Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 272 A Few Months in a Hurry
Ethan had no idea what Philips and Sony were thinking, because after arranging the acquisition, he continued to enjoy the weekend that had "suddenly" arrived.

Since the two of them had been out for a week and brought some gifts for Linda and Thomas, they took advantage of their break to return home and send some local specialties of Vancouver to them.

Perhaps because she hadn't seen them for a long time and missed them so much, when the two appeared in front of Linda, this middle-aged lady, who had gained weight due to her wealthy life, jumped up excitedly. And when she saw the maple leaf candies from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, the wine from British Columbia, and the Rogers chocolate from Victoria that the two brought back...

Linda, who already had the capital to be a wealthy wife but didn't look like one, immediately started complaining.

"Oh Ethan—Eve—"

"Why did you buy so much candy? We have always been on a sugar-free diet, baby~"

"We didn't allow you to eat candy before, and now you..."

"Linda..." Thomas interrupted his wife and said, "If the children want to buy it, let them buy it. We are just controlling sugar, not quitting sugar."

"Since these are specialties from Vancouver and they are also gifts from the children, let's try them."

"It's okay to eat one piece every few days, right? And this wine... can be opened tonight."

Thomas took the wine box from Ethan with a smile.

That happy look made Linda roll her eyes.

"I just hope they'll buy something practical..." she muttered.

"Although they make money quickly, it's hard to make money, so don't spend it recklessly..."

However, before Linda could finish her complaint, Evelyn jumped behind her and put a necklace on her. When Linda captured the golden bird, her eyes lit up.

"This is..." She pinched the necklace around her neck curiously.

Evelyn laid on Linda's shoulder and explained, "I bought this from a historic jewelry store in Vancouver. It was handmade by a local. The bird is shaped like a Strij, which means wise man in Vancouver. It symbolizes that you are the smartest person in our family."

“How is it, do you like it?” Evelin asked sweetly.

“Oh - thank you -” Evelyn’s introduction made Linda smile: “I like this chain very much! Of course, I like you even more, my children -”

"Come, let me kiss you—"

No matter which country they are from, they all like to receive gifts.

If someone says that he doesn't like receiving gifts, it only proves one thing.

The gift was not delivered!
And when Linda showed her face-changing skills and praised the gold necklace that Evelin took out, the family's harmonious dinner was settled. Abandoning the servants and cooking by herself, at six o'clock in the evening, the sumptuous dinner with the fragrance of home made the four people around the table laugh.

At the dinner table, the family of four chatted about their recent situation.

Thomas said that after his persuasion, Linda finally accepted the job of a servant and was freed from the job of a housewife. Every day, she would walk around the surrounding farmland with him to review the progress of production and enjoy the joy of the harvest. Occasionally, she would attend some gatherings organized by new and old friends, bragging in front of old friends to make them envious and jealous; pretending to be cool in front of new friends to feel the attention of the crowd and experience the simple and boring life of being the father of the first generation of rich people if she couldn't be the first generation of rich people.

When Thomas raised his glass and shared his joy with Ethan, Linda said without hiding anything, "Oh Ethan, Evelyn, you don't know, Thomas told everyone that the more than 30,000 acres of land under his name were bought by you!"

"The purpose is to make his retirement life less boring."

"When our friends found out that you were responsible for our food, clothing, housing and transportation, their eyes widened! Their faces were so tense that it was as if they had eaten a lemon!"

"I never understood why he always liked to attend various parties, but now, when some wives ask me whether your company is still hiring and what the recruitment requirements are, oh - that look - that flattery - it is indeed not a pleasant feeling that I can feel under normal circumstances."

"Oh yeah! This guy has changed cars now!"

"He collected a lot of tractors, including Lamborghini crawler tractors, Porsche rocker tractors, Honda jet aircraft head tractors, and Mercedes truck head tractors..."

"Wow, those cars are slow, but they're really cool!"

“Hahaha——” The joy of the two made Ethan and Evelyn laugh endlessly.

In fact, the necessary dividends they took out from the game of fate every year were basically invested in their agricultural company, and then they no longer cared about the specific flow of the money.

If Thomas and his people want to buy land, then they can buy land; if they want to consume, then they can consume.

After all, money is meant to be spent.

If spending money makes you feel good, then money has meaning. If your family can enjoy the pleasure of spending money, then the meaningless act of making money will have life.

"Linda." Ethan held his chin with his hands and looked at his aunt.

"Huh?" Linda, who was drinking, raised her eyebrows and looked at Ethan.

"Thomas is having fun, I guess you won't be left behind, right?"

"So, have you picked up any hobbies?"

Ethan asked with a smile.

"Oh, her hobby costs more money than mine!" Thomas had something to say when he heard this question.

