Leon had already made some inroads into the film and television industry, so it wasn't hard to deduce from the connection between the Sucker for Pain and Heathens music videos that these two songs likely belonged to the same movie soundtrack series.
And judging by the exaggerated makeup and styling of the actors in the MVs, one could tell this was a superhero movie, or at least a movie related to superheroes.
Robbie was very likely the lead in this film.
The Inspiration Refresh rarely produced a custom-made alternative rock song like this.
Leon's lips curled up as he turned sideways, pressing against Beyoncé's domineering and athletic "taillights," and drifted into a satisfied sleep.
Early the next morning, as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a voluptuous figure moving around in the kitchen in the distance.
"Damn..." He shook his head, which felt like it was filled with lead, and the scene before him gradually came into focus.
Beyoncé was wearing an apron, and beneath the apron were tight, flesh-colored yoga pants.
She was shaking her hips while beating the rhythm with her right hand, humming the title track Love On Top from her new album 4:
"Honey, honey~ I can see the stars all the way from here~"
"Can't you see the sun rising in my eyes~ Every time you touch me, I melt inside~"
Beyoncé possessed a mellow voice and perfect singing technique; even acapella without accompaniment was a pleasure to hear.
Leon was in a great mood. He got dressed amidst the singing and quietly walked up to Beyoncé.
The marble island was filled with various green vegetables: kale, arugula, Brussels sprouts, etc.
Besides these, there were some strange jars labeled with protein powder, vitamins, and so on.
Beyoncé skillfully threw the "ingredients" in front of her one by one into the blender.
"What are you doing?" Leon couldn't help asking.
"Ah!" Beyoncé was startled and immediately stopped her movements. "Honey, you're awake!"
Smooch—
Her surprised expression immediately switched to delight as she stood on tiptoes and lightly kissed Leon on the cheek.
"I'm making breakfast."
"Breakfast?" Leon scratched his head. "If you hadn't told me, I would have thought you were practicing alchemy..."
Vegetarian nutritional meals were a lifestyle pursued by Hollywood actresses, as was witchcraft.
Strange posts often popped up in online communities, describing how actresses sought medieval wisdom to stay forever young.
The liquid in the blender was normal at first, but with the continuous addition of supplements, it finally turned into a weird look.
It looked like a lump of thick green snot.
Greener than JAY-Z. (Note: In Chinese internet slang, green implies being cuckolded.)
Leon shook his head as he watched. "Are you sure this stuff is drinkable?"
"It tastes terrible, but it's very healthy~ I'm almost thirty, I have to pay attention to my body management."
Saying that, Beyoncé spun around on the spot, displaying her figure from all angles for Leon to appreciate.
Although her figure was full, it had nothing to do with the word "fat."
The aesthetic of the American public had been led astray by black rap culture, but the upper class still maintained a normal aesthetic.
Few people would consider a fat butt like a sheep's tail beautiful; Hollywood actresses still worried about gaining an extra pound of flesh.
"You don't need to lose weight; your current figure suits you very well," Leon said.
"Really?" Beyoncé shook her hips. "You really don't think I'm too fat now?"
"No." Leon said this from the bottom of his heart.
Beyoncé was one of the few actresses he thought looked better with a little weight than being skinny.
"Great!" Beyoncé poured all the strange liquid in the cup down the drain. "Since you said so, I won't torture myself~ What do you want for breakfast? How about Thuringian sausage with fried eggs?"
"Perfect."
Ten minutes later, the fried sausage and eggs were served on the table.
Oily and shiny, looking quite bouncy and tempting.
This was really beyond Leon's expectations.
Among the actresses he knew, Beyoncé's cooking skills were rarely beyond the theoretical stage.
"How is it?" Beyoncé held her chin, looking forward to Leon's evaluation.
"Very good, looks as tempting as your body. I wonder how it tastes..."
"It will taste even more delicious." A blush appeared on Beyoncé's face.
During breakfast, Leon received a call from Phil.
They were originally scheduled to return to New York this afternoon.
"I think I should go. Thank you for your perfect breakfast." Leon wiped his mouth with satisfaction and glanced at his watch.
"Leaving today? Is there any important work?"
"No work..." Leon thought for a while; there really wasn't any important work recently.
The new office building was being renovated, and the backing track produced by David Guetta was still in the refinement stage.
