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124 Innocent Heart

After the meal, Lance did not rush to leave, but instead asked for a pot of white-brown silver needles and slowly enjoyed the Chinese-style afternoon tea. After observing the situation of "Bear Claw" opposite, "Bear Claw" should be a brunch cafe, not a regular French restaurant. The baked pastries here are quite famous in the lower city. Because of their quality and low price, they are welcomed by many slum residents.

Jeffrey has been sitting in "Bear Claws" so far. For nearly three hours, he went outside three times just because of smoking, then answered two calls, and spent the rest of the time busy writing scripts in the cafe. Judging from his bad expression, things did not go as expected.

Lance picked up his cell phone, dialed a number, and then within his sight, he saw Jeffrey picking up his cell phone, looking at the number, quickly walked out of the "Bear Claw" and answered the phone, "Hey, Lance." Jeffrey's voice came from the receiver, and Lance could clearly see Jeffrey's irritable pace next to the street.

"Jeffley, have you had lunch?" Lance did not directly cut into the subject, but hesitated in circles. The hesitation in his voice was very obvious. The two of them chatted back and forth. Then Lance took a deep breath and said hesitantly, "Jeffley, I have something to tell you."

Jeffrey was still paced in sight, obviously not hearing the seriousness of Lance's words, "What?"

Lance gritted his teeth and said in one go, "I met Mark Gordon today. He is considering giving me the 'day acquired' to make." Jeffrey's steps immediately paused, his muscles tight, and even if he couldn't see clearly, he could describe the shock of his facial expression at the moment. "Jeffrey, things are very complicated, I can't explain clearly on the phone. Where are you now? I'll go there immediately."

Jeffrey was still unaware of the strong impact. He took a sip of the cigarette hard, "Uh, I'm at the 'bear claw' next to the town hall? Do you know where?"

"I know, I'll be there soon!" Lance said without leaving any room for Jeffrey, and hung up the phone directly. "You want to read a book."

For the past two weeks, Lance has been in contact with Paramount, Warner Bros., and Disney. He is so busy that he has no direct contact with Twentieth Century Fox. But after Percy found out about the production of "the day after tomorrow", Lance began to approach Jeffrey in a planned manner.

At first, it was just a chance encounter in the library. Jeffrey was looking for information about natural disasters such as tsunamis and typhoons. Lance extended a helping hand and gave a little help, and the two of them met. The second time was in the coffee house. Jeffrey, who was sitting in the coffee house writing script, found Lance, who was queuing up to buy coffee, and came over to say hello. There were not many empty seats left that day, so Lance and Jeffrey shared a table.

That was the first time they talked about the script "The Day After Ahead". Lance gave one and two key opinions. Jeffrey was very surprised. After chatting deeply, he learned that Lance was the person who was very popular in the recent "City of God". This was really an unexpected surprise for Jeffrey. Jeffrey wanted to have an in-depth conversation with Lance, but Lance had something to do that day and had to leave first. The two decided to meet before they met.

After that, Lance and Jeffrey met three times. Obviously, Lance and Jeffrey resonated a lot, especially because "The Day Afternoon" was Jeffrey's first work, and Lance had just completed his debut, which gave the two endless common topics. Jeffrey joked that, "If you can work with you, it would probably be a very interesting thing." But Jeffrey did not mention the differences between him and Roland and Mark.

After Lance hung up the phone, he did not leave, but just looked down at Jeffrey's every move. Obviously, Jeffrey was completely shocked by the news. He never expected that the new friend he had just met would come to grab his old friend Roland's job - the key point was that the "day acquired" screenwriter was introduced to him by Roland.

Jeffrey was like an ant on a hot pan, constantly circling around and holding his head hard, but he couldn't figure out what to do. He took out his cell phone and kept tossing the old-fashioned flip phone, obviously hesitating whether he should call Roland. However, Lance said just now that the situation was very complicated and needed to be explained in person, which made Jeffrey hesitate again. He was not sure whether he should call Roland after he figured out the situation.

This contradiction and entanglement made Jeffrey pause with his head in annoyance, and he seemed very painful. In the end, years of friendship still gained the upper hand. Jeffrey turned on his cell phone, dialed the phone, and told Roland everything.

