New York 2006

Chapter 89 The First Domino
Luo Ji, Fiona, and Blake were sitting in the back seat of the car.Agent Braun's new Jewish bodyguard was driving a car, and there was a Chinese bodyguard in the passenger seat, looking around warily.

These two people were recruited by Braun from the famous ADT security company in the United States. They were natives of New York and were already married and started businesses in their 30s.Both had served in the U.S. Army for five years and both had concealed firearm licenses.

In order not to make the same mistake as Britney, Luo Ji made them sign a strict confidentiality agreement before letting them join the company.

These two bodyguards will be responsible for the surrounding security in the future, and Blake will stay by Luo Ji's side, responsible for some private matters, and responsible for managing the leave requests and work arrangements of the two bodyguards.

Several people drove to a studio in Greenwich Village, New York, which is the base of New York's film and television industry.Many New York film companies and advertising agencies are located nearby.

Luo Ji walked into the studio, where Cheng Zhengchang, the founder of Panda Express, was discussing with the staff.When he saw Luo Ji, he immediately greeted him: "Hello, Xiaoluo. You're early. It's not the appointed time yet."

Luo Ji shook hands with him enthusiastically: "Hello, Mr. Cheng. It's not early at all. Why is it that such a small thing as shooting an advertisement today requires your presence in person? Panda Express is developing at a rapid pace, and you are indispensable."

"Haha, it's okay. I happened to be in New York for inspection today, so I stopped by to take a look." Cheng Zhengchang said with a smile.

Panda Express has expanded very rapidly in recent years and has become a strong competitor in the mainstream restaurant industry.

2005年平均每周有3家快餐店开业，远远超过汉堡连锁店“汉堡王”的开店速度。2006年的销售额超过9亿美元。现在熊猫快餐店已扩展至1000家，遍布于美国36个州。

"What do you think of Panda Express?" Cheng Zhengchang asked.

"It's developing very quickly, very well. It's very possible to grow into a fast food giant." Luo Ji said with a smile.

Cheng Zhengchang said, "Have you ever heard that many people say that my Chinese food is not authentic enough and does not represent Chinese food culture?"

"I've heard of some."

The rapid development of Panda Express has brought a lot of controversy over the years.Chinese cuisine is broad and profound, all relying on heat and technique.Moreover, in order to adapt to the taste of Americans, Panda Express has changed the Chinese food to be more suitable for American tastes, sweet, sour and slightly spicy.

Luo Ji also didn't like the improved Chinese food very much. Panda Restaurant was just as unpopular with Chinese as it was popular with foreigners.

"But this idea is too extreme and too narrow. Although the seasonings are different, the cooking method is no different from the cooking of Chinese food. I think that only through moderate local improvements can Westerners like to eat Chinese food, and only in this way can Chinese food be made more popular. Taking the world by storm.”

"I completely agree with your approach. No matter what these controversies say, your Panda Fast Food Restaurant has played a great role in promoting Chinese food. Nowadays, Chinese fast food has appeared in many Western film and television works, and here is you of credit.”

Cheng Zhengchang said modestly: "I have only done two things. The first thing is to improve Chinese food locally. The second thing is to standardize Chinese food."

Luo Ji smiled and said, "Less is better, less is better."

"Haha, I'm glad you understand me."

Cheng Zhengchang said happily, happy from the bottom of his heart.It seems that he has been consumed by the Chinese food controversy during this time.

More than ten minutes later, the filming began, and Luo Ji was like a puppet, letting the filming crew manipulate him.

The person who applied make-up to him was a male make-up artist. He walked squirmingly and looked very enchanting.He speaks softly and is very gay.He was very serious during the makeup process, and after the makeup was done, he revealed his true nature.

"Logic, I like you very much. Are you interested in going out with me tonight?" the male makeup artist said to Luo Ji with a wink.

Luo Ji couldn't laugh or cry and said, "Bro, I fully support the gay community and the freedom of minority groups. I also understand multiculturalism, but I am a real straight man."

The male makeup artist expressed disbelief and said with concern: "Have you not discovered the real you? Maybe you will understand after you try."

After he finished speaking, he touched Luo Ji's shoulder with his hand.Luo Ji spread his hands and said, "Come on, brother. Please stop harassing me, okay? I really only like women."

The male makeup artist smiled, took out a business card, put it ambiguously on Luo Ji's hand, and clasped his palm with his fingers: "Remember, if you discover your true self one day, remember to contact me at any time. "

When the male makeup artist walked away, Luo Ji shivered all over: "I was actually accosted by a man!"

"That's not right." Luo Ji thought about it carefully, his eyes gradually brightened, he puffed up his chest and looked around proudly: "Haha, I was actually approached by a man."

Luo Ji edited a text message and sent it to Taylor: "Oh, my charm is irresistible to both men and women. Today a man approached me. I decided to think about it."

Taylor responded instantly: "Angry emoji."

"Hahaha."

Luo Ji put on the clothes prepared by the filming crew, and under the guidance of the director, began to speak advertisements into the camera.

"Panda Express, if you spend over NT$68, you will get a free piece of tangerine peel chicken. When you spend over NT$128, you will get a free piece of Kung Pao Chicken. When you spend more than NT$9.5, you will get a free membership card and 4% off on all future purchases. Event Ends April 1st.”

The director said: "Logic, please speak faster. The advertising time is carefully calculated. If you do this, the advertising will time out."

Luo Ji said in a good manner, "OK."

