King of Hollywood

“Frankly, Ed, I'm afraid the chef will cry if he finds out in your eyes that it's easier to fill a pizza in a takeout shop without his carefully cooked food.” As Claude spoke, he pressed the wall switch and the bright lights filled the living room with simplicity.

This is a modern villa rented by Claude on the other side of Beverly Hills, well appointed from the inside to the outside. He moved out to live long after college, unlike Adrian - who was before him - who had nothing to do all day, and after making a fortune this time, he was already planning on buying a villa that belonged entirely to him.

“Please note, Claude, I'm talking about filling your stomach, not how delicious food is.” Adrian corrected his words, "and his veal was actually delicious, which I never denied. ”

Speaking of which, he had to smoke the corner of his mouth, although because of a small part of his soul, Adrian did not exclude Western meals and could taste one, two, three, four. But deep down, he missed Chinese food. He ran through restaurants in Chinatown, but... have you ever seen a Gongbao chicken dipped in orange syrup? Fortunately, I cook occasionally in my previous life, and Tona's perverted memory of Fudu still remembers, and from time to time, I cook some home-cooked food for myself. Plus, so many Chinese restaurants in Chinatown are not all that completely westernized, so I can barely solve the worms.

“You guys, French dishes are meant to be tasted, it's easy to fill your stomach, and the two burgers of the Burger King are enough to do that.” Claude shook his head and poured two glasses of whiskey behind the stage in the living room.

“Kate said the same thing, but unfortunately you didn't catch the point. I didn't deny the French food was delicious. I just said it couldn't be used to fill the stomach. That's true, isn't it?” Adrian picked up the cup that Claude pushed over.

“Kate? The chick you picked up in England? Still dating?” Claude asked a little surprised, "That's unlike you, Ed, who used to have an interest in a girl that never lasted more than five days. ”

“That was before,” Adrian didn't think, "I've already taken her home. ”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Is the end of the world coming?” Claude made an exaggerated gesture, "our Ed took the girl home! Dude, this is the first time! Amazing, are you going to marry her?! ”

“Shut up, Claude," Adrian gave him a white eye, "will I give up the whole forest for a tree? ”

“Then you are...” Claude looked at him with interest.

“I want a tree, I want a whole forest.” Adrian shrugged.

Claude was a little stunned, but then he laughed, “It's Ed, but don't you think he's a little greedy? ”

“Oliver? Stone has a quote in Wall Street.” Adrian sipped the whiskey.

“Greed is good.” Claude took it from there.

“I made a few changes to this sentence, and moderate greed is good.” Adrian laughed, "the point is, to know where I am, I need to make myself bigger now. ”

“Okay, what are you going to do? Is this profitable enough for you to get a seat in one of those group companies?” Claude did not continue to discuss this topic, but asked about something else.

Adrian smiled and looked into Claude's eyes and said, “Let's do this together, Claude. ”

“What did you say?” Claude showed surprise and the glass in his mouth was halfway through the air.

“Remember what I told you in the cafe? I want control of Hollywood! I mean build your own media empire, not become a shareholder of those old companies!” Adrian squeezed his fist and waved it in the air, "We could do it together, Claude, you have a talent that I can't do commercially, but I also have something in the movies that makes it hard for you to look behind your back, and I don't look worse in the big picture than you! Together we will be at no disadvantage! ”

Claude glanced at Adrian, and he spanked the corner and seemed to want to laugh: “You've changed so much, Ed, I can't imagine a year ago you were still a...”

“Come on, Claude, turning over old accounts means nothing to me, and I've changed.” Adrian laughed.

He dropped the cup in his hand, and several came to Claude and forced him to look at him: "Tell me, Claude, what are you hesitating about? What are you worried about? Or do you want to tell me that you're going to stay in Godfather's company, slowly drain your guts, and then wait for Godfather to take over when he retires? ”

Claude didn't talk, he just looked seriously at Adrian with his lips shut.

“Think about it, Claude, what do you want most?!” Adrian is making exaggerated gestures, "is taking over the father's company and going down the route they planned for themselves? Or start your own business and break out a new heaven and earth for yourself?! We're young, Claude. We have the power. We have the chance! Even if we lose, we can start over! ”

Looking at his fanatical look, Claude grew out of breath: "Tell me, Ed, why the media? ”

“Why?” Adrian picked his eyebrows and suddenly turned to the floor window in the living room, shouting and pulling the curtain open, the bright night view beneath Beverly Hills appeared in front of both of them.

