America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 451 Top-Quality Goods

In the late afternoon, Martin left Louise's house and returned to his home in the North Side of Sunset Boulevard. After waiting for a while, Nicholson and Leonardo arrived one after the other.

After visiting Martin's new home, the three of them went to have tea in the European-style gazebo in the back garden.

Leonardo exclaimed, "You made a killing buying this place for $1200 million! Martin, you have to introduce me to any other properties like this!"

Before Martin could reply, Nicholson said, "You need to find a rich man like Pete, then get him into trouble and his cash flow will dry up before you have a chance."

Leonardo picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and changed the subject: "Does Lily have any large-scale sculptures? I'd like to buy one while her works are still cheap and wait for them to appreciate in value."

"Not yet, but she knows you want it and will definitely do it." Martin poured Leonardo another cup of black tea. "She's still a newcomer. If she wants her work to appreciate in value, you, as a famous collector in Hollywood, should put in a good word for her."

Although he enjoys teasing Lily, Martin is quite reliable when it comes to serious matters.

Leonardo replied, "No problem."

Martin asked Nicholson, "What's the situation at Adler Acting School?"

"That's interesting." Nicholson, who had once been one of Adler's students, had plenty of ways to find out about the Adler School of Performing Arts: "Ben Affleck got a teaching position at the school through Judi Dench's introduction, and he directly chose to teach your girlfriend's class."

Leonardo chimed in, "I could guess what he's up to even with my ass." He looked at Martin, eagerly asking, "Don't you have any ideas?"

"Yes!" Martin is the kind of person who would create a huge stir even without any wind, let alone the fact that the other party not only wanted to mess with him secretly, but also had their sights set on Elizabeth.

He said directly, "I've got a great idea! Leo, I remember Jennifer Garner has blond hair, is tall and has long legs, which fits your usual aesthetic. Go for it!"

Leonardo didn't refute this, but instead said something else: "Jennifer Garner is over 30 and not in my category."

Nicholson and Leonardo both looked at Martin, their expressions revealing their unspoken meaning.

While others were joking around, Martin got down to business: "Ben Affleck is a bit of a handful right now, but I have some ideas about his brother, Casey."

Leonardo stared in shock, his mouth agape, and deliberately moved his chair away from Martin: "You actually..."

"Shut up, Leo! I'm talking about serious matters." Martin briefly explained Cassie's purchase of the Lily sculpture.

Nicholson said, "He's not exactly losing out, is he? After this recent surge in popularity, Lily's work will definitely find a market."

Martin said, "I was worried something might happen to Lily, so I secretly sent bodyguards to follow Casey Affleck for a few days. He smashed everything he bought and threw it in the trash can outside his house."

He sighed: "He must have suffered a great shock."

Nicholson understood: "You mean you want to provoke him again?"

Martin shrugged: "There's nothing we can do. Big Ben is a tough nut to crack. He's a core member of the Foot Clan and has a certain status and position in the industry. It's not like we can make him look pathetic just by saying a few words to him."

Leonardo DiCaprio agreed: "Benjamin Ambrose has been famous for over a decade, and there are Harvey Dufresne and Matt Damon in the background. He's not your average Hollywood star."

He cautioned, "If it were a typical Hollywood star, after botching several films in a row, how could they possibly receive a continuous stream of film offers and find the opportunity to direct multi-million dollar projects?"

Martin stated directly, "Take care of the small ones first, and then create opportunities for the big ones after you've finished the small ones."

Hearing that it wasn't about waiting, but about creating, Nicholson asked, "You've come up with a plan?"

"I'm starting to get somewhere, and I need your connections at Adler School of Performing Arts to help out," Martin said, explaining his idea.

Nicholson became interested: "Let's give it a try. If it doesn't work, we won't lose anything."

Martin glanced at the time, stood up, and said, "Come on, let's go out for a walk. I'll take you to see a good show while I'm at it. My men have been keeping an eye on Cassie lately."

"Great!" Leonardo said, "Where is your wine cellar? I'll go get a good bottle, and we can drink and watch later."

Nicholson laughed: "A good show is best enjoyed with a drink."

Leonardo went to the underground wine cellar, got a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, and drove off in a regular Chevrolet, leaving the estate together.

On the way, Martin called Bruce and asked Leonardo, who was driving, to go to the Old Santa Monica Pier.

Upon arriving near the dock, the Ford, following Bruce's instructions, parked at the edge of the highest point of the parking lot, near a public phone booth.

Martin and his two companions looked out from the car and saw the old pier of the dock less than twenty meters away.

This place was once a tourist hotspot, the western terminus of the famous Route 66, but it declined along with Route 66.

There weren't many tourists near the pier; they were just scattered around.

Soon, Bruce arrived as well.

He ducked into the car and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, they'll be here soon."

"Is everything arranged?" Martin asked.

Bruce stated roughly, "The salesmen and cameramen were all hired by Ivan; there's no problem."

