America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 639 The Most Responsible Oscar Voting Method

Inside a Mexican restaurant.

Instead of leaving, Dreit said, "The information you provided isn't comprehensive enough."

Having secured the money, Rodriguez was unlikely to give it away: "If the information were more detailed, it wouldn't be this price."

"You can get more detailed information," Dreit said, smiling at him. "Right?"

Rodriguez pocketed the money: "That's all I know."

Dreit opened his briefcase, took out a wad of dollars, and said directly, "You have a way, don't you?"

Rodriguez wasn't stupid; he understood what the method he was talking about was too risky. After all, that man was Martin Davis, who not only had good relations with the LAPD but had also single-handedly taken down more than a dozen armed Russian spies.

With his group of brothers, encountering Martin was practically a freebie.

Dreid nodded: "I understand."

He then pulled out a wad of US dollars from his bag and placed it next to the previous one.

Diego and De Paul, who were nearby, began to breathe rapidly, their eyes fixed on the black leather bag.

Romero quickly reached out to stop them, lest they do something foolish. He had seen it from the doorway; there was a van following behind the man's car.

Rodriguez shook his head: "I can't help it."

Dreit pulled out another wad of cash: "No, you have a way."

Rodriguez appeared unmoved.

Dreit pulled out the last wad of money and laid it out side by side: "Have you thought of a way?"

This time, even Rodriguez's breathing became a little rapid.

These ordinary people who came from Mexico didn't have a very good life in Los Angeles, a place that belongs to the rich.

Dreit glanced at Rodriguez, said nothing more, and put the money into his bag.

What kind of test is this? Ordinary people can't withstand such a test.

"Wait!" Rodriguez finally couldn't help but speak up: "Double the amount of money, and I'll figure something out."

Dreit smiled: "Okay."

When they heard him agree, Diego and De Paul were invigorated. What could be better than a dollar?

US dollars mean fine wine, beautiful women, and a better life...

Dreit took out the money again and pushed it to Rodriguez across from him, saying, "This is a deposit. I'll give you the rest after you finish. Since you've been in Hollywood, you should know that those things are useless to you, but extremely valuable to us. We won't care about this small amount of money."

Rodriguez examined the money and held out his hand: "It's a deal."

"It's a deal." Dreit shook hands with him, then got up and left the restaurant.

Rodriguez picked up the money on the table, tossed a stack to each person, and instructed, "Watch your mouths."

Diego picked up the money and smelled it; the scent was irresistible. He said, "Boss, what do you say?"

Romero and De Paul put away the money and both looked at Rodriguez.

This stack of money is more than enough to kill several people in Mexico.

Having money in hand gives you confidence to do anything and gives you tremendous self-assurance, making you feel like you can do anything.

Rodriguez accepted the money without further hesitation. He carefully recalled what he had seen in the office and the vicinity of the office building; there were surveillance cameras both at the entrance and inside the building…

He looked at Romero: "You're good at lock picking, can you open those safes?"

Romero nodded: "It's not a big problem. If it really comes down to it, we can just dismantle it by force."

The safe is easy to solve, Rodriguez said, "Next, we need to find an electrician, someone who knows about security cameras."

DePaul chimed in, "There are many people coming from Mexico, so it's not hard to find people who understand these technologies."

Rodriguez stood up and said, "Let's go, let's get moving."

…………

Just after the 2011 New Year holiday, Martin received Oscar ballots mailed from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Today, he is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Union, and within the Academy, he has the authority to vote for all acting awards and Best Picture.

As the Academy mails out ballots, the Oscars' public relations campaign intensifies.

Leonardo DiCaprio appeared on The Helen Show, where he talked at length about his journey to hone his acting skills over the years, and the hardships he endured were so moving that they brought tears to many eyes.

"Listen to this, is this even reasonable?"

In the villa's large living room, Nicholson shook his head as he watched the television program, saying, "We asked you to make a fool of yourself, not to play the victim."

Leonardo DiCaprio, with a long face, said, "Do you know how miserable I've been all these years honing my acting skills?"

He stood up and spun around in front of Martin and Nicholson: "I'm 50 pounds heavier than I was in 2000, isn't that bad enough?"

"Yeah, you're so pitiful, Leonardo!" Martin couldn't stand this rich guy playing the victim in front of him, a poor guy, and said, "You've had over a dozen official girlfriends, right? And dozens of unofficial ones, every single one of them a famous supermodel."

Leonardo shook his finger: "Your statement is completely wrong, Martin. You've got it backwards. It's clearly me who was dumped by more than a dozen women in succession!"

