The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Century City, Beverly Business Club.

Gilberto and Henderson were waiting in the meeting room.

The latter, influenced by Hawke's long-term influence, didn't trust Indians at all and asked directly, "You've come from Mumbai, is the World One project real? Or is it just something on paper?"

“It’s true.” Gilberto personally led an investigation: “The land has already been approved, demolition work is underway, the developer and the designer have been determined, and they are currently bidding to find a general designer. According to the information I have received, the two sides have basically reached an agreement, and a well-established Indian construction company will be the general contractor.”

The door to the reception room opened from the outside, and Hawke entered just in time to hear what was said afterward. He said, "You have to trust the Indians' abilities."

Gilberto and Henderson quickly got up to greet them.

Hawke walked over to the armchair and said to the two of them, "Sit down and talk."

Once the two were seated, he continued the topic: "How much support does the Mumbai government provide for the project?"

Gilberto thought for a moment and replied, "There is a lot of support in public opinion, and Mumbai needs such a tall building as a facade, but the funding is just average. Loda Group itself is not a top-tier company in India. In the past, it mainly focused on developing residential real estate and has never built any supertall buildings."

Although it will be a few years before our side truly participates in the biggest variety entertainment program in the United States, just like when dealing with Hillary, there are some things that must be prepared in advance.

Hawke stated directly, "I need you to find a suitable method, taking into account the specific circumstances in Mumbai and India, to make World One explode at a critical moment."

Gilberto has been in India for the past two years, frequently visiting high-end venues in Mumbai and New Delhi, and is in charge of cooperation between West Coast technology companies and Indians.

He considered for a moment and said, "We have always had in-depth cooperation with the Indian military, as well as ISRO and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Perhaps we can find some solutions from them."

Henderson, who has dealt with Indians extensively over the years, said, "In my opinion, even if we do nothing, this project will most likely fail."

Hawke agreed with him, but some things cannot be left to wait: "The actions of the Indians are completely uncontrollable, and we need to incorporate the uncontrollable into certain controllable factors."

We can't just wait for the plane to fall from the sky on its own.

Gilberto understood the mission's objective and said, "I'll develop several more plans for this when I get back."

Hawke nodded: "I will inform Juan and have him bring men to cooperate with you."

“Yes.” Gilberto brought up another matter: “Something happened recently in India. India delivered a batch of Arjun main battle tanks to the army, and many of them did not have engines installed.”

Even though Henderson had witnessed the unreliability of the Indians before, he was still stunned by these words: "Delivering tanks without installing engines?"

Gilberto confirmed, "Yes, the source is very reliable. The Arjun tank previously used German-made engines, but the German manufacturer ran into problems, so they switched to domestically produced engines. This time, the domestically produced engines have been delayed..."

Hawke shook his head: "This is something only Indians would do."

Henderson remarked, "I originally thought that all-terrain vehicles and electric handcarts on the West Coast would be very profitable, but I didn't expect the Indians to be so ruthless as to not even install the most important engine in a tank."

He looked at Hawke: "Boss, should we also omit the engines from the next batch of all-terrain vehicles we deliver?"

Hawke waved his hand: "These things don't require much skill, there's no need to do them."

Henderson said no more, because what was truly expensive for both sides of the trade was the two batches of satellites ordered by the Indians and the Indian factory construction plan.

That's tens of billions of dollars.

Hawke asked, "How is the factory construction progressing?"

Gilberto explained in detail: "Currently, the design and construction parties are still arguing. The construction party believes that the design plan has serious problems, while the design party believes that the problem lies in the construction process. The third-party supervisor has mediated several times, but the conflict between the two parties has evolved into a conflict between the three parties."

He further stated, "We are approaching this investment and construction project with the utmost rigor. We have specifically invited the German company Ritter as a third-party supervisor. This company is known for its strict requirements, and under their rigorous supervision, every step of the project will proceed with exceptional stability, and there will be absolutely no rash actions."

Hawke praised, "Well done. I know this German company; it's always been known for its rigorous oversight."