"You should have noticed when you came here. There are two new houses next to our house. One is for the servants to live in, and the other one was built specifically for her!"

"After she stopped doing housework, she became addicted to watching movies and TV. She used to go to the cinema, but now we have a projector and a small screen."

“And then she watches at least one or two movies a week.”

"Oh—you can show movies?" Evelyn was a little surprised.

"He learned it." Linda pointed at her husband with a smile.

"Where did the plastic disc come from?" Ethan was a little puzzled.

"Steven left us his phone number when he came to our house to play." Thomas said, "So I asked him to buy the discs for us. They were all copies directly from the film libraries of major companies. The film discs and licensing fees for a movie cost 10,000 to 20,000 dollars. We have bought more than 50 movies so far, and spent hundreds of thousands..."

"Oh——" Ethan was very impressed.

At the same time, he turned his head to look at Evelin and said, “Then let’s change the design of the manor.”

“Add a car collection room where Thomas can park his tractors.”

"Add another screening room so that Linda can watch more comfortably."

Evelyn had no objection.

Thomas and Linda didn't even bother to say yes.

It was not until the two men said that the transformation would not cost much that they reluctantly accepted it.

When everyone was talking about movies, a question popped up in Linda's mind. She wanted to know what kind of existence Destiny Pictures, which Ethan and his team founded, had in Hollywood, and why there were media reports before that the seven major Hollywood studios welcomed Destiny Pictures to officially join the big family of the film and television industry?
This question is difficult for Ethan to answer.

He could only say that the Oscars wanted to give him the award, but he refused.

When this fact came out, Linda and Thomas were shocked.

They never imagined that their own child would be so amazing.

When Ethan suddenly revealed his extraordinary status in Hollywood, Linda, who was interested in this industry, couldn't wait to ask about the Oscars.

For example, what will be the best film of this year?
She likes Jane Fonda's "Coming Home."

For example, will Woody Allen win the Best Director award for the second consecutive year?

His film "Inner World" is well shot.

For example, who is the biggest winner this year, "The Deer Hunter" or "Coming Home"?

Both are Vietnam War films, with the former receiving nine nominations and the latter following closely with eight.

When these questions appeared in front of Ethan all at once, Ethan, who couldn't answer them, chose to extend his vacation.

On the evening of the 9th, I accompanied Linda and others to watch this year's Oscars.

Then, they witnessed with their own eyes that "Coming Home" won three major awards for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay, while "The Deer Hunter"... it was the biggest winner this year, winning five major awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing and Best Sound.

"Oh Sxxt! This is such a shitty selection!"

"What kind of taste do the Oscar judges have? The Deer Hunter made people want to sleep, and the long wedding was so boring, but it won the Best Picture?"

"This is simply—this is simply—too outrageous!"

Linda, who had been sitting in front of the TV for hours, was angry.

When Thomas said that she couldn't scold him like that because Oscar wanted to give the award to Ethan before, this sudden reminder made Linda look tense, and then...

"Ah ...

"Linda! Linda! You are committing domestic violence! This is domestic violence!"

"Oh - dear! I was wrong! I apologize! Stop it! Stop it!"

Looking at the figure running away with his head in his hands.

Listening to the complaints that are getting farther and farther away but louder and louder.

The two people curled up on the sofa also smiled and shook their heads.

Evelin sighed, “This kind of relaxing life is so comfortable…”

"Hmm." Ethan nodded in agreement and said, "Of course it's comfortable to make money while lying down."

The outrageous words made Evelin roll her eyes, “What are you talking about? You’re dreaming before you even go to bed?”

This question made Ethan stunned for a moment, then he smiled and shook his head, "I'm not dreaming."

"I'm just stating the facts."

“Tsk—” Evelin didn’t believe it.

Ethan, who understood everything, said, "Go to sleep, I'll prove it to you tomorrow."

In Evelyn's opinion, what Ethan meant by making money without doing anything was actually the sales of his own arcade machines. Although the peak sales of video arcade machines were in the first few months after they were on the market, this did not mean that their subsequent sales would return to zero. Sporadic purchases and replacement of parts would allow them to continue shipping.

But this is not what Ethan meant by making money without doing anything.

The next day at noon, after having lunch at home and saying goodbye to Linda Thomas, Ethan drove his sister to San Jose, a big city near Los Gatos.

After wandering around the street for a few times, the two men in disguise got into a bar that was open during the day.

This situation puzzled Evelin.

The girl didn't understand why the bar was open during the day.

I don't know why Ethan brought me to this place. But when the girl walked through the corridor, lifted the curtain, and entered the hall...

That high-pitched voice instantly attracted her full attention.

