Washington Congress Stadium.

In front of the ballot box, two men were arguing fiercely.

"You should vote for Rivers!"

"How can Rivers compare to George! George deserves the All-Star vote!"

"George? His data is much worse than Rivers. I really don't understand why you think George is more suitable to be an All-Star!"

"Look at Rivers' mistakes! And that bad hit rate. His data is just because he sells more times."

"Rivers takes the most shots because he is trusted by the coach!"

"Stop talking nonsense. You idiot actually said that the coach's trust is his coach. He ignores his teammates! How can such an independent person playing basketball be an All-Star!"

"You idiot, data can prove everything. Even if you give George so many phone calls, he doesn't shoot so many goals. George is only worthy of being a role player, he is not worthy of being an All-Star at all."

"It's so tiring to talk to a fool who doesn't understand basketball. Basketball is a sport for five people. So what if you have high personal data? This does not mean that you have made great contributions to the team."

"I think you are a fool!"

"Idiot, do you want to taste my fist?"

"Who is afraid of whom!"

As the two of them said, they actually pushed and then took action.

A sports reporter happened to be interviewing nearby and saw the two people fighting. After careful investigation, he found out that the two people started fighting for the All-Star voting.

It was really new to fight for an All-Star vote, so this incident was regarded as an interesting story and appeared in the newspaper the next day.

...

Knicks' general manager Edward Ireland is reporting to Chen Qiang about the Knicks' operating conditions in recent times.

"The recent sales and attendance of tickets have improved. I did a survey and the fans think our game is getting more and more exciting." Edward Ireland said.

"It's getting more and more exciting?" Chen Qiang pondered for a few seconds and asked, "Is it because of the All-Star voting?"

"You guessed it was because of the All-Star vote." Edward Ireland said.

"I'm not guessing. As athletes, they all hope that they can be stronger than others and they all hope that they can strive for a higher ranking. So when the results of the All-Star voting in the first month will be announced, it will inevitably arouse the players' competitive spirit. They will use better performance to win the votes of fans." Chen Qiang smiled slightly and then said: "I am an athlete myself, so I understand what the athletes are thinking."

"I heard that in Washington, two fans started fighting because of the All-Star voting, and one of them even went to the hospital. I didn't expect that an All-Star voting could make the fans fight, and the presidential election was not so lively." Edward Ireland said with a smile.

"But we can take this opportunity to promote a wave and tell the whole United States that our All-Star Game is very popular with fans." Chen Qiang said.

"I have done this. I have found some media people to discuss the fight between these two fans and take this opportunity to make our All-Star Game super hot." Edward Ireland shook his head helplessly: "I really don't understand that fans will fight for the stars they like."

"What's so strange about this? Fans are originally a very strange creature. Sometimes they will be crazy or even extreme. It is normal to attack each other for the sake of the stars they like. Do you believe that some fans can even ignore the dignity of their country in order to support their favorite team?" Chen Qiang sighed.

"How is this possible? Isn't it just a ball? How can I compare to my own country?" Edward Ireland said.

Chen Qiang did not answer positively, he just smiled slightly, knowing that for people of this era, this is something that cannot be understood.

As the two were talking, the phone at Chen Qiang’s desk rang. Chen Qiang answered the phone, and a familiar voice sounded from the receiver, and he was speaking Chinese.

"Chen Qiang, I'm back from Cairo!"

The person who called was Mr. Kong.

In order to gain the monopoly of Sino-US trade, Master Kong was fighting with Mr. Song, but Master Kong's political resources were far inferior to Mr. Song. Mr. Song attacked Master Kong from a policy perspective, making Master Kong unable to guard against him. At that time, Chen Qiang gave a bad idea to Master Kong and asked Master Kong to find Mr. Jiang to help him.

Master Kong really went to find Mrs. Jiang, but unfortunately, Mrs. Jiang had already returned to China at this time. If Master Kong wanted to find Mrs. Jiang for help, he had to return to Chongqing.

Since the coastal areas were occupied by the Japanese, there was only one way to go back to Chongqing, which was to fly from India to leap the Hump Route. The Hump Route was a very dangerous thing, and Mr. Kong also cherished his life and did not dare to take a plane to return home. So after waiting in the United States for a while, he went directly to Cairo, Egypt. Because Mr. Kong learned the news that in late November, Mrs. Jiang would go to Cairo to attend the Cairo meeting.