Adrian took a deep breath, pointing to the light: “Look at this city, Claude! With the largest film industry in the world, with the brightest stars in the world, countless people come here looking for their dreams, always thinking that perhaps one day they will stand on stage and attract the world's attention! But they don't know, they don't know, they only see one side, the beautiful, the tempting, the bright side! On the other hand, the dark, dirty, * * filled side is hidden in the back! Because what they see is what those people want them to see! You and I both know that, Claude! Imagine how we feel when they spin with our batons, when they glorify us blindly? ”

Intense words echoed in the room, and Claude sat up on his own. Adrian stood in front of the windows and stopped talking, just staring at his best friend.

Suddenly his head poured the liquid down the cup, and Claude stood up and his brown eyes sparkled with an unknown light.

“Well, let's do it! ”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Adrian knows how the world will develop over the next 20 years, and his own conditions and abilities are not so bad - don't think replicating a movie is a simple thing. So it's not impossible if he wants to take control of Hollywood, just to solve one problem, it's management and management!

Yes, he knows what makes a lot of money, but in the past life he was just a director. When did he manage and run a big company? The Adrian before may have some experience, but more is eating, drinking, and having fun. So he had to solve the problem to make it possible, and finally, Claude thought about it.

At first, Adrian didn't realize that, he just wanted to earn a start-up fund through Claude. And Claude was flexible enough to accomplish the task entrusted to him, and he realized the enormous value of the other party to himself, so he threw the futures into his hands, which naturally went without saying.

Adrian therefore decided to tie him up with himself, and Claude was a lonely man who dared not to break into the shelter of his parents, coupled with his very seductive remarks, and finally agreed.

“Tell me about your plan, Ed,” Claude said after the two of you sat in the study, "Don't tell me you don't have any plans. ”

“Of course there's a plan, but, you know, I'm not that kind of material, so there's only one general idea, and the rest needs you to add.” Adrian does not hide his shortcomings.

Claude raised his hand and made a "say and see” gesture.

“First of all, of course, you can set up a media company, buy an empty shell, how much you invest, how you distribute your shares, and whether Bosworth Films falls under that category, and we'll talk about that in more detail later.” Adrian said slowly, “You're the CEO. You're in charge of everything. I don't interfere in anything. ”

“Simply put, you don't care about anything, feel comfortable being a big shareholder, I'll take care of everything.” Claude sighed softly, "That's not fair, Ed. You're too easy. ”

“That's okay, anyway, everything is up to you,” Adrian ignored his joke, "and if I have any comments or suggestions, I will consult with you and seek your consent and support. ”

“In that case...” Claude suddenly thought of something, "What if you insist on something and I always disagree? ”

“Then I will be there to lobby you 24 hours a day, no matter what you do, work, eat, bathe, sleep or even sleep with a woman, I will be there.” Adrian said in his spare time.

“Shit! Ed, you're disgusting!” Claude waved in disgust.

“I can't help it, I can't flip my face with you.” Adrian had his hands full.

“Okay, well, skip these for now, then?” Claude shifted the subject.

“Establish a venture capital firm with a focus on IT.” Adrian threw out the answers he had already thought of.

“Venture Capital, IT?” Claude raised his eyebrows unexpectedly, "I thought we were talking about the media industry. ”

“Yes, I know,” Adrian nodded, "what can I say... what do you think of this year's general election? ”

“This year's general election?” While Claude doesn't understand why he turned to this topic, he gave his own answer: "Democrats have the advantage. ”

“Really?”

“Really? - You? ”

“Democrats have the advantage. ”

“Really?”

“Really.”

They looked at each other for a moment and suddenly the pairs laughed. The Rowleys have always favoured the Democrats, because most of California is Democratic territory, but the Kowels have never been neutral, so Claude used Adrian's sentence to answer the question.

“Do you know who the prima facie Democratic presidential candidate was in January, Claude?” After laughing, Adrian asked.

“Sounds like…” Claude overthought, “William? Jefferson? Clinton?” (Note)

(Note: In reality, in the US elections, both parties will wait until July and August to formally identify the candidate. Here, the circumstances have changed, and I thought that the modification would be realistic, but the aftermath is a bit troublesome, so forget it, just take a look)