King of Hollywood-Chapter 519 - 240 Won the Grand Prize?

"You okay?" In a daze, a hand appeared above him, and Adrian blinked his eyes, finally coming to his senses, and grabbed the hand to help himself stand up.

"Thanks," he said, dusting off his clothes and addressing the person who had helped him up. The man was about forty, slightly overweight, dressed very casually—a typical Canadian attire.

"Do you need to see a doctor? You seem to have fallen pretty hard," the man was very warmhearted.

"No, no need, it was just sudden... got bumped into a bit, but actually, I wasn’t hurt," Adrian straightened his clothes. It was a good thing it wasn’t raining, or it would have been a lot more embarrassing.

"Who were those guys? I was suddenly knocked down and didn’t get a clear look," he asked immediately afterward.

"A bunch of youngsters with too much energy, nothing to do all day, just playing with skateboards around the town," the middle-aged man’s tone suddenly grew indignant, clearly dissatisfied with this situation for a long time, "The police can’t handle them at all. Every time they cause chaos, and this time, after bumping into someone, they just ran off without doing anything, shameful!"

Skateboarding? Hearing this word, Adrian couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows and then laughed, "It’s okay, I wasn’t hurt after all, thanks."

"Don’t mention it, Napanee still has very good public order. Those young folks are just a bit over-energetic, hope you have fun here. Also, if you need it, go to Winnipeg Hospital, it’s at the end of Kingston Road. It might not be the best hospital in town, but it’s definitely the most efficient," the middle-aged man remained enthusiastic, he still had some insights.

"Okay, I will," Adrian nodded, and after the man had walked away, he moved his body a bit, sighed, and walked towards his car.

He had barely taken two steps when he stopped again at the curb, a skateboard was lying quietly askew there. Upon closer inspection, Adrian picked it up. It was all black with some green or blue patterns as decoration, striking, and of good quality; it must have been pricey. Remembering the body that had crashed into him, he examined it thoroughly, and then he laughed. On the underside of the skateboard, right next to the front wheel, was the name of the owner.

"Well then, such a long way I’ve come to meet you, and this is how you greet me, quite an original welcome gift," Adrian laughed.

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"Today’s just been so unlucky! Those idiots, why did I even hang out with them!" grumbled the girl as she walked, puffing up her cheeks, clearly in a bad mood, occasionally showing a gritted-teeth expression, "If I find out who suggested we take off, I’m going to punch them hard!"

She was wearing a black sleeveless vest, revealing her fair arms, with wrist guards on, her brown medium short hair was casually spread, with baggy trousers, the cuffs of which were rolled up, revealing her ankles combined with a pair of black and white sports shoes—every bit of her exuded youthful vigor, and at the same time a different kind of attraction.

"Why? Because you ran off with them?" teased her friend, another girl, with a giggling smile.

The girl’s face suddenly turned a bit ugly, and a bit dejected, "Damn it, I didn’t think much at the time—I’ve played on that street countless times before but never hit anyone... I was really scared, I didn’t have any ideas at the time... luckily, someone went back to peek and said that the person hit was okay... otherwise, it would’ve been a big problem..."

As she spoke, she became more and more despondent, with a worried frown and her mouth almost touching the ground, "Oh, and I left my skateboard there, heard it was taken by that man, damn it! I spent 50 US dollars on that! I saved up for almost half a year! This is just awful! Awful!"

Seeing her friend about to freak out, her friend hurriedly stopped, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her vigorously, "Alright, it’s just a skateboard, if you can’t let it go, you can just go apologize to that man, and ask for it back."

She rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh, then suddenly grabbed her friend’s arm and shook it, "Hey, Alice, have you noticed? That man over there seems to have been watching us for a while."

"Really?" Her friend turned her head to look, and indeed, not far in front of them, a Mercedes was parked at the curb with a man in his twenties to thirties standing by it, eyeing them with interest.

Alice, alerted as well, reassured after a moment’s thought, "It’s okay, we’re home now. Let’s hurry inside."

"Mhm." The girl nodded and they both picked up the pace.

As they passed the man, she couldn’t help but tense up a bit, unable to shake the feeling that he looked familiar. Because of this, she couldn’t resist glancing back at him as they walked by. His smile deepened, his gaze seeming to settle on her with a sense of amusement and perhaps something more... malicious? This sent a chill down her spine, and she immediately quickened her step even more.

Just then, he spoke, "Are you just going to walk away like that, Avril? I thought you might apologize to me."

The girl spun around in shock, surveying him with a mix of astonishment and suspicion, "Who... who are you? How do you... know my name?!"

