When it comes to how far a incubus will go to please someone, well...
Hmm, right now, Liu Mom's face blooming with smiles was a perfect example.
"Hahaha, Martin, you're so amusing."
"Oh dear, I'm not as great as you say."
"What? Young? I'm already an old hag!"
Liu Yifei stared in astonishment at her mom, chatting animatedly with Martin, suddenly realizing her mom could be quite naive and loved flattery.
Then she felt deeply touched—because Martin was doing all this for her.
It had to be said, girls in love were easily fooled; they were especially prone to self-delusion.
After handling Liu Mom, Martin had her arrange for Liu Yifei's team to come sign the contract, locking in the "female swordswoman" role.
Then Liu Mom rushed back to Ching Chong, preparing to hype up the news.
It had to be said, for her daughter, Liu Mom was willing to go all out.
......
Time flew to May.
Gravity wrapped its run.
North American box office: $498 million. Global: $905 million.
Proving Martin's prowess in pure sci-fi.
[TL/N: Deleted paragraph: Basically, Liu Yifei's mom went back to Ching Chong country to hype up the news, and it spread online. People were praising Yifei, but some were skeptical since there's no female swordsman in the comics. Martin then explained that it's an original character made for her.]
After seeing the news, Liu Mom praised Martin to her daughter, who'd just returned home days ago.
"Mom~!" Liu Yifei blushed and pouted.
"Alright, alright—Mom won't say it. Look at you, getting shy." Then, with proud eyes on her daughter: "My girl's so beautiful. This LA trip even made your skin more radiant."
Liu Yifei's face reddened further.
......
By March in Los Angeles, temperatures hit 28-29°C, scorching sun.
Beaches buzzed with people—cool-dressed girls, surfboard-toting hunks, skateboarding youths... Lively.
And this month, California passed the infamous Proposition 47.
The bill downgraded some felonies to misdemeanors (including drug crimes) and massively reduced sentences, leading to early releases of many inmates, sounding alarms for California's security.
Prop 47's banner: government funding shortages and overcrowded prisons.
Hmm, turns out governments can save by mass pardons.
Facts proved it saved money—but cost lives.
One year post-Prop 47, California's prison population dropped by 13,000, saving $150 million.
But meanwhile, San Francisco car break-ins skyrocketed.
In 2015, police averaged 70 daily reports.
And California's homicides surged year after year, peaking in 2020 at a 13-year high.
Retired detective Robert Boyes blamed the murder spike on plummeting arrests and pretrial detentions: "No one's getting arrested anymore; people caught with guns get released over and over."
Actually, it didn't take a year—just two months—for the bill's ills to show...
California's crime rate spiked noticeably, panicking many middle-class neighborhoods due to insufficient policing.
Many middle-class areas formed neighborhood watch patrols—residents arming themselves for nighttime patrols.
Of course, these had to be reported to police in advance, lest they be mistaken for criminals and shot.
The chaos didn't spread to rich areas; no matter how short-staffed, elite security was prioritized.
In Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu, South Pasadena—it was business as usual, peace and prosperity.
But there were some changes.
The wealthy started traveling with one or two bodyguards.
Like Martin, who assigned four guards to each of his women.
And reminded his ladies not to take the kids to secluded spots.
At the dining table, the women gossiped animatedly.
"Did you hear? Blake almost got robbed in a parking lot the other day—lucky cops were nearby. Leonardo freaked, assigned her four burly guards."
"Know what? Two shops in a middle-class Bay Area community got looted, and two burned down."
"Oh god, another shooting in North LA yesterday—four dead."
"What's going on lately?"
Martin, meanwhile, was on the phone with Obama.
"Who the hell came up with this bill?"
Martin snarled.
Obama said awkwardly: "Hey, kid, don't get mad. The Democratic Party's huge—bound to have a few idiots."
"This isn't a few—the bill passed, so all LA Democrats are idiots."
California's long been Democratic turf.
Prop 47's proposal and passage dented the party's image.
Martin said: "This socialist 'progressive ideology' objectively results in violent criminals going free, scorning law and order. When laws lose deterrence, society heads toward jungle law. I can't believe they didn't see that—or is it another arms backlog clearance?"