Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1389: Old Friend of the Chinese

“Does he have any competition in Indiana?”

After returning to the hotel, Ronald asked Roger Ailes.

"Indiana's 5th District is very red, and it's hard to shake its congressman once he gets through the Democratic primary..."

“What about the primaries?”

"Primary elections... unless you are willing to spend a lot of money, you also need to find the right candidate who can challenge you. Dan Burton is a well-known rogue congressman. He is the congressman who uses the free mail privilege the most in the House of Representatives. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on his re-election last year."

Congress has the federal privilege to send official correspondence, newsletters, promotional materials, etc. through the postal service for free without paying postage. In general, incumbent members of Congress will also use this privilege to send some campaign-related materials during re-elections.

But there aren't many people like Dan Burton who openly send out their own primary campaign marketing materials.

"I don't care. Do you have such a candidate? I will set up a special information team to collect and study all the information about him." Ronald felt that it would be rude not to reciprocate, so he had to make this bastard suffer in the next election.

"Do you want to go into politics?" Roger Ailes suddenly became interested, and his body posture suddenly straightened like a housewife spotting a special sale.

"I'm not interested."

"If that's the case, you'd better not make it too obvious. You can donate money to some non-profit organizations that monitor illegal acts of Congress, use their names to make some money, and after finding some clues, report it to the media programs, such as Roger Ailes, who is about to start the pilot program..."

"Hahaha, of course. I'll write you a check later and you can do it on my behalf. Don't be afraid of this. The former president was also very dissatisfied with this kind of behavior that disregards party interests and digs up the roots." Ronald reaffirmed to Roger Ailes old George's dissatisfaction with Burton.

"No problem. Are you going back to Los Angeles?"

"I'm going back to New York with you and Lindsay. I'm going to talk to some people there..."

"It seems that you are really angry..." Roger Ailes thought that Ronald was going to seek political help from outside to make Dan Burton remember him.

……

"Oh, you're so handsome, Ronnie. I've rarely seen anyone silence Dan Burton in Parliament... He's quite good at parliamentary debates."

"Hey, do you often watch parliamentary debates?"

Ronald raised his head from Helen Slater's belly, listening for any movement. After the farce of testifying in the House of Representatives, he came to New York to change his mood, enjoy family happiness with Helen, and put aside his worries.

"When I can't sleep at night, I watch C-SPAN and fall asleep in a short while." Helen touched Ronald's hair. After a long period of pregnancy, the discomfort such as morning sickness disappeared. Except that the father of the child was not around, everything was perfect.

Ronald laughed, picked up the remote control to turn down the TV volume, then took out a small box, "This is a gift for you."

Helen Slater happily pulled open the wrapping paper, revealing a CD set, four cassettes, and a certificate.

This is a special episode of Helen telling stories for children. The children's literature she read, starting with "Charlotte's Web", is very popular in the market and has sold gold records in China. The certificate is the certification of the Recording Industry Association, the real certification medal, which will be obtained by Columbia Records in a few months.

"Oh, Ronnie..." Helen suddenly became shy. She had been an actress since she graduated from high school. She had gotten a lot of good roles through her father's relationship with Ronald. But who knew that her first achievement recognized by the industry was when she recorded a bedtime story for her children? Was this a subtle guidance from God?

"Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands. Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to understanding, because she is more tender in bearing children, and is a joint heir of the grace of life with you." Helen Slater thought silently, it can be seen that Ronald is truly the gospel given to her by God.

……

After spending some time with Helen in New York, Ronald returned to Los Angeles and immediately attended the giant panda press conference.

The San Diego Zoo has already reached an agreement with the conservation base, and two carefully selected giant pandas, one male and one female, will come to San Diego, California, later this year as guests of a lease agreement and stay for ten years.

In order to welcome the giant pandas, panda lovers also donated money to build a new residence for them at the San Diego Zoo. The residence will be full of Chinese architectural styles and activity areas. In the early stage, bamboo airlifted from the pandas' hometown will ensure their food supply, and later they will try to find alternative bamboo varieties that pandas like locally.

