Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 482 I am the King of the World!

If you're trying to win over a well-behaved girl, you should encourage her to be a little rebellious.

If you're pursuing a lonely young woman, you should accompany her on her journeys of pleasure.

If you're pursuing someone who's never been in a relationship, you should create a perfect love story for her.

If you lacked love growing up, you should pursue her relentlessly, giving her warmth and a sense of ritual in every little detail.

If you are looking for a gentle and virtuous woman, then show your gentlemanly manners and respect for her.

If you're pursuing someone from a wealthy family, the more you mistreat or ignore her, the more she'll love you.

If you're pursuing someone from a poor family, all your words are less effective than simply giving her money.

If you're pursuing a cold and aloof goddess, you need to use your friendliness to entice her into your life.

All of the above methods are just common tricks used by ordinary people in matters of love.

True high-end players...

Nothing is needed.

All you need to do is give her a kiss in front of the whole world when you win the Oscar.

No matter what type of woman she is, if she's a woman, she'll almost never escape your jeans in her lifetime.

Liu Yifei is a perfect example.

Although it's difficult to define this woman with a single attribute, after that unexpected kiss, she almost lost track of her own surname, whether it was An or Liu.

It felt as if all the blood in my body rushed to the point of contact with him, and my heart was pounding so hard that I could hear my own pulse in my ears.

At that moment, in her mind, it seemed as if the eyes of the whole world were focused on her. Although it was only for a brief instant, their lips lingered on each other for no more than two seconds.

However, what is the difference between these two seconds and eternity?
The lips parted.

From the moment they met until they parted, her eyes remained fixed on him.

They couldn't even bear to blink.

She gazed into those clear yet determined eyes and saw a slight, triumphant smile playing on his lips.

As a woman, what Liu Yifei felt at that moment was truly indescribable.

Without saying anything more, her boyfriend turned around and, together with Chairman Xu of Hengdian who rushed up to hug him, walked briskly towards the magnificent golden stage.

She stood in front of her seat, her heart pounding with excitement and her mind reeling, gazing at the man's retreating figure, and applauding along with everyone else in the room.

Just then, a smiling voice came from beside her: "Liu, you're a lucky girl."

Liu Yifei, somewhat impolitely, did not turn her face to respond, but remained motionless, staring in the original direction, smiling and nodding.

……

Imagine a place where someone thinks she's the luckiest person in the world.

According to the "law of conservation of luck," in the same situation, there must be one person who feels like the unluckiest person in the world.

Harvey Weinstein was that kind of person.

When Tom Cruise uttered the word "Inception," Harvey seemed to be nailed to his chair, his face contorted in pain. In that instant, he completely forgot about managing his expressions; his features were frozen in place, devoid of any color, looking like a gambler who had lost his bet.

Fortunately—and truly fortunately—at that very moment, the man on the other side of the field was kissing his female companion right in front of the global cameras, a passionate and flamboyant scene that quickly drew the attention of all the photographers and directors. Otherwise, if his embarrassing moment had been recorded, countless entertainment gossip headlines would have used "Harvey's defeat moment, facial twitching" to grab attention the next morning.

Although he has always claimed that he no longer cares about the opinions of those "loser" film critics and paparazzi, he knows that real trouble often begins with such details.

So, even though he was filled with resentment and anger, Harvey immediately adjusted his expression, gritted his teeth, and raised his hand with feigned composure to applaud that damned Chinese monkey.

But his mind was truly filled with questions—

What is going wrong?
Which part of the process failed?
Why did he still falter despite giving it his all for the most important award, Best Picture?
……

The same question arose in the minds of all members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who voted for "Best Picture." Among these approximately 6000 screenwriters, directors, actors, producers, and technical staff, 312 were particularly surprised.

Because they were all part of Harvey Weinstein's network, a "stronghold" he had painstakingly built up over many years. When they voted, they tacitly agreed to cast their votes for the "artist."

But if one had a God's-eye view, disregarding the limitations of time and space, one would see this scene—

An invisible thread silently guided countless votes, gently tilting them in an unexpected direction during the final tallying process.

In the 2012 Academy Awards, the "Best Picture" category still used the "scoring system" for multiple selections.

Under this system, when voting, each member does not just choose one favorite film, but needs to fill in multiple works in order of preference, from first to fifth place.

This was originally intended as a voting mechanism to encourage consensus and avoid extremes.

