Chapter 270: City of Freedom
Chapter 270: City of Freedom
Hearing Eric say this, Sherisa Cody indeed hesitated briefly.
But she quickly realized that her hesitation was simply ridiculous.
She understood Brad Pitt’s current situation better than anyone. Over the past six months, Brad had still only been able to occasionally guest-star in small roles in films or television dramas. Under these circumstances, as long as he could obtain the male lead role in a major television series, what was there to hesitate over? One had to know that many second- and third-tier Hollywood stars were competing for the male and female lead roles in The X-Files.
After figuring this out, Sherisa Cody said, “Mr. Williams, I believe The X-Files will definitely be an excellent television series. If he can play the male lead in this show, even if his image becomes fixed, what does it matter?”
This woman really knew how to talk, Eric thought.
But then Sherisa Cody continued, “However, Mr. Williams, isn’t signing a five-season contract all at once a little too long?”
Eric immediately shook his head and said in a tone that left no room for negotiation, “Not long at all. The six leads of Friends all signed five-season contracts.”
Sherisa Cody did not know whether what Eric said was true. If that really was the case, she indeed could not find any reason to bargain. Besides, let alone five seasons, even if it were a few more seasons, it seemed she and Brad Pitt had neither the qualifications nor leverage to negotiate.
Eric observed Sherisa Cody’s expression and said, “If you have no objections, I’ll watch Brad Pitt’s audition tape tomorrow. If his performance satisfies me, I’ll notify you to come sign the contract.”
The next day, Eric arrived at the Fox soundstage responsible for auditions and found Brad Pitt’s audition tape. After watching it several times and confirming that Brad Pitt’s current acting skills were indeed enough for the role of Fox Mulder, he called over the producers from both Fox and Firefly to discuss it. The decision was quickly finalized.
All that remained were the female lead and several minor supporting roles. Eric naturally had no intention of caring about those small supporting roles and only devoted some energy to selecting the female lead.
At the same time, the other variety show he had promised Fox was finally put into motion. After thinking it over for a long time, Eric finally chose the safest variety show: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
In his previous life, this show originated in Britain. Once it appeared in the late 1990s, it became popular worldwide. Eric remembered that many television stations across the Pacific had similar imitation programs at the time. Even before Eric transmigrated, the show still had not left television screens, and there were often rumors about another contestant becoming a millionaire in some country’s version of the program. The show tightly grasped the psychology of ordinary people wanting to get rich overnight, so it had no era-specific limitations. Unlike some other shows, which might also succeed now but would be troublesome to operate, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was much simpler.
Therefore, after writing the proposal, Eric first sent people to register the show’s copyright in many countries around the world that attached importance to intellectual property protection. Once this show became popular, he believed he could make a huge sum from selling the rights alone.
“Hey, hey, Eric, what do you think of this question? In Home Alone, how many brothers and sisters does Kevin have?” In the car heading toward Malibu, Drew, who was sitting in the passenger seat, held a small hardcover notebook and occasionally wrote and drew in it.
Hearing the girl’s question, Eric smiled and shook his head. “No. I already said the questions must be closely related to daily life and must be very interesting. Your question is purely testing memory. Who would be bored enough to care how many siblings Kevin has?”
Drew pouted and retorted, “Then the question you designed is even more boring. Who would be bored enough to care how insects breathe?”
Eric helplessly glared at the little girl. “One look and I can tell you never paid attention in school. That question must be in biology textbooks.”
“You’re quibbling. Only bookworms care about those questions.” The girl shook her head, bit the ballpoint pen in her hand, and pondered for a while. Then she asked again, “What about this one? What year was the Hollywood sign first put up?”
Eric nodded. “That’s a good question. Write it down, write it down.”
“Hehe.” The girl smiled smugly and wrote it in her notebook.
Eric thought for a moment, then looked at the girl and asked, “Right, I actually don’t know what year the Hollywood sign was put up. What year was it?”
