Daniel made a phone call, "Linton, the AMA (United States Music Awards) on January 18th has confirmed your nomination for Best Rhythm and Blues and Soul New Artist, and the company has secured the opportunity for a halftime performance.
This year's AMA has been confirmed to be broadcast by ABC. Based on previous years' viewership, the number of viewers will not be less than 10 million, making it a very rare promotional platform.
Please prepare well. Choose your song as soon as possible. The company will also arrange for someone to choreograph for you, and arrange a band and backup dancers to practice with you, to ensure the best performance effect."
At this moment, a white man in his 30s knocked on the door and entered.
"Linton, let me introduce you. This is Jimmy Otis from Universal Records' Performance Department. Their department is mainly responsible for the concerts and live performances of Universal's artists at important occasions. He will be in charge of the planning and rehearsal for your AMA halftime performance."
"Since I've been nominated for Best Rhythm and Blues and Soul New Artist, I'll choose 'That's The Way Love Goes'."
"Okay, I'll immediately arrange for Annie to choreograph. Is it okay for Annie to be your dance director? Also, we need to confirm the band and backup dancers. You can rest for a few days, and we'll start performance rehearsals on the 11th, alright?"
"Okay, no problem. It's time to get off work. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."
Linton and Mira arrived at the office. Mira informed Linton about the progress of contacting real estate agents to view properties. Through the real estate agent, she had already arranged for him to view 3 high-end properties.
Mira had already seen all of them, and there were no issues with the quality of the houses or the property rights. The first property was a villa located on the hillside of Beverly Hills, priced at 12 million US dollars.
The second property was a luxury home on Malibu Beach, priced at 16 million US dollars.
The last one was an estate on Beverly Hills, but the price exceeded the budget, with the owner quoting 24 million US dollars.
Linton expressed satisfaction and asked Mira to contact the real estate agent to schedule a viewing for Acquired.
Immediately after, Mira excitedly told Linton that following the previous Vogue cover feature and Linton's new album selling well,
they had recently received many endorsement invitations, including several high-end luxury brands. Moreover, the quotes this time were much higher than before, generally above 3.5 million us dollars per year.
"Do you think we should accept a few?"
"Yes, you can filter them first. They need to match my current status and commercial value. Try to choose high-end brands. In a few days, after I finish rehearsals, we can discuss it in detail."
Cameron Diaz was in Los Angeles during this time. Cameron had already arranged to spend the night with him tonight when she was still in Brazil.
The last time they were together was at the end of August, so it had been over 4 months since they last met.
After leaving Universal, he arrived at the reserved restaurant, where Cameron was already waiting for him.
Cameron today was clearly meticulously dressed, wearing a red low-cut Qunzi and black high heels, with a sweet smile on her face, looking very sexy and radiant.
As soon as they met, the two shared a deep French kiss to ease their longing. Linton gave Cameron a gift he bought from France, an LV handbag, which made Cameron spontaneously give him another fragrant kiss.
The two ate dinner while discussing their respective work during this period. Cameron had been developing well during this time.
Following her last movie, 'the mask', she had just finished filming a new movie, 'There's Something About Mary', playing the second female lead.
He remembered that in his previous life, Cameron didn't make her film debut until 1993 with 'the mask', having been a model before that.
It seemed his appearance had completely changed Cameron's career path, greatly accelerating her journey to becoming a movie star.
However, he still needed to remind her not to miss 'the mask' in '93.
Sitting in the restaurant, Linton ate beef heartily, and seeing Cameron only eat some vegetable salad and similar items, he couldn't help but sigh, realizing that actresses' good figures truly come from self-discipline.
"You're eating too little, Michelle. You could try some vegetarian bacon; that stuff isn't high in calories."
Seeing her put down her cutlery after only eating half of her vegetable salad, Linton couldn't help but say.
"That's already a lot. My daily food intake is calorie-calculated and fully provides for my body's consumption."
She watched Linton eat beef heartily and truly wanted to indulge, but to maintain her figure, she still controlled the urge to continue eating.
