money player

The next day.

Gao Dai put on her clothes, though they were backless, but the cleverness of those who had sneaked out to play returned to where they belonged.

Last night was quite crazy, but she got up early to make breakfast, which Sin Yiu-man enjoyed after finishing his morning exercise.

As he ate his bacon and eggs, Goddard placed a check in front of him: "$15 for investing in Roman Holiday."

Sin Yiu-man glanced at the check. "This is against the rules."

Gao Dai said nonchalantly, "Have someone issue me a receipt, and I'll put it in the new company's account."

“OK.” Sin Yiu-man put away the check. “The receipt and contract will be sent together once your company name is on the payroll.”

“Hmm.” Gao Dai nodded. “I’ll charge you $1.7 for the wine in the cellar. That’s about the price of the wine. We’ve drunk some of it, but some of it has appreciated in value.”

“I agree. You can choose to receive pounds in London or dollars in Hong Kong, in cash.”

Gao Dai smiled gently, "You're so thoughtful."

Sin Yiu-man shrugged.

"Did you talk to Doris about investing in the flower company that day?"

"Did you hear that?"

“I’m interested to hear a little bit.”

“I did not agree to her request. Flower Company is already preparing for an IPO. Before the IPO, it will conduct several rounds of financing to attract partners and to meet the minimum number of shareholders required by the NYSE.”

"Are you saying now is not the right time for Flower Society to attract shareholders?"

"Yes, until the valuation reaches my expectations."

"Understood, please save me a chair."

Sin Yiu-man chuckled and said, "Aren't you asking for too many chairs?"

“I’m very satisfied with your abilities,” Gao Dai said with a knowing smile, her words carrying a double meaning.

"Alright, in that case, would you like an extra chair?"

"where?"

“Jorge Guinness will have an independently registered and separately accounted record company, YMCA. If you invest $10, I can give you 5% of the shares.”

"Registering?"

"uh-huh."

"So, you dare to value a record company that hasn't even been established yet at $200 million?"

“You’re wrong. I value it at $2000 million. $10 plus your fame is your investment. I’ve already calculated your fame after playing Rose.”

"Wow, so there's no room for negotiation?"

"No, this isn't a fair trade; it's more like a gift from me to you."

"Damn it." Gao Dai laughed and scolded, "Adam, you're a bit arrogant."

Sin Yiu-man shrugged. "What do you think will be this year's Billboard number one single?"

"Rebecca Pan is one of your people?"

“Yeah.”

"I really like her 'Chilly Cha Cha,' but I still think 'Too Young' is better."

Sin Yiu-man said casually, "I am an amateur composer. I can still create works like 'Chilly Cha Cha'."

"Are you SP Smith?"

"You're not in the record industry, why would you care about this name?"

“Coincidence,” Gao Dai smiled. “I’ll write you another check.”

“No rush for the check.” Sin Yiu-man picked up his coffee and took a sip. “Get ready for the YMCA’s opening party. I’m planning to make it a big deal. The YMCA is different from other record companies. It mainly promotes idol singers who need high exposure, just like Charlie back then and Frank Sinatra now.”

"You consider Charlie an idol?"

"Isn't that right? When Charlie first joined Keystone, wasn't his homeless persona deliberately created for him by Keystone?"

"So you were referring to the earliest Charlie Hebdo, back then he was definitely an idol. Why does the YMCA promote idol singers?"

“In 1942, Sinatra’s concert in New York sparked ‘Sinatra Mania,’ with teenage girls screaming and fainting. Don’t you think those teenage girls were practically gods? With them around, the YMCA could do more than just collect advertising and endorsement fees; it could have demanded shares from businesses.”

"So, YMCA is an advertising company?"

"What you said isn't entirely wrong. Record sales and concert revenue are only a small part of the YMCA's income. The YMCA gives artists a higher share than other record companies in order to maintain a stable relationship with them."

"As a shareholder, I should be entitled to hear your full plan."

“Of course.” Xian Yaowen glanced at his watch. “I’ll explain it to you next time. I should probably go now. Can I borrow your phone for a moment?”

"up to you."

