America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Standing in the familiar living room, Martin looked at the somewhat unfamiliar photo. It was of a burly young man in a baseball uniform, preparing to throw a pitch in the game.

Harris came over and said, "Holle is now one of the best pitchers in the NCAA baseball league. The Braves have been scouting him for the past two years. If all goes well, he'll join the Atlanta Braves through the draft next year."

"I'm not one of the best!" Holle's voice suddenly came from the doorway, "I am the best."

Martin turned his head and saw the tall young man over 1.8 meters, and asked seriously, "Do you dig a hole before playing in the game?"

Holle opened his mouth, his face looking constipated.

From upstairs, Lily said while walking down, "He's the best at screwing up the game, that little brat!"

Holle got angry and glared, "I'm grown up now; you aren't allowed to talk about me like that!"

Then he pouted, "America's famous young artist here, and all you speak is foul language!"

Lily immediately quickened her pace, and her high heels clacked densely on the stairs.

Harris closed his eyes, not bearing to watch Holle's miserable fate.

Lily quickly approached Holle, raised her pristine fist, and like in the past, hammered his head.

But Holle had grown much taller than she, making it inconvenient to hit him.

Lily said, "Kneel down!"

"I am Atlanta's sports star now!" Holle said in a high-pitched voice at first, and on the second sentence his voice unconsciously weakened, "Can you give me some face?"

During the conversation, he sat down on the sofa next to him.

The familial pecking order had never changed.

Lily raised her fist but didn't strike down.

On one hand, her younger brother had grown up.

On the other, Elena emerged from the kitchen, staring at her and saying, "You start causing trouble the moment you get back."

Lily argued, "I didn't. I just said Holle is good at screwing up..."

She quietly moved closer to Elena, meanwhile sticking out her chest and sucking in her stomach, deliberately wearing high heels to make her look more prominent than Elena.

Elena saw through her intentions in an instant, raised her fist and thumped it down on Lily's head.

Lily immediately faced reality, dared not talk back, and swiftly retreated, appearing twenty centimeters shorter than Elena with the high heels on.

Elena's stern gaze swept over, "Go to the kitchen and help with the dishes."

Lily quickly ran into the kitchen.

Elena's gaze then fell on Holle.

Holle leaped up from the couch promptly, very consciously saying, "I'll go help."

Harris didn't wait for his sister to look at him before heading to the kitchen, "I'll go too, I'll go too."

When only the two of them were left in the living room, Martin said, "You're still so strict with them."

"Harris is okay; now he's peacefully doing scientific research in college." Elena had her own family system and views, "Lily and Holle, on the other hand, are lawless little rascals. Without someone to watch them, they would turn the world upside down."

She reminded Martin, "I've heard that the art world can be quite messy; lots of people doing drugs and things like that. Keep a close eye on Lily."

Martin had always had bodyguards follow Lily, "Don't worry, she wouldn't touch that stuff."

Lily's voice came from the dining room, "Dinner's ready."

Martin and Elena went over together, just like they used to in Atlanta, with the five of them sitting at the dining table, enjoying a sumptuous dinner.

"Merry Christmas!" Elena raised her glass. Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire

Martin clinked glasses with her, "Merry Christmas."

Lily and the others also raised their glasses to drink together.

While eating, Martin asked Holle, "Are you going to the draft next year?"

Holle nodded, "I've been in contact with the Braves, and they should pick me."

Scratching his head, he said, "I need a reliable agent."

Martin, whose WMA agency had a sports department like the NCAA, said directly, "I'll find one for you."

Holle said, "Don't take too high of a commission; I don't have much money…"

Lily grandly pulled out a card and threw it at Holle, "This is my investment in you. When you earn your salary, pay me back tenfold."

"Even banks aren't this ruthless!" Although Holle said this, his hands were honest, and he pocketed the card.

Elena didn't comment this time.

After the meal, Martin took out his suitcase and handed out the prepared Christmas gifts one by one.

Holle and Harris received different styles of Cartier men's watches.

Martin personally placed a flawless ruby necklace around Elena's neck.

Lily, seeing the blood-red ruby hanging at the center of Elena's collarbone and noticing Martin seemed to have forgotten her, asked, "Don't I get a Christmas gift?"

Martin said, "Yours will be delivered directly to Los Angeles."

Lily, upon hearing the word 'delivery,' had a bad premonition, "Is it a lot?"

Martin thought for a moment, "There should be a few tons."

Lily despaired, slumping onto the sofa, vowing not to speak to Martin for a week.

Martin handed her a box and said, "Several tons of high-quality marble, just because you have a bit of fame now, don't neglect your practice."

Lily opened it, glanced inside, and burst into laughter, "I know."

After dinner and some more chatting, Elena began to hustle people out.

Holle and Harris were very conscious of the hint and quickly left with Martin's gifts.

Lily refused to budge, "Hey, hey, hey! You can't do this. One of them can stay in the school dormitory, and the other has his own house. Where should I go? Stay at a hotel?"

Martin picked up Elena and headed upstairs, "You'll stay on the first floor!"

Elena hung onto Martin's neck, recalling something from a few years ago, and couldn't help warning him, "If you dare to go to the second floor, I'll break your legs."

