"Wow-" Jon shouted with some exaggeration, standing in the middle of the massive ballroom, "Wow! Charles, is this your new house-honey, I know that's a bit of a rush, but I've been rethinking things between us lately-"

Charles and Harry burst into laughter at the same time, Charles threw a popcorn at Jon and nodded apologetically to the party attendants, "you, don't be so mean, I know, I know, it's a bit of a cheesy-"

He looked around and lowered his voice, "But that's what the big boss meant, okay?" Today's party is important for the next round of funding, he will bring a few relatives over, and those Arabs will always love this set, gold, gold, gold. ”

Harry and Jon both nodded—that would explain why the high-tech company Tikt had rented such a lavish party villa and dressed it up even more glamorous, after all, this kind of startup was still in the stage of burning money to grab the market, and using the money for a high-end party was obviously too extravagant and not in line with the temperament of the Bay Area.

"And that explains your outrageous outfit tonight?" Harry picked up a cupcake and tossed it up and down, changing his mind before putting it in his mouth, setting it aside, "--don't let the crumbs get on your teeth, in case she finds out while talking to J.J.-"

The three old friends all laughed, and there was obviously a strong excitement in the laughter, and Charles immediately tightened his bow tie and asked a little uneasily, "I'm overdressing, am I?" ――If it looks silly, I know! The bow tie is a complete failure—"

"Relax, Charles," Jon said with a smile, and under Charles's influence, she also stroked the evening dress on her body, and watched Harry help Charles readjust her bow tie - as a child from the Upper East Side, she and Harry still have some formal wear experience, but Charles, a cute IT nouveau riche who rarely wears a suit once in his life, even in a designer suit, looks clumsy, as if he has lice all over his body. "Even if you're naked, J.J. won't look at you more, especially with Cesare on his side, and the ladies will only look at one person, thank you."

"Hahaha, speaking of which, when will Said arrive tonight, will he meet J.J?"

"It should be - only between you and me, I have a feeling that Saeed will bring investors over tonight, in fact, he is more or less interested in meeting J.J., you know, after all, she is a single girl now."

"And he's definitely a qualified suitor, isn't he? But did he know Cesare would be coming? ”

"It's divorced after all," Charles said gossipingly, looking at his watch again, "Why hasn't Zad arrived yet?" With his zeal, I thought he would come at three o'clock in the afternoon—yes, speaking of which—"

"Don't worry," Harry nodded, "We're going to take care of him and not make him do anything crazy about the fans, you know, ruin the party and disgrace you in front of the investors and shareholders." ”

Charles bumped Harry on the shoulder, "Thanks, man—though I doubt you'll have a bit of self-control left." ”

He laughed teasingly again, but Harry was a little unimpressed, "You're still worried about yourself, I'm sure I'm the calmest of the four, you know, now it's only appreciation—just appreciation." ”

In Jon's eyes, Charles gave Harry a punch, and stopped talking about Jennifer, who didn't know when he appeared, he grabbed Harry's shoulders and lowered his voice heartily, "Let Jon take care of Zad, you get ready, if I have a chance tonight, I will recommend you to Saeed's gang, and there are many executives, Netflix, Google, YouTube will have people coming, they will be very interested in your ideas, in fact- Mike from Netflix has noticed you, Mike. Kyle, in charge of the IT business, your app has come into their sights...... So, have a good chat, whether it's selling or getting financing, it's a good opportunity. ”

“yep。” Harry pursed his lips and the placket of his suit, "Brother, I owe you once." ”

"Charles!" The laughter of the guests could be heard in the foyer, and Charles winked at Harry, leaving his own man behind. "Finally someone came, I felt like a fool, I was too excited to be there early......"

"Wow—" Many of the guests paused in the foyer, looking curiously at the luxurious lobby, "this is really—it's really traditional enough for an Internet company, isn't it?" It's exciting. ”

K, Google, Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, the upper party in the Bay Area is always full of technology, TikTok employees, one after another dressed casually, even if the formal party de indicated that they want semi-formal and only wore casual suits guests have walked into the villa one after another, soon, the hall is full of laughter, and Hollywood party, there is less glitz and beauty here, in a typical Arab rich style villa, This group of otaku and otaku even seemed a little out of place, but soon, this group of programmers also found fun for themselves, in this corner of the Bay Area, the spotlights began to rotate, and this year just completed the third round of financing, with a valuation of $300 million, and the TikTok annual party to become an upstart in the Bay Area has officially begun.

A Gulfstream private jet slid down at San Francisco International Airport, and as the luxury car sped down the highway at night, a somewhat hunchbacked young man closed the door and walked to the porch.

