People in America: My Uncle Don Quixote

Chapter 347 The matter is resolved, and changes occur within the film crew (Seeking monthly votes)

"What did I do wrong?!"

Johnny Depp pointed to himself, completely clueless about what he was talking about.

"With such high spending and such a complex financial structure," Gray Brown said, "think about all that spending. Are you really going to hand it all over to a stranger, a strange firm?!"

"You haven't forgotten all that, have you? How much have you spent in that area?" He glanced at Levi, "and it's all on the company's bill? Do you think the IRS won't check?"

His barrage of questions completely stunned Johnny Depp.

"And to be honest, Johnny," Gray Brown paused, "you suddenly want to transfer the tax filing to an outsider without even consulting me, and you're just giving me orders like that. It really bothers me."

“Thirty years, Johnny,” he said. “I was there for you when you were fighting Amber and everyone was against you, and now you’re doing this to me?”

Don Quixote suddenly frowned, and he whispered in Li Wei's ear: He was changing the subject; he still hadn't explained why he refused to hand over the financial documents.

Li Wei nodded and patted Don Quixote's hand.

"I..." Depp's tone softened, "That's not what I meant, Gray. Of course I know you've always been helping me..."

"7

"I understand," Levi suddenly said. "Mr. Johnny Depp did something wrong in this matter."

Johnny Depp turned sharply to look at Levi, and just as he was about to speak, he noticed the expression on Levi's face.

He gestured for him to sit down first.

Johnny Depp reluctantly sat on the edge, far away from Gray Brown.

Gray Brown doesn't harbor any animosity towards Levi himself; he's just a young athlete who can't do much. As long as he stops influencing Johnny Depp, everything will be fine.

"Mr. Levi," he nodded and shook hands with Levi, "I've heard so much about you. I didn't know Johnny and you were friends."

"I'm a Johnny Depp fan, and now we're going to work together," Levi said, sitting down next to Gray Brown. "It's really bad timing that I'm here today, just in time to hear you guys talking about work."

"It's unfortunate indeed," Gray Brown said casually. "After all, this is a private matter between Johnny and me, Mr. Levi, so it's best if you don't get too involved." Get lost, kid.

Li Wei smiled and activated [Opportunistic (Bronze)].

"To be honest, I can understand how you feel," Li Wei said. "A friendship of over 30 years, to just switch sides like that, it really is..."

“Thirty-two years,” Gray Brown said. “Thirty-two years.”

He suddenly felt that it wouldn't be bad to chat with Li Wei. The young man seemed genuinely kind, and he did indeed have a lot to say.

"And you know what?" he continued, picking up where Levi left off, "all these years... to be honest, Johnny knows better than anyone how much I've done for him."

“That’s true, definitely,” Levi agreed. “You’re the person who knows Johnny’s finances better than anyone else, right? You’ve been carrying all this on your own for over 30 years. Just imagine how much work that must have taken.”

“It’s more than just big,” Gray Brown shook his head and sighed. “After he became famous, he wanted to do art today and wine tomorrow, and he bought houses everywhere. The property taxes and insurance for six properties, his extramarital affairs, the classification of copyright income—just one tax season, I have to start working overtime in January.”

"You must be exhausted. How do you charge?" Li Wei asked casually.

“It’s an annual fee,” Gray said. “$40 a year.”

Li Wei stroked his chin. "40?" He looked at Gray Brown. "40 isn't that much."

"It's really not much," Gray Brown thought Levi was really good, and he felt like he had met him too late. "Compared to those big firms that charge millions, my price is already a friend's price. For so many years, to be honest, Levi, I'm not lying to you, I've really been wronged."

"6

Johnny Depp stared wide-eyed at Gray Brown, who had just been ready to kill him, now pouring his heart out to Levi.

His instincts told him that now was not the time to speak.

“I completely understand,” Levi nodded, patting Gray Brown on the shoulder. “You’ve done all this for him for so many years, saving him so much money and worrying about so much—he probably doesn’t even know it himself, right?”

"Of course, after all, the IRS has these complicated tax filing mechanisms precisely to keep them incomprehensible," Gray Brown sneered. "If citizens could understand them, how would they impose fines, collect taxes, and entice consumers?"

"Johnny probably doesn't understand it either," Levi said.

“That’s for sure,” Gray Brown said. “There are some things he doesn’t know. He never looks at the details, and he never opens the emails I send him.”

"So, it's easy for you to extract a lot from inside, isn't it?" Li Wei suddenly leaned close to him and asked in a low voice.

Gray Brown chuckled and blurted out, "Of course, I can make over a million every year. After all, he earns hundreds of millions a year, so a million is nothing to him."

Before he could finish speaking, his body suddenly froze.

What I fear most is the sudden silence.

Gray Brown turned sharply to look at Johnny Depp.

Depp sat motionless a short distance away, staring intently at him.

"Johnny...," Gray Brown stammered, seemingly losing his ability to speak, "I...I...I mean...it's not over a million every year...no...that's not what I meant..."

'

"Grey, Grey Brown."

Johnny Depp stood up, picked up a silver candlestick, and weighed it in his hand.

He walked up to the trembling Gray Brown, snatched the candlestick from his hand without warning, and smashed it down, shattering the coffee table into pieces.

Gray Brown yelled, curled up into a ball, and trembled.

