"Have you seen The Godfather?" Old Joe suddenly asked.
The big shot slowly took a puff of his cigar. "Who hasn't seen it?"
"I've never seen one, my family is poor." Alex suddenly realized that he hadn't seen a single movie since he transmigrated, and he couldn't remember the ones he had seen in his previous life. Of course, he didn't say this out loud.
Old Joe said slowly, "Whoever proposes peace is a traitor..."
"You doubt me? Haha!" Pablo laughed. "Some big companies have contacted me privately, but what does that prove? This is business, not fighting and killing. Besides, the Italian way of doing things is outdated."
"Pablo, you call me naive, but I'd say you just haven't caught on yet." Old Joe stared at him and said, "The company that contacted you to ask for cooperation, and the big company you mentioned that gave us a 'meeting gift,' are definitely the same group of people! Just like how Barzini assassinated Sonny in The Godfather!"
"FXXX!"
Pablo shouted, "Why are you clinging to these old-fashioned ideas?! I knew it, but I don't care! The fact that they're willing to go to so much trouble and use such underhanded tactics shows how much they value Lowry and this album, doesn't it? What other black rapper deserves such dedication? Business is business. It's clearly a win-win situation, and I don't understand what you're hesitating about! Thirty percent is the industry standard. Maybe if we don't give them thirty percent, we can reach 100,000 sales. If we give them thirty percent, we can sell hundreds of thousands, even millions. Can't you count which option is more profitable?"
"Hmm..." The expert raised his hand, "I have a question, which company made it?"
"Warner," Pablo looked at the big boss in surprise, "you're not thinking of getting revenge, are you? I advise you not to…"
"The Warner Bros. that makes movies?" the bigwig asked again.
"Yes, they belong to the same company."
"Never mind then... I can't afford to mess with them. Drug dealers can't beat big capitalists." The boss put down his hand and turned his gaze to Alex. "Hey, you're APLUS, right? What do you think about this? Give me some advice."
"What objection could I possibly have?" Alex exclaimed in surprise. "I'm a high school student!"
"So what if you're a high school student? I killed people when I was in high school... Never mind, let's not talk about that. Didn't you get a perfect score in math? You're definitely smarter than us. Say whatever you want, I'll take care of everything."
"Well..."
Alex glanced at Old Joe and then at Pablo, both of them staring intently at him. Emotionally, he supported Old Joe, but he also felt that Pablo's approach was more advantageous to him, especially since Tony was "employed" by Lowry's side...
According to his understanding, Pablo and Joe had significant differences. After a disappointing trip to the greater New York area last week, Pablo changed his mind and began trying to bring in major record labels to help release the album. The promotional power and packaging capabilities of major labels were unmatched by Joe's music. The records would sell more and faster, and Lori's future would be brighter.
Old Joe, on the other hand, was much more conservative. He still relied on the same old method of nationwide promotional tours combined with radio chart rankings to sell records. He could earn as much as the album sold. Bringing in a big company would not only take away 30% of the profits but also make him lose control of everything. Moreover, he was very disgusted by the practice of big companies sabotaging him behind his back while pretending to be good people to get a share of the profits.
"I have no objection..." Alex decided it was better to avoid trouble.
"I'm here, you don't need to worry, you can say whatever you want." The big boss encouraged him.
Alex thought for a moment, "I think what they said makes a lot of sense."
'Bang!' The big boss suddenly slammed his hand on the table, startling Alex.
Thankfully, he wasn't taking it out on himself. The big shot closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
Everyone waited quietly for the verdict.
"never mind!"
Three minutes later, the boss opened his eyes, got up, put on his hat, and walked out. "F*** you! Do whatever you want, I don't care anymore, I don't understand a word you're saying! You guys have fun!"
I don't care anymore!
"Hey! There's your money in here!" Pablo yelled at his retreating figure.
"I never fucking intended to make money by selling records!" The big boss didn't even turn his head.
A gust of wind swept through, and everyone outside followed him away, leaving no trace.
"so..."
Old Joe was delighted. He sat back down at his desk and asked smugly, "Everything as usual?" He looked at Pablo with a smug expression. If the big boss wasn't interfering, then he was still the one in charge of the company.
