Chapter 17: Common Ambition

There was a brief pause in Cesare's movements, his eyes like the blue sea, even if the waves were rough, only slightly undulating on the surface, these eyes were staring intently at Chen Zhen, as if looking for her flaws, affirming her sincerity.

He spoke after a while, "Then your ambition is not small. "

Jenny shrugged, "You can laugh at me for dreaming as much as you want, and I don't know how to do it at the moment, but that's my career goal." "

"Then you have to know that in order to climb this peak, you will have to pay no less. "Your willpower is indeed strong, Miss Jefferson, after years of hard work, and watching me feast on it without asking for a share, but you must know that your perseverance is not uncommon among Hollywood's first- and second-tier actresses these days, and it can only be considered entry-level performance." "

Observing Jenny's expression, he said, "And even those who are successful, no one can reach the height of your ideals, and there are many of them who have talent, luck, and ambition. The height you want to reach is so high that no one can tell you what to do, it's not a game, you play by the rules and you always win in the end. There is a 90% chance that you will give everything for this goal, but in the end you will still succeed, and you will not even touch the edge of the trophy. - Do you understand the risks?"

Jenny sighed, "I understand. "

"But I have to do it, I have to do it, I have to do everything I can, and if you're worried about my naivety and ignorance, then I can assure you, Mr. Vijri, that I know exactly how lofty this ideal is, how much hardship there is on the way, how slim the odds of success are, and how many sacrifices I have to face... But I've made up my mind that I can't give up halfway. "

She repeated, "I have to work towards this goal." "

Cesare stared at her for more than ten seconds.

"I believe in you. He finally said, raising his glass to Jenny, "Now I can say with certainty that you and I are in good luck, that I am the agent you are looking for, and that you are the kind of client I am looking for." "

Jenny clinked glasses with him. "I wish us all the best in our cooperation. "

"I wish us all the best in our cooperation. Cesare said, pulling a contract from his bosom and handing it to Jenny. "This is the CAA's standard contract, I have made some editorial changes for your situation, the commission is 15%, regardless of seniority, CAA is to take so much, for newcomers this commission is very generous, you have nothing to complain about. The time limit is five years, after which the CAA has the right of first refusal under the same conditions. "

He paused and glanced sharply at Jenny, "I declare in advance that if someone in the company asks, you must say that you strongly request to sign only for five years. And even though the contract is only five years, our partnership is not premised on a five-year relationship. Miss Jefferson, I hope you understand what I mean. "

Jenny quickly went through the contract and said quietly, "The contract says that after five years, CAA has the right of first refusal to renew the contract under the same conditions, and I will not break the contract." "

"You're not going to break the contract. Cesare smiled politely again. "You're smart, Miss Jefferson, and I like to work with smart people. "

He added, "Before signing the contract, there are a few things that have not been written into the contract, please understand, first, I just said that although it is only a five-year contract, our relationship is expected to be very long, and in terms of your goals, it may last for ten to twenty years." "

Jenny shrugged, "If I'm the client you're looking for, and you're the agent I'm looking for, then I'm fine." "

"Very well, the second one, and the unwritten rule of Hollywood," Cesare's tone returned to a businesslike tone, "I'll take care of everything, Miss Jefferson, from the food you eat to the men you sleep with." If I say you can't be in love, you can't be in love, if I arrange for you to have sex with whom, who do you sleep with, if necessary, it will even go deep into marriage and childbearing, who you marry, when you have it, how you have it, it's all up to me. If you have an opinion, speak up now. "

"So you do sometimes make a cameo as a Pi Tiao?" Jenny asked rhetorically, and then declared, "You make it impossible for me to fall in love, OK, I don't care, if I don't sleep with this person my career will fail, then I can also accept a short-term trading relationship, except in this special case, please be a little more restrained when arranging the latter, and consider it as a last resort." "

"Understood. "So far, I haven't had this kind of job for any of my artists, so let's hope it doesn't have to happen in the future." "

He took a sip of his wine and looked intently at Jenny, "Third, you have to be obedient, Miss Jefferson, please be obedient." You want money, you're going to be rich under my arrangement, you're going to have power, you're going to have it, you're going to achieve your goals, that's good, because it's also my goal to create a star who surpasses the legend, Miss Jefferson, you have to believe that our interests are completely aligned, and everything I do is for your good, so you have to be very obedient. "

"That's fine. Jenny said, "As long as you explain clearly, I will cooperate, do you think I look like a willful person?"

