/1990, Hollywood

? /Las Vegas

chapter one

In spring in California, the golden sun shines on Boz Scanette's red hair. Strong and developed, he is about to enter a big war. He is in high spirits because what he has done is about to be witnessed by more than one billion people around the world.

Scanette hid a pistol in the belt of tennis shorts, then zipped up his coat and pulled the corners of his clothes to his crotch. This white coat has red lightning stripes. A scarlet scarf with blue dots wrapped his hair. He is holding a silver Evian mineral water bottle in his right hand. Boz Scannett wants to show himself perfectly to the entertainment circle.

The crowd in front of Dorothy Chandler Concert Hall in Los Angeles is waiting for movie stars to attend the Oscar ceremony. The audience waited in the specially built stands, and the streets were full of cameras and TV reporters. They will send photos of these idols to the whole world. Tonight, people will witness the presence of those movie superstars. Without the elaborate mystery, they want to win or lose in the real world.

The security guards wore uniforms, and shiny batons were meticulously stuffed in suitcases. To keep the audience in order, they formed a circle.

Boz Scanett doesn't care about them. Compared with these people, he is stronger, faster and more powerful. He has a gift for surprise attacks. He observed carefully when fearless TV reporters and photographers stopped celebrity interviews at will. For emergencies, they are more willing to catch rather than stop.

A white concierge car stopped at the entrance of the concert hall. Scanette saw Antina aquitaine-many magazines called her "the most beautiful woman in the world". As soon as she appeared, the crowd filled the fence and shouted her name. Cameras surround her and spread her beauty to the farthest corners of the world. She waved her hand. Scanette climbed over the fence in the audience and bypassed the roadblock. He noticed that the security guards in brown shirts gathered together, and as usual, they outflanked at the wrong angle. When playing football, it took him several years to catch his opponent's catch, and he made a mistake every minute to bypass his opponent. Antina is talking into the microphone. She tilted her head slightly and showed her best side in front of the camera. There are three people standing beside her. Scanette confirmed that the camera caught Antina aquitaine before she spilled the liquid in the bottle in his face. He roared, "Sulfuric acid, bitch!" "Then he turned around and stared at the camera with a serious and calm expression." She asked for it. "He said. A crowd of people with batons and brown shirts swarmed in. He knelt on the ground.

At the last minute, Antina aquitaine met him. She heard his roar and turned around, and liquid splashed on her cheeks and ears.

A billion people watched this scene on TV: Antina's beautiful face, crystal liquid on her cheeks, and the shock and fear of the crowd. At the moment when she recognized the attacker, a real fear instantly destroyed her incomparable beauty.

A billion people watched the police take Scanette away. He raised his tied hands and made a gesture of victory as if he were a big star himself. But this moment was broken by an angry policeman-the policeman found the gun in his belt and hit him hard in the lower back.

Antina aquitaine, in shock, subconsciously wiped the liquid on her cheek. No burning sensation. The liquid dripped on her hand and soon evaporated. People surrounded her and tried to escort her away.

She threw it away and said to everyone, "This is just water." In order to prove that what she said is true, she licked the water drops on her hands. She forced a smile: "My husband, he has always been like this." She said.

Antina walked quickly into the concert hall of Oscar and showed everyone the courage to help her become a legend. When she won the title of best actress, the audience stood up and applauded for a long time.

In the icy penthouse suite of Taoyuan Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, the 85-year-old hotel owner is dying. However, on this spring day, he felt as if he could hear the sound of ivory white beads spinning round and round in the red and black roulette squares, the sound of gamblers praying loudly at the rolling dice, and the sound of slot machines spraying coins.

Although Alfred Jeroney Wei Erte's days are numbered, he still lives happily. During his nearly 90-year-old life, he cheated, pimped, gambled, participated in murder and engaged in political speculation, and eventually became a strict and kind owner of Taoyuan Casino Hotel. For fear of betrayal, he never really fell in love with anyone, but he was affable to many people. He has no regrets. At present, he is looking forward to feeling every little pleasure left in the rest of his life, such as visiting casinos in the afternoon.

Keraudy O "Cross" Delana has been his right-hand man for the past five years. He went into the bedroom and asked, "Alfred, can we go now?" Jerome Wei Erte smiled at him and nodded.

