Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

The three members of SM Entertainment were all numb today, and they followed Mr. Lee forward with complicated thoughts.

Soon, the group crossed the street and arrived in front of a building with a glass facade.

"Where is this?" Lee Soo-man asked.

"This is the preparation location for today's star-awarding ceremony, and the temporary base for guests and staff," Mr. Li said. "Of course, this building is also one of Mr. Lin Yuan's properties."

You can own a building with just a tap, right?
The three of them were already used to it; with Lin Yuan's assets, it wasn't surprising that he owned a building in every major city across the country.

Lee Soo-man also knew that not only in the United States, but also in major cities in mainland China, Lin Yuan even owned several CBDs in prime locations.

Compared to this, the building in front of us seems rather unremarkable.

For the wealthy, wealth is not just the numbers on a bank card; it can also be real estate everywhere, private jets that are unimaginable to ordinary people, and luxury cars that they can't keep up with in rotation...

Each of these is something that ordinary people would find difficult to obtain in their entire lives.

However, in the hands of the wealthy, there is so much that it is excessive.

Therefore, the wealthy are naturally disliked by the public.

The presence or absence of others naturally arouses jealousy in people's hearts.

Moreover, the history of most wealthy people's rise to power is not only that their first pot of gold was not clean, but their subsequent Nth pot of gold was also mostly related to money-power transactions.

Even if your wealth is earned legally and through your own efforts, it's still hard to escape the envy of the public.

Wealth and fame are two choices that can only be chosen most of the time.

At this moment, Lin Yuan's young and handsome face appeared in Lee Soo-man's mind again.

This young man managed to hold both hands firmly, gaining both fame and fortune.

This made Lee Soo-man sigh again: In the eyes of many movie fans, they only know that Lin Yuan is good at making movies, but they don't know that Lin Yuan is even more amazing at how to deal with people.

In the entire history of humankind, there are only a handful of people who hold the title of the richest man and are also loved by the public.

"The richest man among ordinary people" is a term of praise given to Lin Yuan by the public.

Lee Soo-man didn't know how the two completely different terms, "commoner" and "richest man," were combined to form this contradictory yet self-consistent new term.

Led by Mr. Li, they passed through the security guards' perimeter and entered the building.

Upon entering the building, Lee Soo-man immediately spotted the chubby, round-faced Asian man standing in the center of the lobby.

"It's Mr. Meng Tao!" Kim Tae-yeon recognized him as well.

As fans of Lin Yuan, almost everyone knows Meng Tao, who is hailed as "the man who lives in the end credits".

It's fair to say that without Meng Tao's appearance in the end credits, the fun would be greatly diminished.

“What Meng Tao? You should call him President Meng!” Li Xiuman immediately reminded him, “Don’t be fooled by his seemingly kind and easy-going appearance. If you upset him, he can easily make things difficult for us.”

"Mr. Meng... is Mr. Meng really that amazing?" Lin Yoona asked in surprise.

“He controls at least ten times the resources I do! No… probably twenty times!” Lee Soo-man said.

Kim Tae-yeon: "..."

Lin Yuner: "..."

“You all need to be careful. Every guest here today is either rich or powerful. If we accidentally offend someone, we’ll be in deep trouble,” Lee Soo-man warned again.

Kim Tae-yeon and Im Yoon-ah gasped.

In their eyes, Lee Soo-man, the "godfather of Korean entertainment," is already an unattainable towering tree.

But today, it seems that no matter where you go, towering trees have turned into blades of grass.

Big shots who are rarely seen on ordinary days are everywhere today, like free radishes.

Just as the three of them were feeling somewhat apprehensive, Meng Tao noticed Mr. Li and the SM Entertainment trio.

So he smiled and said goodbye to the people beside him, and walked in their direction.

Meng Tao smiled and said, "Old Li, you've had a tough time. It must have been difficult to get through such a dense crowd today, right?"

"Hey~ It's no big deal. Besides, Mr. Lin Yuan personally instructed me to do this, so I don't feel it's a hassle at all," Mr. Li replied readily.

Upon hearing this answer, Meng Tao immediately remembered the key point: Lin Yuan had personally instructed him.

As Lin Yuan's die-hard friend, he knew all too well how irresponsible Lin Yuan was, a complete absentee manager.

Most of the time, Lin Yuan communicates and conveys work tasks through Yui Aragaki.

It's definitely not that simple that he's confessing in person today.

