Darkstone Code

Chapter 1206 - 1204: Jinghai Qihang

In a person’s life, they experience many things and endure long periods of time. An ignorant girl might just be a small pebble in Lynch’s life.

It fell into the long river of time, and the ripples it caused calmed down before touching the shore.

That day, young Fox called Lynch, inviting him to the premiere of "Lynch’s Adventure 2," also known as "Jinghai Qihang."

He also needed to inform Lynch that the board meeting was about to start, for the purpose of going public.

Fox Film Corporation had been preparing for a long time to go public, delaying repeatedly, and even scrapping the halfway-shot "Lynch’s Adventure 2" to reshoot it entirely.

To ensure a strong start upon going public, they decided to abandon shooting in the studio and relocate the scenes onto a real luxury yacht, the very same "Every Moment."

This increased the budget significantly for the film, but the board had no objections, believing this move would help quickly boost the stock price of Fox Film Corporation post-listing.

More budget, grander scenes, and more advanced technology—all these imply that the film will become a historical milestone.

Whether it succeeds or fails, it will be so.

Now the film is completed, and preparations for the premiere are underway.

As both the protagonist of the true story behind this film and a major shareholder in the company, Lynch felt it necessary to attend.

Subsequently, he asked Anna to arrange the itinerary for him.

In early August, the rising heat transformed Laridemo into a living hell.

It’s a bit exaggerated, but it was indeed hot!

Even hotter was people’s enthusiasm!

Everywhere on the streets were young men and women dressed fashionably, coming here to follow in the steps of stars or hoping to be discovered by a talent scout, changing their lives.

Many people think acting is an easy job, but in reality, it’s not.

In the morning, Penny woke up in her air-conditioned room, kicking off the thin velvet blanket over her, sitting up and freshening up, then greeting Nelly, who was already up.

The two girls got along well for certain reasons. During her stay in Laridemo, Penny lived in Nelly’s villa.

She didn’t buy it; it was allocated by the company, and the whole community was in similar situations.

Production or management companies would buy entire communities and then house their contracted artists here.

Those without fame would live in less desirable homes, and sometimes ten to twenty people might squeeze into one villa.

If they were famous and already stars, they might live two to a villa, or alone in one.

Social realities, stark and brutal, were vividly reflected here; compared to the hopeful girls across the street, who even queued for the bathroom, things were much better on this side.

After breakfast, the two girls headed out, as Lynch would arrive that morning. He would first attend a company meeting, then attend the premiere in the evening.

They needed to wait for him and then accompany him around here.

As they left, the villa across opened its door too, with some girls equally dressed to the nines going out. Nelly knew one of them and waved, with the girl across responding.

The girl naturally walked over, "Do you have a gig this morning?"

Nelly shook her head, hesitating for a moment, "Just personal matters. How about you?"

She noticed these girls dragging suitcases, guessing, "Are you heading somewhere to shoot?"

"No!" the girl laughed, "We have auditions, several of them..."

Nelly was somewhat surprised, and a sincere smile appeared on her face, "Good luck, I mentioned to the company last time that I hope you can join my movie. They said they’d consider it..."

After exchanging a few more small talks, the girl left.

Once she left, Penny pursed her lips and said mockingly, "Such a pretentious person; her smile is like that of a twenty-dollar roadside hooker. How did you know her?"

After spending much time with Penny, Nelly realized that this girl can be really sharp sometimes; her words can be hurtful!

Their relationship with Lynch was semi-transparent, and nearly everyone in the Federation knew about it, which allowed Penny to fully express herself.

She just wanted to be her "true self," her personality somewhat unpleasant, but some people appreciated her "authenticity."

Sometimes when she gestured or cursed at the media, drawing coverage, many young people went crazy for her.

They felt she was a genuine girl, unlike those pitiful phonies, who were hypocritical from start to end.

With her fondness for games and eccentric outfits, her influence among young people is growing stronger.

Nelly’s situation is quite the opposite—quiet, polite, she is often liked by slightly older people, who happen to be the "pillars" of this era.

