"Even though we've been working abroad, it seems we've suddenly become famous back in China," Jian Xin remarked with a hint of surprise, her voice laced with excitement. "I've heard from contacts in China that many media outlets are reporting on our participation in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Ms. Klepp even talked to us about returning to China soon. They've lined up so much work for us there that we might be busy all the way through the Lunar New Year."
"That's the benefit of being signed with a major agency," Simon replied with a casual smile. "If you didn't have their backing, no one would care what you did."
"Simon, why don't you come to China for Lunar New Year?" Jian Xin asked playfully. "It's really lively."
"We'll see how my schedule looks," Simon answered. "Things have been quite busy lately."
As Simon and Jian Xin chatted, two sleek black helicopters descended onto a helipad along the East River.
Simon stepped off with the four women who had spent the weekend with him in East Hampton. After some affectionate goodbyes, he watched them depart in a chauffeured car before heading to his own vehicle en route to the Rockefeller Center, the headquarters of the Westeros Company in Midtown Manhattan.
Today, Simon was scheduled to meet with James Rebold and key personnel from Cersei Capital to discuss strategies for navigating the impending burst of the tech bubble. The agenda included preparing for the IPOs and bond issuances of Westeros-affiliated companies, adjusting hedge fund strategies during this volatile period, and managing the ongoing power struggle with Richard Mellon Scaife and the old-money cabal in Washington.
Frankly, regardless of how the market unfolded, the Westeros system was already in an unshakable position:
First, there was the hedge fund operation. Simon had long been scaling back the scope of its risk exposure, with plans to cap tech-related investments at $2 billion. Even in the worst-case scenario, losing this amount would be inconsequential to the vast Westeros empire.
The focus now was on stability rather than risk-taking. The system's sheer scale made high-stakes gambles unnecessary.
Second, there were upcoming IPOs, such as Instagram and LinkedIn, and a massive $5 billion bond issuance by Daenerys Entertainment in December. These initiatives aimed to accumulate as much capital as possible to prepare for opportunistic acquisitions once the economic cycle turned.
Finally, there was the ongoing financial chess game with the likes of Mellon Scaife and Tiger Management, who were betting heavily against tech stocks. With the conclusion of the U.S. presidential election in early November, political pressures to avoid market disruptions had eased, granting both the bullish and bearish camps more freedom to act.
While Simon's initial intention was to stay on the sidelines, the aggressive shorting by Mellon Scaife and other old-money factions had prompted him to engage more directly. The upcoming confrontation offered a chance to weaken entrenched old-money interests while further solidifying the Westeros system's dominance in Washington and the media.
By the time Simon arrived at the Rockefeller Center to begin his day's work, Jian Xin and Tao Yuelai, along with Roberta Chirko and Anneliese Seibert—who belonged to different modeling agencies—had also reached the Elite Model Management headquarters at 27th Street and Fifth Avenue.
As soon as they entered the office, their agent, Amanda Lane, brought Jian Xin and Tao Yuelai to Grace Klepp's office.
After exchanging pleasantries with the Elite executive, whose demeanor seemed subtly more commanding of late, the two young women took their seats. Grace quickly got to the point:
"Elite's China team just informed me that CCTV has requested to interview the two of you. The interview is scheduled for 2 p.m. today. You two know better than I do what a big deal CCTV is in China, so make sure you're fully prepared. First, connect with Ann via video call to go over the details, and then prepare any materials they've requested."
Grace handed a prepared folder to their agent, Amanda, before looking back at the still-stunned models. "Is there a problem?"
There were too many questions, to be honest.
Foremost among them: how had two relatively unknown models like them landed an interview with CCTV?
Even though they had received increasing media attention from Chinese outlets following the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, neither of them had dared to imagine appearing on CCTV—the undisputed king of Chinese media.
Jian Xin was the first to regain her composure. "Grace, which program is this interview for?"
"It's for a news program, I believe," Grace replied. "Ask Ann for specifics. She knows more."
Could it be the News Broadcast? Jian Xin thought, her heart racing. That would be insane.
Grace, however, was in no mood to entertain their astonishment. Gesturing toward a stack of documents on her desk, she briskly dismissed them. "Go to the conference room downstairs. Any other questions, take them up with Ann. Just make sure you don't mess this up—it's a huge opportunity."
