King of Hollywood
Chapter 641 - 49: The Advantage of Status

Chapter 641: Chapter 49: The Advantage of Status

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became a few shades more oppressive. Aunt Martha looked worriedly at her husband, Diane was uneasily glancing at her boyfriend, and Uncle Anderson, as if he noticed nothing, calmly cut a small piece of vegetable and put it in his mouth before he finally spoke languidly, "That’s a matter for you young people to resolve on your own."

Immediately, everyone in the room, including Victor and Adrian, let out a sigh of relief in their hearts. Especially Adrian, it was he who facilitated Victor’s return to his parents’ home in New York for dinner tonight, and if things had gotten as heated with Uncle Anderson as they used to, it would have been awful.

Thankfully, the uncle never interrupted their conversation and didn’t show that tendency to give lessons as he used to; it was indeed a rarity.

"I’m serious, Victor. I’ve looked at that website you’re running, and it’s quite good. As I said before, anyone who can still invest in the IT sector at this time and manage it well must be someone with a forward-thinking vision, and I, I need such a person to offer help," said Adrian after dinner, as Uncle Anderson retired to the study, and Aunt Martha and Diane went aside to chat about women’s matters, leaving Adrian to naturally continue the dinner conversation with Victor.

"It’s just a small website," Victor shrugged, "and it’s only my company’s official site, there’s no need to make a big deal out of it."

"No, no, no, Victor," Adrian shook his head emphatically, "Sometimes small things can reveal a person’s habits and abilities. Your company’s official site may not be big, but some aspects are very well-crafted and appealing, and most of them are from your ideas. You should be working on websites rather than advertising and printing."

He paused for a moment and then looked at Victor half-jokingly, "Otherwise, I might have to resort to some special measures, like acquiring your company."

"I’m not going to sell, Ed," Victor chuckled, "Do you really want me that badly to come over and help you?"

"Yes, I have many ideas about website operations. With the growth of AC Media, to prevent some problems in the future, any further involvement with websites may require independent operations. So, I need a capable and insightful person to assist, much like Claude and me," Adrian said earnestly. "You have a sharp sense for this field, Victor. I can tell from that small official website of your company."

"That’s quite a punch to the gut." After a silence, Victor sighed, "Just as I finally make something of myself, you come along and tell me this isn’t my field, Ed, you’re even more..."

He gestured and then laughed, "Alright, I’ll consider it. Seriously this time. I’ll give you an answer by Thanksgiving at the latest."

"I’ll await your good news," Adrian said, smiling as he patted Victor’s shoulder. "Alright, I’m going to talk to the uncle for a bit. Don’t worry, it’s just company stuff, and I won’t pressure you through him—besides, that wouldn’t work anyway."

Adrian’s desire to woo Victor wasn’t just to impress the uncle. Long ago, Adrian had recognized Victor’s talent in management, but at that time, he simply wanted to bring him into the company for oversight. After the IT bubble burst, Adrian quickly noticed Victor’s other strength—in web operations, he had a keen sense. For instance, the official website featured several click-friendly and user-friendly interfaces from his creativity. And then, when many investors were shying away from the IT industry, he keenly invested in eBay and Yahoo.

To act in such a way at this time, one is either recklessly speculative or a visionary investor. Adrian believed Victor to be the latter. Over several years, his understanding of Victor’s character was quite solid; otherwise, he wouldn’t have considered bringing him into his own group. Clearly, Victor had always been learning, and learning well; he was certainly not satisfied with the status quo. Besides, with Adrian’s renowned foresight and having built a large group in less than a decade, it would be impossible for Victor not to be intrigued. Indeed, in those last few sentences, Victor had already shown his hand.

First, letting Victor take charge of the web operations to see if he could grasp their essence was Adrian’s thought. Although Victor had shown good judgment, aside from someone like Adrian with foreknowledge, hardly anyone could comprehensively foresee the trends of the web. Moreover, those currently excelling in websites were mostly under thirty, making it necessary to test Victor further. But this was nothing serious; if he was capable, that would be great, and if not, it was no big deal—as his ability in management was still there.

Knock, knock, knock. Adrian knocked twice on the study door and entered after receiving permission.

"Have a seat," Anderson motioned toward the chair in front of him, his gaze never leaving the photo frame in his hands, before finally placing it on the desk after a long moment.

It was a quite ordinary photo that seemed somewhat faded even in its frame—a small boy riding on a man’s shoulders, both with beaming smiles. Adrian shook his head inwardly; both Victor and Uncle Anderson were in fact inwardly tired of this antagonistic dynamic, after all, they were father and son.

Victor still cared about his father; otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought his girlfriend back to New York at Adrian’s urging. And Uncle Anderson was also trying not to interfere in his son’s life; otherwise, he wouldn’t have dismissed the subject so casually tonight. However, due to various reasons, including unresolved longstanding conflicts, the two of them still maintained an awkward relationship.

