Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

For most celebrities, receiving a star on the Walk of Fame is the highlight of their lives.

After all, this is a significant event, leaving a permanent mark on the cultural center of the United States.

Once you've reached a certain level in your life and career, don't you just want a good reputation after death?
To put it bluntly, for most people, death is simply the end of the world.

They drifted away, leaving nothing behind after death.

After a few more years, as relatives and friends gradually leave, it will seem as if we have never lived on this planet.

Most people would be thrilled to have the opportunity to leave a permanent mark on their lives, proving that they were ever here.

Leaving your name on the Avenue of Stars is just like that. Every day, a large number of tourists come and go, witnessing the mark they leave behind. It is undoubtedly a very fulfilling thing.

But in Lin Yuan's view, it was really nothing special.

If it weren't for the fact that participating in this matter could bring his partners enormous benefits, he wouldn't really care about it.

Lin Yuan knew that while being recognized on the Avenue of Stars was an honor, his films were the true monuments to his legacy.

Countless movie fans will watch his films today, and many years after his death, generations of people will continue to appreciate the films he left behind.

He has already achieved a higher level of glory than other celebrities can boast of.

So Lin Yuan whispered in Betty's ear, "I don't care about today's glory, because I have already received the richest reward."

Betty understood what Lin Yuan meant, and she stretched out her arms to hug his neck tightly: "I don't understand, what is the most generous reward?"

Lin Yuan understood; she was giving him a smug hint: Say something nice to make me happy.

“If I hadn’t made the movie, I would never have known you. Isn’t this the best reward?” Lin Yuan did not disappoint her.

Is it very generous?

"Hmm, very full and thick."

This is a typical Chinese slang term, a standard Mandarin expression, but Betty understood it.

“Bad man, I’d love to let you experience ‘thickness,’ but I have a lot of things to take care of right now.”

Betty is rational; after satisfying her longing for Lin Yuan, whom she hadn't seen for several days, she immediately returned to work.

"Hmm, is there any follow-up on the attack?" Lin Yuan asked.

“Five suspects have been identified, but upon closer examination, none of them seem particularly suspicious. I suspect it was just intimidation, with no actual action taken,” Betty replied.

"Show me their video footage," Lin Yuan said.

“Well, it will take a little more time to organize. Go downstairs and meet with the media reporters. I’ll give you the materials before the star-awarding ceremony begins,” Betty said.

"Is there a press conference today?" Lin Yuan asked curiously, as this was not on the itinerary.

"Not really, it wasn't that formal. But the reporters have been waiting for so long, so I should at least answer a few of their questions," Betty said with a smile.

Lin Yuan nodded in understanding; journalists make a living by reporting news.

Although no press conference was scheduled, answering a few questions wouldn't take up much time.

When he does people a favor, reporters tend to say more good things about him.

“Let’s go now,” Lin Yuan replied.

“The reporters are in the lobby downstairs. I’ll take you there,” Betty said.

After saying that, the group went downstairs.

When Lin Yuan arrived in the lobby downstairs, a large group of reporters saw him and immediately erupted in a frenzy, as if cold water had been poured into a hot pot.

They swarmed forward, surrounding Lin Yuan, and a whole bunch of microphones with media logos were stuffed into his mouth, piled up in dense circles.

"Mr. Lin Yuan, I would like to ask, as the most groundbreaking person to have their name inscribed on the Avenue of Stars, how are you feeling right now? What thoughts would you like to share with everyone?"

"Mr. Lin Yuan, I heard that your star is made of gold. Aren't you afraid that someone will covet it or even damage and steal it?"

"Mr. Lin Yuan, the number of attendees at today's ceremony has reached a record-breaking 57! With such popularity, what would you like to say?"

There were so many media reporters at the scene, and everyone was eager to ask questions, that some microphones were almost shoved into Lin Yuan's face.

But he only wrote that he slightly pushed the microphone away.

Lin Yuan is known for being friendly to the media and never acts like a diva, making people want to get close to him.

But what truly made the media fond of Lin Yuan was his ability to create news; he knew exactly what the public wanted to hear, and thus often made surprising remarks at past press conferences.

This behavior always helps the reporters involved in the reporting to exceed their KPIs, so it's no wonder that the reporters like him so much.

