America 1982

At 5.50, Tommy woke up ten minutes earlier than the alarm clock. First he reached out and turned off the alarm clock on the bedside table, and then gently kissed Otilia's forehead lying next to him. Ottilia might have felt slightly uncomfortable. It was a bit itchy, so I buried half of my face in the pillow before going back to sleep.

In order to avoid waking Otilia, Tommy got out of bed slightly, walked out of the bedroom in his pajamas, changed into sportswear for morning exercise in the dressing room outside, drank half a glass of water, and then walked briskly to his front yard.

The fitness instructor who was running with Tommy and Paige were already waiting outside.

Although Tommy didn't expect to have a body as strong as Jason or his brother Tony, he also didn't want this body to be ruined by alcohol or playing music every night before he was forty years old, so he insisted on getting in the morning every morning. Run, go home for a swim in the evening, do stretching exercises, etc. to keep your body shape and weight at a relatively healthy level.

The fitness instructor accompanied Tommy to do some warm-up exercises, and then started jogging along the road in the community to the park. Paige drove the car, holding the steering wheel with one hand, leaning half of her body against the open window, empty He supported his head with his left hand and followed slowly behind the two of them.

After running five kilometers in the scenic Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills, Tommy did not go back through the park. Instead, he walked out of the park onto the main road and prepared to go home along the main road.

Of course there is a reason for this, because the day of local residents in Beverly Hills is almost the same as Tommy's, starting around six o'clock. You can see morning jogging in parks and on Santa Monica Boulevard accompanied by coaches or bodyguards. people.

Most of the stores on Santa Monica Boulevard open at six o'clock, such as coffee shops, newsstands and some specialty breakfast shops, but the most popular ones are those on Santa Monica Boulevard. This is why Tommy doesn't want to go back the same way after every morning run. Instead, he goes for a walk on the avenue to buy a cup of coffee before going home.

Although Beverly Hills sounds like a general name for the living areas near Beverly Hills, it is actually different. Santa Monica Boulevard is a clear dividing line. On the north side of the avenue is the mansion area where Tommy lives, Beverly Hills. The further north you go, the higher the mountains, the higher the scenery, and the higher the price of housing.

South of Santa Monica Boulevard are many regular attractions for ordinary people traveling to Beverly Hills, including some luxury stores, department stores, and some residential areas with relatively low prices that can be purchased without a recommendation letter. Ordinary movie stars will choose to live on the south side of Santa Monica Boulevard because they are likely to empty their bank accounts and struggle to get a recommendation letter approved by the homeowners committee to buy a luxury house, but they cannot afford it. Daily expenses.

Referring to Tommy's tragic experience, you can understand how scary the daily expenses can be. For example, the mansion he bought to use as a wedding house needs to be renovated. In order to avoid noise complaints from neighbors, he needs to rent three neighboring mansions nearby, and must strictly follow the Construction is carried out within the time specified by the owners' committee. Once the regulations are violated, he will be complained immediately. At the least, he will be deemed a bad neighbor, and at worst, he will be jointly forced to resell and move out. This also causes the construction period of the luxury house to be continuously extended. During this period All labor costs are increasing exponentially.

Therefore, basically the Hollywood group living in the north only has the real top male stars, and then there are the bosses of various film companies, gold medal producers and the like.

For many Hollywood movie stars, this Santa Monica Boulevard is their touchstone in Hollywood. Only entering the North Side can prove that you are already a legend in the American film industry.

The gym business on Santa Monica Boulevard is booming from morning to night for no reason. Countless ambitious and beautiful young girls rush in to grab the seat closest to the window when the gym opens at six o'clock. They don't care about the location of the fitness equipment, whether it's a spinning bike, a treadmill, or even weightlifting.

These women have the most expensive VIP membership cards at the gym, but they never use the gym's locker room. They will change into tights at home, and then come to the gym door to wait for it to open, just so that they can wear it as soon as possible. The tights that show off her beautiful figure appear in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the gym in the early morning, observing the men enjoying the morning accompanied by drivers or bodyguards on this street. They are hunters and prey at the same time.

They all hold the same idea, that is, if a Hollywood producer happens to be lucky enough to pass by their window this morning, and he happens to think that he suits their taste, he might get the chance to become famous overnight.

These girls will do anything to catch a rich man or get to know a big shot in the film and television industry. Peppa Pig, George and their fitness instructors were all talked to directly by these women when they were done. They would tell Peppa Pig enough to be their father. Qi, as long as she is willing to introduce her to Tommy and give her the opportunity to live in a mansion in the North District, it does not matter whether she wants her to pay money or to sleep with him.

Many gardeners, drivers, and housekeepers have encountered this kind of thing. Even at the risk of being discovered and fired by their employer, there are always people who take desperate risks and use this excuse to find opportunities to trick girls into sleeping with each other. Using this false pretense to introduce the other person to the employer, but actually tricking the other person into having sex, is considered a perk of working in Beverly Hills.

Tommy was not prepared to play this kind of male-female game where prey and hunters could not be defined, but it did not prevent him from coming to Santa Monica Boulevard after his morning run every day to admire these beauties of various races and skin colors. Visual enjoyment, bring you a good mood to start a new day.

