"The problem is that Fernanda doesn't look like a woman of this world."
"She grew up in a dark city a thousand kilometers from the sea. In the dark nights when ghosts lingered, you could still hear the governor's carriage rattling through the cobblestone streets."
"Every evening at six o'clock, the city's thirty-two bell towers will ring the sad bells. In the manor is a house made of tombstone-like stone slabs, and the sun never shines in it. The cypress trees in the courtyard, the garden The dripping tuberose vault and the faded curtains of the bedroom all exude a dead air."
San Francisco, Woodside mountain mansion.
The female assistant has been a little sleepy recently and always takes a few hours of rest in the afternoon.
When Simon came here, he took on another task, which was to provide prenatal care for the little guy in the female assistant's belly.
The female assistant's method of prenatal care is very special. She chooses various world famous books to read to the little one in her belly.
What Simon is reading is "One Hundred Years of Solitude", and it is the original Spanish version by Marquez. Yesterday, he also read a passage from the original Russian version of "War and Peace". The female assistant felt that Simon's stumbling Russian might teach the child a bad lesson. My child, I changed this book to today.
There is a large deck chair placed under the eaves of the backyard of the manor villa.
Accompanied by the sound of the man reading, the female assistant snuggled next to Simon, resting her head on the man's chest, squinting her eyes and looking like she was enjoying herself.
In front of the two of them was a garden that the female assistant had recently tended by herself. They were all very common flowers, but they were pleasing to the eye. The air was still filled with the refreshing fragrance of flowers. A little further away, the fence wall was covered with wisteria in full bloom. , outside the courtyard is a green tree barrier intertwined with tall redwoods and low heather, so the mansion in the mountains is isolated, deep and quiet.
The gentle sound of reading lasted for more than two hours. The sun began to slant westward and became more fragmented by the shadows of the surrounding trees. The female assistant had no intention of waking up and still squinted her eyes like a cat. Simon continued to read softly.
Unknowingly, I was immersed in the bizarre world described in "One Hundred Years of Solitude".
The sound of deliberately gentle footsteps sounded, and a girl wearing a white shirt and black slim-fitting trousers came over, said hello carefully, and placed a new pot of tea on the low table next to Simon.
Simon glanced at the girl named Doris Fetcher, frowned slightly without any trace, and still ordered: "Send a blanket."
The girl responded, poured Simon a cup of tea, raised her eyes and paused for a moment. Seeing that the man had no other instructions, she turned and left.
The female assistant in his arms moved dissatisfiedly, and Simon quickly continued reading.
It wasn't until the sun was completely blocked by the ridge on the west side that the female assistant said, "You will prepare something for us tonight."
Simon smiled and nodded: "Okay."
After getting tired of being in the man's arms for a while, the female assistant finally sat up, still leaning beside the man, and touched her bulging belly: "I think the baby kicked me."
More than four months pregnant, fetal movements have begun.
Simon reached over, put his big hand on the female assistant's small hand and felt it together for a moment, then said, "Maybe I don't like the story today. I'll change it tomorrow."
Jennifer nodded in agreement, "Yeah."
After continuing to chat for a while, Simon helped the female assistant get up, and the two entered the villa and started preparing dinner together.
In addition to Simon and Jennifer, there are two other people in the villa. Doris Fitcher, who appeared in front of Simon not long ago, is a member of the housekeeper's team and was transferred to take care of the female assistant's daily life. There is also a female bodyguard in her thirties named Sarah Hunterson, whom Simon hired directly from the Federal Secret Service. When she was in the Secret Service, she worked as a security guard for the female relatives of the White House. It would be more accurate to say that she is a bodyguard. Her position is actually a security assistant, because Sarah Hunterson is also responsible for an eight-person security team surrounding the female assistant.
Jennifer's mother, Carol Raybould, is also in San Francisco.
After Simon came over, the other party never disturbed their world again.
The Rayboulds were both very enterprising people, and Carol Raybould couldn't always stay by Jennifer's side on weekdays, so Simon arranged for her to work as a legal consultant at Eaglet Company.
While preparing dinner, Simon gave Doris Fetcher, who always appeared beside the two of them intentionally or unintentionally, a day off, and told her to come back tomorrow morning. The maids in Westeros were treated very well, and this villa There is also another residence.
The female assistant let Simon arrange the trivial matters around her. She was slightly confused that the man only sent Doris away, but she didn't ask any more questions.
The two had a simple dinner and then snuggled together in the home theater to watch "Superman" which was being screened.
Due to her pregnancy, the female assistant will basically not go out during this period.
This went on until about ten o'clock in the evening. After carefully making out and taking a shower, the woman next to him had already gone to bed. Simon heard a slight knock on the door and quietly got up and got out of bed.
Outside the bedroom door was Sarah Hunterson, who was obviously still at work, wearing a women's suit.
