Chapter 419: 419 Hope
Chapter 419: Chapter 419 Hope
The baby is born! On the morning of December 10th, Wang Yang and Jessica’s baby made her entrance into the world!
The news broke from the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles and instantly topped entertainment news headlines on numerous websites across the world. North America and Asia, in particular, were vying to report the joyous news. The media and public alike were eager to learn about the miraculous baby’s condition. It was certain that she was a healthy, thriving girl, but details like weight, height, and name remained unknown. Wang Yang and his wife had taken great precautions to keep everything under wraps; their spokesperson, family, and friends also remained tight-lipped.
“Congratulations, Miraculous Yang, Congratulations Jessica!” Movie fans and admirers joyously sent their blessings en masse. To some extent, they had witnessed the couple’s romance and life unfold. Some fans compiled photos of the pair from 1998-2005, chronicling their journey from dating to marriage to parenthood, showcasing the perfect illustration of growth from awkward teenagers to charming adults. When their relationship first went public, many gossip outlets predicted it would end within six months. Yet many celebrity couples could be annoying, but not these two.
However, not even such a wonderful moment could stop some extreme Wang Yang-haters from mocking and ridiculing him, even resorting to racial slurs like “Chinaxican.” This triggered the wrath and disdain of Yang’s fans and neutrals alike, who wished they could punch these vile faces. Many supporters chose to ignore the trivial noise; after all, these cowards wouldn’t dare make such comments in their own social circles or accept a challenge from Miraculous Yang. But once Yang’s films achieved great success, they would surely feel defeated!
“I’m sure the baby will be so beautiful!” Yang’s fans chatted excitedly with friends, online and in real life, eager to see the baby’s photos. Evelyn and her best friend Kelly laughed over the phone, “Yang is so handsome, Jessica is so gorgeous, oh my! How beautiful will their baby be? I bet really, really beautiful.” Kelly chuckled, “I have no doubts about that, the baby truly is a lucky girl.” Evelyn laughed, “Hey, you’re not bad yourself, Kelly! Me too, haha!”
“I kind of miss the baby.” The women who had unknowingly engaged in the “Juno Operation” now felt genuinely happy for Yang & Jessica. Clair recalled her own pregnancy, her baby, and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic. She firmly said to Janet, “I will definitely marry my Miraculous Yang someday and become a real mom!” Janet’s voice was just as resolute, “Of course, me too! We’re different now, we’ll be great moms.”
“It’s so strange! I’m actually looking forward to it.” Alice too, giggled with her girlfriends about girly things, “Seeing Yang and Jessica so happy, I suddenly find myself longing for marriage, for babies, even though I was such a cool person! Yes! I guess that’s influence.”…
While Keke was hogged by her grandparents, Wang Yang and Jessica, back in the maternity room, had a moment to step out of their all-consuming thoughts about the child. They joyfully shared the happiness of becoming parents with friends, even revealing the baby’s weight as 7 pounds and her name, HOPE-JUNO, to some trusted confidants.
“Hope-Juno Wang, Wang Ke, the name really has a nice ring to it, Yang, congratulations once again!” Natalie’s hearty laughter came through Wang Yang’s phone. She exclaimed, “I don’t know why, but seeing you become a dad… I just get so excited.” Wang Yang thanked her with a chuckle, glanced over at his baby in her grandmother’s arms on the sofa, and said, “Actually, this name makes me a little nervous; I hope Hope doesn’t make me a grandfather in 16 years.” Natalie roared with laughter, “How could that happen? You’ll surely teach her well.”
“Who knows? Her mom says she’s a rebellious girl.” Wang Yang laughed a few times as he walked into the bedroom to join Jessica, who was resting on the bed. He said earnestly, “Anyway, the moment I saw her in the delivery room, I already knew I had to protect her, to keep her from harm. That’s a father’s mission!” Natalie’s voice conveyed her longing, “I really want to know what that feels like.” Wang Yang replied with unexpected surprise and a chuckle, “You won’t, I mean, you’ll only know what it’s like to be a mom, haha, wish you become a mom soon!” Natalie laughed, “Yes, thanks! I can’t let my on-screen persona outdo me.”
After exchanging a few more words, they ended the call, and Wang Yang sat beside the bed, laughing with Jessica and checking his messaging inbox. The news must have spread by now; the inbox was nearly bursting with congratulatory messages from all sides. Soon enough, their home and office would be inundated with cards and gifts. As he read through the texts, he saw they were from business partners like Mark Strang, Chen Shijun, Valery Fiest, Harry George, Margaret…
There were also familiar names like the Nolan family, Annie Fletcher, Joss Whedon, Lin Yibin, James Wan, and more; as well as messages from San Francisco friends and concerned acting colleagues such as Annie Darren, Michael Pitt, Zachary Levi, Heath Ledger, Robert Downey Jr., Will Smith, and others. Overwhelmed by the outpouring of warmth, Wang Yang did his best to reply to texts, return calls, and his room was filled with unending laughter.
