money player

4:30 a.m. Kowloon Walled City time.

A monkey was perched on the roof of a building, observing a room across the street.

Three hours ago, Chen Atai led a few men to rob the Peninsula Hotel's underground vault. After succeeding, they took a long detour to the room across the street.

The monkey popped a peanut into its mouth and chewed it gently to improve its concentration.

The robbery took less than three minutes from start to finish, which fully demonstrates the capabilities of Chen Atai and his men. It also proves to some extent that there were traitors within the Peninsula Hotel and that this incident was not just a simple robbery.

"How's the monkey? Over."

Monkey held up his headphones and tapped the microphone twice.

"Switch places, over."

After knocking twice more, Monkey quickly packed his things and left the rooftop.

It will be dawn soon, and the probability of someone going up to the roof is increasing. If we stay any longer, we'll be easily seen.

He went downstairs to the "commercial area," sat at a breakfast stall, and glanced out of the corner of his eye at the alley leading to his destination.

Two hours later, at Tak Kee Tea House in the heart of the Walled City, a property of the 14K triad.

A man carrying a cloth bag passed by the teahouse. Suddenly, he stopped and swung the bag at the teahouse door. After a few swings, he let go, and the bag flew into the teahouse due to inertia. The man ran away, and the morning light shone on his hand, making the silk threads reflect the light.

Less than two seconds later, a loud bang came from the teahouse. The shock wave, carrying dust, blood and flesh, shot out of the door. A moment later, groans rose and fell.

Wan Chai.

The three stalls in Yiqun's shop are ablaze with flames.

Five minutes earlier, three locations were attacked by petrol bombs at the same time. Yi Qun's henchmen tried to put out the fire by splashing water, but the fire only grew stronger and stronger and they couldn't control it at all. They could only watch helplessly.

A minute later, Shen Xingshan received a phone call and cursed, "You little bastard."

He knew without even investigating that it was the 14K gang that did it. Last night, the Yiqun gang raided the 14K warehouse in Kowloon Wharf and stole 8 tons of jadeite rough. He never expected the 14K's retaliation to come so quickly.

Da San Yuan Tea House, Guangdong Road.

Liu Rongju and Ah Xiu were enjoying their morning tea when someone came up to him and whispered a few words in his ear.

"Okay, go get something to eat."

Liu Rongju put down his chopsticks, lit a cigarette, and started thinking.

He sent people to throw the "pineapple" at Tak Kee Tea House because 14K was ungrateful and dared to meddle in the outer betting area of ​​the Octagon, diluting Tung Fook Wo's profits.

Damn it, it's almost time to hand over the bill to Ritz Garden again. If the British ask why the share is less this time, how should I answer?

Seeing that his eyebrows were straight and thick, Ah Xiu, who was standing next to him, said with concern, "Brother Ju, should we look for Cen Peipei?"

Liu Rongju waved his hand, "Cen Peipei is the face of the Xian family that Awen set up. She won't get involved in anything shady. Going to her will only force Awen to turn against you."

"Should we send a message to Su Lizhen?"

"Don't give me any bad advice. This is something we can only solve ourselves. Asking Awen won't help."

Liu Rongju knew very well that Xian Yaowen's shares in Ritz Garden were very small, and the majority belonged to the British. Although the simplest way to deal with the issue of the external betting market was to have the British warn 14K, he could not think of a solution in that direction.

He clearly remembered what Sin Yiu-man had said: "It doesn't matter who does the betting, the way to maximize profits is to divide the betting area into several zones according to the territory of each gang."

"I just don't want to get myself into trouble. If other gangs ever try to get involved in the gambling, you'll have to deal with it yourself. If you can't, then it'll be my turn to handle you. Don't take the British for fools."

“Xian Yaowen foresaw everything,” Liu Rongju sighed.

Tung Fuk-wo's rise and fall were both due to his uncle. Once his uncle retires, other triads are likely to launch a joint attack on Tung Fuk-wo. He doesn't want to continue expanding Tung Fuk-wo's power, but is preparing to transform his business. He doesn't want to have too much of a falling out with 14K.

At the foot of Lion Mountain.

Zheng Yueying, wearing a gas mask, inspects her "central kitchen".

In front of the sun-shaped workbench, a dozen female workers, their heads wrapped in white headscarves and wearing masks, were busy at work, completely naked.

Spoonfuls of white powder are filled into a cosmetic compact, weighed precisely, and then covered with actual powder.