So Meng Tao began to take a look at the SM trio.

The man in the lead was an older man, whom Meng Tao recognized as Lee Soo-man, the president of SM Entertainment.

But Meng Tao immediately rejected him, saying he wasn't good enough.

When Meng Tao saw the other two little girls, his eyes lit up.

Kim Tae-yeon is like a strawberry coated in icing, giving off a youthful and energetic vibe.

Lim Yoon-a is like a dewdrop on a blade of grass in the morning; her clear and pure temperament is irresistible.

If it's because of these two little girls, then it makes perfect sense.

Meng Tao was certain that they were definitely Lin Yuan's type.

So Meng Tao said with a smile, "It's rare for Lin Yuan to personally assign this task, so why don't I take over?"

"Boss Meng, you don't trust me. With me here, how could things go wrong?" Mr. Li protested.

Meng Tao pursed his lips, gesturing for him to look at the group of VIPs not far away:

There are directors like Eastwood and Nolan from Lin Yuan Films, as well as Hollywood bigwigs like Spielberg, Cameron, and Stan Lee.

There were also some people that Mr. Li didn't recognize; they were probably high-ranking officials and extremely wealthy individuals.

Are you familiar with them? I'd like to introduce them to the guests.

Mr. Li: "..."

Although he had worked with some famous directors, none of them were as familiar as Meng Tao, and chatting and laughing with them was not his forte.

Today's gathering of distinguished guests is indeed a good opportunity to help Lee Soo-man expand his network. If he can't do it, he should simply step down.

So Mr. Li said, "Then I'll leave it to you, boss!"

"Don't worry, I'm always reliable. You can rest assured," Meng Tao replied.

Lee Soo-man, Kim Tae-yeon, and Lim Yoon-ah stared blankly as Mr. Lee and Meng Tao completed the handover of reception duties.

This... isn't quite appropriate, is it?

Did President Meng personally receive us?

Today, Meng Tao is no longer the young action choreographer he once was.

In terms of industry influence, Lee Soo-man knew that even top superstars like Tom Cruise had to curry favor with him.

In the realm of action films, if Lin Yuan is a supreme god, then Meng Tao is at least a reigning emperor. To create top-tier action films, collaboration with Lin Yuan Film Studio's action team is inevitable.

Those highly specialized security tasks that rely on experience and lessons learned are Meng Tao's strengths, which he has cultivated for many years.

After all, which action team can withstand the constant rigorous training from Lin Yuan's various death-defying filming?
It's fair to say that Meng Tao's action team represents the absolute pinnacle of Hollywood.

Even setting aside his industry influence, Meng Tao is a super-rich man with a net worth of over $20 billion, based solely on his personal wealth.

His investments span various fields, accumulating a tremendous social influence.

The fact that Meng Tao is now personally handling this reception work puts immense pressure on Li Xiuman and the others.

Just as Lee Soo-man was feeling quite apprehensive, that figure reappeared in his mind.

Yes, it must be because of Lin Yuan, who is behind those two girls.

Lee Soo-man immediately guessed Meng Tao's thoughts: He must have guessed the relationship between Lin Yuan and the two girls, so he was giving them special treatment?

It must be said that Lee Soo-man felt very good about this special treatment.

He had just overheard Meng Tao saying that he was going to introduce the distinguished guests present to him.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Lee Soo-man.

South Korea is such a small country that even if you reach the top of the South Korean entertainment industry, you're still insignificant on a global scale.

The top echelons of the American entertainment industry are superstars with global influence.

In this situation, being able to get to know more influential figures around the world would definitely allow Lee Soo-man's career to take another leap forward.

I don't expect to produce world-class superstars in a short time, but if I take these resources back to China, I'll definitely crush and defeat all my peers.

Lee Soo-man felt incredibly excited whenever he thought of Park Jin-young from JYP Entertainment and Yang Hyun-suk from YG Entertainment.

"Will you still be qualified to be called one of the three major entertainment companies with me then? Hahaha, I'll be the only one to dominate!"

Lee Soo-man then bid farewell to Mr. Lee, saying, "Thank you again for coming to the airport to pick us up!"

Mr. Li smiled and waved goodbye to them one by one, then turned and left.

Immediately afterwards, Li Xiuman respectfully said to Meng Tao, "President Meng, thank you for your help."

"What trouble? I'd be happy to take this opportunity to make some new friends," Meng Tao said with a hearty laugh.

