Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 130 I don’t want to play anymore, I’m going to throw out the trump card!
"Cheers!"

The crisp sound of collision made the golden liquid draw a graceful arc in the air. After a round of discussion with the North American theater owner, they finally reached an agreement with Ethan that both parties could accept.

North American theater owners jointly ordered 8,000 "Star Wars" arcade machines in exchange for exclusive game time for eight weeks after the release of the "Star Wars" movie. They also promised that in the first week of the movie's release, they would give "Star Wars" no less than 39% of the total screening amount and no less than 43% of the screening amount during prime time.

Since they can only handle 6,000 video arcade machines, Ethan's Destiny Game only needs to provide them with the corresponding number of arcade machines before the movie is released. For the remaining 2,000 machines, they will pay the full amount within a week after the movie is released, but they don't want the machines. Instead, they will be stored in Destiny Game until they find a market for them, and then the buyers they contacted will come to pick them up.

To put it bluntly, these people just wanted to use the more than four million they paid in advance to get four weeks of exclusive rights, because when they sold the "Star Wars" arcade machines, the money paid to Ethan would flow into their pockets through other merchants. Ethan didn't really have much objection to this sneaky idea. After all, the machine would be sold to anyone. But in order to curb the behavior of North American theater owners who were frantically making money from him, Ethan also requested that a storage fee of $100 be added per arcade machine per month, and the time would be counted from the moment the contract was signed.

That is to say, even if the bosses of North American theaters sell out quickly, the cost of the extra 2,000 arcade machines they ordered will still be 4.4 million. This disguised agency with a price higher than the original manufacturer's price is the price control that Ethan implemented on them. After all, even Huang knows that eating alone can maximize profits, and letting the middlemen make a profit will only make their products rot in the warehouse.

With the agreement reached, everyone who had nothing to do in their lives went back to their homes and looked after their mothers.

But just as Ethan was about to take the bus home, the bearded man Lucas stopped him.

At first, Ethan thought this guy wanted to talk to him about something, but when he found out that Lucas just wanted to thank him, he immediately waved his hand to indicate that it was not necessary.

"Oh George, you're so kind, I was just doing what a friend should do."

"And I really think your movie is very good. Believe me, you must stick with it, because in another month, you will see the dawn of success."

Lucas smiled bitterly, "I hope so."

"Ethan, to be honest, I've already booked a flight. After today, I'll be staying in Hawaii for a while. Anyway, there's no premiere for the movie, and we don't need media coverage or interviews right now. My work is done, and everything that comes next is up to God."

Unlike the situation in later generations where premieres were held for every blockbuster, Hollywood in this era was still very "frugal". In other words, no matter whether it was Fox or Lucas, they felt that it would be better not to hold a premiere for "Star Wars", a movie that was dissed by all walks of life.

The biggest significance of the premiere is to invite journalists, film critics, and friends to watch the movie, and after paying the corresponding favors and some writing fees, ask them to give the movie some widely publicized positive reviews. But "Star Wars" has been criticized by too many people. When there are only two people in Hollywood, or even in North America, who will give a thumbs up to this movie, isn't it a waste to hold a premiere?

The North American public already knows that this movie is about to be released, and North American theaters have agreed to schedule the film and not hold a premiere, leaving the public opinion storm to the end. That is what Fox wants to do most.

Staring at Lucas who had lost confidence, Ethan really didn't know how to comfort him at this moment.

After holding it in for a long while, he just patted the other person on the shoulder, said "Have a good time", and then set off for home with regret.

Although Ethan had been lamenting about the scary things people said on the way back, he immediately put it all aside after returning to the company, because a tough battle was waiting for him.

It is now April 23rd, and there are only 30 days left until the official release of "Star Wars" on the early morning of May 25th. To produce 6,000 electronic arcade machines within this time is actually a huge challenge for the Destiny game.

Although Ethan had already put the factory into full operation since the day the game was packaged, and in the past ten days, sixty-two front-line employees had produced one thousand two hundred and forty electronic arcade machines at a rate of two per person per day, but in order to make up for the shortfall of four thousand seven hundred machines in the remaining month...

This is impossible no matter how you look at it.