Sin Yiu-man called Simpson and learned that the other party had already found a suitable office space for the YMCA on Vine Street. After having breakfast and a cup of coffee outdoors, he took Sun Shu-ying to Vine Street.

A three-story building, less than ten years old, with a concrete structure, has two shops on the first floor: a record store and a coffee shop.

The second floor used to be the office of an unknown record company, which has since gone bankrupt. Well, the two tenants in front were also record companies, and both of them went bankrupt. It's a bit like the office of the Flower Society.

The third floor is an apartment building, divided into three units. Two are occupied, and one has just been vacated.

The building is located on Vine Street near Hollywood Boulevard. From a developmental perspective, it is very close to the future Hollywood Walk of Fame. The location is good, and the price is also good. The landlord is asking for $15.

He looked around and found that the pipe wrapping used carcinogenic asbestos material. He roughly estimated that the cost of demolition and reconstruction would not exceed $1000, so he decided to take it over in his own name and then rent it to the YMCA.

After viewing the building, he returned to the hotel, where the receptionist called him over.

“Mr. Hepburn, there was a call from Chicago. The caller didn’t introduce himself, but said he would call back at ten o’clock.”

"Oh, thank you." Xian Yaowen glanced at the name tag on the receptionist's chest, took out a dollar and handed it over. "Dalton, have a nice day."

"Thank you."

Sin Yiu-man waved his hand and walked towards the elevator.

Upon arriving at the elevator, Sun Shuying said, "Making a phone call is within the front desk's responsibilities. There's no need to tip. If you must, just give 25 cents, 50 cents at most."

Xian Yaowen glanced at Sun Shuying and said, "There's a silly girl named Shuying in Coal Ball Alley. She sits at the entrance of the alley every day and smiles at passersby. She has a pretty smile, and passersby will slap her."

Sun Shuying rolled her eyes at Xian Yaowen.

"One day, a suave young man—that was me—passed by. I didn't slap the silly girl, and she got really upset. She chased after me, yelling, 'Slap me! You're not leaving until you do!'"

I ultimately didn't slap the silly girl, but she remembered it for the rest of her life.

"How annoying." Sun Shuying glanced at her sideways. "If you're going to be reasonable, then be reasonable. Why do you have to resort to insults in a roundabout way?"

Sin Yiu-man chuckled and said, "I'm not beating around the bush, I'm pointing my finger at you and cursing you. Being thrifty is a good habit, but it has to be used in the right place. Remember that building from earlier?"

"I don't have amnesia."

"We will both be registered as homeowners, each owning half the property rights. Consider this an early birthday gift for you."

"Why me, and not Mom?" Sun Shuying asked in surprise.

“Baoshu is already very wealthy, much wealthier than me. I still owe her dividends.”

"That's not a reason."

Xian Yaowen led Sun Shuying into the elevator. "I need you to help me with some social work. I will introduce you to more people as my stepdaughter. Your English name will be changed to Isabelle Taylor Hepburn."

"Why does it have to be as a stepdaughter? Why can't I be a capable assistant? Even if I don't mind, don't you mind what others think of you?"

"What are you looking at?"

"You have such a big stepdaughter, how old is your wife?"

“Why should I care?” Xian Yaowen glared at Sun Shuying. “I never hide my relationship with Baoshu in Taipei, and I don’t need to hide it in the United States either. You don’t need to care too much either. It’s much better to reveal your identity directly than to hide it. Besides, you’re just an assistant, and you can’t represent me in some situations.”

"Okay, you arrange it."

"Would you like to take a shower and change your clothes first?"

"want."

"You have half an hour."

Upon arriving at their floor, Sun Shuying went to her room, while Xian Yaowen and the other two arrived at the door, where Xie Zhanran opened it.

Unlocking the door, Xie Zhanran pushed it open a crack with his left hand, glanced upwards, and suddenly raised his right hand as if to reach towards his left armpit.

With quick reflexes, Sin Yiu-man patted him on the back, "Don't just stand there, go inside."

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhanran pushed open the door and entered the room. After all three of them had entered, the door closed, and he pulled out a pistol from his left arm and nodded to Xie Tingyun.

Xian Yaowen waved his hand to interrupt, silently saying, "Put away the gun and check the weld."

