Chapter 40: Reclaiming the Family Business

Lovable characters are true, and being a director is alright, but Forrest Gump is truly inspirational. It's not just a story of an underdog overcoming the odds; it also condenses a piece of history. The protagonist, though not very intelligent, continues to achieve success through hard work. Even a half-wit was sent to war, which shows just how brutal war can be. People believed that William White completed this masterpiece from his perspective. By using fictional characters, he integrated his own reflections on history into the book. This is definitely a great piece of work. The same book was elevated to such a height by John Bull. It's like their tongues and mind circuits are always different from others. Alright, William White couldn't refute them; he could only say, "A thousand people will have a thousand interpretations of Hamlet." Everyone's historical and cultural backgrounds differ, so the reading experience naturally varies. It's a common phenomenon and doesn't need to be overanalyzed. ... "Fulton, how much White Oil do we currently hold?" "Including the government's portion, nearly 45%," said Fulton with an easygoing look. "Great, apply to pay the taxes, but let's take it back first." "Will do, sir. I'll handle it tomorrow." Finally, this whole thing could come to an end. This darn inheritance tax is really excessive. He'll have to plan in advance from now on, or future generations will have big trouble. After reclaiming White Oil, it was naturally time to deal with the Hunter family. Those bastards are too busy to focus on oil right now; they're doing everything they can to push up silver prices. Let's hope they stay crazy. ... These days, the IT world was not too calm. Big Blue and HP obviously couldn't sit still. They weren't going to give up the minicomputer market; they thought they could delay, but it turns out they need to speed up their plans. The changes in the capital market are quite telling. Both companies' stocks fell to varying degrees. Though not too severe, it did attract shareholders' dissatisfaction. Ignoring microcomputers did cause considerable trouble for the companies. Quick problem-solving was the CEO's challenge to face. Acquisitions seemed to be the most effective approach, and this method had been considered before. The current issue was that the best targets were undoubtedly Apple and White Software. Unfortunately, neither of these was easy to deal with. Apple's shareholding structure was complex. Investment might be okay, but controlling it was entirely impossible. Anti-monopoly laws were at their quirkiest phase; a single mistake could spell disaster. They didn't want to be split up, as many companies had been destroyed that way. White Software was peculiar too. All the shares were in one person's hands. Although they're not opposed to investment, time waits for no one! This one's likely a no-go. If an acquisition were feasible, Apple would have done it already. Microcomputers impacted them more significantly; their word processors were not selling like before. Of course, Big Blue wasn't soft. They had tricks to make opponents compromise. They had acquired many patents at dirt-cheap prices back in the day. Big Blue had no interest in word processors; they mainly sold mainframes and didn't care about much else. Dealing with William White? Just look at Hollywood now; United Artists was nearly bleeding to death. Their previous actions were very likely to be judged as fraud. If they paid the money, the company might go bust. And they weren't the only unlucky ones. The entire summer box office was almost ruined, and the loss was staggering. Most alarming was the monopolized distribution system held by major players showing a huge loophole. This temporary theater setup could meet the needs of most movies. It wouldn't be easy for them to exploit the wool. William White was definitely building a distribution channel. He obviously wasn't planning to cooperate and had started anew. The worst part was they were powerless to stop it. To be accurate, they didn't dare stop it. A fully armed William White was terrifying. If he continued relentlessly, Hollywood would be in complete chaos. Even if things reached this stage, they could barely accept it. They were cautious after all and couldn't talk any nonsense like William White. Sadly, what's following is endless humiliation. One company wanted to buy it out for two million; another believed it had no value, while another made exorbitant demands. The movie they deemed worthless was about to pass the hundred-million-dollar mark at the box office. This is a worthless movie? Your valuable movies are now stuck in the mud, and yet you continue to flaunt "value." Artistic value, you say? Don't be ridiculous. You're just making commercial films. Talking about artistic value is laughable. The other companies weren't any better. These three at least wanted a look, while others weren't interested at all. Where does this arrogant attitude come from -- because your movies are trash, so you think others are too? The New York press wouldn't spare them. Regional prejudices in America are quite serious, especially in sports and entertainment. By contrast, New York's entertainment shows were more refined. Hollywood's trash movies are entirely scorned by New Yorkers who are into Broadway shows. Hollywood goes wherever the money is; they dare to shoot any movie genre. The rivalry in sports is even more intense; New York and Los Angeles teams are practically arch-enemies. Except for baseball, New York is beaten by almost every region. If it weren't for the Yankees, they'd likely be called a sports wasteland. Now, seeing their arch-enemy being unlucky, adding insult to injury is a must. New York's media naturally invites trouble and doesn't care about others' feelings. To mess with Hollywood, they even counted White Films as one of the eight big giants. After all, Hollywood now only had seven major studios, so White Films filled the lightning gap. They opened unlimited absurdity mode, which indeed made Hollywood nauseous enough. For Pete's sake, a single movie counting as the eighth major studio? Is Hollywood really so worthless? William White wouldn't shoulder this burden. A nonsensical "eight major" label, and his company was just a tiny little speck. They didn't have good intentions at all; it's a covert killer move. ***** https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.