The decadent revelry lasted until midnight. Under the fierce offensive of the hostesses, everyone in the private room soon drank themselves into oblivion.
Phil, taking advantage of his last shred of sobriety, quietly slipped away with two hostesses who looked like schoolgirls, clamoring to let the Japanese girls taste the American fire cannon.
Anri Okita shook her chest one moment and twisted her hips the next, showing off her heavily insured body in various ways.
"Leon-chan, you just said you wanted to hold a lingerie fashion show. Do you think my figure is okay?"
"Of course, your body is the third nuclear bomb God bestowed upon the island nation."
Kitano and Yoshida were already dead drunk; no one heard Leon's untimely joke.
Okita, who made a living with her body, cared even less. Besides, her birthplace was Birmingham, UK.
She pulled her neckline lower, the breathtaking curve swaying in front of Leon, and acted coquettishly: "Leon-sama, do you want to see something special tonight?"
Okita didn't want to miss this opportunity for intimate contact with a superstar. Choosing to join the adult film industry back then was also for a chance to become famous.
She was born into a middle-class family. Her father was an auto parts dealer with business extending to the UK, and she majored in the money-burning art major in university.
After graduating from university, she returned to the island nation with dreams of stardom, but the island nation's entertainment industry had an unwritten strange rule—girls over 16 no longer had development potential in the entertainment industry.
To become famous, Okita was fooled by talent scouts into joining the romantic action movie industry, hoping to use this as a springboard to get a chance to enter the entertainment industry.
Leon muttered in his heart, This Japanese chick indeed has a good figure, but down there is probably busier than Fifth Avenue in New York.
Would there be a risk of a car accident driving through there?
Okita blew a breath into his ear, her face flushed. "Don't worry, Leon-sama. I won't publicize this. If my dad knew I slept with a big star like you, he would definitely be proud of me!"
"Sorry, I have to go." Leon got up and left without any hesitation, not looking back no matter how the semi-naked Okita begged.
Trust you?
He had seen many high-class hookers in Los Angeles. Women who traded their bodies for resources couldn't be trusted with a single word.
If he really rolled in the sheets with this woman, it wouldn't take long for this matter to spread throughout the world via social apps.
On the way back to the hotel, Leon received an international long-distance call from Sean.
After three days of investigation, the background of Gary Ferson, the agent who spent a huge sum of $300,000 to smear Taylor, gradually surfaced.
"This guy hasn't been making a living as an agent for a long time. He now specializes in making money from the gray areas of the entertainment industry," Sean said.
" tell me more," Leon urged.
Gary Ferson's career as an agent wasn't very ideal. The artists he signed were either obscure or addicted to alcohol and drugs just as they showed some promise.
After resigning from UTA, he had a whim to use his connections in the entertainment industry to engage in gray market business.
The initial business was just introducing third-rate actresses to sleep with rich people, earning referral fees while lying down.
As the pimping business grew bigger, his business expanded to paparazzi and fixer services.
"Can you find Gary?"
"That's not difficult. Although Gary, that bastard, is very mysterious, many paparazzi have sold photos to him. I have channels in this regard."
"Find out his address as soon as possible."
"Leave it to me, Boss!"
Leon hung up the phone. Finding Gary was just the first step; more importantly, he needed to find out who exactly paid that money.
Three hundred thousand dollars was not a small amount. Not many people had the ability and motivation to do so; he could easily narrow down the range.
Jay-Z, Braun, or even Lil Wayne were all possibilities.
---
The next morning, after the planned two-hour fan meeting in Shibuya ended, the trip to Tokyo also came to an end.
The popularity of We Don't Talk Anymore in the island nation skyrocketed. Many record stores saw queues to buy it. When the new Oricon chart was released, it was very likely to rank in the top ten.
Stringer was very satisfied with this result. No matter how popular one is in the US, becoming an international superstar requires a sufficient overseas fan base.
