Chapter 401 - 401 Interest

Whether it was the happy and joyful mood working its magic, Wang Yang grew increasingly fond of Palo Alto, this treasure land of good feng shui. After a day of touring the area with family, they ultimately did not disappoint their real estate agent and decided to buy the chosen house surrounded by greenery for several million US dollars. The property spanned over 5000 square feet (about 464 square meters), with a garden that featured a swimming pool. The house wasn’t huge, but it boasted 5 bedrooms, a gym, a home theater, bathrooms, and more, which to his satisfaction, felt “like home.”

The new home had been renovated already, and Wang Yang and Jessica had no immediate plans to change its appearance. They just needed to purchase some furniture and appliances, lay some carpets on the floors, hang some decorative items on the walls, touch up the garden and lawn, fill the swimming pool with water, and they would essentially complete the construction of their cozy and comfortable new home. On Sunday, the following day, they busily took care of these purchases and building tasks with the help of family and friends.

“Ouch! Watch my fingers! You hit them!” “How about placing the sofa here? It has a real artistic vibe, doesn’t it?” “Yang, is there anything else we need to buy for the living room?”…

“Hello, Mr. Wang, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” in the new home’s desolate study, Wang Yang talked with Mark Zuckerberg and his girlfriend Priscilla Chan, who had come to visit. This meeting was facilitated by Chen Shijun, as Zuckerberg wanted to purchase Wang Yang’s domain name, ,” to drop the ‘The’ from his company’s social network site for college students, “The-Facebook.”

The-Facebook had just escaped legal entanglements and had received a $12.7 million venture investment from Accel Partners in May of that year. Even though it was growing rapidly, it was still limited to American college students. One of the co-founders, Andrew McCollum, was going back to Harvard, but Mark Zuckerberg seemed determined to stay in Silicon Valley and grow his company, and acquiring a more concise domain name was an important step. Little did he know that the coveted Facebook domain was in the magical hands of Yang, who said, “It’s quite a surprise.”

“Mark, Priscilla, it’s great to meet you both,” Wang Yang reached out with his left hand to shake hands with them. Priscilla Chan could hardly contain her excitement at meeting her idol and even expressed her admiration as a fan. Chen Shijun gave Zuckerberg a goofy smile. Everyone was dressed in the latest summer casual fashion. As they took their seats on the wooden chairs, Chen Shijun laughed and said, “Yang, welcome to living in Palo Alto.” Wang Yang nodded and smiled, “Everyone, welcome to my home.”

Since Wang Yang was busy with arranging the living room and didn’t have much time for small talk, Mark Zuckerberg got straight to the point, “Yang, we want to buy the ’ domain name.” Knowing the purpose of the visit from an earlier phone call, Wang Yang nodded with a smile, “I’ve been waiting for this moment. Last year, Steve introduced me to your website, and this year I became one of its users. I find it quite interesting and I’m bullish on you guys.”

Even with steadfast confidence, to hear the praise from the marvelous Yang in person delighted Zuckerberg and Chan; his fondness represented a large portion of the youth. They then heard Wang Yang say, “You know I don’t need the extra hundred thousand dollars. But I believe FACEBOOK has tremendous potential, and I’m very interested in joining it. How could I become a shareholder? You should know that I am very sincere and will definitely be able to help the website.”

“Yes, we know,” Priscilla nodded, as Zuckerberg pondered his words. He had thought through these things before and had discussed them with the company’s executives. Having the magical Yang join the company – with capital, ideas, popularity, partnerships, and the domain name – was not a bad thing. The problem lay in the distribution of shares and power. Deep inside, he also harbored a desire to outdo the magical Yang, although Yang wasn’t entirely a Silicon Valley insider. On the other hand, he greatly admired this guy who was just four years older. In the role of a partner… Zuckerberg nodded and asked, “Regarding FACEBOOK, do you have any views or suggestions?”

“After investing, I won’t be involved too much, more like an investment. Where would I find the time?” Wang Yang said with a smile, marking some of his stance, and looked toward Chen Shijun, adding, “But I really have a suggestion! It’s time to expand the user base to high schools because I’d like to add a high school student as a friend – Jeremy Lin.” He excitedly asked Chen Shijun, “How is it that I didn’t know that a high school Chinese-American basketball star emerged in the Bay Area? Oh my! What’s the deal with that guy?”

Laughter and excited conversation about basketball filled the study, overshadowing talk about the website. However, the meeting was not without results. Tentative verbal agreements were made – Wang Yang would join as a shareholder with his domain name and investment, obtaining a certain percentage of shares.

