The Mediterranean coastline doesn't have distinctly marked seasons, but the differences are noticeable. In the southern estate of Rome, the spring sunlight was just right. After a nap, Simon was accompanying Sophia on the outdoor lawn, helping her with her prenatal yoga.
It was April 28th, a Friday.
After staying in Rivne overnight, Simon had flown to Rome that morning.
At five months pregnant and being an older expectant mother, Sophia had essentially stopped working. She was far more concerned about the two little ones in her belly than Simon. After visiting Los Angeles for the Oscars, she had stayed at the estate south of Rome ever since, leading a very regimented life—eating, sleeping, reading, doing prenatal education, practicing yoga, and attending regular prenatal checkups. She had also adopted a pretty black-and-white cow-patterned cat and recently developed a love for flower arranging. Her days were warm and fulfilling.
It was the most leisurely, worry-free time in her life.
"Yes, just like that, Mr. Westeros. Slow down. Pregnant women cramp easily. Oh, you're so gentle."
On the lawn.
The yoga instructor, a woman with a fiery figure dressed in a light pink workout suit, was guiding Simon as he helped Sophia with a leg lift. The instructor's delicate body leaned close to Simon, her faint fragrance filling the air, and her cool fingertips occasionally brushed Simon's arm, which held Sophia's calf, in a rather suggestive manner.
After finishing the set of movements, Simon noticed that Sophia's forehead was already covered in a light sheen of sweat. He decided not to continue and instructed the yoga instructor, "That's enough for today. You can head back now. I'll stay with Sophie to enjoy the sun a little longer."
Though Simon was essentially dismissing her, Evelyn, the instructor, showed no sign of being offended. She respectfully stood up and said, "I'll go get you and Mrs. Westeros some water."
Once the woman walked away, Sophia sat up and, with a teasing smile, said, "I thought you wouldn't be able to take it and would want a nap after the yoga session."
Simon helped Sophia shift to lean against him as they sat together, soaking in the warm spring sunshine. He smiled and replied, "I'm not interested in women lately."
"Ah…" Sophia looked puzzled for a moment, then seemed to realize something. Her smile deepened. "So, you're done playing around and are returning to family life? It looks like I'm going to be ditched soon, aren't I?"
"Of course not. This is the life I've dreamed of for two lifetimes. It's just that, you know, people's thoughts change over time."
Sophia tilted her head, thought about it, then quickly nodded. "Hmm, I understand."
"Understand what?"
"Just like us women," Sophia said with a smile. "There are always a few days every month."
Feigning annoyance, Simon raised the hand that had been resting on her shoulder and gently flicked her earlobe. They joked a little, then Simon helped her lie down again. He lay next to her, resting his head on her now-rounded belly, listening for any movement from the two little ones. However, perhaps they were tired from the yoga session, as they gave no response—probably sleeping.
Evelyn returned with water, but they didn't stay under the sun much longer. After about ten more minutes, the two got up and returned to the villa.
In one of the first-floor living rooms, Sophia asked one of the maids to bring something, and soon a three-month-old cow-patterned cat was brought over. Sophia lovingly placed the little one, which clearly wasn't too fond of being held, on her lap and explained, "This is Luna. Gemma brought her to me when she visited Rome last week, saying she could keep me company."
Her tone carried a slight hint of resentment.
Simon picked up a document A-Girl had left on the coffee table and started flipping through it. "Not bad, but why Luna? That name is a bit grand."
Luna, after all, was the Roman goddess of the moon.
Sophia didn't mind, gently pressing down the restless little one. "Gemma named her. I think it's nice. What would you name a cat if you gave me one?"
Simon thought for a moment and said, "A cat? I'd call it Meow-Meow."
Sophia gave Simon a look as if he were an idiot. "That's such a childish name. And what would you call a dog, Woof-Woof?"
"Of course."
Seeing that the little one really didn't want to stay, Sophia finally let her go, watching as the kitten darted out of the room. Then, curious about the document Simon was reading, she asked, "What's that?"
Simon handed it over to her.
Sophia skimmed through the document, then laughed. "You bought a huge piece of land in Africa—150,000 acres?"
