money player

“Hong Kong needs order, the underworld needs order, and bad order is better than no order at all.” Little Griffiths said to Cheng Yueying, then picked up the megaphone that was placed aside and shouted to the building across the street, “Chen Jingkun, come downstairs, your wife is here to pick you up.”

After shouting, Little Griffiths put down the megaphone and said to Zheng Yueying, "You can go now. I'll come find you again in a few days, and we'll talk about order."

Zheng Yueying was completely bewildered, not knowing what the Englishman in front of her was up to. She only knew that she was being watched and that this would not be an easy situation.

She left, filled with questions.

Little Griffiths walked up to Cen Peipei and asked, "When is Adam going back to Hong Kong?"

Cen Peipei brushed a strand of hair that was being blown by the wind. "He's in New York. After he finishes his business there, he'll go to Taipei. He won't be back in Hong Kong anytime soon."

"It's a real shame, it's been so long since I played football with Adam."

"There's no other way; he has a large family to support."

Little Griffith chuckled, "In your Chinese parlance, Adam is so lucky, all his wives are very capable."

Cen Peipei feigned a coquettish tone, "You shouldn't have said that to me."

Little Griffith shrugged. "Sorry."

Cen Peipei felt a mix of emotions. She had met Griffith quite a few times, and before the Xian Yuzhen incident, she had only thought of him as a dissolute British playboy. But now it seemed that he was the most troublesome Englishman she knew.

“No need to apologize.” Cen Peipei pointed to Zheng Yueying and Chen Jingkun, who had met downstairs. “Griffiths, what do you want to do?”

"It's too chaotic, we need order. Let Adam come back and participate in the discussion on establishing a new order."

"Our Xian family only does business."

“Chinese.” Little Griffith clenched his left fist, then his right. “Great Britain. The Sin family is in the middle. I believe this is the positioning Adam wanted.”

"I will send him a telegram tomorrow."

"Please ask him to bring back a few boxes of Partagas for me."

"uh-huh."

After a moment of silence, Griffith whispered to the person next to him, "Uniformed police, withdraw."

A short while later, the uniformed police officers downstairs left, and five people dressed in black appeared on the roof of the building opposite. Each of them wore a black hood, so their faces could not be seen, but based on their height and build, they were most likely white.

The three men marched toward the stairs in an assault formation, while the other two untied their ropes, tied them up, and prepared for their rappelling.

In just a few seconds, the two rappelled down and stopped in mid-air above the stairwell, one hand holding a Mauser pistol pointing down and the other holding tear gas.

The three commandos put on gas masks, and one of them pointed to his watch on the rooftop where Griffiths was, then made a three-second countdown gesture.

Someone relayed the message to the two rappellers, who each glanced at their watches, used their mouths to pull the safety pins on the tear gas canisters, and prepared to throw them.

Suddenly, the assault team entered the stairs in formation. Two people rappelled down threw out tear gas canisters, waited for two seconds, then lowered themselves several tens of centimeters and pulled the triggers of their Mauser pistols.

Suddenly, gunfire erupted.

After the tear gas smoke dissipated, only three people remained standing in the stairwell. The two who rappelled down threw their Mauser pistols to the people below and climbed back up to the roof. The three people in the stairwell observed the spent cartridge cases on the ground and discussed which corpse they should give their Mauser pistols to.

Before long, the Burmese Communist Party's body was basically covered in gunshots. The three men left, and a photographer appeared in the hallway to take pictures of the body as a memento.

"Cen, I'm done with work. Where shall we go for a late-night snack?"

Cen Peipei covered her mouth and said, "I just want to vomit right now, I have no appetite."

Little Griffiths shrugged. "Next time."

La Rue.
Balaban: "Adam, did you go to Lawford's party yesterday?"

“He signed a check for $5000,” Sin Yiu-man responded. “Barney, Lawford, are connected to the Kennedy family?”

"You do not know?"

“John F. Kennedy’s sister Patricia is dating Lawford,” Abbe Rastefogel explained to Sin Yiu-man, and I introduced myself by saying, “I am William Morris’s Abbe Rastefogel.”

“Jorge Guinness, Adam Hepburn.” Sin Yiu-man nodded to Last Fogel. “It’s no wonder Lawford is so dedicated to raising funds for JFK.”

Jack Warner asked, "Gentlemen, what do you think of tomorrow's fundraising party?"

Warner Bros. was founded at the beginning of the century by the four Warner brothers: Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack. In the beginning, there must have been a beautiful story of brothers working together and achieving great things. But now the whole of Hollywood knows that after Jack ousted Sam's widow who held shares, he began to oust Harry and Albert, and started to establish a dictatorship in Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.' shareholders and financial backers, including JPMorgan Chase, First National Bank, and Goldman Sachs, all tacitly approved of Jack's exclusionary behavior, given his strong profitability.

“Andrew Jackson, Irish, Democrat; James Buchanan, Irish, Democrat; Ulysses S. Grant, Irish, Democrat; William McKinley, Irish, Republican,” Louis Mayer said calmly. “I personally think JFK has a bright political future.”

Harry Cohen asked Joseph Schenk, "Joseph, what do you think?"

Joseph Schenk: "I support Louis's view."

David Selznick: "Since the New Deal, we Jews have supported the Democratic Party, but McCarthy hurt us Jews. The Jewish Congress and the Jewish Committee openly opposed McCarthy and defended civil liberties."

