money player

Sin Yiu-man, having put on his tie, went downstairs and ran into Simpson in the hotel lobby.

"Boss, Mr. Guinness is having a champagne pool party at the resort today. He knows you're in Hollywood and has invited you to attend."

Do you know who's participating?

"I don't know," Simpson said with a hint of regret. "Filling the pool with champagne would be really fun, but unfortunately I can't go."

Xian Yaowen patted Simpson's stomach. "Clay, your physical condition is much worse than when I first met you. You should learn to control yourself, otherwise, starting from now, before you reach a hundred, you will die on a woman's belly, oh no, you will be sat on to death by a woman."

Simpson chuckled awkwardly, "I think I'm alright."

“Alright, since that’s what you think, I won’t waste any more words.” Sin Yiu-man patted Simpson on the stomach again. “But you’re working overtime here today. Roman Holiday is very important to the company.”

"I understand."

Sin Yiu-man nodded and walked towards the hotel entrance.

Google's Café.

A café on Sunset Boulevard, the name of which led Sin Yiu-man to meet Anna May Wong.

For peace and quiet, he requested a VIP room with a minimum charge of $25.

He ate Sinatra pasta with Gangster Onion Rings and Bogart Fish, and his drink was a Godfather whiskey and amaretto, recommended by a waiter who looked very Italian.

Anna May Wong only ordered a gossip salad, avocado puree garnished with a few shrimp, which is said to be a must-order for female celebrities when "pretending" to lose weight.

She didn't start eating; she was reading the incomplete script.

As Sin Yiu-man finished half of the pasta, Anna May Wong's gaze left the script and fell on his face.

“Sir Sin, I really like the character of Long, but I probably can’t play him. I don’t know how to ride a horse, shoot, or fight.”

Sin Yiu-man put down his fork, took a sip of wine, and said unhurriedly, "You can learn if you don't know how, as long as you can endure hardship. But you might fall off a horse and break your arms, legs, or neck. Shooting might result in an accidental discharge and you might shoot yourself. Fighting might cause internal injuries, and you'll be out of breath after walking just a few steps."

There are so many possibilities. We never know what tomorrow will bring, or an accident. In a few years, Ms. Huang will be fifty. These meals are becoming increasingly rare; perhaps it's best to stop striving and save her life to enjoy a few more peaceful meals.

Huang Liushuang chuckled and said, "Mr. Xian is quite witty. I'm not afraid of hardship, but I'm worried that my body won't be able to handle it."

"Ms. Huang, what about your health?"

Anna May Wong said sadly, "I have ascites and need to have fluid drained regularly."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know you, Ms. Huang..."

“It’s alright.” Anna May Wong glanced at the script in her hand. “Such a good script, it’s a pity it’s not meant for me.”

"Ms. Huang and this script are not meant to be, but we are. Since we met in the vast sea of ​​people, something should happen. You can't film action scenes, but you can film dramatic scenes."

To be honest, this script was tailor-made for you last night after I observed your appearance.

Sin Yiu-man pointed to the watch face. "I start brainstorming at seven o'clock, during my breakfast time. This version you're holding is something I rushed out on my way here. Do you know what that means?"

"Is Mr. Sin capable of creating another dramatic script tailored specifically for me?"

Sin Yiu-man nodded, "Yes, I'm pretty good at making up stories."

“Mr. Sin, thank you so much. I am flattered. In all my years in the industry, this is the first time I have been valued like this.”

“Don’t mention it, you deserve to be valued.” Sin Yiu-man stared at Wong Lau-shuang’s face. “I don’t know much about your private life, but the features on your face and the smell of your breath all indicate that you are an alcoholic. So, you have alcoholic cirrhosis?”

Upon hearing this, Anna May Wong cupped her hands together, breathed on her palms, and tried to smell them.

"No need to try it. The smell isn't very strong. You're already used to it, and your nose will automatically filter it out."

Anna May Wong gave an awkward smile. "Is your nose particularly sensitive?"

Sin Yiu-man shook his head. "When was the ascites diagnosed?"

"Not too long."

"The doctor said it's not going to be cured?"

Anna May Wong shook her head. "There's no other way but to recuperate."

"In terms of recuperation, traditional Chinese medicine is better than Western medicine. Go to Hong Kong and find a good traditional Chinese medicine doctor."

Anna May Wong shook her head again, "I don't believe in traditional Chinese medicine."

Sin Yiu-man raised his glass and said, "You don't believe in traditional Chinese medicine, but you seem to believe that alcohol can solve any of your problems."

Huang Liushuang said quietly, "The wine is very good; when you're drunk, you can forget all your troubles."

