"By the way, give Britney and Christina a call. Yini, remember to pick a good time. I'll ask them out for a walk," Adriaan said after some thought. How could he leave them out when it came to music?
At the 43rd Grammy Awards at the end of February, Britney finally broke her zero record and won the prestigious Best Album Award. Her global album sales were close to 40 million, and it was almost certain that she would break that number. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences had to consider the possible consequences even if they were biased. Moreover, Adriaan was secretly adding fuel to the fire. Many fans threatened online that they would protest in the strongest way if Britney was not given the honor she deserved.
Because of this, and the songs that Adrian had chosen were all classics, Britney finally won the Grammy Award that she had been dreaming of for a long time.
However, even so, she still could not surpass Christina, who took home the Best Recording, Best Female Pop Vocal, and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at this year's Grammy Awards! There was supposed to be a Best Dance Song Award, but unfortunately, it was won by Jessica Simpson. Moreover, Eminem had been under Universal Music since 1998. The guy liked to make all kinds of sarcasm and abuse in hip-hop, and he had scolded Britney and Christina in his raps, so they had a bad relationship. However, there were many people who liked him, and he was a rare Caucasian who was good at hip-hop. The Recording Association would support him no matter what. Therefore, the reorganized Universal Music was in the limelight.
Although the Best Album Award had a lot of weight, it was still a little lacking compared to Christina who had three golden gramophones. Even though the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance Award was average, the Best Record and Best Female Pop Vocal did not lose to the Best Album Award. Therefore, Britney was still a little frustrated.
However, what she did not know was that Christina was just as frustrated. In the all-around competition with Britney, she was basically outclassed in most categories, and the Grammy Awards were the only ones where she could completely outperform Britney. Oh, and in Adriaan's bed. Now, her home ground was being challenged like never before. Although it might only happen once, it was enough to make Christina uneasy.
At the same time, she could not help but resent Adriaan. Christina thought that she had given him everything. She was so obedient and would do anything for him, but in the end, he still preferred Britney. She was about to become the female singer with the highest album sales in history, while her own album sales were still moving towards the 30 million mark.
Adriaan understood Christina's emotional turmoil, which was why he asked Ivanka to remind him to ask them out. He was not worried that Christina would do something stupid. She was the one who offered herself to him and she knew very well how everything she had came to be. Even if she could not compete against Britney, she would not be too displeased with Adriaan.
Moreover, Adriaan had been brainwashing her since seven or eight years ago, and those years were enough for her to understand him and have a certain level of calmness. Therefore, all Adriaan had to do was to show Christina the difference between her and Britney when it came to being obedient and doing whatever she wanted.
What should I say to you, Christina? You know that Bubu can only get a golden gramophone under such circumstances, and he won't be a threat to you at the Grammy Awards in the future, so why do you have to be so calculative? Adriaan sighed inwardly, as if feeling sorry for Christina. Of course, he was actually very happy. This competitive situation was the best for him, thanks to the Grammy's bafflingly idiotic award system.
That's right, many of the award rules of the Grammy Awards were stupid. Not to mention discriminating against idol-type singers, just like how the Oscars would not award the best actress to an actress just because she had a beautiful face and a seductive body. This was normal, and he believed that fans would also want their idols to be more talented, but it was not right to favor experienced singers and ignore young singers.
The simplest example was the Grammy Award for Best Newcomer. For singers, especially those who had just debuted, if they could win this award, it would undoubtedly brighten their future. But how did the Recording Association decide? That was, as long as a singer had not participated in the Grammy Awards before, they could compete for this award! To put it simply, no matter how many singles or albums a singer had released, or how many years he or she had been in the music industry, as long as he or she had not participated in the Grammy Awards before, then he or she could compete for Best Newcomer!
What a f * cking rule. If a singer wanted to win the Best Newcomer Award, he could spend ten years building up his reputation and connections. The Grammy Awards liked these experienced singers. Therefore, this award had always been very controversial. Christina was able to win it back then, other than publicity and public relations, one of the reasons was that there were not many experienced singers participating.
Therefore, even with "Wherever You Go" and "A Thousand Miles" to hold the line, it would still be very difficult for Avril to win Best Newcomer next year. Thinking of this, Adriaan could not help but laugh. Wasn't this just right? This year was the year that AC Media showed off their strength. Even if they developed better in the future, they would have to rein in their claws and not be as unbridled as they were this year. Therefore, they could use this opportunity to leave a deep impression on the Recording Association.
"What else?" Ivanka, who had memorized all these, asked impatiently. It was obvious what would happen after Adriaan asked Britney and Christina out for a stroll. Although she could do as well as Charlize most of the time, she was not as experienced as him, who could turn a blind eye to everything.
However, Charlize was like this in the beginning, and he gradually became what he was today. He did not know what Ivanka would be like in the future.
