Chapter Summaries

Marilyn faced pressure from her agent, Branks, to sleep with a director in exchange for a film role, while Jiang Hao settled into a new apartment and checked on the hospitalized Mr. Sharman. The chapter ended with Mrs. Helen learning of her husband's collapse and rushing back to care for him.

• Marilyn filmed a commercial but felt humiliated when the director demanded that she flaunt her sex appeal.
• Branks offered Marilyn a chance at a film role if she accompanied Director Woodman on a two-day vacation, but Marilyn refused to prostitute herself.
• Jiang Hao rented an apartment near Broadway and called the publishing company to learn that Mr. Sharman was critically ill at Connie Hospital.
• Miss Morris told Jiang Hao that Mrs. Helen had learned of Mr. Sharman's collapse and planned to return from her trip.
• Mrs. Helen recalled that she had mistaken Mr. Sharman's silence for him fooling around, then panicked and hurried back to care for him.

Jiang Hao visited Richard Sharman in the hospital and secretly used a silver needle to wake him, bringing his relieved wife Helen and son Richie together with him. Later, Jiang Hao took Marilyn to dinner and planned to continue their date on Broadway.

• Jiang Hao visited the unconscious Richard Sharman and secretly pierced his neck with a silver needle.
• Helen arrived with Richie, and Richard woke up; the doctor found him healthy and advised him to rest and take a family vacation.
• Richard thanked Jon Hall for visiting, and Jiang Hao left the hospital without discussing business.
• Jiang Hao went to Marilyn's apartment and took her to a French restaurant for dinner.
• Jiang Hao suggested they walk around Broadway and see a play before going to the cinema, and Marilyn agreed.

Jiang Hao spent the evening with Marilyn Monroe, teaching her about acting and taking her to an opera and a movie before they were attacked by bikers. After he fought them off and took her for a ride, he invited her to see his new home, and she agreed.

• Jiang Hao and Marilyn Monroe walked to Broadway Street, where the subway wind lifted her dress and earned him Sexiness Points.
• Jiang Hao explained Madame Butterfly to Marilyn Monroe, who cried during the opera, and they later watched Sabrina before sharing a kiss.
• Jiang Hao encouraged Marilyn Monroe to develop her own screen persona as they walked back through Manhattan.
• Four bikers surrounded Jiang Hao and Marilyn Monroe, but Jiang Hao knocked them all unconscious and took their belongings.
• Jiang Hao took one of the bikers' motorcycles and rode around Manhattan with Marilyn Monroe before driving her home.
• Jiang Hao told Marilyn Monroe he had found a new place to live and invited her to see it, and she agreed.

Jiang Hao seduced Marilyn with a vampire story, and she agreed to become his lover, earning him 20 sexiness points. The next morning, Marilyn accepted his offer to live with him and said they would move in together that evening.

• Jiang Hao served Marilyn a Bloody Mary and told her the story of Dracula and Mina while they drank in the dimly lit room.
• Caught up in the story, Marilyn said she would become a vampire for someone who loved her, and Jiang Hao asked her to become his lover; she agreed, and he collected 20 sexiness points.
• The next morning, Marilyn woke at Jiang Hao's home, joined him in the kitchen, and earned him another 5 sexiness points.
• Jiang Hao asked Marilyn to move in with him, promised to support her, and she agreed to move in after work.

Jiang Hao began writing The Bridges of Madison County while Marilyn Monroe refused her agent’s demand that she spend the weekend with Director Woodman. Branks threatened her with financial ruin and a massive contract penalty, leaving Marilyn trapped and crying.

• Jiang Hao counted the money taken from the motorcycle riders, planned to earn more by writing, and typed The Bridges of Madison County in one morning.
• Marilyn Monroe filmed a chewing-gum commercial in which the director objectified her and demanded suggestive shots.
• Branks urged Marilyn to spend the weekend with Director Woodman for money and a promised screen opportunity, but Marilyn refused because she loved Jon.
• Branks grabbed Marilyn by the neck, threatened to ruin her career, and revealed that he had agreed to Woodman’s request for five hundred US Dollars.
• Marilyn demanded to terminate her contract, but Branks claimed the penalty was thirty thousand US Dollars and ordered her to meet Woodman the next day.
• After Branks left, Marilyn slid down the wall and cried, believing she had nowhere to go.

Jiang Hao comforted Marilyn after her agent Branks threatened her and demanded sex with a director, then promised to free her from her contract. When Branks invoked the Ku Klux Klan to resist negotiations, Jiang Hao decided to confront them.

