*Chapter 210: The New Generation Audrey Hepburn*

“Paul earned $3.2 million this time. He's almost catching up to you in terms of making money,” Mike said enviously in the car.

“Not bad,” Richard replied.

The prize money for this match was $8 million. Although Paul won, his fame still didn’t match James Toney’s, so Toney took the lion’s share of the PPV revenue. Paul ended up with 30% of the earnings, plus other income, totaling about $3.2 million.

“Mike, are you jealous?” Richard asked with a smile as he flipped through the newspaper.

“A little. With two more matches like this, that guy will be a millionaire. I never thought Paul could become a millionaire. If I had known, I would’ve taken up boxing too.”

“Haha, it’s too late to say that now. Why don’t you think of something more practical? You could switch jobs or start a business—I could invest in you,” Richard laughed.

“That sounds good, but besides being a pimp, I don’t have any special skills. How could I start a business like this?” Mike shook his head.

Richard thought for a moment. “You’ve been my assistant for three years, so you’re familiar with this type of work. How about you become an agent with Anthony? Agents get a high percentage. If you manage to represent a big star, you could become a millionaire yourself.”

“Hmm, I’ll think about it,” Mike said after a moment of consideration.

Half an hour later, the car arrived at the California Speedway. Today’s shoot was scheduled to take place there.

The racetrack, located on the west side of California’s Highway 15, covers about 5 square kilometers. Hundreds of sports cars were parked on-site, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. Hearing about the racing scenes, many car enthusiasts came to watch, as they did for every shoot.

Upon arriving, the sound of roaring engines filled the air, with several sports cars racing on the track—some in group races, others in head-to-head duels.

“Richard, next up is your action scene. Get ready,” Director Rob called out.

“Got it!”

Today’s scene was a confrontation between his character and Johnny Tran, an Asian character.

In the story, Brian is working undercover within a gang of street racers, trying to uncover the real culprits behind a series of highway robberies. He discovers the crime vehicles in Johnny Tran’s garage and has the police raid his home, leading to Tran’s arrest.

However, because Brian doesn’t have enough evidence to prove Johnny’s guilt, the police have to release him.

Johnny, thinking that Dominic betrayed him, confronts Dominic for revenge.

During a race, Johnny wins Jesse’s car, one of Dominic’s crew members. Jesse, unwilling to give up the car, drives off, and Johnny confronts Dominic to demand it.

The scene wasn’t too complicated. After rehearsing twice, they began shooting.

“Actors ready, scene 153, take 1, action!”

The actors took their positions as Johnny Tran stepped out of his sports car.

“Where is he?” Johnny Tran asked.

“Washing cars,” Richard replied, pointing to the distance.

“Go get my car,” Johnny Tran demanded.

“Your car? This isn’t your territory. You need to understand who you’re talking to,” Richard said, glancing at him with annoyance before turning to walk away.

“Toledo! Toledo!” Johnny Tran called out.

Richard stopped and turned to look at him.

“The SWAT team raided my house, dishonoring my family. It’s because someone betrayed me,” Johnny Tran said angrily. “And I believe that someone is you.”

*Bang!*

Richard turned around and delivered a well-executed hook to Johnny Tran’s face.

Johnny Tran fell to the ground.

“Cut!”

“Let’s do it again. Richard, your speed was too fast. Johnny, your reaction was a beat too slow. The slow-motion shot will reveal the flaw,” Director Rob instructed.

“Got it.”

Richard nodded and helped Johnny Tran up.

“Richard, your punch is too fast for me to react. How about you actually hit me?” Johnny Tran suggested.

“No need, I’ll slow down a bit this time,” Richard laughed. He was joking—if he really punched him, he might send him straight to the ICU.

“Scene 153, take 2, action!”

---

This time, Richard turned around and swung a punch, but his movement was a bit slow.

Bang~

Johnny Chen fell to the ground.

Richard walked up, grabbed the other person by the collar, and threw several punches at his face.

The extras, having received their cues, began to run around noisily.

Thud, thud, thud~

Richard, with a cold expression, threw three punches, leaving the other person's face, nose, and eyes smeared with blood.

"In the next scene, a few of you come in and pull him away!" the assistant director shouted through a megaphone.

"Action!"

Richard sat on Johnny, relentlessly swinging his fists. Five burly men ran over from behind and pulled him up.

"Tang, calm down!"

"Tang, let's go!"

They pulled him away, speaking to him.

"I never betrayed anyone! I never betrayed anyone!" Richard shouted angrily, waving his fists.

"Cut!"

"Let's do it again, Richard. Put more force into it!" Director Robert called out.

"Okay!"

"I never betrayed anyone! I never betrayed anyone!!" Richard yelled angrily, veins popping out on his forehead and neck from the strain, making him look somewhat ferocious.

"Cut, that's a wrap!" Director Robert said with a satisfied smile.

After finishing the scene, Richard took a break while the crew started filming Paul Walker's scenes. His next scene wouldn't be filmed until it got dark.

He grabbed a magazine and lay in his car, flipping through it.

"Hey, Richard, want a beer?" The leading actress, Katie Holmes, walked up to the car window holding two bottles of beer.

"Thanks!" Richard smiled and took the beer.

"You're welcome. What are you reading?" Katie Holmes asked with a smile.

"A financial magazine. Tech stocks have been plummeting for the past six months. Who knows how long it'll last?" Richard sighed.

Right now, major internet stocks were continuing to decline. Many had dropped from triple digits to single digits—a dismal situation. He had originally planned to buy some promising stocks while prices were low.

But Ellie said the bubble was still bursting, and those internet stocks would continue to fall. Now wasn't the best time to buy.

He had his doubts at first, but after a week, despite occasional upswings, the overall trend was still downward.

Looking at those stock charts now, they all showed cliff-like drops. No one knew where the bottom would be.

Since he couldn't buy tech stocks, his money was invested in real industries—energy, pharmaceuticals, supermarkets, real estate—making a few hundred thousand, at most a million, each month.

Compared to the three or four or five million he used to make every week, this was too little.

Lately, he's been thinking about what to invest in next. Otherwise, he'd remain a millionaire forever, still far from becoming a billionaire.

"Richard, are you still trading stocks? I've heard stock trading is very risky," Katie said, brushing her blonde hair back, curious.

"It is. During the internet bubble earlier this year, I almost lost everything," Richard said with a smile.

"So you didn't actually lose anything, right?"

"Yeah, I made a little."

Katie Holmes smiled slightly. "You're amazing; it seems like you're good at everything."

"You too!" Richard smiled back, raising his bottle to clink it with hers.

Katie Holmes, 22 this year, had self-promoted herself to Director Li An back in 1997 when she was still in high school. She landed a small role in "The Ice Storm," which marked her debut.

She later appeared in several good movies, such as "The Love Era," "Wonder Boys," and the TV series "Dawson's Creek." Thanks to her stunning looks, she graced the covers of major magazines and was dubbed the "New Audrey Hepburn." Among the new actors, she was one of the more successful ones.

"Richard, Katie, the crew is throwing a party. Are you guys coming?" Michelle Rodriguez shouted from a distance.

"We'll be right there!"

Today's shoot included a party scene, so the crew held a real party to entertain the car enthusiasts.

Richard got out of the car and walked into the set party with Katie.

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(End of this chapter)