Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 506: The first step into Africa, Ambani’s gift?
Because the Democratic Republic of the Congo is so dangerous. The two major risk factors are: war and disease.

First of all, there was war. Historically, the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a colony of Belgium.

In this area, the Bantu-speaking population accounts for nearly 84%, which can be said to have a fairly unified foundation of mainstream culture.

But if the locals really stick together, will the colonists still be able to reap the benefits?

So Belgium immediately followed the example of the famous troublemaker, the British Empire, and adopted the method of divide and rule.

First, based on inexplicable standards such as nose width and skin darkness, the locals were "invented" into two races: Tutsi and Hutu.

The Tutsi were a group of Celestial Dragons with a higher social status and power, and could be considered agents of imperialism. However, the Tutsi were a minority and had to rely on the support of the colonizers to consolidate their rule.

The Hutu people were the oppressed lower class, making up the majority of the country's population, and were full of dissatisfaction with the Tutsi people who helped the colonists to levy heavy taxes.

(If you find it hard to remember, the Tutsi has a "Xi" (Western) and the Hutu has a "Hu" (Hu). It's easy to remember that whoever is pro-Western is considered a barbarian.)
Winning over and supporting the minority to check and balance the majority is simply a common tactic of imperialism.

We can see them playing like this in the modern and contemporary history of countries around the world.

The Congolese people, who originally spoke the same language and should have been one nation, are believed to have been split into two ethnic groups with serious conflicts and more than 300 large autonomous tribes.

From this perspective, India's bulk level is really not as good as Congo's.

Although India has not achieved centralization, it at least has a de facto supreme leader of the country. However, in Congo, the president is really just the mayor of the capital city. Outside the capital Kinshasa, he has to depend on the moods of more than 300 chiefs.

Congo, which was forcibly held together in this way, waited until colonialism receded and African countries gained independence. Not only did independence not lead to happiness for Congo, but it was the beginning of even greater suffering.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo experienced an extremely painful and long period of rule by dictator Mobato, which is not worth mentioning.

It is enough to know that Mobato was known as one of the three greatest tyrants in Africa and liked to wear his iconic leopard-print hat.

Being mentioned alongside Ugandan President Amin and Central African Emperor Bokassa, it is easy to guess what kind of person Mobato is.

When Mobato is finally overthrown and driven away by the people who have had enough, should the people be able to live a good life?

How can it be?

This has happened in many countries around the world. Once a dictator who is able to suppress social contradictions is overthrown, the originally suppressed contradictions will erupt in an extremely tragic form.

There was a long-standing conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which triggered the Second Congolese Civil War.

This war is called the world war in Africa. In addition to the Democratic Republic of the Congo itself, neighboring countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan, Angola, etc. have also joined the war.

Of course, these neighboring countries joined the war not for justice, but to take advantage of the war to seize Congo's rich resources.

So the war turned into a feast of wealth. The Congolese people were bleeding, while neighboring countries were making money through the war. Of course, the Western powers must have been behind this.

Western powers took advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune from the war, purchasing minerals plundered from the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Rwanda, Uganda and other countries at low prices. Leonardo DiCaprio has a movie called "Blood Diamond" that reflects this historical background.

The war lasted until 2002 when a preliminary ceasefire was reached, and it was not until 2003 that the peace agreement was officially implemented.

In other words, it has only been one or two years since the end of the war, and the land of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has not yet completely emerged from the war.

Do you think we need to increase security when filming in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at this time?
In addition to the security risks brought about by the war, the Democratic Republic of the Congo also has extremely serious health and safety issues.

The famous Ebola virus originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

It is said that the disease was transmitted because local people captured chimpanzees in the jungle as food.

In addition to Ebola, a series of diseases such as AIDS, dengue fever, cholera, monkeypox, etc., break out in the local area from time to time.

Therefore, in addition to the security team, a stronger medical team is also essential.

Without Betty's help, it would have been difficult for Lin Yuan to handle all this.