After Simon closed the door, Sarah said: "Mr. Bennett just called. Doris was in a park at Elmore Road Villa with..."
Sarah Hunterson wanted to introduce details, but Simon stopped her and said, "You can just continue to stay here."
Hunterson nodded and said no more.
When they arrived at the front yard, there was already a black car waiting. Simon got in and the driver in the front started the car without any explanation.
Winding along the road between the Woodside Mountains to the north, you come to the Elmorod Mountain Villa area bordering the Woodside District, and finally drive into a quiet park at the foot of the mountain.
There were no street lights around, and the car also turned off its lights after driving into the park. However, the light emitted by the city was enough for Simon to see clearly his surroundings.
After a while, the car stopped.
Directly in front of the field of vision, beside a road leading to the western mountains, a conspicuous white car was parked there, with five or six figures guarding nearby.
Simon got out of the car and walked over. Neil Bennett came to greet him, and the others took the initiative to disperse.
When he came to the white car, Simon looked in through the open window. There was a man and a woman sitting in the front cab. The passenger was his maid Doris Fetcher. Simon, a middle-aged white man in his forties, also knew in advance that his name was Rod McKenna, a paparazzi who used to work at the Los Angeles Herald in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Herald, a newspaper owned by the Hearst Corporation, went bankrupt last year due to poor management. Despite its name, the Los Angeles Herald is actually a tabloid.
There was still some anesthetic smell left in the carriage, so Simon didn't look much and quickly looked away.
Neil Bennett waited for Simon to look away from the car and pointed to some things placed on the hood.
When Simon walked over, the first thing he saw was an open suitcase with stacks of banknotes densely packed inside. Neil Bennett whispered: "One million US dollars."
Simon just hummed and turned to the expected pile of photographing and eavesdropping equipment next to the suitcase, including a stack of developed photos.
Seeing Simon playing with it with great interest, Neil Bennett took the initiative to explain: "It's all here, including the two backups that Doris hid. I'm sure there are no other omissions."
Simon finally nodded.
One million US dollars is indeed a lot of money. No wonder the maid, who already has a generous salary, would be tempted. Although Simon felt that it was stupid to do this, people were probably always greedy, and he might have thought that he was lucky enough not to be discovered.
Without thinking too much about the thoughts of his maid, Simon glanced at the two unconscious people in the carriage and ordered Neil Bennett: "Let Martin Dinham and his two groups go to New York. I Give them a week, and if they can’t find enough things, they don’t have to come back.”
"OK."
Neil Bennett agreed succinctly, no nonsense.
As for what to investigate, of course it is to retaliate against others in the same way.
In this world, the higher you are at the top of the pyramid, the more privacy you have that is not accessible to outsiders.
Picking up a stack of money in the box and flicking it around, Simon thought for a while and added: "Let Frank Blaze's team go there as well, and the found items will be sent directly to the Hearst family's mansion."
Neil Bennett paused this time, and then nodded in agreement.
Frank Blaze and others were abandoned by the KGB recruited by the Westeros family two years ago. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was carefully confirmed that this team of overseas operations had completely become rootless duckweeds, and there were corresponding containment measures. That's why he took it under his wing.
Even so, such a team of people cannot be used lightly in the eyes of the Simons.
Neil Bennett also knew what was involved, a team of ex-KGB agents who, if discovered, could be in trouble. Since his boss has used this team of people, it means that his heart is definitely not as peaceful as it seems on the surface.
You know, this team of people actually has to do the dirty work at critical moments.
The kind that kills people.
The atmosphere was silent for a moment. Neil Bennett motioned to the two people in the carriage and asked softly: "Where are they?"
Simon glanced at it lightly and remembered the "One Hundred Years of Solitude" he had read in the afternoon. The female assistant also said that she would like to visit Latin America in the future. She said: "The southernmost point of Latin America should be Tierra del Fuego, right?"
Neil Bennett thought for a moment and said uncertainly: "It seems so."
Simon said: "Throw them to Tierra del Fuego."
Neil Bennett nodded again: "Okay."
Simon looked at the white Toyota car in front of him, reached out and patted the hood, and said, "Throw this car over too."
Neil Bennett was stunned for a moment and said: "In this case, it will need to be shipped by sea, which may take a week."
"A week is just right, and it's also a week in Dinham." Simon looked at the two people in the carriage again: "Let them sleep for a week, and then wake up when they get there. Also, remember to leave Hearst III's Phone and ask them to pick someone up.”
Throwing people directly to Tierra del Fuego thousands of miles away was just a warning. Simon had no intention of killing people because of this incident, so it was not worth it.
After giving the brief instructions, Simon walked towards the car he came from. Neil Bennett followed and personally helped Simon open the door.
The moment before stepping into the carriage, Simon looked at Neil Bennett again, his eyes finally becoming colder and sharper: "If anyone dares to peep here, I will throw their whole family to Tierra del Fuego."
