In her past life, she'd filmed for years before finally affording a modest apartment in the capital. Wandering alone in a strange city was already a lonely experience—without even a place to call home, how could one find the strength to keep chasing dreams?
So, upon arriving in the Eastern capital, and after Roy had been whisked away by the Olympic staff, she began touring the various properties her substantial investments had produced, accompanied by the company's vice president.
Aside from real estate, her greatest advantage from rebirth was undoubtedly her foresight in stocks. Though she didn't have deep expertise, she knew which companies would thrive in the future and which ones no one had even heard of yet. When it came to those she did recognize and knew would develop well, she didn't hesitate to get involved.
Major web portals, game companies, and future household-name brands—you could find Laila Moran's name on the shareholder list of nearly all of them.
Looking over these investments, Laila couldn't help but feel giddy just thinking about the windfall that awaited her in the future. It was enough to make her laugh in her sleep.
What she didn't yet know was that in the years to come, she would not only be hailed as the greatest film director in cinematic history, or the most visionary strategist and cinematographer but also earn the legendary title of financial genius. None of her early investments had failed. Each one became a pillar of her growing wealth and laid the unshakable foundation of her future business empire.
Though a few missteps occurred later on, the massive profits from her winning investments made the occasional failure almost negligible. No one can always be right—those mistakes reminded the world that she was still human. But her achievements? They were already enough to place her in the realm of legends.
During a break between touring properties, she even took time to accept an interview. It was with Guoshi TV, the national broadcaster, and given its influence, she agreed after some thought.
Initially, she had assumed that state television wouldn't pry into her personal life like the American media often did. But to her surprise, the host did bring up a few personal questions during the interview.
Granted, those questions had been pre-approved beforehand, but Laila was still struck by how approachable and down-to-earth the once-lofty national broadcaster turned out to be.
"Everyone knows that Moran Media Group holds a dominant position in the U.S. media industry," the host began. "Last year, when you were acting as interim CEO, you made several innovative decisions. But many are curious about why you've shifted the group's investment focus toward the East. Could you tell us what made you choose this region?"
After some warm-up questions to break the ice, the host finally dropped a heavy hitter.
Laila had already thought about how to answer this during pre-show prep, but now, she decided to take a different approach—something a bit more sincere.
"From the first time I set foot here, I fell in love with everything about this place. But that alone wasn't enough for me to decide to invest. Maybe it played a role," she said with a small smile, "but at the end of the day, business is business. If I couldn't see the profit potential, no matter how much I liked it, I wouldn't have brought in such massive capital."
Everyone likes to hear nice things, but flattery for its own sake always comes off as disingenuous. So Laila ditched her original talking points and gave a more grounded, compelling answer.
"The East is on the rise. Opportunities are everywhere. Some people will see them, seize them, and get what they want. Others will pretend not to see, and they'll be left far behind. I'm a director, but I'm also a businesswoman. Most of the time my product is film, but I'd like to think I have a good eye for value. And I believe the East will be the world's focal point in the future—that's why I chose to invest here."
"So was that why you began building so many theaters when you first arrived?" the host followed up.
"Exactly. I believed the value of the film industry here was massively underestimated. People love movies—they're just held back by poor viewing experiences. So I brought the best theaters, the best screens, and the best films. I believe that every person who walks into one of my cinemas will have a joyful and memorable journey."
The host smiled. "That's very true." She then showed the audience a series of charts comparing domestic box office revenue before and after Laila's theater chain launched.
Nothing makes a point like a visual. Even viewers who didn't understand the industry could grasp what was happening from the stark contrast between the graphs.
After the display, the host asked another key question: "From what I understand, you've already invested over USD 1 billion here?"
"Correct. To be precise, it's around $1.5 billion." Laila gave a casual answer—after all, she hadn't kept track of the specifics. That was all left to her team. She just charted the overall direction.
In the past two years, both her cinema ventures and earlier investments had started turning a profit. But rather than pulling the money out, she simply reinvested it back into the East. Compound interest, capital reinvestment—it all snowballed. The wealth she generated here would leave Wall Street in utter disbelief.
But she also carried that uniquely Eastern philosophy of "getting rich quietly." She never flaunted her earnings, nor did she need to show off her profits to attract clients. With limited communication between East and West, she was perfectly positioned to build her empire under the radar.
A $1.5 billion investment—that's no small number. And what made it even more impressive was that the bulk of that money came from her earnings. Over ten years, from a string of blockbuster films, countless merchandise lines, CDs, theme parks, and revenue from Phoenix Company… it had all accumulated without her even realizing how massive the sum had become.
And when she poured that cash flow into the East—into this vibrant and dynamic market—the results were staggering, even beyond what she had imagined.
One thing to note: from the very beginning, she had enforced a hard rule when building her theater chain—all cinemas had to be constructed on her land. In other words, every building, every shopping mall housing her theaters, was her property. That gave her unprecedented leverage. Her theaters expanded across the country, and the businesses she partnered with also saw rapid growth.
Under these circumstances, who wouldn't want to collaborate with her?
And we're not even talking about the skyrocketing value of the land she owned—that alone was an astronomical gain. Just from collecting rent on her commercial spaces, she was already raking in profits by the truckload.