As for the specifics of the contract, they would need to be discussed and finalized, but Wang Yang was more interested in negotiating prices with the owner of the electronics store alongside Jessica. At this point, he was as much a Silicon Valley figure as any, not only living in Palo Alto but also owning stakes in the cutting-edge websites BLOGGER and YOUTUBE, along with valuable Google stock and the promising-looking shares of FACEBOOK. Of course, unless these investments were cashed in, they were just fluctuating virtual money. He would also have to burn cash to cover expenses – the more rapidly YOUTUBE developed, the more he had to burn.

Wang Yang and Jessica’s purchase of a new home was quickly exposed by the gossip media, and almost all the details of the house were made public. Both were known for their simple style of home buying, and compared to those mansions with tens of thousands of square feet, Wang Yang’s new house was quite small and exquisite.

After the weekend, Wang Yang continued to lead the filming of “500 Days of Summer” every day, while Jessica, along with Wang’s mother, Kathy who flew in, and the assistants, set about arranging the house—the living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, garage, garden… With each passing day, the new home began to feel more and more like their old one. The heroic Danny, in particular, was quite pleased with its lawn; he basked in the sun while rolling over, belly-up.

Since “500 Days of Summer” was shot outdoors before any of the indoor scenes, and since the production crew lacked the ability to block off streets and parks, combined with the movie being the center of attention, it had an level of interest that even big-budget productions with $150 million envied, despite having a budget of only $15 million!

Over these few days, the media continuously exposed batches of on-set photographs, delighting fans who didn’t mind spoilers while also causing them to wonder: Why were Joseph Gordon Levitt and a crowd of extras joyously dancing and jumping around on the street? Was this a scene for a musical number? A flash mob? What was the amazing Wang Yang up to? Another set of photos that were easier to understand featured Gordon Levitt in pajamas and slippers, angrily scolding passersby on the street, clearly a scene of post-breakup madness; there was also the image of the newly joined cast member Chloe Moretz riding past on a bicycle…

“Please understand and support our efforts to keep details confidential for a better viewing experience which requires a sense of mystery,” the media frenzy had caused great dissatisfaction within the “500 Days of Summer” production team. Working stills and plot photos are two different things, and this was supported by a significant portion of fans: “If you can’t even wait for a small-budget film by the amazing Yang, how will you face other movies?” Yet, another group countered: “It’s precisely because of the amazing Yang that we are so anxious!” Although the production team tried their best to strengthen secrecy, and while they had sent a message to the media, many paparazzi still surrounded and chased them; fortunately, it wasn’t a mystery film.

This morning, the crew shot a scene in the park where Tom and Summer sat on the grass and shouted “PENIS” at each other, which provoked laughter on the set.

“Have you and Helen ever done that?” Relaxing a bit during the lunch break, Wang Yang walked to the production vehicle with Natalie, laughing and talking. He greeted a few subordinates passing by before answering her question, “You really love to gossip, don’t you? But no, I’m quite modest for an Asian-American.” Natalie spread her hands helplessly, “Oh, right! I just remembered you’re not an alien.” Wang Yang gave her short-haired head a fierce push, then burst into laughter, “It doesn’t feel as good as when you were bald.” Neither of them was afraid of on-set romance rumors, or rather, those rumors had been circulating for a few years already and now the buzz was more about the director hitting someone with a single hand.

“I’m thinking of getting a mohawk after finishing this film,” Natalie spoke of her styling plans and then naggingly asked, “Really didn’t happen?” Wang Yang rolled his eyes, “Helen would not do what she sees as silly things, you know, but Natalie would probably do it.” Natalie nodded, “I think she’d be interested.”

Suddenly remembering something, Wang Yang turned around and shouted, “Hey! Harry, Harry, we still have to shoot some behind-the-scenes footage today!” Natalie glanced back at him and continued walking without stopping, murmuring softly, “I’m starving! I need a big bowl of veggies!”

Because the media kept exposing on-set photos, Wang Yang simply uploaded a video diary of the filming work to his YOUTUBE channel. The fans indeed feasted their eyes; in the video, Wang Yang roamed around the set and introduced some of the progress and interesting events. This average-looking video quickly surged in clicks and was shared by fans all over the world, showing that it was not yet time to talk about a “Firefly” storm cooling down or the “amazing Yang whirlwind” cooling down.

The week of December 12 to 18 had passed by, and another new weekend arrived. (