Chapter 1013: What Do You Think?

[Chapter 1013: What Do You Think?]

Keri Russell picked up a script page and, after a moment of preparation, the assistant began to read the lines beside her. "He's a character, that's my uncle. He's a pathological liar and he thought you were someone else."

This scene portrayed Peter Parker in the wake of discovering his superpowers as he got into a dispute and had to face Gwen Stacy afterwards. Keri held the script in front of her, slightly swaying with shyness, and teasingly said, "Oh man, you don't have me on your computer?"

"I took a photo of the debate team, you're in the debate team so..."

Keri flashed a smile that combined embarrassment and teasing, pressing on, "Right."

"So, he must have seen it. I was touching up stuff."

Keri burst out laughing, "You were 'touching up stuff'?"

"I'm not gonna answer that."

Keri shifted the topic deftly, asking, "Did you get expelled?"

"No, I didn't get expelled, I got community service."

...

At that point, Eric called for a stop. This scene was from the once popular The Amazing Spider-Man, and once Eric suggested it, Cameron found it amusing as well, naturally adding it in.

However, compared to Emma Stone, Keri Russell came across as somewhat inexperienced. Their styles differed; Emma had a graceful confidence, while Keri carried the shyness of the girl-next-door.

After selecting two more scenes for Keri to perform, Eric sent her on her way and turned to Cameron, "What do you think?"

Cameron nodded slightly. "Her image aligns perfectly with Gwen Stacy. The acting is a bit raw though, and her presence could use a bit of polish."

Eric replied, "That's somewhat unavoidable. The main characters are supposed to be high school students, so the actors had to be around twenty. At this age, Kirsten Dunst and Keri Russell, coming from child star backgrounds, are already quite impressive. Most people lack their depth of experience."

Cameron could see Eric had a good impression of Keri, and he was actually quite satisfied too. "Well then, let's put her on the shortlist for the final round."

After chatting a bit more, it was lunchtime, and everyone took a break, heading together to the restaurant on the big ship. Firefly had prepared free lunches for all those who participated in the auditions that day -- a nice touch the company hadn't skimped on.

...

As Eric and Cameron left the audition office, they noticed that most of the girls in the hallway had yet to go to the restaurant, clearly hoping for a chance to cross paths with Eric and others.

Eric didn't mind the girls' little schemes and politely responded to a string of greetings.

Spotting Kate Hudson, who was Goldie Hawn's daughter and a close friend of Drew, waiting in the crowd and waving towards him, Eric smiled and said, "Kate, perfect timing! Come have lunch with me."

"Sure," she replied, stepping out of the group. To the envy of many, Kate boldly linked her arm with Eric's. He had hosted a graffiti party at her family's estate, and Kate knew Eric was easy to get along with.

Feeling the girl's flirtation as she clung to him, Eric joked, "Just so you know, I won't go easy on you during the auditions this afternoon."

"I wasn't even thinking that," Kate said, grinning. Although she didn't inherit her mother's American sweetheart charm, her genes did not disappoint either. As she lightly shook Eric's arm, she said, "Eric, you haven't accompanied Drew to hangout with everyone for a long time. How about this weekend?"

Eric smiled noncommittally. "Depends on what you guys want to do with Drew. I might not be free. How about you? What have you been up to lately?"

"Filming! It's a low-budget lead role, so it's quite boring."

"Ha! If those actors who struggle for a decent role for a year heard that, they might eat their hearts out! If you don't like acting, why do you want to play Gwen Stacy? Jim can be quite demanding."

At Eric's jab, Cameron chimed in, clearly put off, "Eric, when did I ever push someone to the point of 'eating their heart out'?"

"I still remember a few years back when we went to Mexico to watch Titanic being filmed; someone actually jumped off the deck."

Cameron rolled his eyes, "That was me!"

Eric joked, "See? That's why I say you're ruthless; you don't even spare yourself."

With Eric bringing up Cameron's misadventure, everyone couldn't help but laugh.

...

After lunch, the auditions continued, and Eric and Cameron ultimately decided on six candidates for the final round. Next, they would pick the final actress for Gwen Stacy.

After wrapping up the workday, Eric rushed to Elisabeth and Julia's mansion in Beverly Hills. Elisabeth had called him the day before to discuss something urgent.

Carrying a spare key, he let himself into the luxurious villa and found both Elisabeth and Julia home. Julia was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner while Elisabeth lounged on the living room sofa, flipping through a hefty design binder.

Julia rushed over from the kitchen, exchanged a hug with Eric, and then dashed back, the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen.

Eric loosened his tie and undid a button on his shirt. Seeing Elisabeth still lounging leisurely, he walked over, sidestepping a small foot wearing stockings aimed at kicking him. Eric then playfully pinned down the young woman on the sofa.

The entire sofa sank with a sudden thud, and Elisabeth let out a yelp, pushing Eric off of her. "You, you're insufferable!"

Ignoring her protests, Eric found a more comfortable position and seized the design binder from her hands. "What's this? Hmm, an airplane?"

"The Boeing Julia and I ordered is already in the process of designing the interior," Elisabeth shoved at Eric again, but resigned when she saw he wouldn't budge. "How's your progress?"