"Zad. Porter. He pulled out the invitation and coughed softly, "I'm a little late, am I?" ”

#

"Although it may seem like a boring party, in terms of per capita wealth, this party should be much more valuable than Hollywood's luxury parties." Cesare said to Jeanne, who was looking curiously, "After all, you can't count the fringes of those parties in Los Angeles. ”

He is talking about those handsome men and women who are more familiar with the circle and want to develop in the entertainment industry, although they have low incomes and may even have no fixed residence, they can always magically appear in various parties, hoping to meet nobles.

Jenny nodded, observing her surroundings and looking at the crowd around her with amusement - it was clear that everyone recognized her, and Jenny would not be surprised if there were a few of her fans among them, but these geeks seemed to be quite suspicious of the suit they were wearing, and even more afraid of the luxurious atmosphere of goblets, white tablecloths, and dress waiters, and they couldn't muster up the courage to come forward and talk, which made her and Cesare seem out of place, a little left aside.

"I think the parties here are more fun." She said with a smile, fanning her hand in front of her nose, "At least you won't smell that familiar smell." ”

"This is the smell of the new trend of technology, and it will take a few years to get rich, and it will take a generation to learn to enjoy it." Cesare said, smiling business-mindedly as he stepped forward and shook hands with the young man who was almost trotting in. Colin, the Bay Area's newest multimillionaire -- Charles, this is Jennifer. Jefferson, I think you should know her. ”

"Of course, of course." Charles's hand trembled a little, and he quickly shook Jenny and retracted it, he was a good-looking little fat man, with beads of sweat on his forehead, and his expression was eager and reserved—evidently he was well aware of his agitation, and was doing his best to restrain it. "This is the first time I've spoken to my third largest shareholder – Jennifer, and while a lot of people have said that, really, I've always been a fan of yours."

The sincerity in his words made Jenny not take it as polite, and she couldn't help but have a polite and affectionate smile - the exclusive use of taking pictures with fans has almost become her instinct after years of practice. "Really? - But I do think I've seen you somewhere. ”

The more she looked at Charles, the more familiar it felt, "The premiere? Is it a premiere? Really, the awards ceremony? Looks like I've met you, or someone who looks like you—"

"Yes, yes," Charles suddenly became excited, "the premiere of 'Codename Shero,' I went to Los Angeles to see -- and the Oscars, the year you won your third Oscar for acting, the year you were nominated for "Monroe-"

Jenny couldn't help but look at him and laugh, and Charles seemed to realize that his fan nature was completely violent. Exposed, he scratched the back of his head and said with some embarrassment, "Well, now that I've come to this point - in fact, I'm still the head of your fan club, really, I've been in charge for the last five years, and I didn't quit until the first two years because of TikTok." ”

"You mean my 'that' fan forum?" Jenny said in surprise - she glanced at Cesare, who shook his head slightly, and motioned to her, Mike. Kyle hasn't shown up yet, "The biggest fan forum - you're an ifer?" ”

Charles's face lit up, and he looked so desperate to scream, almost barely holding back, "No, no, that's not me, that's a friend of mine, I'm cc1984, deputy administrator - but Jon she's here tonight, if you can wait a minute-"

"I'm your guest tonight." Jenny said she spread her hands and looked at Charles amusefully, who held up a finger at her and turned to gesture desperately to the corner of the party crowd, and Cesare gave her a funny look.

"I'll go over there to warm up." He whispered, "It looks like I've seen the YouTube Robert. Kim Cole - you have ten minutes to play. ”

Robert. Kinkel and Mike. Kyle, like Kyle, is responsible for content development in their respective companies, and is also a promising poaching target for Big Dream, but this will also be the first airborne executive introduced by Big Dream in the expansion operation, before that, the heads of all departments of Big Dream have worked in the company for at least three years, and Big Dream was almost just a small workshop when he entered the company. Therefore, Jeanne and Cesare are more cautious about poaching people, and before they contact them in person, or ask headhunters to come forward, they want to personally observe the candidate for the position to determine whether he is suitable for the work style of Big Dream.