It would be strange if this project went smoothly when the most demanding group of Germans clashed with Indians whose designs had problems from the very beginning.

However, from the perspective of third parties and even Indians, West Coast Technology attaches great importance to this investment and spares no expense in hiring the best companies in the industry to act as supervisors.

Hawke looked at Henderson and asked, "What about the funding?"

Henderson said, "The initial deposit and all the project startup costs came from interest-free loans provided by Indian banks. Apart from a small amount of working capital to ensure the project's daily operations, the remaining funds were transferred out of India in various reasonable ways."

Hawke nodded with satisfaction, then said to Gilberto, "The project will have to wait until the second batch of satellites is delivered."

When Gilberto first arrived in India, he had no confidence at all, but now he was full of confidence and assured him: "Boss, this batch of factories will definitely not be completed within five years."

Even if the Indians suddenly change their nature and unleash inexplicable power to complete the construction ahead of schedule, there are still procedures such as acceptance and inspection waiting for them.

The client never intended for the project to be completed; there were too many legitimate and legal ways to manipulate things.

Henderson then added, "We have delivered two batches of all-terrain vehicles to India, but the Indians have not shown any intention of paying the balance."

All of this was expected. The 50% deposit that West Coast Technology received was enough to generate more than ten times the profit.

Hawke, still wanting to profit from the Indians, said, "When it's time to be stern and demand payment, you should, but don't completely escalate the situation. You need to find the right balance. It's always good if you can scrape together as much of the final payment as possible."

Henderson had already made contingency plans: "I know what to do."

Hawke glanced at the time and said, "I have to meet with Tom Cruise and Eric Ethan later, so let's call it a day."

He told Gilberto, "Take a break in Los Angeles for a while, there's no rush to get back to work."

Gilberto, however, knew this was a rare opportunity for him to climb the social ladder, and said, "I will return to Mumbai tomorrow."

Hawke said no more, went outside to meet up with his bodyguards, and headed to North Hollywood.

Inside the meeting room, Henderson patted Gilberto on the shoulder and encouraged him, "It's clear the big boss is very satisfied with you. Do these jobs well, and when you come back from India, you'll be promoted a lot."

He emphasized, "Big bosses always value talent highly."

Gilberto was good at interpersonal relationships: "It's mainly because you, boss, gave me the opportunity. If you hadn't sent me to Mumbai, I would have remained an ordinary middle manager in Los Angeles, sitting in an office."

Henderson smiled with satisfaction: "Do a good job in India, don't be careless."

The two left the Beverly Hills business club and returned together to the West Coast technology company.

Today, representatives from South Korea visited Los Angeles, where West Coast Technology highlighted its all-terrain transport vehicle for individual soldiers.

Koreans are familiar with this type of car, but they don't have a strong desire to buy it.

But Grandpa named them, so they had to buy it even if they didn't want to.

Because what they were buying wasn't military equipment, but a sense of security. The negotiations between the two sides were very quick, and the deal was basically finalized that same day. South Korea purchased a batch of individual all-terrain transport vehicles for use in domestic transport within South Korea, at a price one-third higher than the Pentagon's.

West Coast Technology is also actively engaging with other clients, such as those in the Philippines and Qatar, through the Pentagon's influence.

As America's little brother, regardless of the preparation status, we must buy it.

Buy it and you'll be treated like a grandson; don't buy it and you'll get beaten up.

Of course, you'll still get beaten up even if you buy it, it just depends on America's mood.

…………

North Hollywood, Ethan's Film Studio.

When Hawke arrived, Leonardo's Tesla had just arrived as well.

He came over and greeted Hawke, saying, "Director Eric wanted to ask some questions about Sillari. There are some things that only I know, so I came over specifically."

Hawke asked as they walked, "Are you planning to play yourself?"

Leonardo nodded: "No one is more suitable to play the role of Leonardo than me, isn't he?"

Hawke turned his head and glanced at him briefly. Compared to a few years ago, Leonardo had lost a lot of weight.

While it's impossible to go back to Jack's era, it's at least similar to the "The Departed" era.