Cross helped him into a wheelchair. The nurse tucked the blanket for the old man and the male assistant was responsible for pushing the wheelchair. The female nurse handed the medicine box to Cross and opened the attic door. She won't have to follow. On an afternoon outing, Jerome Wei Erte couldn't bear to let her follow.

Wheelchairs pass briskly through the artificial grass in the attic garden, and the express elevator goes straight to the casino downstairs of 16.

Jerome Wei Erte is in a wheelchair and looks around. He likes to observe the men and women who challenge him in this way, and luck is always on his side. Sitting in a wheelchair, he leisurely walked past blackjack and roulette casino, baccarat pool and dice table. Few gamblers noticed the vigilant eyes of the old man in the wheelchair and the smile on his thin face. Gamblers in wheelchairs are common in Las Vegas. They feel that they are too unlucky, and fate always gives them some luck as compensation. Finally, the wheelchair came to the teahouse. The nurse sent him to the reserved private room,

Wait at another table for the signal to leave.

Through the glass wall, Jerome Wei Erte can see the huge swimming pool. The Nevada sun shines on the blue water, and young girls and children wander around like colorful dolls. He created all this himself-he can't help feeling gratified.

"Alfred, eat something." Cross de Lena said. Jerome Wei Erte smiled at him. He likes Cross's appearance very much. Cross's handsomeness appeals to both men and women. Moreover, Jerome Wei Erte was one of the few people he could trust in his life.

"I really like this line," said Jerome Wei Erte. "Cross, you will inherit my position in the hotel. I know, you have to deal with our partners in new york. However, do not leave Taoyuan. "

Cross patted the old man's scrawny hand. "I won't." He said. Jerome Wei Erte felt the sunlight reflected on the glass wall and dissolved into his blood. "Cross," he said, "I have taught you everything. We did a lot of bad things, very bad things. Don't look back. You know, the ratio of good to bad can always be changed. Therefore, doing more good deeds will pay off. I'm not talking about being carried away by love or blinded by hatred Such a thing will only increase the proportion of bad things. "

They are all drinking coffee. Jerome Wei Erte only ate a small piece of nut cake, while Cross drank his orange juice coffee.

"Remember," Jerome Wei Erte said, "people who can't afford to lose 1 million can't let them live in those villas. Don't forget. Those villas are the most valuable. They are very important. "

Cross patted Jerome Wei Erte's hand and put his own in the old man's. His feelings are sincere. In some ways, he loves Jeroney and Wilt more than his father.

"Don't worry," Cross said. "Nobody can move this villa. Is there anything else? "

Groneville's eyes are cloudy, and cataracts dim the vicissitudes of life. "Be careful," he said. "always be careful."

"I will." Cross said. In order to make the old man ignore the death that may come at any time, he said, "When will you tell me about the Sandio family?" You were working with them then. Don't mention it to anyone. "

The old man Jerome Wei Erte sighed and whispered a few words almost imperceptibly. "I know my time is running out," he said, "but I can't tell you yet. Ask your father. " "I asked Pippi," Cross said. "He won't say."

"The past is the past." Jerome Wei Erte said, "Never look back. Whether it's making excuses, defending yourself or having fun, don't look back. You are what you are now, what the world is like now. "

Back in the attic suite, the nurse cleaned Jerome Wei Erte in the afternoon and measured his vital signs. She frowned, but Jerome Wei Erte said, "Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad.

He slept intermittently that night. Just before dawn, he asked the nurse to help him to the balcony. She helped him to a spacious chair, wrapped him in a blanket, and then sat down next to him to take his pulse. When she tried to move her hand, Geronne Wei Erte grabbed her hand. So they watched the sun rise in the desert of Ran Ran. The fiery red sun sphere changed the sky from dark blue to dark orange. Wei Erte and Jielong saw tennis courts, golf courses, swimming pools, and seven villas with the flags of Taoyuan Hotel, which shone like the Palace of Versailles. It looked as if there were some white doves on the green grass. In the distance, there is an endless desert.

Jerome Wei Erte thought, I created all this. I turned the ruins into heaven and created a happy life for myself. I started from scratch. I try my best to be a good person in this world. Is this wrong? His thoughts returned to his childhood. He and his friends are like a group of 14-year-old philosophers, discussing God and moral values like all boys of this age.

