The next day.

Hardy sent a telegram to John Stone, president of Wells Fargo, telling him that he could agree to Nile Shipping's request and provide them with cargo ships in exchange for company shares. The proportion of shares would be calculated and negotiated according to normal procedures.

Hardy need not worry about this, as the president of Wells Fargo comes from a financial background and is much more careful about company shares than he is.

A few days later.

John Stone sent back a telegram reporting the results of the negotiations.

Hadi Shipping Company invested 15 Liberty ships and 5 Victory ships, and injected US$1 million in cash, becoming the largest shareholder of Nile Shipping Company and obtaining a 43% stake.

Hardy agreed and asked John Stone to sign the contract.

The shipping group has added another company.

......

The TV series "Captain America" ​​is very popular. The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Fight against French Aggression, and super warriors are all very popular elements recently. When combined together, people naturally like it.

At the same time.

Every time Captain America goes out on a mission, the motorcycle he rides becomes popular.

This model of Harley-Davidson motorcycle was a standard military motorcycle during World War II. It was exclusively supplied to the military at the time and there were not many of them on the market. Many people wanted to buy this motorcycle for the sake of looking cool, but when they arrived at the Harley-Davidson motorcycle sales department, they found that it was not for sale.

Someone reported the situation to Hardy, who had already purchased more than 14,000 cars for storage and had refurbished them all.

After the latest episode of the TV series "Captain America", ABC TV station released an advertisement that tomorrow's TV shopping will sell the same model of motorcycle as Captain America.

Many people who wanted to buy this motorcycle all watched the TV shopping show the next day. There were several brand new Harley motorcycles on display in the live broadcast room, but the price offered was very high, at US$668 per motorcycle.

This price is almost as much as a small car.

Let many people step back.

The host introduced:

"This motorcycle is a limited edition. There are only these on the market now, and Harley-Davidson has purchased the copyright for this motorcycle, which means that Harley-Davidson Motor Company cannot produce this motorcycle anymore."

"This motorcycle once participated in World War II. It is a truly meritorious motorcycle and the exclusive mount of Captain America. Hardy also promised that anyone who buys this motorcycle will get a 'Captain America' paint job logo."

"It is a limited edition. There are only so many in the world. It is worth collecting."

"How can girls not like a motorcycle like Captain America? It's a man's chariot."

"If you're a man, you should drive a Captain America motorcycle."

As the host kept on talking, many people couldn't help themselves and picked up the phone to call TV shopping.

Although there are many poor people in this era, never doubt the number of rich people. There are many people who can afford motorcycles.

Considering the population of 150 million in the United States, 14,000 motorcycles are really nothing. However, with the host’s hard work and persuasion, more than 10,000 motorcycles were sold out.

Hardy earned more than $9 million from this one.

Um,

It can alleviate the loan pressure a little.

Seeing how well this motorcycle sold, Harley-Davidson felt a little regretful about selling the copyright. After the end of World War II, the production of this motorcycle was stopped and the company turned to designing new motorcycle models. When Hardy's people came to buy the copyright, Harley-Davidson felt that it had made a profit.

I didn't expect that the other party had laid a foreshadowing here.

Harley-Davidson contacted Hardy Motors in the hope of buying back the copyright of the motorcycle, but Hardy Motors refused to sell it.

The production cost of this car is more than 200 US dollars, and it is sold for more than 300 US dollars, but Hardy sells it for more than 600 US dollars, just because it is called a limited edition.

If you continue to produce and it ends up being a mess, wouldn't that be a slap in your own face?

However, Hardy also came up with a plan. You can design a new motorcycle, and when Captain America comes on in the next season, you can let him get a new car. You can even let Harley-Davidson appear in the TV series and say that it is a new car specially built for Captain America. The publicity effect will definitely be great.

When the people at Harley-Davidson heard this, they immediately thought it was a good idea.

But when he heard the advertising fees and profit-sharing requirements offered by Hardy's Company, he suddenly felt a toothache.

"The advertising cost $150, and they get $50 for every new motorcycle sold."

What does this mean? If 100,000 new motorcycles are sold, Hardy will get a commission of $5 million, which is too much.

The Harley-Davidson tangle.

They knew this was a great opportunity to promote Harley, but the other party's price was too high. At this moment, the president of Harley thought of the time when Hardy came to buy shares and was rejected outright.

It would have been better to sell some shares to them and become Hardy's partners. I heard that the companies that now cooperate with Hardy enjoy great advertising benefits and their companies are developing very fast.

......

The script that Hardy gave to Edward was finally written, and Edward delivered it to Hardy personally.

"Boss, this is the first draft. If you find anything unsatisfactory, I will ask the scriptwriters to revise it."