"Is that a problem?"
Sophia gave Simon another look as if he were crazy and looked back at the document. "A coffee plantation? Hmm, are you sure Africa can grow coffee right now? And in Angola, of all places? That country has been in a civil war for decades."
Simon replied, "In the 1970s, Angola was one of the world's top coffee producers, exporting over 200,000 tons of coffee beans annually."
"The early 1970s? That would have been during the colonial era, right?" Sophia asked, then continued, "And what about now?"
"Last year, they exported about 500 tons."
"…"
From exporting 200,000 tons annually to just 500 tons in 1994, the decline was staggering.
The reason was simple.
Angola declared independence in 1975, and before that, it had been a Portuguese colony. Most agricultural production was controlled by white settlers. After independence, many of the white population left, and large coffee plantations were taken over by inefficient local managers. Then, two decades of civil war completely collapsed the country's economy, including its once-thriving coffee industry.
However, it was precisely this situation that allowed Simon to acquire 150,000 acres of land for just $10 million.
To put it in perspective, that's over 600 square kilometers of land, in what used to be the best coffee-growing region—not some undeveloped forest in Tasmania that Simon had no intention of developing. And the $10 million in weapon orders and consulting contracts that were part of the deal didn't actually cost the Westeros System even half that amount—it was just on paper.
While the coffee plantation was practically abandoned, records showed that in the 1970s, it produced around 30,000 tons of coffee beans annually.
After a few years of management, even if the plantation's output only recovered to one-third of its peak, it could still produce 10,000 tons of coffee beans annually.
Currently, the global price for coffee beans was about $1,100 per ton.
Producing 10,000 tons of coffee beans annually would generate $11 million. In an ideal scenario, Simon could recover his investment in just one year.
Of course, that was an ideal scenario.
Having seen the realities of Africa through many experiences, Simon knew the situation all too well.
To be blunt, it was hopeless.
Coffee farming is highly labor-intensive because coffee beans ripen in stages and are difficult to harvest by machine. Globally, labor costs account for more than half of the expenses in coffee production.
Simon had no illusions that this plantation could recover under the labor of the local Angolan workforce, even for something as simple as picking coffee beans—a task even monkeys could manage. His plan was to rely on white immigrants who had stayed behind, hire some overseas laborers from Ukraine or China, and only employ a small number of motivated local workers.
Moreover, acquiring the land wasn't really about making money.
As long as it didn't remain completely abandoned, that was good enough.
After hearing Simon's explanation, Sophia realized that her initial doubts were unfounded. Clearly, he had a well-thought-out plan and possibly even some deeper strategy she wasn't aware of. However, Sophia quickly added, "Given Africa's chronic instability and the fact that Angola only exports 500 tons of coffee annually, won't producing 10,000 tons and making millions attract the attention of warlords? They might just take it over."
Simon replied, "A team has already been organized to sponsor the children of some Angolan government officials to study in the U.S."
Sophia was puzzled. "Huh?"
Simon elaborated, "That's just the first step. After the fall of the Soviet Union, most African countries will stabilize because they no longer have to deal with superpower competition. Once someone holds power, there won't be many changes for a long time. My plan is to integrate these powerholders with the U.S.—invite their children to study in America, invite their families to immigrate and settle in the U.S., and once they've accumulated some wealth, help them invest in American financial markets. Gradually, we'll tie their interests together. Just imagine—take Angola, for example. If the ruling elite's wives, children, money, and homes are all in America, would they dare to cross me?"
Sophia understood, then gave Simon a playful glare. "I thought you'd just overthrow their government, like you did in Rwanda."
"That's the most inferior strategy," Simon shook his head, switching to Chinese as he quoted, "'To win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill. Thus, the highest form of generalship is to attack the enemy's plans; the next best is
to attack their alliances; the next, to attack their army; and the worst is to besiege cities. Siege warfare should be a last resort.'"
Sophia, not understanding the words, listened intently, then asked, "What was that?"
"Sun Tzu's Art of War," Simon replied.
"I've read it. A very wise book. Which part was that?"
Simon roughly explained the passage.
Sophia nodded, gently stroking her belly. "Read it again for the babies. I'm sure they'll love it."