Then he said, "Tingyun, I left a document in the car. Could you go and get it?"

"Ok."

Xie Tingyun left, Xie Zhanran went to check the welds in various places, and Xian Yaowen sat down at the desk, his eyes fixed on the telephone on the table.

The phone had been tampered with; the connection between the microphone and the hang-up fork had changed slightly. It was originally deliberately tilted at a certain angle, but now it's perfectly straight.

He picked up the microphone and said, "I've finished my wine, and a guest is coming soon. Please bring over a bottle of Johnnie Walker."

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Hepburn, it will be sent over shortly."

"Oh, and cigars too."

"Still Romeo and Juliet?"

"Yes, by the way, the room needs to be cleaned."

"I'll arrange it right away."

"Thanks, bye."

After putting down the microphone, he realized there was something in it, because the volume was unstable during the call, fluctuating between loud and soft, indicating that a parallel device was diverting the signal.

Therefore, it can be confirmed that the person who was eavesdropping on him did not contact the hotel. Otherwise, there would be no need to put anything in the phone; an induction coil placed near the phone line without physical contact could capture the signal.

but……

He glanced around and guessed that there were several listening devices installed in the room.

"Just arrived? Or has my value suddenly skyrocketed, leading to an upgrade in surveillance methods?"

Eavesdropping isn't a sophisticated method, and bugging devices aren't high-tech gadgets either. Surplus military supplies are readily available on the black market, and there are tutorials in Popular Mechanics magazine. Electronics enthusiasts can easily DIY their own devices. Many people have the ability to eavesdrop on others, but currently, if someone is capable of eavesdropping on him, his first suspect is the CIA.

Of course, we cannot rule out Mickey Cohen, or even the Kennedy family.

If it's the CIA, it could be considered a good thing; the crisis isn't a crisis, and they only need to prepare some money to silence certain people. But if it's someone else, things become more complicated.

After pondering a strategy for a while, he put the matter aside, opened his briefcase, and began to work seriously.

Shortly after, Xie Zhanran finished his investigation and found that the welding area had been disturbed; someone had thoroughly searched the room.

Then, Xie Tingyun returned and found no suspicious persons in the lobby.

When the hotel staff came to clean, he had an excuse to go to the lobby coffee shop.

Cafe.

He ordered a coffee and buried himself in writing in his notebook.

He had only been writing for two minutes when he sensed a change in the light and realized someone was standing beside him.

He looked up and saw the woman from Ningbo he had met at the bathroom door of Lauford's house.

"Find me?"

"Ah."

"Please sit down." After the woman sat down opposite him, Xian Yaowen asked, "What's your name?"

"Qi Lanlan".

"Is it about the same thing as last time?"

Qi Lanlan readily agreed.

Sin Yiu-man closed his notebook and gestured for me to come. “You’ve come to find me and know where to look for me, so you must have already inquired about my situation in Hollywood. Come on, I’ll give you a chance to convince me.”

"I spent all my money trying to find out about Mr. Xian."

"Oh, a desperate gamble."

Qi Lanlan brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said shyly, "I'm still a virgin."

“Since you’re so brave, I’ll be blunt,” Sin Yiu-man chuckled. “You must have been in Hollywood for a while now and know a thing or two about the situation here. You might think your virginity is very precious, but it’s worthless here.”

However, I admire your courage to take such a gamble. You're so persistent; it would be inhumane for me to discourage you further. If you want to wade through the sewers, then go for it.

Qi Lanlan's eyes snapped open, the whites of her eyes peeking out, her gaze intense. Her mouth formed an "O" shape as she exclaimed, "Mr. Xian is willing to give me a chance?"

Sin Yiu-man nodded. "I can give you an Apple contract and the right to cancel it at any time. Whenever you can't hold on any longer, I'll personally buy you a plane ticket so you can fly back to San Francisco and live a peaceful life."

"Thank you, thank you." Qi Lanlan's eyes welled up with tears.

Have you had breakfast yet?

"I ate... uh, no."

Sin Yiu-man raised his hand to call the waiter, "Order your own food, it's on you."