As a result, although "The Artist" led in the first round of votes, its unconventional silent black-and-white style led many voters to exclude it altogether, and even the fifth-place film was not chosen.

Unlike Inception, which not only had a stable base of votes in the first place, but more importantly, it appeared very frequently in the second and third places of most votes. It is a film that few people particularly love, but very few people particularly hate, making it a typical "widely accepted" film.

So, as the voting system eliminated the films with the fewest votes round by round and recounted their votes according to the next preference, Inception's votes rose rapidly like an undercurrent, eventually overtaking the others at a certain critical point.

A miracle happened in a gap in the mechanism that no one had anticipated.

The Academy Award for Best Picture was snatched away by it.

In this series of coincidences, is someone secretly manipulating things?
No.

Although Warner Bros. mobilized resources, connections, booked screenings, and laid out media coverage, doing everything it could, the effect was only to the extent of having some influence, far from being considered a successful operation.

If we had to pinpoint a turning point, it might only be traced back to a seemingly insignificant detail:

The official dinner for Oscar nominees happened to coincide with the Chinese Lantern Festival.

The male lead of "Inception," who was also one of the film's investors, felt his chances of winning Best Actor and Best Director awards were slim, so he simply didn't attend the banquet and quietly returned to China to have dumplings with his parents. This was something he had promised Pan Chengrong.

After the college officially revealed the incident, his decision to refuse the banquet was turned into news by the media. They reported on his unconventional behavior, how he gave up such a good publicity opportunity for the sake of family, and even took the opportunity to promote the Chinese Lantern Festival.

This kind of self-centered behavior, prioritizing family ties over winning awards, happens to strike a nerve with some of the artsy members within the academy.

Some of these people are the Weinstein Company's "core supporters".

So, about a few dozen people, while decisively supporting "The Artist" in the first place, thought about it in the second and third places, and remembered the various labels the media had given to a certain person, such as "anti-Hollywood," "cultural self-awareness," and "independent spirit," and so they cast their votes for the commercial film that they had originally looked down upon.

Ultimately, a slight difference can lead to a huge discrepancy.

Is it a coincidence?

of course.

In fact, if we extend the timeframe further—looking at the Oscar selection process over the past twenty or thirty years—it becomes clear that:
Of those films that ultimately won "Best Picture," perhaps more than half were not the most popular in the first round; and two-thirds of the Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director who ultimately took home the "little golden statuette" were not initially favored.

They were simply pushed out of the spotlight by sheer luck, amidst countless factors such as rules, mechanisms, publicity, relationships, personal connections, topics, and public opinion.

As Nassim Taleb stated in his Black Swan theory, "What truly determines destiny is often not calculable necessity, but unpredictable chance."

This world is not only dirty, but also a sophisticated and enormous makeshift operation.

exactly.

……

When Chen Nuo stepped onto the podium, although he didn't know the exact circumstances, he was certain that it was the result of good luck.

how many years?

What was the last blockbuster movie that broke box office records and won the Oscar for Best Picture?

The moment he received the trophy from Tom Cruise, the feeling of his palm touching the heavy, cool, metallic golden statuette was like licking a beautiful foot popsicle on a sweltering summer day—a sensation that ran from head to toe.

He turned around and immediately spotted the male lead of the previous film that had won both "blockbuster box office" and "Academic Best Picture" in the crowd—the legendary adulterer "Jack," Leonardo DiCaprio, who had once played the role of a womanizer seducing innocent girls in the vast ocean.

At that moment, Leonardo DiCaprio was standing in his seat, smiling and applauding for him.

That smile was genuine, with his signature dimples, showing that he had at least temporarily forgotten his defeat a moment earlier.

He laughed loudly, and facing that direction, he used his right hand to lift the little golden figure high into the air.

With this movement, his figure seemed to overlap with that of the blond boy on that large ship more than ten years ago, and it seemed that both of them were raising their arms and shouting:
I am the king of the world!

"Wow!"

The Kodak Cinema, with its thousands of seats already empty, saw all those standing quicken their pace at his gesture, causing the applause to surge even higher.

Whistles and cheers rang out; whether genuine applause or polite encouragement, this group of well-dressed millionaires and celebrities were all celebrating this rare double success of the film.

The entire scene was transmitted to the whole world via radio waves.

"Oppa is so handsome!"

"OMG!!! Inception actually won the Oscar for Best Picture!"

"An incredible moment! Chen won his second Oscar at the Kodak Theatre! This is a time of celebration for hundreds of millions of Inception fans around the world!"

