The meeting with Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Butler after work was still held at the same restaurant as noon.
Although they had met occasionally over the past year and he had been invited to the grand birthday party at the beginning of the year, seeing Simon again still gave Peter Butler a feeling that an age had passed.
The article he published in the Los Angeles Times about Simon early last year caused controversy due to its excessive praise for an 18-year-old boy. But now, even the most arrogant person could only describe Simon's achievements over the past year as a miracle.
After casually chatting and ordering dinner, Peter Butler got straight to the point once the waiter left, asking, "Simon, how do you feel about your ranking on the Forbes list?"
Simon smiled and answered truthfully, "I've been too busy these past few days; I haven't had time to process much yet".
"I wonder how many people envy this kind of busy schedule you have", Peter Butler teased, and continued, "The recent valuation of your personal wealth on the Forbes list has caused a lot of controversy. Personally, do you think the figure of $3.1 billion is accurate?"
Simon didn't want to trigger a series of related chain questions, so he simply nodded and said, "Forbes is very professional".
There was still plenty of time for dinner, so Peter Butler was in no rush to delve into that issue. He changed the subject, saying, "Speaking of which, I recently obtained a set of data. Obviously influenced by your series of successes in Hollywood, the number of students applying to film and television professional schools in North America this year has more than tripled compared to the past. Would you like to offer some advice to these young people?"
"I'm a young person too, actually," Simon chuckled, "Besides, I don't like giving advice to others, because I've always thought it doesn't mean much."
Peter Butler said, "It seems you haven't changed much from a year ago. Deep down, you are still a pessimist who feels alienated from the world"
Simon was noncommittal: "Perhaps".
Peter Butler probed, "Do you mind if I write this assessment in the article?"
Simon replied indifferently, "That is your freedom".
"It seems you don't care much about the media's opinion", Peter Butler said, before adding, "Then, let's talk about movies, Simon. From 'Run Lola Run' back then to basic instinct recently, you have spearheaded six films in two years, and all of them have achieved astonishing box office results. This has never happened in Hollywood history. Could you perhaps reveal the key to the success of these films?"
Simon thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps, these films just happened to cater to the audience's demands".
Peter Butler pressed, "As everyone knows, the taste of moviegoers is always the hardest thing to predict, otherwise the risks in this industry wouldn't be so high. How do you judge that the films you create and select happen to meet audience demands?"
"That would have to be categorized as personal talent", Simon said, shaking his head with a smile on his lips. "And Peter, if there really was some kind of judging standard, do you think I would tell you?"
Peter Butler realized that his previous question had been somewhat foolish.
Six films were box office hits in two years. If Simon truly had some secret formula, any film company in Hollywood would pay any price to obtain it; how could he casually tell him?
However, carefully considering their recent conversation, Peter Butler suddenly realized something. Staring intently at Simon, he said, "Simon, so, do you really possess certain talents that can guarantee a film's success?"
"Peter, a movie goes through too many unpredictable stages from script to finished product. Even after completion, the film's promotion and distribution process can have unpredictable effects on its market performance. Therefore, I just try my best to ensure a film is done perfectly from beginning to end".
Peter Butler countered, "But Simon, few people in Hollywood joke around with tens of millions of dollars in investment; everyone strives to make the projects they handle the best they can be".
The waiter happened to bring over two appetizers at this moment. Simon waited for a moment, then pointed to the seafood salad on the plate and said, "Actually, Hollywood is very similar to the catering industry. Even if a Michelin one-star chef works hard, it's difficult for them to do better than a three-star chef".
The dinner, which was much richer than lunch, was served successively, and the conversation between the two continued.
The controversies surrounding 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Basic Instinct', the production progress of batman, the future development plans of Daenerys Entertainment, the tech stock investments of Westeros Company, and so on, although Simon couldn't be completely forthcoming, Peter Butler still obtained enough material for an exclusive article compared to many media outlets that had no chance of interacting with him.
It was already past nine o'clock in the evening when dinner concluded.
Sitting in the car, watching the city lights flash past the coastal highway, Simon's thoughts lingered on his conversation with Peter Butler that evening.
In just over two years, he had gone from having nothing to possessing billions of dollars in wealth. Even though he was full of confidence in the future initially, Simon still hadn't anticipated achieving this level in such a short time. When facing Peter Butler's question about how he felt during dinner, Simon had spoken truthfully: because his rise was too rapid and sudden, he hadn't had time to process much before finding himself standing atop the pyramid.
Perhaps, it is time to stop and thoroughly reflect and reorganize.
Simon had always been very clear that the rapid expansion of his two main industries, Westeros Company and Daenerys Entertainment, had unknowingly accumulated many issues.
The most obvious point was that he, the third-ranked super-rich person in the Country, completely lacked a matching network of contacts and corresponding social influence. All he possessed was vague personal fame and a staggering amount of wealth, making him look exactly like a child holding a gold ingot in a busy marketplace.
The United States is a very mature and developed capitalist country, and that's true, but it doesn't mean that having capital means having everything. This is ultimately a world controlled by people: humans make the rules, humans manipulate the rules, and humans break the rules.
If he continued running blindly like this, Simon believed that one day he would find that the commercial empire he had built up in a short time might be as fragile as the houses of the two lazy pigs in The Three Little Pigs story.
The Land Rover stopped inside the mansion's courtyard, and Simon snapped out of his thoughts.
The living room lights were on, but Janette was nowhere to be seen. Simon casually untied his necktie and walked into the sitting room next to the living room, finding Janette and Sophia Fessey curled up together on the sofa watching TV, both enjoying a glass of red wine.
Seeing Simon, Janette put down her glass, stood up, and hugged him again, saying, "Sophia brought us some excellent red wine from France. Would you like to try some?"
"Sure".
Simon nodded, stepped forward to shake hands with Sophia Fessey, exchanged a few pleasantries, and sat down on the single sofa nearby.
Sophia Fessey sat down again, watched Janette hand a glass of red wine to Simon, and then nestled into the man's arms. She proactively introduced a topic: "This is a 1982 vintage red wine from the Saint-Julien district of Bordeaux. That year, the comprehensive score for climate, rainfall, sunlight, and other factors in this area reached 98 points. Such an outstanding vintage hadn't been found in major global wine regions for the previous two decades, and it might be hard to see it again in the future. That year's red wine will definitely become a collectible classic".
After Sophia finished speaking, Janette also said, "I was discussing buying a winery with Sophia earlier today, Simon. What do you think?"
Simon raised the stemmed glass, took a sip, and smiled, "I don't know much about these things. If you think it's fine, then it's fine".
"Then I'll have Sophia start looking", Janette said, taking Simon's tie off and setting it aside. She continued, "Sophia brought materials for sixteen properties this time; London, Paris, Rome, Venice... basically, all the major European cities are covered. I looked through them, and they are all fantastic houses".
As Janette spoke, Sophia Fessey noticed Simon's questioning gaze and proactively took a stack of materials from under the coffee table and handed them to Simon. Simon put his arm around Janette's soft body and placed the materials on the woman's lap, casually flipping through them.