocate in the heat."

"So do we need to pay extra to get in there, or..."

"Ma'am, do you see those big guys guarding the door to that VIP area you mentioned?"

"I saw it."

"They check that every guest entering the booths is wearing the correct color bracelet. Now, tell me, how are you going to deal with them if you don't have a bracelet on your wrist?"

"So... there is no solution at all?"

"If you can find a millionaire who wants to try his luck with you tonight, and who happens to have three spare bracelets... maybe. But until then, get on to the dance floor, lady. And keep your wrists hidden from the patrol officers if you can. Our agreement is to bring you in only once."

"But aren't you working for the festival? Can't you..."

"If I can get any bracelet I want, do we still need to meet outside the door in secret? Do I still need to wear this clothes?" Douglas tugged at the security vest covering his T-shirt and sneered, "Don't look at me like that, ma'am. I do this as a side job, and it's great to be able to escort you to the dance floor. Now, do we want to stay here and argue and attract unnecessary attention, or do you want to move now and start enjoying the music of Major Lazer?"

Having said that, Douglas nodded, signaling the three girls to focus their attention on the right place.

After the whole audience sang "Love Me Like You Do", Ellie Goulding bowed and took the stage. Then came the electronic music group Major Lazer, led by Diplo, the organizer of Mad Decent and the nominal initiator of this music festival.

“That’s why I need a one dance,

Got a Hennessy in my hand,

One more time 'fore I go,

Higher powers taking a hold on me…”

Founded in 2009 by Diplo and English legendary producer Switch in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, and joined by Trinidadian producer Jillionaire and Jamaican local musician Walshy Fire two years later, Major Lazer has had a strong Caribbean flavor since its birth. The electronic dance music they created combines reggae, the origin of Jamaican pop music, modern dancehall derived from reggae, calypso, a unique African-Caribbean music style in Trinidad and Tobago, soca, a dance music genre that was popular in Central America in the s, and of course, Moombahton, which was incubated with commercial music thinking after the American music industry discovered this virgin land.

The latter is Diplo's specialty, while the previous styles are the innate talents of the other two members. The three of them work together to make Major Lazer's music the most recognizable product in the entire EDM circle. Whether it is "Lean On" that dominated the global dance music charts last year, or "Cold Water" that made Madison Beer famous this year, as long as the drop sounded, fans would automatically attribute these two songs to Major Lazer without checking the detailed information.

This unique artistic style is also carried over to their live performances. The main stage of the 2016 electronic music festival is still dominated by traditional EDM represented by progressive house. The secondary stage is dominated by Dubstep, Brostep and Bass Music in a broader sense. In addition to Future Bass, which helped electronic music top the mainstream charts, the styles that people can hear in the festival sets of famous DJs are nothing more than these few.

Even Major Lazer is no exception in this regard. Martin Solveig and GTA's "Intoxicated" which has been played to death in Europe, Martin Garrix's famous "Animals", "Bomb a Drop" which has become so popular that it makes my ears calloused, DJ Snake's "Propaganda" which he plays five or six times at every music festival, The Chainsmokers' hit "Roses", and Drake's "Work" and "One Dance" which dominated the first half of 2016. There are many familiar faces that should appear. To put it nicely, it is stable. To put it bluntly, it is just copying and pasting all the most frequently appearing singles on 1001Tracklists into its own USB drive.

Fortunately, however, while catering to the mainstream market and the public taste, Major Lazer is also trying its best to provide a different experience for Las Vegas audiences who have already watched the performances of four DJs: NERVO, Marshmello, Diplo and Nicky Romero.

For example, although Drake's "One Dance" was on the playlist, Major Lazer chose a relatively niche remix version by Dutch producer Alvaro, which further refined this modern R&B with Afrobeats African music style into Afro House with South African instrumental elements such as conga drums and sand balls, giving it a Black Coffee feel. In another classic rap single, Macklemore's "Can't Hold Us", the Major Lazer trio not only added a reggae-flavored chant on top of the original vocal melody, but also turned the climax into the trap style that Diplo is also good at.

