Extracting skills from movies

Du Sheng sneered:
"Car breakdown?"
Not only did he almost hit Jessica and me, but as soon as he got out of the car, he called Jessica a "bitch" and even tried to hit her. How do you explain that?

He looked up at the group, his tone leaving no room for argument:
"This is not a misunderstanding; this is attempted murder!"

Jessica Alba nodded repeatedly, her face a mixture of anger and fear.

Taraji still wouldn't give up and continued to persuade him:

“Now that we’re all here, Wayne can’t do anything out of line.”

Du Sheng slightly stepped aside to make room for everyone to see Lear Wayne's distorted face:
"He's totally hyped up. Look at him like this, do you think he's a human or a ghost?"

"Fuck!"

Lear Wayne suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. Already emotionally unstable due to the medication, he completely lost control.
"You yellow-skinned trash, and you bitch, you're going to get shot!"

Two security guards quickly stepped in between, blocking the way while reminding the officers:
“Mr. Whittaker, Ms. Taraji, he’s out of control. Please stay away.”

"He's having another attack!"

Jessica Alba huddled next to Sarah Lauren, her voice trembling with fear:
"I've already called the police, you can't show favoritism!"

Sarah Lauren, a white actress with little connection to the Black community, gently hugged Jessica and comforted her.
"Don't be afraid, let's take cover for now and wait for the Los Angeles Police Department to handle it."

The heads of the two film crews also arrived at the scene one after another.

Police lights flashed in the distance, and sirens blared as they drew closer.

Several city police officers arrived at the studio as quickly as possible.

In a meeting room at the Los Angeles branch.

With the assistance of producer Zakaria and the production team's lawyer, the police took routine statements from Du Sheng, Ma Yaowei, and Jessica Alba.

Aside from adding a little drama to Jessica's part, everything else can simply be stated as fact.

Of course, it wasn't made up.

I just exaggerated my emotions at the time.

The police officer taking statements shook hands with each of the two men.

"Thank you for your cooperation. We will contact you again if there are any new drafts."

Du Sheng said with a smile:

“I have dealt with the Los Angeles Police Department quite a bit, and I trust you will handle this matter impartially.”

The policeman smiled:
"I am very sure of that."

This incident involves people who are not ordinary.

On one hand, he's a rising star in the music industry, backed by three powerful figures.

On the other side are top Hollywood actresses and honorary citizens of Los Angeles.

The facts are clear, and the appropriate course of action is also obvious.

Jessica stayed by Du Sheng's side the whole time, acting all pitiful.

Given her consistently positive image and her extremely frightened appearance, the police felt they had to deal with the perpetrator severely.

The production team's lawyer, Sterling, specifically went to find out about Lil Wayne's situation.

Upon returning, he whispered to Du Sheng and Jessica:
"The Los Angeles Police Department found two prescription drugs on Lear Wayne."
One of them is a prohibited item, and the quantity possessed is seriously excessive.

The initial urine test was positive, but the blood test results will be available later.

According to Los Angeles regulations, you cannot drive after taking either of these medications.

Du Sheng immediately grasped the key point:

"Jessica and I were almost knocked over. Was he breaking the law?"

Sterling nodded:

“If you insist on pursuing this to the end, he will be in big trouble.”

Jessica glanced at Du Sheng, her tone cold but firm:

“I don’t care if he goes to jail or not, I just can’t stand this.”

In Hollywood, there are many drug-addicted and short-tempered stars like Lil Wayne, but she had never dealt with these people before.

And this time, Lil Wayne really almost killed her.

Du Sheng's phone rang, and when she answered, her agent Haders' voice came through:
"I'm at the airport now, and I'll be heading back to Los Angeles in the early hours of the morning."

When a client has an accident, the agent is the first to speak up, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Jessica also received a phone call. After hanging up, she found Du Sheng and said:

"My agent told me not to give any media interviews for the time being, and to wait until we have discussed it further."

Du Sheng asked a crucial question, seemingly lost in thought:
"Is Lear Wayne with the same agency as you?"

Although there are many talent agencies in Hollywood, the majority are CAA and WME.

Jessica wasn't sure, so she immediately called to confirm and came back saying:
"It's WME."

Du Sheng nodded:
"That definitely needs to be discussed."

He also needs time to sort out how to turn this incident into the most advantageous situation for himself.

Since the incident has already happened, we can't just focus on solving it.

While making the other party suffer, one can also reap benefits from it.

For example, Du Sheng's albums have a high probability of being nominated for the Grammy Awards.

They are competitors.

As soon as Du Sheng entered the hall, he saw two women walking towards them.

One is Taraji, and the other is black actress Lauren Nevey.