Still reeling, Jian Xin and Tao Yuelai left the office with Amanda.
The head of Elite's China operations, Ann Xiaohan, was already waiting on the video call. A stylish woman in her early 30s, Ann had contacted the two models several times before. She explained the details: the interview wasn't for News Broadcast but rather Oriental Horizon, CCTV's flagship morning news program.
The two were far from disappointed.
In China, Oriental Horizon was nearly as iconic as the evening News Broadcast and similarly exclusive. This was a platform that could catapult them into nationwide fame, at least within the modeling industry. Jian Xin was already mentally drafting a message to her friends and family back home, urging them to tune in.
The pair couldn't resist asking how this opportunity had come about.
Ann candidly revealed that it was orchestrated by none other than Ms. Chen.
Chen Qing.
They had heard of her but had never met her, mostly through Jill Peckt and Zhu Momo's occasional mentions.
"She must be incredible," Jian Xin murmured to Tao Yuelai later.
Although they didn't know how much airtime they'd get, the day turned out to be a whirlwind of activity. The interview revolved around the theme of Chinese models breaking into the global fashion scene and bringing pride to their country—a clear nationalistic angle.
The interview itself took two hours, followed by a lengthy post-mortem video call with the China team to plan follow-up PR strategies. Ann Xiaohan had stayed up all night to coordinate everything, further emphasizing the importance of this moment.
By the time they returned to their Upper West Side apartment, it was past 6 p.m.
After dinner and a hot bath, the two girls settled on the couch to catch ABC's broadcast of the fifth annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. This, they knew, was critical.
Nibbling on a carefully portioned apple salad, Jian Xin glanced at the TV, which was still running ads before the show's start. "If Zhu Momo knew about this, she'd be so jealous."
"She's starring in a Zhang movie, though," Tao Yuelai replied, cradling her bowl of salad. "You know as well as I do that movie stars have way more opportunities than models."
"Simon just gave her a cameo. Remember what he told Roberta yesterday? Models transitioning to acting rarely succeed. Besides, with her height? And now that she's no longer around Simon… her future is uncertain, to say the least."
Tao Yuelai detected the smug undertone in Jian Xin's voice and asked, "You deliberately avoided mentioning Momo's name this morning, didn't you? Most of the media reports we've seen about ourselves came from her."
Jian Xin hesitated before nodding. "Yes. Yuelai, don't you see? The fact that Simon has forgotten about her is a good thing—for us."
Tao Yuelai pondered this for a moment but chose to remain silent.
Noticing her friend's pensive expression, Jian Xin smiled and leaned over to plant a quick kiss on her cheek.
On-screen, the highly anticipated Victoria's Secret Fashion Show began promptly at 8 p.m. with a sweeping aerial shot of the glittering New York City skyline. Accompanied by rousing music and a rapid-fire voiceover, the fifth annual show officially kicked off.
Both girls immediately set aside their conversation, riveted by the screen like the tens of millions of Americans tuning in that night.
By the next morning, the results were clear: the final installment of the first phase of Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows had shattered records.
The fifth show drew an average of 53.7 million viewers in North America, with peak viewership hitting 65.2 million. Among the highly coveted 18-to-49 demographic, the show achieved an astonishing 32.6% rating, meaning 73% of the show's audience came from this critical age group.
The accompanying surge in Victoria's Secret brand sales and show-related merchandise was immediate. Within 24 hours of the broadcast, Egret had already recorded 170,000 orders for the show's VHS tapes on Amazon.
Estimates placed total sales of the tapes on the second day at over 500,000 units, with the fifth show alone expected to eventually surpass 20 million copies.
Many in the media couldn't resist marveling at Victoria's Secret's success, with some even joking that the brand should focus on media production instead of lingerie. Others lamented Simon Westeros's decision to pause the show at its peak, calling it "leaving money on the table."
But seasoned observers understood the move perfectly.
As the fifth and final show concluded its historic run on television, another titan loomed on the horizon. On November 20th, the much-anticipated Wonder Woman 2 premiered at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, signaling the arrival of yet another blockbuster event.
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