"Ladies and gentlemen, a few minutes ago, I told my partner outside the door that our movie had failed. Why did I say that? Because it was too quiet inside the cinema. So quiet that it made me panic." I grabbed the microphone with both hands to keep myself from falling, suddenly I couldn''t hear a sound, only saw the mouths of the people below opening and closing.


    My mouth was dry and my body limp; so this was the taste of success.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, more than a month ago, someone came to my house and told my father that this cinema would be taken back in July, which is our family''s main source of income. For the sake of living, I decided to make a movie. To make the movie, my mother even pawned the jewelry she had cherished for a lifetime! Half a month ago, during the days when I was editing this movie, all the people on Harvey Street took the initiative to stand guard for me. A week ago, when the company didn''t have enough money to print copies, all the employees voluntarily handed over their hard-earned wages, their blood and sweat money!"


    The more I talked, the more excited I became, my voice choked up.


    "Ladies and gentlemen! This movie, I dedicate to my father, my mother, to my partners Berg and Gans, to every employee in DreamWorks, you can see all of them in the movie! Dedicated to Mr. Johnny Grant, Mr. Malskrov, Mr. Fox, Miss Lenny, Miss Heidi, dedicated to those lovely people on Harvey Street! Without you, there would be no such movie! Thank you!"


    After I finished speaking, I almost fainted on stage, but Gans and Berg held me firmly from behind to prevent me from making a fool of myself.


    "Mr. Corleone, we, the people of Harvey Street, are proud of you!" From the last few rows of the cinema, a group of Harvey people who had come from Harvey Street on foot shouted and rushed to the front desk, lifting me high.


    People got up from their seats one after another, took flowers from the flower baskets beside them and threw them around freely, everyone sang and danced, fanatical and crazy. Old Ma took my actors from backstage with the prepared champagne and sprayed it everywhere, the scene was in chaos.


    It was midnight before the crowd gradually dispersed. I really couldn''t hold on any longer, and was supported by Gans and Berg to the bed at home and lay until dawn. All night long, I couldn''t sleep at all, with the shouting of the crowd in my ears, and the faces almost deformed due to excitement when I closed my eyes. Many times, I felt that I was dreaming, that all this was a dream, but the screams of Gans and Fatty from downstairs proved that this was not a dream, but a real reality.


    When it was bright, I finally fell into a deep sleep, and when I woke up, it was already past one o''clock in the afternoon.


    "Boss, you finally woke up! You snored so loudly that you made us envious." Fatty saw me wake up and hurriedly helped me up.


    "Didn''t you sleep?" I asked him, looking at his swollen eyes.


    Fatty shook his head: "Too excited! Boss, hurry up and wash up, we have a lot to do today!"


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    "What happened?" I went to the bathroom next to me to brush my teeth and wash my face, starting to wash up.


    "What else? ! Our company is almost bursting at the seams now, the heads of Hollywood have basically come over, and there are posters of ''Lust, Caution'' everywhere outside. The cinema has been running continuously from last night to now, and the front pages of all the major newspapers are about us again, and the focus of various programs on the radio is also our movie. Boss, this time we are completely popular!" Fatty was extremely excited, and his saliva splashed all over my face.


    "Really?" I suppressed the excitement in my heart and changed into a new set of clothes.


    "Boss, I admire your composure. Hurry down, there are guests downstairs." Fatty said with a grin.


    "Who?"


    "There are many, you''ll know when you go down!" Fatty mysteriously pushed me downstairs.


    The living room was full of voices, and as soon as I appeared at the top of the stairs, I immediately attracted everyone''s attention.


    I glanced around, among these people were old acquaintances like Malskrov, Fox, Jack Warner, Lemer, John Cohn, and some new faces I had never seen before.


    "Andrei, you finally woke up, we''ve been waiting for you all morning." Old Ma stood up and welcomed me into the living room, introducing me to those I didn''t know.


    "This is Mr. Charles Ray, the Western Theater Manager of the First National Pictures Company."


    A man in his thirties shook my hand, tall and thin, with a fresh smell of shaving lotion on him, full of energy.


    The First National Pictures Company could be regarded as a big fish in the screening industry, with 5,000 theaters under its banner, and 1,200 in the West alone. This guy was probably interested in my movie.


    "This gentleman is Mr. Todd Browning, the Western Manager of Biograph Pictures Company."


    Old Ma pulled me to a fat old man about fifty years old with gray hair.


    Biograph Pictures Company was powerful from 1900 - 1910, but now it was in the same situation as this fat old man, struggling to survive. A starving camel is bigger than a horse, and Biograph''s theaters also had several hundred, so it still had influence.


    Next were Chani Bara of Lightning Company and Tom Bodewin of Essanay Company. The total number of theaters of the two companies was less than 100, so in front of these bigwigs, the two men looked very awkward, and they even bent their waists when they saw me.


    After the introduction, everyone took their seats.


    Old Ma looked at everyone, then at me, and smiled: "Andrei, everyone came this time, and they have something in common to discuss with you."


    "Old Ma, just say it, I''ll do it." I picked up the tea and took a sip.


    "The thing is, after ''Lust, Caution'' had its premiere in 200 theaters, it was sold out every time, and now the whole of Los Angeles is boiling. We discussed it and thought of letting this movie be shown across the United States. Don''t worry about the copies, and everyone will discuss how to divide the profits. Such a good movie, if only shown in Los Angeles, would be a pity." As soon as Malskrov finished speaking, there was an echo of approval all around.


    "This is good, of course I agree, not to mention that for the success of this movie, you also contributed a lot, Old Ma." It could be shown across the United States, which meant that money would roll in, and I couldn''t ask for more.


    Hearing what I said, there was an immediate burst of admiration in the living room. These bosses were very satisfied with my reply. Screening ''Lust, Caution'' was beneficial to both them and me.


    Under the mediation of Old Ma, I signed a screening contract with the heads of these companies, agreeing to hand over the screening rights of ''Lust, Caution'' to the cinemas under these companies, but DreamWorks must get seventy percent of their profits.


    After signing the contract, I went to the company. Everyone in the company was busy running around, and people kept coming to negotiate about the screening business of the film. During this period, a large number of reporters also rushed over to interview me.


    After receiving these people with great difficulty, when I sat in the office to rest for a while, Gans threw a stack of newspapers on my desk.


    "Boss, you see how to deal with it." He looked depressed.


    It seemed that something had happened.