Elizabeth Olsen happened to be bringing over a fruit platter when she heard this outrageous remark and was dumbfounded.

No wonder they can hang out together and become best friends; they're both just as scoundrels.

But a jerk like Martin is a hundred times more lovable than Leonardo DiCaprio.

Martin Scorsese gave Leonardo DiCaprio a thumbs up: "No wonder he's Hollywood's top superstar, shameless enough."

Nicholson pulled his Oscar ballot straight out of his pocket, asked Elizabeth for a pen, and said, "Just because you were dumped by a dozen women, I have to give you my number one vote for Best Actor."

Leonardo turned to Martin and began his lobbying efforts: "Since I bought so many of Lily's artworks, you should at least vote for me, right?"

Elizabeth had already placed the ticket and pen in front of Martin.

Martin, quite exasperated, wrote Leonardo's name as the first name in the Best Actor category.

He then wrote Natalie Portman as the first-place winner for Best Actress and Charlize Theron as the second-place winner.

The Best Picture winners were Inception and Gone Girl, and Menez was named the first choice for Best Supporting Actor.

However, a large number of the category columns are still empty.

The same applies to Leonardo and Nicholson.

Martin wanted to finish processing the ballots today and mail them directly back to the college. He asked, "For the remaining ones, do you have suitable options?"

Leonardo said, "No."

"We are important members of the Academy, and every name on the Oscar vote must be carefully selected." Nicholson's tone was particularly serious: "Next, I will teach you the most responsible way to choose."

Upon hearing this, Martin immediately felt a sense of responsibility: "Jack, you're absolutely right. We should set an example by voting for the Oscars."

Nicholson asked, "I remember your family's recreation area has an indoor archery range? And dartboards too?"

Martin said, "Yes, I practice it for fun when I have free time."

Leonardo DiCaprio reveals Martin's true colors: "This guy has severe paranoia."

Elizabeth, who had been acting as a temporary waitress without saying a word, couldn't help but say, "Leo, if you had experienced serious acts of violence like Burbank High School and Santa Monica Pier, you would also have paranoia."

Leonardo agreed, "You're absolutely right."

Nicholson dismissed it, saying that Martin's paranoia was simply a consequence of messing with too many people.

Martin led the group to the adjacent annex building.

The basement of the annex was originally a small bowling alley, but Martin wasn't interested in that, so he converted it into an indoor archery range, darts court, and sports equipment room.

Nicholson brought over a list of candidates and covered it with a large dartboard, saying, "Next, we'll choose the remaining spots by throwing darts."

Martin clapped enthusiastically: "This is indeed a responsible approach; it should be adopted throughout the entire college!"

Leonardo seemed to have a sudden realization and asked Nicholson, "You old white men, is this the only way you vote responsibly? No wonder I always fail to win an Oscar!"

Martin feigned sudden realization: "So, Leo's repeated Oscar losses weren't due to poor acting skills, but rather because Jack and his friends were too responsible when voting!"

Nicholson, too lazy to pay attention to these two idiots, picked up a dart, stood outside the throwing line, and said, "Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and vote. I'll go first. The list above is for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor."

Martin and Leonardo cast their votes responsibly, and picked up their pens to sign them.

Nicholson threw the dart with a whoosh, but it went astray, hit the wooden board behind the target, and fell to the ground.

"Best Supporting Actress!" Leonardo DiCaprio made a signing gesture: "Wooden board!"

Nicholson picked up another dart and threw it again, this time hitting the target.

He looked at it carefully and said, "Best Supporting Actress, Amy Adams!"

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio wrote Amy Adams' name as the number one candidate for Best Supporting Actress.

Then Leonardo came on and voted for Best Supporting Actor, which surprisingly went to Christian Bale.

Despite the sharp conflicts, out of absolute responsibility to the Oscars and all the nominees, Martin replaced Menez's name with Bale's.

Next, it was Martin's turn to play.

Leonardo explained, "You throw the darts so accurately, you just pick whichever one you want. That's irresponsible and unfair to the others. I think you should be blindfolded."

"I'm a responsible person." Martin found a black cloth, blindfolded himself, and threw the dart in his hand.

The dart hit the target perfectly.

Nicholson said, "Best Supporting Actress, Jackie Weaver!"

This actress is someone Martin Scorsese wouldn't recognize, let alone Leonardo DiCaprio or Nicholson.

But the darts made their choice; they still filled in the person's name.

With a serious and responsible attitude, the three bastards worked for more than an hour to fill out the Oscar ballots and mailed them out that same day.

(End of this chapter)