America: My Time

Chapter 1166 Tests and Worries

Chapter 1156 Testing and Worry
To the average person, John's trip to the Central Academy of Drama was for the development of Phoenix Group in China. However, to the real high-level officials, things were not like that. They paid close attention to John's every move. Whether it was the guys in the United States, the Chinese government, or even the officials in South Korea and Japan, they all wanted to know John's true intentions.

At John's level, every move he makes has a tremendous impact, making him someone no one dares to ignore. Anyone who disregards his actions is likely to make a wrong decision. Different positions see things differently. For the students, this is an opportunity, so they are all discussing and considering it. But from the perspective of those in higher positions, it's not like that. There's much more to it than meets the eye; those who understand will naturally know, and for those who don't, explanations are useless.

To suggest that Phoenix Media's development in China truly requires a bigwig like John to personally go to the Central Academy of Drama to recruit actors is a joke. Phoenix Media isn't facing such difficulties, and anyone who believes that is a fool. Of course, students might genuinely believe it, since they don't understand the underlying issues.

Before everyone could even process John's actions during his visit to the Central Academy of Drama, the very next day, John and Wang Jinhua made a trip to the Beijing Film Academy. This time, they recruited a considerable number of actors, far more than the Central Academy of Drama could match. However, John did not take any further action, merely engaging in some exchanges with the Beijing Film Academy.

Although some people wanted to invite John to give a speech, he declined them all. However, the fact that Phoenix Media went to such lengths, with even a bigwig like John personally involved, raised questions and left many people puzzled. Even if Phoenix Media was short-staffed, it didn't seem like they would resort to recruiting directly from universities.

Was this a test from John? Or perhaps an attitude from John? The bigwigs understood, but many others didn't. This was no small matter; many saw only the Phoenix Group. However, those at the top saw much more.

This was indeed John's probing move. This trip to the Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Film Academy seemed to be for Phoenix Group. Of course, Phoenix Group is indeed short of staff right now, but not to that extent. The reason John did this was for the development of other companies, because as these companies grow, they will be even more short of manpower and need more talent.

At the same time, John also hoped to cultivate his own R&D team in China, rather than relying entirely on the United States and Europe, or on Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. That would seriously affect his plans in China, hence this small test and this action.

Those who understand will naturally grasp the underlying intention and make their own decisions; those who don't will simply enjoy the spectacle. However, with the conclusion of the trip to the Beijing Film Academy and the increased number of students recruited there, the Central Academy of Drama is feeling a bit of pressure.

However, John didn't care about any of that. He was currently waiting for a reply from above. He had already sent out his inquiry, and whether he would receive approval depended on the higher-ups' thoughts. Back when Russia collapsed, John had acquired quite a few valuable resources, all of which required talented individuals to study. However, talented people were not so easy to recruit in China today.

As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. John didn't want to put all his eggs in one basket and wanted to diversify his efforts. Otherwise, if problems arose, it would have a huge impact on him and bring a lot of unnecessary trouble to his plans. This was not a situation that John wanted to see. So when Wang Jinhua and Feng Xiaogang appeared, John had an idea and took the opportunity to make this arrangement.

This approach is beneficial for everyone, saving face for each other. If one were to directly ask and be refused, it would be embarrassing. Moreover, if China is indeed facing difficulties, it would be awkward for one to proactively make a request at this time. Therefore, using indirect methods is the best choice.

Soon, arrangements were made by the Chinese side, and things weren't as difficult as John had imagined. Universities didn't impose many restrictions on foreign-invested enterprises, which relieved John, as the talent shortage in his Chinese companies was growing increasingly severe, to the point that it was giving him a headache. Although John hadn't traveled much in China in the past six months, he was intimately familiar with the situation of his various industries there. The problem affecting his companies now wasn't funding or machinery, but talent—he lacked research and development personnel, management talent, and even qualified workers!

Faced with this situation, John, the big boss, naturally had to find a way to solve the problem. Fortunately, everything went very smoothly. Even if he couldn't solve all the problems in the shortest time, he could solve some of them, allowing the company to continue to develop instead of coming to a standstill.

The 1990s were a period of rapid development, and John did not want his investments in China to stagnate, as that would have a huge impact on his plans and could even cause many of them to fail.

Time flies, and the US election results were finally in. As expected, Donald Trump won; that guy Richard Lambton won, but he'll soon make a huge fool of himself. Of course, none of this really concerns John. Now that the US election is over, John can relax and doesn't need to be so cautious, lest someone with ulterior motives seize the opportunity to target him.

"Boss, this is an invitation to the White House's New Year's party!" Soon, John's secretary, Ava, reported to John with a telegram. The president of the White House invited John to attend the New Year's party.

“I understand. Have someone make preparations. We need to go back. This is more than just an invitation!” John shook his head as he spoke. After the victory, this guy, Leddon, invited him to the New Year’s party immediately and even sent a telegram. It was obvious that he wanted him to return to the United States. It seemed that this guy was getting impatient.