"We need to ship this batch of goods quickly, so everyone should hurry up. Once we're done, we'll each get an extra 200 yuan."

Urged on by Zheng Yueying, the female workers quickened their pace even further.

After her trip to northern Myanmar, she went to New York and met Tumor Johnson in Harlem. The two hit it off immediately: as long as she delivered the goods to the sea outside New York, Tumor Johnson would take as much as she wanted.

After the deal was finalized, she casually flipped through a copy of "Life" magazine in the hotel and saw a photo of the decomposing body of an American soldier from the Korean War. After making inquiries, she learned that the American soldier's body had not been transported back to the United States for burial in time, which sparked protests in the country and prompted the military to improve transportation conditions.

This news inspired her: if she could bribe the U.S. military's body transport personnel, her goods could be transported to the United States by body transport ship.

Back in Hong Kong, she immediately set about it. She met up with sailors on vacation in Wan Chai, and through layers of lobbying, she opened up transportation channels. This batch of goods is now heading to Busan to be loaded onto a ship.

Zheng Yueying was quite agitated. If this route were successful, a single shipment could yield hundreds of thousands of US dollars in profit, which would be far more profitable than selling goods for one dollar a package in Hong Kong, and would also save a lot of trouble.

Looking back, since she entered this industry, several people around her have died, all in the battle for market share. Forget it, this lousy market is no longer for me. From now on, I'll only do wholesale; I won't even do retail.

Feie Mountain.

The crew of "Lin Mo" had just finished filming a scene, and the props team was rearranging the set while the actors rested.

Cen Peipei sat in a cot, holding a plan in her hands.

Before going to Taiwan, Sin Yiu-man left several document folders for Sham Pui-pei, each marked with a date. If he didn't return to Hong Kong by the appointed date, she could open them and take a look.

Today is July 9th, and she opened the file folder marked with today's date.

The proposal was titled "Video Hall Project," and its summary stated: Friendship Films is establishing a new business line to produce films with a budget of no more than HK$5000, exclusively for video halls.

She had been on set for a while and had a slight understanding of the production costs. Putting aside everything else, HK$5000 was only enough to cover a small part of the film budget. How could they possibly make a film?
Filled with questions and curiosity, she continued reading and soon found the answer.

It turns out that 16mm film can be used for filming, and instead of new film, second-hand film is obtained through channels such as surplus Hollywood film archives, military war reserve materials, discarded clips from news agencies, and expired film from Southeast Asia, with prices ranging from 1 cent per foot to 6 cents per foot.

One minute of footage shot on 16mm film requires approximately 36 feet of film, and a 90-minute film requires 3240 feet. To edit out this length of footage, a major Hollywood production could actually use up to 48600 feet of film, which is a 15:1 aspect ratio. Friendship Films uses an aspect ratio of approximately 5:1.

Both of these film ratios are too high and need to be lowered to within 1.5:1, meaning the actual cost of film should not exceed HK$1665.

The method to reduce the number of takes is quite simple: the script is accurate to the feet according to the storyboard, and the actors are not allowed to have any retakes. This requires the actors to rehearse repeatedly before the official filming begins, until they are confident that they can get it right in one take before the official filming begins.

For the actors, we need to find company employees or interns, as well as external Cantonese opera and Peking opera actors to play the leading roles. The remuneration should be controlled within HK$300 per film, and it would be best to achieve zero remuneration, only meals provided.

The filming locations were mainly free ones, such as teahouses and streets, and other film crews' sets were used whenever possible during breaks in filming.

Filming was primarily done during the day, with no artificial lighting, single-camera fixed shots to avoid wasting footage with multiple cameras, no post-production dubbing, on-site sound recording, and reshoots for any bloopers.

The shooting themes are divided into three categories:

The first type involves piggybacking on the popularity of currently showing films, using similar titles but essentially stripping away all the high-cost scenes to create a low-budget version.

The second category is sensationalism, filming content that audiences like without any taboos. For example, Empress Dowager Cixi is a good subject for filming. They boldly fabricated stories about her, such as her love-hate relationship with Li Lianying, and how she served a beggar for a piece of cake during their escape.

Empress Dowager Cixi has been filmed to death. Emperor Xianfeng, Puyi, Yoshiko Kawashima, Yuan Shikai, and other deceased figures of modern times whose descendants have fallen on hard times can be filmed at will. But don't film what shouldn't be filmed, so as not to cause trouble.