Under the guidance of the director, Luo Ji filmed bit by bit, and the filming lasted three hours and was still not over.After a little free time, Fiona came up with bottled water and said with concern: "Feili, are you thirsty? Drink some water."

Luo Ji took it and drank a few big sips. The bottle of water quickly ran out of water: "This is the first time I know how troublesome it is to shoot an advertisement. You have to time your sentences very accurately."

Fiona pouted: "It took so long to shoot a 40-second commercial. This director is not good."

Luo Ji looked around: "Don't talk nonsense. This advertisement will be broadcast on major public channels, and it will be of great benefit to my exposure. There is no harm in striving for excellence. After all, advertising fees are charged per second. .”

"Okay." Fiona packed her things and walked aside.

Half an hour later, Luo Ji looked at the camera seriously and put on a fake smile that had been practiced for a long time: "Panda Express is your best choice. Experience Chinese food culture and experience a different style." "Logic, very good, shooting Done." The director said with satisfaction.

"Yeah." Everyone cheered in celebration.

Cheng Zhengchang smiled and walked up to Luo Ji: "Ronald, your performance is very good, your attitude is also very good, you don't have the airs of an ordinary star."

"I take my work very seriously," Luo Ji said sincerely.

When dealing with Party A's requests, Luo Ji will implement them seriously and must satisfy the sponsor, so that they will continue to consider him if there are opportunities for cooperation in the future.

After more than three hours of shooting, 100 million yuan was obtained, and the advertising period is one year.If you want to continue using Panda Express after one year, you will have to continue paying.

"Ronaldino, did you know that Panda Restaurant and Pepsi-Cola have reached a strategic partnership?"

"Ah."

Cheng Zhengchang smiled and said: "Pepsi's corporate culture is also oriented to young people, emphasizing youthful vitality. I feel that your style is very consistent with Pepsi's, and you have enough coffee positions. Do you need me to help you set up a line with Pepsi?"

"Thank you very much, Uncle Cheng." Luo Ji immediately smiled and said, even changing his title.

"Hahaha."

For today's commercial shooting, Luo Ji set aside a whole day to prevent accidents.But it was done in one morning, and Luo Ji didn't know where to go for a while.After thinking about it, Luo Ji disguised himself and went to a physical record store near his new home.

When Luo Ji entered the store, he saw his poster. It was so handsome.

His album "16" is placed in the most conspicuous place of the record store, next to Taylor's album of the same name. The two people's albums sell for 14 meters.Vinyl records are also placed next to them, which are more expensive, priced at 26 meters.

Luo Ji walked up to a white male salesperson and asked, "How are the sales of Logic's "16"?"

As a migrant worker in a wealthy area, the white male salesperson has a very good attitude.He said enthusiastically: "His albums are selling very well. The record store has not been so busy for a long time, and the customer traffic has greatly increased. His albums can account for a quarter of the records sold in the entire record store during this period."

"Ah."

The male salesman seemed to realize something. He stared at Luo Ji with wide eyes for a while, and then said excitedly: "You are..."

"Shh!"

The male salesman lowered his voice: "I heard that you moved nearby recently. I didn't expect to see you. Can we meet Zhang Ying?"

Luo Ji looked at the customers milling around: "Find a secluded place. Don't be discovered by everyone."

The album sold very well, and Luo Ji left the record store with satisfaction. It was still early.Luo Ji could only take Fiona and others back to the company with nothing to do.

Employees in the company are very busy now, especially the publicity department.

Several people from the publicity department posted frantically on major forums and social platforms.Promoting Luo Ji's new album.Luo Ji walked behind an employee.I found that he had opened a World document with various clichés written in it.Copy and paste and post on major forums.

"I can say that Logic's new album is the best album in the past ten years. The music in it is beautiful in melody and the music style is very groundbreaking."

"Logic's album "16", the story you don't know about Viva La Vida."

"Logic's album "16" will lead the trend and open the door to electronic music."

"Detailed explanation of Logic's singularity theory and analysis of popular electronic music in recent years."

Luo Ji nodded with satisfaction, walked behind another employee, and found that he was posting on 4chan.

"I have a video of Logic and Britney XX here. Come and watch it!"

Luo Ji smiled and was about to nod with satisfaction, but he soon realized something was wrong. How could the employees create rumors about the boss? "Ahem, cough, cough, cough."

When the male employee turned around and saw Luo Ji, he immediately said nervously: "Boss..."

"Don't post such traffic-drawing videos in the future. The quality of my album is very good, so just start from this aspect." Luo Ji said seriously.

"Okay." The male employee said quickly and timidly.

Jingle bell, jingle bell.Luo Ji took out his phone and looked at it. The person calling was Xu Youyu.

"Logic, go to Bloomberg News for news about New World Financial."

Luo Ji quickly walked to his office and turned on his computer. When he checked the website, the headline was about New World Financial Corporation.

"New World Financial Corporation provided 2006 billion yuan in subprime loans in 516, second only to HSBC, the number one subprime lender. The financial company suddenly issued a profit warning for the fourth quarter of last year today. New World Financial Corp. said it suffered serious losses in the fourth quarter of last year, exceeding its profits in the first three quarters combined."

Seeing this news, Luo Ji's eyes lit up and he showed a greedy smile. He switched the page and saw that ABX's subprime loan index had dropped by 13 percentage points.

Xu Youyu Youyou on the other end of the phone said: "The first domino of subprime loans has fallen, and there will be a feast behind it."

(End of this chapter)