Director Eastwood took the crew back to New York for a short vacation. In addition to comforting his family, there was another very important reason. He had to wait for Betty's medical and security teams to arrive before he could go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to shoot without any worries.

"Although I have tried my best to select the best security personnel and medical team for you, there is still no guarantee that you will be completely safe when facing danger. So if you feel there is danger, try to choose a safer way to deal with it." Betty advised on the phone.

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "You're right. This filming trip is more complicated than ever before. I'm responsible not only for my own safety, but also for the entire crew."

After hesitating for a long time, Lin Yuan suddenly asked, "Why didn't you persuade me to cancel the filming plan?"

Betty's calm voice came over the phone: "Because your trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo is not just for filming a movie."

"Did you guess it?" Lin Yuan asked, "Is my intention so obvious?"

"Don't worry, your intentions aren't obvious at all. It's just because I know you so well that I can guess what you're thinking," Betty comforted.

She continued, "While the film's scenes would have been best shot in the Congo rainforest, considering the complexity of the work involved and the potential risks involved, the cost-effectiveness of doing so is still relatively low."

"From an outsider's perspective, you might think you were determined to go to the Congo rainforest to achieve the best possible film quality."

"But I know your style of doing things. You always think ahead. Going to the Democratic Republic of the Congo solely for the sake of making a good movie isn't cost-effective, but what if you factor in other potential benefits?"

"Following this line of thought, it's easy to guess that you're focusing on the mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is completely consistent with your long-standing approach of focusing less on capital expansion and more on industrial control."

"Minerals are the foundation of manufacturing. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, you can't simply invest money to acquire resources, nor can you achieve your goals simply by using force. Doing so will completely spiral out of control."

"Only by conquering the hearts of the locals and using necessary force to deter them can we securely obtain local resources, gain an upstream advantage in the international manufacturing industry, and have a greater say." Betty stated Lin Yuan's entire plan.

After hearing Betty's words, Lin Yuan couldn't help but admire the brain of this Wall Street genius.

I just made a request, and she immediately put forward all her ideas.

It is indeed as Betty said, the mineral resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are so abundant that no major country in the world can ignore them.

Even China, which has always been relatively indifferent to overseas expansion, can't help but frequently invest in mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

But the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be one of the regions where Chinese companies have suffered the most.

By 2024, China will have become a top power in the world, and many countries even believe that China has become a superpower comparable to the United States.

Chinese companies continue to encounter frequent problems in tantalum and niobium mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

This is not because Chinese companies have not worked hard on profit distribution plans. It is well known that Chinese companies' profits are much better than those of Western companies.

Chinese companies have tried their best to take into account the interests of all parties. It can be said that everyone prospers together and benefits are shared equally.

But problems will continue to occur.

The main reason is that the local tribal forces are too complicated.

You have negotiated terms with several tribes before, but after a few days those tribes were driven away, or the internal chiefs were replaced, and the entire project immediately ran into problems.

You can't keep everyone stable just by winning them over based on interests.

However, the use of force to deter in Africa is something China has always tried its best to avoid.

This makes many Africans think that Chinese companies are fat sheep that are easy to manipulate and can default at any time.

If it is a national government, it may also have to consider that if you offend China, even if it does not take direct action, it can still make you suffer by supporting your hostile country.

But there are more than 300 chaotic tribes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the government has no concerns at all. They can do whatever they want.

Therefore, you must first win the hearts of the local people and make them accept your entry as an outsider as a prerequisite, and then discuss the distribution of interests and the necessary use of force to truly secure resources in the local area.

And isn’t conquering people’s hearts Lin Yuan’s specialty?

What other cultural product can bring people closer together faster than movies?
Lin Yuan believed that he could take this opportunity to step into Africa and stand firmly there.

His whole idea actually started brewing last year, but he never told anyone about it.

Because the areas involved in these plans have exceeded the pursuits of an ordinary entrepreneur, and they involve areas that can influence the lifeline of the world economy to a certain extent.