• Jiang Hao found Marilyn crying at her apartment, and she told him Branks had pressured her to sleep with a director and threatened her with a fraudulent 30,000-dollar contract penalty.
• Jiang Hao comforted Marilyn, promised to handle the contract, and brought her to live at his home.
• Jiang Hao hired lawyer Robert to negotiate Marilyn's termination and told Marilyn to attend acting classes on Broadway.
• Branks rejected Robert's 3,000-dollar offer and revealed that the agency had Ku Klux Klan backing.
• After Robert reported Branks's threat, Jiang Hao decided to confront the Ku Klux Klan.

Jiang Hao prepared supplies and talismans in Chinatown, then helped Marilyn Monroe sleep peacefully with a Sleep Talisman. Wearing a Tony Stark disguise, he tracked the Motorcycle Gang to a drug stash house and sent three raccoons to scout it, leaving him poised to enter.

• Jiang Hao bought ritual supplies, premium tea, baijiu, and other goods in Chinatown, then made a Hemorrhage Control Talisman, a Sleep Talisman, and a fake face mask.
• Marilyn Monroe returned with acting books, and Jiang Hao helped her study before placing the Sleep Talisman beneath her pillow and ensuring she slept through the night.
• Jiang Hao disguised himself as Tony Stark and entered the Wild 3K dance hall, where he recognized the Motorcycle Gang members who had targeted Marilyn Monroe.
• Jiang Hao followed the Leather Jacket Man and his three subordinates to a rundown building where they collected a backpack of goods from a man inside.
• Jiang Hao tamed three raccoons and used them to scout the building, learning that five armed men were watching television inside.
• Jiang Hao sent the raccoons to open an upstairs window and followed them toward the house.

Jiang Hao robbed a Ku Klux Klan drug stash, killed the gang members who threatened him and Marilyn, and interrogated their leader’s subordinate. After learning where Don Stark lived, Jiang Hao sent the three raccoons to scout the estate before his next move.

• Jiang Hao and the three raccoons entered a building, where Jiang Hao killed five men and found cash, drugs, guns, and a safe key.
• Jiang Hao opened the safe, took its contents, and brought the three raccoons back to the car.
• Jiang Hao overheard Keith and his men discussing plans to find and harm him and Marilyn, then followed them and killed three men while capturing Keith.
• Jiang Hao questioned Keith at a secluded spot, learned that the Ku Klux Klan leader was Don Stark and where he lived, then killed Keith.
• Jiang Hao drove to Don Stark’s estate and sent the three raccoons to scout it thoroughly.

Jiang Hao’s attempt to quietly rob Don Stark’s estate turned into a shootout after a woman spotted him, and he killed Stark and his bodyguards. He raided the estate’s hidden armory and vault, taking cash, drugs, guns, and ammunition before leaving with the three little guys.

• Jiang Hao learned the estate’s layout from the three little guys and sneaked inside to find Don Stark.
• A woman spotted Jiang Hao and screamed, alerting the armed bodyguards and forcing him into a gunfight.
• Jiang Hao killed several bodyguards, survived Don Stark’s machine-gun fire, and shot Stark and the remaining men.
• Jiang Hao searched the villa, found its underground armory and safe, and took more than $500,000, drugs, firearms, and ammunition.
• Jiang Hao returned to the car and drove away with the three little guys, expecting no one to suspect him.

After killing Don Stark and taking in three raccoons, Jiang Hao settled them into his home and introduced them to Marilyn Monroe. Meanwhile, Michael Corleone gathered New York’s Mafia family heads to discuss the power vacuum, and the chapter left Marilyn reassured that Jiang Hao’s lawyer might resolve her agency contract that day.

• Jiang Hao bathed the three raccoons, taught them house rules, gave them apples, and assigned them a bedroom.
• Jiang Hao healed his shoulder with a talisman and went to sleep beside Marilyn Monroe.
• Michael Corleone learned that Don Stark and fourteen others had been killed and that the Ku Klux Klan’s money and drugs had vanished.
• Michael convened the heads of the other Mafia families, who considered taking over Stark’s territory, but he rejected entering the drug trade.
• Marilyn woke to find the raccoons in the living room, and Jiang Hao introduced them as his pets, naming them Mala, Lamb Skewers, and Five Spice.
• Jiang Hao reassured Marilyn that his lawyer might settle her agency contract before she returned from acting class.