Sin Yiu-man asked Tse Ting-wan to get his briefcase from the car, and then said to Wong Lau-shuang, "There is a chapter in Mencius called 'Gongsun Chou,' which mentions the line 'The hungry are easily satisfied, and the thirsty are easily satisfied.' The literal meaning is that a hungry person is not picky about food, and a thirsty person is not picky about drink. The metaphorical meaning is that people are easily satisfied when their needs are urgent."

Abraham Maslow, a professor at the City University of New York, studied the driving factors of a healthy personality and criticized the limitations of Freud's pathological psychology. He proposed an interesting theory: five levels of human needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization.

Physiological needs include food, water, and sleep; safety needs include personal safety and job security; social needs include friendship, love, and a sense of belonging; esteem needs include achievement, reputation, and status; and self-actualization includes creativity and the realization of potential.

These five levels of needs form a pyramid structure; only after the most basic physiological needs are met can one be eligible to pursue other needs.

Sin Yiu-man pointed to the cigarette that Wong Lau-shuang was putting to her lips. "Cigarettes and alcohol are two very special things that can be classified into any of the five levels of needs. When you are highly addicted, it is a considerable expense every day. But have you ever worried about where the money to buy cigarettes or alcohol comes from?"

Anna May Wong shook her head. "Buying cigarettes and alcohol is not a burden for me."

"Regarding worries, they are always intertwined with living standards and happiness. The lower the living standard, the fewer worries there are. I have a female friend, whose name I won't mention, who has achieved great success in a certain field, well, the field directly related to money. She has a lot of money and very few things she can't afford."

But two years ago, when I first met her, she was just a refugee fleeing the war. A woman in a chaotic world, with all her valuables stolen, how did she fill her stomach and travel thousands of kilometers to escape?

Abandoning self-respect and selling one's body.

To survive, the most prominent figures of today were once willing to kneel before a complete stranger.

Anna May Wong was moved by Sin Yiu-man's words.

"Some people say that when a person is hungry, they only have one worry: how to fill their stomach. Once they are full, the only worry is solved. But when a person eats too much, their mind starts to act up, wanting this and that. As desires increase, so do worries."

Sin Yiu-man took the briefcase from Xie Tingyun and took out a piccolo. “I’m telling you this, but you probably won’t understand. You grew up in Chinatown, Los Angeles, and you’ve never experienced what it’s like to go without food for a few days. Your understanding of hunger is extremely superficial.”

He brought the piccolo to his lips and played the tune of "Little Girl." After playing a section, he put down the piccolo and softly recited: "Little girl, with few worries, looking around, the sun shines. Little girl, with few worries, may it always be this way. Year after year, time flies by, the little girl grows taller, and as she grows older, her worries increase."

He brought the piccolo to his lips again and played the tune of "Laughing at the Mortal World." During a solo, he tapped the table to accompany himself: "The mortal world is so laughable, infatuation is the most boring, it's good to be indifferent to everything. This life is not over yet, but my heart is already undisturbed. I only want to exchange it for half a lifetime of carefree life."

I smile at people when I'm awake, but forget everything in my dreams. I sigh that night falls too early, and the next life is unpredictable. I wipe away love and hate with a stroke of the pen, and I only wish to be happy until I grow old while drinking and singing.

No matter how cold the wind, I don't want to escape; no matter how beautiful the flowers, I don't want them. Let me drift as I please. The higher the sky, the smaller my heart becomes. I don't care about cause and effect; I'll just get drunk alone...

As Huang Liushuang's heart followed the song, Xian Yaowen's magnetic voice rang out again, "Most of people's troubles are byproducts of happiness. Only when you possess a certain kind of happiness will you have a certain kind of trouble."

My father was probably a gold prospector who went to the Far East to look for opportunities. I don't know, I never met him in person or saw his picture. My mother had a difficult childbirth and only had time to see me once. Knowing that I had all my limbs and didn't look like a fool, she left a sentence and closed her eyes in peace.

The line was, "Hey son, you can suffer on earth, Mom's going to heaven to enjoy herself now."

Huang Liushuang chuckled, then realized she shouldn't have laughed and managed to suppress it.

"We are both experiencing life for the first time, with no experience. We are feeling our way across the river, and it is normal to stumble and fall often. To those lucky ones who have a smooth journey, we can offer our sincerest blessings: 'Son of bitch'."

Anna May Wong couldn't help but burst out laughing, letting out a long string of "hahaha".

Sin Yiu-man pointed at Anna May Wong and said, "I heard you weren't a 'good girl.' When you were a teenager, you messed around with Marshall Nyland. After being used, you were dumped because of the California law prohibiting white people from marrying Chinese people. As a result, you dropped out of school and entered the entertainment industry."

Do you know that you are a lucky person?
I have another female friend who is also my subordinate; she is now a famous model and helps me manage my modeling agency…

"Are you talking about Azalea?"