After saying that, he opened his notebook and continued working.

When the food was served, he glanced up at it, then lowered his head to continue writing, saying seemingly casually, "You usually make a living through various part-time jobs?"

Qi Lanlan put down the ham and egg toast, wiped her lips, and said softly, "As long as you're not afraid of getting dirty or tired, it's pretty easy to find part-time jobs in Hollywood, and some of them pay quite well."

"What job?"

Qi Lanlan paused for a moment, then lowered her head and whispered, "I have a part-time job at a funeral home in Los Angeles. When a woman passes away, I need to go to the scene to collect her body."

"Oh, the salary must be pretty high, right?"

"The hourly wage is $3, and a job is paid for three hours. There are occasional tips."

"It's not easy for a girl to do this kind of work. Does she have a family connection to this industry?"

"My grandfather was a funeral director."

"No wonder." Xian Yaowen glanced at Qi Lanlan's face. "Have you ever attended actor training?"

“I studied at an experimental drama school for two years.”

"Oh, not bad." Sin Yiu-man nodded noncommittally. "Have you ever had your hips opened?"

"I've driven it."

"Where's the shoulder?"

"I've driven it before."

"Oh, opening the shoulders and hips, that means you're a trained martial artist?"

"I studied the Eight Drunken Immortals for a few years."

"Oh, I'll give you an advance of one month's salary later. It's not much, just $25. You'll still have to rely on part-time jobs to make ends meet. But you have a good height and figure, similar to many female celebrities. Since you're not afraid of dying and have martial arts training, then you shouldn't be afraid of dying either. The company will try to arrange some stunt work for you. You can get to know the producers and directors first."

"It is up to Mr. Xian to arrange it."

Qi Lanlan is quite happy to be able to do performance-related work, which brings her one step closer to becoming an "actress".

Xian Yaowen, however, had already cast a question mark over Qi Lanlan's name, wanting to wait and see whether this woman was simply stubborn or had ulterior motives.

Since Qi Lanlan knows who he is, it's impossible that she doesn't know that he also owns Friendship Film Company in Hong Kong. Her appearance fits the current Eastern aesthetic. If she wanted to become an actress at Friendship Film Company, he would not hesitate to buy her a plane ticket to Hong Kong. Why is she so determined to stick to Hollywood?
Is there a hidden identity?
Even if there is such a thing, it should have nothing to do with him. He was probably just being used. But what's the point of infiltrating Hollywood? To monitor American public opinion?
Or perhaps, a covert maneuver?

Los Angeles is home to four companies related to aircraft development: Douglas, Lockheed, North American Aviation, and Hughes Aircraft. It also has the American Computer Society, which develops a computer for the military to simulate missile trajectories. It's worthwhile to invest some effort here.

He ended the conversation while pondering, and wrote for a while longer. Sun Shuying came downstairs, and coincidentally, the waiter came over to call him to the phone.

I went to the front desk and picked up the microphone.

“I am Adam.”

"I am Sam."

"Oh, it's Sam. What's up?" Xian Yaowen realized that the person on the other end of the phone wasn't Sam Giancana.

Are you at the hotel this afternoon?

"Not necessarily, they might go out."

"A friend of mine will be coming to see you this afternoon."

"Tell him to call Jorge Guinness before he leaves and find his secretary, Debbie. Debbie will tell him where I am."

"OK."

"Goodbye."

On his way back to his seat, Sin Yiu-man thought for a moment, trying to figure out if Giancana was being cautious or if he had sensed something. Cen Pei-pei had said that Giancana was a cautious person, and the FBI had also conducted wiretapping operations against the Mafia. Every Mafia member knew that they couldn't say too much on the phone, so it was hard to tell which situation it was.

Back at their seats, he let Qi Lanlan eat in peace, and he and Sun Shuying found another table.

"Come on, report the situation."

"I have reached an agreement with the Battelle Memorial Institute and Chester Carlson to acquire the patents for electrophotography technology for $15, but with one condition: I will give them 20% of the revenue generated by the patents over the next 10 years."

Sun Shuying took out a contract and unfolded it in front of Xian Yaowen, turning to the supplementary clauses page, "This page details the situations in which profit sharing is required."