"Daddy Chen Nuosang, "Essentials" is the best!!"

"So good, Nuozai, we will always love you!"

The same applies to real-life statements as well as online statements.

Whether in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, or Los Angeles and New York, many people who witnessed him raising the trophy and cheering on the audience in the theater were filled with mixed emotions.

Later at the Kodak Theatre, Chen Nuo, who had been blinded by victory, finally came to his senses.

As the last award of the night, "Best Picture" enjoys a unique privilege.

At this moment, all the members of the Inception creative team present tonight have taken to the stage.

He turned around and saw Xu Yong'an, Christopher Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas, Jonathan Nolan, Keira Knightley, Ryan Reynolds, Ellen Page, cinematographer Wally Pfister, editor Lee Smith, composer Hans Zimmer... more than a dozen people were standing behind him, embracing tightly, talking, and congratulating each other under the spotlight.

Everyone's face was beaming with an unreserved smile.

Without a doubt, this was their shared moment, the shining moment of this film.

Against this backdrop, as previously agreed, he, as the representative of the largest investor, should be the first to deliver his acceptance speech.

Thinking about it, it's really quite amazing.

Who could have really imagined this? They said they were confident, but after just casually chatting, Chen Nuo never expected that his dream would actually come true.

Chen Nuo first glanced back at his companions who had accompanied him all the way, took a deep breath, then turned to look at the audience below the stage and said solemnly, "Thank you to the Academy, thank you for the immense honor you have bestowed upon this film tonight."

"I am now speaking on behalf of everyone behind me."

“We are able to stand here today because of two people. They wrote such an incredible story and brought us together. This is the beginning of all this glory, and they are our mutual friends and mentors, Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan.”

As he spoke, he turned to the Nolan brothers and said, “Their talent is undeniable. Without them, there would be no such magnificent film. They are the creators of all miracles.”

The two brothers looked at him with the reserved smiles typical of the British.

Chen Nuo turned back to the camera and said, "I also want to thank my friend, Rory Eisner. I can't tell you how much effort she put in as the executive producer during the filming process to ensure the smooth completion of this movie. She is the unsung hero behind this film. We all have immense respect for her professionalism."

At this moment, in a conference room in Hong Kong, everyone's gaze, filled with complex and inexplicable emotions, was focused on a blonde beauty sitting at the head of the table. Her emerald green eyes were fixed on the black-haired man speaking on the television screen, her gaze flickering, and a faint smile played on her lips.

"Holy crap!" someone muttered in the corner of the conference room. "This blonde devil... she really is the executive producer of Inception!?" "No wonder she's so fierce; she's been driving us crazy these past few months."

"No wonder they're so confident, it's an Oscar-winning film..."

Some shook their heads, while others exclaimed in amazement.

No wonder, before this, no one knew where Netflix had dug up this monster from. Not only is it good-looking, but it is also incredibly powerful, forcing everyone to compress the three-month production period into two months.

It turns out that this person has quite a background; they were actually the executive producer of "Inception"!
What could Johnnie To say at this point?
Even though she had been full of dissatisfaction and annoyance, she had no choice but to force a smile and say, "Ms. Eisner, congratulations."

Lorraine Eisner smiled and said, "Alright, now that we know the result, let's turn off the TV and continue the meeting. As planned, we must be ready to start work before Chen returns. Raise any difficulties now, Mr. Du, are there any?"

"no!"

Back to the Oscars.

Although it's the final stage, time is still limited. After all, this is the Oscar for Best Picture, so he can't monopolize all the speaking opportunities; he has to give everyone a chance to speak.

After Chen Nuo finished mentioning the three people he most wanted to thank, he quickly added, "And Michael Slan of Warner Bros. and Mr. Xu Yong'an of Hengdian Group in China."

Turning back again to look at Xu Yong'an and Michael Slan, who were standing together with smiles on their faces, he continued, "Without their support, this movie would not have had the chance to be filmed."

"And James Cameron, thank you for your camera. We did it."

"And everyone behind me whose name I haven't mentioned."

"Finally, I want to say that this is a great film, and I believe that ten or twenty years from now, filmmakers all over the world will talk about it in the same way we talk about The Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption. It has been an honor for each and every one of us to be a part of it. Thank you."

After he finished speaking, he stepped aside, making room for the microphone.