“David, the Jews targeted by McCarthy were leftists, and there were communists among them,” Balaban said. “We Jews support the African American civil rights struggle simply because the fight against racism and anti-Semitism has a common goal. McCarthyism has nothing to do with us.”

Then, he muttered to himself, "I hate communism, I hate Karl Marx, that traitor. He has Jewish blood but doesn't admit he's Jewish. If I had been born a few years earlier, I would have personally tried this traitor. He bears a great deal of responsibility for anti-Semitism in Europe."

Jack Warner tapped the table. “Gentlemen, we have Hollywood, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Kuhn-Loeb, and Goldman Sachs on Wall Street. What do we have in the political arena?”
Herbert Lehman is getting old, and Jacob Javits is still very young; they need our help.

Joseph Schenk: "Jacob Javits is a Republican."

Jack Warner: "Jacob was Jewish."

“Jack, we’re only discussing JFK today.” Louis Meyer tapped the table lightly. “Gentlemen, what are your thoughts on tomorrow’s fundraising?”

Balaban: "I will donate."

Harry Cohen nodded.

The others then indicated that they would donate.

“OK.” Louis Meyer: “Agreement reached, so how much to donate?”

Jack Warner: "$5."

Harry Cohen: "Same."

Balaban: "Agreed."

Everyone agreed with the figure of $5, but when it came to Sin Yiu-man, he said, "I will write two checks for $5 each, one for the Chinese."

Jack Warner laughed and said, "I won't write checks for Poland. I hate Poland."

The others chuckled knowingly, but no one commented on Sin Yiu-man's matter.

Jews have long been in a stateless state. Some have suffered discrimination and misfortune in their places of residence, while the fortunate ones have been treated kindly. The topic of a "second homeland" is not a good one and is generally not discussed in detail.

Then, during lunchtime, everyone chatted about topics far removed from movies and Hollywood, such as cars and sports.

Putting aside the fact that we are all Jewish, we are all competitors. Talking about movies is not as straightforward as drawing swords. Perhaps because it is a rare opportunity to sit together so neatly and peacefully, everyone cherishes it and does not want to ruin the atmosphere.

Everyone was busy, and lunch didn't last more than a few hours, only half an hour longer than usual, before everyone dispersed. Sin Yiu-man's question remained unanswered.

He went to the Pickwick Bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard, picked out a few books from the shelves that he hoped would be easy to read and remember, but it didn't matter if he couldn't. He sat in the comfortable reading area and, while reading, sorted out his days in Hollywood.

In 1951, the popularity of movies, magazines, and television made celebrity outfits an important indicator of popular fashion, and Americans, especially young people and the middle class, were keen to imitate the dressing styles of movie stars, music icons, and socialites.

Marilyn Monroe had not yet made her mark on the big screen, but her sexy image had already inspired imitations, especially her tight sweaters, pencil skirts, and red lipstick.

Thanks to the popularity of Playboy magazine, and because every piece of clothing Audrey Hepburn wears, even the "casual" ones, is a custom-made piece, her elegant style has garnered much attention.

Hepburn was his chosen showcase for clothing; when the time was right, people would attack her figure flaws to highlight that her elegance was mainly due to her clothing and makeup.

Grace Kelly, as a lifelong advocate for princesses and gentlemen, set a noble and simple style for her, and her scarves, pearl necklaces, and fitted dresses have been imitated by middle-class women.

His Hollywood product placement strategy has begun to show results. However, the US has a strong business sense, and before he took action, department stores such as Macy's had already launched "celebrity-endorsed" sections with more affordable prices.

He disliked affordable prices because they hindered his profits. He wanted to talk to department stores so they could all go down the luxury route and earn high profit margins together.

If they remain obstinate, China Garment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. should formally establish a branch in the United States, create a new direct selling brand, open directly operated stores around every department store, and launch ultra-low-priced department store-style products.

Besides clothing, perhaps we should establish a chain discount brand that specializes in selling factory direct goods from department stores. The quality is backed by the department stores, and the brand can compete on price, which will annoy the department stores and allow us to make a quick buck. Then we can wait for the department stores to acquire the brand.

Being approachable cannot be achieved through deception. If the quality and price are mediocre, how can it be considered approachable? To be approachable, you have to be genuine.

Perhaps chain discount brands should also launch a "buy more, save more" strategy, where buying N of the same item at once can get a great discount. This could attract full-time housewives to come to the store together, and once they're in the store, there's a chance they'll take another item with them.

What brand name should we use?

Within seconds, the word "Pdd" popped into Sin Yiu-man's mind.

P can be an abbreviation for words such as Purchase, Price, Promotion, Pre-order, Points, etc., and D can be an abbreviation for words such as Discount, Deal, Delivery, Display, Dress, Denim, Diamond, Decor, etc.

Basically, the Pdd combination can embody the two intuitive concepts of department store and discount, directly showcasing the selling points, and then weaving a beautiful brand story, and you're all set.

Thinking about this, it's a bit of a shame to treat Pdd as just a disposable tool. The US has a large low-spending population, and selling cheap goods, especially through group buying, can generate decent revenue. Combined with payment terms, it has the potential to become a cash cow.

"Beyond People's Retail, should we create another retail brand?" (End of Chapter)