So Chen Qiang asked, "Does things go smoothly when you go to Cairo? Does Mrs. Jiang support you?"

"It's hard to describe it!" Master Kong sighed, then said, "You come to my place, you just happen to find you if you have something to do. Hurry up, I'll go to bed after a while."

"Sleep?" Chen Qiang looked at his watch. It was around 3:00 p.m., with Master Kong's schedule, he should not sleep at this time.

On weekdays, Master Kong basically stays in the morning and goes out at night. He must go to bed in the morning. He doesn’t get up until the afternoon, and he has to go to the nightclub to have fun all night. So sleeping in the afternoon is not like Master Kong’s style.

On the other side of the phone, Master Kong spoke, "I just got off the plane, and the jet lag has not yet reversed! New York is much colder than Cairo, so I want to sleep by the stove now."

Chen Qiang came to Master Kong's residence. Master Kong was sitting on the lounge chair yawning with a cup of espresso.

"You're here, if you don't come, I'll fall asleep." Master Kong complained.

"After I put down the phone, I rushed over without stopping." Chen Qiang sat opposite Master Kong and then asked: "If there is anything, I can't say it on the phone, so I have to come here in person."

Master Kong yawned again, and then said, "When I was in Cairo, I met General Stilwell. He asked me to tell you something, and he had to tell you in person."

"What did General Stilwell say?" Chen Qiang asked immediately.

"He said, he has completed the things you asked him to help with, so you can rest assured." Master Kong said.

"That's good." Chen Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. General Stilwell really lived up to his entrusted order and delivered the 5 million US dollars of anti-Japanese donation to his destination.

"I said Chen Qiang, what did you ask Stilwell to do for you? It's mysterious and makes it like a spy joint." Master Kong asked.

Chen Qiang knew that if he didn't give Master Kong an answer, this guy would definitely be entangled and might even have bad things in the future.

So Chen Qiang made up a reason: "I have some elders and friends in China, and now they have retreated to Chongqing. You also know that after the war broke out, many people have retreated to Chongqing. It is not easy to live in Chongqing now, so I entrusted General Stilwell to send some US dollars to those elders and friends in China, so that they will not have a hard time."

"So that's the case. Can you bother Stilwell with such a small matter? Just find someone and bring the money back!" Master Kong curled his lips.

"I don't have the special channels for you, Mr. Kong. I'm really worried about this kind of chaos. General Stilwell is the chief of staff of the Chinese war zone. If he asks him to help, no one will make things difficult for him." Chen Qiang replied with a smile.

"That's right, the Hump route has limited capacity, and it is indeed difficult for ordinary people to bring something to the country. It is more reliable to ask Americans for help in this matter than to find other relationships." Master Kong nodded.

A nobleman like Master Kong naturally has channels to transport money back to China and to transport money from China. People without power and power have no such ability. After all, the Japanese blockade is not for a good meal. The reason Chen Qiang found is also reasonable. In addition, Master Kong was originally a heartless playboy, so he did not doubt Chen Qiang's words at all.

Chen Qiang also knew that too much would lead to mistakes, so he deliberately changed the subject and asked, "How was the Cairo meeting?"

"Don't mention it, the British have repented again." After the eldest son Kong said, he pretended to be showing off: "I know a lot about the inside story of the Cairo meeting. When they were in the meeting, I followed my aunt to enter the venue!"

Chen Qiang also knew that Master Kong was showing off his awesomeness, so he cooperated very much and deliberately showed an admiration, and then said, "Tell me what's going on!"

"A few days ago, didn't the Americans and the British hold a meeting in Washington? The British promised to reopen the Yunnan-Burma Highway. As a result, when they arrived in Cairo, the British repent and were unwilling to go to Burma." Master Kong said.

Chen Qiang nodded: "The British do not want the United States to be strengthened in Southeast Asia and the Far East. After all, Myanmar is a British colony. The British do not want the US military and our Chinese army to enter Myanmar. Unfortunately, they do not have enough troops to drive away the Japanese army in Myanmar. The last Trident meeting was held in Washington. The United States' home court, and the British people's confidence was not that strong. This Cairo meeting was held in Egypt, which was the British sphere of influence, so the British were tough again."