Whether The Rap of America could turn from imagination into reality still awaited the reply from Netflix CEO Hastings.
"Then why not stay in Los Angeles for two more days?" Beyoncé said, "There is a charity dinner in Beverly Hills tonight, hosted by Warner Bros. Half of the celebrities in Hollywood will attend."
Leon was originally not interested in such social occasions, especially with the word "charity" attached.
It was nothing more than circling money from celebrities in different ways, under the slogans of alleviating poverty in Africa, eliminating diseases, and so on.
Even if the accounts are made public, it's useless; managers can set their own salary standards at will.
In the end, the actual donated amount might not even be as much as the money that fell into the pockets of the management.
However, the name of Warner Bros. caught Leon's attention.
The novel copyright of Ready Player One was in Warner's hands, and most of the heavyweight IPs involved were also in their hands.
If this movie wanted to be established, it would be impossible without cooperating with Warner.
Thinking of this, Leon agreed. "No problem, I'm very interested in charity."
"Great~" Beyoncé was extremely excited and rushed into the room to prepare her makeup and styling for tonight.
From 11 am to 4 pm.
Leon knew that actresses had to dress up carefully before attending social occasions, but he didn't expect it to be cumbersome to this extent.
A dazzling array of cosmetics piled up on the large dressing table, and tried-on clothes covered the 1,200-square-foot bedroom.
Beyoncé painted on her face, looking more precise than manufacturing chips.
"Honey, can you hurry up?" Leon glanced at the time on his gold watch from time to time.
He had long completed his outfit matching, still wearing his signature Adidas tracksuit.
Beyoncé originally wanted him to wear a suit, but Leon refused when he thought that the closet was full of JAY-Z's clothes.
"It doesn't matter if we're a little late, Honey~ Don't you understand women?" Beyoncé tried on lipsticks unhurriedly; the one in her hand was already the twentieth one. "If you can't outshine everyone, any luxurious banquet is meaningless for a lady."
"Alright~" Leon waved his hand helplessly.
After another hour of waiting, Beyoncé finally showed signs of moving her butt from the makeup chair.
"Satisfied?" Leon asked.
"Ninety percent. I have never been 100% satisfied with my makeup and styling." Beyoncé smiled playfully and spun around. "But with you by my side, I am 100% satisfied."
She wore a gold backless long dress, exposing a large area of dark golden skin to the air.
Under the plunging V-neckline of the dress, the round and high hemispheres were particularly eye-catching.
Beyoncé had black heritage, so she didn't have the problem of rough skin like white women.
Plus the long-term nourishment of various expensive cosmetics, it felt as smooth as silk.
From ankles to earlobes, every place that could be decorated was hung with glittering jewelry.
The large sapphire necklace on her neck was not inferior even compared to the Heart of the Ocean in Titanic, and even some toes were put on diamond rings.
"Is it necessary to be so exaggerated?" Leon shook his head helplessly. The value of Beyoncé's outfit alone was no less than ten million dollars.
Worthy of the nickname "Venus encrusted with gold."
He had no doubt that even the ring on her toe was valuable enough for a homeless person to live a decent life.
Outside the mansion, Beyoncé's driver had been waiting in the stretch limousine for a long time.
After a half-hour drive, they arrived at the venue of the banquet—the Beverly Hills Hotel, known as the "Pink Palace."
This was once the favorite hotel of Hollywood superstar Marilyn Monroe, and it has always been favored by celebrities.
Although it was a private charity dinner, the hotel entrance was still crowded with paparazzi who heard the news.
The blinding flashes gave Leon a headache. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he intentionally kept some distance from Beyoncé on the red carpet entering the hotel.
Leon's appearance immediately attracted the attention of other guests. A series of hype events had made him notorious in the circle.
Especially the recent exposure of Diddy's party instigated by him, which brought his notoriety to the peak.
Many guests invited to this charity dinner were also regulars at Diddy's parties.
However, even so, celebrities who came to actively clink glasses with Leon were still in an endless stream, most of whom were actresses wanting to climb up.
Hollywood is a pure vanity fair. Here, as long as you have strength, no matter how bad your reputation is, you can gain the respect of others.
Facing the fawning actresses, Leon always appeared casual.
His goal was to contact the host of this banquet, Jeff Robinov, President of Warner Bros. Pictures.