The little girl rolled her eyes at Eric. “How would I know?”
“…”
Eric was somewhat speechless. “Then how did you come up with that question?”
“We happened to pass by there yesterday.” The girl bit the ballpoint pen and pondered again before looking up at the road ahead. “How much farther?”
“Five minutes. We’re almost there.”
The car stopped outside the estate at Point Dume in Malibu. Eric opened the door and got out, but then he heard the girl making a strange fuss inside the car.
“Ahhh, Eric, I bumped myself. Hurry and carry me out.”
“Crawl out by yourself.” Eric assumed the little girl was acting up again and ignored her, directly walking toward Frank Gehry, his personal lawyer Edward, and the others waiting at the estate entrance.
“Wuwah, Eric, you’re so heartless.” Just as Eric was about to extend his hand toward Frank Gehry, who had warmly come forward to greet him, a soft body pounced onto his back from behind.
Eric slapped the little girl’s bottom with his backhand. “Stop messing around. Don’t you see so many people here? Keep acting up and I’ll stuff you into the trunk.”
“I really bumped my knee. It’s red. Look if you don’t believe me,” the little girl hanging on his back said aggrievedly.
Eric reached back, pulled the girl off his back in a few quick motions, held her, and glanced at the pale, tender leg exposed beneath her knee-length pleated skirt. Although there was indeed a small bluish-red mark, it was neither bleeding nor swollen.
“You won’t go lame. Get down and run two kilometers, and it’ll be fine.” As he spoke, Eric put Drew down. The little girl giggled, hooked her arms around his neck, and fooled around for a while before reluctantly letting go.
Just as Eric released Drew, he sensed from the corner of his eye that someone in the distance seemed to be looking in their direction. Following his instinct and looking over, he did not find anyone. He thought he might be overthinking it. For some reason, over the past few days, he had always felt uncomfortable, as if someone were following him.
Perhaps he should hire a team of bodyguards, Eric thought. On the surface, however, he turned his attention back to the people in front of him.
“I’m really sorry. The girl always likes fooling around.” Eric shook hands one by one with Frank Gehry, Edward Lewis, and the others.
“It’s no problem,” Frank Gehry said with a chuckle. Edward Lewis also echoed him.
“Then let’s go in. I’ve been looking at the blueprints all this time. After waiting more than half a year, this place is finally finished.”
Eric’s impatient manner made Frank and the others laugh.
“Please follow me,” Frank said, inviting everyone into the cars. The temporary guard opened the estate gate, and the group drove directly toward the mansion by the cliff. As for the other buildings on the estate, Eric had no interest in inspecting them one by one. As long as they passed inspection, that was enough. After all, those buildings were only places for servants or guests to live.
Several cars drove along a winding path toward the main clifftop building Eric called the “City of Freedom.”
After the group got out, Eric looked at the shell-shaped silver building before him, which was even more refined and grand than the one in his mind, and could not help letting out a sound of admiration.
The Malibu mansion of Iron Man in his memory was only a concrete building. But although this building before him inevitably used some reinforced concrete, most of its main structure was built from granite, special glass, and low-alloy, high-hardness steel. The shell-shaped building surface was also covered in silver titanium alloy, gleaming brightly beneath the sunlight.
The original construction budget Frank Gehry submitted for this estate was only five million dollars. But with Eric’s promise of unlimited funding, Frank Gehry increased the budget again and again, first raising it to ten million dollars, then finally to twenty million dollars. In the final stage of construction, he applied to Eric for another two million dollars in budget. Ninety percent of that money had been used on this building.
One had to know that in this era, twenty million dollars was already enough to construct a twenty-story building. And now, housing prices across Malibu still had not reached the level of later generations, when mansions could easily cost tens of millions of dollars. Most Malibu villas were only worth several hundred thousand dollars, and even luxury mansions with private beaches and other facilities only cost a few million. This showed just how extravagant this single building, which cost twenty million dollars to create, truly was. Eric remembered that the hundred-million-dollar mansion of Mr. Bill, which many people in his previous life talked about with great enthusiasm, actually only cost a little over fifty million dollars to build, and that was after the year 2000.