"Signing ceremony for the giant panda lease agreement between the San Diego Zoo in California and the Wolong Conservation Center for the Giant Panda..."

Because it is a grand event of cultural exchange between the two countries, some Chinese people also came to participate, and they also wrote a banner with yellow characters on a black background in Chinese style. In addition to the usual lion dance performances, there were also several dolls dressed as pandas jumping around on the scene, and some staff were collecting children's scores on the appearance, which would be used as the doll images for sale in the zoo.

"Congratulations, congratulations... The kids in California and the West Coast are so lucky..." The counselor also attended the event. He seemed to have received praise from the top leaders for his panda diplomacy, who said he was familiar with the culture of the work area and was good at dealing with Americans.

So the panda project, to some extent, also belongs to him. The communication between departments, and the communication with the American foundation and the zoo, all helped a lot.

"I'm glad to hear that. If there is a breakthrough in the research on panda reproduction, it will be a great thing for the pandas. It will also be very good for the people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States." Ronald raised his glass and chatted with him.

"We are also planning to have New Sports Magazine do an interview about the women's volleyball team's main attacker serving as the head coach in Long Beach. She is very popular among the people in China. To be honest, although Director Luo has done a lot of good things for the Chinese people, in China, the number of people who know your name may be only one-tenth of hers. This time, we also hope to include Mr. Li's help to her in the story."

The counselor has discovered that Ronald is a folk ambassador in the field of folk cultural exchange. He likes Chinese culture and has built a garden. Although he likes Japanese karate more than Chinese martial arts, as long as he can be won over, won't he have many contributions in cultural exchange projects in the future?
"Hahaha, I do like East Asian culture. You guys pay more attention to the relationship between people, unlike us who are all about competition..."

"Hmm?" The counselor's heart moved. As a politician, he knew everything about what happened in Washington in the past two days. He could understand Americans better because he watched C-SPAN to understand the operation of American politics while others were eating, sleeping and playing cards.

"I also like the Karate Kid series directed by Luo, especially the lightning, which is much more realistic than the lightning in Hollywood movies I've seen before."

"Hahaha..." Ronald knew that the counselor must have also watched the live broadcast.

"I wonder if Director Luo will be able to make a movie about our martial arts? Like The Karate Kid..."

"This movie is a hit because of the good casting. It depends on whether you can find an actor like Master Miyagi who represents martial arts. But a copy of The Karate Kid won't work. I'm not familiar with it, and The Karate Kid has kind of been filmed to its limit... maybe in another ten years?"

Ronald smiled. The counselor was similar to the Korean delegation that came at that time. They all saw how The Karate Kid promoted Japanese culture in America, but plagiarism alone would not work.

"So that's how it is. Director Luo's words can be said to have saved us from taking a lot of detours..." The counselor understood Ronald's way of thinking much more deeply than the people in China, and immediately understood what he meant. He looked around and saw that there was no one around. He smiled and clinked his glass with Ronald again, then continued to ask quietly:
"I watched the video of the Congress. Those congressmen are really boring. They talk nonsense without knowing the details. But speaking of it, Director Luo's last name is very interesting. It is a very common last name in both America and China?"

"I don't know, is that so? Fortunately, they didn't use this to attack me. In fact, my grandfather served the country at the beginning. You know, many people in New England have such a tradition. My grandfather was a college student at Yale and also joined the army and died for his country."

"A tribute to all the patriots in the world..."

The counselor took a closer look and then reported back, "Ronald Lee is interested in Chinese culture and is a rare and well-known figure in the literary and artistic circles who is friendly to China. The recent claims that he has Chinese ancestry have been denied by him. At least within three generations, no possibility of Chinese ancestry has been found.

Since his grandfather was from Yale University, it was very unlikely that he had Chinese ancestry because of the Chinese Exclusion Act at the time. If this is true, it is more likely to be from his grandmother's British side, which is easier to investigate..."

……

Ronald didn't know that the counselor also had his own ideas. If he had Chinese ancestry, it would be easier to do the united front work.

When he got home, he took the panda toy to tease his son, making little Roger laugh. He started playing with the panda and took out Indiana Jones, The Karate Kid, and the great white shark, and started making up a story about an adventurer and a martial artist fighting against the great white shark to save the panda.