As soon as Beyoncé left to deal with acquaintances, an actress immediately seized the opportunity to approach Leon.
"Oh my God, Mr. Leon, I'm a super fan of yours." A black-haired beauty stuck to Leon's side.
"Hello, ma'am..." Leon felt the woman in front of him looked very familiar.
"I'm Megan Fox~"
"Hello Miss Megan, it's an honor to meet you. Look at you, you are truly dazzling!" Leon immediately remembered that the woman in front of him was the heroine of the first two Transformers movies.
She became famous in Hollywood for her beauty and completely established her status as a "gold-medal vase" with the film Jennifer's Body.
"I'm not only your music fan but also your movie fan." Megan said, "I watched Straight Outta Compton produced by you three times. I think it is the greatest black movie ever."
Usually, people keen on flattering must have ulterior motives, let alone an arrogant woman like Megan.
If it weren't for her outspoken and arrogant personality, with her beauty, she wouldn't have needed to struggle in Hollywood for many years to become successful.
After filming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, she publicly criticized director Michael Bay on social media, calling him "Hitler on set."
This remark offended Spielberg, who is of Jewish descent, eventually leading to her role being replaced in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Naive Megan underestimated Spielberg's influence in the film industry. For a long time, she never received any offers for big productions again.
Now she desperately needed to change this situation.
"Thank you for your compliment, Miss Megan. I am also your movie fan." Facing such a top-level "vase," Leon had to take it seriously, especially an actress who fell from the A-list to the B-list but had a strong fan base.
Often, with actresses in this situation, the most suitable pay can be negotiated.
"Hey, Leon!" Beyoncé walked over with a champagne glass, showing displeasure on her face when she saw Megan.
"Hello, Ms. Beyoncé." Megan took the initiative to signal a hug, but Beyoncé just perfunctorily pecked her cheek.
Their status was not on the same level, especially with the sexy aura radiating from Megan, practically carving the word "succubus" on her face.
"Let's go, the auction is about to start." Beyoncé stuck close to Leon and sat down in the most prominent position at the auction.
The lights on the main stage suddenly lit up, and Jeff appeared amidst enthusiastic cheers.
The lengthy opening speech made Leon want to doze off.
The first lot was a heavyweight.
This lot came from Madonna, a gold corset she wore at the Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990.
Jeff smiled and said: "Owning a corset worn by Miss Madonna is every man's dream, even if this dream is 20 years late."
The guests offstage burst into laughter and cast their eyes on Madonna.
Here Jeff used a meme about Madonna's age. Leon looked in the direction he pointed.
Madonna wore a black strapless long dress, revealing the Mariana Trench on her chest.
Although 52 years old, she clearly had a trend of becoming more enchanting as she aged.
Her coquettishness remained undiminished, and she especially loved fresh meat in their 20s.
Jeff played with the gavel and continued to incite emotions: "Friends on the scene, especially male friends, don't miss this opportunity to have intimate contact with Miss Madonna... especially those gentlemen over thirty, this may be your only chance in this life."
"The starting price for Miss Madonna's Blond Ambition corset is $100,000, with a minimum bid increment of $2,000!"
Bang!
The gavel fell, and the bidding began.
Hearing this price, Leon, who originally wanted to take this opportunity to show off and get close to Jeff, instantly died down.
Secretly cursing, "Crazy? An old woman's corset selling for 100k?"
"110,000!"
"120,000!"
"150,000!"
Jeff's eyes lit up, staring in the direction of the raised hand. "Leonardo bids 150,000, anyone higher!"
Seeing Leon looking eager to try, Beyoncé teased: "Looks like you are very interested in Ms. Madonna's underwear..."
"I just want to contribute to African children..." Saying that, Leon raised his hand and shouted: "160,000!"
The attention of the whole venue was instantly attracted, and even Jeff was stunned.
A mere 160,000 dollars naturally wouldn't scare Hollywood celebrities, but the bidder was Leon.
The most notorious cancer in the entertainment industry.
Jeff cleared his throat. "Leon bids 160,000. It seems African children can also feel the gospel spread by Street Jesus~ Mr. Leon, you can even feel the lingering warmth on this corset."
The guests couldn't help laughing, and even Leon laughed along.
Executive positions in the entertainment industry change frequently, but Jeff has been able to sit in the position of Warner Bros. executive for seventeen years.
This is indispensable to the help of clever social skills and language art.