"I'm learning about my investment." Jenny said to his back, "It's not entertainment—hey—"

She put on a smile and shook hands with a man and a woman brought by Charles—the good-looking, well-dressed girl who seemed to be at ease with the occasion (though her cheeks were flushed with excitement at the moment) also made Jenny feel very familiar, "Are you Ifer?" ”

"Yes, Miss Jefferson, just call me Jon." ifer said nervously, her palms covered with beads of sweat, "I heard Charles say you actually know me-"

"Yes, yes," said Jenny, who should not have revealed it by common sense, but either under Salvi's influence, or in the aftermath of the excitement after this morning's meeting, generously shared a secret, "When the forum was first launched, I even signed up as a user, and I remember you were the moderator and very active. Even now, when I have free time, I still like to go to the forum, and I can still see your speeches after almost ten years, and I have to say, thank you very much for your support over the years - I don't know why, all this actually makes me feel a little guilty. ”

Charles, Jon, and another young man with messy hair all made sounds that resembled suffocation, and Jon's expression was almost dreamlike, and she stammered, "I-I-"

Although theoretically, she knows that she has a large number of fans around the world, and some have even gone crazy to the point of madness, but in such a party, seeing a tech upstart, two young people with obvious good family backgrounds because of her typical fan demeanor - this is completely different from a group of screaming boys and girls on the red carpet, Jenny is a little funny, but I have to admit that she is indeed not lacking in emotion, she suddenly feels that she still lacks communication with fans, after the Sheff incidentShe consciously cut back on occasions like fan meet-and-greets, which isn't really fair to a core fan like Jon.

"-Wait, I seem to have seen you too," she said half-truthfully: Charles and Jon were close friends, and with their fanaticism, it was likely that Jon had gone with him to the Oscars. "And you---wasn't it at the Oscars-"

However, as she looked at Jon closely, it seemed that a memory valve had been opened, and Jenny looked at the 'Anonymous' on the side again, the feeling of familiarity became more and more obvious, and she frowned, stopping Jon from speaking, "It's Oscar-no, earlier-ah!" I remember! Broadway! I remember you! ”

She pointed at Harry and said excitedly, "I remember a tall boy in high school, tall, skinny, who waited for me in the back alley almost every night, always first in line - his name, his name ......"

"Harry, Miss Jefferson." The young man said respectfully, as if he had a bad cold, and his nasal voice was unusually thick. "Yes, you're not mistaken, that person is me."

"Ahh That's right! Jenny exclaimed excitedly, "It's my first time at the Oscars, isn't it?" I've signed your autograph, you and her, Jon, you're standing together! Are we still taking pictures together? ”

Seeing the expressions on the faces of several people, she knew that she was not mistaken, and couldn't help but smile with a sense of accomplishment, "Wow, then we are really old friends, aren't we?" When I was on Broadway, I don't think I had more than a hundred followers, so I really remember it very well – at least when you showed up, and I kept muttering, 'Why does he wait so late every day, doesn't he need to go to school?' ’”

From just now to now, several fans seem to have degraded their language skills to varying degrees, and they can only speak a single word as best they can, but Jon's rehabilitation seems to be completed quickly, and she says the first long sentence, "Actually, I have been adoring you since then, Chicago was the first musical I ever saw, and it ruined my ability to enjoy other musicals—"

The word "Chicago" is not so familiar to Jenny now, and when she suddenly heard Jon's words, she couldn't help but fall into a moment of confusion: the last time she saw James. Schubert, it was still in 2009, he was not married at that time, but he already had a daughter, as for Dave, who was still in contact with her at that time, after several changes of numbers, he has long been out of touch, and I don't know how his second marriage is going......

"I remember that sometimes Harry would have a pretty little girl around him—" Jenny said, and she was even more amused to see Jon nod vigorously. "So, you already knew each other at the time - it's a long friendship, isn't it? Do you already know each other, or do you? ”

"We met because of Chicago." "Actually, we became friends with Charles on the forums - and another friend, Zad, met at the studios and got into conversation because of Avatar, and it was you, Miss Jefferson, who met us, and what about Zad?" If he knew he was missing something, he would go crazy-"

"Oh," said Jenny excitedly, "I didn't expect there to be such a fan club in the company I invested in—are you all Charles' employees?" ”

"No, Jon is a Ph.D. in sociology and just entered the University of California, Berkeley as a lecturer this year." Charles said that his tone was still a bit dreamy. "Harry is a programmer at Microsoft - in fact, he's also starting a business, and recently his app was in the top 50 for downloads-"

"Really?" Jenny was a little surprised, but more overwhelmed by pride - it was a bit strange to say that she had only just met these guys, but she was genuinely happy at what Harry, Jon and Charles had accomplished, "That's amazing, Harry, you must tell me about your app - wait for me to come over and say hi-"

Raising her hand in response to Cesare's call, she smiled at the fandom, "I'll see you at the bar later, okay?" ”

The young men looked at each other a few times, as if they still couldn't believe that this was really happening, and finally Jon nodded first, "Okay-"

She said, her voice trembling a little, but she quickly coughed and adjusted. "We're going to the bar, not going anywhere -- we're waiting for you right there."