America: My Time

Chapter 1200 Favors

Chapter 1190 Social Interactions

"It's so tiring! I didn't expect that just selecting an endorsement would be so exhausting, with such fierce competition. I don't even know if I'll have a chance. I really envy Da Lizi; she's already secured Valentino. We don't even know if we have a chance!" The ambitious Zhang Ziyi sighed. She originally thought it wouldn't be a difficult task, but seeing all the beautiful women gathered there made her realize that things weren't as simple as she had imagined. The company wasn't as small as she thought, with not many beautiful actresses.

Although she had heard that the company primarily focused on developing actresses, she didn't know many of them personally. But after today, she no longer held that view! There were plenty of beautiful and elegant women out there, which greatly shocked her and made her realize how fierce the competition was within the company.

"Alright, stop complaining. It's not good if others hear it, and if it gets back to the boss, it will have a big impact." Qin Hailu, who was with Zhang Ziyi, was a little annoyed by Zhang Ziyi's complaints. If others heard them, they would also be affected.

“Yes, Hailu is right, it wouldn’t be good if someone heard this!” Mei Ting said, glancing at Hu Jing behind her. If word got out, it would have a bad impact; people who didn’t know better would think she was targeting Zeng Li. As for whether Zhang Ziyi had such thoughts, only she knew, and others shouldn’t pry too much, since they were classmates and it wouldn’t be good to ruin their relationship.

If they were just classmates, without any entanglements of interests or comparisons, there would naturally be no conflict. But now it's completely different. When they all joined Phoenix Group, they were all signed artists under the same company, which naturally led to comparisons and competition, so their relationship wasn't as close as before. Especially since Zhang Ziyi is an ambitious person, this has caused some friction between them!
"Actually, Big Pear has never been our competitor. Our seniors and those people from Beijing Film Academy are the real rivals. Look at Yu Feihong, she got her ticket to Hollywood directly, and those two Bingbings, they've got a lot of resources. They're our real competitors. You've got the wrong person!"

Did Zhang Ziyi not know this? No, she did know, but her ambition was too great. She felt that Zeng Li was her biggest competitor. What she wanted was not just an endorsement, but much more, but she just didn't have the opportunity.

"They haven't even graduated yet, haven't fully stepped into the world of fame and fortune, and they've already started fighting. Our junior sisters are much more capable than us, adapting to the allure of fame and fortune so quickly!" Although Zhang Ziyi and the others didn't argue or get angry, they still caught the attention of their senior. Tao Hong smiled calmly and said to Gong Beixin and Jiang Xinyan, her voice carrying a hint of emotion.

Early fame is key. Seeing Zeng Li's incredible luck, it's understandable that she might feel unbalanced. However, Zhang Ziyi clearly wasn't unbalanced; instead, she was intentionally targeting them, which made Tao Hong and her senior classmates sigh. The competition in this industry is fierce. Although the company's resources are tilting towards them, there's still competition. Everyone wants the best resources, but in many cases, you can't just get what you want. While there isn't a significant gap yet, they all understand that if they don't achieve fame quickly, a considerable difference will emerge later.

As contracted artists of the company, they were aware of many aspects of its operations. With the company's rapid growth, its resources expanded beyond just a few, extending to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and even Hollywood. This diminished their sisterly bond, replacing it with competition. The emergence of Phoenix Group had already significantly impacted these beauties, altering their career paths and giving them a much better starting point than others, eliminating the need for them to actively seek opportunities. However, their competition had already begun.

"Boss, Wang Shuo has spoken with Feng Xiaogang and asked us to keep an eye on Xu Jinglei." Wang Jinhua didn't hide anything from John, the big boss, on this matter!

“We also have a collaboration with Wang Shuo, so we should give him the respect he deserves. There’s never any fairness in the world of fame and fortune, and you’re clear about that, so there’s no need for any reservations. Although our company tries its best to give them a fair chance to compete, it’s not absolute, and there’s no such thing as absolute fairness. Putting aside our own preferences, we also have to value personal relationships, so you can make this decision yourself. As the general manager, you have that authority! If you’re worried about potential issues with the brand, you can tell them it’s my decision. Since even Feng Xiaogang has spoken up, let’s give her a luxury brand endorsement!”