Hardy first picked up "Roman Holiday" and felt it was okay after watching it, but some details were too literary and Hardy didn't like it. Maybe the screenwriter felt that as a princess, she still needed to be more polite.

Just write your opinions on the back and give it to Edward to take it back and have the screenwriters rewrite it.

I picked up "The Seven Year Itch" again.

After watching it, Hardy shook his head, "No, this feeling is wrong. In the whole play, the woman never deliberately seduced the middle-aged man. In fact, it was all the man's own fantasy. The girl is a pure girl."

"Although she is sexy, that doesn't mean she is promiscuous. These are two different concepts. Let the editors rewrite it."

Then he threw it to Edward.

Picking up the last script "Some Like It Hot", and reading it from beginning to end, Hardy found that this script was very well written. Some parts were similar to the original drama, and some parts even surpassed the original drama.

"This book is well written." Hardy nodded with satisfaction.

Edward finally breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was a script that satisfied his boss. He immediately smiled and said, "This is a new screenwriter hired by the company last year. He was originally a gold medal screenwriter for RKO Pictures. RKO has now turned to making television, so we hired him."

"What is Monroe doing now?" Hardy asked.

"Performing outside, the company organized a 'Super Idol' tour, the response was extremely good, the tickets sold out faster than those of big stars, and the troupe should be in Houston now." Edward said.

I have to say that Edward is very smart. It is estimated that this tour can earn the company several million dollars.

"Then wait until Monroe comes back from her performance, show her this script and let her play the leading female role," said Hardy.

"Okay boss."

......

Houston.

The 'Super Idol' tour was held in a baseball stadium with nearly 7,000 spectators. Although it was January, the weather in Houston was good with daytime temperatures of 17 or 18 degrees, so the tour could be held outdoors.

The singers came on stage one by one.

There are both men and women.

Among them was the later Elvis Presley, whose guitar playing and singing drew cheers from many people.

When Monroe came on stage, she received the biggest cheers. She was wearing a sexy dress and a white mink shawl on her upper body, which made her look sexy and cute.

Many people here come here just for her.

While Monroe was singing on the stage, someone in the audience had something on his mind. A middle-aged man was sitting in the best seat, staring at Monroe without blinking.

His name is Cohenheim, one of the underground kings of Houston. He established a powerful gang organization in Houston, which is no less powerful than the Pryze family, a mafia entrenched in Houston.

Although the Mafia is powerful, it cannot completely control the major cities in the United States. There are often several powerful forces in one city.

In Los Angeles back then, there were more than four or five major forces, and the same was true in San Francisco. It is rare for a city to be dominated by Hardy like it is now in Los Angeles.

Cohenheim looked at the charming Monroe on the stage, his throat rolling. This woman aroused great interest in him, and the thought kept flashing through his mind: he must get her, get her, and make her his woman.

Sometimes it is a terrible thing for a person to be horny.

He knew that Monroe was a star promoted by ABC TV, and he also knew that ABC belonged to HD Group. He had also heard of Jon Hardy, the owner of HD Group.

But he gave himself a reason in his heart, Monroe was just an actress, and Jon Hardy probably wouldn't have a fierce conflict with him for a woman. Besides, he was in Los Angeles and he was in Houston, and he also had five or six hundred men, so what if a conflict arose.

He also has the protection of the Irish Federation.

After the performance, everyone returned to the hotel, ready to rest for a night before rushing to the next city, New Orleans. However, as soon as the girls returned to the hotel, someone came to the door. Two guys wearing hats knocked on the door.

"Ms. Menglu, our boss invites you to dinner, come with us now."

Menglu blinked in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your boss, I don't want to go."

Menglu was about to close the door after she finished speaking.

“Bang~!”

The door, which had not yet been closed, was slapped open by a guy roughly. Menglu was so scared that she stepped back, and the girl in her dormitory screamed in fear.

"You are so shameless. You dare to refuse our boss. Believe it or not, you can't leave Houston. Now follow me obediently. If you piss off our boss, I will throw you into the sea to grow corals." The guy who pushed open the door growled at Meng Lu'e fiercely.

Menglu was so frightened that she stood there with a pale face.

The girl who shared the room with her was so frightened that she hid in the crack of the bed and dared not show her head.

One of the guys grabbed Monroe's hand and dragged her out. Just when Monroe didn't know what to do, two HD security bodyguards who came with the performance troupe heard the noise, rushed out of the room, and saw two men dragging Monroe, so they immediately stepped forward.

Suddenly the four men started fighting.

Menglu was thrown aside and was so scared that she huddled against the wall and trembled.

How could two thugs be a match for the bodyguards? They were beaten down by them after every few rounds. When they saw that they were losing, one of them reached for a gun, but the bodyguard reacted much faster than him and immediately pulled out a gun from behind and pointed it at them.