Taylor's Speak Now World Tour covered four continents. The attendance rate was close to 100% in every city, harvesting the globe as aggressively as US dollar hegemony.
Leon let the entourage return to New York first, while he changed his ticket to Los Angeles.
Walking out of LAX and tossing and turning all the way back to his home in Beverly Hills, he bumped into Taylor as soon as he entered the door.
"Welcome home, honey!" Taylor, wearing a lace slip dress, kissed his cheek repeatedly.
She was already a super love-struck brain. After this ex-boyfriend smear incident, her dependence on Leon became deeper and deeper.
After finishing the southern tour, she didn't even go back to her own home in Los Angeles. Now Leon's house was their common love nest.
"I missed you so much, baby." Leon rubbed her head and went to the refrigerator to search. "I flew in the sky for ten hours; I have to fill my stomach quickly."
"Let me help!" Taylor skipped to the marble island. "How about spaghetti Bolognese?"
"Better not..."
When female stars who never did housework went into the kitchen, the final product was mostly dark cuisine that even dogs would despise.
"What? You don't trust me?" Taylor was obviously unconvinced. "I can't possibly not even know how to use an oven and microwave."
"Of course I trust you, but the ingredients in the fridge seem to have expired." Leon glanced at the fridge and shrugged.
"How about tasting something else first?" Taylor suddenly leaned close, close enough to smell each other's hot breath.
"Taste what?" Leon leaned against the refrigerator door, smiling wickedly and playing dumb on purpose.
As soon as his voice fell, his mouth was blocked by the other party. "How about tasting me?"
The two clung together tightly, separating only after half a minute.
Taylor's hair was rubbed like a lion with exploded fur, her chest heaving violently as she panted.
"You don't need to do anything. Give the initiative to me. Let me reward you well, my dear little lion~"
Saying that, Taylor climbed onto the marble island in the kitchen, lying on it with her limbs as support points.
Extending her lotus-root-like arms to hook around Leon's neck, "Is right here okay?"
"Awesome~" Leon took off his shirt, turning passive into active.
The two fought from the kitchen to the living room, and finally to the outdoor pool, lying on beach chairs enjoying the sunlight.
"Since knowing you, I've also become constantly troubled..." Taylor took off the wide-brimmed hat covering her face and curled her lips. "I seem to be infected by your special constitution of constant trouble."
"Can't help it. Isn't the entertainment industry just like this?" Leon said, "The redder you are, the more trouble you attract. Suppressing opponents is far easier than speaking with works."
"Honey, I have a question for you."
Taylor suddenly sat up straight, her serious expression confusing Leon.
"What question?"
"Do you want to be with me forever?"
"Of course!"
For such a free-point question, hesitating for a second would mean Leon's IQ was overdue.
"Then let's be together forever! I mean witnessed by God, relatives, and friends!"
Leon's brain crashed, not knowing how to answer. This was obviously a marriage proposal.
Although this relationship might have been mixed with some utilitarian factors from the beginning, and he didn't agree with Taylor's family values and worldview, as time went by, the weight of feelings became higher and higher.
For him, the perfect partner should be like this: when I need you, you are around me; when I need private space, it is best not to disturb each other—just like felines.
Taylor perfectly fit the characteristics of felines.
From a commercial perspective, once the two officially announce their marriage, it will be the news of the century shaking the entertainment industry.
They are extremely likely to become the most commercially valuable couple in the circle. It is definitely not as simple as one plus one equals two.
"Then I also have a question for you." Leon skillfully changed the subject. "Are you willing to have children for me?"
"Why must we have children? The world of two is the most perfect state of love." Taylor rolled her eyes coquettishly. "If you can guarantee to be consistent with me, maybe I won't refuse to create a crystallization of our love."
"One? No, I like children. You have to be prepared to give birth to a football team." Leon laughed.
"Leon!!" Taylor blushed and punched his chest twice with her pink fists.