Without the direct threat of Hillary Clinton, Leonardo DiCaprio, who used to play with water guns on the beach, might disappear.

Eric and Tom Cruise, having been informed by their assistants, came out of the building together to greet them.

In front of the office building, many agents and public relations personnel in suits were constantly going in and out.

With the New Year approaching, the Hollywood awards season is reaching a crucial juncture.

With its Golden Lion win at the Venice Film Festival, "Sugar Baby" has become a favorite for this year's Oscars.

The four of them went directly into a small conference room.

Hawke asked, "What's the status of the film now?"

Eric answered first: "The commercial response in North America has been very good. The cumulative box office in North America is currently $2.42 million, and the global box office has just exceeded $5 million. As for word of mouth, it remains as strong as ever."

This is what he does best, so he was naturally in a great mood when talking about it: "It's not easy for a movie that is so close to social reality to achieve both box office success and critical acclaim."

Putting aside other things, Eric's career has shown a clear upward trend from Nightcrawler to Los Angeles Fire, from Philip to Sugarball.

Tom Cruise chimed in: "Since November, we've already won 11 Pre-Awards for Best Picture and Best Director."

Eric added, "Jacqueline won eight Best Actress awards."

Leonardo DiCaprio, eager to join the group, quickly said, "The Pre-Raising Awards can increase a film's exposure and make it known to more people. I've lost in the Pre-Raising Awards many times in the past."

Hawke reassured him, "You'll win Best Actor someday."

Upon hearing this, Leonardo couldn't help but glance at Tom Cruise. Normally, Tom Cruise would be even less favored by the Academy judges than he was, yet the other had won the Best Actor Oscar years ago for Nightcrawler.

That seems to be Hawke's first time working on an Oscar campaign.

Leonardo must have regretted it a little; he should have voted sooner.

Now, apart from occasionally inquiring about Oscar, Hawke basically doesn't focus his energy on that.

He asked, "Are the opponents very strong this year?"

Tom Cruise turned on the projector in the conference room, and the screen displayed the names of several film projects and related personnel.

Eric said, "There will likely be strong competition for Best Picture and Best Director; Harvey Weinstein is back."

Hawke saw the content on the screen: a movie called "The King's Speech," and the director Tom Hooper and the lead actor Colin Firth.

The production and distribution companies are both Weinstein Company.

Hawke said, "The Oscars PR expert is here."

"That bastard wasn't even arrested!" Leonardo was furious.

He remembered very clearly that after Titanic became a huge hit, it was Harvey Weinstein who used deception to bring him to Hillary Clinton, and from then on, he began a dark and hopeless life of groveling before her.

Tom Cruise said, "Harvey Weinstein is a tough competitor in the Oscar race."

Without Harvey's PR efforts, it wouldn't have been easy for "The King's Speech" to win awards.

Other strong contenders include Inception, True Grit, and Black Swan.

Hawke recalls that Natalie Portman won Best Actress at this year's awards.

He asked, "What about Jacqueline?"

Eric said, "She hired Rooney Chasen and Full Speed ​​PR for her awards campaign, using the pregnancy-based campaign strategy you mentioned to Rooney Chasen."

Several years ago, the West Coast Investment Fund acquired Full Speed ​​PR, with Rooney Chasen still serving as director.

When Hawke was chatting with Rooney Chasen, he mentioned some personal public relations strategies for the Oscars.

Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman's Oscar-winning public relations efforts are a prime example of success.

The latter, in particular, transformed a personal pregnancy into a public discourse.

Most importantly, when Hawke was working in public relations, he had a very successful case that helped Sarah Parker win a Golden Globe Award.

Eric pressed the projector button, and the image on the screen switched, displaying two pictures simultaneously.

On the left is Jacqueline, her pregnant belly already quite large, holding Musk's arm and wearing a huge engagement ring.

On the other side, Natalie Portman, also with a prominent baby bump, was seen arm in arm with a bearded man.

At least in terms of pregnancy, the two are evenly matched. (End of Chapter)