“Congratulations, Yang! Remember to send me a photo of Hope when you have time, I really want to see her!” Rachel’s voice was filled with joy, and Wang Yang happily agreed. After finishing the call, he immediately sent her a photo, and then Rachel replied with a message, “Haha, she’s an angel!” In the evening, Helen also sent a text message, “Yang, congratulations to you and Jessica on becoming parents, may the baby always be healthy and happy!” Wang Yang smiled as he pressed the keys on his phone, “Thank you, Helen, her name is HOPE.”…n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Los Angeles gradually became shrouded in night, with a bright moon hanging high in the sky, and the dimly lit bedroom was very peaceful. The baby sweetly slept between her parents, and both adults were sleeping peacefully, their mouths slightly upturned, dreaming sweet dreams.
Just as Wang Yang and Jessica were celebrating the birth of their precious daughter, another big event happened in the film entertainment industry on the 10th—Paramount Pictures announced the successful acquisition of DreamWorks for $1.6 billion!
In fact, due to Spielberg’s long-term collaboration with Universal, DreamWorks had previously been in negotiations with NBC Universal. In early July of this year, the two sides were about to sign a contract for a purchase price of $1 billion plus the assumption of $500 million in total debt. However, the poor performance of “Escape from Clone Island” led NBC Universal to attempt to lower the price by 10%, and the DreamWorks trio angrily walked away from the negotiating table, giving Paramount, who had been making eyes at them, an opportunity.
In October, NBC Universal, not ready to give up, threw an olive branch nearly identical to the first offer, but, like begging an ex-girlfriend who had already found her prince charming to get back together, they were met with a slap in the face. According to media reports, Viacom, Paramount’s parent company, officially approved the acquisition plan on the 8th, and yesterday Paramount signed the agreement with Spielberg. Viacom paid the $1.6 billion, using $775 million in cash and assuming $825 million in total debt, finally putting an end to this acquisition soap opera.
Because DreamWorks Animation had gone public last year and was making money, it was not included in the acquisition, but Paramount gained the 7-year distribution rights for DreamWorks Animation’s films. The acquisition mainly meant a change of ownership, from an independent kingdom to being under Viacom, with no plans for layoffs. Of course, Paramount obtained the rights to 59 film titles from the DreamWorks film library, including “Saving Private Ryan,” “Gladiator,” “Shrek,” and others; as well as Spielberg’s big-name addition to the team. Moreover, informed sources revealed that Viacom planned to raise funds by selling those films to other investors.
As the years-old industry giant DreamWorks spectacularly fell, independent filmmakers inevitably felt some sorrow for the shared fate, with some even declaring “the dark age of independent production has come,” as things were definitely getting tougher!
As the emerging absolute leader, Firefly silently acquired the rights to several films, including “Paycheck” (sci-fi adventure, co-financed by Paramount, $60,000 production cost/$96 million global box office) and “The Time Machine” (sci-fi adventure, co-financed by Warner Bros., $80 million/$123 million)—those were competitors, and although Firefly offered a higher price, Paramount refused to sell more, only those that lost money, known as “junk” properties. Don’t expect successes like “Artificial Intelligence” or “Minority Report” either, as those belonged to private equity investors. Even “Galaxy Quest” (sci-fi adventure, independently financed, $45 million/$90 million) wasn’t up for grabs.
Though Firefly paid a high price for flops, they certainly wouldn’t lose out, thanks to their “package rental” business strategy and detailed genre services. Previously, the movie rental market’s genres were overly simplistic—science fiction was just science fiction, with minor sub-genres like sci-fi horror or sci-fi comedy at best. But Firefly, with the long tail theory as its guiding principle, carefully reorganized and introduced highly customer-friendly classifications and introductions, allowing customers to find precisely what they desired.
By the time other companies began to imitate them, Firefly had already developed and held onto its own section of the market; and with its extensive film library, it was able to bundle some films into packages, such as the “Paycheck + The Time Machine + Firefly” sci-fi adventure weekend package, the “Paycheck + Assassin’s Creed” John Woo-directed double feature package, the “Paycheck + Memento + Death Illusion” mystery package. Utilizing popular films to drive the sales of flops, they fully capitalized on the customers’ occasional whims for certain genres. “Paycheck” even turned trash into treasure, boosting its sales significantly.
Firefly was like a black hole, absorbing more and more films into it, its gravitational pull only increasing with each addition. Since the mainstay of Artisan’s film library really had no science fiction films to speak of, or only had North American distribution rights, these big-budget sci-fi films were indeed treasures to Firefly.
