Boston.
According to Janet, Simon's anxiety was entirely self-inflicted.
As the new week began, after spending the weekend with a few expectant mothers in New York, Simon headed to Boston, planning to stay at least a day. In addition to squeezing in some work, he also intended to help two women plan the establishment of the Solvay Academy in Boston.
Truly, a tireless schedule.
While Simon was shuttling among a group of pregnant women, the entire Westeros system, like an increasingly massive capitalist behemoth, relentlessly rolled forward.
Washington.
A new week as well.
Jeff Bezos arrived in the capital a day early, joining Egret's permanent team there. That same day, he held final negotiations with the Department of Justice's antitrust investigation division, which lasted an entire day. By the afternoon, they had signed yet another antitrust settlement agreement.
The next day, Tuesday.
The news media was flooded with reports about this settlement.
The Nasdaq index, which had already given everyone a sense of a final frenzy, surged again thanks to the settlement. Leading the charge, Egret's stock soared like an unbridled wild horse, with a single-day price increase of 3.7%, pushing its market value to a new high. From Tuesday's opening valuation of $809.3 billion, it rose to a peak of $839.7 billion.
Although the Nasdaq's high levels restricted many of the Westeros system's investments in emerging technology fields, Egret's expansion showed no signs of slowing.
While Jeff Bezos was in Washington resolving the second major antitrust investigation, which had lasted more than six months, Egret's other major leaders were busy across the globe.
Tim Berners-Lee, who had gradually stepped back from the front lines but remained anything but idle, returned to Switzerland, where he had once been stationed, to oversee the construction of yet another large data center in Geneva. Carol Bartz, in charge of software and services, was in Brazil, focusing on expanding Egret's presence in the Latin American market. Meanwhile, the workaholic housekeeper was in Vancouver, Canada, planning the construction of Amazon's first warehouse and logistics center on Canada's west coast.
Los Angeles.
On March 12th, Arbor Day, the filming of "Paranormal Activity" officially began.
The apartment for the film's protagonists was chosen in the Santa Monica Mountains, north of the Daenerys Studios. Due to the proximity of the studio, many Hollywood professionals and young dreamers had settled in the surrounding neighborhoods. However, the geographical features of this area made many apartments perfectly suited for the film's story of an eerie, isolated house.
The morning began with a small opening ceremony.
Even though the project was known to be personally conceptualized by Simon Westeros, initial excitement gave way to tempered expectations. Neither Justin Lin nor the cast, including Amy Adams, held out much hope for the film's commercial prospects, seeing it as more of an experimental project.
However, the presence of Amy Pascal, head of Daenerys Entertainment, at the opening ceremony made the small crew of fewer than ten people realize something else: if they delivered on this project, their futures could be bright.
This sparked even greater enthusiasm within the team.
Seattle.
Bill Gates, known for his volatile temper, had also been "fired up" recently, although most of his frustration was directed at his company's senior executives.
As Egret reached a new antitrust settlement with the federal government, everyone sensed that the Nasdaq index had entered its final phase of frenzy. Meanwhile, Microsoft seemed to be heading in the opposite direction.
This wasn't just because Egret had been suppressing Microsoft in emerging internet businesses over the past few years, but also due to rumors of a new desktop operating system set to be unveiled at the Tinkerbell 1997 Spring Product Launch on March 22nd.
Although Microsoft currently held over 90% of the PC market, the numerous miracles created by the Westeros system in recent years led the market to believe that if Simon Westeros decided to enter the PC operating system field, he could seize a significant portion of Microsoft's market share, even if he couldn't destroy the company.
Despite a direct call to Simon, where the man had confidently claimed he had no intention of replacing Microsoft's market dominance, even Gates himself couldn't fully trust the young magnate's words.
At a PR meeting that morning, Gates berated the team responsible for shaping public opinion on Tinkerbell's new system. After lunch, yet another piece of bad news arrived.
By the close of trading on the East Coast, Microsoft's stock price had fallen 0.7% that day, dropping its market value to $306.7 billion, with signs that it might slip back into the $200 billion range.
Frustrated, Gates convened another meeting with his executives to discuss countermeasures.
Three hundred billion—this figure had become a mental hurdle for Gates. In a market where Egret, Cisco, and AOL were surging ahead, Microsoft's declining valuation seemed like an insult.
Unfair!
China, Suzhou.
A Gulfstream V private jet landed on the city airport's runway. Looking at the grand reception waiting outside, Chen Qing couldn't help but recall a classic movie line in her head:
"Chen Hansan is back again."
Hmm.
Why did it feel like she was cursing herself? Clearly, she shouldn't mess with movie lines.
This time, she had joined an investment delegation from the Carlyle Group to finalize several heavy industry projects in China.
Chen Qing felt like a hero to her hometown.
When she thought about it, her contributions included a ten-million-ton steel company in Lianyungang, the Jinshu Film City in Suzhou, the XCMG Group in Xuzhou, and most recently, the Jingjiang Shipyard project in Jiangyin.
Alright.
Though some of these had little to do with her personally, summing it all up, she could certainly call herself her hometown's good luck charm.
Privately, she suspected her boss had orchestrated this deliberately.
"Above there is heaven, below there is Suzhou and Hangzhou."
He must have known this saying, which is why, apart from Beijing, the focus of his investments seemed to revolve around Suzhou and Hangzhou.
After the lively welcoming ceremony, the group left the airport. On the car ride, she hurriedly called home to avoid another lecture from her father about how he only ever saw her on TV.
Even so, she still got scolded for not coming home during the Lunar New Year.
She was busy, after all. With her boss pregnant, she had essentially become a nanny—not only caring for her but also taking on her work. Occasionally, she was even suspected of harboring ill intentions toward the baby.