Indeed, there is no father and son without grudges. Adrian couldn’t help sighing inwardly again, and then fragments involuntarily popped up in his mind, from both this life and past lives, which momentarily left him feeling dazed.

"What are you thinking about?" Anderson, having adjusted his emotions, asked at that time.

"Um... nothing," Adrian, coming back to his senses, smiled, "just... thinking about my father."

Although he had never met his father in this life in terms of the two-thirds of his soul, he found many fragments from the remaining third of his soul—joyful, happy, quarreling, angry, and so on. Although some parts were not quite the same as the experiences of the two-thirds of his soul concerning his father, the majority was fundamentally the same in essence.

Hearing this, Anderson fell silent again, and after a moment, he sighed softly, "Geoff would be proud of you."

"Thank you." Although Adrian was moved by the father-son dynamics between Uncle Anderson and Victor, he soon recovered. It had been ten years, and his heart had long become incredibly strong. These emotions were merely a spice of life.

"Victor is slowly improving his relationship with you, Uncle Anderson, he even brought Diane home today," Adrian then said, "I think they are a good match."

"Diane is indeed very good," Anderson admitted, "It’s time for Victor to get married."

Diane Grison’s father ran a large business in Boston; although his wealth paled in comparison to Anderson Cowell, he was a significant figure in Boston. Diane’s upbringing was also very refined, so it was natural for Uncle Anderson to approve of her. Playing around with women and choosing a wife are different matters—playing around only requires mutual attraction, but choosing a wife requires finding a woman who can offer support.

Either the woman is very capable, like Trump’s current girlfriend, a model from Slovenia who is adept at weaving relationships for Trump—in fact, Trump’s first two wives were similar.

Or the woman comes from a good family, with value worth forming marital alliances, which is one of the reasons why high society adheres to the principle of "marrying equal social ranks," aside from conversation skills or shared interests.

"So how about you, Ed?" Anderson’s tone suddenly became very serious, "Geoff would be proud of you, except for one thing—you have children with three different mothers; what exactly are you thinking?"

You really are Uncle Anderson. Adrian smiled somewhat helplessly, then spread his hands, "Actually, there are two more children on the way, and... their mothers are also different."

"What?!" Even the usually composed Anderson couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock.

That would mean Adrian had fathered five children, all with different mothers... That was too extravagant!

"God, do you know what you’re doing, Ed?!" Anderson’s brow furrowed deeply, he waved his hand as if he wanted to cover his forehead.

"Relax, dear uncle, it’s no big deal." Adrian adopted a lazy tone, "Although I don’t plan to marry, they are all my children, that’s for certain, no need to worry, I will handle everything."

Anderson glared at him for a long time before sitting up straight and changing the topic, "Well then, speak of your purpose, What new ideas do you have?"

Truly worthy of being Uncle Anderson. Adrian thought to himself with admiration this time. While he liked to flex his power and enjoyed giving advice to younger relatives, he was also a pragmatic individual. Buffett was the perfect example; Uncle Anderson had never liked Jewish people and made no secret of it in their presence, yet he greatly admired Buffett.

"Very pragmatic and astute, and he doesn’t practice Judaism, so he can’t be considered Jewish," Anderson had said at the time.

To this, Adrian could only shrug his shoulders. Okay, Buffett was an agnostic, he might not count as Jewish, but what about those on Wall Street who did practice Judaism? But then again, it’s likely that few of the Jewish people on Wall Street were devout followers of the faith, especially orthodox Jews.

In any case, Adrian was now the head of one of the leading media conglomerates in the United States, and although Anderson could still make a few remarks as an elder in private, in other matters, they were equals. Thus, Anderson had to choose a suitable time if he wanted to reprimand him.

"At dinner earlier, I discussed with Victor that the group has a big move coming up; it bears some risk, but the rewards are equally high. Perhaps Uncle Anderson could offer me some suitable advice," Adrian said with a smile, his words as respectful as always. No matter what, family should be treated with the respect they deserved.

After the conversation in the study with his uncle, Adrian promptly took his leave, for he had his own place in New York and did not need to stay at his uncle’s house. Victor and Diane, however, stayed over. Although Anderson did not express his stance outright, Adrian was certain that, should success be possible, he would surely back him.

It was quite simple. As the boss of AC Media, Adrian was a native-born American and could be considered of English descent, or Anglo-Saxon to be specific. Just because of that alone, he could gain ample support in Hollywood, which was dominated by Jewish people.

"This identity is really too good," Adrian muttered half mockingly, half jestfully, from the balcony of his luxurious apartment, against the backdrop of the colorful lights of New York.

However, relying solely on his uncle’s support to achieve his goal was impossible. It was an all-encompassing competition, and securing Uncle Anderson’s support would increase the chances of success for Adrian and Claude, but it wouldn’t determine the victory of the entire acquisition. But that was okay; he wouldn’t know until he tried.

Having dealt with that matter, Adrian relaxed a bit more and spent a few extra days in New York, which of course, included asking Natalie out for some fun and... attending some cocktail parties.