Sin Yiu-man chuckled and said, "You like to guess, don't you? Keep guessing. If you can't guess Huang Liushuang, just keep guessing."

Anna May Wong put her hand to her mouth and made a zipping motion.

“I have a female friend named Anna May Wong. When I first met her, she was working at a brothel in the lawless Kowloon Walled City. Because I needed lingerie models, it was difficult to find girls from respectable families, so I could only find prostitutes.”

That day was the first time I met Anna May Wong. We chatted for a bit, and I learned that she had been sold into prostitution by her husband. Later, I investigated and found that her husband used the money from selling her to smoke opium, gamble, and buy jewelry for his lover, a prostitute.

Then, Sin Yiu-man changed to a teasing tone, "Old girl, you're too lucky. If you had been even slightly less lucky, you would have been beaten to death by the brothel's thugs more than 20 years ago, or died from a sexually transmitted disease. But you're still alive and can still tell me your troubles."

Bang! He slammed his hand on the table. "God favored you once, but you didn't appreciate it and live your life well. You dated a married man in a high-profile manner, and then dated another married man in a high-profile manner, one after another."

I am Chinese, I am an outcast in Hollywood, I am rejected, discriminated against, and misunderstood. I want to do something that goes against universal moral values ​​in order to attract attention.

Are you protesting?

No, you're giving them a handle to use against you. Look, that's how Chinese people are. God said it's right to discriminate against them.

Sin Yiu-man shrugged. “You’ve always been a ‘bad girl,’ and God has always favored you. I don’t understand how narcissistic you are, or who you think you are, God’s eldest daughter.”

The life you have today is a result of God's repeated favor and protection. As a lucky person, why do you have so many worries?

Sin Yiu-man's words deeply moved Anna May Wong, but she refused to admit it, saying, "You're not me, how could you possibly understand?"

"Yes, I don't understand you. You are Francis Smith, sentenced to 3 years in prison for child sexual abuse, spending every day in jail worrying about what you did wrong and disgracing the title of American moral exemplar."

Huang Liushuang rolled her eyes at Xian Yaowen, "You really know how to give examples."

Sin Yiu-man chuckled, “You’re a ‘Bad girl.’ Be brave, be real. Don’t trap yourself in a cocoon, don’t burden yourself with shackles that you can’t carry and don’t deserve to carry. Instead of numbing yourself with alcohol and enduring loneliness, why not find men, one after another, or two or three after three?”

"What do you take me for?" Huang Liushuang spat.

“A woman, a woman who hasn’t had a man’s touch in years.” He took another bite of pasta and pushed the plate aside. “Tomorrow morning, be alert and go to Jorge Guinness’s office. I’ll give you a cherry contract with a salary of $500 a month. Once you quit drinking, I’ll change it to a big star contract.”

Did I say I wanted to sign with Jorge Guinno?

"Don't be naughty, you old and ugly woman. You're almost out of work. Someone is extending an olive branch to you. Take it quickly, or I might regret it in the next minute."

Anna May Wong smiled radiantly, her beauty as dazzling as a martial arts actress recounting her experience of meeting her American soldier lover in Wan Chai.

"OK, I'll sign the contract with you."

"Remember to bring your lawyer tomorrow. I'm a businessman, and I'm naturally inclined to take advantage of others. If you can't understand the contract, I can't help but take a bigger cut."

"Is the contract in German?"

"Wow, so you speak German. It's a pity the contract is in Portuguese."

The two spent their lunch break chatting and laughing. Sin Yiu-man then drove Anna May Wong home, and they went to a laundromat on Broadway Street.

Last night he contacted Hong Kong and learned that the CIA was suspected of targeting him. He also learned that Qi Weiwen was unable to send anyone to the United States to investigate Yu Fengzhi, and only gave him two names and addresses, telling him to handle it himself.

One of her names is Wu Yimei, nicknamed the "Thousand-Faced Girl." She is skilled in makeup and disguise, as well as drawing and writing. She is proficient in unconscious memory and can vividly depict a person within 36 hours of observing them for 1.3 seconds.

Now she lives a secluded life in Los Angeles' Chinatown, married to a wealthy businessman who owns three laundries and two grocery stores, and has become a "rich lady".

Wu Yimei stood behind the counter, handed a package of washed clothes to the customer, then looked at Xian Yaowen standing to the side and asked, "What kind of clothes would you like washed, customer?"

"I don't do laundry, I'd like to ask you to help me look up someone."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yimei knew that Xian Yaowen was someone who knew about her past. "I'm sorry, I haven't investigated people for a long time. Now I only know how to do laundry."

As she spoke, her right hand reached under the counter, and a dagger appeared in her hand. (End of Chapter)