Although, admittedly, jealousy did make her entertain certain thoughts.
But she wouldn't dare.
If she tried anything, she wasn't sure whether her boss would strangle her with his bare hands.
Men have strong hands, and in certain moments, he had a peculiar habit of tracing women's necks. Some men liked chests, others liked feet, but a neck fetish? That was rare.
Pulling herself out of her random musings, she began organizing the plans for this weeklong trip to China, which would cover seven or eight cities.
She couldn't help but feel overworked.
Poor thing.
Maybe she should change her name to Chen Xier (Happy Chen).
London.
Spring hadn't warmed the city, and the flowers had yet to bloom.
This inherently cold and gloomy city could easily induce a sense of melancholy if one stayed too long.
Fortunately, she had her source of joy.
In the morning, as usual, Yulia Shulshikina first went to her daughter's room after waking up.
The energetic little girl was already awake, whispering secrets to a reluctant cat. Pushing open the door, Yulia quietly listened as her daughter lamented how long it had been since she'd seen her father. If he didn't visit her in 30 days, she'd stop loving him.
Then, deciding that 30 days wasn't long enough, she adjusted her timeline.
Leaning against the doorframe, Yulia couldn't help but feel a mix of yearning and sadness at her daughter's words.
But she quickly pushed these feelings aside.
Life was already good enough; she shouldn't be too greedy.
When the little girl noticed her mother's presence, the cat instantly lost its appeal. Completely forgetting her earlier complaints, she got up to show her mother that she had dressed herself and even washed up.
Yulia helped her daughter put on her shoes. Nina immediately ran out, declaring she was going to wake up Vera, the little lazybones.
"No sleeping in!"
The nearly six-year-old girl dashed out, almost bumping into someone in the hallway. She quickly stopped, apologized politely, and greeted, "Good morning, Nata."
Natalia Banshikova crouched down in front of the little girl, affectionately pinching her cheek. "Good morning."
"I'm going to wake up Vera. Nata, do you want to come with me?"
"Oh, you go ahead. I need to prepare breakfast for everyone."
The little girl enthusiastically shared her breakfast preferences before darting off again.
Natalia watched the girl disappear around the corner, then straightened up. Noticing Yulia standing at the doorway of Nina's room, she greeted her with a touch of deference. "Good morning, Yulia."
Compared to her earlier warmth with her daughter, Yulia's expression was noticeably colder as she gave Natalia a slight nod.
Women might get along, but women connected to the same man rarely did.
Though Yulia had a soft nature, years of managing things for him in London had toughened her up.
For Ivanna Antonenko, who had arrived earlier to share the household, Yulia could treat her as an equal. But when Natalia Banshikova joined them, Yulia took the man's suggestion to treat her as a maid and kept her at arm's length.
No matter what, she didn't want to share her position in London with anyone else, not even for her daughter's sake.
As the rare golden morning light bathed the villa, the household gathered in the dining room.
Only two mother-daughter pairs sat at the table: Yulia and Nina, and Ivanna and Vera.
Natalia, meanwhile, stood nearby, serving them. She didn't feel out of place or consider fighting for a seat at the table. For her, just escaping Ukraine and avoiding the embarrassment of living in the same house with him and her two daughters was enough. Although she hadn't resisted much at the time, she still found the whole situation absurd.
Life in London didn't feel empty despite his rare appearances; there was plenty to keep them busy.
After breakfast, Yulia sent Ivanna to check on the Chinese cultural performance troupe that had recently arrived in London. She wanted to ensure that the young performers staying in a luxurious apartment near the Thames had everything they needed.
As for Yulia, she first personally dropped off Nina and Vera at their kindergarten before heading to an office near Knightsbridge.
Charles DeVaye, a real estate agent who had been hired by the man after a chance encounter two years ago, was already waiting for her.
Today's agenda was to discuss the apartment building where the cultural troupe was staying.
She had received instructions from him to purchase the entire 16-story luxury building they were currently renting.
It was a significant transaction, and Charles DeVaye seemed excited.
Yulia, however, remained calm. Over the past two years, she had gained enough experience managing his real estate portfolio to understand the business well.
During their early collaborations, DeVaye's attempts at scheming hadn't sat well with her. After being put in her place a few times, he had become more cooperative.
They spent over an hour, with the help of other staff, compiling a detailed report on the building. The plan was to formally approach the property developer that afternoon.
As noon approached, DeVaye, knowing Yulia's reserved nature, didn't bother inviting her to lunch. Instead, he mentioned a family party he was hosting over the weekend. If she was free, she could bring Nina along. He added that his daughter, Cara, had been looking forward to seeing Nina again.
Yulia recalled Cara Delevingne, a quirky girl a year younger than Nina. Deep down, she wanted her daughter to have more friends. After asking who else would attend the party and thinking it over, Yulia agreed.
Paris.
The final stop of the Spring Fashion Week.
After finishing her day's work at 2 a.m., Zhu Momo, fueled by a desire to outshine two former rivals, had been working non-stop for over a month. Her relentless schedule even worried her aunt Mo Wuling, who had accompanied her throughout the four major fashion weeks.
At first, Mo Wuling had, like many others, thought of modeling as an improper career.
Now, seeing it up close, she had to admit that while she still found it somewhat improper, doing it well required far more effort and skill than she had imagined.
Returning to a luxury apartment in Paris's western district, Wuling and a classmate she had roped in to assist Zhu Momo, Ren Jingxi, helped their exhausted niece, who complained about aching feet and sore eyes, into the building.
However, deep down, Wuling felt a sense of unease.
It seemed that her niece was increasingly entangled with that man. Or, to put it more accurately, she didn't want to break free.
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