"No, that's all." Adriaan smiled and was about to leave. He glanced at the stage and winked at Charlize. Obviously, he did not intend to forget the bet, even though the finals were in April.
Charlize pinched the bridge of his nose. He wanted to laugh, but he felt helpless.
"By the way, Charley." Adriaan suddenly said, "Tomorrow is the weekend, right? Can you and Yini do me a favor? "
"A favor?" Charlize and Ivanka looked at him together and then narrowed their eyes.
"Don't think too much, dear." Adriaan laughed. "Indeed, it's just a favor. Help me be a good father."
San Francisco is an interesting place. As the earliest and largest port city on the West Coast of the United States, the free atmosphere here has always been very strong, so in the 20th century, it became one of the centers of rebellious culture and modern liberalism. Here, not only can you see a man and a woman holding a child, you can also see two men or two women holding a child. But what about a man and two women?
"You can ask the nanny to do this kind of thing!" Walking on the streets of San Francisco, Ivanka complained, enduring the strange glances of passers-by from time to time.
Adriaan smiled and gently pinched Deva's little face in his arms, then sighed in an exaggerated tone. "Oh, dear, Aunt Yini doesn't like you anymore."
The ignorant little girl immediately looked at Ivanka with her big eyes, and her little mouth began to droop pitifully, as if afraid that she would not like her anymore.
"Don't listen to him, Deva. Your dad is joking." Ivanka quickly coaxed and glared at Adriaan at the same time. Charlize, who was holding Juliet on the other side, couldn't help smiling and shaking his head.
"Dad is teasing Aunt Yini again. Don't you think it's very childish?" Lily, who had been jumping in front, turned around and made a face at her dad.
"Childish?" Adriaan blinked, then held up Mary, who was sitting in the baby's pocket on his chest. He looked at her and sighed, "Oh, Mary, you must remember to be quiet like Deva and Juliet in the future, not like Lily, who likes to pester endlessly, understand?"
Whether it was Ivanka or Charlize, they couldn't help but roll their eyes at him together, but the two little girls, Deva and Juliet, were still at a loss. Juliet even pulled Charlize and asked, "What is Dad talking about?"
However, Mary didn't give him face. In the past, when Adriaan spoke, she would look at her dad with a smile, but now she turned her head and looked around, occasionally making a few meaningless syllables such as "oh" and "ah".
"Mary said, she — no!" Lily clapped her hands and shouted happily.
"I don't think so." Adriaan shook his finger and said seriously, "I think Mary is agreeing — don't try to pester endlessly, Lily. I'm Dad. Whatever I say goes."
"Yes, yes, you're Dad. Shameless Dad." Lily made a face again, then ran forward with a smile.
This was the so-called helping to be a good father. Adriaan took all his daughters to San Francisco for the weekend, and then when their mother could not go, he grabbed Charlize and Ivanka to be their nanny.
Kate was busy doing public relations for the Oscars under the arrangement of her agent. Although the possibility of her winning the award was not high, she had to try. This was also Adriaan's consistent view. Of course, more importantly, he did not express his full support this time, so everyone had a chance. This was competition.
Monica and Sophie had their own movies to shoot. Sophie was doing the final post-production of "Love Chocolate", and Monica took on a small production after "Human Bone Jigsaw". Adriaan would start shooting the last two parts of "The Matrix" in the second half of the year. She needed to keep herself in shape. She didn't want people to say that she lost her acting skills after "La Belle Legend of Sicily", which would implicate Adriaan — Monica always saved him a lot of trouble.
As for Jessica, she was busy shooting the third season of "Doomsday Black Angel". As a sci-fi drama with many outdoor scenes, it would usually be broadcasted after a season's content had been shot. The advantage of this was that as long as the ratings were not unbearably low, even if there would not be a next season, it could be cut after the airing. There would not be any regrets. However, the disadvantage was that once the ratings hit rock bottom, it would be cut immediately, and there would be no room for negotiation.
Although the ratings of the first two seasons of "Doomsday Black Angel" fluctuated a lot, it was basically still within the range of making a sequel. However, the disadvantage of a sci-fi drama was still very obvious. Adriaan was already thinking that maybe it should end in the fourth season. Because they had to shoot the content of a season in one go, the new season's shooting time was relatively early. Last year, because he got Jessica pregnant, the second half of the second season was a little rough, so the crew wanted to make up for it this year.
"Don't do anything else this time," Cameron, who had been acting as the producer, said to Adriaan in a half-warning and half-mocking manner.
So no matter what, Jessica couldn't leave. Otherwise, with her character, she would not let Adriaan take care of her daughter. From this point of view, although she was very playful, she was still a competent mother. When Adriaan was there, it was his job to wake up in the middle of the night to change Mary's diaper and feed her. But when Adriaan was not there, most of the time, it was Jessica who did it, and not all of it was handed over to the nanny.