Cesare shook his head, "You're not like you, but people change." "

He took out a voice recorder and placed it on the table, "Before signing, please repeat your goals and these three agreements to the recorder." "

Jenny glared at him and made a look at why do you mean it so seriously, Cesare was completely unmoved, he compared to the recorder.

Reluctantly, Jenny picked up the recorder and repeated her goals, her determination, her three promises, and her promise to keep them. Cesare kept staring at her as she spoke.

"OK. After Jenny signed, he said, toasting again. "Don't give me back the contract, find a lawyer to review it, if you trust me, I can introduce you to a lawyer, if you don't trust me, you can find someone yourself." Give it to me after you confirm that there is no problem, and I will get the company stamp. - Congratulations on the formal establishment of our partnership. "

The contract wasn't in effect yet, and Jenny could tear it up with a single idea, but she understood that Cesare wasn't talking about the paper contract, and that the cooperation he was talking about had nothing to do with the contract. As long as he clinks glasses with him, even if there is no contract, he will tacitly accept that there is a cooperative relationship between the two, and he will default to the fact that he can control Jenny's acting career.

After touching the glass, the relationship was formalized, and neither of them could turn back.

Jenny raised her glass and touched it with him, and the two glasses collided with each other, making a crunching sound.

"Congratulations on making our partnership official. She said.

Cesare smiled slightly, "Now, let's start enjoying the food." If I could, I'd like to hear you talk about your educational process. You are very good at dinner etiquette, which is not something you would have mastered given your family background. "

Chen Zhen tells him that Jeanne has always been a girl who wants to climb the ladder and is interested in the life of the upper class, for example, she will even know that Cesare is a common Italian name and Vigeri is a French aristocratic surname. "Yes. "My stepfather was French, and I took his last name, and as for the name, my father was of Germanic origin, but he was also a huge fan of Cesare Bokia. "

"Not for Caesar, but for nothing," Jenny said reflexively. (Caesar and Cesare are both Cesare, Cesare is transliteration)

"You're pretty good at history, too. Cesare raised an eyebrow.

That's because she's watched "The Bokia Family... Jeanne laughed dryly twice and commented, "Actually, you really look like him, is Machiavelli's "The Monarch" your guide?"

"Oh, don't tell me you've seen The Monarch. "Even if you haven't read this, your general knowledge level is too extensive, and I'm starting to wonder how you did the SAT." "

Surprisingly, chatting with Cesare wasn't a chore, as long as he could keep up with his thinking, he was still a lot of fun to chat with, and Chen Zhen wasn't a stupid person anyway. They happily ate the rest of the meal, and Jenny forgot how hungry her stomach was. After drinking the salad, they drank most of the red wine.

"I have a question for you. Towards the end of dinner, Jenny said.

"Excuse me. Cesare took a sip of his wine, he seemed a little more relaxed than before, his shoulder line relaxed imperceptibly.

"If I had told you that my goal was to become rich and get out of poverty, would you still think so highly of me?" asked Jenny, "would you make a long-term agreement with me?"

Cesare shook his head, "I'll value you, but you won't be my number one client, maybe I'll prioritize you third, but not first." "

"This confirms my suspicions, and my feeling is that you're always looking for someone who wants to get to the top, and you want to build a Hollywood legend with your own hands. Jenny was really curious, "I want to be a Hollywood legend, there's nothing incomprehensible, I'm definitely not the only one in the world who thinks so, and being a legend certainly means fame and fortune." But you're an agent, and it's probably in your interest to bring a couple of very successful genre actors at the same time, you know what I mean, after all, you only have a five-year contract with CAA. "

She took a big sip of her wine, tilted her neck curiously, and looked at Cesare, "Becoming a superstar agent may hurt your goals, but you still want to be a legend-creating agent, why?"

"Why do humans want to explore space, go down to the deep sea?" Cesare asked her rhetorically, "to climb Mount Everest, to challenge the Guinness Book of Records?"

His eyes were as blue as fire from hydrogen, "There's no reason, it's just because space is there, the ocean is there." "

Cesare took a shallow sip of his wine and said in a casual tone, "The legend is there, waiting to be conquered." "

Note: "The Bokia Family" is an American drama that has been broadcast for 10 years, and it is about the Bokia family, the earliest mafia family in Italy, which is notorious and is the second most famous aristocratic family in Italy. There were two popes, and Caesar Bokia, who had great hopes of unifying Italy. Machiavelli, who we are all familiar with, is his big fan, and the ideal monarch in "The Monarch" is actually basically based on Caesar. You can go and watch this drama, it is very luxurious, and the male protagonist is also very handsome XD. Caesar himself is also a very famous figure in history, if you are interested, you can Baidu it.