"... now, what you're about to hear is FMG exclusive." A beautiful blonde reporter with glowing red lips and in a tight gray top spoke to the camera in an exaggerated gossip/paparazzi tone: "Everything happened earlier this morning. According to witnesses who wished to remain anonymous, they heard a very loud bang. And as they found the origin of the sudden sound, they found something truly disturbing: a man, still in his suit, splattered all over the ground as if he fell from heights."
The camera cut to a completely dark but moving figure, apparently the anonymous witness speaking with an altered voice: "It was just earlier, right? The AC was a bit slow, and it was kinda cold, so I thought I needed to go out and get some coffee. And then all of a sudden, all I heard was this loud 'bang'. Oh my god, even the ground was shaking. I thought maybe some dip**** threw out their trash from the window, so I went out the back to take a look, right? And holy mother, my god almighty, I saw this man in some dapper suit crushed and flat on the ground beside the f****** pool. I was like 'sweet freaking lord' there's a dead guy. He definitely ****** himself right there. **** the hotel better compensate me for my trauma AND my cold. God damn!"
The camera cut back to the blonde reporter: "Alright folks, that was the anonymous witness telling us exclusively what they saw. Currently we have no statement from the LAPD. We here at FMG will be following the story closely. Another unfortunate death at the infamously haunted Sproutlinger Hotel, is it another unexplainable death? Or is it just an unfortunate coincidence? Stay tuned at FMG for more exclusive scoops and updates."
Wu Xiaoming put down his phone and sighed. It could very well be connected to him - the strange explosion of that ghost fire and a ghostly shadow the other day was definitely not a normal occurrence - it could just be the start of something horrible.
The memory flashbacks from Kiyohide also reminded him - inside the Sproutlinger Hotel there definitely was something deeply ominous and evil, and for reasons unknown, the thing inhabiting the hotel was also fueling other spiritual presence in the building with some kind of evil energy. And for other unknown reasons, it stayed dormant for this many years without causing anything else. IF this new death was caused by this evil presence - he and the rest of the crew could be in trouble.
"We're here." The rideshare driver stopped at the gate in front of the community.
"Thank you." Wu Xiaoming nodded at the driver and gave a generous tip before getting off the vehicle. He had no tipping habit, but in his previous world there was this superstition that doing good deeds could help offset one's bad luck - maybe it could work here as well. Just a few dollars, it wouldn't hurt to try.
"Dude!" Douglass Kirkland almost gave him a hug when he came through the door.
"Wait - what are you doing here?" Wu Xiaoming asked.
"I heard the news and I was worried." Douglass Kirkland shrugged: "I knew that hotel was bad news. And I'm glad you're okay."
"Well, I wrapped up the shoot and was held up for some other stuff for a bit. But no, I didn't jump." Wu Xiaoming chuckled: "Do you know what happened?"
"I don't know any details, but I did watch that FMG video. Most of the time you can trust about ten percent of what they say. But this one seemed kinda legit." Douglass Kirkland shrugged as he accompanied Wu Xiaoming into the kitchen, where cookies, coffee and some wine was already waiting for him.
"Ah - was that worth a celebration?" Wu Xiaoming asked, pointing at the snacks and drinks.
"Well, it's your first - uh, first reality show. So I guess it's worthwhile to have a small one. If the show turns out to be a success, then we can have a bigger one." Douglass Kirkland chuckled: "Your dad's out running some errands, he'll be back in a few."
"How about Xiangyu?"
"Your brother's out doing some serious business." Douglass Kirkland shrugged: "He's meeting with a - with a friend or something. About some wine import stuff, I don't know about the details."
"Wine import?" Wu Xiaoming frowned: "Doesn't he already have a winery?"
"Well, the need for variety never stops. Plus, as the size of the Chinese community grows, there's more demand for high alcohol rice wine and all other kinds of traditional wine." Douglass Kirkland sat down and took a chocolate chookie: "There's even some fusion wine - like, grape vine made with Californian grapes but in traditional Chinese methods. I don't know how it tastes, but I heard there's quite a market for it."