In China today, such things will become more common, even more rampant, in a few years. That's how the world of fame and fortune works; personal connections are unavoidable. John doesn't see anything wrong with it, nor does he think it's fair. The fact that they could get Wang Shuo to intervene shows their connections. Often, connections are more important than talent. Even if you have the best acting skills, without connections, you might not get the roles you want.

This is true in Hollywood, and indeed in the global entertainment industry; personal relationships are unavoidable. Hollywood is full of deals, and in fact, the global entertainment industry is like this. China is still relatively better off; Hong Kong is even more chaotic, especially now that Hong Kong films are declining, making the competition even fiercer. Hearing John's words, Wang Jinhua breathed a sigh of relief. Despite Phoenix Group's rapid development, this very rapid growth has brought internal problems. At this time, Wang Jinhua didn't want gossip or give anyone ammunition against her, which is why she brought up this matter with John, hoping to extricate herself from the situation.

John didn't care about such thoughts. Human nature is easily tested, and he didn't want to fuss over such a trivial matter; that's just how the world of fame and fortune works. He couldn't expect his horse to run fast without feeding it. He had to give the trust that was due and shoulder the responsibilities that were due; he couldn't push everything onto Wang Jinhua. Phoenix Group needed more time to improve itself; he couldn't afford to have problems at the top.

"By the way, I need to record an album. Could you help me arrange that? Also, could you find out which of our signed artists have good spoken English? I need their cooperation to complete the recording!"

Upon hearing John's words, Wang Jinhua was taken aback and said doubtfully, "Boss, arranging the recording is no problem, but shouldn't we find professionals to handle the recording? It would be more beneficial for the recording. Although there are many people in the company with good spoken English, they are not professional singers."

"We don't need professional singers, it's just for our own enjoyment, there's no need to make a big fuss!" John didn't intend to tell Wang Jinhua the truth about this matter. Professionals were helpful, but they also had a large impact, easily causing unnecessary trouble, attracting too much attention, and exposing his true intentions. Most importantly, time was of the essence. Contacting those professionals and making a professional album might not be possible before he needed it all done.

Soros and his oil capital will soon target Hong Kong and Taiwan. John has no hope for those guys in Taiwan. They won't stand firm; they don't have the courage to confront the United States. They'll simply abandon the exchange rate of the New Taiwan Dollar. So John has no intention of fighting Soros over the exchange rate in Taiwan; there's no chance of winning.

While it's true that if Taiwan were to abandon its currency system, it would significantly impact John's investments, it would only be a paper loss. His investments in Taiwan are not publicly listed and are all under his control, so the paper loss is insignificant. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is a different story. Many of his assets are listed companies, and a large portion is real estate. If the Hong Kong currency were to collapse, his losses would be substantial.

If the real estate market declines, the paper losses will be staggering, and it will also affect Standard Chartered Bank. As the note-issuing bank, if it cannot maintain the exchange rate and causes the Hong Kong stock market to crash, the consequences will be too severe.

Of course, this is only the worst-case scenario, and it's almost impossible for it to happen. After all, Hong Kong has the support of China, and such a financial war would also be a good opportunity—a good opportunity to buy at the bottom. John wants to use Soros, but he can't be too obvious, and he's also wary of the guy's potential backlash.

There is no such thing as tacit understanding in such a financial war. Even if Soros knows he is no match, he will persist and may even make a comeback after his defeat. He is not only after reaping profits, but also after causing destruction!
Amusing herself, Wang Jinhua wasn't entirely convinced by her boss's words. If she had only recently joined Phoenix Group and was unaware of her boss's talent, she might indeed have been deceived. Although she didn't fully understand her boss's thinking, she wouldn't insist on digging deeper to find out everything. Some things were better left unsaid!

As the saying goes, it's rare to be confused, and this is especially true in this situation. So Wang Jinhua tacitly refrained from saying anything more, only indicating that she would make arrangements quickly and would not delay the boss's time or disrupt his plans!
John didn't bother to explain, knowing that explaining things would only create more problems. If things got out of hand, it wouldn't be easy to clean up the mess, since it was no small matter and it concerned his plans!

(End of this chapter)