He just smiled without a word, turned to his car, and pulled out something from the open window. It was long and black with green and blue patterns, curved up at both ends with four wheels underneath. The girl looked puzzled at first, but her face turned to one of horror as soon as she recognized the object. She let out a scream and bolted all the way to her front door, rushed inside, and hid, leaving her friend behind.

How could this be... How could this be... The girl leaned against the door, panting heavily. Okay, she had written her name under the skateboard, but... but how did he know where she lived?

"What happened, Avril?" her mother asked as she peeked out from another room, alarmed by the loud noise of the door closing.

"It’s nothing, Mom, nothing at all. I just walked home a bit too fast," Avril hastily replied.

"Liar! Sister must have done something bad again; otherwise, she wouldn’t be so flustered," her younger sister said as she bounded down the stairs, sticking out her tongue at Avril.

"Shut up, Michelle!" Avril immediately threatened, waving her fist, only to be startled again by a knock at the door. Her complexion turned sour once more.

"Who’s knocking?" asked the mother, peeking out again.

"Umm... this... that..." Avril, standing by the door, stammered, unable to articulate a response.

"It’s definitely someone looking for Sister because she’s been causing trouble," Michelle teased with a smirk from her perch on the stairs, enjoying her sister’s misfortune.

Avril didn’t have the time to argue with her sister; all she could think about was what to do now. If her parents found out she’d knocked someone over while skateboarding, she could say goodbye to her board for the entire summer break, not to mention hanging out with Pike and the rest. Just then, the knocking stopped abruptly, giving her a momentary sense of relief, hoping the person might leave since she wasn’t opening the door. Despite knowing the likelihood was slim, she couldn’t help but wish for it.

But no sooner had this thought arisen than she heard the sound of keys unlocking the door from the other side, draining the color from her face. She remembered that when she had left in the afternoon, her father and brother had also gone out—it couldn’t possibly be...

She leapt back in shock, her heart pounding as she stared at the door, which cracked open, and then her father’s laughter wafted in, "Please come in, Mr. Cowell."

"Thank you, Mr. Lavigne, just call me Adrian," the man who had accompanied her father walked in, holding the skateboard in his hand. After glancing around, he quickly noticed Avril standing nervously to the side and then flashed a mischievous smile—or at least, that’s how it seemed to the girl.

"Judi, this is Mr. Adrian Cowell from the United States; Adrian, this is my wife, Judi, Judi Lavigne." The father began by introducing the mother, probably because the brother had followed behind them and was already introduced, so he went straight to Avril.

"This is my second daughter, and she can indeed be quite mischievous, often coming up with bizarre ideas," John Lavigne said, turning to his daughter, "Tell me the truth, Avril, what were you just trying to do?"

Avril, who had been extremely nervous, was suddenly taken aback and stared blankly at her father, not understanding what he was talking about.

"I think she might have wanted to scare me," Adrian chimed in, "She’s certainly a child who is both endearing and vibrant, as well as whimsical."

"Oh, don’t be fooled by her appearance, Adrian, you should know she’s very fond of skateboarding, and whenever she goes out, she never lets it leave her side. Since she’s lost it now, she obviously must have prepared a big prank." The father mercilessly teased his own daughter.

"Dad! How can you say that!" Avril reflexively protested, then realizing something, she turned to look at Adrian.

He gave a slight smile and offered her the skateboard, playfully winking. Avril, now fully understanding, embraced the returned skateboard with joy, and might have jumped for joy if she wasn’t at home. Nevertheless, she didn’t forget to give Adrian a grateful look, and his smile transformed from "mischievous" to "warm and friendly."

After John Lavigne introduced his younger daughter, he invited Adrian to sit down. Avril, who could have left after the potential catastrophe was averted, stayed, both curious and relieved. Curious about why this man named Adrian had come to their house, and relieved that he seemed to know her father—had it been anyone else, even if they didn’t hold her accountable, they wouldn’t have covered for her.

Interestingly, neither her brother Matthew nor her sister Michelle left the room. Michelle, in particular, seemed regretful that Avril hadn’t done anything outrageous, teasing her with laughter from time to time. Avril couldn’t be bothered with her; although she knew her sister meant no harm and was just being mischievous, the same outrageous acts that she couldn’t get away with would be much more lightly dealt with when it came to her younger sister. Despite knowing that her sister was still young, she couldn’t help feeling a bit frustrated, especially since...

"So, what brings you here looking for me, Adrian?" After some small talk, John got down to business on the couch.

"Um... how should I put this?" Adrian tapped his head, "It’s not easy to put this puzzle together, so let’s start from the simplest part."