Because of this, under Jessica's request, Adriaan arranged a decent supporting role for her in the movie. After "One Last Dance", jESSICA's heart jumped to movies. That day when she came out of the cinema, she was surrounded by fans asking for autographs, which left a deep impression on her. Whether it was fame or influence, movie stars were above TV stars.
Every TV star longed to become a movie star, and most TV stars also had the ability to become a movie star. The only thing they lacked was the opportunity. For Jessica, the last thing she lacked was opportunity, because she was the woman of Hollywood's most famous miracle director, a media tycoon, and she had a child with him.
In the face of jESSICA's request, Adrian agreed without hesitation, but the role he gave her was below her expectations. jESSICA wanted a female lead role like the one in "One Last Dance", but he only gave her a supporting role, and the total screen time was less than 20 minutes.
"This is different, dear. First of all, this will be a very popular commercial movie, far more valuable than" One Last Dance. "Secondly, this will be a trilogy, and your role will appear in every episode, and the later it is, the more important it will be," Adriaan explained to Jessica.
There were not many benefits to developing too fast, except that it could bring great fame temporarily. It was just like how it was difficult for young girls to change their idols, so many actors would rather act in some low-budget movies in the early stage to accumulate experience. For example, if it weren't for Adriaan's request, she would never have accepted a commercial movie like "X-Men" now. She was very smart.
Although Jessica was also a little smart, she was still a lot worse than Scarlet, so Adriaan needed to explain it to her. He hoped that she could adjust her mentality as much as possible and understand the meaning of doing so. Although he was very patient, he might not give detailed explanations every time.
The children were very happy to go to San Francisco. Needless to say, Lily, Deva and Juliet, who were more than a year old and had always been very quiet, were also a lot more lively. As for Mary, well, her feelings could be ignored. The most important thing was that, apart from Adriaan, Charlize and Ivanka didn't know anyone else, and Adriaan's exposure was far less than that of Kate and the others, so the little ones could play as much as they wanted.
"The most important thing is that if the buttocks are very dirty and need to be washed after wiping them, be sure to use warm water. The baby's skin is very sensitive to temperature changes, even the buttocks are no exception. If you can give them a comfortable cleaning, they will be very happy for a long time." Sitting on a park bench, Adriaan, who was holding Mary, was talking to the two men.
"Wow, you're really a careful man, Eide." A middle-aged man who looked to be in his thirties said in an admiring tone. Although he looked very sturdy, the way he spoke was somewhat effeminate. He was not as manly as his slightly thinner companion.
"Jack." His companion called out in a helpless tone when he heard this.
"What's the problem, Stellan?" Jack snorted. "If you were half as careful as Eide, we wouldn't be unable to adopt a child."
That's right, the two men in front of Adriaan were a pair of gay lovers. They were attracted by Mary. In fact, along the way, these children with their own characteristics attracted a lot of people to talk to them. Since Adriaan was resting here, he didn't have any bad feelings towards gay people, so he chatted with them. This pair of gay lovers had wanted to adopt a child several times, but the Social Services Bureau had rejected their application several times.
"All right, gentlemen." Seeing that they were about to argue, Adriaan hurriedly interrupted and said, "It's actually very simple, as long as you've raised a child, you'll naturally have experience."
"That's true." Jack looked at him and suddenly laughed. "You seem to have several children."
Before Adriaan could answer, Lily ran over excitedly: "Dad! We're going to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge later. Everyone agreed, including Deva and Juliet. You can't refuse. "
Then she noticed Jack and Stellan, and immediately showed a curious look. After a brief introduction by Adriaan, she looked at them and suddenly asked: "Mr. Jack, are you and Mr. Stellan together? Like Mom and Aunt Charlize? "
Adriaan immediately coughed dryly. Lily couldn't help but stick out her tongue and quickly ran away, while Jack and Stellan both widened their eyes.
"It sounds like …" Jack made a gesture, faintly excited, as if he had discovered a new continent.
"So this is your family." Stellan looked directly at Charlize and Ivanka who were playing with Deva and Juliet in the distance.
"Hey, listen, guys, it's not what you think." Adriaan couldn't help but feel a headache. "You've misunderstood."
However, the two men turned a deaf ear to his words and began to analyze the situation on their own.
"Is there such a possibility?"
"Of course, a triangle is the most stable."
"But …"
"As long as they're willing, and one of the women is bisexual, there's no problem."
Faced with the two excited men, Adriaan had to roll his eyes and stand up: "Sorry, you two, I have to go. It was nice meeting you."
Lily really deserved the title of "troublemaker". One word from her would give people a headache for a long time. But … it was interesting, and it was just right to relax like this.
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