Mexican cuisine is distinctly different from white cuisine. The staple foods are mainly corn, beans, and chili peppers. It is the first cuisine in the world to use chili peppers as a condiment.
In terms of ingredient selection, Mexican cuisine has almost no taboos. Beef, pork, chicken, mutton, goat meat, and dairy products can all be eaten.
Leon grabbed a taco covered in salsa and stuffed it into his mouth, praising, "Thank the Mexicans. They not only imported flour to save our spiritual emptiness but also imported delicious food to save our tongues."
Whether Mexican, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Chinese food has a higher rating in the North American market, everyone probably has a different opinion. But the market share of Mexican food is undoubtedly the first, second only to fast food like fried chicken and burgers.
It's cheap, comes in large portions, and is filling. The taco trucks all over New York streets are the best proof.
"So spicy!" Taylor had just bitten into a big mouthful of chili peppers, her face turning red instantly. She could only drink water continuously to cool down. "I clearly chose the lowest spice level..."
The two chatted while eating, and the topic unexpectedly shifted to engagement again. But this time, it was Leon who brought it up proactively.
"Where do you hope to live long-term after marriage? New York or Los Angeles?"
Leon asked the waiter for a Corona beer, crossed his hands against his chin, and let his gaze wander over Taylor's face.
Jay-Z and Beyoncé's divorce was already a done deal. The ecological niche vacated by the number one couple in the music industry was a huge gold mine.
With Taylor's personal influence, releasing a few personal beauty brands casually could easily make a lot of money. Even just a single item like lipstick could sell explosively.
Leon had tentatively discussed this topic before, but Taylor refused very simply: "I will never release a personal brand to cheat fans' money!"
However, the difficulty was only temporary. Leon believed that as long as he continued to apply positive psychological suggestions to Taylor, breaking through her moral bottom line was only a matter of time.
He was not the first person to treat marriage as a business; this was a basic operation in high society. Perfect love that requires both mutual appreciation and material assistance only exists in imagination.
From the current point of view, Taylor could provide some value in both aspects.
"Although I love the city of New York very much, the pace here is really too fast. Everyone is like a wound-up machine..." Taylor tilted her head and thought about this question very seriously.
The pace of life on the West Coast is relatively slower, but thinking of the paparazzi, who are more numerous than sewer rats, was headache-inducing enough.
"I suddenly feel this question seems meaningless." Leon shrugged. "Our job is to fly around everywhere."
Taylor nodded in agreement. Although she longed for marriage immensely at this moment, she felt extremely confused thinking about post-marital life.
She wasn't a woman willing to give up everything for love, at least not now.
There were so many shiny golden trophies waiting for her to plunder ahead, and strings of dazzling records waiting for her to rewrite. Love alone couldn't fill her hunger.
Rather than saying she was love-struck, it was better to say she was enjoying the process.
Taylor cupped her chin, switched to a serious face, and stared at Leon with sharp eyes. "When do you plan to propose to me?"
"It won't be too long. I have to make some preparations."
"Aren't you worried that if you make me wait too long, I won't say yes when you propose?" Taylor rolled her eyes slightly. "You'd better prove your sincerity with the size of the diamond."
"Don't worry, the size of the diamond won't disappoint you, just like that part of mine."
"Leon!" Taylor choked on her water halfway through drinking, blushing and glaring at him fiercely.
On January 11th, Leon was originally invited by Kendrick Lamar to fly to Los Angeles to support the release of his new album.
The hot market performance of Not Like Us lifted Kendrick to the position of a quasi-first-tier rapper in one fell swoop.
The physical record sales in the first week exceeded 500,000 copies. What was more surprising was the performance on streaming media—as of now, the free channel playback volume across the entire network exceeded 25 million times.
Although it only ranked fourth on the latest Billboard chart, it had become the de facto most popular single in the US.
With such powerful traffic support, as long as the overall quality of Kendrick's new album good kid, m.A.A.d city passed muster, it would establish his status as a first-tier rapper in one fell swoop.
"Bro, thank you for everything you've done for me... Boss Dre told me to get ready to take over the banner of the West Coast." Kendrick expressed his gratitude to Leon many times on the phone. "Can I really do it? Me, K.Dot, am going to become the King of the West Coast?!"
"You can definitely do it, man. I'm very sorry I can't make it to Los Angeles today."