"You eat so little; will you have enough energy tonight?"
"No problem, I have plenty of energy."
Linton shrugged and ignored her. After finishing two large steaks, he raised his red wine and clinked glasses with Cameron.
After dinner, the two naturally returned to Linton's small villa. Fortunately, during Linton's absence, Mira had arranged for a housekeeping company to clean regularly, so the villa was spotless.
As the saying goes, a short separation makes the heart grow fonder, and as soon as they entered the house, their 'battle' immediately began.
Perhaps because it had been too long, Cameron was exceptionally passionate and very uninhibited, with various positions and full cooperation. The details of the 'battle' are omitted here.
During Dual Cultivation, Linton also confirmed that Cameron's popularity was indeed higher than last time, but there was still a significant gap compared to Winona.
The next morning, Cameron still had an announcement to rush to. As she left, Linton invited her to be his female companion for the celebration party tonight, which made Cameron extremely happy, as it was a great opportunity to expand her network.
Linton had Nicole send Cameron back to her apartment first, where her agent would pick her up.
Afterward, he went to Linton Studio, where Zhou Haisheng was already waiting for him. He first reported to Linton on the stock purchases, stating that the positions had been established as per Linton's requirements: 3 million US dollars in Microsoft, 5 million us dollars in Cisco, and 2.5 million us dollars each in Dell and Compaq.
"What about the office buildings in Silicon Valley? Any progress?"
"It's basically settled. I've verified both buildings; there are no issues with the property rights or the quality of the buildings. Both office buildings are under the same brokerage firm.
The price has also been largely negotiated. The 8-story office building, with a land area of 4 acres and a construction area of 16,000 square meters, was quoted at 6 million US dollars, and we've negotiated it down to 5.7 million US dollars.
The other property consists of two 5-story office buildings, with a land area of 6 acres and a construction area of 21,000 square meters, quoted at 8.5 million us dollars, and we've negotiated it down to 8 million US dollars.
Boss, would you like to go and see them in person?"
"Okay, let's go. Contact the real estate agent. If there are no issues, we'll buy them today."
Arriving in Silicon Valley, Linton found that it was not far from Apple's headquarters; he could see it by looking up.
Both office buildings were nearby, and Linton was even more satisfied upon seeing them. What appeared to be a peripheral area now would become the core of Silicon Valley in a few years, and Silicon Valley would continue to expand rapidly outwards in the future.
He carefully inspected both office buildings. They were both very new, and their layouts were well-suited for high-tech company offices. The companies leasing space there were also related to the computer industry.
The parking spaces outside were ample, and the landscaping was excellent, given the very low plot ratio. A 4-acre plot only had one building covering over 2,000 square meters, and another 6-acre plot only had two buildings covering over 4,000 square meters.
Seeing this, Linton decided to buy them directly, not wanting to prolong the process. Investing in Silicon Valley office real estate was absolutely zero-risk, a super high-yield good deal, and he should act quickly while it was still at a low value.
After all, land in Silicon Valley was truly cheap now, at least much, much cheaper than downtown Los Angeles.
However, with the ultra-high-speed development of the internet, Silicon Valley would create one wealth myth after another. At that time, Silicon Valley's office real estate would experience explosive growth and become increasingly valuable, and rental prices would naturally rise accordingly.
After confirming that a loan could be processed, he called Goodman to directly handle the purchase procedures, formally signing the property contracts and acquiring these two office buildings.
The purchase price was paid through a mortgage, with a 30% down payment. The two buildings totaled 13.7 million US dollars, with a down payment of 4.11 million US dollars. The remaining amount would be paid off over ten years. The rent alone would be enough to cover the bank's monthly mortgage payments with a surplus, bringing no financial pressure to Linton.
"Okay, from now on, this 8-story office building will be called Linton Tower, and those two 5-story office buildings will be called Linton Technology Park."
After completing the procedures, Linton renamed the two office buildings. After all, he could never forget to promote himself.