As Lin Yuan's wealth grows, he must pursue greater influence, otherwise wealth will only become a sword hanging over his head.

Since the start of his consortium plan, high-end manufacturing, his hidden hand, has been quietly making efforts, and resources such as tantalum are naturally the top priority.

However, the mineral resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are too vast for Lin Yuan to hold them all by himself. But he can consider directly controlling a part of it and exerting influence on the rest as an intermediary. All this requires Lin Yuan to truly gain the recognition of the local people.

Before Lin Yuan's plan was implemented, Betty had already figured it out, which made him feel fortunate: Fortunately, Betty was not his enemy, but his partner.

I made a lot of money this time, otherwise it would be really uncomfortable if the support turned into resistance.

At this time, Betty's voice came over the phone again: "I have also prepared the movie playback equipment you requested. It is being transported and loaded into the warehouse of the special plane. When the special plane arrives at Shillong Airport tomorrow afternoon, please check it out. If there is anything missing, I will find another plane to deliver it to you."

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "I'm sure there won't be any shortage. I trust you to do the job."

"Don't you really feel like something's missing? Don't you feel like I'm missing?" After finishing the serious business, Betty began to flirt.

Her subordinates could never have imagined that the beautiful queen who was full of heroism in their eyes actually had such a feminine side.

Before Lin Yuan could answer, Taylor, who was listening to the call next to him, laughed first: "I think it's not that he needs you, but that you need him somewhere."

This damn adult joke is simply disgusting. Say more of it.

"Don't be so quick to laugh at me, you'll soon be as lacking as I am." Betty retorted sarcastically.

"Even if there's a shortage later, at least I'll have enough to eat these few days." Taylor Swift was not to be outdone.

When the two first met, they started to get to know each other by competing for a dance partner.

Although their personal relationship has now reached the point where Betty shared her private jet, she still can't help but tease her from time to time.

"If you keep saying that, I won't help you make appointments with those music judges. Do you want to participate in the Grammy Grand Slam next year?" Betty tempted.

"Of course, but I will never give in!" Taylor Swift showed her ruthless side.

"Forget it. I won't bother with you. To be honest, I really envy you guys for having so much time to run around with Lin Yuan." Betty said.

"Don't I have to rush back to New York to get busy? The one who is really worthy of envy is Gakki. She follows Lin Yuan wherever he goes." Taylor Swift said.

GAKKI-chan on the side said that she was an innocent victim and asked the two of you to please don’t involve her in your jokes.

Taylor Swift changed the subject and said, "We brought you some gifts. I'll give them to you when I get back to New York."

"Thank you, I'll be waiting for your return." Betty said.

Only then did Lin Yuan finally have time to answer the phone and said, "After a while, I'll desperately need you by my side. By then, no matter how busy you are, you'll have a good reason to come over."

"Then I'll wait for your good news." Betty heard Lin Yuan's subtext. It was obvious that he was paving the way, opening up the situation, and then leading her in to share the cake.

With the expectation of meeting in the near future, Betty's mood immediately improved.

After the two exchanged a few more words, they hung up the phone.

Betty's private plane will arrive tomorrow afternoon, and they have one day before that.

After the special plane arrives, it will take the three of them to Kinshasa first, and then Taylor Swift will return to New York alone on the special plane.

Taylor Swift's third album "Speak Now" is about to be released, and she has to rush back to participate in the album's release.

Betty has already arranged for her to meet with some of the leading judges in the pop music scene. If she wants to achieve a grand slam of awards at next year's Grammy Awards, preparations must begin now.

Of course, this kind of public relations work of the judges can only serve as icing on the cake.

If you really want to achieve the Grand Slam of awards, you still need to be strong enough.

But with the preparations done in advance, as long as Taylor Swift's third album performs well enough, no one can deprive her of the award.

If Taylor Swift can really dominate the Grammy awards next year, she will have truly established herself as a pop queen, and she will have set an unprecedented record at such a young age.

