America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 127. The Foolish Dog's Jumping Face

When I left the movie theater, I didn't see Warren and Bermahadi. They went in late and probably hadn't come out yet.

The Chevrolet started and headed north of Los Angeles.

In the passenger seat, Nicole asked somewhat strangely, "Eric, where are you going? This isn't the way back to Beverly Hills, is it?"

"Of course not, this is the road to the land of surprises."

Nico's eyes lit up: "Then I'll definitely look forward to it! Wait, are you going to do something weird?"

For Nicole, what she did in the movie theater was already quite daring. If it were discovered and exposed, even though the Western entertainment industry values ​​sexual freedom, her public image and reputation would collapse instantly.

Especially since she just won an Oscar for Best Actress, one can imagine that the backlash would be far more severe than Winona Ryder's theft scandal.

"What do you take me for, a lustful devil? Close your eyes, I'll tell you when it's time."

"Fine, if you dare to mess with me, I'll bite your little thing off!"

The car drove along and finally arrived at a residential area where middle-class families lived.

Reporters certainly wouldn't camp out here, and the security is relatively good; Chen Xing's house is located here.

Eric is satisfied with the location, although it's a bit close to the building, even though the three apartments he bought belong to three different buildings.

However, these three buildings are not far apart, less than a block apart.

The car was parked in the parking lot, the engine turned off, and Eric said, "Open your eyes."

Nico removed her hand from her face, looked around at the somewhat unfamiliar surroundings, and felt increasingly puzzled.

"Eric, where am I? What do you want?"

"Get out of the car and come with me!"

Without answering, Ericra took Nico's hand and headed straight for a residential building, taking the elevator to the 8th floor.

Once there, Nicole already guessed what the surprise was, but she still watched expectantly as Eric took out the key.

Click!

With a crisp click, the door opened, and Eric gestured for us to enter: "Welcome home, my dear. This is the love nest I've prepared for you!"

With things progressing to this point, Nicole finally became certain of her guess and cheered as she jumped into Eric's arms.

With a flick of his leg, the door closed.

Eric picked her up, spun her around, and landed on the sofa, where the two passionately kissed.

After a long while, the tongues of the lovesick couple finally parted, and Eric softly said, "My queen, would you like to tour your territory?"

"Of course, lead the way!"

"Yes, sir! But before the inspection, please allow me to present you with the sword of power."

Eric walked to the wine cabinet, took out a key with a heart-shaped ring on it.

"Nico, accept it, and you will become the mistress of this place."

"I don't accept it either!"

Nicole took the keys with a haughty air and carefully put them into her bag.

The two began to observe the apartment. In fact, Eric had only been there once, and his only instruction was to replace all the furniture inside with new ones. He didn't want to use other people's leftovers.

The apartment wasn't big, just a simple three-bedroom, one-living room unit, and it cost a little over $600,000. According to Los Angeles tax rates, that's only a little over $10,000 in taxes per year.

What might be a huge sum of money for an ordinary person, requiring a loan to afford, is nothing to Eric.

The couple's Beverly Hills villa is worth tens of millions of dollars and is far more luxurious than this small apartment.

But it's a semi-public area; paparazzi, friends, relatives, and staff can all come.

This place will be a secret cabin just for the two of them, where the emotional fulfillment far surpasses reality.

After looking at the living room, kitchen, and bedroom, we finally went to the bathroom.

Like a wife, Nicole gently unbuttoned Eric's shirt, smiling seductively, "Darling, you won't have to climb walls anymore."

Eric shook his head slightly: "The memories of the dead are starting to attack me, and they're not pleasant memories."

"Haha. I must say I'm very pleased with this surprise."

"Really? Then it's time to talk about repaying. I'm not a generous person; I expect something in return for everything I do, and the return has to be high enough!"

Eric pinched the woman's chin, looking at her with ill intent.

"What do you want?" Nicole asked with a smile.

"It's not about what I want to do, it's about how you perform."

"How about this then?"

Nico whispered in Eric's ear.

"OMG! Where did you learn that?"

"San Fernando Valley, don't think women don't watch porn."

The next day, when Eric opened his eyes, it was almost 10 a.m.