Because this means that each worker needs to work four more hours a day for thirty days without a break, even if the US Labor Standards Act allows this to happen. But working twelve hours a day for thirty consecutive days can only be done when talking about dedication.

When this problem arose, Ethan immediately called the company's administrative director Julis Noble, production director Michael Blanco, and his sister to discuss countermeasures.

After he described the problems facing the company, Julis Noble spoke first and put forward her own idea, "How about we recruit immediately?"

"It's very simple to make an arcade machine. Now we can recruit people and train them in a few days to start working."

"As long as we recruit enough people, the production capacity will be able to keep up."

However, as soon as she finished speaking, Evelyn Johnson rejected it directly, "No."

“We can’t recruit at this time.”

"Because we cannot guarantee that the workers we recruit now are reliable."

"Warner and Philips are watching us. They can do anything."

"If they have someone set fire to our warehouse, even if we win the lawsuit, it won't make up for the loss of the opportunity..."

That’s right, this is what gives Ethan the most headache.

He wanted to recruit, but didn't dare to.

At this critical juncture, what he fears most is that those big companies will play tricks on him.

As for outsourcing production?
There are many companies in North America that can accept orders, but how many of them can be trusted?

When Evelyn pointed out the problem, the office of Destiny Game fell into silence. Ethan, Evelyn and Julis were all thinking about how to break the deadlock, and Michael Blanco...

He seemed to be hesitant and had something to say.

After thinking it over again and again, the middle-aged man with gray hair raised his hand like an elementary school student.

"Ethan, I have an idea."

'? '

This made Ethan, who was leaning on the sofa, raise his head and said in surprise: "Oh, Michael, do you have any ideas? Just say it directly, we are all family here..."

Before he finished speaking, the two ladies present also cast their eyes on him. Under the stares of the three, the biggest man on the field looked shy and said a little embarrassedly:

"Ethan, I don't think we need to recruit anyone."

"If you need us to work overtime, we can actually accept working 16 hours a day because we have lived this kind of life before, a life of constant vigilance."

"When we go to the battlefield, we will work all day long, but now we just keep making circuit boards, soldering them together, and assembling them..."

"This kind of work is very easy for us, and if more than 20 of us work overtime for eight hours a day, we can actually make up for the missing production capacity in the factory, right?"

"After all, the remaining people are not not working."

‘! ’

When these words came out, Ethan was stunned!
He stared at the gray-haired Michael for a long while, then stood up with a smile and opened his arms to hug him, "Oh Michael...thank you...thank you very much..."

"Thank you for helping me at this time..."

"Don't worry, I won't pay you less than a penny of your salary. Any overtime will be calculated at three times the normal rate, and your year-end bonus will also be doubled!"

"Ethan, you don't have to thank me..." Michael shook his head. "It was you who accepted us and brought us a brand new environment. What I want to do most now is to maintain this new home. Of course, I believe that they will have the same idea as me..."

Since last Christmas, when Michael Blanco told Ethan that some of his retired buddies also wanted to come here to make a living, thirteen of them have come so far.

Although there is still a certain gap between the total number of people in this team and the workers originally recruited, these guys who have been on the battlefield and have blood on their hands are not afraid of anyone in terms of battle.

The fastest guy even understood how to make an arcade machine in just one day. After a week of trying, his production speed was comparable to that of a master who had been working for several months.

If these people were willing to help Ethan solve his problems and accept the endless repetitive work, then in Ethan's view, the so-called lack of production capacity would be just a joke.

And the fact is...

is also like this.

When these veterans who were ostracized by society and had no room to live learned that their comrade's son wanted them to help, the brightly lit factory in San Francisco at four in the morning was the best response.

On the first day, they played a hundred arcade machines with only six hours of rest per person!

The next day, they were so excited that they sold 120 units!

On the third day, they worked so hard with bloodshot eyes that they scared the other young people in the factory!
When the Beat Generation met the Abandoned Generation, the former was obviously no match for the latter.

And on the fourth day...

Ethan had just gotten out of bed when he received a call from Julis Noble, who was stationed at the company for work. The other party asked him to turn on the TV, and then Ethan saw a report like this -

"According to the latest news from our reporter, the new work of Ethan Jones, the founder of Destiny Game, seems to be difficult to release because the movie related to it is controversial. George Lucas, who once made "American Graffiti", did not receive the favor of his peers for his science fiction movie. As far as we know, whether it is the staff of Fox, George Lucas's friends, or the boss of North American theaters, they all expressed their pessimism after watching the movie. Although they did not comment on the game, how a movie that even industry insiders are not optimistic about was produced as a video game is still a question worth pondering..."

