The dedication of the celebrities was something Zhao Lun and Maria, being peripheral figures, could not quite understand. They thought it seemed rather foolish.
In their words: "On such a cold day, wearing such thin clothes, aren't they afraid of getting sick?"
This premiere was undoubtedly a great success.
Not only did the celebrities get a chance to show their faces, but they also received payment. The movie gained publicity, resulting in a win-win situation for both sides. People who had seen the entertainment news went ahead and bought tickets, heading to the theaters to watch the film. In the end, the promotion was unquestionably a success.
The three main stars, Nicole, Monica, and Angela, stole the spotlight, officially making their names in the entertainment industry. The supporting cast, Maria and Elena, also had a chance to show their faces and became a bit more familiar to the public. It was a satisfying result for everyone.
They also attended the premiere.
Afterward, the three beautiful stars, perhaps unable to adapt to the demands of celebrity life, began sneezing once they returned home. Zhao Lun diagnosed them with colds.
"Did you see that?"
"Maria, Sandy, don't try to emulate them."
Zhao Lun used them as a cautionary tale to lecture Maria and Sandy. Sandy didn't quite understand, while Maria seemed somewhat indifferent. Zhao Lun rolled his eyes. Women were too relentless in the pursuit of beauty—Maria even agreed with them.
"When you catch a cold, you have to take bitter medicine and get injections in your rear. Big needles like these, going into your butt... Tsk tsk." Zhao Lun summoned a projection, showing a giant syringe. Maria and Sandy quickly covered their small rears, shaking their heads in disbelief.
Children are fragile, and giving them medicine is troublesome. To avoid choking on pills, they need to crush them and swallow with warm water. The bitter medicine is the worst torture for them, and many children are resistant to it. Injections are even harder to bear. Many children cry out in pain when they get injections, and some even develop a psychological trauma from it.
Sandy was just like this—her biggest fear was needles.
Maria had gone through the same experience. Although she didn't cry, she was nearly as distressed and didn't want to go through it again.
Of course, when they fell ill, it wasn't such a hassle for them. A single cup of spring water from the Holy Land could cure them. Zhao Lun's goal in frightening them was to make them remember this lesson and avoid doing something so foolish again.
Later, Zhao Lun realized that the real fool was him. He had vastly underestimated women's desire for beauty. As it turned out, some would even resort to surgery for it. They wore thin clothes in the winter and caught colds or fevers, but to them, it was all a minor issue.
When they caught colds, Zhao Lun made sure to care for them.
After receiving Zhao Lun's "medicine," the ladies quickly recovered. They healed, but as soon as they were better, they forgot the discomfort. Despite the cold weather, they frequently donned alluring outfits to continue promoting their film, ensuring that their exposure never ceased.
Perhaps thanks to the spring water, they never caught colds again after that. They proudly joked that their workouts had clearly paid off. Afterward, they put even more effort into their training.
Zhao Lun rolled his eyes. Do they really think such mundane exercise would have an effect? It's more likely that the spring water from the Holy Land had altered their physical condition, strengthening their bodies.
Seeing their dedication to training, Zhao Lun didn't bother correcting them. Let them train—it would help them absorb the spring water and make them even healthier.
They went out for promotion, while Ada and Baruch were responsible for their protection. Zhao Lun and the others stayed home, resting, while overseeing the security team hired by Hodal, directing them to clear the snow. The snowfall had been so heavy recently that it was becoming inconvenient to travel without clearing it.
The cleared snow was collected and stacked according to Zhao Lun's design, watered, and shaped into ice blocks to build an ice castle in preparation for the upcoming Christmas.
With the heavy snow falling and freezing to form ice, they created tall walls from the frozen water, then gradually constructed the castle using ice slabs and other materials. After each layer, they poured more water to fix it all in place.
Money made things easier, and with Zhao Lun's generous wages, the construction was efficient and safe, all following his plans.
Maria, Elena, and Sandy also joined in. They directed others to build snowmen and carve various small animals and figures, such as reindeer pulling sleds, Santa sitting on sleds, white bears, or snow sculptures of their pets like Ivy and Gray Shadow, and even a dragon from legend.
They fully unleashed their creativity, crafting a story of a dragon and a castle, and eventually recorded it.