Leon had listened to every song in the good kid, m.A.A.d city album, and the overall quality was surprisingly high. It perfectly presented the retro West Coast elements of the 90s in the form of Trap.
Most lyrics incorporated Kendrick's reflections on racial violence, perfectly restoring real community life with plain sketching techniques, beating those new generation rappers who only knew about cars, money, and girls.
After hanging up the phone, Leon called Sean.
At 2 PM today, the other party would sign a contract with iHeartMedia as the general manager of Lion's Den Media, accompanied by Luca. After the contract was signed, radio station Z100 would officially change hands.
"Are you in the office now, you bastard? Why does your voice sound like you haven't woken up?" Leon lowered his voice, his tone revealing annoyance.
Lion's Den Media achieved huge success in the past year, which also caused a great change in Sean's psychology.
He was like a Wall Street stock trader who had just made a big profit, spending all night in bars, specifically those catering to gay customers.
The playboy lifestyle caused his work efficiency to deteriorate. Some employees within Lion's Den Media who coveted his position took the opportunity to snitch to Leon, accusing him of always being absent-minded during meetings and often using his personal power to seduce male models who came to the company for auditions into bed.
"No... I am in the office right now. Mr. Luca is also here; he can prove it for me!" Sean was so scared he let out a girlish voice and quickly explained.
"Listen, freak, get your position right!" Leon warned, "This is New York. As long as you dare to stop, it won't take long for you to be trampled to death by people behind you. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Understood, understood..." Sean was so scared his hair stood on end, instantly realizing the fact that he was just a wage earner.
"Stop fooling around. I don't want a mobile HIV virus around me! For God's sake, move your eyes from men to women!"
After explaining the contract signing, Leon took Phil and was driven by Jorge to the location of the charity event, a poor community clustered with public housing in the Bronx.
The Bronx was originally the most chaotic district in New York, and public housing was a complete mess.
Owning a place to stay in New York for less than $100 a month in rent, public housing seemed like a popular charity project. Logically, people should be queuing up to apply.
Reality was just the opposite. Old buildings and chaotic management were long-criticized problems. The vacancy rate of public housing in many cities remained high.
There was also a bit of psychological factor at play. In New York, many people believed that even living on the streets was more decent than living in the cold nests given by the government.
Over time, public housing became a last resort for residents.
On the way, Leon rested his head on his hand and looked out the window, his mind full of Michael Bloomberg's name.
Senator Charlie definitely wouldn't want to see him get too close to such a powerful figure in both political and business circles. Charlie and Bloomberg had irreconcilable contradictions in political views.
But for Leon, now was not the time to look left and right. In the "Diddy arrest incident," he and Charlie had already buried the fuse of a crisis.
He didn't want to end up like Michael Jackson or Diddy without preparation.
To avoid falling into the abyss, he had to accumulate enough chips now so that when the dealer called "all in," he could catch it steadily.
Bloomberg was undoubtedly a trump card.
Relying on his Bloomberg L.P., the world's largest financial information company, Bloomberg almost mastered first-hand information of all large enterprises, including insider information.
In a private conversation, Vontae described Bloomberg like this—"He has a thousand eyes; he is the Beria, the Yezhov of the financial world."
"Bloomberg is a good man; he should replace Barack as President." Phil, who always had a sharp tongue, gave Bloomberg surprisingly high praise, which surprised Leon quite a bit.
"Good man?"
"I know you don't like those politicians, but look at what Bloomberg has done. He donates hundreds of millions of dollars every year for climate issues and gun control. The whereabouts of this money can be tracked." Phil said, "Don't look at what a person says, look at what he does. At least Bloomberg fulfilled every word he said."
"You can say he is an idealist, but don't just put the hat of a good man on his head casually." Leon adjusted his lapel.
The destination was two blocks away, and many gatherers holding placards could already be seen on the street.
During his tenure as mayor, Bloomberg vigorously promoted smoking cessation, and he himself did the same. Not only did he not smoke, but he also never touched cigars beloved by high society, truly matching words with deeds.
Leon didn't have much affection for idealists, let alone a Jewish financial tycoon. Their means of realizing ideals often come at the cost of sacrificing a group of people, and they won't have moral dilemmas when facing the "trolley problem."
But Bloomberg's generosity indeed left Leon with nothing to pick on. For this trip to the Bronx, he only needed to show his face to receive a $500,000 reward, without even going on stage to sing.
In contrast, Charlie never paid him a cent for appearance fees.