America's Top Player

Chapter 160 Winner in Life
The dinner venue was a Caribbean-style restaurant that mainly served seafood and tropical fruits.

There aren't too many fancy gimmicks, and the rich use of spices is very much to Li Ang's liking.

"Thank you all for your efforts, and you're welcome. I'll pay for tonight." Braun greeted Taylor's team members.

Although he is an outsider, he acts like the master of the house.

"No thanks." Taylor rolled his eyes, refusing to give the other party any chance to show off.

There was something wrong between the two of them from the beginning until now.

No matter how hard Braun tried to strike up a conversation, Taylor had no intention of responding.

The rift between the two started with the 2009 incident where Kanye snatched the microphone.

It is said that Kanye, who was drunk that night, created that famous scene at the instigation of his agent Braun.

Braun deliberately created that scene just for traffic.

If it weren't for Big Machine Records owner Scott, he and Taylor wouldn't have sat at the same table.

Li Ang was not very interested in the complicated relationship between the two and just focused on eating the lobster.

Taylor glanced at him and smiled wickedly, "Leon should pay for it."

"Me?" Li Ang looked up and pointed at his nose.

"Of course~ Your movie is a big hit at the box office, isn't it only right that you treat everyone to a big dinner?" Looking at the other person's expression, Taylor's smile grew even wider.

"Sorry, I didn't bring my wallet when I went out." Li Ang lowered his head and continued to gnaw on the lobster.

"You're even more stingy than the media describes you to be~" Taylor sighed.

Just when the two were joking with each other like a couple, Braun interrupted at an inopportune time.

"It's a miracle that a black film can sell so much at the box office. It seems that your talent in film is no less than your talent in music."

"Thank you." Li Ang responded in a flat tone.

"Talent? Mr. Leon's talent in hype is top-notch." Scott snorted sarcastically.

As the boss of Big Machine Records, he has always been wary of Li Ang.

He didn't want Leon to get too close to his money-printing machine, Taylor.

Braun continued, "If you have any ideas for making movies in the future, you can contact me. I know a lot of people in the film industry, and the movie I invested in will be released next month."

"The movie you invested in?" Li Ang put down his knife and fork, looking very interested.

July is the month with the most fierce competition for the North American summer movie season.

Transformers 3, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part , Captain America.
Each one is a big production with a budget of hundreds of millions and a big IP.

Braun touched his tie and started showing off. "I invested a lot of money in Captain America. It's only $2000 million."

That smug expression seemed to be mocking Leon: What I casually threw out is enough to make two of your ridiculous black movies.

Investing in "Captain America" can indeed be used as bragging rights.

The superhero movie market is booming, and Paramount Pictures, the distributor of "Captain America", has tasted the sweetness of success with the "Iron Man" project.

Being able to invest in it means grabbing money. This is the current film market's enthusiastic attitude towards superhero movies.

In this case, idle funds are not even eligible to enter.

As if sensing Leon's confusion, Braun continued, "I have a good personal relationship with Mr. Redstone of ViacomCBS and his daughter, Ms. Sally."

"If you have a film project you'd like to work with Paramount on in the future, just give me a shout."

Braun proudly showed off his connections and enjoyed the admiring gazes of the crowd.

But Taylor was too lazy to look him in the eye.

Lei Shidong is definitely a big shot in Hollywood who can call the shots and stand at the top of the pyramid.

He is the major voting shareholder of mass media conglomerate ViacomCBS and is worth over $1 billion.

The group controls Paramount Pictures, CBS Television and several other cable television networks.

As her successor, Sally is currently the head of Paramount Pictures who has the final say.

"Thank you for your kindness~" Leon was a little jealous that Braun could reap the benefits of superhero movies.

Without special channels, you can only watch helplessly.

But he quickly adjusted his mindset.

It's not necessarily the superhero movies that can make money. "Straight Outta Compton" has already achieved good results.

According to IMDB's prediction, Captain America's opening box office is very likely to exceed $100 million, a figure not much higher than "Straight Outta Compton."

Li Ang is already satisfied with the sixfold opening performance of the film with a budget of more than 1000 million US dollars.

"Don't bother with him. I don't like that guy. He is always self-righteous and cunning." Taylor leaned close to Leon's ear, so close that he could feel his hot breath.

"Yeah. I don't think he's a good person." Leon was always wary of Braun.

The cunning Jews must be guarded against.

"Want to go out for a walk?" Taylor pointed to the beach far away from the restaurant.