He yawned, glanced at Nicole nestled against his chest, and couldn't help but smile, gently pinching her slightly reddened breasts.

"snort"

Although the movement was gentle, it still woke the other person up.

Nico slowly opened her eyes, rubbed her sleepy eyes, then wrapped her arms around Eric's neck and lowered her head back down.

"It's ten o'clock, I should go to the office, honey."

Nicole mumbled a few indistinct "uh-huhs".

Its head bobbed back and forth on Eric's chest, rubbing against him like a lazy kitten.

"No way! What kind of job are you, boss? Besides, you've made me suffer so much, and now you just want to pack up and run away?"

Eric brushed her messy hair aside, kissed her smooth forehead, and looked at the bruises still on her body, feeling a pang of pity and heartache.

"Okay, then I won't go. I'll spend the day with you."

"At least you have some conscience. This is our first day in the new house, we have to stay for the full day, understand?"

"I'll satisfy you, but what if you get hungry?"

"I'll cook for you, it might not be as good as a restaurant chef's, and it might not even taste as good, but you have to eat it!"

"Huh? A cell phone for seniors on the subway!"

Eric was momentarily confused; what kind of strange logic was this?

"I thought you were going to say that although my cooking skills can't compare to those of a restaurant chef, they're still quite delicious."

"Hmph! It's not appetizing at all. I have no talent for cooking. Just tell me if you want to eat it or not."

"Eat, I absolutely have to eat! I'll call right now and have my secretary bring over some fresh vegetables. Oh, where's my phone? Honey, could you get it for me?"

Nicole looked back, then stretched her long legs across the bedside table, picked up the phone, and handed it to Eric.

One can only marvel at how incredibly tall he is; those legs are just too long.

In comparison, Gal Gadot's height of 178cm is comparable, while the Olsen twins, who are less than 160cm tall, are completely outmatched.

The two sisters acted as if their father was holding their daughters' hands in front of Eric, but because of this, the three of them had a wide variety of poses and styles when they were together.

Make a phone call.

"Chen Xing, buy some daily necessities and deliver them to the new house. Fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, dairy products, snacks, desserts, juices, and drinks are all included."

"Okay, boss, which new house should we deliver it to?"

As soon as Chen Xing finished speaking, Eric quickly covered the receiver and glanced at Nicole.

She nestled back against my chest like a kitten, her eyes closed as if she were asleep; she probably didn't hear what I said.

He cursed himself for being an idiot. If Nicole knew he had several apartments, she'd probably break his back with her scissor kicks.

"Ahem. The high-rise building at the intersection of the tree-lined avenue, hurry up."

"Okay, I'll be right there."

After hanging up the phone and tossing it aside, the woman coiled around him like a water snake.

"Hold me, my love, I love it when you hold me."

Eric did as he was told and gently embraced her, his large hands unconsciously beginning to move up and down her body.

Snapped!

Nicole gently patted him: "Don't do anything bad, just hold me, let's sleep a little longer."

A moment later, the beauty in his arms fell asleep again, her breathing even and rhythmic.

Eric, on the other hand, had trouble sleeping. Even though he had worked hard all night and only slept for a few hours, he felt quite energetic.

"Could it be that the health-preserving wine and the beverage actually produced a chemical reaction? Drinking them together makes me feel more comfortable."

Although he couldn't sleep, with Nicole pressing down on him, he obviously couldn't do anything else, so he simply closed his eyes to rest and think about company matters.

In a daze, they heard the doorbell ring, and the two of them opened their eyes at the same time. Less than an hour had passed.

"It must be Chen Xing delivering the groceries. Honey, you lie down, I'll go open the door."

At this moment, Nicole seemed to have regained her strength, pressed him down on the bed and said, "I'll go, I'm the mistress."

Eric laughed heartily, beginning to understand her thoughts.

Click!

The door opened, and Chen Xing and Peter were clearly taken aback when they saw Nicole Kidman in her pajamas.

In fact, even Eric and Nico's relationship was unknown to them; Eric always went alone.

Until last night, Warren and Bermahadi were the first to actually meet.

"Are you Eric's secretary, Chen Dui? Come in."