"Yes, the Ice Age; I use this term to describe the current state of the IT industry, but in three to four years at most, it will rebound with vitality. The bursting of the bubble certainly dealt a major blow to the IT industry, but it also set it on a good trajectory," Adrian commented, lifting his glass, "That’s my view, gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me."

After that, he excused himself from the group. Cocktail parties were like that, with clusters of people standing or sitting together, praising each other, and using the opportunity to make new acquaintances. Those who had real business would find a room to talk privately.

How boring. He muttered to himself and casually placed his glass in a waiter’s tray, taking a somewhat bored seat on a bar stool. It was a pity he couldn’t bring Natalie along; her dissatisfied yet daring not to flare up demeanor was just too charming. Ivanka was also an option, but as soon as she got to New York, she returned to her father’s house. Although Trump had already accepted the current state of affairs, it seemed somewhat inappropriate to ask someone so directly...

So there he was, attending the cocktail party alone, greeting, making small talk, and chatting with people, both familiar and unfamiliar. Adrian stretched lazily and then glanced to the side, adding to himself: Or sitting at the bar, listening to some man boasting to a young woman about filmmaking.

"So-called expressive montage relies on the juxtaposition of shots, using the resonances, contrasts, metaphors, and symbols between images to reveal their intrinsic connections, imbuing them with new meanings, arousing the audience’s associations," a bearded man in his thirties was bragging extensively to a young woman who appeared to be around twenty.

Looking at the young woman, with her platinum blonde long hair, despite leaning against the bar stool, her graceful figure was somewhat enticing. Even just from her back, one could tell that she had a decent demeanor and probably came from a wealthy family. The man, however, though dressed formally, had a loosened shirt collar and a slackened tie dangling, with his shirt tucked into his waistband, giving off a seemingly nonchalant vibe... but the actual effect...

Seriously, using film-making schmoozing to pick up girls, and it’s all textbook lingo that’s almost never used in actual shooting, has he got water in his brain? At the thought, Adrian couldn’t help but snicker.

The man who could talk up a storm just had a brief pause here, which allowed him to hear the laughter and then, as he looked up, he saw the disdainful smile that flicked across Adrian’s face; he instantly became infuriated, "What, is there something wrong with what I said, sir?"

"No, certainly not, sir, you perfectly explained what expressive montage is," Adrian said with a laugh, waving his hand dismissively, not deigning to argue with him.

"Really? But I don’t think so. Perhaps you could tell why you think my explanation is perfect?" The man doggedly came over.

Adrian couldn’t help but shake his head with a laugh. Clearly, this guy probably thought he was about to win over the girl, but he had never managed to nail down the final step. So, when Adrian spoke up, he assumed his failure to seal the deal was due to Adrian’s interference and thus wanted to teach Adrian a lesson, hoping to take the opportunity to win the girl over.

"Rick, don’t do this." The girl he was chatting with hurriedly reached out to pull him back, but then she found the man had stopped moving and was looking at Adrian with an embarrassed expression.

"What’s wrong?" the girl asked curiously, then turned to look and exclaimed in a low, sharp scream, "Adrian Cowell!"

Then, she darted in front of Adrian in an instant, her eyes gleaming as she grabbed him, "Are you Mr. Adrian Cowell?! The Miracle Director from Hollywood! I’m so happy to meet you! So happy!"

Looking at her exhilarated manner, Adrian was somewhat baffled, but why did she look so familiar? Wait, wasn’t she... wasn’t she...

"You are... Mr. Richard Hilton’s daughter, right?" After searching in his head for a while, Adrian asked uncertainly.

"Yes, yes, my dad is Richard Hilton," the young girl said excitedly, shaking his arm continuously, "My name is Paris, Paris Hilton!"

Although she quickly realized her faux pas and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, her eyes still shone with bashfulness, yet she kept holding onto his arm.

So it really was that flamboyant heiress. Adrian raised an eyebrow. But how could she seem like a profligate girl now? She was just like a little woman dizzy with excitement at meeting her idol.

"I’m delighted to meet you, Paris. I am Adrian Cowell, and you can call me Adrian." After some effort, Adrian finally managed to discreetly extricate his arm and then turned to look at the man standing there, full of embarrassment, resentment, and gloom, "By the way, who might this be?"

Paris immediately turned her head and dissatisfiedly asked, "Didn’t you say you knew Adrian, Rick?"

"Um... well..." The man called Rick stammered without being able to speak.

"Nice to meet you, Rick. Perhaps we’ve met before, but I don’t recall, sorry, sometimes there are so many things happening that one’s memory can suddenly vanish," Adrian said as he stepped forward extending his hand.

The man obviously breathed a sigh of relief, reached out, and shook Adrian’s hand, "I’m so sorry, Mr. Cowell, I am Rick Solomon, my father is Robert Solomon."

Robert Solomon? Seemed to be the former Executive Vice President of Warner Brothers, probably met him before, but... Adrian glanced at Paris Hilton, who still looked displeased. This Rick Solomon couldn’t be... (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)