Chapter 508: Destroyed Again
When Yang Mo received the call from Milicic, he was clearly surprised. He didn't think their relationship was close enough to continue beyond the court. He hesitated for a moment, then finally answered the call: "Hello..."
Before Yang Mo even finished her opening remarks, Milicic on the other end of the line launched into a barrage of questions: "Yang, what are you doing? What exactly happened between you and Paris Hilton while I was in the hospital? Why did she hold a press conference to accuse you of throwing a riotous party? Why did you throw him to the ground..."
Bang!
Yang Mo hung up Milicic. He didn't want to explain too much to him. He hated brainless men, and even more so, men who lost their minds over women. He'd already explained to him more than once that he had nothing to do with Paris Hilton, and if he still called to question him, it only meant he was hopeless.
Yang Mo hung up the phone. Milicic on the other end instantly became furious. He threw the phone in his hand and cursed viciously: "Damn Chinese guy, you actually dared to hit my woman, too much!"
Milicic's anger had completely consumed his rationality, and he now hated Yang Mo. He quickly called his agent and told him directly that he would not sign with the Knicks next season.
He tried to use this incident to make his stance clear to Yang Mo, but unfortunately, he still overestimated himself. Milicic might have boundless potential, but after eight or nine years, it still hasn't been realized, and there's little hope of it being realized in the future. Why should Yang Mo care about such a person? Just let him go and save some salary cap space.
Milicic is no different from a discarded pawn to Yang Mo. He has already started preparing to completely replace the lineup for next season. Now that he has taken the initiative to leave, it saves a lot of trouble.
After finishing his phone call with Milicic, Yang Mo was considering whether to watch the Hawks video. He was worried that if the Hawks also came back to defeat the Celtics, it would be very bad if he was not prepared for the game. At this moment, the door was opened and Lu Xueman walked in.
Lu Xueman hardly goes home once a month, and Yang Mo often travels around to play away games, so the number of times they have met this season is no more than the number on the palm of one hand.
Seeing Yang Mo, Lu Xueman hurried over and took out a folder from her bag. "You're just in time. There are two movies here. One is the sequel to The Fast and the Furious, and the other is The Hangover 2. They both want you to star in them."
"The Hangover?" Yang Mo muttered, then replied with some confusion, "Isn't this a very successful comedy movie? Their original cast is already very eye-catching, so why do they want me to join in?"
"This? This? I don't know. I just know that Mission Impossible is considering you as the male lead." Lu Xueman shrugged and said with a smile, "Who made you so popular now? Before every Hollywood movie starts filming, you're definitely one of the candidates for the male lead. You probably don't know your own box office appeal yet, right?"
"My appeal is strong?" Yang Mo asked in surprise, "Is it so strong that every movie will consider me?"
"Both of the movies you starred in have already grossed over a billion dollars. Do you think there's another male star in the world whose box office appeal can surpass yours? Leonardo DiCaprio? Or Johnny Depp? Although they're all contracted artists of ours, there's still a significant gap between them and you."
"Then is my salary also the highest in Hollywood?" After receiving Lu Xueman's affirmative answer, Yang Mo immediately asked him the question that concerned him most.
"If I tell you too much, you might not understand it clearly. Let me put it this way." Lu Xueman calmed herself down and tried to explain to Yang Mo using simple words: "For a movie starring you, you can probably get at least 80 million US dollars, including your salary and box office revenue. If the box office is good, 100 million is easy. As far as I know, Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp's box office revenue is only around 30 million US dollars, and even with the box office revenue, it definitely won't exceed 50 million US dollars."
"I actually make so much money?" Yang Mo couldn't help but open his mouth. He didn't expect that he could earn the same salary as an NBA star's lifetime salary from just one movie. No wonder so many people are so jealous of him. If he were in his place, he would be jealous too.
"So, you should just retire and focus on making movies. You will earn more and it will be easier." Seeing that Yang Mo's eyes were shining, Lu Xueman quickly started to persuade him again.
For Lu Xueman, it is certainly more cost-effective .
But for Yang Mo, if he didn't play basketball, his life would feel meaningless. He already had more money than he could spend in his lifetime, so when the time came, he wouldn't need to do anything else. He could just live a life of drunkenness and debauchery. But living a life of drunkenness and debauchery wasn't what he needed. He wanted passion, a career that would bring him challenges and excitement.