Xian Yaowen read it carefully. "The request is reasonable. What payment timeframe do you promise?"

"within a week."

"What about Harold?"

“We can talk, but their valuation is $650 million, and they are only willing to give up a maximum of 30% of the shares.”

“If you’re willing to offer a price, then there’s room for negotiation. We can lower the valuation, increase the number of shares, and the funds can be transferred in two installments, three months apart. Right now, I can only scrape together $200 million for you, even if I have to sell everything I own. I do have cash, but it can’t be spent in the US.”

How many shares do you want?

"Without disrupting Harold's current power structure, we want as much as possible."

"Parrots do not have a professional negotiation team."

"The bank has them."

Sin Yiu-man took out a special piece of paper provided by Brown Brothers Harriman Bank from his briefcase, wrote down his personal assistant Jennifer's phone number on it, then took out his checkbook, wrote a check for $200 million, and handed it to Sun Shuying. He then wrote a few numbers in his palm and showed them to Sun Shuying.

"This is the secret code I agreed upon with the bank. After you hand the check to Jennifer, she will ask you for my birthday. You answer with this, and don't get it wrong, or the bank guards will arrest you."

Sun Shuying nodded after writing down the numbers.

Xian Yaowen wiped away the ink and instructed, "Don't show the checks to anyone else. I've kept several sets of signature samples at the bank. The signatures for large checks and small checks are different. Once the bank accepts the checks, they will issue you a separate bank draft..."

There are some other things you must know. You can ask Jennifer for advice, and you should also study and think more on your own. Generally speaking, banks have a good reputation, but that doesn't mean they won't cheat people.

When dealing with banks, you can't say or sign anything carelessly. Always remember what authorizations are permissible and what authorizations must never be granted; it's better to be a little more meticulous.

"Understood." Sun Shuying nodded solemnly.

“You can talk to Jennifer about the negotiation team. I have a large loan from Brown Brothers Harriman, and they make a lot of interest off me, so their asking price won’t be too high.”

"Ah."

"In conclusion, the check in your hand is just a piece of waste paper. Don't worry about it too much on the way, and don't be afraid."

Sun Shuying chuckled and said, "I won't."

Xian Yaowen shook hands with Sun Shuying. "Manager Sun, do a good job. I'll find you another concubine next month."

Sun Shuying rolled her eyes at him in return.

Sin Yiu-man returned the hug and then watched him leave.

Five minutes later, he had a new problem: he couldn't raise $35 of his legal personal funds in the United States, including $20 in gambling debts and $5 in travel expenses that Jorge Guinness had given him in advance.

The YMCA office building would cost $15, plus miscellaneous fees, legal fees, and repair costs, bringing the total to $16. In addition, he would need to buy another house for Debbie to live in, which would cost at least another $10. After all that, he would only have tens of thousands of dollars left, which was not enough to do anything.

What a headache!

Around noon, he took Qi Lanlan to Jorge Guinness, where Debbie received them. He then retreated to the music room and played "Rose," the theme song from "Titanic," to continue brainstorming and refining the "Titanic" project.

He has already planned for $750 million, and estimates that with another three or four million, the project should be basically complete.

The most crucial element of the project is the film. If the film doesn't perform well at the box office and fails to generate buzz, all the related arrangements will become castles in the air.

For romantic movies, the first requirement is that the male lead is handsome and the female lead is beautiful. He wasn't very confident in his own aesthetic sense. In his eyes, Pauline Goddard was prettier than Ava Garner. But in fact, Ava Garner is currently recognized as the most beautiful woman in Hollywood.

He didn't tell Pauline Goddard the truth: she wasn't the best choice for the role of Rose in his mind. Putting aside her looks, her age was a direct pass-off. He needed a younger actress.

Baolian Gaodai was the actress he intended to use to promote the real actress; it was best to praise her while criticizing her, so as to create buzz.

Finding the right person to play Rose is a headache, but fortunately he can give up all the profits from the film, making things a little easier and allowing him to leverage the power of other industry giants.

After "Rose" finished playing, he immediately transitioned to "Summer," instantly lifting his spirits considerably. (End of Chapter)