Admiring the picture of perfect women exercising, when she returned to her residence, Otilia had already gotten up and finished washing. At this time, she was discussing today's arrangements with her assistant in front of the porch. When she saw Tommy coming back, she interrupted the conversation, stood up and walked After giving Tommy a good morning kiss back and forth, he let Tommy go to take a shower.

By the time Tommy had changed his clothes and sat down at the dining table, breakfast had been prepared. Dorothy had placed a newspaper in front of his seat. Dorothy had also turned on the TV early and tuned it to the morning news that he often watched.

"I'm going to KeyBank's California branch this morning to attend a meeting with California's outstanding customers, and then go to a low-level community to deliver a keynote speech on how KeyBank will help them complete community activation." Otilia sat down next to Tommy. , picked up the hot milk and took a sip: "When my assistant Erin was just finalizing the speech with me, there was a question. It mentioned why my boyfriend joined the TV industry. Of course, this is not an important question, but if someone Have a conversation about this and ask why you want to get into television, what do I say to them?”

Tommy cast his gaze from the newspaper to Otilia's face, and was a little confused: "Why does this problem arise? I mean your speech? Who wrote it for you? Fire her, Otilia, don't let it happen Your family or relatives always appear in your external image. If a man shows his family and relatives in his public image, it means that the man has a sense of responsibility. But every time a woman appears in public, she is always accompanied by her family and relatives, which will dilute your independence. The image of women, working women.”

"So, when other people talk to me about family issues and love issues, I give them a straight face, hey, pay attention to your attitude, I am an independent woman, I don't need a family, I don't need a relationship? Why should I be so hypocritical, I am a A woman will become a mother in the future, and I will eventually return to my family." Otilia heard Tommy's words, thought for a few seconds, and asked.

Tommy put a piece of light shrimp on Otilia's plate: "It's not hypocritical, it's unnecessary. Of course you need family and love, but your speech writing secretary didn't understand a problem at all. , that means not everything about you needs to be told to everyone, right? This is her problem and you should consider firing her. Of course, you don't have to listen to my opinion, but you have to tell her if she Working as a speech writing secretary for Tommy Hawke, she didn’t have to do anything except dress up nicely every day and stand next to me as a vase to entertain me, because I would never use the rubbish speech she wrote. "

"Like my job?" Sophia walked in from the outside at this time, sat at the dining table and asked with a smile: "Good morning, Otilia, good morning, Tommy."

Just like Otilia's assistant, Sophia would come to Tommy's residence every day during breakfast time, have breakfast with him, and give some work arrangements for the day.

"Good morning, of course you are different, Sophia!" Otilia said to Sophia seriously immediately, and then looked at Tommy, trying to use a serious tone to make Tommy realize the seriousness of what he just said: "Tang Mi, if anyone hears what you just said, they will feel hurt, whether it is my assistant or Sophia."

"Of course you are different, Sophia." Otilia breathed a sigh of relief at Tommy's words, but after Tommy picked up the coffee and took a sip, he added something:

"Because you are not eye-catching at all, but I must admit that although you are not a flower vase, you are now indispensable. Let's put it this way, except that you are not qualified for the work of lawyers and judges, you can now serve as an assistant to the president or handle affairs in any company. Some of the work of the vice president is all due to me. In the past two years, I taught you word by word how to work, but what makes me regret is that you never paid me tuition, and what’s even more regrettable is that you earned so much With so much money, you don’t even think about improving your appearance and making yourself look more like a beautiful vase.”

"Tommy~!" Otilia frowned: "You must maintain due respect for Sophia."

Sophia was used to it, and just smiled at Otilia and said: "Otilia, can you provide me with legal aid? I want to sue Tommy Hawke, this bastard, who has been verbally harassing me over the years. I want him to be ruined and ruined."

"Can you wait until I get married to him, and then you initiate a lawsuit? This will make it easier for me to get more sympathy from the court and get more property with him as the at-fault party when I divorce him." Ottilie Of course Ya knew that Sophia was joking and said with a smile.

Tommy looked at the two women with an affirmative tone: "You know what? If I were the dean of your law school, I would never let you kind-hearted people have the opportunity to get a diploma. You have such qualities as kindness, sensibility, and love for fantasy. , it is a disgrace to American law schools. You two want to sue me? Let’s put it this way, it is more difficult than me believing in the fundamental doctrines of Mormonism, becoming the leader of this cult, and then using the doctrines to enslave all young women in California. It’s better to be brainwashed to accept polygamy and willingly marry me.”

"I can't believe that there are still people who believe that Tommy respects women, and this guy said right in front of me that he wants all the young women in California to marry him. What an appetite, Tommy." Sophia said sarcastically.

"I've always had a big appetite." Tommy nodded, not denying it.

Sophia looked at Otilia: "You have to be careful, Otilia, you just heard that this guy has revealed his true face. He has plans for young girls throughout California."

"I think the one who needs to be more careful is you, Sophia. If Tommy is really that bad, as his assistant, you are the first woman to be hurt by him." Otilia smiled and said to Sophia, He turned to look at Tommy again and said firmly:

"He respects women, I'm sure."