"Whoa whoa!"

The two nodded like chickens pecking at rice, unsure whether their boss and the woman in front of them were serious or just playing around.

All you can do is show them full respect to avoid leaving a bad impression.

After a while, Eric came out of the bedroom wearing slippers and saw a small mountain of things piled on the floor.

"You bought so much!"

"Boss, most of them can be stored and won't spoil. How about I come over regularly to clean and replace them?"

"Okay, by the way, I forgot to mention, has today's newspaper come out yet?"

Chen Xing took out a stack of papers from behind him and handed them over: "These are filtered; the more important news items have been marked."

Eric nodded: "That's all for you. Take a break today and go out and relax."

After the two left, Nicole tidied up while remarking, "Your secretary is really well-trained; she's more meticulous than a woman."

"Of course. Chen Xing has been with me for more than half a year and has grown very quickly. After another year or two of training, I plan to give him a more important role."

"What a talent! Will you need to find another secretary then?"

"We definitely need to get a new one, but I don't like female secretaries. Don't worry, darling, the only women who can get within a meter of me are you and my mother."

"Hehe. You've got a silver tongue. You read the newspaper first, I'll go cook."

Eric sat down on the sofa and started flipping through today's newspaper, starting with a review of "The Purge".

Although AK Films did not promote it, thanks to the quirky nature of "Sharknado," it thoroughly slapped the faces of all film critics in the United States at the time.

The more critics said "Sharknado" was bad, the more audiences liked it, and the box office soared, eventually grossing $1.15 million, which really surprised the critics.

With this impressive achievement, Sharknock managed to break into the 18th spot on the 2002 box office charts, generating an astonishing return on investment.

It's only been a little over four months since "Sharknado" left theaters, and its influence is still strong, so AK Films has naturally been on the watch list of some film critics.

These people rushed into the movie theater at the premiere last night, and now it's time to reveal the results.

"Let's see what you'll say if I don't bribe you."

Los Angeles Times: "This morning, I went straight to the cinema to watch AK Films' second film, 'The Purge.' I have to admit, I was partly drawn in by the title; I wanted to know what kind of 'masterpiece' this company, which made 'Sharknado,' could produce next!"

"But even though I went to the cinema expecting to see something ugly, I ended up watching the whole movie with great enjoyment. I have to say, while 'The Purge' isn't exactly excellent, it's certainly very entertaining."

"Its premise is amazing. While the plot is ordinary, I think it's acceptable as a commercial film. If you want an adrenaline rush, you can choose 'The Purge,' I recommend it!"

Salt Lake City Entertainment Online: "The Purge is undoubtedly a decent commercial film, but I have to criticize it. The director and screenwriter completely wasted such a subject matter, which deserves to be explored in greater depth. This film could have been much more profound."

"However, at the end of the movie, when people gathered in front of the Washington statue and said 'God bless America, the nation is reborn,' my viewing experience improved slightly. As a popcorn movie, *The Purge* is worth spending 100 minutes on."

"What impressed me most about this movie was that Eric Cooper was credited as the screenwriter, which made me really look forward to Transformers a few months from now."

Pravda: "The Purge is undoubtedly a movie with more hype than substance. The plot is full of boring violence and killing. If you use your brain even a little, you will realize countless loopholes. It is an absolutely terrible movie, just like Sharktosh."

After a quick glance, Eric found that most film critics were relatively objective, pointing out both the strengths and weaknesses, and at least not condemning the film outright, demonstrating a degree of professionalism.

It seems that only Pravda has clashed with itself. Ever since it criticized MGM over the McCoy issue, the newspaper has not said anything good about it, and now even AK Films has been affected.

However, people can't keep their mouths shut; we can only trust that the audience's eyes are naturally discerning.

From the kitchen, there were occasional clanging and banging sounds. Although he couldn't see it, Eric could already imagine Nicole's frantic efforts.

As he continued flipping through the newspaper, a news item in the entertainment section of The New York Times caught his attention.

Emi Eminem released a new single, titled "Just Lose It," as a teaser for her new album. The single is marketed as an insult to Michael Jackson.

(End of this chapter)