"Now our camera is focused on today's contestant No. 33. He is a middle school student from San Jose Independent School, named Marcus Thomas!"

"Even though he showed up at the game during class time, it doesn't matter, right? Because his current moves are even cooler than his skipping class!"

"We can see now that he reached the 28th level in just twelve minutes! Before that, neither the four little ghosts on the map nor the intrusive little ghosts triggered by the game mechanism posed any threat to him! He even used Ms. Pac-Man's dancing shoes to trick them!"

"And his classic move is to wipe out the ghosts."

"Oh - look! Player Marcus is going to show off his superb prediction again!"

"He has reached the dancing shoes! He seems to have eaten one third of the beans on the map... Yes! One third! The map flashed! A violent ghost appeared!"

"They're chasing Marcus like crazy! Pink and Red are also starting to double-team him smartly!"

"Oh! Marcus ate the dancing shoes! His speed suddenly increased!"

"He swerved through the double team with a zigzag move and entered another tunnel!"

"He ran towards the lower right corner of the map! Hasn't he eaten the Invincible Pill there yet?"

"Oh! Marcus stopped! He's standing next to the Mudiwan!"

"All four ghosts went into the tunnel where he was!"

"Ms. Pac-Man is blinking! The dancing shoes are about to wear off!"

"Oh! He's taken the Invincible Pill! He's standing still! The ghost is coming!"

"One! Two! Three! Four! All four ghosts are dead! Little Red and Little Pink need to return to their haunted house and wait for rebirth! And the violent ghost is out of the game! Marcus staged a classic ambush for us! Let's cheer for him - What?"

"Marcus didn't choose to continue eating beans, but chose to rush towards Xiaolan?"

"Oh - what is he going to do? Does he want to kill Xiaolan again?"

"Oh my god! This is impossible! Because Mudiwan's time is limited, and he is too far away from Blue! Look! Ms. Pac-Man's body starts to flicker! This means that in three seconds Ms. Pac-Man will change from a superhero to a mortal! And Marcus and Blue are still one channel apart!"

"This is an impossible task. Marcus will pay the price for his arrogance...Oh! They collided! Blue vaporized! Ms. Pac-Man actually returned to her original state?"

"Oh——Cooooool——"

"Marcus killed five ghosts with a brilliant move!!!"

"He is our best player in this game!"

"No!"

"He must be the best player in all of California!!"

"Because so far, there has never been such a miracle in this arena!!!"

As the host on TV roared, excited screams suddenly rang out in the bar.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!"

The guys gathered around the TV raised their glasses excitedly like gorillas.

When the high-pitched voices inside and outside the screen mixed together, the noisy sound would definitely make countless people frown, but at this moment, no one in the bar felt annoyed.

Not only that, they all merged into the ocean of happiness.

This fact made Evelin’s eyes widen.

And when she caught the logo of the local radio station on the bar's TV...

She immediately turned her head and cast a surprised look at Ethan.

"Is our game live?"

This statement is full of ambiguity.

But they were on the periphery and did not attract the attention of the people inside.

And Ethan smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, there is a live broadcast."

At the same time, he added, "This is Steve Ballmer's plan."

"He has made good arrangements in this regard, so I said that he can make money without doing anything."

"Because after a few years of training, he will be able to become a qualified company president."

Although in the cooperation plan between Destiny Game and the Rugby League, there will be no spectator seats for the first national electronic game competition, at least for the knockout stage.

Because there are so many people who have signed up, even if only 20% of them choose to enter and watch the game, all their stadiums combined will not be able to accommodate so many people.

However, there are still live broadcasts showing the games.

In the initial version of the plan, Ballmer wanted to cooperate with the local TV station of the venue to have them broadcast the game live to the local people, but because the licensing fee was difficult to define, the deal was never reached.

Later, when Ethan said that he did not expect to make money from the competition, Ballmer came up with an idea, let go and boldly took control of the game.

According to Ballmer's original idea, there were too many arcade machines used in the competition and it was impossible for the Destiny game to be produced by themselves, so they could only rent local machines in the venue for the competition. And because they needed to pay a certain fee to the merchants for renting the machines to make up for their losses, Ballmer decided that as long as the local TV station was willing to bear this part of the cost, they could broadcast the game live.

Destiny Game will not interfere with the investment promotion activities of local TV stations. How much profit the local TV stations can make through mid-game advertising is none of their business. As long as they do not block the on-site advertising designed by Destiny Game and their own advertising does not conflict with Destiny Game's advertising, there will be no problem.

For example, if they already have McDonald's, then the local radio station cannot accept money from KFC.

Even if the other party is just advertising in the name of a regional restaurant.

Although this restriction was a bit harsh, local radio stations did not care. As radio stations from all over the country agreed one after another, the knockout rounds of the national competition had their own live broadcasts.