The third category is unrestrained imagination, with no restrictions on subject matter, including gods, demons, monsters, everyday life, and science fiction—shoot whatever you want.

If ordinary viewers have fantasies about the lives of rich men with multiple concubines, like the "emperor's golden carrying pole," we can listen to their fantasies and film according to what they think or hope for. We can also extend this to filming love stories between concubines and dockworkers, where the dockworkers gain both wealth and beauty and rise to prominence, thus satisfying the audience's fantasies.

Or it could be about the shady affairs within the inner quarters of a mansion, such as the master having an affair with his daughter-in-law, and the illegitimate child born from that affair later having an affair with the master's concubine—the more chaotic, the better.

Regardless of the type of film being shot, product placement is essential. Dialogue can be designed around the product to be promoted, and the product can even be an important element of the film, in a natural and harmonious way, so as not to offend the audience.

After reading about how to establish and promote video arcades, Cen Peipei knew that her husband's deeper purpose in devising the video arcade plan was to build an advertising platform to guide viewers into the video arcades to watch advertisements.

As for how to most effectively attract viewers, it probably still comes down to the "interstitial short film" with a slightly concise content. The reason why the master didn't write it out directly is probably not to keep it a secret, but because he dared not write it out. She could figure out what the short film would probably be about with just a flick of her toe.

It's likely that the short film wasn't produced by Friendship Films itself, but rather provided by an external source. Who could it be?

Liu Rongju's Dongfuhe?
As she was pondering this, He Jialing, the temporary assistant the crew had assigned to her, came over and said, "Mrs. Sin, it's time to get into position."

"Okay." Cen Peipei stood up and followed He Jialing. "Jialing, you're married?"

"Not yet, next month."

"Remember to send me a wedding invitation."

The two chatted as they walked toward their burial site. The morning light shone on their faces, gliding across their cheeks and shoulders, and spreading for 5.7 kilometers.

In the leisure area downstairs from the Xian family's house, Long Zhenbang lay on a custom-made barber chair, closing his eyes to enjoy the service of barber Mai Tamura.

Leisure, as the department providing logistical support for the Xian family, was not enjoyed by Xian Yaowen many times, but this department continued to grow. Matsuda Yoshiko recruited two hairdressers, Tamura Mai and Kobayashi Chiyo, in Tokyo; Long Xuemei recruited two beauticians, Li Shiqiu and Fan Shihong, from Saigon who were engaged in what was not yet officially named a SPA; Su Lizhen brought back two traditional Chinese medicine massage therapists, Zhang Yufang and Chen Ajiao, from the mainland, as well as Wang Xiulan, known as the "Number One Massager" in Changchun, and Li Xiuzhen, known as the "Soul-Shattering Massager".

Each of them is a leader in their field. Entering the leisure industry, as long as the Sin family doesn't fall, they've secured a golden job for life, receiving high salaries every month, with long-term pensions and retirement benefits in the future. After fifty, they can go to dance halls to dance the cha-cha, compete with office workers for rickshaws and taxis during rush hour, and cross the sea to buy discounted free-range eggs at the People's Supermarket.

After getting a haircut and shave, Mai Tamura washed Long Zhenbang's hair. With the hot towel no longer covering his face, it was easier for him to talk.

"Ms. Nalan, what's been happening lately?"

"Doesn't Butler Long read the newspaper himself?" Nalan Chunxi took a bite of durian and said with a satisfied smile, "Back then, the newspapers denigrated durian to the point of being worthless, saying that it tasted like fermented bean curd mixed with onions. The thought of it was terrifying. I never expected it to be so delicious."

"This isn't the first time you've said the same thing."

Nalan Chunxi took another bite of durian, looked at Long Zhenbang and said, "There's no way around it, I just love this. I never get tired of it, but it's too expensive. As a servant, I can't eat as much as I want."

"Take this opportunity to eat your fill. None of the ladies really like it, so we'll reduce our purchases next season, maybe only buying two or three."

"What a pity." Nalan Chunxi sighed and looked around. "Steward Long, with a few more people, we can't fit everyone in here. What's the plan now?"

"We'll make do for a while, and move there once the Water Cube is completed."

"About two more months, right?"

"Madam means a simple renovation, about two months should be enough."

"Where is the dining hall?"

