Manhattan Reborn 1978

South-central United States, Texas.

Southeast Texas, Houston.

Evening~

Houston Intercontinental Airport.

A medium-sized private plane flying from New York landed smoothly on the runway.

After half an hour.

David led Lilith, Laura and Toby into the car and left the airport.

on the way.

David, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked at the driver, Mr. Tianniu, curiously and asked.

"Did you fly here this morning?"

"Ok!"

"Then you have to follow me during this period of time?"

At this time, Mr. Tianniu, who was wearing a red-brown cowhide jacket + jeans + high sheepskin boots, raised his hand and took off his beige cowboy hat and handed it to David, smiling.

"The task I received this time is...as long as you don't return to New York, I will always serve you!"

"Um...every day?"

"every day!"

"24 hours?"

"of course not!"

"I need a break too!"

"I'm kidding man, don't mind!"

"will not."

"Hehe~"

David turned his head and glanced at the three still confused women in the back row, thought for a while, and asked again.

"Sorry ~ I know... I shouldn't have asked."

"But I'm very curious now!"

"How much reward did Otis Parker promise to give you for this mission?"

The beetle glanced at the "curious" David quickly with some surprise, pointed at a car in front, and smiled.

"The same as they get paid."

"Oh..." David looked at the car leading the way and nodded slowly.

In the car in front were four security personnel arranged by the Morgan family to accompany Laura and Lilith.

This group of people will also appear from time to time around Giles and Pine, Panaris and Elder.

It's just that David rarely sees Giles or Lilith taking the initiative to talk, chat, and communicate with them. .

It’s as if they are always there, yet they don’t exist at all~

. . .

The sun in the west gradually disappears into the distant horizon.

The car leading the way slowly stopped at an intersection.

David, who was sitting in the passenger seat, saw a familiar figure ahead through the headlights, running towards him while waving his arms~

David got out of the car and smiled at the oncoming old man: "Hi ~ Andres!"

"Why are you here?"

One-eyed Andres from the da security company smiled heartily: "Of course it's to welcome the boss back!"

"Hahaha~"

David happily gave him a hug: "Where are my dad and the others?"

"They're all waiting for you at home for dinner!"

"Wow~ Let's go back quickly then, don't keep them waiting..."

"ok~"

. . .

After more than 20 minutes.

Northwest of downtown Houston, on the eastern outskirts of the small city of Hempstead, there is a farm vacation home.

Old David and his wife Sierra stood at the door, looking at the three cars approaching in the distance, and finally let out a sigh of relief.

David got out of the last car, waved to his father and mother and said with a smile: "We are back!"

"Is dinner ready?"

"I'm hungry!"

"It's almost ready~" Sierra's mother looked at her son David running over, took his hand, kissed his cheek, and smiled fondly.

"Why do you look so thin?"

"no?"

David smiled and hugged his father, David Sr., and shrugged in a funny manner: "Mom, I've only been away for three days, how could I lose weight so fast?"

"Hahaha~"

Old David smiled and patted his wife Sierra's arm, reminding: "Let everyone go in first! After a while, the dishes will be cold..."

"Oh~ right!"

Sierra’s mother quickly turned around with a smile, and pulled Lilith, Laura, and Toby into the holiday house.

After being introduced by his son, Old David shook hands with Mr. Tianniu, then looked at the security personnel who were about to drive away voluntarily, and asked.

"Would you like to stay and have dinner together?"

"No, thank you!" One of the security personnel, a middle-aged man who looked very calm, smiled and waved his hand, led a few people directly into the car, and left~

. . .

in the restaurant.

Edward B. Trin, who came from the DA Security Company's New Jersey training base a few days ago, was pulled by David Sr. to sit in the guest seat.

Beside Old Cui En, there was a more mature-looking girl who was looking at David and Lilith curiously.

Sierra’s mother led the Malik sisters to bring out the prepared dishes from the kitchen and introduced them to her son David.

"This is Edward's daughter, Mary Sue."

"Hi~ I'm Mary Sue B. Trin." Mary Sue introduced herself to David and the others generously.

"Hello!" David responded with a smile and looked at his father, David, a little confused.

Before Old David could speak, Old Cui En introduced him first: "Mary Sue studied in the Journalism Department of the University of California, Berkeley a few years ago. After receiving her master's degree, she has been living in Los Angeles."