After a pause and organizing his words, he continued, "Although I live in Los Angeles, I often travel to Canada, and I’ve visited Napanee a few times—the scenery here is beautiful. I remember it was a little over a year ago, I came here again, and while passing through Bolland Market, I heard a girl singing. I can’t be sure if it was Garth Brooks’s ’The Change’ or The Chicks’s ’You Were Mine’, though somewhat immature, it was very compelling. Then a few months ago, in April, I came here, coincidentally in the market, I heard the same voice again. This time I clearly remember it was Shania Twain’s ’Got A Hold on Me’. Though it was still immature, there had been significant improvement over a year."

Avril, who was examining her skateboard, stopped what she was doing and looked up in surprise at the man sitting on the couch. Not just her, but her mother, brother, and sister all turned their gazes towards him. Her father across from him slightly raised an eyebrow, seeming to have something to say but remained silent.

Adrian smiled softly, "I own a record company, you know, and whether it’s singers or actors, they need potential, so there are talent scouts all over the world looking for talent. Although I’m not a scout, and I don’t have a deep understanding of music production, I do have some insight in this area. So, when I came to Canada for a vacation a few days ago, I suddenly thought that if I could find this girl and nurture her, she might become an excellent singer, which is why I made my way to Napanee today. It’s a small town and finding out who was singing at the market is pretty straightforward, especially since your daughter is quite famous."

He spread his hands, then looked at Avril in the corner, hugging her skateboard. The girl’s eyes were wide open, speechless.

"Wow!" Michelle was the first to exclaim, her mouth gaping in disbelief, her gaze shifting between Adrian and her sister, "This is unbelievable, can my sister really sing that well?!"

"Yeah, yeah, those people at the market, they’ve never once cheered for it," Avril instinctively rolled her eyes and retorted to her sister.

"That’s because they don’t live at our house," Michelle made a face, "Every time at bedtime, you’d only stop when me or brother had to knock on the walls."

Matthew coughed twice softly and shifted his gaze aside, not wanting to get involved in the "war" between his two sisters.

"Alright, kids, quiet down," John called out, then looked at Adrian somewhat hesitantly, "You mean, you want to sign Avril, is that right, Adrian?"

"Yes, John, you’ve been a country singer yourself, so you should know how important systematic training is for a singer, and the earlier the better," Adrian shrugged, "My RUN Records has always had a unique approach to training young singers. If you and Avril agree, I can arrange for professionals to carry out a systematic test and assessment of your daughter as soon as possible."

"RUN Records?" John kept his composure.

"Yes, it was originally called MU Records, but we changed the name after acquiring and merging several small record companies, so it’s not very well-known." Adrian smiled slightly.

John reflected in silence without answering; he turned his head to look at his daughter. Avril, who had been clenching her fists, immediately showed a pleading look. She bit her lip, trying hard to control her emotions, or else her body would have already started trembling with excitement. Since she started singing and begging her parents to buy instruments and equipment, she had always dreamed of this day: to become a great singer, to be liked by the whole world, to have the whole world listen to her songs.

Now, the opportunity had finally arrived; she really couldn’t think of a reason to refuse. Obviously, because of the man’s previous support for her, she directly overlooked the possibility of a scam.

"Wait a minute! Are you talking about RUN Records?!" Matthew suddenly spoke up at this point, his expression excited as if he had thought of something.

"Yes, of course," Adrian confirmed with a nod.

"The RUN Records that launched Britney Spears at the beginning of the year?!" Matthew pressed the question.

"Yes." Adrian continued nodding, his expression indifferent, as though he was unconcerned about the company launching such a hugely popular artist, loved by countless teenagers.

"Whoa!" Matthew, who had always been the most composed among the three siblings, suddenly leapt up and let out a scream, "It’s RUN Records! It’s RUN Records! This is unbelievable! Unbelievable!"

He was so excited that he jumped and shouted, seemingly unconcerned that his parents and two sisters were right next to him, grabbing Adrian’s arm, "Can I get Britney’s autograph? Can I meet her?!"

After all, he was not yet twenty, and Britney appealed to teenagers of his age. Unexpectedly, Michelle joined in; she seemed to like Britney’s songs too. Avril looked at Adrian with mixed emotions, fists clenched tight, her thoughts slightly muddled. She remembered when her brother and sister waved Britney’s CD at her, telling her, "This is what good music sounds like," she would always lift her chin, "I will surpass her one day!"

"Alright, quiet down, kids, let’s talk about this later, okay?" After pondering for a moment, John finally spoke up again. Once Matthew and Michelle had closed their mouths, he looked back at Adrian, "I want to know, are you the Adrian Cowell known as the Miracle Director?"

Another gasp erupted.

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation.)

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