"If you press a button and kill/kloc-0 million people in China, you can earn/kloc-0 million dollars," said one of his friends proudly, feeling that he had thrown a major and unanswerable moral question. "Would you do that?" After a long argument, they all agreed that they should not do it. Except Jeroney and Wilt. Now he thinks he made the right choice. Not because his life is successful, but because this huge moral dilemma has long since ceased to exist. There is only one situation in this dilemma.

"If you press a button to kill a million China guys"-why must it be China guys? Give you 1000 yuan, will you? This is the problem now.

Sunlight dyed the whole world deep red. Jerome Wei Erte holds the nurse's hand for balance. He is not afraid to look directly at the sun-the cataract blocks the bright light. He thought of several women he loved and the actions he took; He also thought of the people he cruelly crushed and the kindness he gave. He thought of Cross as if he thought of his own son. He sympathized with him, the family of San Dior and the family of Clay Riccucci. He is glad that he has put it behind him now. On the other hand, which is better, a happy life or a noble life? Do you have to be a China guy to understand?

This last confusion completely destroyed his mind. The nurse held his hand and felt it getting colder and colder, and his muscles became more and more stiff. She leaned over to check his signs. There is no doubt that he has passed away.

As the heir, Clos de Lena arranged a grand funeral for Jerome Wei Erte. Alfred Jeronie Wei Erte is recognized as a genius in the gambling field in Las Vegas, so all the celebrities and top gamblers in Las Vegas, all the female friends of Wei Erte and Jeronie, and all the employees in the hotel were invited to attend the funeral. He sponsored funds for various sects and encouraged them to build churches. He often says, "People who believe in religion and gambling should be rewarded for their beliefs." He ended the slums and built the most advanced hospitals and schools. He always claimed that it was all for the benefit of others. He looked down on Atlantic City-under the management of the state government, they put all the money into their pockets and refused to spend a penny on urban infrastructure.

Geronne Wei Erte took the lead in persuading the public that gambling is not a despicable vice, but a middle-class entertainment, as common as golf or baseball. He made gambling a respected industry in America. All of Las Vegas will remember him.

Cross was deeply lost, and the two of them always maintained their true feelings, but he still had to put his personal feelings aside for the time being. Now, he owns a 5 1% stake in Taoyuan Hotel, worth at least 500 million dollars.

He knew that his life had to change. Being richer and stronger means being more dangerous. His relationship with Don Clerico Joe and his family will become more subtle, because now they are partners in a giant enterprise. Cross spoke to George for the first time in Kovog. George told him that no one in the family would go to the funeral except Pippi. Dante will take the next flight to complete a task that has been discussed, but he will not pay tribute. As for the fact that Cross now owns half of the shares in Taoyuan Hotel, he didn't say a word.

He received a message from his sister Claudia, but when he called back, Claudia was not there, only the answering machine. And a message from Ernest Weil. He likes vail, and there are cash coupons worth 50 thousand yuan in the casino. However, we must wait until after the funeral.

And the message left by his father Pippi. Pippi and Jerome Wilt are lifelong friends, and he will ask Pippi how to live in the future. What will his father think of his new position and wealth? This problem is not easy to deal with, and how to deal with the clericuzio family's problem is equally difficult. Now they have to adapt to the fact that their agents in the west are so rich that they can monopolize one side. Don will be fair and prudent, Cross. There is no doubt that his father will support him, which is almost certain. But what about Tang's children, George, Vincent and Peter? How will they react? And don's grandson Dante. Since being baptized in the godfather's private chapel as a baby, the two have become enemies-this has always been a family joke.

Now, Dante is coming to Las Vegas to attack Big Tim, the cattle thief. Cross has always admired big Tim, so he is very upset about it. But the fate of Big Tim is Don's decision, and Cross is worried about what Dante will do.

Jerome Wei Erte's funeral was unprecedented in Las Vegas. It was a tribute to genius. His body was solemnly laid in a Protestant church. He personally invested in the construction, which not only has the grandeur of European churches, but also has a brown sloping wall with strong American Indian culture characteristics; At the same time, it also conforms to the well-known practicality of Las Vegas-the parking lot is huge, and the decoration style is Indian indigenous style, not European religious style.