“We failed to make enough successful films to achieve financial success for the company,” one of the DreamWorks trio, David Geffen, explained the company’s demise. However, the Wall Street Journal analyzed, “It was DreamWorks’ production of too many flops that dragged down the company’s finances.”
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They may have seemed indistinguishable, but in fact, they operated in completely different ways. DreamWorks was established in October 1994, with Spielberg (film), David Geffen (music), and Jeffrey Katzenberg (animation) hoping to turn it into a new kind of media entertainment empire utilizing their respective expertise and influence. Yet it can be said that the seeds of failure were sown from the beginning, as each of them only put in a starting amount of $100 million and raised an additional $800 million, on top of which they secured a $1 billion line of credit from then-Chase Manhattan Bank, burdening themselves with high investment returns and interest payments right from the start.
The three titans ambitiously launched attacks on television, film, music, and the internet, but because they spread themselves too thin and lacked the backing of a major entertainment conglomerate, DreamWorks quickly became overextended. It began to continually shrink its operations: in 1999, it abandoned plans to construct a high-tech movie studio in Los Angeles; in 2004, it sold its record label to Universal Music, ending its music ventures and reducing TV program production; it also gave up on its website.
As for the film business, despite having occasional box-office hits, a pattern of one success to two failures wiped out any achievements; moreover, it was always saddled with debt, and a few significant flops could easily cause the company to collapse. Under such precarious circumstances, DreamWorks stumbled through the years, and this year, it finally couldn’t hold out any longer. There was no doubt it should have expanded more cautiously instead of bluffing its way through, ultimately knocking itself out.
“The sale of DreamWorks signified the fall of an independent film kingdom, the end of a beautiful dream,” said the Wall Street Journal, leaving countless fans and film enthusiasts deeply disheartened. Then they turned their attention to the flame, to the moths and butterflies that fluttered on either side of it.
Today, there are only a few truly powerful independent film companies left, such as the quite “peculiar” Flame Film and Lionsgate, with Flame leading the way.
If you were to ask which company is most likely to evolve into a new kind of media entertainment empire now, it would definitely be the Flame Group. FF is like the other side of the mirror to DreamWorks: DreamWorks was sinking under a mountain of debt; it had none, shunned going public or raising funds; DreamWorks launched assaults everywhere, while it moved methodically, content to remain a mini-studio in its core business of film and television, applying the Pareto principle and long-tail theory to perfect effect. Additionally, rumors had long been swirling that Flame was set to launch Flame Music. Everyone in the industry thought that music was the most logical next step for Flame, but they have been slow to act; whereas DreamWorks aimed globally, Flame’s distribution abroad still worked cooperatively with local distributors, without establishing branches…
What Flame is most lauded for is its measured yet voracious strategy—some might even say their expansion in certain areas was painfully slow. Meanwhile, they unceasingly poured money solely into the film business, swallowing up animation studios, special effects companies, technology research firms, soundstages… and still managed to digest it all!
Analysts in the industry opine that after DreamWorks’s fall, the robustly rising Flame Film officially became the largest standard-bearer for independent film distributors. Yet, its future blueprint remains a mystery, because Wang Yang is so uniquely magical, and it’s unclear how long he will continue playing this game. However, everyone knows that now is “Flame Time,” and as the Wall Street Journal reported on the 11th, “Flame represents a wondrous new hope for independent cinema.”
On the evening of December 11th, after a day and a half at the UCLA Medical Center, Wang Yang and Jessica took their baby home from the hospital!
“Danny, good boy!” Greeting Danny, who came running excitedly, they smiled and walked over to pet and embrace him; Wang’s parents, Mark, Kathy, and Joshua were all there, too. Keke was held by Wang’s mother and then handed back to Jessica as she got up; the whole family laughingly made their way into the house.
Keke, as a mix of four nationalities and three ethnicities—4/8 Chinese, 2/8 Mexican, 1/8 Danish, 1/8 French—truly embodied the essence of the sun and moon and the spiritual energy of the earth. Her chubby little face, with a pair of round, wide-open eyes, was exceptionally adorable. Her black pupils were as bright as gems. Although the world might still be a blur to her, she was able to find her own beauty, blinking her big eyes and looking around, her gaze shifting from time to time.
Danny followed by their side, noticing the absence of Jessica’s pregnant belly, her arms now holding a newborn exuding the scent of new life, and seeing the love-filled smiles on Wang Yang and her face, as well as the laughter while they played with the baby, it realized something was different! Could this scent be the new member of the family?…
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Although Wang Yang, a Chinese American who adores Chinese culture, did not see the necessity of “doing the month” for Jessica, he did not know if the different postpartum needs were due to the differences in upbringing and growth. Anyway, Jessica was lively and healthy, and both the new grandma and great-grandma thought that there was no need to worry about this aspect. The doctor naturally asked, “Are you joking?” Wang Yang had replied, “I’m just trying to figure out whether these differences really exist.” In the end, he still didn’t completely understand.
