From April to June 2006, Andy spent almost the entire two months at the villa, except for one visit to the WGA Writers Guild.
If adapting the novel into a film was a bit awkward and unskilled at first, after finishing the novel *Maleficent*, He seemed to have found the knack, his inspiration flowed, and his command of language became more skillful, which undoubtedly boosted his confidence.
So for the past two months, apart from eating and exercising, I have been working almost day and night to complete the first volume of "Dark Fairy Tales", copy the first volume of "The Hunger Games", and outline five scripts.
His purpose in going to the WGA Writers Guild was simply to hand over the outlines of five screenplays to the guild for safekeeping. By paying a fee, he could protect his global copyright and avoid film companies from having similar ideas. Even if there were a butterfly effect, it was difficult to guarantee that there would be similar ideas. By using the rules and relying on the guild's record-keeping, he could remain invincible.
As for the original screenwriters from the previous life, sorry, that's not Andy's concern.
There is no fairness in this world at all.
Plagiarism means nothing to money or fame.
Shameless?
Andy could only chuckle.
Since he was reborn into another body, he couldn't help but take advantage of these benefits to seize all the resources he could control, regardless of which passing deity or God bestowed them upon him.
As for screenwriting, Andy has little interest in it now, because screenwriters don't have a high status in the film industry. The 2008 strike was a good example. Although he was a registered screenwriter with the Writers Guild, his only work was a screenplay adapted from his own novel.
He only became a screenwriter to get a foothold in Hollywood; he would never make a living from it. A famous screenwriter earning $500,000 a year is nothing!
Ding-dong.
A few minutes later, the door clicked open, and an ordinary-looking middle-aged Chinese woman, his new maid -the only one skilled enough in multiple cuisines-, appeared in front of the fat man, Carl, who reeked of alcohol, had a somewhat unfocused look in his eyes, and was leaning against the door frame. She asked in a surprised and puzzled tone, "Mr. Vincent, what happened to you?"
"Andy...is Andy home?" Carl pushed away the woman's support and staggered into the villa, shouting loudly.
"Hey man! What time is it? Why aren't you home after drinking like this? What are you doing here?"
Andy, who had just finished working out and was about to take a shower, heard the commotion and came down from the second floor. He saw his drunken manager and asked him in an annoyed tone.
Carl, who looked like he was about to pass out drunk, saw Andy approaching. His usually clumsy body suddenly became agile, and he rushed forward to hug Andy, crying out, "Andy, I'm fired! That damn bitch stole my client and even accused me of harassment! I'm finished!"
Andy rolled his eyes, pushed away the wailing Carl, helped him sit down on the sofa, and said to the maid standing beside him, "Liu Yan, get him a glass of ice water."
"I'll go get it right away."
Liu Yan waved her hands nervously, still not used to her foreign employer, having previously worked at a Chinese joint.
Watching Liu Yan's flustered figure, he shrugged with a helpless expression.
Liu Yan immigrated with her daughter. She originally ran a restaurant in China and was an excellent Sichuan chef. Although her daughter and son-in-law were middle class and had no financial pressure, she felt uncomfortable staying at home all day because of the language barrier, so she registered with an agency to find a job.
Carl searched everywhere for a nanny who could cook food for Andy. He happened to see her profile and, after getting a general understanding of her situation, took her to Andy's house. Liu Yan was very nervous when she saw the villa located in an affluent area, fearing that her language problem would be an obstacle to finding a job. However, when she met Andy, he simply took one look at her visage and hired her on the spot, which really surprised her.
The subsequent interview went smoothly, and after communicating for a while and understanding each other's basic information, they decided to establish an employment relationship.
Hee took the ice water from the maid, shoved it into Carl's hand as he continued to wail, and gave him a hard slap in annoyance.
"Hey buddy, that's enough! This is never going to end. If you lose your job, you lose it anyway, it's only a matter of time. I told you a long time ago to watch out for your secretary."
"Cough cough... cough, damn it, be gentle!"
Carl rubbed his sore shoulder, took a sip of ice water (almost choking), and looked at Andy's gloating expression, as if he'd known all along. "Damn it, I shouldn't have come to you. There's no way I could get any comfort from you!"
"Heh, you really know me. You brought this on yourself. Office politics are bound to cause trouble; it was only a matter of time!"
Andy sat on the sofa, legs crossed, glancing sideways at Carl with a sneer on his lips.
"Who in CCA is clean, from top to bottom! It's good that you're out. Take a shower, get some sleep, I have something to tell you tomorrow!"
"Huh? Andy, you're not going to fire me too, are you? You're all I have now, you can't abandon me!"