The choir sang hymns of praise to the Lord and prayed that Jeroney and Wei Erte would go to heaven. He sponsored three professorships in the humanities department of the university where the choir is located. Hundreds of mourners who graduated from college because of the scholarship he sponsored looked really sad. Some people are old gamblers and lose their luck in hotels and casinos. They all seem happy that they won it at least in Wei Erte. There are also some middle-aged women crying silently. The Judaism and Catholicism he sponsored also sent representatives to attend the funeral.

If the casino closes, it will greatly violate the principles of Jerone and Wei Erte, so only the managers and Dutch officials who didn't go to work arrived at the scene. Even some people who stayed at the villa appeared and received special tribute from Cross and Pippi.

Nevada Governor Walter Weaving also attended the ceremony accompanied by the mayor. Las Vegas Boulevard was blocked by the cordon, and silver hearses, black VIP cars and guests who came to pay homage on foot meandered to the cemetery. Alfred Jerome Weil walked through the world he created for the last time here.

In the evening, tourists from Las Vegas paid their last respects to Jerome Wei Erte in a way that could comfort him most. This night, the amount of money lost by players reached a record second only to New Year's Eve. The gamblers bid farewell to his body and their money to show their condolences.

This day has passed, and Crossdelane is ready to start a new life.

That night, Antina aquitaine sat alone in her seaside villa in Malibu, not knowing where to go. The sea breeze blew in from the door, making her tremble slightly on the bench.

When I was a child, it was hard to imagine that she would become a world-famous movie star, and it was hard to imagine that she would change from a girl to a woman. The great charm of movie stars makes people feel that these heroes and beauties come directly from Zeus, just like generate. It seems that they have never wet the bed, have never had acne, have never had the face of an ugly duckling, and have never been shy; I have never been embarrassed in adolescence, never masturbated, never longed for the arrival of love, never prayed for the mercy of fate. Who hasn't experienced this? Antina couldn't think of it.

Antina thinks she belongs to the luckiest kind of person. Everything comes naturally. She has very good parents. They saw her talent and nurtured her carefully. They care about her beauty and try their best to educate her mind. Her father teaches her physical education and her mother teaches her literature and art. Until she was seventeen, Antina couldn't think of any unhappy childhood.

She's in love with Boz Scanette. Boz is four years older than her and was a famous local football star in college. His family owns the largest bank in Houston. Boz is as handsome and humorous as Antina. He longed for her. Two perfect bodies are attracted like magnets, the pleasure of nerve endings trembles like high-voltage electricity, and they blend like silk and milk. They entered another heaven, and they got married in order to make it last forever.

Within a few months, Antina was pregnant, but she didn't gain much weight and her figure was as perfect as usual. She has never vomited, so the feeling of pregnancy makes her enjoy it. So she continued to go to school, study drama, play golf and tennis. She is no match for Potts in tennis, but she can easily beat Potts in golf.

Boz went to work in his father's bank. Antina gave birth to a daughter named Bethany. Boz had enough money to hire a wet nurse and nanny, so she continued to go to school. Marriage makes Antina more eager for knowledge. She greedily reads all kinds of words, especially plays. Pirandello's works make her happy, Strindberg's words confuse her, and Tennessee Williams' works make her cry. She became more energetic, and wisdom added dignity to her beauty. Therefore, many men, old and young, fell at her feet. Boz Scanette's friends are jealous that he can have such a lovely wife. At first, she was extremely proud of this perfection, but a few years later, she found that this perfection made many people feel uncomfortable, including friends and lovers. Boz joked that it was as if he had to park his Rolls Royce in the street every night. He is smart enough to know that his wife is destined to achieve greater success. She is extraordinary. And he knows very well that he is doomed to lose her, just as he lost his dream. Although he feels brave and fearless, without war, his courage has nowhere to be put to use. He knows that although he is attractive and handsome, he has no advantage. He has little interest in making big money.

He is jealous of Antina's talent and that the world has reserved a place for her.

Boz Scanette only catered to this fate. He keeps drinking. He seduced his colleague's wife and started a gray transaction in his father's bank.