"Jessica, Du Sheng, this is Wayne's girlfriend Lauren."

After a brief introduction, Taraji said:
"Could you give me a few minutes?"

Lauren bowed slightly to the two of them, her attitude sincere:

"I am very sorry for the mistake Lear made."

Du Sheng responded calmly:

"If you have something to say, just say it."

Lauren knew that an apology was the first step in gaining their forgiveness.

"Lear really meant no harm; he is usually a very gentle person."

Today's incident was a complete misunderstanding; there was something wrong with those medicines..."

Although Du Sheng and Jessica believed he didn't intend to hurt anyone, they didn't care about that at all.

Lauren speaks with great tact:

"Not long ago, Lear became a father, and his parents had just divorced. He was under a lot of pressure after his daughter was born."

He hadn't even adjusted to his role as a father before he had to leave home for work.

The pressure was overwhelming, and he could only rely on medication prescribed by his doctor to alleviate his mental health issues.

Raising children, divorce, immense pressure, mental illness—

These words, raining down one after another, do indeed evoke pity.

But Du Sheng wasn't buying it at all, and sneered:
"Oh? So celebrities are under a lot of pressure being fathers, so they take medicine to relieve stress?"

He turned to look at Jessica Alba and said:
"Let's go?"

"Ah."

Jessica took his arm, and the two walked out side by side.

"and many more!"

Lauren immediately became anxious and wanted to persuade him again, but Ma Yaowei stopped her.

Zhang Haolong stood to the side, shaking his head in disbelief.

Earning tens of millions in film remuneration and enjoying all kinds of high-class treatment, yet claiming that the pressure is so great that he is addicted to drugs, and using this as an excuse to whitewash his actions?
Shouldn't ordinary people who work three jobs a day and work more than ten hours of overtime have already broken down?

Even a seasoned veteran like him, who was used to all sorts of tricks, thought the excuse was ridiculous.

Du Sheng and his group got into their car and left the scene.

Before the car had even crossed the main road, Ma Yaowei received a phone call. After hanging up, he said to Du Sheng:
"There's a car following us."

Jessica was a little nervous, after all, she had just gone through what happened with Lil Wayne.

Du Sheng, however, remained quite calm.

What kind of monsters and demons haven't I seen over the years?

He said calmly:
"Check who it is."

From the moment the studio pinned Lil Wayne to the ground, he was already calculating all the possibilities that lay ahead. Lil Wayne was not fighting alone.

Du Sheng didn't care about the Crippled Gang, one of the three major Black Gangs. Those were the kind of people who wouldn't act until they saw a clear benefit, unless Lear Wayne was willing to spend a lot of money.

What Du Sheng really cared about were the agency, film production company, and distributor behind Lear.

This rap star is no small fry.

This year, his new album "Tha Carter III" broke into the top three on Billboard, with the title track "Lollipop" even reaching number one.

Now the 50th Grammy nominations are here, and he's even nominated for Best Rap Performance!
If we also consider the connection to the film "Hurricane Season".

In other words, major companies like WME, Republic Records, and The Weinstein Company will all be involved in his projects.

After the car had been driving for ten minutes, Ma Yaowei finally spoke:
"We found out. It's a reporter team from the Century Daily. They probably caught wind of this and wanted to get an exclusive."

Du Sheng smiled as she walked toward the elevator:

"The Century Daily, huh? It's an old acquaintance."

A while ago in Venice, they were the ones who sneaked up to his room and took pictures.

Back at the hotel, Ma Yaowei first checked the room to make sure it was safe before letting Du Sheng and Jessica in.

Jessica received another phone call; clearly, someone was trying to find a breakthrough through her.

Du Sheng also made a phone call, asking the Hearst sisters to cooperate with the operation.

If it weren't for the involvement of Du Sheng and Jessica Alba, this kind of incident wouldn't have made a ripple in Hollywood at all.

Whether it's the production team or the investors, they can just put it on hold for now.

……

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles branch office reception room remained bustling with activity.

The production team of "Hurricane Season" not only notified the production company, but also contacted the distribution company, The Weinstein Company.

Emory, the PR manager for Lil Wayne's new album "Tha Carter III," happened to be in Los Angeles.

People from Republic Records also rushed over immediately.

This album received a Grammy nomination at the 50th Grammy Awards and was riding high; nobody wanted to see Lear get into trouble.

His agent, Aubrey Drake, is on his way.

Whether it's an album or a film project, there's a whole chain of interests involved behind it.

This awards season, WME invested a lot of resources in Lil Wayne, helping him get a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance.

Like Du Sheng, Lear is also an artist who is making his mark on the international stage, with complex forces behind him.