Lily snorted through her nose and muttered, "It's not like I haven't seen it before!"

The next day, Martin first went to Coca-Cola headquarters to attend a Cola Cult event, continuing to promote the commemorative edition of Coca-Cola.

A year had gone by since he became the lifelong spokesperson for Coca-Cola and founded the Cola Cult and the Cola War God commemorative edition of Coca-Cola, and Coca-Cola was preparing to settle the related profit-sharing with Martin.

Martin held a personal stake in the image rights, and though his share was limited, preliminary estimates still showed he would have about 30 million US Dollars in profit sharing added to his account.

Like the remuneration for his roles from this year and various profit-sharing incomes, Martin would divide it into three parts: one part for emergency reserves, another for enjoyment and leisure, and the last part for investment.

Now, in addition to Apple stocks, Martin had his investment manager, Flynn, buy a share in Netflix.

He had no interest in stock trading and knew his own weight was not even comparable to a small grasshopper in the financial market, buying stocks was for long-term holding.

After Christmas, Martin did not immediately leave Atlanta. He first discussed the development of the Cola Cult with High Priest Robert, and then visited the old comrades of yesteryears.

Afterward, he held the second official meeting of the Cola Cult in Atlanta.

Most of the attendees were notable figures from Georgia, such as Senator Erica who came personally to the event after returning to Georgia for Christmas, and numerous officials including the Mayor of Atlanta were also present.

Of course, there were also executive officers from the Coca-Cola Group.

At the party, Martin met Kelly Gray's father and brothers for the first time.

"Although you live in Los Angeles, everybody knows you are an Atlantan," Old Gray walked the line between politics and business and had frequent dealings with Coca-Cola Group, "You are the best calling card of Atlanta."

Martin replied with a smile, "I have always taken pride in being an Atlantan."

Old Gray responded very politely, "Atlantla, too, is proud of you."

Martin exchanged a few more courtesies.

After Old Gray left, Kelly approached Martin, saying, "Looking at it now, I really should have accepted your courtship back then."

"Rich lady, I would've been content to 'lie flat' in that case," Martin admitted earnestly, "Back then, my biggest wish was to find a beautiful rich lady and then 'lie flat' for life, and only my second desire was to carve out a future for myself."

Kelly responded, "Can't you let me regret it for a while? Leave me a bit of fantasy?"

Martin shrugged, "I worry Louise would fly over from Los Angeles and tear you to pieces."

Kelly covered her mouth and laughed, but soon reminded him, "Erica is coming over."

Martin went forward to shake hands with Erica, making some polite conversation.

Erica said, "This event was excellent, it has had a huge impact nationwide."

Martin responded with a smile, "I'm glad I could help the Senator."

Now this was the hottest topic in America, and as a representative for women's rights, Erica reaped substantial benefits.

These two had cooperated since their time in Atlanta, and although the Cola Cult was a pan-belief organization, it still provided a great platform for Erica to expand her social network.

The Atlanta gathering was a great success. After the event, Martin went to visit Kelly Gray.

The two of them discussed the personnel changes at Warner Bros. in depth.

This change had a relatively small impact on Gray Film Company.

Atlanta's tax rebate policy for movies and television would not change in the short term, and Grey Media had consistently been Georgia's largest film and television company and shooting base. Hollywood crews coming to Georgia for filming inevitably had to cooperate with Grey Media.

According to Kelly, Disney, after acquiring Marvel, planned to use Atlanta as the main filming base for the Marvel superhero movies.

Kelly also mentioned something, "When Marvel was filming 'Iron Man 2' in Atlanta, I heard Kevin Feige discussing with someone that they wanted to invite you to play Captain America. He believed there was no actor in the world more suitable for the role than you."

Martin expressed surprise, "When did this happen?"

Kelly tried to remember, "At least a few months ago, right? Didn't you receive an invitation?"

Martin shook his head, "No, Marvel has never invited me."

Kelly said, "That's strange then. I couldn't have misheard it. Did they change their mind?"

Martin shrugged, "Who knows?"

Kelly asked curiously, "If they invite you, would you accept? You've played Joker."

Martin spoke straightforwardly, "The movies I starred in this year, 'John Wick' and 'Benjamin,' both were huge hits. I could ask for 20 million US Dollars for my next commercial film. If it's a superhero movie like that, I would want even more for box office and merchandising rights."

He then added, "Though earning money isn't shameful, for a Hollywood star at my level, purely commercial superhero movies are at the very bottom of the disdain chain."

That perception might change in another seven or eight years, but it was still the case at present.

Kelly remarked, "It might be difficult, 'Iron Man 2' was shot here at the Gray Film and Television Center, and Marvel is very tight on budget, being very stingy when it comes to investing in actors."

"I cannot possibly cut my own fee in half just for them," Martin knew the severe consequences, "Not to mention my future fees, even the sponsors would take issue, thinking I'm degrading my own status and lowering their brand value."

He gestured dismissively, "Let's wait for them to invite."

Martin stayed on in Atlanta until after the New Year, and at one point even accompanied Elena to see 'Avatar'.

As 2010 had just begun and because Warner Bros. was holding a New Year's reception, Martin returned to Los Angeles.