"until.."

"It wasn't until last year that I came back to help my mother take care of the farm and pasture~" Mary Sue continued as if she didn't want her father, Old Trin, to mention more unpleasant past events.

"Oh~"

Of course David understood Mary Sue’s intention of being “rude”, nodded and smiled.

"This is my fiancée Lilith, and Laura and Toby."

"Welcome to my home!"

"Thank you~" Seeing that David was so "sensible", Mary Sue happily raised her glass.

"cheers!"

"Cheers~"

"Hahaha~"

. . .

As the strange smell "wafted" in the restaurant, it gradually dissipated.

David was very interested in asking about the farms and ranches Mary Sue mentioned just now.

Old Cui En turned to look at his daughter and explained: "Our family first lived in western Texas, on a ranch on the southern outskirts of the small town of Monahans."

“Although the ranch’s area is not large, it is only over 7000 acres.”

"But in 53, it was discovered that there was an oil field with amazing reserves underground."

“After I signed an agreement with an oil company in 57, I set up several oil drilling rigs in the ranch~”

"Later, a friend of mine who lived in Austin, the capital of Texas, wanted to sell his farm."

"I bought it and my family moved to a farm north of Austin near Texas State University. The ranch was all leased to the oil company."

Old David put down the tableware in his hand and smiled at his son David: "We drove to Austin yesterday and stayed there for one night. It felt great!

"Hahaha~" Old Cui En said with a happy smile.

"If we hadn't known you were coming back today, we would have stayed at the farm for a few more nights!"

"Ah oh~"

David saw that both his father and mother felt great about this short experience, and naturally he smiled happily.

"Can we be guests again in a few days?"

"Of course!" Old Cui En readily agreed and turned to his daughter Mary Sue to signal.

"Whenever you have time, you can contact Mary Sue at any time."

"Are you...going to leave?" David heard another meaning in Old Cui En's words, and simply asked clearly.

"Yes!"

Old Cui En did not deliberately cover up or prevaricate, he smiled directly and said: "The day after tomorrow, I have to report to the bail officer in New Jersey!"

"I can't accompany you during this period of time."

"Forehead.."

David was reminded of Old Cui En's words and suddenly remembered. .

Lawrence, the head of da security company, once mentioned that Old Cui En served time in a New Jersey prison and was only released on bail in November last year~

"Bail...?" Lilith, Laura and Toby, who had no idea about Old Trin's past, all stopped their movements in surprise and looked at him.

David soon noticed that Mary Sue's expression was a little unnatural, so he immediately changed the subject with a smile and asked her.

"Mary Sue, you graduated in journalism?"

"Then what job did you do in Los Angeles after graduation?"

"..." Mary Sue put down the tableware, quickly glanced at everyone on the table, and replied with a smile.

"I work at the ABC headquarters in Burbank, near Los Angeles."

"ABC headquarters?!"

"When I went to Los Angeles, my friend told me that the ABC TV headquarters is next to the Disney Studios, the headquarters of the Disney Company. Is that right?"

"Yes~"

Mary Sue relaxed a little, picked up the wine glass and gestured to David, smiling: "Because Disney is the largest shareholder of ABC TV station."

"So, ABC's headquarters in California is right next to the Disney headquarters."

"When I was working there, I could often see some Hollywood stars, well-known hosts, and well-known producers."

David also raised his glass and smiled kindly at Mary Sue: "When I was in New York, I met a staff member of ABC's New York branch."

"He said that your ABC TV station, the historical series "Roots" broadcast in 77, had a total of more than [-] million viewers, setting a record for the highest ratings in the history of American television!"

"Yes~"

Mary Sue put down her wine glass more curiously, glanced at her father, Old Cui En, who was smiling, and said tentatively again.

"Have you seen Roots too?"

"No~"

David spread his left hand regretfully and said with a smile: "I only started paying attention to this popular TV series after my mother mentioned it."

"But then when VCRs became popular, my friend Black Mike got a set of "Roots" video tapes from somewhere, so I joined in and watched it with him~"

"Then how do you feel about it?" Mary Sue asked "aggressively".

"Yeah..." David glanced at Old Cui En who was deliberately "watching the show" and replied almost without thinking.