Like all people who have just learned something new, he is proud of his cleverness to cover up his growing hatred for his wife-isn't it a dignified thing to hate a beautiful woman like Antina?

Despite his debauchery, Boz is healthy. He is very concerned about this. He went to the gym and had boxing lessons. He likes the feeling of the ring. He can hit others in the face with his fist. He likes the cunning of the sudden change of straight fist into hook fist, the forbearance when accepting punishment, the killing game of hunting and the romantic trick of teasing innocent women.

In order to maintain the status quo, he thought of a way with his newly discovered cleverness. He wants to have more children with Antina. Four, five, six, this will definitely bring two people back to the way they used to be. This will stop her from jumping higher and higher and getting farther and farther away from him. But when Antina found out his intention, she said "no". She also said, "If you want children, have them with the woman you slept with." This is the first time that Antina has said such vulgar words to him. As for her knowledge of his infidelity, Boz was not surprised. He didn't want to hide it. In fact, this is where he thinks he is smart, because it means that he kicked Antina out, not that she left voluntarily.

Antina discovered the change of Boz, but she was too young to pay enough attention to her life. It was not until Boz really became cruel that twenty-year-old Antina discovered the strong side of her character: she couldn't stand her stupidity.

Boz plays tricks like those men who hate women. In Antina's view, he is simply crazy.

He always picks up dry cleaning clothes on his way off work, because he always says, "honey, your time is much more precious than mine." In addition to professional courses, you also have special music classes and drama classes. " He felt that she couldn't hear her sarcastic tone.

One day, Boz came home with some of her clothes. She was taking a bath. He looked down at her blonde hair and fair skin, round breasts and buttocks covered with soap foam. He said gruffly, "What do you think if I throw this pile of clothes into the bathtub?" But he didn't. He hung the clothes in the cloakroom, helped her out of the bathtub, dried them with a rose towel, and then made love to her. A few weeks later, this happened again, but this time, he threw his clothes into the water. One night, he threatened to break all the plates, but he didn't. A week later, he put down everything in the kitchen. After this kind of thing, he always apologizes and always has sex with her. But this time Antina turned him down, and they slept in different rooms. One night at dinner, Boz waved his fist and said, "Your face is perfect. If I break your nose, you will look more like Marlon Brando. "

She hid in the kitchen, and he followed. She was frightened and picked up a knife. Boz smiled and said, "You can't do such a thing." He's right. He took the knife easily. "I was only joking," he said. "Your only shortcoming is that you have no sense of humor.

Antina is only twenty years old. She could have asked her parents for help, but she didn't She also didn't pour out her troubles to her friends. She considered the solution carefully, and she trusted her mind. She knows that she can't graduate, and the situation is very dangerous. The school can't protect her at all. She also tried to make Boz fall in love again and change her back to the old Boz. But now she hates him, and the thought of his touch makes her sick. So she knows that although it is not difficult to pretend to love him, she can no longer pretend to love him.

What finally drove Antina to the last straw and had to leave was not what Boz did to her, but it had nothing to do with her-it was about Bethany. He often naughtily throws his one-year-old daughter into the air, then pretends not to pick her up until the last moment. But once, he let the baby fall and bounce on the sofa, which looked like an accident. Finally one day, he deliberately let the child fall on the floor. Antina was too scared to breathe. She rushed over and picked up the child to comfort her. She stayed up all night and stayed by the crib to ensure the safety of the child. Bethany has a terrible lump on her head. Boz apologized in tears and said that he would never joke like this again, but Antina made up her mind. The next day, she emptied her checking and savings account. She arranged the trip so complicated that it was impossible to follow it. Two days later, when Boz came home, she had disappeared with her daughter.

Half a year later, Antina came to Los Angeles alone and started her career. She easily found a medium-level agent and worked in a small theater company. The performance at the McTepa Forum Theater helped her get a small role in a small movie, and then a supporting role in a big movie came to her door. After that, a movie finally made her a box office movie star, but Boz Scanette came into her life again.

Three years after becoming famous, she sent him away with money, and she was not surprised that Oscar was in this scene. This is an old trick. This time, it was just a joke ... but next time, it was really sulfuric acid in the bottle.

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