"How much did you pay me?" Johnny Depp asked in a low voice, panting.

He pushed the candlestick aside and sat down next to Gray Brown.

"3...300 million," Gray Brown said.

"I swear, if you give me a penny less than the truth, my candlestick will fall on your head," Johnny Depp said. "How much is it?"

"5...500 million," Gray Brown yelled, "500 million?! I swear!"

"very good."

Johnny Depp nodded and stood up.

Just when Gray Brown thought he was about to escape, Johnny Depp swung a candlestick at his head. "1280 million! Damn it! I'll talk! I'll talk!" Gray Brown covered his head with his hands and screamed frantically.

"You're lying!" Johnny Depp roared. "I've made at least a billion dollars in Hollywood! I only have less than $1.2 million in my account right now! You're saying you only took $12.8 million?!"

"It's not just me!" Gray Brown shouted. "Your legal team too! Their bills were inflated during those years of litigation! And your assistant—"

"6

"I didn't take it!" Stephen shouted.

"My ex! My ex-assistant!"

"How much did you take in total?" Johnny Depp's voice trembled.

"About...it's roughly over 6000 million in total," Gray Brown said in a low voice. "Your lawyer and assistant took the most; I was dragged into this by them."

Li Wei was also a little surprised.

Three people, over 30 years, have siphoned off more than 60 million dollars from Johnny Depp. That's quite a feat.

Johnny Depp sat down, sighed, and covered his face with his hands.

A line of text popped up on Li Wei's retina.

You have completed the hidden quest: The Worms on the Pirate Ship.

You've identified all the termites gnawing at the ship's hull.

[Free attribute points +0.3]

"Do you need my help?" He looked at Johnny Depp. "Can I help you with this? After all, your advance payment is coming in soon, and you'll officially start filming in a few days."

"7

Johnny Depp pursed his lips and forced a crooked smile.

"Thank you, Li Wei," he said with difficulty, "but this is ultimately my own mess."

He looked at Gray Brown and said, "It's my own mess, I'll handle it myself."

Li Wei nodded. After all, he had been in Hollywood for 40 years. If he really said he didn't know anyone like Johnny Depp,

It's a lie to say that an actor only focuses on making movies.

In the following days, no news came from Johnny Depp.

There were no media reports, and even TMZ's paparazzi had no direct information leaked out.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Li Wei did not take the initiative to contact Depp, after all, it was his own private matter, and there was no point in urging him.

However, Daniel Brody, who was selling houses to Levi, mentioned something casually over the phone.

"By the way, Mr. Li Wei, you didn't find a house you liked last time, so you asked me to help you find a luxury house that you could rent. I've got some ideas now," he said. "Also, there was a pretty nice Spanish-style villa in the Hollywood Hills that we looked at before. It belonged to Johnny Depp. I had been trying to schedule a time to meet with him, but he removed it from the market these past few days."

"Oh?" Li Wei asked.

“Johnny Depp,” Daniel said, “he had two properties listed in Hollywood, one a downtown penthouse and the other a villa, and he took them both off the market these past couple of days.”

Li Wei didn't say much, he just responded.

It seems Depp is indeed dealing with the situation, and things are moving in a positive direction; either he has recovered some of the money or he has stopped the bleeding.

His tax filing documents were finally sent to the accounting firm.

Several more days have passed.

In early April, the Los Angeles sun grew increasingly intense, and the shadows of the palm trees grew shorter and shorter.

Warner Bros. Burbank Studios, Studio 9.

When Li Wei last came here, it was a huge, empty space with only half of the set set built and a giant dragon installation model. Now the entire studio has been expanded and divided into several huge areas, and the production crew and carpenters are still doing the final finishing touches.

Li Wei made his way through the bustling crowd to the dressing room.

Eileen had twice as many tools on her makeup table as she had at the last audition, and she seemed to be in a very good mood, looking much brighter.

"We meet again," Li Wei said with a smile.

Eileen turned around, and was somewhat surprised to see Levi. "Levi?"

"I remember it's my scene today," Li Wei said, sitting down in the swivel chair in front of Eileen. "I'll do your makeup."

""

"I thought a big star like you would have your own team and a personal makeup artist when you officially join the crew?" Eileen said with some surprise, gesturing to Li Wei, "It's my honor to do your makeup."

"Because I have a good foundation," Li Wei smiled, watching Eileen fiddling with foundation and a sponge. "However, the changes in the studio are indeed quite significant. Last time I came, it felt like a half-finished product."

"Your money came in, didn't it?" Eileen said while applying foundation with a sponge. "In the week since you left, the art department and set design department have been working almost all night, and the carpentry team has practically been living in the shed."

She tilted her head, glanced at the doorway, and lowered her voice.

"And it's not just the hardware that's changed," she said, picking up a brush to apply foundation to Li Wei. "The people have changed too. Before, everyone was a little unsure about how the project would turn out."

"And now?" Li Wei asked.

"Now?" Eileen laughed. "Now everyone's switched from 3-in-1 instant coffee to capsule coffee machines."

She stopped what she was doing and looked at Li Wei intently for a few seconds.

"Alright! Mr. Li Wei, you have such a great foundation," she exclaimed. "Your base makeup is done. Go change your clothes now, and come back later so I can do the final makeup."