During the filming in Tukanba Village, Taylor and Gakki collected a lot of delicious local specialties, including but not limited to: sweet dragon bamboo shoots, mountain deer meat, black truffles, matsutake mushrooms, chanterelles...

Some were gifts from the Tukanba villagers, and some were purchased by them. They were all high-quality local specialties that they found delicious after tasting.

These specialties were actually prepared more than ten days ago. Taylor originally planned to send them to Liu Yufei and Betty via EMS so that she could share the delicious food with them earlier.

But Lin Yuan immediately stopped her from thinking this way. With the speed of Indian logistics, they would probably have returned to New York before the package even left India.

After hearing Lin Yuan's explanation, Taylor Swift reluctantly gave up the idea and decided to bring the gift back when she returned to New York.

The gift for Betty was naturally brought to her by Taylor Swift herself.

The copy for Liu Yufei was also intended to be taken by an employee who was on a business trip from New York to Yanjing.

These gifts were sent in the name of Taylor Swift and GAKKI-chan, as a small way for the women to express their friendship.

What Taylor didn't know was that GAKKI had quietly prepared a few extra gifts and sent them out in Lin Yuan's name:

Annie, Gao Yuanyuan, and Jia Jingwen all have one.

Zhang Ziyu is Lin Yuanren’s recognized sister, and GAKKI also prepared a portion.

I don’t know why, but even for someone who has just started her career, Charlize Theron, GAKKI still prepared a portion.

Lin Yuan found it difficult to evaluate whether the assistant's work was good or bad.

During the day we waited for the special plane to arrive, it was rare that it didn't rain in Cherrapunji.

Adhering to the principle of not wasting good weather, Lin Yuan drove a Hummer off-road vehicle and took a tour around Cherrapunji.

They first went to the most famous Khimbash Falls, which has a drop of more than 120 meters.

It sounds like the drop is nearly 40 stories high and should be quite spectacular, but in fact, you need a bit of luck to appreciate this waterfall.

Because the river where Kikabaga Falls is located is actually just a small stream, and its own water flow is at the level of a mountain stream.

When you are lucky, especially after several days of heavy rain, the huge amount of rainwater will converge at the Kikabaga Falls, which will be very impressive.

If it doesn't rain for several consecutive days, the water volume of Kikabaga Falls will be quite scarce, like an intermittent ditch, which is disappointing.

Apparently, Lin Yuan and his two companions were very lucky. When they arrived at Kikabaga Falls, they had just experienced seven days of heavy rain.

At this time, the Kikabaga Waterfall, with a drop of more than 120 meters, erupted with thunderous momentum, shocking Lin Yuan, who had seen many waterfalls.

Taylor Swift and GAKKI-chan were even more surprised.

When Lin Yuan was filming "Lin Yuan and His Wife" and "The Legend of Tang Dynasty", the two of them were not present, so they had not experienced so many waterfalls.

Speaking of waterfalls, Lin Yuan himself skipped Niagara Falls and Hukou Falls. These two waterfalls are better in width and majestic momentum, but they cannot compare with Kickabaga Falls in terms of drop.

After all, if the drop height is 120 meters, no matter how good Lin Yuan's diving skills are, there is no way he can be saved if he jumps down.

It’s too high, far beyond the limit of high diving.

Lin Yuanyou thought of the waterfall with the highest drop in the world: Angel Falls.

This waterfall, located in the Guiana Plateau of Venezuela, South America, is known as Angel Falls and has a drop of 979 meters! !

If one day, I could jump down from above...

[The host's planned action scene level exceeds the system's evaluation standards. Please do not attempt such suicidal behavior!]

[The host is strongly discouraged from attempting this behavior. Even if the host completes the challenge by chance, no rewards will be obtained! ]

The system's golden text appeared on Lin Yuan's retina at the right moment, giving the most "sincere" prompt.

Seeing this prompt, Lin Yuan could only smile helplessly:

The 120-meter drop of the Kikabaga Falls in front of him already made him feel at a loss.