Nolan's wife, Emma Thomas, immediately stepped forward. The woman looked very excited, took a few deep breaths, and then said in a thick London accent, "When Chen spoke, he thanked many people, but he didn't thank himself at all. And to that I want to say..."

While Emma was speaking, Chen Nuo stepped back and began to greet and hug Keira Knightley, Ellen Page, and Ryan Reynolds, whom he hadn't had a chance to say hello to before.

"Kayla, you look beautiful tonight."

"Thank you, Chen. Your girlfriend is very cute too."

Keira Knightley's tone was strange as she smiled, but Chen Nuo didn't bother to figure out what it meant. He hugged her, feeling the hard contact between their chests, said thank you, and then kissed Ellen Page on the cheek. "Hello, Ellen."

Emma Thomas's voice came from the side: "...He's truly someone you can hardly describe with any words. Everyone who has worked with him knows that; his charm and talent, his humor and energy, often make you forget his youth..."

Ellen Page whispered, “My God, Chen, we actually won Best Picture.”

"Yes, Allen, it's incredible, all thanks to you."

“No, Chen.” Ellen Page looked at him with her brown eyes and said earnestly, “We all know who it is. Like Emma said. I think you’re the most important one.”

"Really? Thanks."

"When are you going to Canada? Nina wants to see you again."

"I'll go in a while."

Finally, there's Ryan Reynolds.

"...Having him is the foundation of our entire film's success. He convinced all of us to produce and film with unwavering faith and dedication, regardless of the consequences. Thank you, Chen."

Emma Thomas was incredibly effusive in her praise, showering him with compliments that made Chen Nuo a little embarrassed. When she turned around, he gave her a slightly shy smile and nodded.

Then, when the woman began to thank her family, he turned around and hugged the man next to him.

"Hey."

Hey, buddy.

Chen Nuo and Ryan Reynolds patted each other on the back forcefully, then smiled at each other.

Often, male friends don't really have much to say to each other. A single glance can often reveal a lot.

However, this only applies when one is not yet drunk.

……

……

A magnificent ceremony has come to an end.

However, another extravagant and decadent celebration followed immediately.

Ryan Reynolds' performance at this event was completely different from his stage persona.

His bow tie was undone, his suit jacket was askew, and he draped himself over Chen Nuo's shoulder like a sloth, rambling on, "I don't want women. Women are all bastards. I'm sick of seeing them now. Chen, I want to go back to China with you. I want to act in movies with you in the future. I want to live with you. For you, I can learn Chinese. I can go to China to act in movies..."

Chen Nuo had been ignoring it at first, but by this point, he couldn't stand all this nonsense anymore. Just then, a waiter from the banquet passed by and grabbed him, saying, "Excuse me, could you help me find a place for this guy next to me to rest and sober up?"

The waiter was quite handsome, with his eyebrows and hair neatly combed. He nodded and said, "Of course, Mr. Chen."

Chen Nuo breathed a sigh of relief, quickly pulled Ryan Reynolds from his shoulder and handed him over, saying, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Mr. Chen." The waiter smiled gently.

“No, I’m not drunk. I still have a lot to say to you, Chen, I…” The effeminate-looking waiter helped the rambling Ryan Reynolds away, and Chen Nuo couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He turned around and saw Leonardo DiCaprio smiling at him.

It has to be said that even in this star-studded Vanity Fair party, Leonardo DiCaprio is definitely the type who automatically attracts attention.

"With so many beautiful women here, what are you waiting for me for? This isn't like you, Leo," Chen Nuo walked over and asked with a smile.

Leonardo DiCaprio laughed and said, "This isn't exactly a place to be happy. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you kicked Harvey Weinstein's ass pretty hard. I just ran into him. Seriously, I can't even imagine what he would be like today if you guys hadn't won Best Picture. Thank goodness, he probably looks only slightly better than me right now."

Chen Nuo said sincerely, "Leo, actually, if it weren't for me..."

"No, no, no." Before he could speak, Leonardo DiCaprio interrupted, "It's none of your business. This is my choice. And I believe this money wasn't wasted; at least they know I'm serious. By the way, do you know where Quentin Tarantino went? Is he still going to make that movie? Seriously, I'm getting impatient; I want to make movies."

Chen Nuo smiled wryly, "You might have to wait a while; he's in China right now..."

"wtf?"

Yes, he is...

I chatted with Leonardo DiCaprio for a while, and then we parted ways.