"Marvin J. Chomsky, one of the directors of "Roots", used very real lens language to film the blood and tears history of the Quinta Kent family that spanned several generations and more than half a century."

"As for the black writer Alex Haley, the author of the novel "Roots", what he wants to write... What he wants to dedicate to his ancestor Kunta is him and his descendants. This paragraph is exciting and extremely depressing. s story."

"It's just that this story coincides with the history of the United States."

"As a TV series adapted from a novel, "Roots" undoubtedly perfectly interprets the situations and character relationships described in the novel, as well as all the sufferings experienced by six generations of the Quinta Kent family."

"It was shot very realistically and cruelly!"

"People, experiences build history!"

"History is also vividly interpreted by people~"

"So, it won the Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award in 78!"

“I think it deserves the award!”

"..." Mary Sue looked at David with a look of disbelief, but the expression on her face was controlled by her happily, and she took advantage of the situation and "made another move".

“Have you read the original novel Roots published by Alex Haley?”

"No~"

"Then what do you...??"

"Because I read a lot of column comments in newspapers!" David picked up the tableware again, shrugged and smiled.

"The huge response caused by the broadcast of "Roots" caused the major media in New York to hype it for more than a month."

"Afterwards, when it won the Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award, the major media also followed the popularity and published it again for more than half a month~"

"Uh..." Mary Sue was speechless.

"Hahaha~" Old Cui En said with a smile when he saw his daughter Mary Sue's surprised and weird expression.

"How about it?"

"Am I exaggerating?"

"...No!" Mary Sue looked at her father, twitched the corners of her mouth a few times, and replied honestly.

Old David and his wife Sierra looked at each other proudly and changed the topic.

"David, we went to Old Cui En's house as a guest this time and brought back a lot of berries grown on the farm."

"So I want to make some fruit wine out of them...what do you think?"

"Okay!"

David was eating the Italian sausage made by Sierra's mother, feeling very satisfied and asked Old Cui En with a smile.

"If there aren't enough berries for brewing, can I bring back some more?"

Old Cui En waved his hand generously and said with a smile: "My farm has more than 9000 acres of berry forests, and there are thousands of pounds of fruit wine and jam made from various berries in the cold fresh warehouse."

"If you want to eat or drink, you can take whatever you want!"

"Wow! Oh~" David swallowed the sausage in his mouth and said with a beaming smile.

"Just take it?"

"Correct!"

"Take whatever you want!"

"Hahaha~"

"That would be great!"

"I'll send someone over tomorrow to bring some jam back and give it to my tutor, Professor Bartlet, to try. Is that okay?"

"Of course!"

"Ok!"

David raised his glass to Old Cui En and said thanks: "Thank you for taking care of me and my family these days!"

"Hehe~"

Old Cui En also raised his glass and said with a hesitant smile: "If it weren't for my impulse, she wouldn't have quit her job at ABC and come back to take over the farm."

When David heard Old Cui En's simple and direct answer, he was stunned for a few seconds, turned to look at Lilith, and asked.

"Grace, I went to California some time ago to discuss the acquisition of a TV station. How is the progress?"

Lilith put down the tableware and replied: "She said that the internal integration work of HBO TV station has been completed."

"But the plan to acquire small local TV stations is not progressing smoothly."

"Especially those small local TV stations around San Francisco and Los Angeles. Basically, they have very stable audience groups and are very resistant to acquisitions."

"Hmm..." David was not particularly surprised and sighed with a smile.

"It's really not that simple!"

"Yeah~" Lilith glanced at Mary Sue quickly and raised her eyebrows.

"Then let's do it first!"

David thought for a moment and asked Mary Sue: "What jobs do you prefer to do in television?"

"Uh..." Mary Sue blinked and paused for a few seconds before replying.

"I work at ABC TV station, responsible for the behind-the-scenes review and editing work."

“I prefer the producer’s action, though!”

"Producer?"

"Do you know what the main job of a producer is?"

"Of course!"

Mary Sue puffed up her chest very confidently: "The producer is fully responsible for script planning, preliminary preparations, formation of the film crew, production cost accounting, and financial review; execution of filming, production, and post-production; assisting investors in domestic and foreign distribution and Domestic and foreign application for awards and other work.”

