America: My Time

Chapter 436 Cooperation
Chapter 436 Cooperation

Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista were both girls who knew each other well from a young age, and they both knew exactly what they wanted. They also knew how good the quality of life was for the women around John. They were willing to step into this industry, so naturally they all had their own ambitions and understood what price they had to pay to succeed.

Deals are commonplace in Hollywood, but they are not so common in the modeling world because it is even darker than Hollywood. It is closely tied to Wall Street, so the longer you stay in this industry, the more you understand how dark, terrifying, and crazy it is. You can encounter all sorts of people in this industry.

Unlike Hollywood, this industry involves dealing with powerful figures at the top of the food chain. Before them, they are merely 'ants,' powerless to resist. Without strong backgrounds or backing, they face far more pressure and oppression. Not only do they have to contend with the pressure from these powerful figures, but before achieving fame, they also have to deal with various forms of harassment from agents, photographers, and designers.

Although the pressure on models signed with elite agencies isn't too great, they learn more from the models around them and realize that beauty is not their support, and that their beauty can even bring disaster. Without a powerful backer, they will eventually fall into this terrible darkness.

“Fashion Week hasn’t changed, it’s just that the company has made arrangements for us. They’re not letting us take on too many runway shows, and they want us to focus our energy on the Victoria’s Secret show at the end of the year!” Cindy Crawford explained to John first, not giving Linda Evangelista a chance to compete with her. Her expression carried a hint of excitement and resentment.

"That's right. Right now, your focus is on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. You don't need to take on too many jobs at the four major fashion weeks. The shows run by the Forever Group are enough to maintain your popularity at fashion week. Your main job is to cooperate with Victoria's Secret. This is a global program, which will be of great help to you."

Cindy Crawford originally thought that her beauty would surely gain John's recognition and attention, but she did not expect things to be different. She was indeed beautiful, but Hollywood and the modeling industry are never short of beautiful women, and a big shot like John is never short of beautiful women around him. Beauty is not something that can be maintained, and it takes a bit of luck to get close to a big shot.

It was precisely because Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista had spent so much time in this circle that they understood how far they were from big shots like John; in their eyes, they were merely ingredients. Only by pleasing these big shots could they have a brighter future—that's the madness of the capitalist world.

When the two beauties woke up the next day, John was already gone. He had gone to Hurricane Investment to prepare for the appreciation of the yen. It wouldn't be good to leave such a large sum of money in hand; they needed to get it started as soon as possible.

"Linda, we need to cooperate, we need to join forces. Otherwise, do you think we can gain a foothold by his side? The company has a lot of new people, and they are all no less capable than you and me. We already have an advantage, and we can't afford to lose it. Only by cooperating can we stand firm!"

"Join forces? Do you think I'd agree to that? We're not agents, and do you think I need to team up with you?" Linda Evangelista asked with a calm smile when she heard Cindy Crawford's words.

"Of course, this is just my suggestion. If you disagree, then forget it. I'll find another partner. I don't think we can stand firm alongside him. We have quite a few competitors, and you know how serious the consequences of failure are. Hollywood is never short of beautiful women, and elite agencies have even more new faces. Besides, he hasn't been in New York for very long."

"Okay, I admit that what you said is true, but do you think our cooperation has any chance of success? You should know how dark this industry is, and what we are like in the eyes of these big shots. I believe you understand the darkness of this industry better than I do. I don't think we can stay by his side forever, and I don't believe the agent's promise that once they have better new talents, they will definitely try to send them to his side to gain more recognition!"

As soon as Linda Evangelista finished speaking, Cindy Crawford couldn't help but sigh. She herself knew this too. The competition in this industry was too fierce, and the turnover rate was too fast. Without enough resources, one would soon disappear from this industry. Although the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show had only been held twice, the second Tokyo Victoria's Secret Fashion Show had a large number of new models, and many people would lose their chance this time as well. This shows how fierce the competition in this industry is.

If Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista hadn't signed long-term contracts with Forever Entertainment, they would probably be worried about themselves too. But now they're not having an easy time either, facing even more pressure and competition. Although they can't be excluded from Victoria's Secret, their positions are being shaken.

There are only a few good spots in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and these are always highly contested. If their positions are reassigned, it will naturally affect their status. In fact, when their contracts expire, they may never have the chance to participate in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show again. Therefore, they have to prepare in advance, which is exactly what Cindy Crawford is worried about.

"It's precisely because we both understand how unreliable agents are that we can only rely on ourselves. One person's strength is limited, but the strength of the two of us is different. Cooperation will benefit both of us!" "Alright, I reluctantly agree, but don't hold me back!"

"Hmph, I'm not afraid of being held back by you!" Cindy Crawford couldn't help but vent her dissatisfaction when faced with Linda Evangelista's arrogant demeanor. If it weren't for her own future, she wouldn't want to cooperate with this girl at all; her personality was just too awful.

While the two beauties were arguing, John had already arrived at Hurricane Investments and started a new round of operations, going long on the Japanese yen. Although Hurricane Investments tried to conceal it, it was no secret to the giants on Wall Street. They had known for a long time that John was bullish on the yen and had already taken action, but they did not expect John to go so far this time.

"How's the professional workstation from United Press International doing now? Is it easy to use? Are there any areas that need modification?" After making arrangements to profit from the appreciation of the yen, John inquired about the professional workstation from United Press International. Before going public, it naturally needs to undergo numerous tests, and John used it directly in Hurricane Investment. Moreover, United Press International's updates are very fast. It's just that the current network is not strong enough. Fortunately, these are professional workstations with servers, so the connection speed is guaranteed.

"There are still some minor issues that need to be addressed. We are communicating with the engineers at Dream World, and improvements will be made soon. However, I feel that security needs to be strengthened. After all, security cannot be ignored, and the consequences of information leakage would be unimaginable."

"You don't need to worry about security. Dream World will handle it very well, and there will be professional staff to deal with it. It will absolutely not affect the company's development or cause any hidden dangers to the company's transactions."

John takes cybersecurity issues much more seriously than these guys. Dreamworld has never relaxed its investment in this area, and it's been a huge investment, all to safeguard its network communications. This is no small matter; it involves many more interests, and every research company needs this kind of security protection.

"Then there's no problem. It would be great if there were more entertainment information online, so it wouldn't be so monotonous!"

"This is not a problem we can solve. It takes time. The current network system has only been developing for a short time, and it mainly serves the financial industry and universities. Only when the network develops and grows will you have everything you want!"

John also wanted to vigorously develop the internet, but he couldn't. Current technology couldn't achieve such a breakthrough. To accelerate the development of the internet, more time was needed, and more accumulation was required in both hardware and software.

"You guys need to speed up the testing here, and ideally, complete the finalization by the end of the year. United Press International can't keep dragging this out. The longer it drags on, the greater the pressure will be. United Press International needs to make changes!"

In other words, John needs to make the transformation of UPI more perfect. If it were someone else, UPI would have started providing financial information services long ago, instead of dragging it out and testing it again and again. Many people believe that problems can be solved in practice, and there is no need to make it so perfect from the beginning.

Such voices also existed within United Press International, but John ignored them. These guys didn't have the same vision. What John wanted wasn't just a simple change, but a complete transformation, one that could truly offer all financial professionals an irresistible demand. Only in this way could he seize more market share immediately, directly overwhelm Bloomberg, and ultimately dominate the majority of the market, becoming an industry giant.

John's philosophy is: either don't do it at all, or do it the best. He has no intention of compromising on this matter. Although launching it a little later will increase the pressure on United Press International, it will be more beneficial for future development. So John has absolutely no intention of compromising on this point!

(End of this chapter)