Meanwhile, Zhao Lun returned to the lab, seemingly working on an experiment.
Hodal, watching the ladies, smiled contentedly. He was increasingly satisfied with his current job.
In less than three days, the area transformed into a fairy-tale world.
After paying the workers, Zhao Lun handed each of them a movie ticket to "Beautiful Special Forces." The workers, thrilled, took their pay and tickets, heading off to watch the film. Recently, the movie had been incredibly popular, and tickets were hard to come by, so receiving tickets from Zhao Lun made them very happy.
The ice castle was grand, resembling a crystal castle that sparkled in the light, just like something out of a fairy tale.
When the three ladies returned and saw the crystal castle, they were awestruck. After a cheer, they ran toward the castle, as though entering a world from a fairy tale.
The promotion went smoothly, and the movie's box office continued to rise, lifting everyone's spirits.
Ada parked the car in the garage and, folding her arms, watched as the girls played like children. She seemed to be infected by their joy and relaxed.
Her current treatment was on par with Hodal's, with a decent salary, and her work was light—protecting the three beauties from thugs and preventing kidnappings. Dealing with thugs and gangs was no challenge for her, which made her quite content. Recently, the snow had been falling intermittently, making the roads difficult to traverse, so she had to rely on the part-time driver.
"Auntie Zhi is back."
"Wow! Nicole!"
"Monica!"
Having missed them for a few days, Maria couldn't help but feel nostalgic. Like a koala, she clung to them, hugging each of them and snuggling into their chests. She had lost her mother at a young age, and was always drawn to their warmth. This time was no exception.
Zhao Lun envied them but could never do the same.
"Alright, Maria, stop fooling around. Let's go inside and have a cup of coffee."
Elena called the girls, who had red faces from the cold, and led them inside, preparing them some fragrant hot coffee.
A cup of hot coffee warmed them up. As they chatted and laughed, the remaining awkwardness melted away, and they returned to their usual camaraderie.
"Monica, you're back. From the looks of it, everything went well?"
Zhao Lun took a sip of the coffee that the maid had poured for him. It was smooth and aromatic, quite delightful. After drinking, he felt a warmth in his stomach, and the rich flavor of the coffee lingered in his mouth.
"Yes, Boss. Where's this coffee from? It smells amazing."
"Boss, we need to apologize. We didn't do a good job."
Their original duties weren't quite like this, and the ladies had some principles. They felt that continuing this way wasn't right and should correct their actions.
"That's no problem. I don't mind." Zhao Lun interrupted them before they could continue. "Let's not talk about that. Let's discuss this 'Zhao No.1 Coffee' instead." The ladies tried to apologize several times, but Zhao Lun smoothly steered the conversation to their favorite topic: coffee.
"Zhao No.1 Coffee? Hmm, it's great! But I've never heard of this brand."
When they went out before, they hadn't had coffee like this, nor this good.
"As long as it tastes good."
The coffee was freshly made in his Holy Land, a product of divine craftsmanship. There was no need to advertise it to Nicole and the others.
For dinner, everyone listened to the ladies' promotional stories. They then began discussing the movie, from the plot to the characters, and from characters to the high-tech gadgets used in the film.
Zhao Lun, listening to their conversation, seemed to have an idea and returned to the lab. When he came back, he was holding a small box, which he handed to Hodal.
"Boss, what is this?" Hodal opened the box and pulled out a pair of exquisite wireless earphones.
"Wireless earphones, for special agents." Zhao Lun said calmly.
"..." Wireless earphones? For special agents?
"Try them on." Zhao Lun motioned for him to test them.
Hodal put on the earphones and adjusted them. They felt quite comfortable and discreet. He turned them on, and a voice came through.
"Hello, Mr. Hodal, Athena is at your service."
"Athena's voice? Hello, Athena."
"Hello, Mr. Hodal. Athena is at your service."
"Mm, the sound is stable and clear. Not bad."
Hodal was pleased with the new gadget.
"This set of tools can be used in conjunction with a mobile phone. Here's the manual. If you have any questions, you can ask Athena."
"Alright, it's getting late. You should head back. If you need any improvements, just let me know."
Zhao Lun yawned, feeling ready to sleep.
4o mini