There is no wall that is impenetrable. Even if Fox takes all possible precautions, it cannot block all news. After keeping it secret for a few days, unfavorable comments about the "Star Wars" movie were still exposed by the media.

Although Ethan didn't know whether the news was discovered by the media themselves or collected by Warner and Philips, it didn't matter anymore, because when these media said that "Star Wars" was lame and not worthy of being made into a game, they were actually standing on the opposite side of Ethan.

Fox responded to this kind of talk immediately, saying that what the media said was a false report. They have reached a screening agreement with North American theaters and will release the movie on May 25. Not only that, the theaters also gave it the same screening treatment as first-tier blockbusters. As soon as this news came out, another commentator on TV said:

"Fox's behavior is very unusual, because we all know that a movie is usually scheduled on Friday every week, because the next two days are holidays, which can allow the new movie to absorb enough box office. The first week of a movie is actually Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This year, May 25th is a Wednesday, and the movie was released just after the holiday and before the new holiday... This shows that North American theaters are not optimistic about this movie."

"Under such circumstances, the wave of public opinion stirred up by Ethan Jones is somewhat suspicious of being a mad advertisement for his own games and movies..."

Fox was right. Since Ethan had exposed the lungs of Warner and Philips, they would not let Ethan off easily. Although they were the ones who started all the trouble, now, under the attack of US dollars, those media who received money were like blind people, attributing the birth of the wave of public opinion to Ethan, accusing him of occupying public resources and advertising some garbage works with outrageous words.

Since everyone had already torn their faces apart, and Ethan had criticized both companies in front of the media, when these smear reports appeared, no media came to stay at Ethan's door or outside the company. In Fox's words, the current media must have received money, but Warner and Philips' request was that they should not come to interview and not give Ethan a chance to speak.

When this situation similar to the one in his previous life occurred, Ethan really laughed.

He never imagined that at the age of only 22, he actually had the qualifications to wear the yellow robe!
As for this kind of gagging behavior, Ethan did not hesitate. He directly recharged himself and called the editor of the Los Angeles Times and said to the editor he had worked with before:

"I have a piece of news to publish, please do an impromptu interview for me."

"You can say this when you distribute newspapers tomorrow. Arcade games are different from movies and home consoles. They are art that exists on the sidewalk. North Americans can make a decision after appreciating the quality of the games. I dare to show the games to everyone openly. I want to ask, do Warner and Philips dare to take off their pants? Do they dare to release all the games for home consoles and let the public evaluate the games first and then pay for them?"

"If you don't dare, then get out!"

"Then, as a reward, I can tell you that North American theaters have signed a contract with me to purchase 8,000 video arcade machines. The video arcade machines will be released together with the movie. Warner and Philips please stop staring at me, because my new game has already earned 16 million!"

The Los Angeles Times would naturally publish such explosive news faithfully.

no way……

Who makes the media have no moral integrity?

If there is a piece of news in the world that can make their sales soar, as long as the news has nothing to do with their boss, they will definitely publish it without hesitation!

As for whether their actions will cause losses to some of the recharge holders?

Oh - stop kidding!
As long as there is traffic, there will be sponsors!
And when the Los Angeles Times released the news that the video arcade machine had sold 8,000 units and boldly invited reviews, the smear campaign related to the Star Wars movie suddenly decreased a lot.

Because both Warner and Philips knew that Ethan was telling the truth.

When the public can test the content of a project before entering the paid stage, no matter how the media smears it, it will be in vain.

However, this does not mean that they will stop.

When the time came to May 2nd, the gate of the Destiny Game factory was blocked.

“We are from the California Department of Labor. We have received reports from relevant personnel that your factory has violated labor laws, including but not limited to daily working hours exceeding eight hours, weekly working hours exceeding 40 hours, not providing workers with 30 minutes of free meal time every five hours, and not dividing daily work into normal sections…”

A middle-aged man in uniform came to investigate holding his ID.

