Hollywood Immortal

[Chapter 367: Turning the Tables]

By late March, Los Angeles was already enjoying its warm, pleasant spring breeze. However, in Montana, the first stirrings of spring had just arrived. As the spring winds came, the harsh winter finally receded, and the snow on the ground began melting at a faster pace.

James van Sweden and Topher Delaney, two renowned landscape architects, led a small team to Montana to prepare for the upcoming construction project. Rent on construction equipment, procurement of building materials, settling the workforce, and arranging daily living supplies all needed to be handled in advance. Additionally, they had to monitor the weather to set an official start date, coordinating the departure times of the construction teams from South Columbia.

Judging by the weather, the snow on the farm grounds would be largely melted by early April, making it completely feasible to begin the landscaping work.

On March 30, Miguel Herrera led a group of more than 300 people, along with some valuable decorative materials, by chartered plane to Anderson Farm in Montana. Naturally, more building materials would follow by sea later.

---

That afternoon, Linton temporarily set aside preparations for the Mission: Impossible movie and flew to Montana on a private jet with Winnie, Carter, and Meena to rush to the farm.

Fortunately, the living quarters on the farm had been completed last year -- one staff apartment building and fifty small single-family homes, enough to house over 300 construction workers.

By the time Linton arrived, the construction team was already settled. After warmly greeting Miguel Herrera and briefly discussing the landscaping project plans, Miguel introduced nine suma root cultivators and one herbal tea tree specialist.

These cultivators were all around 30 years old, in their prime, and each had rich planting experience. Unlike the construction crew, these ten would become Linton's permanent employees, responsible for the farm's suma root and tea crops.

Despite not being great communicators, struggling even with basic English, their professionalism shone through when discussing their field expertise -- Linton was very impressed. It was clear Miguel had put a lot of effort into recruiting them.

What Linton didn't know was that, with an annual salary of $50,000, these ten positions had been extremely competitive. Numerous connections had come knocking on Miguel's door. But Miguel sincerely wanted to befriend Linton and, with a $5 million project looming, he dared not show favoritism.

In fact, Miguel had endured considerable pressure and even offended some networks to secure these highly skilled, experienced technicians for Linton.

Unlike the construction workers, the cultivators each had their own one-bedroom apartment with a living room in the staff building -- no need to squeeze in with others. The apartments were fully equipped, instantly giving them a strong sense of belonging and sparking a genuine determination to tend those suma root and tea plants well.

The required suma root and tea seeds had already been approved by authorities in both the U.S. and Columbia before the New Year, and this time came with the main team.

---

That evening, Linton hosted a banquet for Miguel Herrera and his group at the farm's villa. After a few rounds of drinks and a variety of dishes, Miguel invited Linton to visit South Columbia for sightseeing and family visits when he had time this year.

Linton, eager to find herbs necessary for crafting a milder version of his beauty elixir, readily agreed to try for a trip by late July.

Before the night ended, Linton asked Miguel for another favor: recruiting 100 female service staff for his estate.

Requirements were clear -- women aged 17 to 22, high school graduates, attractive, between 5'3" to 5'9" in height, and above all, hardworking and kind.

The contract would last five years, including room and board, with a $10,000 annual salary, one paid month-long vacation every year, and an annual raise of at least 5%. Ideally, recruitment should conclude by late July, so Linton could oversee and finalize selections during his trip. With landscaping done by late October, the staff would start work then.

From August to October, there would be concentrated English and service etiquette training, with half pay during training.

Miguel was stunned by Linton's grand plan -- hiring 100 young, beautiful women as service staff was a spectacle even royalty in ancient times would envy. Yet, after hearing Linton's terms, Miguel couldn't help but enthusiastically agree. Such an attractive package and the chance to work in America would draw countless candidates.

This was a prime opportunity, sure to attract endless contacts once announced. Miguel figured all past tensions could be smoothed over with this grand gesture.

The evening ended with everyone in high spirits.

---

That night, far away from the city's noise, Linton and Winnie finally enjoyed a rare, sweet, and intimate moment together on the farm.

---

The next day, Linton called the farm manager, Tuck Ilonka, to introduce him to the suma root and tea technicians, instructing him to arrange for land preparation according to the techs' requirements.

Afterward, Linton bid farewell to Miguel and headed back to Los Angeles with Winnie and assistant Meena.

To ensure the project's quality, Linton left his personal bodyguard Carter behind as his representative on site, coordinating construction activities and supervising progress with the management company.

---

On April 4, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, who had been quietly buying New York Times stock at low prices, acquired nearly another 10% stake.

Although the stock price was still hovering low, trading volume had almost dried up -- most available shares were now in their hands.

Other stocks were held by major institutions, which had supplied the shares needed for their earlier short-selling arrangement.

Everyone knew the New York Times's downward spiral couldn't last long, and no one was selling at this stage.

According to their earlier agreement, those additional 10% stakes meant Hillary would receive 4%, adding to the 28% she'd already obtained from the Douglas family's auction. Her total stake in New York Times soared to a remarkable 32%.

Other partners collectively held nearly 10%, with FBI Director Lawrence holding the largest portion at about 5%.

---

With no trading volume left, Hillary's spokesperson and other partners called for a shareholders' meeting.

At the resulting New York Times shareholders' meeting, a new board of directors was elected. Hillary secured four seats.

A newly recruited professional manager, Robert Fink, former COO of The Washington Post, was elected chairman.

In the board meeting that followed, Robert was named CEO of New York Times.

The once-struggling paper was completely transformed, firmly under Hillary's control.

This marked a major media victory for the Democrats -- now, they finally had a heavyweight media platform completely under their influence.

With the new leadership in place, FBI investigations were promptly withdrawn, operations resumed, and newspaper distribution returned to normal.

---

Upon announcing the new board and management, the stock price surged.

Soon after, Robert's management team submitted a compliance report addressing the Federal Trade Commission's charges.

In a surprising turn, within just three days, the FTC dropped all accusations and penalties against the New York Times.

Once the news broke, New York Times' stock price skyrocketed, quickly climbing to $7 per share -- about 80% of its pre-crisis value.

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.