Natalie Portman, who was waiting nearby, came forward again. However, this time Chen Nuo did not stop to talk to her. Instead, he said apologetically, "Natalie, I think we should talk later. I'm going to find my girlfriend."

Natalie Portman was taken aback: "She's gone?"

Chen Nuo laughed and said, "No, it's because I was harassed by a drunkard, so we separated for a while."

"Oh, okay, then go ahead, we'll talk later."

"OK."

Chen Nuo moved through this grand Oscar celebration party. It brought together the world's top filmmakers, producers, stars, celebrities, media figures, and politicians.

Along the way, he greeted many people, but he didn't stop. He first went back to the place where he and Liu Yifei parted ways, but he didn't see anyone when he looked around. So he took the little golden statue he had just received and walked along the corridor of the banquet hall, dealing with all kinds of congratulations he encountered along the way, but he still couldn't find where the black-haired person was.

He walked until he reached a deserted corner of the hotel, preparing to turn around and go upstairs to take a look, when suddenly, he saw it.

……

"Did you come early to find a seat?"

"No, no."

"Really? Then why are you in such a remote place... by the toilet entrance?"

"I...I'm touching up my makeup."

"Really? Then all that tutoring was for nothing?"

"Well…"

"Shh." Chen Nuo abruptly stopped what he was doing, interrupting Liu Yifei. He tilted his head as if listening to something, and put his index finger to his lips. "Keep your voice down."

Liu Yifei, who was originally bent over, turned her head with difficulty. Fine beads of sweat covered her face, glistening faintly in the dim light of the small cubicle.

Her wet hair clung messily to her forehead and cheeks, a strand slipping into the corner of her mouth, making her look a little disheveled. Her almond-shaped eyes were half-open and half-closed, her gaze hazy and alluring. She twisted her waist in dissatisfaction and said coquettishly, "What's wrong?"

"It looks like someone's there."

Liu Yifei tilted her head, pretending to listen attentively, and like Chen Nuo, she remained silent.

In the cramped cubicle, only the breathing of the two people could be heard, rising and falling in turn. A salty, damp smell permeated the air, slightly pungent but not unpleasant.

"It seems like no one's here. You must have misheard," Chen Nuo said.

I knew it! He searched the entire Sunset Tower Hotel, where the party was being held, before finally finding Liu Yifei. The place where the two of them were was clearly deserted; it was spotless and dry.

However, since no one was giving any hints, they became nervous at the slightest disturbance, fearing that they might cause a world-shaking news event, so they were a bit paranoid.

However, in this situation, the stimulation is a hundred times stronger than before.

Liu Yifei snorted twice through her nose and scolded, "You bad boy." Seeing that he didn't react, she complained in a low voice, "Chen Nuo, I feel like you've corrupted me."

Feeling the dual pleasure of his mind and body, Chen Nuo lifted his buttocks and feigned ignorance, asking, "Oh? What do you mean?"

Liu Yifei gasped softly, took a couple of breaths, and said with displeasure, "You, you shouldn't move!"

"Okay, I won't move." Chen Nuo pushed the woman's skirt, which had been pushed up to her waist, up a little further. It had slipped down earlier and was getting in the way, but he couldn't just take it off like underwear, so he had to leave it like this so it wouldn't hinder their contact.

Liu Yifei nudged him twice and said with dissatisfaction, "What are you doing?"

Chen Nuo pretended to be stupid and said, "Didn't you tell me not to move?"

The woman said in a low voice, "You just know how to play dumb. Humph, you'd better hurry up, or I'm really ignoring you."

Chen Nuo, that simp, was really afraid that Qianqian would ignore him. As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately became obedient.

In this highly private cubicle, the salty, damp smell grew even stronger.

After a while, he felt that if this continued, even in the most secluded place, the woman's voice would likely cause some unknown trouble. However, in his desperation, he couldn't find anything to gag him. A glance revealed the little golden statue that had been tossed onto the toilet seat.

He didn't even consider whether the bottom was suitable or not, and just picked it up and stuffed it into Liu Yifei's hand.

"Do...what?"

"gag."

Liu Yifei turned around again with difficulty, glaring at him with a charming and adorable expression. She seemed to be amused by his absurd words and asked, "What did you say?"

Chen Nuo realized he had said something foolish.

However, seeing the hard, golden figurine held in her fair and delicate hands, the contrast was so striking that he couldn't help himself and immediately...

No, it can't be done immediately.

No, there's nothing like that.

That's too late!

(End of this chapter)