Angel Falls has a drop of 979 meters, so I'm afraid only angels can jump over it, or in other words, you can become an angel by jumping off it.

So Lin Yuan gave up this idea. It wasn't a dangerous thing, so he could try it.

To complete an S-level action scene, you don't necessarily have to use this suicidal method.

After visiting the Kikabaja Falls, the three of them drove to the Manas River Canyon (Manas National Park) for a tour:
This is a national forest park with abundant wildlife and magnificent canyon scenery.

Although they have been in Tukanba Village for more than a month, they have become accustomed to the mountain scenery.

But when I saw the magnificent scenery of the Manas River Canyon again, I was still amazed by the wonders of nature.

After visiting the two attractions, it was getting dark and Lin Yuan drove back to Cherrapunji.

For dinner today, they did not continue to eat the most famous local mushroom banquet. After all, they were almost vomiting after eating so much in Tukanba Village these days.

So they tried some other famous local delicacies:
Meghalaya's kebabs, masala chai, and local grilled fish are some of the highlights.

All three are quite delicious. Lin Yuan originally thought that the barbecue skewers would bring him the biggest surprise.

But he didn't expect that what finally conquered him was the special grilled fish.

It’s not surprising that grilled fish is a local specialty.

This is Cherrapunji, the rainiest place in the world, how could there be a lack of fish?

It’s just the grilled fish in Cherrapunji, which is a special Indian curry grilled fish.

When Lin Yuan saw the "huhu" grilled fish, he suddenly realized that he was still in India.

After all, Cherrapunji, from its residents to its cuisine, is more like Southeast Asia than India.

And the mushy fish at this moment proves that India’s food culture is still polluted…er…infiltrated into the local food culture.

Although it looks ordinary, it tastes just as delicious as ever.

Not only Lin Yuan and Taylor Swift ate a lot, but Japanese girls with light tastes like GAKKI also ate quite a lot.

After dinner, the three returned to the hotel.

This was their last night in Cherrapunji and in India.

There is no need to say much about what to do on the night of departure.

Taylor Swift, who had originally agreed to stay awake all night and slowly catch up on sleep on the plane the next day, couldn't hold on after just two rounds and was defeated.

As Taylor Swift retreated, GAKKI was unable to hold on alone and soon raised the white flag to admit defeat.

And so this erotic night came to an end.

The next day, it was already ten o'clock in the morning when the three of them got up from bed. After breakfast, Lin Yuan drove to Shillong Airport.

The special plane will arrive at 2 pm, when they will fly directly to Kinshasa.

The return journey was quite smooth. After Lin Yuan drove the Hummer into Shillong Airport, he waited for the arrival of the special plane.

He had previously spoken to Mukesh Ambani on the phone and informed him to arrange for someone to retrieve the car.

I have borrowed Ambani's Hummer off-road vehicle these days. Although a car is nothing considering the scale of financial transactions between the two, it is a borrowed car after all, so it should be returned.

Lin Yuan believed that matters like returning a car could be handled by a subordinate, and there would be no need to meet Mukesh Ambani.

He doesn't like seeing Mukesh Ambani very much, and there is always intrigue every time they meet.

It's impossible for India's richest man to fly all the way from Mumbai just to receive a car, right?

Lin Yuan didn't think he was so honored that the richest man in India would come and see him off.

But reality is always beyond people's expectations.

When Lin Yuan got out of the car, he unexpectedly saw Mukesh Ambani walking towards him quickly with a dark-skinned, thin man.

"Brother Lin Yuan, I finally caught up with you! I heard you were going to the Democratic Republic of the Congo? I have a gift for you!"

　Today's word count is a little shorter.

　　It’s the third day since I caught a bad cold. I forced myself to write for the past two days.

　　I had a fever of 39 degrees today and I really can’t write, so I can only use fewer words.

　　I'll check my status tomorrow, and if it gets better, I'll resume updating the word count.

　　If my condition is still very bad, I will try my best to update more than 6000 words.

　　Going to bed~Hoping to be fully recovered tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)