My teacher is Bruce Lee, who dominated Hollywood.

Chapter 24 Snatching People

"Let him in." Ashley tugged at his collar, trying to appear more relaxed.

The door opened, and Fred Weintraub, Warner Bros.' top producer and the executive who first suggested signing Bruce Lee, rushed into the office, sweating profusely.

"Ted! Did you see that article?" He rushed in, clutching the magazine, and immediately spotted the same one on Ashley's desk:

"If Universal releases 'The Big Boss' first, all our investment in 'The World's Number One Fist' will be wasted!"

"More importantly, once Bruce Lee establishes a deep partnership with Universal, what will we use to poach him?"

Ashley's face was grim. As the head of Warner Bros., he knew all too well the weight of the word "first-mover advantage."

Hollywood is like a shark tank; once it smells blood, all the sharks will swarm in instantly.

"Calm down, Fred." Ashley closed the magazines on his desk. "That cunning Jew would never do something that doesn't benefit him."

"I suspect that the 'joint issuance' mentioned in this report is very likely a betting agreement without any guarantees."

"But public opinion has already been ignited!" Fred retorted.

"The distribution department's phones have been ringing off the hook. Theater managers are all asking when we can hand over the kung fu films we have!"

Ashley paused for a moment, thinking rapidly, his gaze lingering on the photo of Bruce Lee on the magazine cover for a long time.

"Fred, don't you think this is a good thing? The movie hasn't even been released yet, but market expectations have already been formed."

He stood up, walked over to Fred, and began giving instructions:

"First, immediately notify the distribution department to cancel all leave and have everyone work overtime. Promotional materials for 'The World's Number One Fist' must be fully rolled out by February 5th!"

"We want to get ahead of Universal and plant the concept of 'kung fu movies' in the minds of American audiences, so that everyone is convinced that Warner Bros. is the pioneer of this new genre."

Fred nodded, took out his notebook, and quickly jotted down notes: "No problem, all the copies are on their way. As soon as they arrive, the translation team can work through the night."

"Second..." Ashley's eyes were incredibly resolute: "Contact Bruce immediately."

"Tell him that Warner Bros. has accepted the script revisions, and I can also make some concessions on his salary."

"If he's willing, the filming of 'Enter the Dragon' can start immediately."

Upon hearing this, Fred immediately grabbed the phone on his desk and dialed the front desk number of the Dragon Gate Hotel.

"Hello, please connect me to Mr. Bruce Lee's room."

The receptionist's polite voice came from the other end of the phone.

His hand holding the microphone froze in mid-air: "Okay, thank you for the message."

"What's wrong?" Ashley sensed something was amiss.

Fred slowly put down the phone: "Bruce and Raymond Chow... have checked out and flown back to Hong Kong."

"Fuck!" Ashley slammed his hand on his desk. "Back to Hong Kong at this crucial moment? And when did Raymond Chow arrive?"

Fred said with a bitter face, "He specifically left a message for the front desk, telling us that Shaw Brothers was spreading rumors in Hong Kong that Golden Harvest was going to go bankrupt, and they were rushing back to stabilize the situation."

"These selfish idiots!" Ashley gritted his teeth in anger.

Shaw's move to undermine Golden Harvest certainly caused trouble for them, but it also inadvertently dealt a heavy blow to Warner.

They've all run away, what's the point of discussing cooperation?

If we wait until Bruce Lee returns to Hong Kong and resolves the internal issues before he comes back, it will probably be too late.

The president of Warner was pacing back and forth in the room when he suddenly remembered something.

"Where's that young man? Qin Han, Bruce Lee's student!"

The young man in the cheap suit impressed him deeply with his insightful analysis of the script.

Given Bruce Lee's attitude towards him, if we could win him over, wouldn't that be equivalent to winning over half of Bruce Lee?

"Fred, go and investigate this Qin Han. I need to know where he lives, what his hobbies are, and what he lacks."

In Ashley's eyes, this kind of poor kid was the easiest to manipulate.

If you offer them even a small reward, they'll wag their tails and come running like a lapdog.

"I'll check right away!" Fred rushed out of the office.

Less than an hour later, he returned to his office with a document in his hand and a strange expression.

"Boss, I found it." He handed the report to Ashley: "This kid... lives in a run-down apartment on the edge of 7th Street."

"7th Street? Isn't that a slum?"

"That's right. In addition, he also owes a large sum of money to the Chinatown gangs at exorbitant interest rates, and his martial arts school has gone bankrupt."

"Very good!" Ashley laughed, like a hunter seeing his prey fall into his trap.

"So he's a desperate gambler, which makes things easier. A person overwhelmed by debt has an insatiable thirst for money."

"Meet him immediately and tell him that Warner is willing to help him pay off his debts, as long as he can guarantee Bruce's signing."

Fred looked troubled. "Boss, that's the weird part—he flew to New York with Lorna Barrett for a press summit."

"What?" Ashley felt like his head was spinning.

A penniless guy with a mountain of debt is still flying around everywhere? And he's with that most difficult woman in Hollywood.

A sense of absurdity washed over me.

"Check the flight information!" He realized that things were definitely not simple.

Ten minutes later, Fred hung up the phone: "Found it. United Airlines flight UA003, flying from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Los Angeles, is scheduled to land in about an hour and a half."

Ashley glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already 10:30 p.m.

The Burbank film set outside the window was pitch black, with only a few scattered lights on in the distant soundstage.

"Get the car ready. You're going there yourself." He grabbed Fred's shoulder and shook him hard. "Remember to drive the company's stretch Lincoln, and bring two smart bodyguards with you."

"Go to the airport and bring him back to me. Remember, it's 'bring' him back."

"I'm going to see him in this office tonight."

……

Los Angeles International Airport, late at night.

"We've finally arrived."

Lorna Barrett took off her sunglasses; although she looked tired, her face was full of excitement at the prospect of going to the battlefield.

"Qin, my car is waiting outside."

She tidied her wind-blown blonde curls: "I'm busy with something now, so I won't see you off."

Indeed, she probably wouldn't be able to get a good night's sleep for the next few days.

"Go on with your work, big reporter." Qin Han waved with a smile, "Don't forget my 'prophet' fee."

"Don't worry, you'll get your share." Rona said, walking briskly towards the exit in her high heels.

Several assistants who had been waiting for a long time immediately came forward and escorted the queen into a black minivan.

"Let's go, Andrew." Qin Han patted the face of the half-asleep mixed-race boy. "Let's find a taxi."

As soon as I stepped out of the airport gate, two blinding headlights suddenly turned on.

A long, black Lincoln Continental slowly pulled up in front of the two of them.

"Mr. Qin! Mr. Morgan!"

The car door opened, and Fred enthusiastically stretched out his hands and ran towards the two of them.