It's obvious that there's something fishy going on from that menacing look.

When Ethan heard the news, he jumped up from his office chair and drove straight to the factory, fearing that those uncles who defended him would have a physical conflict with the people from the Labor Bureau.

After all, he himself knew that these people were working with a rage.

And those who have really killed people are not afraid of any government employees after they have gained a new life.

If anyone dares to make trouble, they will really use their weapons to attack him!
If someone closes the factory, they will definitely open fire with concealed carry permits!

But when Ethan arrived at the factory, he found that the guys from the California Labor Bureau were so angry at Michael that they couldn't even raise their heads. "Did you receive a report? Oh! Can you tell me which idiot reported it?"

"All our payroll documents are here! Our bank receipts are here too!"

"We do work more than twelve hours! We do work seven days a week! But Ethan paid us three times the overtime pay required by California law!"

"Our basic weekly salary is three hundred dollars! After we finish making ten arcade machines normally, we can get an extra fifty dollars for each additional arcade machine we make!"

"We can earn an average of 700 dollars a week if we do a lot of work now!"

"What idiot would report it in this situation? Huh?"

That’s right, when Ethan said he would give out money, he really meant it.

After Thomas's teachings, he understood how American society worked and knew that industry was the most influential industry in this land. Although the wealth they created might not be as much as that of the financial industry, the power they raised in a geometric manner would definitely be greater than that of finance.

In this case, Ethan, who is already running a highly profitable business, will naturally not be polite.

Not to mention, giving money to these uncles is more useful than giving money to ordinary people.

Because they already have faith in their hearts.

When Michael threw the salary data in the face of the California Department of Labor, those government employees who could find no fault with it had to leave in shame. This scene made Ethan give Michael a thumbs up, while the other party... gave him two thumbs up.

But unfortunately, they didn’t have time to be happy for even a few days.

On May 5, the California Air Resources Board, California Environmental Protection Agency, San Jose Air Quality Management District, and San Jose Water Quality Control Board jointly came to the factory to inspect its pollutant emissions. "This process will take three to five days. Please stop work and cooperate."

How could Ethan accept such an unreasonable request?

He directly refused.

The four departments did not play tricks and directly produced documents from the state government, demanding that the Destiny Game be shut down immediately. If they did not cooperate, they would apply for compulsory measures.

Ethan was really fed up with this kind of harassment. He asked Michael to block those idiots outside the door while calling his sister to tell her that he needed Stanford's help.

When Evelyn learned that her factory had accidents every few days and it was getting more and more annoying, she felt it was troublesome and went to wave for help. About two hours later, a Volkswagen came speeding over.

The people in the car apologized to Ethan with apologetic expressions, and then asked the people from the Environmental Protection Agency...

"Get the hell out of here, you bastards!"

"Can you also check the factory of the Destiny Game?"

"Principal Terman even called the governor!"

"He wants to know what's going on!"

"What's with that expression on your face? Are you feeling wronged? Damn it, I didn't even know you guys had paid me?"

"I'm telling you! Not to mention you! Even if the bosses of Warner and Philips come! Get out now! We welcome normal competition, but if you mess around..."

"Then you all should just stop doing it!"

Yes, Evelyn went directly to Principal Fred Terman.

Because in this world, his words are more effective than any command.

Although the old man has retired now, as long as he is still alive, the American scientific community has to give him face! He may not be able to influence public opinion, but he can make big companies shut up!
As for the reason?

Ever since his teacher founded Raytheon, ever since he started cooperating with Lockheed, the noblest blood of America has been flowing in his body!

"Is it done?" Evelyn asked Ethan when they returned home that night.

"Yeah, it went smoothly." Ethan nodded with a smile, "When you move Principal Terman out, Warner and Philips won't dare to disgust us anymore..."

Just as Ethan said, when Warner and Philips revealed Ethan's true trump card, they disappeared completely like mice seeing a cat.

In the following period of time, Destiny Game was given an extremely relaxed production environment, and managers of North American theaters also came to pick up the goods according to the scheduled pickup time.

The extremely smooth work made Ethan feel truly relaxed, and when the time quietly came to May 25th... he pulled his sister out early in the morning.

Because he wanted to see with his own eyes...

"Star Wars" ascends to the altar!
(End of this chapter)