"Come on, I'll show you around. Lin Yuan is still at the airport for an autograph session and will arrive here in about an hour and a half."

"Okay!" Lee Soo-man caught up with Meng Tao's pace, but fell slightly behind by half a step.

Just as the group took a step forward, they saw a figure rushing towards them.

With his signature black eyeliner and smoky eye makeup, the group recognized Depp at a glance.

"Meng Tao, do you know what? I finally got the chance to be the host today!" Johnny Depp exclaimed with elation.

"You bastard! Who gave you the opportunity? Director Eastwood? Or Vin Diesel? What dirty tricks did you use to achieve your goal?" Meng Tao asked disdainfully.

He knew that the original hosts for today were director Clint Eastwood and Vin Diesel.

However, the temptation to preside over the star-granting ceremony for Lin Yuan was too great. Depp had never given up on his ambition, and now it seems he has succeeded.

“How can you look at me like that! In a little while, we’ll be comrades getting married together!” Depp protested.

"It's not that I wanted to have the wedding with you, it's that you insisted on crashing it with me. You just want Lin Yuan to be the officiant and emcee at the wedding," Meng Tao complained.

All those past troubles had vanished. On the day the Virginia sank to the bottom of the sea, he decided to believe in love again and took the first step towards marriage.

As best friends of many years, Lin Yuan would definitely be the officiant at Meng Tao's wedding.

Upon learning this news, Depp, who was preparing for his wedding, shamelessly insisted on having a joint wedding with Meng Tao.

As his best friend, Meng Tao naturally couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to agree.

Meng Tao even wondered if Amber Heard, that ambitious woman, would still have offered Depp a wedding if she couldn't get Lin Yuan to be her witness.
Maybe, but marriage is not the end; it may just be the beginning of a mess.

For example, one's past failed marriage.

Meng Tao didn't dwell on the topic with Depp. He kept his current task in mind and naturally couldn't neglect his guests.

So he introduced them to each other first.

“This is Lee Soo-man, the president of SM Entertainment, and his two artists, Kim Tae-yeon and Im Yoon-ah,” Meng Tao said.

Depp: “…”

What kind of company is SM Entertainment?
That sounds so perverted. Is it the kind of SM I'm imagining?
And who are these two little girls? I've never heard of them before.

In those remote corners of South Korea, even the top stars are just small fry on a global scale, completely unimportant.

Depp didn't know why Meng Tao was giving such a solemn introduction, but he immediately realized that things were not simple.

So he greeted them warmly, saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I enjoy making friends with you Asians. It's mainly because of the influence of a certain guy, you know who I'm talking about, right?"

"You mean Mr. Lin Yuan? He's my boss, and also my mentor," Lee Soo-man replied.

Upon hearing this, Depp immediately understood: Oh, it really is because of Lin Yuan.

Having confirmed this, Depp immediately took out his personal business card and exchanged it with Lee Soo-man.

“Depp, it’s quite rude of you to neglect these two ladies,” Meng Tao added from the side.

One simple sentence immediately made Depp's hair stand on end!

These are just two minor celebrities who are no different from ordinary people to him. Is it necessary to give them special reminders?

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation!
He and Meng Tao were once ruthless bulldozers that swept through half of Hollywood's female stars.

Normally, Meng Tao would never introduce women who could be considered potential romantic targets in such a serious manner.

He would laugh and say, "Depp, it's a dereliction of duty for us men to ignore these two lovely and charming ladies."

Subtle differences in vocabulary can reflect vastly different meanings.

The woman who could make Meng Tao so cautious must be someone related to Lin Yuan!

So Depp, regardless of whether it was true or not, smiled and bowed slightly to the two ladies in apology: "Please forgive my rudeness for neglecting you ladies."

This scene completely baffled Kim Tae-yeon and Im Yoon-ah.

We are just President Li's lackeys.

Logically speaking, a superstar like Depp shouldn't even need to be taken seriously by President Lee.

Isn't it perfectly normal to ignore them and treat them as background figures?

Does this really require a special apology?
Kim Tae-yeon and Im Yoon-ah suddenly realized that Lin Yuan's influence had come into play once again.

Since the beginning of this day, they have received far more attention than they deserve.

They originally thought they would be invisible at the star-awarding ceremony with a full house of guests, but no matter where they went, they seemed to be the center of attention.

Is this what it feels like to be a fox borrowing the tiger's power?
I have to say, this feeling is really quite nice... (End of Chapter)