"The kitchen will be finished soon, around the middle of next month. However, a banquet is incomplete without dance, so the kitchen will need a dance troupe. The master and mistress haven't given any instructions yet, so I don't know when they will start making arrangements."

Nalan Chunxi hesitated for a moment and asked, "Just a dance troupe?"

"The master said that the restaurant only entertains relatives and friends, and the dance troupe is just there to dance and add to the fun, not what you think."

Long Zhenbang's statement was inaccurate. The dance troupe was more than just dancers who entertained guests. This troupe was under the management of Long Xuemei, and its official name was the Secretary Internship Class. Before becoming a secretary, regardless of gender, one would be placed in the dance troupe to learn posture and social etiquette.

Sin Yiu-man is already preparing to establish two vertical management lines for the Marxist-Leninist consortium: one for senior executives and the other for company secretaries.

His initial strategy of leveraging existing resources to generate future profits already foreshadowed the fact that most of his future businesses would be true shareholding companies, with at least one other powerful shareholder besides himself. He would need a company secretary to represent his interests and position in investor relations.

In short, his plan was to have multiple "too big to fail" companies in the United States, not only in the financial sector, but also in the technology and retail sectors. By intertwining currency, technology, and employment with the fate of the United States, he aimed to achieve the goal that moving the Marxist-Leninist financial group would shake the very foundation of the United States.

It is not the Marxist-Leninist financial group of the United States, but the United States of the Marxist-Leninist financial group.

Executives are responsible for getting things done, while company secretaries are responsible for building relationships and maintaining a network of connections centered around them.

Nalan Chunxi nodded, broke off a piece of durian and offered it to Li Xiuzhen's son, Li Guoqiang, but the latter did not appreciate it and turned his head away as if avoiding a plague.

"Such delicious food, little darling, you really don't know how to enjoy it." Nalan Chunxi reluctantly stuffed the durian into his mouth and said to Li Xiuzhen, "Xiuzhen, Guoqiang is six years old now, right?"

“He’s exactly five years old.” Li Xiuzhen patted Li Guoqiang’s head. “Sister Nalan, Guoqiang doesn’t have an identity card. Can he start school in September?”

"The baby's identity will be processed soon and will not delay his enrollment. You should ask your wife to help arrange for the baby to study at Queen's College or La Salle College. If he attends a good primary school, it will be easier for him to get into a good secondary school in the future."

Li Xiuzhen hesitated slightly, "I'm a servant, and I just arrived..."

Long Zhenbang opened his eyes and said, "Don't worry, Madam is kind-hearted and easy to talk to. When you have breakfast tomorrow, wait outside the dining room and I will tell Madam."

"Thank you, thank you Butler Long."

Nalan Chunxi smacked her lips, slightly displeased. Long Zhenbang was even trying to win people over in her own territory.

Just then, Zhou Zhilan stepped into the lounge. Nalan Chunxi saw her and immediately went to greet her, "Madam, is your hand still not fully healed?"

Zhou Zhilan shook her left hand. "I still can't get any strength in my hand. I want to press it again."

"Yu Fang".

Upon hearing Nalan Chunxi's summons, Zhang Yufang came to Zhou Zhilan's side. "Madam, you have tendon sheath strain and need to rest properly. It won't get better just from massage."

"I need to rest today. I'm rushing to finish a pair of shoes ordered by a Hollywood star. He's flying back to the US early tomorrow morning, so I have to finish them tonight and deliver them to his hotel. Yufang, could you give me another massage?"

"Alright, madam, please follow me."

As Zhou Zhilan walked into the massage room, the room quieted down. Long Zhenbang quietly told Tamura Mai to stop the service, took a towel to dry his hair, and left shortly after.

Although the leisure services are for everyone in the Xian residence, it doesn't feel right to have both the butler and the wife enjoying the services at the same time, especially since the wife is the second wife whom the master values.

Not long after Long Zhenbang left, Quan Danru arrived; she had come to visit.

As Sin Yiu-man's personal secretary, she was supposed to be with him 24 hours a day, but she was very idle. She had nothing to do every day, picked some books to read, ate meals on time, and occasionally came over for a leisurely visit.

Upon seeing her arrive, Nalan Chunxi scooped out a slice of durian and handed it to her, "Danru, are you going out today?"

Quan Danru took a bite of durian and said softly, "I've explored the whole area, there's nothing much to see, I'm not going out today. I'll sit here for a while and then go back to read."

