novelinnhs Chapter 34 Co-producers
Chapter 34 Co-producers
Fred Weintraub had a nightmare.
He felt as if he were trapped inside a melting ice cream tub, surrounded by thick, red syrup.
Countless Mickey Mouses surrounded him, screaming, each waving a stock transaction slip filled with falling data.
"It's fallen! Everything's fallen!"
"Fred! You're bankrupt!"
"Hand over your underwear!"
He sat up abruptly in bed, drenched in cold sweat, his heart pounding in his chest.
The sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten when he reached for the water glass on the bedside table, nearly knocking it over.
"Damn it... I must be crazy to listen to that Chinese guy's nonsense."
"Ring ring—!!!" The piercing telephone ring suddenly rang out.
"Feed..." He carefully raised the microphone.
"Fred! My God! Are you still sleeping?!"
On the other end of the phone came the stockbroker's hysterical shouts.
"Mike, stop talking... How much did it drop? I can still handle it." Hearing this anxious voice, Fred's heart sank to the bottom.
"Bear it? Of course you have to bear it! You're going to bear a huge windfall!"
The agent burst into laughter: "Haven't you seen the morning news yet? The Vietnam War is ending!"
"Pan Am's stock price went crazy at the open! Disney, which you bought, is one of the market leaders today!"
Fred's mind went blank: "It...it's gone up?"
"Yes! The current increase is already close to 15%!"
"Fred, you're a genius! Three hundred thousand dollars, turned into three hundred and fifty thousand in just one night!"
"That's faster than robbing a bank!"
The roaring on the other end of the phone continued, but Fred could no longer hear it.
An overwhelming sense of ecstasy coursed through his body like an electric current, sweeping away all his previous fear.
Fifty thousand dollars!
That was his entire year's salary as a Warner producer!
"Dude, you're amazing!" Mike's admiration practically overflowed from the receiver.
"At the current rate, it will take at least a year for the soldiers to return to their home countries, and this wave of enthusiasm will last for a long time."
"I strongly recommend you hold this stock long-term! I have a feeling it will at least double by the end of the year!"
"Okay, okay, I understand."
After hanging up the phone, Fred jumped out of bed and started dancing the cha-cha barefoot on the carpet.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
At that moment, the image of that young Chinese man in his heart was even closer than that of Franklin printed on the $100 bill!
Just as Fred was laughing foolishly, Qin Han also woke up from his deep sleep.
After a busy night, I slept soundly, and it's time to start work today.
Today's intelligence has been updated.
Hiroki Ishii, the top disciple of the Japanese Kyokushin Kaikan, challenged the San Francisco Jingwu Athletic Association yesterday afternoon and defeated its head, Liu Dachuan.
Hiroki Ishii?
This name may not be well-known in the world of combat sports in later generations, but he was a formidable figure in the karate circle of the 70s.
"Jingwu Athletic Association..."
That was the brand established by Master Huo Yuanjia back then. After it went overseas, it had many branches, some good and some bad.
Is it this Japanese devil, or this martial arts school, that's going to get involved with Hollywood?
He wrote the message in his notebook, then got up and began washing up.
Just as I finished tidying up, there was a knock on the door, and Fred's smiling face appeared in the doorway.
Good morning! My dear Qin, and Andrew too!
He was carrying two exquisite breakfast dishes: "How did you sleep last night?"
"Honestly, you could move to the Sheraton and live there permanently; it's much more comfortable than this gloomy slum. I'll apply for it with the company."
Andrew was tying his tie when he was taken aback by the sudden enthusiasm.
"Um... Mr. Fred, what's this?"
"Don't call me 'sir,' just call me Fred!" Fred placed the breakfast on the table, his eyes fixed intently on Qin Han.
"Qin, you're right. Mickey Mouse really did conjure up gold."
Qin Han picked up his coffee from the table, took a sip, and asked unsurprisedly, "How much has it gone up?"
"15%! And it's still going up!"
"That's good, everyone's happy now. Let's go, don't keep Mr. Ashley waiting."
The three of them got into the stretch Lincoln.
Inside the carriage, Fred remained excited, chattering on and on about his grand vision for future wealth:
"Mike is right, this is a long-term positive."
"As long as those soldiers keep coming back, Disney's stock price will skyrocket."
"By the end of the year, I might be able to buy another house near Beverly Hills..."
"Fred," Qin Han interrupted his reverie, "If I were you, I would hold the shares until March at the latest, and then sell them all."
"March?" Fred's rosy fantasy was shattered, and his heart tightened. "Why? The soldiers won't have finished withdrawing by then!"
Of course, we can't say it directly about the Qin and Han dynasties.
In that same year, Israel, regarded by the United States as the "daddy" of the Middle East, was about to cause a catastrophe—the shadow of the Fourth Middle East War was gathering.
In retaliation for Western support, Arab countries will unleash the powerful weapon of an oil embargo, which will escalate into a global oil crisis.
After the outbreak, oil prices soared, inflation skyrocketed, and the US economy instantly plummeted from the heights of prosperity into the quagmire of stagflation.
At that time, Americans will have to be very careful about how much they spend on gas, let alone traveling.
As for the stock market?
That would be a massive avalanche lasting two years, the famous bursting of the "Nifty Fifty" bubble.
From then on, the Bretton Woods system officially collapsed, and the world entered an era where "where there is oil, there will be US troops."
After some thought, Qin Han decided to continue to cultivate this ally, as his position in Warner would be of great help to him in the future.
"Fred, you're American, you should know this place better than I do."
"Do you really think this country will calm down?"
He didn't spell it out, but left with a meaningful look:
"That's right, the war in Vietnam is over, but in this world, there will always be things that arouse the greed of capital, such as... energy."
Fred looked into Qin Han's dark eyes, which seemed to see through everything, and cold sweat poured down his back.
It's that feeling again—the oppressive sense of seeing the future clearly.
Before yesterday, he would have absolutely scoffed at it.
But now, the extra $50,000 he had out of nowhere instilled in him a sense of awe for Qin Han's words.
He silently took out his notebook, drew a big red circle on the March calendar, and wrote down the word: SELL.
The group arrived at the Warner president's office.
Ted Ashley didn't look well today, clearly he didn't get much sleep last night.
On the desk lay the day's Los Angeles Times, the front page headline of which was about the armistice agreement.
As the three walked in, Ashley stood up and immediately began to applaud.
"Mr. Qin, I must say, you have left a deep impression on me. You not only won the bet, but you also earned my respect."
A complex smile played on his face, and Qin Han's mysterious oriental aura seemed to grow even stronger.
"Just luck, Mr. Ashley," Qin Han said with a modest smile.
"Luck is always a part of ability, and perhaps the most important part."
Ashley waved for everyone to sit down, then pushed a newly drafted supplementary contract in front of Qin Han:
"Given your profound understanding of the project, and... your astonishing foresight."
"Warner Bros. agrees that you will serve as a co-producer of 'Enter the Dragon'."
"Except for the financial auditing authority which belongs to Warner headquarters, you have the final say on all personnel appointments and dismissals, casting, and script final review for the production team."