"Well, that I can understand." Wu Xiaoming took a deep breath. He actually never looked deeply into the entertainment industry here, how different was it from the one in his previous world? He was in Haoliwood now, not Hollywood, how different were these two? Hell, it was not like he knew Hollywood either. "How's - uh, how are things with you?"
"Well, generally speaking, okay." Douglass Kirkland swallowed half the cookie: "You know - I am not supposed to talk about my other clients, but - I can tell you that business is getting better for everyone."
"Congrats." Wu Xiaoming raised his cup of coffee: "Hope my new project will be good as well, that'll help your business - I hope."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Douglass Kirkland looked impressed and glad at what he just heard.
"Hey, I have a question." Wu Xiaoming took a sip of his coffee - which was too bitter for him: "How's the - how is the online video creation and livestreaming business?"
"Well - it's new and interesting - " Douglass Kirkland finished his entire cooking in a few bites: " - and unstable. What, you're thinking about doing that?"
"I'm just thinking about some - potential ventures. " Wu Xiaoming shook his head: "I mean - okay, to be honest? I think this ghost hunting, paranormal investigating show, I can just do it on my own. I can have a handheld camera, then go in there. And if I got a good signal, I can do livestreams, so the audience wouldn't think I'm faking stuff - "
"Hey hey hey, look at me." Douglass Kirkland interrupted Wu Xiaoming and held his face so they had to look each other in the eye: "Listen to me. Don't do it, alright? Yes, maybe when it becomes popular enough, it will be safe for you to do it. If you do it now, people will tear you to shreds, okay?"
"Well, is it because my history?"
"Not just your history." Douglass Kirkland shook his head: "It's about handling and interacting with a large audience in an almost completely unmoderated manner. You may not know this, but just a few months ago a singer tried to do an 'online concert', and he was bullied into ending the stream early. Word is he might have trouble with his next album release because he has become a laughing stock."
"Okay, okay, I see." Wu Xiaoming scratched his jaw - it seemed that compared to his previous world, the adoption and acceptance of celebrities doing livestreaming and self-made video content was kind of lagging.
"I know you're unconvinced. But trust me - it's one of those things where we must wait a while before we can act."
"What thing?" Just this moment, Wu Wentao opened the door and came into the kitchen.
Douglass Kirkland turned to Wu Xiaoming. Wu Xiaoming smiled and answered his father's question: "I was just asking Douglass about the business of - livestreaming and doing videos online. And he was saying we should wait and see."
"Wait and see, huh?" Wu Wentao sat down by the table next to them. He picked up a chocolate cookie, hesitated for a bit, then put it down and picked an oatmeal cookie instead. "You know what, Douglass, I think you might be mistaken - I just watched a few videos on that new video site, and it's more than fun. I think this might be the future of entertainment - or at least, be a big part of it."
"What kind of videos got you so hooked, huh?" Douglass Kirkland laughed out loud.
"Look." Wu Wentao opened up his phone with a video already loaded.
It was not one with crazy high production value, but rather simple - a cat in a superhero costume and a soft tissue for a cape, fighting a toy dinosaur. The cat flew around above a miniature model landscape, shooting beams from its eyes at the dinosaur. The dinosaur, on the other hand, kept turning around and spitting fire at the cat. Within a very short moment, the landscape was on fire, and small animals made with origami were running everywhere.
The video ended right when the cat was about to ambush the dinosaur from behind, with a line of teaser text: "Stay tuned for more!"
"That is - not bad." Douglass Kirkland nodded, the angle of the corners of his mouth indicated that he was quite amused. "But, do you truly think this could compete with the industrialized power of the big firms of Haoliwood?"
"Yes." Wu Xiaoming and Wu Wentao answered at the same time.