They are in their prime, have spending power, so her status in the entertainment industry is steadily rising.

Their complementary personalities make their on-screen partnership very appealing, and some viewers continuously write to Fox Film Corporation, hoping to see the once-classic scene in a movie—fighting.

It is said that Fox Film Corporation promised this scene will appear, something many are looking forward to, especially since the fight in the last commercial was so realistic, it seemed genuine!

The two girls playfully drove away, Nelly’s former roommate looked at the car’s taillights with a mix of envy and jealousy, her gaze deep, took a while to snap out of it with a touch from her roommate.

A bus stopped in front of them, yes, a bus, but not too big.

Sitting in the car, as the vehicle shook, the scenery outside started quickly retreating; the atmosphere inside was subdued, no one spoke.

Everyone was acutely aware of their upcoming tasks— the company hoped to gain something at this year’s end awards ceremony, they must perfect their public relations.

In the Federation, whether a film is an "award-winning film," viewers don’t decide, critics don’t decide, it must be decided by those in the movie academy.

A total of fifty voters, they can determine whether a movie gets awarded.

Every year, the films applying for various awards are outstanding, no one uses bad films to apply for awards, which forces everyone to choose among numerous movies—a tough choice.

But if there’s some interference... it seems it would become simpler.

Yes, public relations, the people in the car, their task this trip is to persuade those academy film-people holding voting power, to save their votes for Fox Film Corporation.

Half an hour later, the girl switched cars and was driven to a private villa in a van, greeted by a seemingly sixty-year-old man wearing just a thin robe.

Under the robe was his bloated, disfigured body. His face had some liver spots, he seemed older than he actually was; he smiled then, observing the girl as if she were a commodity.

Then he nodded satisfied, turned around, and sat on a sofa, "Child, what are you waiting for?"

The girl took a deep breath, forced a smile, she had to be here a whole day, she had no choice, this was the only way for an ordinary person like her to achieve dreams...

Meanwhile, in Fox Film Corporation’s new office building, Lynch sat in a chair by the window, with most of Laridemo behind him.

The blazing sun was heating up the whole city, from here, it looked as though the air was boiling.

Everything became distorted behind the steaming air, not quite real.

Little Fox was still reading some things, including possible scenarios after the listing, and some consignment contracts.

Very conventional stuff, Lynch didn’t pay much attention.

The board was very focused on these, after all, they touched everyone’s interests, Lynch didn’t care much, this amount of money was not as compelling for him anymore.

He still held stocks of Fox Film Corporation, in some way, this was paying back old Mr. Fox’s "friendship."

He endured, didn’t say a word, so Lynch had to repay the old man.

Holding company stocks was the best way, merely having his name among the shareholders could add immeasurable hidden assets to Fox Film Corporation.

When everything was over, it was about noon, declined Little Fox and other board members’ invitation for lunch, Lynch met two girls in the company’s VIP room.

"Wow, did you miss me?", Penny jumped up and hugged Lynch.

Lynch looked a bit helpless, "You should be more reserved, you’re already an adult."

"Who says adults have to be reserved?", she pouted and kissed Lynch’s face, Lynch disdainfully pushed her head away.

"You’re disgusting, all slobber...", he "peeled" Penny off himself and threw her on the couch, took out a handkerchief to wipe his cheek, still added, "Really disgusting!"

Sometimes some things are very interesting, Penny’s... let’s call it candidness according to the media’s wording, has a real impact on "old men" like Lynch.

If a girl is more reserved, not so proactive, subtly expressing emotions, Lynch might never touch her even once.

It’s not that he has physiological problems, it’s just that he’s experienced so much, these things no longer hold any allure for him.

His heart is very calm, bring another quiet girl, the two might sit face-to-face for a day without anything happening.

She is different though, she is like a huge stone falling from the sky, crashing into the lake, the splashes directly wet the shore!

So Lynch does not dislike her, as for Nelly... he just behaves relatively "quiet" with her.

After a brief hug, they talked about where to go play in the afternoon.