Leon smiled, got up from the recliner, walked into the house, and picked up an acoustic guitar from the storage room. "I have a gift for you."
Taylor didn't figure out the situation at all. She sat next to the Steinway piano in the living room as requested.
Seeing the unfamiliar sheet music on the piano stand, she suddenly realized something. "What is this..."
"I promised you, a new song written for you, a song belonging to both of us."
Regarding the female vocalist candidate for Shallow, Leon had considered many people before, but after thinking about it, Taylor seemed more suitable.
Both were well-known creative geniuses in the music scene. It was strange that there hadn't been a duet work since they announced their relationship so long ago.
Plus, with the aftermath of the recent scandal, Shallow perfectly fit the current state of mind of both from lyrics to melody.
"Ready?"
"No problem!" Taylor spent ten minutes familiarizing herself with the sheet music and made an OK gesture.
Leon held the acoustic guitar and sang a cappella: "Tell me somethin', girl. Are you happy in this modern world? Or do you need more? Is there somethin' else you're searchin' for..."
I'm falling...
In all the good times I find myself longing for change.
Leon sang a cappella holding the acoustic guitar, seeming no different from the poor boy singing in the Brownsville subway station.
Of course, unless you ignored his flashy clothes, the gold watch on his wrist, and the numbers in his bank card, etc...
When the verse ended, he stopped plucking the strings and looked at Taylor with a smile.
Taylor's fingers flew up and down on the black and white keys, meeting his gaze firmly.
"Tell me something, boy. Aren't you tired tryin' to fill that void? Or do you need more? Ain't it hard keeping it so hardcore..."
I'm falling...
In all the good times I find myself longing for change.
The verse ended, and Taylor took a deep breath, preparing for the high notes in the chorus.
I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in
I'll never meet the ground
Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us
We're far from the shallow now
Taylor wasn't a big-voiced singer like Mariah Carey or Beyoncé; her voice was known for its girlish feel.
However, when singing Shallow a cappella, it burst out with unexpected effects. The lyrics resonated and merged with the experiences between the two.
Proving a highly controversial view in the music industry—
"Singing is about emotion, not showing off skills."
"How did I sing, honey? honestly, this isn't a style I'm familiar with." After the singing ended, Taylor immediately threw herself into Leon's arms.
"So good that no one can pick any faults." Leon grinned so hard he couldn't stop.
Just based on the current performance level of this song, with the blessing of Taylor's popularity and the aftermath of the recent scandal, they could basically open champagne to celebrate in advance.
Michael Jackson's album Bad released in 1987 had nine singles in the Billboard top fifteen, five of which reached number one.
The myth of "five number one singles from one album" had lasted for 24 years. Leon was extremely likely to break this seemingly unbreakable myth.
"Let's do it again, honey." Taylor couldn't help herself and leaned over actively, easily breaking through Leon's defense between lips and teeth.
Under the atmosphere of deep affection, the two inevitably started the second war.
Two high-intensity confrontations within two hours resulted in Leon's kidneys still aching faintly on the way to Silicon Valley the next day.
Compared to neighboring internet giants like Google and Oracle, Tesla, as a car company surrounded by internet companies, seemed somewhat abrupt, and its scale was much shabbier.
Currently, the company's operation relied entirely on the $465 million low-interest loan provided by the government last year, and the main model hadn't even achieved mass production yet.
Guided by the receptionist, Leon arrived at the CEO's office. Just as he reached the door, he heard Elon Musk ranting into the phone.
"Efficiency! I emphasize only efficiency!"
"Humans don't need eight hours of sleep a day at all. If time is spent on sleep, we won't be able to complete the Falcon 9 launch mission by 2025!"
After seeing Leon, Musk hung up the phone at light speed and stuttered, "You are Leon, right? That very famous singer. I've heard your works. That Take Me to Mars is simply amazing!"
The assistant hurriedly whispered a reminder: "It's Take Me to Church..."