The group stood outside the silver building for several minutes in unspoken agreement before Frank Gehry finally said with a proud tone, “Alright, I think we should go inside and take a look. I believe the interior structure of this building will be even more surprising.”
A staff member opened the mansion’s main door, and Frank Gehry led everyone inside.
The moment they stepped into the hall, the first thing the group saw was not a spacious living room, but the shimmering surface of the sea.
“Wow, so beautiful.” The group of men still maintained restraint and composure, but the little girl had no such concerns. She cried out in surprise and rushed toward the floor-to-ceiling window that was more than ten meters long and over two meters high.
“Eric, Eric, come look!” Drew pressed herself against the glass without any restraint, looking out toward the ocean.
Eric asked somewhat worriedly, “Mr. Gehry, there’s no problem with this glass, right?”
“Of course not,” Frank Gehry said. “This is special glass. It looks no different from ordinary glass, but this glass is actually made of three layers, with a layer of polycarbonate material sandwiched in the middle. Even if it’s shot, as long as it isn’t hit by a large-caliber sniper rifle, it can block the bullet. So ordinary impacts won’t cause any damage at all.”
Hearing Frank Gehry say this, one of Edward’s assistants asked in surprise, “Mr. Gehry, according to what you’re saying, isn’t this bulletproof glass? It must be very expensive, right?”
Frank Gehry shook his head and honestly said, “Although it hasn’t fully reached the level of bulletproof glass, it’s close enough. As for the price, wasn’t that twenty million dollars spent on these things? Eric, shall I show everyone around?”
“Of course.” Eric no longer paid attention to the little girl pressed against the glass looking at the sea and followed Frank Gehry toward the other areas.
As they walked, Frank Gehry introduced the building. “This floor is mainly the living room, kitchen, gym, and reception room. According to the design draft you gave us, Eric, the basement level is a studio. The second and third floors contain eight bedrooms in total, as well as a study and a small screening room. In addition, the villa has twelve bathrooms.”
Eric nodded lightly as they followed the spiral staircase to the second floor. He listened to Frank Gehry’s explanation while looking around, then the group reached the top floor. This was a spacious master bedroom with a broad view of the surrounding area. Through the glass windows, one could not only see the view of Malibu’s urban area but also the distant ocean.
After looking around, Eric suddenly thought of a question and said to Frank Gehry, “Mr. Gehry, is this glass one-way?”
“Of course. How could I overlook such an important detail? Every glass window in this building has been specially treated. Although light can be seen from outside looking in, it’s impossible to see anything inside the rooms.”
“That’s good.” Eric nodded and looked at the scenery around the master bedroom. If he and some woman were tumbling in bed and someone used binoculars to see inside through the windows, that would be terrible.
After spending more than ten minutes walking through the place, the group returned to the living room, but the little girl had disappeared.
“I think Miss Barrymore must have gone to the outdoor pool,” Frank Gehry said with a smile. “Perfect. The scenery there is excellent. Let’s go there to discuss matters.”
Passing through a side door beside the living room, the group arrived at the large outdoor swimming pool facing the cliff.
Although the view indoors was also excellent, it was still blocked by a layer of glass. Here, however, there was no obstruction at all, giving the impression of open sea and sky.
“Mr. Gehry, can we swim now?” the little girl’s voice came from behind a lounge chair.
Only then did everyone realize the girl had found a pair of sunglasses from somewhere and was lying on the lounge chair sunbathing.
“Of course you can, Miss Barrymore,” Frank Gehry seemed to like the little girl very much and said with a smile. “But only after Mr. Williams finishes signing the project acceptance contract.”