Even if the live broadcast range is very limited in each place, so what?

Supporting hometown athletes is part of the way competitive sports are played.

Admiration for the strong only occurs after the competition is over, when the national champion is born.

"Oh oh oh! Dear viewers in front of the TV, I have received the latest news! Our player number 72 has reached the 58th level with lightning speed! Now let's go and take a look together!"

While Ethan and his sister were explaining the inside story of the live broadcast, the picture on the TV suddenly changed and the host holding the microphone suddenly ran away. After a tremor, the picture on the screen finally stabilized. Then, the cameraman aimed the lens at the game screen of player number 72, showing everything from a rear-view perspective.

Compared with the future of e-sports, the live streaming method these days is really lame.

The screens of different players cannot be switched at will, and the photographer needs to run around carrying the camera.

But the trembling picture can actually bring a sense of participation to the audience outside the venue.

Because offline, in the arcade, whenever a great player appears, people will rush to watch, even if many people can't see the screen clearly, but -

Many times, just a burst of cheers is enough to make people excited.

What if someone could witness the miracle happen with their own eyes?

The legend that is passed from one person to ten and from ten to a hundred is the real joy that video games bring to people!
Perhaps it was because the atmosphere on the scene infected Evelyn, but it was also possible that it was really cool to watch others play games and hear others praise herself, so for the next period of time, Evelyn followed Ethan and wandered around various competition points in North America.

Traveling incognito is extremely exciting.

Listening without revealing one’s true identity is a joy.

While they were strolling around, everything in the outside world was moving at a rapid pace. For example, Warner Communications, which had suffered setbacks in the electronic game field, acquired an Ohio TV network at the beginning of this year. The reorganization has now been completed and it was officially launched while Ethan was strolling around.

Steve Ross attended the launch ceremony and revealed the name of the network - Nick.

At the ceremony, Steve Ross said this would be the first children's pay channel in America.

They, Warner, will bring more joy to North American children.

For example, Julis Noble in Benzi called and announced that the PC-6502 computer launched by Benzi Electric, which used the 8001 chip and Microsoft program, was officially announced.

On the day the news was released, the entire Eastern island was shocked.

This will bring them huge benefits.

For example, after solving the release problem, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas appeared at the 4th Seattle International Film Festival with "Alien".

They received widespread acclaim there.

For example, Goldman Sachs seems to have found a suitable buyer for Columbia Pictures, and the two parties are actively negotiating. Apple and Microsoft have finally sorted out last year's financial reports and want to give them to Ethan for review. On the phone, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates both said that compared with this year's major breakthroughs, last year's financial reports are not worth mentioning at all...

Although external affairs are very chaotic, there is no rush for all the work.

Therefore, Ethan did not stop working on those jobs.

Starting on April 10th and ending on June 10th, in just over sixty days, he and Evelyn, who was not in a hurry to make "Super Pac-Man", traveled through all forty-eight consecutive states.

They went to all the big cities in the states, and the huge crowds...

It is a symbol of love.

Over the past sixty days, hundreds of competition sites in forty-eight states have selected the finalists for the national competition. According to previous plans, the final would be held on June 9th, but due to the sudden accident at Three Mile Island, the competition process in Pennsylvania was temporarily modified, so the final time was postponed to the 16th.

Since there were reasons for the incident and the Destiny Game donated real money to provide disaster relief, neither the public nor the sponsors had any objections.

Not only that, McDonald's also modified its Happy Meal promotion plan and decided to push the meal to North American citizens on June 17, the day after the end of the National Video Game Competition.

Since this change was beneficial to Ethan, he had no objection.

As the finals approached, Ethan and Evelyn also flew from the East Coast to the West Coast of the United States, because the finals would be held at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.

At the same time...

Hiroshi Yamauchi, the president of Nintendo who wanted to take his company to the top of the world, also quietly left Kyoto, transferred in Vancouver, then headed south and finally arrived in Los Angeles.

He thinks he takes care of every detail, but there are many other guys who make the same decision as him.

For example, the plane from PSV Eindhoven transited in New York;
For example, a flight from Tokyo landed in Phoenix...

Note: ① It was very common in the 1960s and 1970s for American sports events to be broadcasted for free on local TV networks. The American Football League did this. While selling tickets to the public, they also provided people with free channels to watch the games outside the stadium. This is actually a very classic marketing. As long as the fan base that likes the event is large enough, they will be the number one ball. As long as the number of fans who like the event is large enough, they will definitely be able to make money. ② The Nickelodeon TV network mentioned in the article is Nickelodeon International Children's Channel, the producer of "SpongeBob SquarePants".

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(End of this chapter)