"That's right. I originally wanted to discuss how to deal with Southeast Asia and the Far East after driving away the Japanese. As a result, the British refused to discuss the British colonies in Southeast Asia and the Far East." Mr. Kong replied.

"The British are still unwilling to lose their status as 'boss'. Before the battle was over, they started to make trouble again!" Chen Qiang curled his lips.

Master Kong continued to show off: "According to the news I have received, the Americans and the British have gone to Tehran again and want to hold another meeting with the Soviets! I guess the Soviets will not spoil the British!"

Chen Qiang nodded, he knew that this was the Tehran Conference.

The main topic of this meeting was to discuss how the British and American coalition forces and the Soviet army should attack Germany from both sides. At the same time, the meeting also proposed to establish a new international organization to replace the existing international alliance, which is the future United Nations.

After learning about some recent international events from Master Kong, Chen Qiang said goodbye and left.

As soon as he returned to his residence, Esther came to meet him excitedly.

"My water singing and dancing movie has been completed and is initially planned to be released next summer. MGM calls me and asks me to see the sample. In addition, MGM also asked, do you want to go together?" Esther said.

The movie "Hidden Water" that Esther took on is a water song and dance movie, with many scenes of swimming in the water, so this movie must not be filmed in winter. In the middle of winter, the actors' bodies couldn't bear it. Therefore, when autumn just began two months ago, the filming of the movie was completed. Then it entered the post-production stage.

Now that the end of the year, the post-production of the film has been completed, so MGM invited the leading actors of the film to see the edited sample.

This movie costs a lot. In order to share the risks, MGM accepted Chen Qiang's investment before filming, and Chen Qiang was also one of the investors. So MGM also invited Chen Qiang to watch the sample film.

Chen Qiang calculated the time. It was not a few days before Christmas. His only relative in the United States was the Esther family. He simply took this opportunity to go directly to Los Angeles, celebrate Christmas with Esther's family, and then go back to New York.

...

In a screening room at MGM in Los Angeles, the sample of "Hidden Water" is being played on the big screen. Of course, the movie is still called "mr,co-ed" at this time.

This is a color movie. At the beginning of the film, it was a musical performance by the pool. On the big screen, Esther combed her hair into braids and then tied it on her head. She was wearing a pink one-piece swimsuit, and her graceful figure was simply shiny.

However, Esther's outfit made Chen Qiang feel very familiar. Chen Qiang can be sure that he has definitely seen Esther's image on the big screen.

"In my impression, the heroine in "The Water Furong" seems to be like this? Could it be that because of the clothing and makeup, Esther is very similar to the heroine in "The Water Furong"?" Chen Qiang thought to himself.

Although Chen Qiang in the future has watched the classic film "Flower Out of the Water", it is a long time after all, so of course it is impossible to remember the name of the movie starring. In fact, except for some professional filmmakers and senior film enthusiasts, few people can remember who the starring of those classic old movies are. Needless to mention those old movies from the 1940s and 1950s, such as "The Shawshank Redemption" in the 1990s. I believe many people have watched such a classic film, or even seen more than once, but how many people can blurt the name of the male lead?

On the front big screen, the film continues to be played, and familiar scenes appear in Chen Qiang's sight. The male protagonist Red Skelton played hide-and-seek with a Great Dane, the music performance in the school auditorium, and the classic ballet all evoke Chen Qiang's memory of this movie. It has to be said that Red Skelton is worthy of the title of "American Prince of Clown". He uses a very graceful way to show humor to the audience.

In comparison, Esther was like a vase without the "technical" scene of the last water ballet.

In the last water ballet scene, Esther appeared in a white suspender swimsuit, exactly the same as the beautiful female star in "The Water Lotus" in Chen Qiang's memory!

At this moment, Chen Qiang was already convinced that the heroine of "The Water" he saw in later generations was Esther!

"It turns out that the movie "The Water of the Flour" in history was starring Esther!" Chen Qiang remembered that when "The Water of the Flour" was released in China, young people in the city flocked to the cinema to watch this movie that had been banned for more than 30 years. People in the 1980s had never seen such a water ballet scene, so the heroine of the movie became the goddess in the minds of countless young people at that time!

Among these "numerous young people", of course, Chen Qiang, who was still a young man at that time.

"I actually married a goddess!" Chen Qiang smiled knowingly.

—————
Chapter completed!