"It's time to eat water chestnut vines again, and the lotus stamens in the pond are ready to be harvested. I'm off tomorrow, Danru, can you take me to the vegetable garden and we can go into the water to pick lotus stamens?"

"Sister Nalan, there are no boats in the lotus pond, only water chestnut basins. I don't know how to row, how can I take you?"

"Hey, I can do it."

"You can?" Quan Danru asked suspiciously.

Nalan Chunxi glanced at Quan Danru and said, “Don’t think that just because I’m from the North I can’t swim. When I was young, I’ve rowed and swum in every lake in Beijing. Twenty years ago, I even helped the water police retrieve corpses.”

Quan Danru asked in surprise, "Sister Nalan, you dare to go into the water to retrieve a corpse? Aren't you afraid of being replaced by a water ghost?"

Nalan Chunxi chuckled and said, "Hey, I'm not afraid of living people, why would I be afraid of ghosts?"

The two chatted quietly until the durian was finished. Quan Danru left the leisure area and was walking towards her room when Su Lizhen, who happened to be coming downstairs, called her back.

"Danru, do you have any plans for today?"

"Madam, I have nothing to do."

“Perfect timing. Go upstairs and get your documents. Come with me to Bao’an to do some business.”

"Okay," Quan Danru replied cheerfully.

……

In Los Angeles.

After having lunch, Sin Yiu-man and Audrey Hepburn arrived at North Cannon Avenue in Beverly Hills, where Jorge Guinness's agency is located.

At that time, Hollywood talent agencies of all sizes were concentrated in this area because Beverly Hills was a gathering place for celebrity mansions, making it convenient for agents to visit and negotiate. Also, because it was close to major film companies, it was very convenient to have access to upscale restaurants and hotels nearby. If the discussion went well at the dinner table, they could continue to discuss the script at the hotel; if it didn't go well, they could go to the hotel to discuss it in a different way.

Jorge Guinness is located next to MCA, the largest brokerage firm at the time. To enter Beverly Hills from the outside, you have to pass through Jorge Guinness first and walk a few more steps to reach MCA, which to some extent elevates the prestige of Jorge Guinness.

There are four households on one floor. The male head of one household was executed, one household received a life sentence, one household received a twenty-year sentence, and what would anyone with a sound mind think about the remaining household?
Similarly, the human brain defaults to grouping things that are physically close together as belonging to the same category, and the halo effect of the MCA will also shine on Jorge Guinness.

Outside Jorge Guineau's office stands a large, arrow-shaped sign with two lines of text: the top line reads "Warning, This is JG," and the bottom line, following the arrow, reads "MCA."

The letters on the top row are slightly larger than those on the bottom row, but the color is slightly darker, highlighting MCA and giving the impression that one is afraid of being mistaken for someone else.

Sin Yiu-man stood in front of the sign for a while, then walked over to the few Malabar chestnuts planted in the pot, took out a handkerchief, and carefully wiped the dust off the leaves.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, in thirty years or so, the Malabar chestnut will be braided into a plait by Taiwanese people and given the name "money tree," turning a Malabar chestnut that has been an ornamental plant for many years but has never been particularly popular into a sensation in East Asia, and even being resold to North America.

Businessmen are mostly superstitious, and American businessmen are no exception, especially on Wall Street, which is a hotbed of superstition.

Goodluck launched the Seven tie series, featuring three ties: $17, $77, and $777. After a lucky marketing campaign, it instantly became a sensation on Wall Street. If you didn't wear a Seven tie to work on Monday, you were likely to be fired.

Green symbolizes passage, and red symbolizes stopping. Before the Great Depression of 1929, Wall Street traders began to write up-rising stocks in green chalk and down-rising stocks in red chalk on manual quotation boards. This practice has been adopted and has become an industry standard.

The green of the US dollar, combined with God's 7 days, has created a sub-brand. As long as Goodluck doesn't do anything reckless, it won't have to worry about going hungry by clinging to Wall Street.

The power of tradition and conformity is strong, and assuming no one interferes, the Seven series will become an integral part of Wall Street's culture.

While wiping the leaves, Sin Yiu-man thought about how to utilize the two ideas, "Money Tree" and "Money Fruit".

Just as he was pondering this, Clay Simpson pushed open the company door and walked along the right side of the corridor.

Before Jorge Guinno moved in, the walkway was dug up and an arrow was buried under the road surface. It was split in half to form two abstract "7s", one green pointing to the gate and the other black pointing outwards from the gate, symbolizing wealth coming in and misfortune going out.