The two gangsters were shocked.

Knowing that he was going to get into trouble here, he stared at the two bodyguards fiercely and yelled, "Just wait, don't even think about leaving Houston."

After saying this, he ran away as fast as he could.

After finding out what happened, the two bodyguards felt that something was not right. Gang activities in the United States are rampant now, or rather, this is the norm. Los Angeles has become a real city of angels because of the governance of boss Hardy.

They both felt something was wrong.

After notifying the team leader, he was also a little confused and finally chose to call the police.

The bodyguard was still worried, so he called the HD security headquarters to report what had happened.

"We suspect that the other party will take retaliatory actions, which may harm Miss Monroe and other people." said the bodyguard.

The intelligence command room's duty chief thought for a moment and said, "Gather everyone in one room to avoid being scattered."

"Also, you should have brought your boss with you. If you encounter a crisis, just shoot. If anything goes wrong, the company will be held responsible."

"Can you kill people?" asked the bodyguard.

"Take it upon yourself."

"Understood."

After receiving the order, the two bodyguards immediately moved everyone to the hotel's conference room. The entire troupe, including performers and staff, totaled more than 50 people, all gathered in one room, and everyone was terrified.

The bodyguard brought out two large bags from his room, which were filled with guns, including pistols, spray guns, submachine guns, and a large number of bullets.

The two men each had two pistols on their waists, the spray gun had bullets loaded and was carried behind their backs, and the Thompson submachine gun had a grinding wheel bullet box hung on it. One of them went up to the balcony, and the other stood at the entrance of the second floor, looking down at the entrance to the hall.

The team leader looked downstairs and said anxiously, "I've called the police, why haven't they come yet?"

Wuuuuu~~!

The sound of cars roaring came closer and closer.

And judging from the sounds, there are quite a few vehicles coming.

The team leader was delighted and looked downstairs subconsciously. He was immediately frightened. There were no police here. There were more than a dozen cars. Guys wearing black windbreakers and hats got out of the cars. They looked like gangsters.

"Go in, arrest them, and take them all back." Someone shouted loudly.

This group of people is about to go into the hotel.

“Tick, tick, tick, tick~!”

There was a fierce burst of submachine gun fire, and a shower of bullets hit the gangsters' feet, scaring them so much that they turned around and ran, then hid behind the car.

"Damn it! They actually dared to attack us! Let's kill them!"

They also took guns from their cars, aimed at the roof and fired, but their position was too unfavorable, and a volley of bullets hit the roof of their car, and they immediately shrank back in fear.

"Damn, let's see how long you can hold on, this is Houston." The little leader shouted and told him to go back and inform old Ham about the situation here.

The two sides remained in a stalemate.

Hardy was reading a document when he suddenly received a call from HD security. Lanster reported the situation. The local gangsters had taken a fancy to Miss Monroe and wanted to take her away by force, and had a conflict with the bodyguards. The bodyguards now gathered all the members of the troupe in the conference room. Two bodyguards guarded the entrance and both sides were in a stalemate.

Hadi's eyes turned cold.

"Send Richard, Matthew, Neil, Leo, and Chris over there as quickly as possible to resolve this matter."

"Let Henry provide the information."

"I understand." Lanster put down the phone and made arrangements immediately.

Hardy thought about it, then picked up the phone and called the Houston Mafia's Pryze family. The call was answered by an assistant, and Hardy gave his name. The assistant was surprised to hear Hardy's name, but he did not dare to delay and quickly told the patriarch.

The Pryze clan leader was also surprised to hear that Hardy called him. The Houston Pryze family was close to Basini and his gang, and was a mafia family that was not on good terms with Hardy. He did not expect Hardy to call him.

"Chief Pritz, I hope you can do me a favor." Hardy said bluntly.

"Mr. Hardy, please tell me." Chief Pritz did not respond directly.

"My performance troupe is in Houston now. They were attacked by the 'Haim Gang' and shooting has already started. I hope you can help me stop them temporarily. I have sent someone to pick them up. I will handle the rest myself." Hardy said.

Many thoughts flashed through Chief Priz's mind at this moment.

The 'Heim Gang' is also their enemy. If he gets involved, will it turn into a fight between the two gangs? Also, is this a conspiracy of Hardy to make him fight with the 'Heim Gang'?

and,

Why should I help him? We don't have much of a relationship to begin with. If you ask me to help you, I'll do it. Don't I have any face?

"Okay, I'll hold them back." Chief Priz replied.

"Thank you. I will remember this matter and do Chief Priz a favor." said Hardy.

Hang up the phone.

Hardy thought about it.

Notify the private jet crew to get ready, he's going to Houston.

......