Even some media outlets on the opposing side, such as Fox News, had a very favorable impression of Lin Yuan, regardless of their stance.

Faced with so many questions from reporters, Lin Yuan knew that these were the topics the public was most interested in:

When asked by reporters, he was described as "the most groundbreaking person to leave their mark."

This refers to the fact that because of his bestowal of stars, a southern section was created out of thin air.

In the foreseeable future, this newly emerging southern section is even highly likely to have higher weekday visitor traffic than the original core central section.

It's worth noting that iconic Hollywood attractions like the Dolby Cinema are located in the central area.

With the support of these scenic spots, if the southern section, where Linyuan is located, can also gain the upper hand, then that would be truly terrifying.

It's like one person is carrying the entire burden.

This topic, which even has a slight tendency to incite conflict, will naturally attract the interest of countless viewers.

It's a pity that Lin Yuan isn't the youngest recipient of a star in the history of Avenue of Stars; otherwise, the topic would have been even more explosive.

But there's nothing that can be done about it, since Lin Yuan isn't a child star and can't gain an advantage in terms of age.

For example, Shirley Temple, the super cute child star beloved by countless people in the Western world, achieved this feat at the age of six.

However, child stars reach their peak early, and by adulthood they have faded into obscurity.

A superstar like Lin Yuan, who is only 23 years old and in the prime of his youth, has achieved unparalleled success and continues to create new peaks, is a unique and one-of-a-kind example.

The stars used for awarding honors are usually made of alloy, and the emphasis is on the honor itself; the stars themselves are not worth much money.

However, to express their admiration for Lin Yuan, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce made an unprecedented move by creating a pure gold star for him.

Even more outrageous, in order to enhance the sparkling effect of the stars, his initials were spelled out in the center of the stars using ten large diamonds and countless small diamonds.

This kind of good intention is a bit too much of a burden.

After all, it's a star made of gold and diamonds, which is much more valuable than those worthless alloy stars.

If someone were to have any wicked thoughts and try to steal this star, that would be a real headache.

In short, the reporters' questions were very targeted, but Lin Yuan did not intend to answer them.

He simply smiled and said, "These are all very good questions, but it's not my place to answer them today."

"Shouldn't you answer? Then who should?" The reporters were a little confused. "You'll find the answer in the guests' speeches after the star-awarding ceremony officially begins. I can't just beat you to it and say everything the guests want to say, can I?"

"Hahaha."

The reporters burst into laughter and decided to let Lin Yuan off the hook.

Indeed, as Lin Yuan said, the guests who come to speak at the event also hope to gain public attention and recognition.

But if Lin Yuan had addressed all these issues first, who would have cared about the guests' remarks then?
"You can ask me a different question, but don't ask anything related to the ceremony, because you'll all have the answers in a little while," Lin Yuan said.

At this moment, an unfriendly voice abruptly interrupted: "Mr. Lin Yuan, I heard that all the street-front shops in the entire southern section are under your personal name? You must have made a lot of money, right?"

This question, while indeed unrelated to the ceremony, was quite unfriendly, causing the reporter standing nearby to frown.
The reporters were well aware that the shops along the southern section of the street had been donated to Lin Yuan by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

Before the development of the southern section, this 1300-meter-long road was just an ordinary, deserted road, and the more than 200 shops along the street were naturally not worth much money.

The average price is roughly $30, and the total price is around $6000 million.

For ordinary people, this is an unimaginable sum of money.

However, for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and Lin Yuan, this could only be considered a "small gift".

The real problem is that with Lin Yuan's star-granting ceremony and the subsequent influx of celebrities, the value of shops in the southern section has increased rapidly in a short period of time.

The total value has now exceeded $200 million, more than three times its original value.

It's clear that the reporter who asked the question had malicious intentions. He didn't say it very explicitly, but his attempt to stir up trouble was all too obvious.

All the shops in the southern section are under your name.

You must have made a lot of money, right?

This way of asking questions easily evokes images of Lin Yuan hoarding profits and infringing on the rights of the original homeowners by offering low prices.

The reporters present were all highly perceptive with words; they immediately discerned the sinister intent behind the question and couldn't help but wonder:

What kind of clueless person would ask such a question?

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Fox News.

That's not surprising; this is Lin Yuan's old rival.