Pablo remained silent for a long time, then said, "For now, everything will remain the same, but I will not give up." He then led little Lowry away in a hurry.
In the third week, everything remained the same. The group traveled to Miami and Atlanta in the southeastern corner of the United States for promotional activities, while Alex continued his academic pursuits.
However, nothing is static.
Compared to a month ago, the song "Thrift Shop" has drastically changed the relationships between all stakeholders. Al is out of the picture, Old Joe and Pablo are almost at odds, and the old friendships between Pablo and Al, Old Morgan, Little Lowry and Al, Old Morgan, and even Alex himself have all been completely changed, leaving only business.
As the music video they filmed last time started playing on local Chicago television stations and in some major record stores, trouble began at the school.
Connie became famous at school for her seductive dance moves in the music video. Connie is Alex older sister. Alex nickname is APLUS. In the lyrics page that came with Little Lowry's album cassette, it was clearly written under the song title: Lyrics: Lowry II and APLUS, Music: APLUS.
Few people at this school study seriously; they're all incredibly enthusiastic about gossiping. Everyone quickly pieced together the logic, and Alex had no choice but to say goodbye to his 'invisible' persona.
"Hi, APLUS..." Girls started greeting him and giving him flirty looks...
'Bang!'
Halfway down the street, someone bumped into him from behind. His first thought was that it was some bullying boy, but when he turned around, he saw it was the star cheerleader from the rugby team. After attracting his attention, she started to strike seductive poses, almost twisting her hips. "APLUS, really?" the goddess said, lightly biting her plump lips. "What do you think of my voice?"
"Uh...not bad." Alex thought to herself, "You're speaking in a high-pitched voice, who knows what your true voice is like!"
"Oh ho ho ho..." The goddess smiled smugly, "So when are you going to take me to the record company for an audition? I... I'm in!"
"Audition? I don't have that ability, goodbye!" Alex couldn't take it anymore and fled in panic.
'Bang!'
He was bumped into again, this time by a boy, the star defensive forward on the rugby team, practically the strongest guy in the whole school. "Stop harassing my goddess, stay away from her! You weakling musician!" he threatened viciously, his eyes wide as saucers.
"It was her who harassed me! Big brother..." Alex rubbed his aching shoulder, on the verge of tears.
"How dare you slander my goddess!"
The other person flew into a rage, raising his fist the size of a sand bowl. "Forget it, forget it, he's Tony's brother." His teammates pulled him back.
"I'm letting Tony off the hook this time, but if I catch you trying to hit on my goddess again, you'll be sorry!"
Thanks to his old friendship with Tony, Alex avoided a beating and slipped into the classroom.
A group of girls in the class huddled together and started laughing.
"?"
Alex returned to his seat, where a cassette case had appeared on his desk. Upon opening it, he found a note inside that read 'I MISS YOU,' signed with the name of an unattractive girl in the class. And underneath the note... well, there was a condom hidden there.
"Class begins!" The school bell rang, and the teacher entered.
Alex quickly tucked the things into the book.
"Yay!" With an excited shout of celebration, the ugly girl climbed onto the desk and jumped up and down, "He accepted it! He accepted it!"
"Oh my god, don't get me wrong, sis!" Alex was so startled that she threw the box back.
*Crack...* The box hit the ugly woman, bounced to the ground, cracked, and a condom rolled out...
"Turn to page forty. This lesson is very important. It's about the Civil War..." The teacher seemed not to see anything and began to lecture.
The ugly girl let out a deafening scream, 'thump thump thump...' and dragged her tank-like body, crying as she rolled out of the classroom.
The other girls burst into laughter, and the boys started banging on the table and jeering.
"When discussing the Civil War, one must mention slavery..."
"I can't stay in this school anymore!" Alex lamented in his heart.
"Hey! Hayden!" As soon as get out of class ended, he ran to a public phone. "What's my expected income? OK... Do you know anything about transferring schools? Public or private... What? Okay, let's talk in person."
After school, he rushed to the school gate and plunged into Hayden's Dodge Dynasty.
"Hello, is this APLUS?" I didn't expect to find a white man sitting in the back seat.
"Hello, you are..." Alex was a little surprised and shook hands with the other person.
"Let me introduce myself. I am Daniel Glass, the vice president of SBK Records, a subsidiary of EMI."