So, he hesitated for only half a second before firmly saying, "I'll have to wait until my off-season to talk about filming. I still want to play basketball. Besides playing basketball, I can't find a career that I'm passionate about. Am I going to sit around and fish every day before I'm 20?"
In response to Yang Mo's self-righteousness, Lu Xueman could only smile bitterly and shake her head. As the saying goes, everyone has their own aspirations, and everyone's ideas are different, so it really can't be forced. Moreover, she thought carefully and realized that the path Yang Mo had chosen might be the right one. He could maintain sufficient exposure when other movie stars were taking a break, and it had nothing to do with movies. He could still make one or two movies every year, which also maintained his appeal in the film industry. And most importantly, if he made movies all year long, then the theaters would inevitably be flooded with movies starring him. By then, the audience would be tired of watching them and visually fatigued, which would be a disadvantage. Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs is not a good thing, and overconsumption is not a good thing either. This is also the reason why some Hollywood superstars only take on one or two movies a year.
"So do you want to take these two movies?" Lu Xue circled around for a while, but seeing that she couldn't convince Yang Mo, she went straight back to the original topic.
Yang Mo thought for a while and said, "Yes, but the schedule must be arranged."
"Okay, no problem. The crew will definitely cooperate with your schedule." Lu Xueman laughed and took out two contracts for Yang Mo to sign.
As Yang Mo signed the contract, she glanced at it and saw that the guaranteed salary for each film was nearly $40 million. Yang Mo couldn't help but sigh, "That's more money than robbing a bank!"
After signing, Yang Mo lay down, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, how is the acquisition of MSG shares going?"
"MSG's stock price has been skyrocketing right now, reaching its all-time high thanks to your Black 8 success. If we were to discuss a takeover at this point, even if James Dolan was willing to sell, we might not be able to come up with that much cash."
"Then when can the acquisition be carried out?" Yang Mo asked in confusion.
"Let me put it this way. This all depends on you. You are the pacemaker of MSG's stock price. As long as you perform well and the Knicks have a good record, then... MSG's stock will soar. If you have any problems, then MSG's stock will plummet. It will be much easier for us to enter the market, and Dolan will also sell a lot of shares. When our shares surpass his, then... the Knicks will naturally be in your hands."
"It's related to me?" Yang Mo frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "What do you want me to do? Intentionally fix the match?"
"Of course not. Although this is a good idea, I know it's impossible for you to do it." Lu Xueman laughed and said seriously, "So, I'm still waiting for the right opportunity."
"When?"
"The secret cannot be revealed. You just have to wait and see the show." Lu Xueman was deliberately mysterious and smiled mysteriously, and there was no further news.
Seeing this, Yang Mo didn't ask any further questions. He just jumped up and pounced on Lu Xueman. He was about to take further action when he heard the door open and Lu Xuefei walked in. As soon as Lu Xuefei appeared, Lu Xueman hurriedly pushed Yang Mo away and tried to explain to her sister: "Xuefei, I was playing games with your brother-in-law."
"It's okay, you guys continue, I didn't see anything." Lu Xuefei quickly smiled apologetically and walked back to the room quickly.
Lu Xueman didn't believe her sister hadn't seen it. She immediately glared at Yang Mo with a reproachful look and whispered in a low voice, "Don't do this again in the future. My sister is still young, and it would be bad if it affects her physical and mental development. After all, the living room is a public place!"
Lu Xueman's righteous words made Yang Mo look like the evil Big Bad Wolf, while Lu Xuefei was the pure, innocent Little Red Riding Hood. What else could Yang Mo say? She could only endure it silently and then complain about Lu Xuefei in her heart.
As for Lu Xueman, he couldn't tell her that his sister was no longer a virgin and had even instigated a large harem for him. If he did, Lu Xueman would probably chop him to pieces. So, he could only endure this injustice and do his best to help maintain Lu Xuefei's image as a little white rabbit.
Soon after criticizing Yang Mo, Lu Xueman went to comfort Lu Xuefei, just like last time. Yang Mo had already been ruined twice by this guy, both times by intruders at critical moments. So, when Lu Xueman entered, he was already thinking about whether to move to a new house or change the key. He couldn't let it be ruined for the third time.