"I've heard that many homeowners feel cheated and are shouting that the original transaction was unfair and want to settle scores with you," the Fox News reporter continued to press.

"Are there really any homeowners causing trouble?" the BBC reporter asked in a low voice.

"I don't know about this, but it's very possible, considering that my original shop's value has more than tripled in such a short period of time," the New York Times reporter replied.

"That's because Lin Yuan is so capable. What does it have to do with them? Would their shops raise their prices without Lin Yuan?"

"People are unreasonable when faced with significant interests."

The reporters all turned to look at Lin Yuan, eager to see his reaction.

To the reporters' surprise, they saw no anger on Lin Yuan's face, and even a hint of joy.
At this moment, Lin Yuan was not angry, but that was not because he did not realize the trap set by the Fox News reporter.

He did indeed make a fortune from the increased value of the shops in the southern section.

But the prerequisite for earning asset appreciation is that his star is there, attracting a large group of Hollywood A-list celebrities to follow him.

This will inevitably lead to a significant increase in tourist traffic in the southern section in the future, and the value of shops will be determined by the street traffic.

From this perspective, the future increase in street traffic will be more than tenfold.
The current increase in value by more than three times is still too little; it is entirely possible that the value will increase by more than ten times in the future!
It can be said that these shops became valuable because of his existence, and he took the profits without any guilt, no matter how much they were.

But while that's the logic, it's not appropriate for Lin Yuan to say it that way.

If you say this out loud, it will seem too forceful and could easily create a negative public perception.

Moreover, many of the original homeowners harbored resentment and wanted to cause trouble to correct the "unfair transaction."

There is definitely no unfair trade involved.

The shops in the southern section were indeed worthless at the time. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce bought the shops from these owners and then gave them all to Lin Yuan.

Even if they wanted to cause trouble, they should have gone to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

However, the homeowners chose Linyuan as their target because choosing a larger target would be more likely to cause a stir.

In any case, from the perspective of the original owners, they don't care about so many reasons; they just stubbornly believe that their assets were sold off cheaply and that Lin Yuan took advantage of them.

Lin Yuan thought to himself: As expected of Fox News, they always spare no expense in digging up negative news about him.

Even on such a joyous day, we can't help but try to sow discord between him and others.

But he was already used to it; there always had to be someone to disagree. Anyway, there was no real harm done, and if the media were to sing praises all the time, it wouldn't be a good thing.

In response to this question, Lin Yuan replied with a smile: "The value of the shops has indeed increased, but there has been no act of cheating the original owners. After these shops came into my hands, they have found very meaningful uses."

Please forgive me for keeping you in suspense; I'll give you a satisfactory answer at the star-awarding ceremony later.

Now I'm off to attend the star-awarding ceremony. Welcome, everyone from the media!

After saying that, Lin Yuan stopped answering questions and followed the staff towards the outdoors.

Behind him, reporters followed closely.

Lin Yuan's answer was simple, but it avoided the minefield, while also choosing to face the issue sincerely and leaving enough room for expectation.

The reporters couldn't help but marvel at how his media skills were becoming increasingly sophisticated.

First, in this context, Lin Yuan is the stronger party and the beneficiary, while the homeowners are the weaker party and the "victims".

The public naturally empathizes with the weak who suffer losses and finds it difficult to support the strong who gain benefits.

Therefore, Lin Yuan could not simply reply, "All my actions are legal."

The public doesn't care about legality; what they care about is whether it's reasonable or not.

Secondly, avoiding a direct answer and trying to circumvent the issue will only give the impression of a guilty conscience, thus amplifying public suspicion.

A sincere and direct response like Lin Yuan's is the best approach.

Lin Yuan made it very clear that there was no act of harming the original homeowners.

At the same time, these shops gained very meaningful uses in his hands.

This further heightened the reporters' anticipation for the upcoming star-awarding ceremony.

What exactly did Lin Yuan arrange?

Seeing the Fox News reporter following behind him with some frustration, Lin Yuan didn't take him seriously at all.

A minor public opinion storm is unlikely to cause any major upheaval.

Today's star-awarding ceremony is not only a recognition of his past achievements, but also a window to showcase his new blueprint in the cultural field.

He had had this initial idea for several years, and today it has finally come to fruition. (End of Chapter)