"My God, who is this black guy? I'm going to hang his portrait on my wall and worship it every day!" Warren exclaimed dramatically.
"I declare, God is black!" Billy Gish was even more exaggerated.
After all, for someone who can help you earn two hundred million dollars, calling him God is not an overstatement.
Judy: "Don't get excited yet, the match isn't over. Now we must pray for it to end just like this. I can already see two hundred million dollars beckoning."
Beverly Hills, Cooper Family residence.
"Yes!"
The moment Senegal scored, Eric suddenly jumped up from the sofa, grabbed a beer bottle, and chugged it down.
"Eric, what are you doing?" His mom asked, puzzled.
"Nothing, I'm just a bit excited about the goal."
"Don't be like that, dear. You just got out of the hospital not long ago. You need to take care of your body."
"Don't worry, Mom, I understand."
This goal was just as he remembered, and the match so far was also as he remembered. As long as there were no blunders from now on, he could proceed according to his memories.
The match continued, and the five of them stared intently at the screen, only wishing for time to pass quickly and the match to end.
Suddenly, a black player from the French team launched an attack, taking a big touch and shooting directly at Senegal's encircling defense.
"Oh God, don't let it go in!"
"Damn it, what are you doing!"
"Oh, that black guy, he's going to shoot, he's going to shoot!"
These guys, just moments ago, they were calling the black man God, and in a blink of an eye, he became a racial slur. This perfectly demonstrated what it meant to use someone when needed and discard them when not.
In an instant, Eric's heart leaped to his throat as he stared wide-eyed at the TV.
Bang!
The kick seemed to hit their hearts; the goalpost came to the rescue again, deflecting the ball away.
"Holy crap, that was awesome!"
Eric blurted out in Chinese, once again attracting his mom's attention. In the MSN chat, there was another round of prayers, thanking God, cursing the racial slur, and so on.
Fortunately, the rest of the match was eventful but without disaster, until the final whistle blew, ending the game with Senegal defeating France 1-0.
A massive upset, this match shocked the world and caused countless gamblers to lose everything.
At this moment, curses against the French team erupted from all corners of the globe.
In the MSN chat, messages started flashing frantically.
Bordeaux: "Is it over? They're shaking hands, does that mean it's over?"
Billy: "Definitely, look, the time has stopped, the match is over."
Warren: "My God, this is the most exciting match I've ever watched. My heart almost jumped out. I need to eat something to calm down."
Judy: "Senegal really won! Eric, you son of a bitch, you actually called it right."
With a weight lifted from his heart, Eric now had a huge appetite. He took food from the fridge and ate while typing: "Now do you believe me? If you have some spare cash, you can follow my bets. Guaranteed profit."
Judy: "FUCK! That's 19 times the odds! You bastard will soon have 190 million dollars."
Warren: "And in just 100 minutes, you made 190 million dollars! Eric, my brother, whatever you bet on next, I'll bet on too. I still have 1,000 dollars, and these Franklins are now at your disposal."
Eric was also in a great mood. The match results hadn't changed, and even the schedule hadn't changed much, which meant his control over the future would also remain largely unchanged. Nothing was more important than this.
"Alright, you bastards, the roller coaster was fun, right? Next, we're going to make this money even fatter, but before that, let's all relax. All expenses are on me!"
Judy: "Yes! I was waiting for you to say that. If I weren't uninterested in men, I'd really send you my nudes so you could see the water flowing from me because of the excitement."
"Eric, I can send you my nudes too."
Eric sent a vomiting emoji: "Bordeaux, you should get your mental state checked."
Bordeaux also sent a vomiting emoji: "Shit, I've been heavily influenced by the Brits lately. Walking down the street, I feel like there are always malicious stares fixed on my ass."
Billy: "Then protect it. I don't want Mom and Dad to know you became a bottom. In Texas, they'll shoot you!"
Ending the chat, Eric looked not far away; his dad was standing on the balcony making a phone call, probably about work again.
At this moment, he really hoped to see the miserable failure of windtalkers after its release. In his previous life, he had only gathered snippets of information from newspapers and the rudimentary internet. MGM had suffered huge losses, but how much was unclear, as information wasn't developed in that era.
Eric naturally hoped for as many losses as possible. The more losses, the more favorable it would be for his subsequent acquisition.
Harry Cooper returned to the living room with a frown after finishing his call.
"Dad, what happened?"
Harry Cooper didn't hide it: "The issue with windtalkers' distribution. Some theaters raised objections about the screening slots, those bastards!"
"What! Haven't these matters been settled yet?"
"They were originally finalized, but these bastards heard from somewhere that the internal preview of windtalkers didn't go well, so they suddenly changed their tune. They're all sons of bitches, damn it!"
Eric frowned. 2002 wasn't like later years; the internal preview results of movies generally wouldn't leak out.
Internal previews, as the name suggests, were for company executives and professionals; even the media wouldn't be invited.
And even if there were leaks, they were usually for blockbusters with built-in hype, like new movies from Martin Scorsese, Spielberg, and others. Those were worth entertainment reporters' efforts to dig for, but John Woo and windtalkers clearly didn't qualify.
If it wasn't an external problem, then it could only be an internal one. In his previous life, Eric had also been an assistant director and had been in the industry for over a decade, hearing and seeing many instances of internal company struggles.
"Dad, it seems someone within MGM is very unhappy with you."
Harry Cooper's face was dark: "I know who it is. Some people are eager for me to step down, a bunch of parasites!"
Eric, however, smiled: "Don't be angry. Look at the bright side. The more these people jump, the more precarious MGM becomes."
"This big ship has long been riddled with holes. To fix it, it needs a new owner. Let them cause trouble. The more trouble they cause, the worse windtalkers will perform, and the easier our path to acquisition will be, wouldn't you agree?"
Seeing his son still daydreaming, Harry Cooper said nothing.
Young people, after hitting rock bottom, would naturally understand their parents' good intentions. In this world, there is no path easier than a shortcut.
Eric didn't place any bets on the next few matches. You have to go easy on the wool, otherwise, you might get bald, like Krillin, and get discovered.
What bad luck! I went to a music festival with my sister-in-law, and before we even entered, she suddenly had an allergic reaction and collapsed. I quickly called 911 and sent her to the hospital!