In fact, Jessica’s entire pregnancy and childbirth process were completely devoid of traditional Chinese elements. For example, one must not eat cold food during “doing the month,” while many postpartum women at the UCLA Medical Center were eating ice while giving birth. Jessica had binge-eaten right after getting off the birthing bed, and she had sat on an ice pack for a long time immediately after expelling the placenta to reduce swelling. Now that she was home, she had already taken a comfortable bath. Besides the daily exercises, fitness, and yoga that she had planned for her postpartum recovery, she was ready to swim one week later, and two weeks later, resume her figure and work routine, accompanying him to various award ceremonies.
The 12th was the day the winners of the National Society of Film Critics Awards, one of the “three barometers of the Oscars,” were announced. It was now the dead of night, with the grandparents and others having returned to their respective homes. Keke was sleeping in the light blue crib in the baby room, while Wang Yang and Jessica slept in the nearby master bedroom.
“Wah wah—” A high-pitched, childish cry came from the baby monitor, jolting the two, who were already not sleeping deeply, awake. They got out of bed and walked to the baby room: “Is the baby hungry?” “She must be, it’s time to feed her.” Since Jessica had not yet begun to produce milk, the two prepared a bottle of formula for Keke. Watching her suck on the nipple with a look of contentment, they both laughed and vied to hold the bottle.
“No, don’t, please! Don’t snatch it!” In the country-style baby room, Jessica, sitting on the chair holding the bottle tightly, turned her body to one side with Keke in her arms, while Wang Yang, looking anxious, circled around his wife and daughter, pleading, “Please, let me do it! I won’t have many more days to feed her!” Jessica looked up and laughed triumphantly, “No way, it’s a mother’s privilege.” Wang Yang became even more frustrated, “Ah! Really, what are men’s nipples good for anyway!” Jessica was also getting worked up, “HEY! The baby is listening!” …
After the feeding was done, Keke lay back in the crib and slept peacefully. As the couple returned to their bedroom and had just lain down, Keke cried again: “Wah wah—” Wang Yang put his hand on Jessica’s shoulder, took the monitor from the bedside table, stood up with a smile and said, “I’ll go check on her. You get some good sleep and leave her to me.” Jessica nodded with a smile.
“Hi, my angel! Why are you crying again?” In the baby room, Wang Yang picked up Keke from her crib with a smile. The little sweetheart was still crying nonstop, clearly preferring only her mom. Those clear tears and crisp cries broke daddy’s heart.
Wang Yang walked around with her in his arms and cooed at her for a while, to no avail. Then he started to sing, trying several English songs—Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Avril… none could quite soothe the baby, who seemed to just cry harder. His chest felt tight, and he was on the verge of tears himself when he suddenly thought of Chinese songs, saying to Keke, who was crying her eyes out, “Alright, let’s try some Chinese songs then. I don’t know too many though…”
“Two Tigers, Two Tigers, run fast, run fast…” “Wah wah—” “Ah men, ah men, a grapevine in front of the door, ah tender, ah tender and green just budding…” “Okay, okay, you don’t like that one. Let me try another…”
“Sweetheart, sweetheart, don’t cry, tears are pearls, crying too much will bring hardship later, gambling will lead to losses… you definitely can’t play blackjack, no, counting cards isn’t gambling…” The baby room was filled with a soft humming, as Wang Yang gently swayed her in his arms. As the singing became more normal, Keke suddenly quieted down, staring wide-eyed. Finally, the baby stopped crying! Wang Yang couldn’t help but feel overjoyed, continuing to sing tenderly: “Sweetheart, sweetheart, don’t cry, tears are pearls, crying too much will bring hardship later, marrying a brute…”
Keke in his arms suddenly began to laugh: “Eh ya! Eh ya…” Wang Yang’s smile beamed as he opened his mouth wide and kissed her cheek, continuing to sing and laugh, “Shhh—Don’t worry, daddy will protect you… Sweetheart, sweetheart, don’t cry, tears are pearls, the happiest are those who don’t cry, knowing how to surf the net…” As he walked slowly towards the window, he looked out at the tranquil night scene, at the nearly full bright moon in the sky, singing: “Sweetheart, sweetheart, don’t cry, tears are pearls, work hard and study well, to marry a good husband…”
In the corridor outside the baby room, Jessica, in her pajamas, was also watching with a smile on her face. Her two greatest loves.
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