Musk laughed awkwardly twice. "Very sorry, my mind is full of Mars right now, the most romantic planet in the universe."
"It doesn't matter. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet me."
Leon pulled out a chair and sat down. The other party was just as described in financial magazines—a somewhat neurotic and crazy entrepreneur.
"No, don't say that. I should be the one thanking you, thanking you for your recognition of Tesla." Musk took a document from his assistant. "What was the offer our marketing department gave your agent? $4.5 million, right?"
"I think you should know that I have never been very interested in marketing. I prefer to invest money in product R&D. Maybe $4.5 million is nothing to a big star like you, but you are participating in a great cause that changes the way humans travel!"
Although this Silicon Valley madman stuttered when speaking, his logic was clear and his speech speed was fast. A little carelessness in talking with him would lead to being brainwashed and having one's thinking led by the nose.
But Leon had long been immune to all forms of PUA (Pick-up Artist/manipulation) techniques; sentimentality was worthless in his eyes.
"This has nothing to do with money. Electric cars are a new product that completely subverts tradition. I must consider potential risks..."
In a nutshell, this company's flagship model, Model S, had not yet been mass-produced. If those fans attracted by the endorsement placed orders but failed to receive cars for various reasons, they definitely had reason to sue Leon.
"Everything has risks. Taking a walk has risks, eating has risks, even breathing has risks. If we consider risks in everything, humans would still be stuck in the Stone Age today," Musk said. "Sorry, what I said might be a bit radical, but I must say, if we threw today's smartphones into the World War I era, people then would treat this as unimaginable magic. The speed of technological iteration far exceeds human imagination."
"I completely understand what you said, but as an investor, I can't fill my stomach with PPTs," Leon said.
"Investor?" Musk tilted his head, not understanding his meaning.
"That's right, I bought $600,000 worth of Tesla stock. If I wasn't optimistic about this company's prospects, I wouldn't sit down and talk to you about an endorsement contract." Leon reverse-PUA'd him: "I can fully understand your meaning. People 100 years ago couldn't understand smartphones; people today can't understand landing on Mars. But these things will eventually happen."
"Exactly!"
Musk's first impression of Leon wasn't good. This young man dressed like a street thug looked no different from those black rappers.
Caring about nothing but showing off cars, money, and girls, their cognitive level was no different from cattle.
"This is why I want to cooperate with Tesla. It has nothing to do with money; I also want to contribute to this great vision."
"In that case, how about we finalize the endorsement fee?"
"No problem, but I thought of a better way to cooperate."
"What way of cooperation?"
"Upgrade the spokesperson status to a strategic partner. I am willing to stand for Tesla and promote it for a long time." Leon bared his fangs, revealing his true purpose.
Strategic partner, simply put, means joining the enterprise as a spokesperson, with the right to participate in some major decision-making meetings as a consultant.
The Tesla stock he bought a few days ago had risen to $35 a share. After tasting the sweetness, he changed his negotiation goal—master insider information and make money from the stock market.
"Strategic partner... that sounds awesome!"
With Musk's IQ, he understood this little trick in just three seconds, but he agreed without any hesitation.
Tesla's biggest dilemma right now wasn't a lack of money, but a lack of intended customers.
Leon had millions of fans in North America. After the two parties cooperated, Tesla would not lack traffic for at least a long time.
Even if Leon wanted to use insider information to make some money, it didn't matter. The executives and founders of every company in Silicon Valley were doing this, and Musk himself was involved.
For a company, as long as someone buys stocks, it is a good thing; he didn't need to care about these things at all.
"We will settle this contract within two days." Musk actively extended his right hand and whispered in Leon's ear, "You know a lady named Amber Heard, right? I saw this news in entertainment magazines."
"I do know her, but..." Leon was confused, not understanding the other party's intention.
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Musk. "I want to ask this beautiful lady out for a meeting. Maybe you can do me a favor?"