"So the producer is the master and the highest authority of a crew,"

"He has the right to decide to hire outstanding members, and he also has the right to expel members who violate discipline on the set."

"he.."

"He (he)?" David suddenly narrowed his eyes and interrupted Mary Sue, but only said one word.

"...Yes!" Mary Sue understood what David meant and took a deep breath and replied.

"I know that there are very few female producers, both in Hollywood and in New York."

"But I want to try!"

"I also think that I am capable and qualified for this job!"

"Hmm~"

"You're confident, that's good!"

"But I think it's best for you to follow a few crews to fully understand the whole process of shooting and production before trying to be a producer."

"The job of a producer is actually not all what you just said~"

"Details such as establishing a film crew, financial review, post-production, etc. can all be left to the director and production company."

"The most important job of a producer is how to balance the conflicts and crises that may arise between investors, producers and film crews!"

David put a piece of pie made by Sierra's mother into his mouth with a fork and deliberately lowered his voice.

"ABC's headquarters in California isn't that far from Hollywood, right?"

"Many film company CEOs or investors like to have the title of producer or producer in film and television dramas. You know that, right?"

"if.."

"I mean, what if!"

"If someone tells you clearly that as long as you are willing to give something, you can be an executive producer."

"Do you want to?"

"..." Mary Su pursed her lips and did not answer.

David swallowed the pie in his mouth, waited a few more seconds, looked at Mary Sue and asked: "Independent Film Company, have you heard of it?"

"Ok!"

"Then do you think you can find your own success code among the massive scripts of varying quality?"

"..."

"If you work as an independent producer, you will lose money once, twice, or three times in a row..."

"Will anyone still believe in you and invest in you?"

"..."

When David saw that Mary Sue's face was getting more and more ugly, he glanced at Old Cui En and saw that he actually had an encouraging smile on his lips. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart and issued the final "set of combos." .

"When you can no longer find investment, someone comes and tells you: If you are willing to give up something + pay something... you will get an investment!"

"Do you want to?"

"or!"

"I might as well say something more explicit~"

"If someone comes to you and says to you in a coquettish way: Go on vacation with me for half a month, I will invest in you!"

"How do you choose?"

"Hehe~"

David put down the tableware in his hand, raised his glass and took a sip, looking at Mary Sue with a hint of naked aggression. .

"if!"

"You don't want to use the money your parents made from renting out the ranch to pave the way for your dream of being a producer~"

"You are also unwilling to give up something or pay something to get the investment that is most important to you."

"Then you can only lower your head first, take the path in front of you, and slowly become stronger!"

"As I said just now~"

"The various choices people make + the final results build history!"

"History is also vividly interpreted by people's struggles, hesitations, failures, efforts, never giving up and success~"

"And when we stand at the crossroads of life, when we are about to choose our ideals and future..."

"Where to?"

"How's the road ahead?"

"Nobody knows!"

"Of course~"

"No one will deny that those who are favored by God and are lucky will always have everything going well and turn bad luck into good fortune."

"But the lucky one...will it definitely be you?"

"Hollywood produces hundreds of movies + hundreds of TV series every year."

"What are the chances that the first TV series or movie you carefully participated in will be successful?"

"If you fail once, you can still try to stand up and keep going."

"What if we fail again?"

"What if we fail again?"

"When you feel that there is no way forward, that bastard who disgusts you comes over again, appears in front of you as a savior, and asks you the same question again."

"Will you agree?"

"..." Mary Sue's face turned red, she gritted her teeth and stared at David, and the joints of her ten fingers turned white without knowing when.

David seemed to be a "blind man" and turned to old Cui En with a smile: "Sorry!"

"I was a little too impulsive!"

"Haha~ It doesn't matter."

Old Cui En said with an "open-minded" smile: "When I go back tomorrow, I will come back as soon as possible!"

"When the time comes, how about I take you to a friend's ranch to experience the life of a cowboy?"

"Okay!"

David looked at his father, David Sr., and joked: "Dad, don't you like to watch western cowboy movies the most?"

"This time, you also have a chance to be a cowboy!"

"Hahaha~"

Old David nodded enthusiastically, raised his glass and said with a smile, "Cheers to the cowboys!"

"Cheers~"