Hollywood is superstitious. For example, when a film crew shoots the last scene on the last day, they don't say "the last scene." Instead, they use "Martini Shot." On the surface, "Shot" has a double meaning. It can refer to a shot or a glass of strong liquor. After filming is over, they drink a glass to celebrate.

In fact, a few years ago, a producer and a director both said "the last scene" and then died suddenly. After that, no one dared to say it anymore, and instead, Martini shots were used instead.

For example, many female celebrities will quickly switch their relationship status before filming a new movie, such as getting a divorce and finding a new one, hooking up with producers or directors, having a real-life romance with male stars, or having a romantic encounter.

This is what is known as the "start-up with a new man" mode or the "man reboot technique." According to Lana Turner, a typical example, "New roles require new energy, and love is the best inspiration."

Of course, rather than calling it superstition, it's more accurate to say it was a survival strategy during Hollywood's golden age: using private life controversies to hedge against career risks.

"boss."

Sin Yiu-man put away his handkerchief, turned to face Simpson, and asked, "Clay, do you have a suitable candidate?"

"Lana Turner is in serious financial trouble, but only if she pays a small price..."

“I saw it in the newspaper; she has to pay Bob Toppin $50 in alimony.” Sin Yiu-man shrugged. “She’s not suitable; the price she has to pay is too high.”

“Boss, Lana Turner is no longer the rich woman she used to be. She not only needs to pay $500,000 in alimony, but also $100,000 in legal fees. Before breaking up with Artie Shaw, she lent him $200,000. In April, the IRS is pursuing her for $300,000 in back taxes, plus 12% late fees.”

Simpson chuckled with a hint of schadenfreude, “Her films, ‘Carnival Texas’ and ‘Mr. Empire,’ didn’t do well at the box office, and MGM didn’t even pay her the final payment for ‘Mr. Empire.’”

"Hmm? How much is her salary?"

"The original price was $5 per film, but it was just renewed last month and changed to $2 per film. She also has to pay for her own styling team. According to sources from MGM, Lana Turner and Benny So went to a hotel before the contract was renewed."

Who is Benny So?

“MGM’s production executives and casting directors are specifically responsible for handling the contracts of MGM’s contracted actors.”

"So, MGM was originally planning to give up on Lana Turner?"

"I don't think so. MGM probably just wanted to lower her salary."

Sin Yiu-man nodded. "How did she handle the debts?"

“It’s not settled yet. This morning, the real estate agent called me and asked if I was interested in 730 North Bedford Road. He said he could negotiate the lowest price down to $9.” Simpson shrugged. “The real estate agent clearly overestimated my capabilities.”

Sin Yiu-man said with a faint smile, "Clay, are you reminding me to give you a raise?"

“No, that’s not true,” Simpson quickly denied.

“That’s good.” Xian Yaowen put away his smile and said calmly, “Clay, your salary is ahead, your gun is just as good, but your intelligence is far behind. Once your intelligence catches up with your salary, I will improve your treatment.”

"Boss, I've tried my best."

Sin Yiu-man pointed to his eyes. "Keep it up, I can see. Okay, back to the previous topic, is 730 North Bedford Road Lana Turner's house?"

"Yes."

What is the actual price?

"$15 million."

"you've been to?"

"Been there once."

"Let's talk about houses."

As Simpson recalled, he said, "The area seemed to be 1.5 acres, with 7 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, a swimming pool, a tennis court, and a private cinema. I haven't been to the bedrooms, but I heard that the faucets in the master bathroom were gold-plated and cost $5."

“Call your real estate agent and buy the house in my name so you can live there before you buy your own house.”

"Thank you, boss," Simpson said happily.

"Don't get too excited. I won't charge you rent, but you'll be responsible for paying the property tax."

"this is necessary."

Sin Yiu-man glanced at his watch. “I’ll give you one hour to get this sorted out. Remember one key point: don’t ask the real estate agent about the previous property tax payments. Just have the lawyer draft a contract that includes a seller’s guarantee clause. If there are any hidden tax debts, the buyer has the right to claim twenty times the amount.”

Hopefully, Lana Turner is an idiot who signed the contract without consulting a lawyer.