Lance sat in the deck and watched all this quietly. The elegant fragrance of the white silver needle in the air made people easily calm down. He felt that it was very rare for people like Jeffrey, and he always chose friendship even in the face of interests. Although such people are always prone to losses in society and are often losers, this innocent heart is still worthy of recognition.

All Lance needed was Jeffrey to call Roland.

With Roland's personality, he may not necessarily have a strife with Mark, but he will definitely come to verify it. Mark naturally will not admit that there is nothing he has done - he has rejected Lance directly; but they have indeed met, which means that Mark still has his own plans in his heart. It can be foreseeable that this confrontation will end up in a bad mood, and may even add fuel to the already tense atmosphere.

Now, it's Lance's turn to appear.

Lance stood up and walked towards the counter, handed the credit card to the young man standing at the counter, and looked in the kitchen. The kind mother was squatting next to the stove and having lunch with her husband - it was almost two o'clock now. The young man avoided Lance's gaze in embarrassment, which made Lance laugh. He took the credit card he had swiped and said gently, "You will be fine if you talk more, just like when I just started learning... Chinese."

After saying that, Lance did not stop and left the restaurant called "Boss Wang".

The young man scratched his head, obviously not very clear about what happened to this American. He looked down and then he found that three hundred dollar bills were pressing under the counter - this meal didn't cost 100 dollars. This made the young man stunned and felt a little at a loss.

Lance left the back door of the building, then circled back to the parking lot, drove back to the vicinity of "Bear Claw", searched for a parking space, walked out of the car in panic and anxiously, and walked straight towards the direction where "Bear Claw" was.

Jeffrey, who was standing at the door, still not entering, saw Lance at a glance, and heard Lance apologize from afar, with a look of embarrassment, "I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect it." Jeffrey's attitude towards Lance was a bit complicated, but when he saw Lance's sincere and anxious expression, he couldn't help but secretly blame his preconceptions, but he still resisted the urge to speak and waited for Lance's explanation irritably.

"I'm seeking cooperation with big companies recently. I don't know if you know, Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, I've searched them all. For production companies like me, working with them is the most direct and effective way to do so with limited investment. Twentieth Century Fox is also on the list of contacts I contacted." Lance said half-true, his words were a bit messy, but at least he made it clear. "I've been working hard to promote such cooperation, and then this morning Mark Gordon informed me that there was a project I might be able to take over. I came to my door excitedly, and the result..."

Even without further ado, Jeffrey understood.

Lance rubbed his temples and turned around anxiously twice, "I know this is the hard work of you and Roland. I know I should maintain a gentlemanly demeanor, but... Mark said that he hopes to listen to my ideas and insights again next, and then see what will happen. I know I should refuse... But..." Lance lowered his head in frustration, with annoyance on his face, and finally raised his head firmly and looked at Jeffrey calmly, "But I can't say it."

Jeffrey's chest was filled with anger, "You!" But after just saying a word, all the words were blocked in his chest and he couldn't vent it at all. Because he knew Lance's situation, film companies like Chaos Pictures were just surviving in Hollywood, and no chance could be missed easily; also because he knew that Lance's talent was not just "City of God", but also his recent time of getting along, even he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if Lance had filmed the "day acquired"...

However, Lance's competition is Roland or himself.

This entangled and contradictory sentiment made Jeffrey hardly able to calm down. He paced left and right, both annoyed, irritable, and angry, but finally let out a long sigh, "So, what is the position they provide to you?"

"The production process is all handed over to Chaos Pictures, and then... the producer and director." Lance said frankly, but finally waved helplessly, "There is also the script, they think the script needs to be revised now. So at the next meeting, they hope to hear my views and opinions on the script. But..."

But Lance's many opinions had been told to Jeffrey, which made Jeffrey suddenly stunned.

"Jeffley, I know my choice is not very gentleman, but I don't think I've done something wrong. I just hope you know the whole picture of the matter, and then if possible, I'm willing to compete fairly with Roland." Lance continued, his blue eyes full of sincerity.

Jeffrey opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then opened his mouth again... but in the end he still drooped his shoulders and felt weak.

...
Chapter completed!
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