America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

In the evening, Martin and Elena went next door.

Lily sat on the living room sofa, holding a pointed carving knife, incessantly stabbing the box fashioned like cattle horns.

With a "pu-chi," a large hole appeared.

It seemed like she was venting some pent-up frustration.

Holle squatted on a nearby sofa, enthusiatically playing his game console, and to avoid irritating his sister who was in a bad mood, he had purposely turned off the sound of the game.

Suddenly, a fist fell, thumping hard on his head.

Holle looked up to see Lily with a sullen face, lamenting, "I didn't bother you."

Lily said, "You're happy, but I'm not, so you can't be happy either!"

Holle found no reason in arguing, so he grabbed his game console and ran back to his room.

Lily went into a frenzy and eventually returned to her desk, pulled out textbooks and study materials, and began reviewing her lessons.

The sixteen-year-old girl turned her gloom into motivation for studying, planning to take the SAT next year, aiming for a university in Los Angeles.

University of Southern California or California Institute of the Arts?

The names of these two schools flashed in her mind, but she set them aside for the moment, stopped daydreaming, especially about the neighboring Martin and Elena, and focused all her energy on her studies.

What good can come from a rotten man and a frivolous woman?

Next door, the knight Elena was in the midst of battling a dragon.

To increase her combat strength, she had also put on a chastity ring.

But the dragon named Martin was too powerful, and the knight was unfortunately captured, the scene shifting from a person riding a dragon to a dragon riding a person.

As everything settled down, the two tacitly avoided mentioning Los Angeles.

A draft blew in from the back window, and as a breeze came through, Elena lay on Martin, saying, "After you become famous, we can dig up James in the wee hours and secretly bury him in an empty grave at the Methodist Church. That way, he won't cause any more trouble."

Martin said, "I also thought about taking care of this when I came back."

He had planned to dig a hole with Old Cloth one evening.

Elena said, "Holle is good at digging; he'd take care of it easily."

"How should I reward you all?" Martin said differently to Elena, "I'm about to sign a contract with Coca-Cola soon, and there will be a large endorsement fee. Should I buy you a new house?"

Elena raised her eyebrows, "Are you, idiot, trying to keep me?"

Martin shook his head and said earnestly, "My home is here. Old Cloth always says I'm a rotten guy, all my genuine feelings are left in Atlanta."

Elena fell silent.

Martin continued, "I've established a Cola Cult, and there's a position for a holy woman. I want to hire you for it."

Elena didn't want to give up her current job, "I have a job."

Martin said, "I, the Sect Hierarch, am part-time, so the holy woman can be too." He picked up Elena's hand and pointed to the chastity ring, "See, you've been ready to be the holy woman for a long time. Chastity Saint, it has to be you."

Elena snorted, "Idiot, you haven't even signed the endorsement contract. Wait until you sign it and get the money before we talk."

Something suddenly occurred to Martin, "What about Emma? I haven't seen her."

"She ran off with someone again." The thought of her mother drove Elena crazy, "She's addicted to drugs. When I wouldn't give her money to buy 'flour,' she ran off. Someone saw her around the truck camp near the airport."

Martin comforted her by gently stroking her smooth back, unsure of what to say.

Elena also mentioned, "I asked about the jerk Jack in detail. She only knew that Jack swindled all her money and went to Australia or New Zealand. She doesn't know anything more specific."

She looked next door, "Right now, all I want is for Lily and Holle to grow up safe and sound."

"Perhaps Jack got into trouble and will never appear again," Martin said as if speaking of a stranger. "With the way Jack is, seeing me become famous, could he really stay away? Maybe he's busy chatting with God, trying to scam money from him."

Elena said, "Idiot, you should still make some preparations. You're bad, but Jack is ten times worse."

Without hesitation, Martin said, "I had no brothers or sisters. If Jack shows up, I'll publicly disown him. I've discussed some measures with Old Cloth, and we might need you and the other neighbors when the time comes."

Elena nodded, "No problem."

The next morning, after breakfast, Martin made a special visit to Mr. Ward, Nanni, Welbeck, and others in the community who had fought alongside him, giving each a practical gift and a crocodile fang pendant, satisfying their requests for a photo together.

Then, getting into a Mercedes driven by Bruce, he left the Clayton Community and headed to Peachtree Street.

Downstairs at the Marietta Performing Arts Brokerage Firm's office building stood a large group of young actors.

In front of them were the company's two big shots—Jerome and Robert.

The latter stood there with a big head, all smiles.

The former seemed calm and composed.

A Mercedes drove up and stopped in front of the building.

Martin got out of the car with a beaming smile and walked toward Jerome.

Jerome saw the Martin in front of him was still the same Martin—just as sunny and handsome, just as kind and approachable.

He walked forward as well.

Their hands firmly clasped together.