"I've seen the designs too. They're really good -- should be ahead of yours." Eric flipped through a few pages before tossing it aside, adding, "Make sure there's a big bed in it."

"Ah! You're always thinking about that."

Eric put his hand to Elisabeth's face and kissed her, chuckling, "Let me see if you're into that."

After a moment of playful affection, they both just lay back on the sofa, Elisabeth in Eric's embrace.

"By the way, didn't you say you had something to discuss yesterday?"

"If I said it was nothing, would you not come over?"

"Of course not," Eric quickly shook his head. "I planned to come over today all along."

"Yeah, right! Someone saw you having lunch with Goldie Hawn's daughter."

"That's why gossip is the worst! It's clear your paparazzi's instincts are out of control. Didn't they tell you Jim and Jon Landau were also at lunch?"

Elisabeth held her chin up defiantly. "That's so unprofessional; gossip is all about picking what people like to hear."

Eric chuckled, lightly swatting Elisabeth on the rear.

Her cheeks flushed as she huffed before saying, "They're planning a wedding next month; my dad's probably going to invite you. Hmm, you won't have time, right?"

As she spoke, a mock threatening glance shot from her eyes.

Eric realized she was talking about Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng, smirking, "I'm actually quite curious. Maybe I'll join the festivities."

Elisabeth rolled her eyes, her tone insistently saying, "You're not allowed."

Eric understood she was serious this time and willingly yielded. It didn't matter whether he went or not. "Alright, alright, if you don't want me to go, I won't."

The once prickly kitten turned soft again, nuzzling Eric's face gently. Elisabeth then remembered the recent buzz about America Online and curiously asked, "Eric, are you really going to sell off all your America Online stock?"

Eric nodded. "I really want to, but selling it all isn't realistic. The stock price is too high now, and not many want to take it off my hands. My plan is to cash out a significant amount."

"I also feel like the Nasdaq might collapse one day. A lot of tech stocks have P/E ratios over a hundred; it's insane! Julia and I cleared out our stock accounts at the end of last month."

Eric looked at her appreciatively. It was indeed rare to see someone decisively cut their losses during a rapid market upswing, but he felt a tad regretful. "If only you could have held out until the end of the year; the profits would definitely have been more substantial."

"Well, that's not guaranteed," Elisabeth countered, shaking her head. "Some say Yahoo's IPO might become the last straw that breaks the camel's back. Wall Street currently has the highest valuation for Yahoo exceeding $50 billion, but compared to other companies of similar value, Yahoo's revenue can only be described as pathetic. There's been no profit at all."

"Yahoo is just in its accumulation phase; the operational costs of internet companies aren't that high," Eric explained. "Once Yahoo becomes a giant far surpassing its competitors, everyone will witness the power of scale effects."

Elisabeth looked puzzled. "Isn't Yahoo already the giant in the internet sector?"

"Not at all. Currently, the internet media concept focused on portal websites has a fatal weakness: it's very easy to replicate. Many users enjoy fetching diverse information from different portals, making it tough for a portal-centric media group to achieve a Matthew effect on a large scale, leading to continuous user loss and making it impossible to reach an oligopoly."

Elisabeth nodded, deep in thought. "But the search engine you keep talking about shouldn't be that difficult to deal with; many websites have their own content search systems."

"That's a completely different concept. Besides, Yahoo aims to create a comprehensive content search ecosystem rather than just a simple keyword search engine. This includes image search, map search, music search, and future video search systems. As long as Yahoo's search engine services outshine its competitors, users will gradually grow accustomed to these search engine tools. The power of habit is immense; thus, even if better technology emerges, it would be tough for rivals to poach many users from Yahoo."

As Eric continued his discussion with Elisabeth, he inadvertently looked up to find Julia had crept over to the other side of the sofa, leaning on the back and watching them curiously.

When Julia saw Eric finally notice her, she softly commented, "You two have the most boring conversation. Talking about work at home?"

"Hey, my bad," Eric chuckled, turning over and stretching his hand toward Julia. "Come here, give me a hug."

Julia's earlier complaints vanished as her eyes sparkled; like a pet summoned by its owner, she eagerly flipped over the back of the sofa and leapt into Eric's arms.

"Ah, you're squishing me! Move aside," Elisabeth, feeling a twinge of jealousy as Julia tumbled into Eric's embrace, playfully complained while pushing him away.

With the back of the sofa as leverage, it was easy for Elisabeth to give a gentle shove, and Julia promptly fell towards the floor, instinctively taking Eric down with her.

"Ugh, ow, so comfy! Liz, you stay on the sofa, don't come down!"

Elisabeth shifted slightly, grabbing a cushion from the back of the sofa and tossing it down at the two on the floor. "I'm not coming down; I'm not sick."

"Ugh, Eric, she says I'm sick!"

"Let her say what she likes. A normal person would question their sanity, only sick people claim they're fine."

"Ha ha, Eric, I'm not sick!"

"Hmm, but just to be safe, let me check. Come here, let me feel."

Elisabeth tossed another cushion down, kicking down at them with her feet in frustration. "Ugh, too gross! I really want to kick you two out!"

"Normal person, why don't you just leave? I can be contagious!"

"I'll choke you!"

"Ah, your strength is so weak."

*****

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