"Are you sure you want to teach them this already?"
"Of course! They're both Westeroses. They should be different from everyone else."
Simon didn't refuse and leaned closer, beginning to recite from The Art of War. Unfortunately, his memory wasn't perfect, and he soon switched to the Tao Te Ching.
Having memorized the Tao Te Ching in his childhood, it came more naturally.
Sophia, having studied a bit of Chinese thanks to Simon's influence, wasn't as dedicated as Janet and didn't notice when Simon quietly switched from The Art of War to the Tao Te Ching. She just smiled and listened. Whether the twins sensed that their father was pulling a fast one, they soon became restless. Simon had to stop and help soothe the two little ones with Sophia.
Simon stayed in Italy for three days.
Besides spending time with Sophia, he also focused on another matter.
After the opening of Universal Studios Osaka, negotiations between Daenerys Entertainment Group and the Italian government for the European Universal Studios project had entered the final stages. Although nothing had been officially announced, building the park near Rome was essentially a done deal.
It was still a closely guarded secret, with many decoys in play to prevent land speculation that could drive up prices in the areas under consideration.
This kind of thing had happened during the development of many large theme park projects.
After the weekend, the calendar turned to May 1995.
This year's summer blockbuster season would kick off on May 12th with Crimson Tide, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, directed by Tony Scott, and starring Denzel Washington. The submarine war film, similar to The Hunt for Red October, was produced by Disney and had a budget of $53 million.
Simon didn't have many memories of this film, and since Disney had chosen to release it on May 12th to jump the summer season, its quality was likely questionable.
The real summer heavyweight, of course, was Daenerys Entertainment's Jurassic Park 2, scheduled for release on June 2nd. Aside from Jurassic Park 2, Simon was more focused on Daenerys Entertainment's two domestic box office hits from the first half of the year, The Man from Earth and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.
Thanks to these two box-office black horses, many films released in the first half of the year had performed poorly at the box office, including some of Daenerys Entertainment's other projects.
On May 1st, Simon arrived in London, with plans to stay for three days.
The primary focus here was The Conjuring 2.
Simon had based the script on the version he remembered. The story still took place in London, but he didn't copy the original wholesale. Since he was building a horror movie universe, Simon thought it was essential to introduce not only character crossovers but also more enduring elements.
Thus, during the preparation for The Conjuring 2, Simon had the entire creative team repeatedly watch the 1980s classic Hong Kong film Mr. Vampire.
Of course, he wasn't looking to add comedic elements to the Conjuring universe.
In Simon's memory, one of the major issues with the Conjuring series was its randomness. The process of the protagonists defeating various ghosts seemed almost entirely based on luck, with the use of crosses and Bibles lacking any consistency.
By contrast, the ghost-catching methods used by Master Lam in Mr. Vampire were full of ritualistic charm.
Copper swords, donkey hoofs, glutinous rice, talismans—these elements influenced ghost stories in Chinese-speaking regions for decades. Many ordinary people came to believe that this was how Taoists should perform exorcisms.
Simon wanted the ghost-hunting methods in The Conjuring series to develop a similar sense of ritual, creating a set of believable rules that viewers could follow, rather than having the characters flailing about with crosses, screaming, and hoping for the best.
In fact, Simon had already considered this before the first two films.
However, since he was building an entire Conjuring universe, it wouldn't have been wise to introduce everything all at once. The initial films largely followed the original script.
This allowed for gradual growth.
Starting with the second film, these elements would be added.
In future films, they would become more fully developed.
Simon's goal was to have the Warren couple evolve from novice paranormal investigators to master exorcists, developing their own distinctive methods of battling ghosts.
The creative team, not being fools, quickly understood Simon's intentions after watching Mr. Vampire and began incorporating them into the project during the preparation phase.
The first step was to more clearly define the characteristics of ghosts based on Western folklore.
When it came to fighting ghosts, traditional tools like crosses, Bibles, holy water, garlic, and amulets would be standardized and used with more structure. The team even discussed the idea that different chapters of the Bible could be used to combat different types of ghosts, a concept that would be applied in The Conjuring 2.
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