After watching his boss leave in the car, a few people scattered around reunited.
Neil Bennett began to arrange what Simon had just ordered.
If you directly send two people to Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of Latin America, it is actually very simple. It can be done within 24 hours using a private plane. If you just add a Toyota car, things will be more troublesome.
Of course, as long as you give enough money, all troubles are not troubles.
Thinking about the two unlucky guys in the car waking up in the southernmost tip of Latin America, tens of thousands of kilometers away, and sitting in the same car where they were unconscious, Neil Bennett felt that the creepy feeling would probably be no greater than the direct feeling. It's not much different than being put into a sack and thrown into the sea.
However, Neil Bennett had no objection to his boss's absolute determination.
Even if Simon asked him to throw people directly into the sea, it wouldn't matter.
Born in the Johnston family, Neil Bennett has personally participated in many wealthy family disputes that were ten times darker than this one.
Behind wealth has always represented explicit or implicit power and power. Without these, huge wealth will be quickly lost even if it is obtained temporarily. This is a world where the weak eat the strong. There is no living environment where a child holding a gold nugget and unable to protect himself can wander around.
Before Simon left San Francisco the next day, he summoned D-girl Deborah Lippman to replace Doris Fitch.
A, B, C, and D can be said to be the four most reliable maids in Westeros. Unfortunately, Claire has left, Alison has become Simon's assistant, and a business plan that Betsy recently submitted to the Vase Fund team has also Janet was intrigued, and in the end only Deborah was left, and she probably wouldn't stay in this position for long.
The girls who have had problems in the past two years have been the group of girls with the housekeeper Alice. Compared with ABCD, the selection and training of this group of people is indeed not strict.
It seems that it is time to train a new group of maids.
This time, some more professional vases should also be needed, and they cannot be put out casually.
Leaving San Francisco, Simon joined Janet in Los Angeles and the couple flew to Melbourne, Australia.
Here in North America, another box office week from June 11th to June 17th has passed in the blink of an eye.
After setting a new box office record in its first week, "Superman" saw a box office drop of 46% in the second week of its release, continuing to earn $60.82 million.
In two weeks, the cumulative box office of this superhero blockbuster reached 173.43 million U.S. dollars. It easily topped the box office of the year, surpassing the Easter schedule of "Twilight Zone 2" and is expected to exceed 200 million U.S. dollars next week. .
According to the media, the 46% drop is more the result of "Superman" over-stimulating the film's box office potential in its first week.
Because the box office performance of the four new films that opened on June 11 was not very good.
"Addams Family Values", which Paramount Pictures has high hopes for, opened on 2,577 screens and only had a box office of US$19.58 million in its first week, which was far lower than Paramount's first-week box office expectation of US$35 million. The average theater average was more than US$7,600. There is also a big gap between the sales standard of US$10,000.
After a poor start in its first week and unsatisfactory reviews, the total North American box office of "Addams Family Values" is likely to be only $40 million to $50 million.
However, the production cost of this sequel to the "Addams Family" series was as high as $37 million. Although it will not suffer losses through overseas distribution and subsequent channel operations, compared to Paramount's expectations, this project can only be described as a failure.
The box office performance of "Addams Family Values" is actually not the worst. Fox's animated "Once Upon a Time in the Woods", which ranked second in terms of screen size last week, opened on 1,487 screens and only had a measly $3.52 million in box office in its first week. It is expected to be released next week. It will be withdrawn from theaters, and the total box office will be difficult to exceed 5 million US dollars.
"Target" produced by MGM has a box office of US$13.49 million in its first seven days. It did not show the trend of being a dark horse, nor did it disappoint MGM. It was quite satisfactory.
13.49 million US dollars in the first week, and the total North American box office is expected to be around 30 million US dollars.
The production budget of "Target" is US$15 million, and the local box office is expected to be US$30 million. The North American revenue alone is enough to recoup the production budget. With a little overseas operation, this project can enter the profit stage.
Moreover, the biggest role of "The Ultimate Target" is probably that it brought the Asian director John Wu to the attention of Hollywood.
Under Simon's instruction, as soon as the three-day box office for the first weekend of "Target" was released, MGM had already begun discussions with Wu Baige about continuing cooperation, and the response from the other party was also very positive.
Gomen Pictures' artistic film "Orlando" opened on 367 screens, with a box office of US$5.53 million in the first seven days, which was US$3 million higher than "Once Upon a Time in the Jungle".
Taking into account the release levels of the two films, "Orlando", which has a box office of US$15,000, appears to be more successful. According to the long-term trend of literary and artistic films, with US$5.53 million in its first week, the film's total North American box office is expected to hit the 20 million mark.
As a work that bought out the North American omni-channel copyright for US$3 million, compared to the total investment of US$5 million after the announcement, the local box office of only US$20 million will bring double the revenue to Gaomen Pictures. Video tape channels and TV broadcast platforms will also contribute more profits.