"What's the point of walking around in the pitch black?"

Leon had no chance to refuse, Taylor grabbed his wrist and walked towards the beach.

There is nothing here except the moon and the tide, and it is completely quiet.

Taylor bent down, took off her high heels, stared at Leon and said, "Hold it for me."

"Shoes again?"

Li Ang looked resistant, this was the second time the other party had made such a request.

"You can't always be a jerk, you have to be a gentleman for once~" Taylor's eyes were fixed on Leon like a fox.

"Okay~" Li Ang took the sweat-stained high heels reluctantly.

Accidentally discovered the secret of Taylor's feet, "it turned out to be so small"

"What do you mean by small?" Taylor was very sensitive to this word and subconsciously glanced at his chest.

"I was wondering about your feet, it turns out they're only size 9 (39)." Li Ang said with a sly smile, "I always thought they were about the same size as mine~"

The two are almost the same height, so scientifically speaking, their feet should be about the same size.

"Who is similar to you?" Although he was not talking about private parts, Taylor suddenly blushed.

In order to hide the expression on his face, he turned his head suddenly and jumped barefoot on the beach.

Taylor's long, straight legs are visible under the white dress.

It was so white that it glowed in the moonlight.

"This woman's legs are really something." Although this was not the first time that Li Ang had observed them up close, he still never got tired of looking at them.

"I love the night view of Miami Beach~" Taylor turned around with a smile on his face.

It was pitch black all around, and Leon couldn't figure out where the beauty lay. He smiled and reminded her, "Stay away from the tide."

"Don't worry~ I'm a good swimmer~" Taylor raised his head like a proud white swan.

"Really? I heard there are a lot of sharks in this sea area." Leon spread his hands, "Can you be faster than a shark, athlete? By the way, sharks are nocturnal animals."

As he spoke, he stomped forward on the sand.

The sudden noise caused Taylor to cry out in surprise.

"Le Ang!" Looking at the other party's shameless expression, Taylor's fair cheeks blushed like ripe tomatoes.

After a while of playing, the two walked side by side on the beach. This kind of "one-on-one date" originally made Li Ang very uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Taylor didn't mention Robbie throughout the whole process.

They talked about interesting things from their childhood and their insights into music.

Taylor was full of pride when talking about her parents. Her father was a former securities broker at Merrill Lynch; although her mother was a full-time housewife, she had previously worked as a marketing director for an investment fund.

Such a family environment allowed her to live a wealthy life since childhood and pursue her musical dream without any worries.

At the age of 11, he got the opportunity to audition for a record company.

Li Ang remained silent when he heard this. From any perspective, Taylor's parents did not seem to be shrewd financial people.

The fact that Scott now holds some of the copyright to Taylor's works is ultimately due to his parents.

For the sake of short-term benefits, the seeds of future disasters are sown.

"I don't seem to have ever heard anything about your family." Taylor suddenly turned the topic to Leon.

The name of Street Coconut Crisp has always been at the center of the storm in the entertainment industry, and Li Ang’s past experiences have long been exposed.

But there has never been any report about his family situation.

"My family?" Li Ang was a little surprised. "My mother makes great chocolate."

"Really? Then I hope I can have the chance to taste it someday!"

"No problem." Leon also wanted to satisfy Taylor, but the prerequisite was that he had to have a mother.

After returning from their stroll on the beach, it was clear that something was not right with the two.

Even a fool can see this change.

Taylor was almost pressed tightly against Leon. Except that their arms were not linked together, the two looked as intimate as a couple.

Scott couldn't suppress his stabbing gaze and stared at Leon.

Before leaving, Taylor whispered meaningfully in Leon's ear: "Thank you for what you gave me today~"

"What should I give you?" Li Ang was full of questions.

Taylor always deliberately puts on a tsundere attitude and speaks like a riddle man.

"Inspiration." Taylor said, "I think I'll have new works soon~"

Four days later, Li Ang finished all his performances in Miami and couldn't wait to return to New York.

Around five in the afternoon, the Apocalypse Music headquarters was already packed with people.

Due to schedule conflicts in Miami, the filming crew has not yet properly celebrated its first week box office success.

"We did it, Bro~" Upon seeing Leon, Davis was the first to rush up and hug him tightly.

With the success of the movie "Straight Outta Compton", he has truly entered Hollywood as an actor.

He could even be considered a movie star.

He successfully portrayed the image of Ice Cube on the big screen and received unanimous praise from the media, who believed that he had a "wild beauty".