Upon hearing the name of the cameraman, Nicholson said, "How about we have Lorraine come and film some? We can sell it to TMZ and earn some pocket money."

Leonardo couldn't help but say, "Jack, you're such a good father."

Martin said, "Okay, but have her film from a little further away."

Nicholson laughed heartily: "Don't worry, Lorraine has been studying photography carefully lately in order to earn more pocket money."

Leonardo asked, "Didn't you consider letting her change careers?"

Martin said, "Lorraine became a paparazzi, specifically to secretly photograph Nicholson's private life for money; it's a perfect closed-loop industry chain."

"You get paid more for being secretly filmed," Nicholson retorted.

Leonardo asked him, "Aren't you afraid that Lorraine, this little lamb, will be delivered into the mouth of Martin, this big bad wolf?"

Martin immediately seized the moral high ground: "Jack, I treated you like a brother, and you betrayed me like this?"

Nicholson was speechless for a moment, utterly speechless at the bastard's shameless face.

Not long after, a car drove up from a distance and stopped near the pier.

Casey Affleck got out of the car, carried a bottle of liquor to the beach, leaned on the pier railing, bit open the bottle cap, and poured the liquor into his mouth.

The sun, having fallen into the sea, still cast a few rays of light onto his face. A sea breeze blew by, turning his hair into a bird's nest. He looked as dejected as a harmless vagrant.

Just like Martin Scorsese's outward appearance as a sunny, handsome man, Hollywood stars have always been two-faced.

Cassie wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth, then suddenly saw a few tourists with their faces painted like clowns walk by. He thought of someone and muttered to himself, "Lily Carter!"

He decided to clear his head for a few days, then go to the California Institute of the Arts to find Lily Carter.

You should always finish what you start.

After the clown tourists left, another tourist arrived.

He sat on a nearby bench, his bag placed to one side, facing Cassie.

A young man in an oversized coat came from the other side, saw Cassie, and quickly walked over, saying, "Hey buddy, wanna get some?"

Judging from the man's attire, Cassie assumed he was a dealer and asked, "Got any good stuff?"

A young man approached, speaking mysteriously: "Top-quality goods."

Cassie, who was very familiar with this, said directly, "Let me take a look first, and I'll buy it if it's suitable."

The young man pulled a paper bag from under his jacket, untied it, and showed it to Cassie: "This is the hottest and most sought-after item on the market right now, absolutely top-quality stuff."

What Cassie saw was a hand-carved version of the Joker from the Cult of Cola, the Joker of the Dark Knight.

The young man specifically showed Cassie the statue's feet: "Lily Carter's name, absolutely genuine!"

Upon hearing that name, Cassie became even more dejected.

The young man enthusiastically promoted it: "Lily Carter is a new generation of master sculptor. Many Hollywood artists collect her works. Her limited edition Joker, sculpted by hand, has great potential for appreciation in value and is definitely comparable to the original Darth Vader!"

Cassie took a sip of her drink and waved her hand, "I don't need it."

The young man, however, didn't give up and continued, "Buddy, this is a rare opportunity! Buying it is like making money! Only an idiot would miss out on an artwork with such huge appreciation potential!"

Cassie froze, staring at the young man like a statue.

The latter continued rambling: "A friend of mine was incredibly lucky; he bought several Lily Carter pieces, but he's got a screw loose. He was fooled by extreme environmentalists and insisted on using eco-friendly materials, so he smashed all the sculptures to pieces. Even if a fool like him begged me to sell them to him, I wouldn't sell them to him!"

Cassie stared blankly at the young man, as if he were looking at the statues he had bought.

The young man continued, "How stupid can you say he is? First he got scammed, then he smashed a priceless work of art. Even a pig is smarter than him!"

Cassie was certain that this guy was a statue!

Without the slightest hesitation, and without even a hint of anger on his face, he swung the bottle at the young man, just as he had done that day when he smashed the statue!

The young man dodged the blow to the head, but not to the shoulder, and fell to the ground with a scream.

Cassie's bottle flew from his hand, but he didn't stop; he kicked the young man who had fallen to the ground repeatedly.

The young man clutched his head, huddled up, and yelled, "Are you fucking crazy?"

He screamed at the top of his lungs, "Help! Help me!"

The few scattered tourists in the distance were all looking in this direction.

High up in the parking lot, the three men drank fine wine and watched the spectacle with great interest.

Martin downed his drink and asked, "Who wants to be a good citizen of Los Angeles?"

Leonardo was about to get up when Nicholson stopped him: "I've lived in Los Angeles for so many years, and everyone on Sunset Boulevard praises me and is proud to have such a good neighbor. I should be the good citizen!"

As he spoke, he got out of the car, ran to the public phone booth, and dialed 911.

This area is near the Santa Monica seaside villa district, so the police cars arrived very quickly.

Nicholson, following Martin's example of doing good deeds anonymously, heard the distant sirens and got into his car, saying, "Let's go, somewhere else!"

(End of this chapter)