Jiang Hao secured Marilyn Monroe’s contract and hired Attorney Robert to pursue publication of his two novels. Robert began reading Scent of a Woman and became convinced it could be a bestseller.

• Jiang Hao paid Robert to obtain Marilyn Monroe’s contract quickly, and Robert negotiated with her agent to transfer it for fifteen thousand dollars.
• Robert returned with the contract and ten thousand dollars in savings, keeping a five-thousand-dollar commission.
• Jiang Hao hired Robert to represent him in publishing The Bridges of Madison County and Scent of a Woman, signing a formal agreement and handing over the manuscripts.
• Robert began reading Scent of a Woman at his office, expecting little from it, but became engrossed in the story and judged it capable of becoming a bestseller.

Marilyn celebrated getting her contract back, while Jiang Hao used Misfortune Talismans to ruin Branks and leave him paralyzed and cheated by his wife. After encouraging Marilyn to keep pursuing acting, Jiang Hao told her he planned to travel to Las Vegas to obtain a legal identity.

• Marilyn found the contract transferred to Jiang Hao and chose to let him keep it, saying she was willing to remain with him.
• Robert read The Bridges of Madison County, admired Jiang Hao’s writing, and planned to find a distributor for the book.
• Jiang Hao disguised himself as Mr. Stark, visited Branks under the name Cameron, and secretly placed two Misfortune Talismans on him.
• Branks fell down the stairs, broke his neck, and woke paralyzed; while he was hospitalized, Masha sold his agency shares to Lance and left with her lover Ben.
• Marilyn told Jiang Hao that her drama teacher doubted her acting ability, and Jiang Hao encouraged her with the story of Abraham Lincoln’s repeated failures.
• Jiang Hao told Marilyn he would be away in Las Vegas for one or two weeks because he needed to obtain a legal identity.

Jiang Hao arrived in Las Vegas and used his Tony Stark disguise to arrange a drug purchase and seek forged legal identities. He paid a document maker to create identities for Tony Stark and Jon Hall, and waited for the paperwork to be completed.

• Jiang Hao checked into a hotel in Las Vegas and disguised himself as Tony Stark.
• He bribed a clerk to connect him with drug dealers Heim and Rayner, then bought cocaine and heroin.
• Jiang Hao paid Heim to introduce him to a document maker.
• Jiang Hao commissioned legal American identities for Tony Stark and Jon Hall, providing their details and a deposit for each.
• Jiang Hao asked the document maker to make the two identities appear completely unrelated.

Jiang Hao gambled carefully in Las Vegas, then decided he needed more money to start a film company and offered cocaine to local dealer Steve Buscemi. Steve bought Jiang Hao’s sample and proposed a distribution partnership, leaving Jiang Hao to consider working with him.

• Jiang Hao played blackjack at the Flamingo Hotel, won over five thousand US Dollars, and left the table after two hours.
• Jiang Hao asked a Hollywood equipment and prop rental company owner about the cost of starting a film company and realized his funds were insufficient.
• Jiang Hao called Heim and met him and Rayner in a hotel parking lot, where he revealed that he wanted to sell his own cocaine.
• Heim and Rayner took Jiang Hao to meet their boss, Steve Buscemi, who confirmed the cocaine was top quality.
• Jiang Hao negotiated a price of two US Dollars per gram, and Steve agreed to buy the sample and asked Jiang Hao to work with him as a distributor.

Jiang Hao expanded his cocaine business in Las Vegas through Steve while securing legal identities and raising money for his film plans. After returning to New York, he reunited with Marilyn Monroe, who told him an attorney had found a bookseller interested in his book.

• Jiang Hao agreed to supply Steve with two hundred kilograms of cocaine and asked about opening a Las Vegas casino, but Steve explained that city approval was difficult to obtain.
• After delivering the shipment, Jiang Hao advised Steve to sell wholesale rather than fight rivals for territory, and Steve agreed to explore bringing other groups into the business.
• Steve arranged two legal American identities for Jiang Hao and recruited three groups that would need about three hundred kilograms of drugs each month; Jiang Hao offered to supply a ton at a time.
• Jiang Hao delivered the larger shipment, collected two million dollars, and left Las Vegas with three million dollars in cash to fund his plans to make a movie.
• Jiang Hao returned to New York, where Marilyn Monroe welcomed him and said attorney Robert had found a bookseller interested in publishing his book.
• Marilyn Monroe told Jiang Hao that the Crispy Three Brothers had protected her from a large dog, and Jiang Hao suddenly came up with an idea.