Although John didn't know what President Laugh Tale was thinking or what he was planning, one thing he understood was that the man was definitely targeting him again, perhaps his election victory had made him a bit too arrogant. However, since Laugh Tale had already made his move, John naturally had to give him face. Otherwise, if word got out, he would appear arrogant and disrespectful to the president, which wouldn't be a good reputation. Even knowing that the other party had ulterior motives, John had no choice. The other party had come openly and honestly, and John had to respond accordingly. In such an important matter, John couldn't act recklessly; after all, even the slightest mistake could have significant consequences for him.

Many people are still marveling at Phoenix Group's actions, but John has already begun preparing to return home. Although there are still many things to deal with in China, he has no choice but to leave now.

"Are you sure that little fox John accepted our invitation so quickly?" When President Lloyd Dunn learned that John had agreed to his New Year's party invitation so immediately, he was somewhat shocked. He didn't think John would misunderstand his meaning. This result made him feel a little heavy-hearted, as this was beyond his expectations.

"Yes, Mr. John replied to us immediately and accepted the invitation to the New Year's party."

Upon receiving confirmation, Zipperton's mood soured. It would have been normal if John had waited a few days for his reply, but the fact that John agreed immediately was no small matter. All the methods he had originally intended to use against John had failed, and his promises to those guys were about to fall through.

Indeed, Lassoton was trying to scheme against John, hoping to use this opportunity to target him. However, he hadn't anticipated that his plan would go awry, with John agreeing immediately. This thwarted all of Lassoton's calculations, giving him a headache. This situation was quite unpleasant for Lassoton.

Now he not only has no way to give an explanation to his 'accomplices,' but he also has to face pressure from John. With his intelligence, Laldon naturally understands that John's quick acceptance of his invitation means he saw through the scheme behind it. Even if he acted openly and honestly, such a scheme would inevitably provoke John's counterattack, which is not a good thing for Laldon!
"Alright, don't take it too seriously. I told you before not to use such methods; they're completely useless. You know John's background. By doing this, you've not only offended him, but also the Bayard family behind him, and even Morgan. Don't think you can fool him just because he looks down on you. Anyone who thinks that way will pay a heavy price. Fortunately, we've done this openly and honestly, so even if he's angry, he'll restrain himself!"

"I had no choice. The guys in Silicon Valley were causing trouble. You have no idea how terrifying and insane this guy's plans are in Silicon Valley. I had no choice, after all, I couldn't do nothing, otherwise I wouldn't be able to fulfill my promises, and I wouldn't be able to give those guys an explanation, not to mention that Rockefeller is behind all this. In this situation, do you think I had a choice?"

“Indeed, there is no choice. We already had a conflict with John, and even if we wanted to mend the relationship, it would be useless. Under these circumstances, we can only continue. But do you think those guys have much ability to fight against John? You know, this is a project that you have been supporting. If it fails, it will have a significant impact on you and even on Donkey!”

"I know, but those guys don't have much confidence. If they were absolutely certain, do you think they would still use us to target John? And if they really had that kind of ability, they wouldn't be in this situation now." Zipperton sighed as he said this. Being the president isn't easy; he had to keep his promises and couldn't afford to betray those who had helped him.

“We’d better not get too involved. Although I’m also very dissatisfied with John, he’s incredibly powerful. He’s managed Oregon like an ironclad fortress. Most importantly, he’s strong enough to rival established families like the Rockefellers. He’s too powerful. We don’t need to offend him for the sake of those guys.”

“I know that, but I’m afraid things aren’t up to us. Although I’m the president, there are many things I can’t decide. If I had that power, I wouldn’t need to care so much about John’s reaction. He’s neutral this time, but he might not be next time. Many of the donkeys have become too arrogant. Perhaps they think John is one with the Bayard family, but in fact he is independent of the Bayard family.”

"We just need to take care of our own business now. What the donkeys think is none of our business. What they want to do is their own business. We can't be the first to stick our necks out. This New Year's party has already created new grudges between us and John. Even if there are good reasons and excuses, we can't get rid of this grudge. It's not a good thing to be enemies with a media tycoon."

"If only this guy were just a media mogul, he'd be even more impressive. But he's also a Silicon Valley tycoon, an energy tycoon, and so on. The sheer brilliance of this guy is astonishing. If he weren't a playboy, I'd doubt if he was even human."

"Everyone says he's the next Howard Hughes, what do you think?"

"No, this guy isn't a second Howard Hughes. He's far more formidable than that guy. And while he is indeed a womanizer, he prepared for all of this himself. Nobody's perfect. If he were flawless, a saint, what do you think the situation would be like? So anyone who underestimates John will pay a heavy price. Haven't all the previous events proven this? Oil Capital is a perfect example! Making an enemy of this guy is definitely not a good thing. If I could, I wouldn't want to have a grudge against him, but unfortunately, it's not up to me!"

As he spoke, Lassoton couldn't help but sigh. Despite being the president, he couldn't make many decisions on his own. There were many interest groups behind him, and he had to consider those groups, which meant he had to make changes. So Lassoton wasn't in a good mood.
(End of this chapter)