In the 1950s, the IRS in the United States showed unusual leniency in collecting property taxes, and it was not uncommon for property taxes to go unpaid for three or four years. Some buyers were not knowledgeable about the industry and were unwilling to spend on legal fees and 0.5% of the property price to purchase title insurance, so it was common for them to try to get a bargain but end up with a bad deal.

Simpson's temples creased with black lines. His boss was a heartless capitalist; even buying a house required setting traps in the contract.

"Didn't you sign it directly?"

“The lawyer knows what to do.” Sin Yiu-man pointed to the office door. “I’ll wait at your desk. Give me a call before you sign anything.”

"OK."

After Simpson left quickly, Sin Yiu-man went into the office and sat down to look through the company's roster of artists and their resumes.

It must be said that Simpson did a pretty good job. At first glance, he saw the name Marlon Brando, found Marlon Brando's resume, looked through it, and checked the notes Simpson had made. It turned out that Marlon Brando was directly selected by Warner Bros. to play the male lead in the film of the same name because of his performance in the Broadway stage play "A Streetcar Named Desire", but the salary he was paid was not high, only $750 per week.

During filming, Marlon Brando refused to memorize his lines, insisting on a natural performance in the style of a stage play, which resulted in multiple takes for some scenes. Vivien Leigh, the female lead, even suffered an emotional breakdown due to his overly immersive improvisation, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after filming. Warner Bros. executives were disgusted by his performance, and after filming was completed, they did not change the trial contract into a formal contract as is customary.

The trial contract wasn't very binding, and Simpson seized the opportunity to bring Marlon Brando back. However, Simpson promised Marlon Brando that he would play the lead role in a big-budget film within six months, with a salary of no less than $3.

Sin Yiu-man frowned and pressed the intercom. "Debbie, come in."

Three seconds later, Simpson's typing secretary, Debbie, walked in. "Mr. Hepburn."

"Debbie, could you please find the list of films that are about to be released in theaters?"

"OK."

Debbie quickly found the directory in the folder and placed it on the desktop in front of Sin Yiu-man.

Sin Yiu-man flipped through the catalogs up to the end of August and found that "A Streetcar Named Desire" was not listed. He then glanced at Marlon Brando's signing date, which was May 3rd. This meant that the six-month commitment had been lost, and there was a 66.6% chance that he would not be able to get the help of "A Streetcar Named Desire".

If Simpson wasn't sure about the matter, he was prepared to give it a warning. He didn't dislike making empty promises, but he abhorred their abuse.

Putting Marlon Brando aside, let's look at the roster again. Another legendary name comes into view: James Dean, who only starred in three or four movies in his lifetime. He died young because of his love for motorcycles. What was his name again on the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest male stars of the century?

He didn't remember, but it was pretty close to the front.

"What year did this guy die?"

After a moment's recollection, he had no memory of the incident, but piecing together fragmented clues, he guessed that James Dean had died quite early, sometime in the 1950s.

Dying young isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's a good opportunity to put dead people into practice through marketing. The dead are gone, but the living go on. The dead don't need to be eaten, but the living still have to live. This way, waste can be turned into treasure, and I believe James Dean's family would be happy.

They found James Dean's resume, on which he wrote the Chinese characters for "resurrection." At the appropriate time, James Dean needed to film footage for his supposed resurrection after death. After his death, they would find someone with a similar appearance to disguise him and reenact the scene.

Oh, and we also need to create a persona for James Dean as a musical genius, and decide how many songs he will leave behind, depending on the circumstances.

I don't know which style suits James Dean. Maybe he should borrow a few songs from Michael Jackson's father-in-law.

Since few people participate in the distribution of money from the dead, it's very profitable!
Humming Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," Sin Yiu-man continued flipping through the roster.

Soon, he saw another familiar name: Yul Brynner. According to his resume, he was born in Vladivostok, the former territory of the Qing Dynasty and the former Far Eastern Republic. He spent his childhood in Harbin and moved to Paris in 1933.

Looking at Yul Brynner's photo, Sin Yiu-man noticed that the guy was now bald, which perfectly matched his memory of him. This also brought back his memories of Count Dracula. In his previous life, the old man strongly recommended and even forced him to watch the British animated film "DuckTales," which was a painful memory.

After a moment's recollection, Sin Yiu-man returned to Yul Brynner, feeling that there were many bald characters suitable for him in later generations: the idiot from "We Are Family," Dwayne Johnson, Agent 47, and so on. Most of these roles could be handled by Yul Brynner, suggesting he had considerable potential for development. (End of Chapter)