Seemingly recalling something terrible, his rosy, chubby face, flushed from the alcohol, turned deathly pale in an instant, and he lunged at Andy on the sofa with a look of utter despair.
"Get lost, you idiot! I'm not gay! What are you thinking? I won't fire you. Damn it, you're so annoying. Okay, stop messing around. Go wash up and go to bed. You can sleep in the guest room on the second floor."
Andy was furious. He kicked Carl in the stomach as Carl lunged at him, then looked at the fat man sprawled on the carpet and turned to go upstairs in a huff.
Nothing was said that night.
"I never expected you to get up earlier than me, Carl."
Andy sat down at the dining table with a teasing expression, looked at Carl who seemed much better, and then nodded to the maid, Liu Yan: "Good morning, Liu Yan."
Before the two could speak, he continued in a mocking tone, "Have you cried enough?"
Seeing Carl's chubby face flushed red with shame and indignation, he said to Liu Yan, "Liu Yan, could you give me something heavy for breakfast? I need to replenish my nutrition; my body is a bit weak."
"Okay, sir, I'll go stir-fry some beef for you. Please wait a moment." Liu Yan placed bread, milk, bacon, and fried eggs on the table and smiled as she heard Andy's request.
Andy was speechless as he watched Liu Yan take out the beef from the refrigerator and start cooking. He had only wanted some pan-fried veal, but now it had turned into a stir-fry. Luckily, his kitchen was well ventilated, otherwise the whole villa would have been filled with the smell of cooking oil.
On the other side, Carl, like a starving ghost reincarnated, began to clean up the food on the table.
"Hey, eat less, this is my breakfast!" Andy angrily snatched the plate of food and roared.
"Tch, stingy!" Carl muttered as he stuffed bread and bacon into his mouth.
Andy twitched his eye, repeatedly telling himself not to lower himself to the level of this fatso.
Breakfast ended with Carl watching Andy eat his fill with resentment. "Alright, you fatso, come to the study, I have something important to tell you." Andy wiped his mouth with a napkin and patted his stomach contentedly.
Carl followed her into the study with a disgruntled expression. He didn't seem to mind Andy calling him "fatso." After they sat down, Liu Yan brought over two cups of coffee.
Andy picked up his coffee and took a sip, then took the manuscript of the first volume of "Dark Fairy Tales" from his desk drawer and threw it in front of Carl.
Carl nearly spat out his coffee. He excitedly put down his cup and stared intently at the stack of manuscripts.
"Oh my god, oh my god, am I dreaming?" Andy calmly sipped his coffee, watching Carl, who was already overly excited.
"Oh my God! Andy has a new book!" Carl exclaimed excitedly, gesturing wildly as he held the manuscript.
"Alright, alright, sit down and let's talk." Andy raised an eyebrow. "This one is to complete the contract with Scholastic."
After letting out a long sigh, Carl's chubby face, flushed with excitement, showed a relieved expression: "I knew it, I knew it, Andy, you wouldn't let me down. I was right, you're a genius, always have been... Andy, you've really changed a lot."
"Everyone changes. I've just matured. I won't be confused or hesitant anymore, and I'm not the same person I used to be."
Andy waved his hand. "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. After settling things with Scholastic, I want to set up a company to manage all the copyrights and business operations of the books. I don't have that much time and energy to manage it all, so I hope you can help me with it."
Carl's lips trembled slightly, his eyes reddened, and he looked at Andy. Finally, he sighed and said, "Really, thank you, Andy. Although I really want to help you manage everything, I'm afraid my abilities are limited."
"When did you become so fussy? This isn't the Carl I know. You tricked me into coming to Hollywood just for better opportunities, didn't you?" Andy couldn't help but frown.
"You're not worried about me getting writer's block again, are you? You can rest assured about that, look..."
As he spoke, Andy threw the manuscript of "The Hunger Games" onto the table again. "This is a novel I have high hopes for, and I believe it will definitely make it to the top of the bestseller list!"
"Okay, okay, hahaha." Carl grinned lewdly, clutching the two manuscripts tightly in his hands. He seemed to have thought of something, and his mouth was practically watering.
"Alright, put 'The Hunger Games' aside for now. Here's a check for 100,000. Go register a company and rent an office. We'll name the company 'The Mockingjay'."
As Andy took the manuscript back from Carl and put it back in the drawer, he took out a pencil sketch of the Mockingjay emblem with its wings spread in flames from the movie The Hunger Games and handed it to Carl.
Carl looked at the bird on the white paper, its wings spread in the flames, and softly read the word beneath the image.
"Mockingbird!"
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Mass Release 8/10
Reviews would truly help me.