Jiang Hao finished the screenplay for Raccoon Warfare, a comedy starring Marilyn and the three raccoons, and gave it to her. Marilyn loved the story and, after seeing the raccoons perform a military salute, agreed that they could make the film.

• Jiang Hao told Marilyn he would finance a movie to help her pursue her dream of becoming an actress, while Robert arranged a self-funded publishing deal for Jiang Hao’s books.
• Jiang Hao wrote the Raccoon Warfare screenplay over three days and hired Robert as his full-time lawyer after Robert secured the publishing arrangements.
• Marilyn read the screenplay, which followed a struggling aspiring actress and three raccoons who befriended and protected her, and praised it as a wonderful story about them.
• Marilyn worried that the raccoons could not handle the film’s intricate actions, so Jiang Hao ordered them to salute and they performed a crisp American military salute.
• Marilyn said she believed audiences around the world would love the raccoons, and Jiang Hao planned to use the comedy to build her fame before pursuing more demanding roles.

After signing a publishing contract, Jiang Hao told Robert he planned to establish a film company and invited him to become a partner. Robert accepted, and Hall Film Company was registered with Jiang Hao as chairman and Robert as its legal director.

• Jiang Hao signed a contract with Times Books to publish his two novels, with publication expected in about two months.
• Jiang Hao told Robert he planned to invest three million dollars in a film company and make his first movie, despite Robert warning him about the film industry's risks.
• Jiang Hao invited Robert to invest and handle the company's legal affairs, and Robert considered the offer before discussing it with Linda.
• Linda supported Robert's decision, and the next day Robert agreed to join Jiang Hao's company and invest one hundred thousand dollars.
• Jiang Hao and Robert negotiated Robert's stake at seven percent and agreed on a monthly salary of at least one thousand dollars.
• Robert completed the company's registration, establishing Hall Film Company, and Jiang Hao tasked him with finding an executive manager.

Jiang Hao established Hall Film Company, hired Conner as general manager, and began preparations for its first color film starring Marilyn Monroe and his three raccoons. On his way home, he was caught in a gunfight and forced at gunpoint to drive a wounded stranger out of the city.

• Jiang Hao interviewed Conner and offered him an equity incentive, bringing the company’s three leaders together.
• Jiang Hao leased offices at Rockefeller Center and assigned Conner and Robert to recruit staff while he organized the first film.
• Jiang Hao directed the company departments to prepare the production, cast Marilyn Monroe and his three raccoons in the leads, and use color film.
• The finance director presented the budget, and Marketing and Business reported securing $24,300 in product-placement revenue.
• A suited man fleeing gunmen climbed into Jiang Hao’s car, held a pistol to his neck, and ordered him to drive out of the city.

Jiang Hao saved Noodles from a gunshot wound and persuaded him to become his subordinate, beginning his plan to build New York’s biggest gang. Noodles agreed to help and prepared to follow Jiang Hao’s instructions for establishing a supply route.

• Jiang Hao treated Noodles’s mortal wound, disguised himself as Tony Stark, and offered to save him in exchange for his agreement to work for him.
• Noodles woke in a hotel with his wound healed, contacted Jayden, and returned to his estate.
• Noodles ordered his men to kill the gang leader responsible for the ambush and expand his influence.
• Jiang Hao met Noodles by the Hudson River, made him his subordinate, and asked about his men, territory, businesses, and plans.
• Noodles said he needed a stable supply route, so Jiang Hao gave him a list of materials to acquire and told him to prepare a secure location.
• Jiang Hao switched cars after leaving and reflected that he had become a gang boss again.

Jiang Hao taught Noodles how to make Spicy Strips and an “Ice Skill,” then handed him responsibility for expanding their business and fulfilling a major order. After agreeing to help Noodles look after Deborah, Jiang Hao left to begin filming his movie as Jon Hall.

• Jiang Hao demonstrated how to make Spicy Strips, and Noodles tried them and found them spicy but addictive.
• Jiang Hao explained the business’s potential profits and taught Noodles the Ice Skill, agreeing to split the profits equally.
• Jiang Hao assigned Noodles a one-ton delivery for Steve in Las Vegas, due within three months.
• Noodles asked Jiang Hao to look after Deborah, and Jiang Hao agreed to ask his friends for help.
• Jiang Hao left Noodles to manage the gang and prepared to begin filming as Jon Hall.