"Good boy, he's really my son..." Ronald was very happy when he saw that his son seemed to have a talent for screenwriting, and he immediately went to Diane to brag about it.

"Roger is different from you. His toys are very long-lasting. He often takes out old friends and weaves them into his new adventures. He just likes to hide in his room and not let the maids interfere."

"Well, well, well, he is indeed a good boy..." Ronald was even happier. Whether he is a screenwriter, a director, or an actor, he can be seen from the games he likes. Confucius said that you can tell a person's future by looking at him at the age of three. It is really true.

"How could Roger make up stories?" Ronald thought, could it be genetic?

"I used to tell him bedtime stories when he was little, and then ask him to repeat them the next day. This is the training my dad gave me when I was little. I have no trouble reading scripts and memorizing lines, all thanks to this education from my dad.

It’s just that telling stories to children is too tiring and you don’t have the time. It would be nice to have a tape to help you tell the stories…”

"Ahem, well, Diane, how was your Oscar dress this year?" Ronald yelled "Oh no!" and decisively changed the subject.

"come here……"

Diane's eyes glowed as she pulled Ronald into the bedroom.

Diane was wearing a silk, close-fitting backless dress. She turned left and right to show Ronald, "I think I've almost recovered my figure recently?"

"I love you, Diane. I'm so jealous of you wearing this to the Oscars." Ronald immediately found the feeling he had back then and hugged Diane and kissed her gently.

"Let me take a picture of you..." Ronald searched the room and only found a Polaroid camera...

"You're not going to use that, are you? Hahaha, you used to be a portrait photographer, specializing in taking audition photos for Hollywood actresses."

"Hey, how did you know?" Ronald looked at the lighting in the room and knew that the Polaroid camera wouldn't be able to take a good picture of his wife.

"Demi told me, and she showed me her audition photos from that year."

Diane took out the audition photos of Demi Moore that Ronald had taken for his portrait studio to use in advertisements from the drawer.

Demi Moore's eyes are so sharp that they catch the director's eye. Her young face and unique charm perfectly capture the moment when she was young.

"Oh, this was taken many years ago. My skills were really good..." Ronald looked at the photo and was very satisfied with his skills back then.

"No one has ever taken such a good picture of me..." Diane raised an eyebrow and looked at Ronald.

"Really? It would be a crime not to take a photo of such a beautiful woman..." Ronald was willing to do anything to divert his attention. He immediately picked up the phone and called the daydreamer. Immediately, the latest cameras, the most suitable film for portraiture, and a complete set of lights were delivered to Ronald's home.

……

"Very well, give me an idea, any idea will do..."

Ronald set up the lights, put a pearl necklace on Diane, and began taking photos of his wife in the dress.

"This is a great one. What are you thinking about, dear?" Ronald found that Diane was in a very good mood today, especially her eyes, which showed a kind of love.

"This is my secret. Have you finished filming?" Diane smiled without saying anything.

"Did you finish shooting? There are so many clothes at home, why don't you change into a few more sets..." Ronald had a Hasselblad 500 in his hand and used Kodak Portra 120 large film. Wouldn't it be an overkill to only shoot one set?

"Very good, let's do it again..."

Diane also became interested. She first changed into a Marilyn Monroe-style big white veil to cover her head, then changed into a Rita Hayworth-style look back and smile, and tried all the styles of classic Hollywood actresses.

"Anything else? Again, you're in really good shape today..." Ronald also captured the feeling. There were sets of clothes and shoes on the bed, sofa, and floor.

"Hahaha, today's photo shoot was so comfortable, including this..." Diane smiled and imitated the scene in Gone with the Wind where Scarlett used curtains as clothes, and wrapped the white gauze curtains around herself.

"Add this..." Ronald looked at it and added a violet silk scarf to her shoulders.

"Click, click..." After finishing the photo shoot, Ronald looked at Diane's bare feet and the solid white and purple fabrics on her body. He suddenly felt dazed. This image looked so familiar.

(End of this chapter)