Not only that, Major Lazer also made a lot of surprising changes to their original works. For example, when playing their most famous single "Lean On", Diplo first used an outro edit to introduce the classic dance song "Jungle Bae" by his other creative group Jack U, and the second drop part switched to the bouncy Ghetto House remix of "Lean On" produced by Malaa, and finally ended with a VIP Mix version of Jungle Terror style produced by himself.

If you feel dizzy after reading this series of descriptions that only senior electronic music fans can digest, then you only need to understand this fact - Major Lazer filled the most common old bottles with 60 minutes of creative new wine. The emotional ups and downs are intense but natural, the rhythm is fast but moderate, the music style is rich but not messy, and the multiple ingenuity and craftsmanship make Major Lazer's performance time the one with the largest crowd jumping range so far in this Mad City music show.

The whole place was in a frenzy, and the regret of not being able to sneak into the booths was quickly replaced by the excitement of trying. The three girls who managed to evade the ticket with the help of Douglas and Pedro didn't even bother to look back at them, and they pulled each other and were instantly drowned in the dance floor.

"$450, got it."

Stroking the banknotes in his pocket with his fingers, Douglas twisted his body twice to the rhythm of the music with great pride. Then he turned around without any reluctance and strode towards Gate No. 4 again.

"Hurry up, hurry up. Take three or four more orders, and I'll treat you to a big meal."

"A big dinner? Where?"

"Of course it's in the dining area at the festival." Douglas glanced at Pedro in confusion. "It starts at six o'clock, and the dining time is a total of 45 minutes. Where else do you want to go?"

"Oh, you mean today." Pedro patted his head, "But can't we have free staff catering?"

"We've made a thousand bucks, who would want to eat something that's half-lukewarm?" Douglas waved his hand. "We usually watch others eat it, so today we should be extravagant and try the cheese factory to see what the red velvet cake they boast about so much actually tastes like."

"It's the one on the third floor over there, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Douglas whistled, and took out a few Andrew Jacksons from his pocket, patting Pedro's chest heavily. "Thanks to Mr. Han who is sitting in the booth. Not only does he provide you with a part-time job and a chance to make extra money, he even thoughtfully prepared a chance for you to taste the American flavor... Have you ever gone out to eat since you came to Las Vegas?"

"A few times. Fast food. Chipotle and...something else."

Pedro quickly caught the twenty-dollar bills that almost fell to the ground in front of his chest, and held them tightly in his hands. An involuntary smile of joy first appeared on his face, and then he let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong? Are you not satisfied with the share?"

"No, it's not." Pedro shook his head quickly. "It just occurred to me that... life is really unfair."

"Why are you suddenly so emotional, philosopher?" Douglas paused and asked with interest.

"We came to this country, working two or three jobs every day. We hurried back and forth between the hotel and that shabby apartment, and we didn't even dare to look up when we saw sexy girls. And he..." At this point, Pedro's eyes involuntarily drifted to Han Yi in the distance. At this moment, the latter was surrounded by a group of supermodels whose star power was no less than that of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

"He also came to this country as a stranger, but he came to enjoy himself and conquer. He picked and chose in the buffet restaurant, while we tore up discount coupons in the fast food restaurant. Damn..."

"Stranger?" Pedro's incessant complaints made Douglas' expression pause at first, and then he burst into laughter, ignoring the surprised looks of the passers-by.

“Am I wrong?” Pedro’s eyes moved back and forth between Douglas and Han Yi. “Don’t tell me he was actually born and raised here. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t. We’ve already discussed this.”

"'who are we?"

"Me... and the rest of our security team. They said he was from..."

"China."

"Yes, a rich man from China. Suddenly one day, he showed up alone with endless cash, and now everyone in Hollywood wants to kiss his ass."

"You are not wrong about this. However, when you and 'those security guards' were discussing celebrities, did you ever think about doing more detailed background checks in addition to guessing?"

Douglas looked at Pedro with some disappointment for a few seconds, then took out his cell phone, tapped the screen a few times quickly, then turned it around and pointed it at Pedro.

"Read this article... no, read the title of this article and tell me you still think... he is a stranger with no roots in America."

(End of this chapter)