Martin, as always, spoke with excitement, "Boss, I'm back!"

Jerome shook his hand vigorously, "Good, very good! You haven't disgraced our Marietta Theatre Company. You are the pride of our entire troupe!"

Martin smiled, "Boss, if you keep saying that, I'm going to get cocky."

Jerome finally broke into a grin, especially hearty, "I knew I wasn't wrong about you."

Without Martin's recommendation, the theatre company and the brokerage firm that followed would not have formed a deep partnership with Gray Film Industry, nor would they have achieved their current scale, and he would not have become one of the moguls of Atlanta's performing arts scene.

As far as Jerome knew, no Hollywood star was as sentimental as Martin, not even Robert Patrick could compare with him.

Robert approached at that moment, "Shall we go back and talk?"

Jerome invited Martin, "Let's go inside and see the company."

Martin followed them towards the office building.

The aspiring actors in front of the building automatically cleared a path for them.

Some tried to greet Martin.

"Hey, Martin, you're my idol!"

"You're my favorite star, I'm working hard with you as my target!"

Martin kept smiling and nodding his head, "Thank you, thank you all for your support."

Once the four people in front entered the office building, these aspiring actors were all dreaming that one day they too could become Hollywood stars like Martin.

After all, Martin had also started from here.

Upon entering the building, the most conspicuous place in the lobby had hanging photos of him with Jerome and Robert.

Jerome said, "Robert and I have discussed it and would like to bring you in as a partner of the company."

"There's no need." Martin followed them upstairs, "I am a member of the Actor's Guild. The guild stipulates that actors must not engage in any brokerage business."

Just as agents are not allowed to directly participate in film or series production.

Arriving at Jerome's office, Martin asked, "The main reason I'm here is to shoot 'Wanted Order.' I've talked to the crew, and we'll be recruiting extras and bit part actors in Atlanta."

Jerome stated, "Our company's actors are participating in the auditions with the crew, as the sole collaborating party."

Martin, with his air of importance, took a package from Bruce and handed it to Jerome, "I've brought a special gift for the troupe this time I've returned. I am a product of the troupe, and my acting skills were honed here."

Jerome opened the package, and upon seeing a Saturn-shaped trophy in a transparent plastic box, he couldn't help but get excited, "A Saturn Award!"

Martin said, "It's the first trophy I received in Hollywood, the Saturn Award for Best Young Actor. It belongs with the troupe."

Atlanta was his base, and also the place where his public persona was most likely to collapse. Martin had decided while in Los Angeles that he needed to maintain his network of relationships well.

After chatting for a while, Martin went to see Robert's office.

As soon as he entered, he saw the desk where Coca-Cola was displayed and couldn't help but say, "Our headquarters of the Cola Cult is right here."

Robert said, "Coca-Cola from '03, olive oil produced in '03, and the desk that was moved from the theatre, every single thing, every step has been meticulously planned."

Martin, realizing he didn't have any olive oil on his end, said, "Send a batch of olive oil to Los Angeles."

Robert took out a small notebook and handed it to Martin, "This is the detailed process, I copied it especially for you."

Martin looked over it carefully, then handed it to Bruce to keep safe.

In fact, for him, these were like the pig's head ritual that film crews performed before starting a shoot, also sought for good luck.

What first caught his attention as a good luck token was the Coca-Cola Robert placed while filming Ma Zhen's scenes.

At noon, Jerome treated to lunch, and after Martin ate with them and rested briefly, he headed to the film crew's base in the afternoon.

The former General Motors Atlanta Production Center had been completely bought by Gray Film Industry, who had also officially relocated there.

The office area of the car park was renovated for company and incoming film crew offices.

Some of the production workshops were transformed into large soundstages.

And some other workshops were being renovated one after another.

Martin met Kelly Gray.

She wore her chestnut medium-short hair, and her face, adorned with light makeup, was all business and efficiency, much like a strong female CEO from a Hollywood movie.

"Los Angeles' big hero, you seem to be in even better shape," she said.

In the CEO's office, with her sleek legs crossed in a swivel chair, Kelly sized up Martin, "Why do I find you even more attractive? Could it be that being a star and a hero has an aura effect?"

Martin pulled her up in one move, sat her on the swivel chair, then held her in his lap, "Video tapes or video incidents, why have I gained so much attention? If we really talk about it, it's not as significant as Sacred Valley, or even those late-night movies you used to produce."

Kelly swayed back and forth seeking a special position, "It's because of the particular effect produced by a celebrity."

"Exactly," said Martin. "It's not just physiological but also psychological satisfaction."

Kelly asked, "Why didn't that floozy come with you?"

Martin simply replied, "She'll come to Atlanta with the rest of the crew in two days."

Kelly finally found a comfortable position and settled down firmly, "Martin, I've been helping you since the beginning, so this time you have to help me."

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