But soon, Otilia's face changed:

"But I don't understand, why do you bring up my and Sophia's names every time you disparage the American judiciary? What's wrong with us going to law school?"

After finishing speaking, Otilia put her own sandwich with fried eggs, Spanish sausage, and semi-melted Swiss chocolate on Tommy's plate:

"This is the price you pay for teasing me and Sophia."

In Otilia's opinion, forcing Tommy to eat two high-calorie and high-fat sandwiches for breakfast was a very vicious punishment.

"Maybe you can add me as well?" Sophia pushed the uneaten sandwich in front of Tommy and made a gloating expression.

Tommy looked at the three sandwiches in front of him and ate them without hesitation. He seemed to have a great appetite. Within a few minutes, he swallowed the three sandwiches. Then he picked up the coffee and took a sip: "I said, I I’ve always had a huge appetite.”

"I think the reason is not the size of the appetite, but Dorothy's breakfast is very delicious." Otilia saw that Tommy had eaten all the sandwiches, so she divided two apple pancakes for herself and Sophia to satisfy their hunger. .

“Of course Dorothy’s cooking skills are very good, but I still have a doubt, that is, Dorothy has mastered the preparation methods of various European and American delicacies in home economics class, but I suggested that she help me learn how to prepare a variety of European and American delicacies. It’s been two weeks since we had a Chinese breakfast, and she hasn’t let me see Chinese food on the table even once.” Tommy simply changed the topic.

"If you hadn't paid enough salary, your gardener and other servants would have already taken Dorothy and you to court, and her children would have been forced to taste her various practice works. Ready to sever ties with her, Dorothy practices hard every day, but she wants to make sure that she won't poison anyone, and that the food must be delicious before she dares to let you taste it. Don't let him change the subject, Otilia, let him …”

Tommy didn't wait for Sophia to finish asking, and immediately changed the other party's question to another earlier question: "Let's go back to Otilia's original question, OK? Why did I join the television industry? Because it is very important now and in the future. For a long time, I have believed that television is a more important channel for people to understand the truth and the world than newspapers and periodicals. Eyes are the windows to the soul. I am the eyes of the American people, and I will let them see the truth they need to see. .”

Otilia nodded thoughtfully. No matter what her boyfriend did, he had a great and impeccable reason.

Before making software, he wanted to let the people at the bottom change their destiny through technology and knowledge.

Now in television, he wants the American people to have the eyes to see the truth and understand the world.

"So, do you think that the current TV networks are deceiving the American people, and you are ready to let the audience see the truth?" Otilia followed the answer Tommy told her and asked another question: "Then Doesn’t it mean that all TV networks will give you a lot of resistance like Lotus did back then, so your TV station will also be remembered by the American people because of a competition or a certain confrontation like Actor?"

"No, maybe there will be competition based on ratings, but it won't be what you think." Tommy said to Otilia with a firm tone: "Also, in my conception, this is the first time that the BT TV network has been replaced by the United States. People will remember names not because of ratings competition or confrontation."

"In your opinion, what is the reason why BT TV station will be famous in the United States for the first time?" Ottilia asked curiously.

"Because the BT TV network allows the American people to see..." Tommy drank the last sip of coffee, wiped the corners of his mouth, and said with a smile:

"a beautiful sight to behold."

"Oh... that must be beautiful." Otilia heard Tommy's seemingly casual and perfunctory answer and did not continue to ask. She responded in the same perfunctory way and continued to enjoy breakfast.

After Ottilia finished breakfast and left with her assistant team, Sophia said to Tommy with a firm tone: "Behind the greatness and beauty, there must be some small thoughts hidden."

She knew Tommy's quality back then, and she was under the banner of equal rights in science and technology. In fact, when she first met her, she frankly admitted that large companies in the computer industry were building an industry ecological structure. However, she did not understand this at all when they met for the first time. The meaning of this sentence was not until much later, when I accompanied this bastard to meet Delia, that I fully understood that talk about equal rights in technology and female employment were empty talk, and he wanted to kill Lotus and replace it.

So what Tommy said just now sounded great and pure, but Sophia was sure that Tommy had other hidden motives.

"My thoughts are not small, and I don't need to hide them. One question is, after the Murdoch Group established a media empire in Australia and the United Kingdom, why did it still borrow heavily and land in the United States with billions of debt pressure in an attempt to expand its business in the United States? The media industry has established a firm foothold, even if it is regarded as a thorn in the side by countless newspaper tycoons and the three major television networks in the United States, even if every day, his American business will lose millions of dollars in total, and he will not look back?" Tommy laughed. Then he looked at Sophia and asked a question.

Sophia thought of several answers in her mind, but she denied them without speaking, and finally shook her head.

"Okay, let's change the question. In this magical country like the United States, what is the most useful weapon for politicians?" Tommy saw Sophia hesitate to speak several times, and finally shook his head and changed the question with a smile.

Thinking of the arrangements this guy had made for Tony, Susan, David, Dennis, and even Otilia, Earl Rush, etc., Sophia tentatively spoke slowly, word by word:

"Popular Sentiment."