However, Leonardo obviously didn't plan to give up.
From Robbie dating Leon to the exposure of the Diddy party scandal...
The occurrence of these events had long made him hold a grudge against Leon.
"In terms of street dirty tricks, I'm not your opponent, but comparing bank notes, you are far behind..." Leonardo thought so in his heart, raised his hands, and shouted the price of 250,000.
"250,000! Leonardo bids 250,000!" Jeff looked around the venue. "Any higher? Mr. Leon, what do you think?"
Leon spread his hands and rolled his eyes at Leonardo with an expression of looking at a retard.
He originally wanted to buy a social ticket for 160,000 dollars, but he didn't expect there really was a fool willing to spend 250,000 to buy an old woman's corset.
Megan, sitting behind, patted Leon on the shoulder and whispered: "Aren't you following?"
"That guy has a special fetish for gerontophilia; can't you see he is determined to win?"
Megan looked in the direction Leon pointed and indeed found Leonardo holding his head high, proud as a victorious rooster.
"God knows what he will do to this corset tonight..."
Megan was amused by Leon's dirty joke, clutching her stomach and laughing non-stop.
The following lots were even more dazzling.
There were diamond necklaces provided by Beyoncé, oil paintings hand-painted by Twilight heroine Kristen Stewart, wine glasses used by Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation, etc...
But the hammer prices were not proportional to the original value of the goods. Leon chose to give up after following one or two rounds.
It is normal for charity sales to have a serious premium, but if the premium reaches a ridiculous level, only fools will participate.
Leon didn't want to be that fool until the appearance of the next lot.
This lot was provided by Jeff himself, and it attracted everyone's attention as soon as it appeared.
He pointed to the stick in front of him and introduced grandly: "This Elder Wand is the first version we designed, and it is also the prop used in the latest Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2..."
"On behalf of Warner Bros. Pictures, I donate this great wand. May it continue the magical power in the movie and improve the lives of children in Rwanda..."
Warm applause rang out at the scene.
While clapping, Leon admired the other party's clever means.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was currently hitting theaters. By auctioning a prop wand, Warner Bros. gained both fame and advertised the movie.
Leon sat up straight. Although the starting price of this prop wand was as high as $300,000, he showed strong interest.
This was one of the few lots tonight with a starting price lower than its intrinsic value.
Props from heavy IPs like Harry Potter have a large number of fanatical collectors in the secondary market.
Like Michael Jackson's costumes, the wooden board that kept Jack afloat in Titanic, the nunchucks used by Bruce Lee in Game of Death...
These props have all been auctioned for sky-high prices and are hotly pursued in the secondary market.
As a ceiling-level classic movie prop, the value of the Elder Wand is self-evident.
"500,000! Director Nolan bids 500,000!"
"550,000! Depp bids 550,000!"
Within just one minute, the price of the Elder Wand was bid up to $700,000.
Leon suddenly made a move, shouting the price of 800,000.
"800,000! Look! Mr. Leon not only has magical musical talent but also a heart of gold!"
"800,000 going once..."
Just as Jeff shouted once, Leonardo made a move, raising the price to $900,000 in one breath.
At this time, Leon stood up, looked around, and fixed his gaze on Leonardo.
Just the look made the other party swallow hard and avoid eye contact.
Clearly, nothing was said, but the threat was full.
"One million!"
"Very good, Mr. Leon bids one million dollars. Any higher bids?"
Leonardo was eager to try, but every time he wanted to raise his hand, he immediately shrank back.
Thinking of the terrible events that happened to Diddy and Chris Brown, and connecting to the avant-garde tattoo added to young rapper MGK's face...
He finally decided to withdraw from this competition.
With the fall of the final gavel, Jeff announced that Leon had won the first edition of the Elder Wand. "In the past, we often heard rumors about Mr. Leon. Facts have proved that these are just media smears. Tonight, he donated 1 million dollars for African children!"
Winning the Elder Wand for one million dollars was much less than Leon expected.
It was worthy of the price of this item in the secondary market.
He got a value-for-money lot and obtained a social ticket to Warner Bros.
Leon thought this money was well spent.
He stood up and nodded to the guests in the audience. "To save the African people from their dire straits, 1 million dollars is nothing... As a singer, my wealth comes from every listener. Giving back to society is my unshirkable responsibility!"