Aubrey Drake dialed Harvey Weinstein's number:
“Harvey, if Lear gets sent to prison right now, we’ll all be in deep trouble.”

"Los Angeles is your territory; find a way to stabilize the situation."

Harvey frowned upon hearing that the victim was Du Sheng:
"Weinstein International invested a lot of money in 'Hurricane Season' and certainly doesn't want anything to go wrong."

He paused and continued:
"But I don't get along with Du Sheng, and if I step in, it will only make things worse."

Go contact Republic Records and have them communicate with Warner Music first…

He had just suffered a setback at Du Sheng's hands not long ago; if he suffered another major loss this time, he would become a complete laughingstock.

As for revenge?

With three giants—Sony, Warner Bros., and Miracle Pictures—standing behind Du Sheng, who would dare to confront him head-on at this time?

We can only wait until things calm down before making any decisions.

Aubrey nodded:
"I have already communicated with Republic Records, and both sides have roughly the same idea."

I'll be arriving in Los Angeles tomorrow morning; let's talk then.

Harvey pondered for a moment:

"Row."

The film "Hurricane Season" had just moved from Vancouver to Los Angeles, and replacing a well-known artist at this point would be a huge loss.

This matter must be resolved as soon as possible.

Outside the film studio, a rather ordinary-looking Ford was parked quietly on the side of the road.

Two reporters were sitting in the car, exchanging information from time to time.

Corio glanced at the obstructive *Journal of the Century* work badge, casually stuffed it back into his pocket, and turned to ask his colleague Riggs:

"Has there been any activity from the Los Angeles Police Department?"

Riggs shook his head:

All I know is that there's been some trouble at the studio, involving big names like Du Sheng, Jessica Alba, Whittaker, Taraji, and Lil Wayne.

But the specifics are still unclear.

Corio looked towards the factory area, smiling broadly:

"Du Sheng's troubles are endless, and every time it's a big deal!"

Riggs offered a reminder:
"Don't make any rash moves. Do you remember the last attack?"

Although Corio couldn't find out much, he did hear some rumors.

The higher-ups specifically instructed us not to provoke this guy surnamed Du.

Just as I was pondering this, a man in a black coat and a mask walked past the car, and the thing tucked into the folder fell to the ground with a "thud".

Hearing the noise, Corio turned around and saw the envelope lying next to the back door.

He leaned forward and called out:
Hey buddy, you dropped your mail!

The man didn't turn his head and quickly disappeared from sight.

Corio immediately became alert, got out of the car, picked up the envelope, returned to the car, opened it, and read...
Inside was a stack of A4 printed paper, along with a caption and several photos.

The person in the photo is Lil Wayne, who is being handcuffed behind his back and put into a police car by the police.

The title reads:

Rap star Lil Wayne nearly crashed into "Inception" stars Du Sheng and Jessica Alba, suspected of dangerous driving.

……

Meanwhile, inside a moving van.

WME agent Aubrey Drake quickly flipped through the documents in his hand, his expression growing increasingly serious.

Emory, who was standing next to him, took the documents and glanced at them, his brows furrowing.

He was one of the stakeholders in the album, and also a businessman for Weinstein International Films and Republic Records.

Once this report spreads, it will inevitably affect their subsequent prize-winning strategy.

Emory sighed:

"There were too many onlookers yesterday, so it was difficult to completely suppress them."

Besides... Du Sheng and Jessica aren't people to be trifled with either.

Aubrey nodded and glanced at his phone:

"Harvey will be here soon."

The car drove into the old factory area where the harbor area meets North Hollywood.

This place is dilapidated and desolate, like an industrial site from decades ago.

Aubrey and Emory each made a few phone calls and then waited quietly.

.........

Despite the incident yesterday, the Inception crew is still filming as usual, only some of Du Sheng and Jessica's scenes have to be postponed.

At this moment, Haders and Jessica's agent, Canals, approached the two and whispered:

"The other party has arrived."

They had already discussed their strategy last night, and Du Sheng nodded:
"It has to be dealt with sooner or later, so let's meet with him."

Jessica was worried that Du Sheng, being a Chinese person, wouldn't have enough say here, so she specifically reminded him:
"Push any problems onto me; I have several unions backing me."

Du Sheng understood her meaning and took the lead in leaving the photography studio and going to the office area.

Aubrey stepped forward, but bypassed Du Sheng and smiled at Jessica instead.

"Jessica, you're getting more and more charming."

He then turned to Canals and gestured with his hand:
"Shall we talk privately?"

Kanals glanced at Jessica, who had no objection, and the group went into the office together.

…(End of this chapter)