Li Ang inadvertently fulfilled his promise at the Brownsville subway station and took this guy to success.

"Okay, damn it." Leon broke free from the hug, "Stop acting like a damn fag."

After everyone vented their excitement, Leon picked up a glass of whiskey and walked up to James Wan.

"We did it James."

"I knew we would succeed, but I didn't expect it to be so successful!" James Wan's joy was no less than Leon's.

"Compton" broke his own record for the highest opening weekend box office for a film he directed.

One step closer to becoming a top Hollywood director.

"This weekend's box office champion may still be ours, and the revelry will continue." Li Ang patted the other man's shoulder. "Our biggest rival this week is Super 8. Fuck, what a ridiculous name!"

"This name is really stupid," James Wan laughed out loud.

As a Malaysian of Chinese descent, I quickly discovered the homophonic meaning of the title of "Super 8" after translating it.

Luca, the newly appointed legal advisor, was also at the celebration and quickly got along with everyone with his eloquent tongue.

He suggested to Li Ang that if he wanted to continue to work in the film and television industry, it would be necessary to set up a film and television company.

Currently, Li Ang owns a company called Apocalypse Film and Entertainment, but it is only registered to go through the Film Association’s procedures and is basically an empty shell.

As long as we continue to develop in this industry, conflicts with issuers will inevitably arise in the future.

Just like Paramount and Marvel Studios arguing over the ownership of IP.

Getting this company up and running as soon as possible will significantly improve its competitiveness in the industry.

The party lasted until ten o'clock in the evening, and people began to leave one after another.

Having just finished a heavy workload of commercial performances, Li Ang felt very tired.

When he was about to leave, Ariana hugged him from behind and said in a soft voice, "Do you want to come to my house tonight~"

"Maybe not tonight." Leon turned around and touched Ariana's head lovingly.

Little A, who was rejected, could not hide his lost expression.

"We're going somewhere special tonight!"

After saying that, before Ariana could react, Leon grabbed her wrist and left.

Driving a Porsche 997 across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Although Ariana didn't know where she was going, she already had all kinds of fantasies in her head.

When passing by an adult-themed hotel, she exclaimed to herself, "I have never been to such a place."

When the car approached Central Park, her face flushed red. "Is it here?"

The weather in June was perfect, and there was no shortage of adventurous people in Central Park every evening.

Finally, Leon drove into the Tribeca area of lower Manhattan.

The house purchase contract had already been signed, and the first thing he did after returning to New York was to arrange for the finance department to transfer $1200 million to the agency.

I got the keys to my new house smoothly.

"Wow~ This place is amazing~" Even Ariana, who came from a wealthy family, was fascinated at first sight when she entered here.

The house has a total area of approximately 4500 square feet, is divided into two floors, and has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and a private terrace with a glass roof.

The spacious double-height living room is filled with natural light, with floor-to-ceiling windows extending all the way to the ceiling.

In the center of the living room is a suspended fireplace, surrounded by top-quality custom-made leather sofas and art decorations.

The bathroom is also designed with floor-to-ceiling windows, so you can enjoy the night view of the Hudson River while taking a bath and drinking.

When buying a house in America, people pay attention to the fact that the house can be moved in right away. The open kitchen is equipped with all kinds of top-quality kitchenware.

There's a Gaggenau oven, a Saab refrigerator, and a long Italian marble island.

Overall, although it cannot be called a top-tier luxury home, it is definitely the lifelong pursuit of Manhattan's business elites.

"Come here, Xiao A." Li Ang stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room and opened the curtains.

Holding the wine glass in his left hand, he put his right hand around Ariana's waist.

Hudson River, One World Trade Center, Brooklyn Bridge.
Get a panoramic view of these New York landmarks that often appear in Hollywood movies.

Ariana stood on tiptoe and gently touched Leon's face, "Let's go to the bedroom. I want it."

"Bedroom? No." Leon shook his head and hugged Ariana tighter, his eyes like a greedy wolf, "Here tonight!"

"Here?!" Ariana's mouth instantly turned into an "O" shape.

Li Ang didn't give her time to sort out her emotions, and laid her down on the carpet with his right hand.

Ariana was at a loss, glancing at the scenery outside the window from time to time with a dazed look in her eyes.

In a trance, the only seal of the suspender skirt was easily removed by Li Ang.

The house was dedicated under the witness of the Manhattan skyline.

(End of this chapter)