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

Chapter 518: No Surprises?

“He’s lying to ghosts. Only a fool would believe that. If you believe him, you’re a fool too,” Chen Bicheng said to Pan Chengrong.

Chen Nuo swallowed his anger and explained to his mother, "You know I can't hold my liquor. I drank a bit too much and my head was spinning. Really, I pressed the button a couple more times."

“If that were true, all the bar owners would be rich. He’s just lying to you because you don’t drink and don’t understand,” Chen Bicheng said to Pan Chengrong.

Chen Nuo held back again and said, "Mom, if you don't believe me, ask Pan Shouyi. Ask her if I drank too much."

Chen Bicheng: "Needless to say, Pan Shouyi will definitely help him."

Chen Nuo: "And Pan Shouyi's classmate."

Chen Bicheng: "Pan Shouyi's classmate looks like an honest person, so she definitely wouldn't dare to offend him."

Chen Nuo: "Nazha and Linghu are here too, just ask them, ask either one."

Chen Bicheng: "They are all his people."

"You!" Chen Nuo glared angrily at his father.

Chen Bicheng stood with his arms crossed, watching coldly with an air of calm. He seemed to say, "What can you do to me?"

But Chen Nuo really seemed to have no way to deal with him.

Fortunately, at this moment, his maternal grandfather interjected, "Alright, sister, don't blame the child anymore. He didn't do it on purpose."

At his grandfather's command, his uncles and aunts, who had been silent and hesitant to speak, suddenly started shouting, as if one by one they had come to plead his case.

"Big sister, Nuonuo is so good at making money, what's a mere 500 million? Don't worry about it. It's no problem for her to splurge occasionally."

"Exactly, exactly. Nuonuo can probably make back that much money with just one endorsement, no, even just a small ad. Just kidding, she can probably earn it back in a few counts."

“The newspapers say that our Nuonuo is now worth tens or hundreds of billions. 500 million is really nothing.”

"If you ask me, this tip was actually quite generous; it gave us Chinese people face!"

“That’s right, Pan Chengyi, you’ve only ever said one thing correctly in your life, it’s absolutely something to be proud of. When I first heard it, I felt so proud.”

"Chen Nuo knows how to make money, and so does your older brother. Sister, with your happy life, do you really need 500 million? Just give it to me, it's a good thing."

Amidst the chattering, Chen Nuo saw his mother's half-smiling, half-serious expression and knew he had passed this test.

Then he glared at his father, who looked hesitant and displeased.

You better remember this!

……

More than 10 minutes later, Chen Nuo came out of the room.

Alison, who was standing guard at the door, immediately came forward and said, "Director Pritzker and Charlize Theron have arrived. Naza has brought them to your suite."

Chen Nuo nodded and said, "OK, take me there."

Allison walked beside Chen Nuo and said, "There was a lot of noise in the room just now. Was that your mother speaking?"

Chen Nuo said calmly, "Yes."

Is she angry?

"No, this is how we people talk. We live in the countryside, with mountains separating us. If we don't speak loudly, the people on the other side of the mountain can't hear us."

"Chen, don't joke around. If your mother is really angry about this, I think I can explain it to her. This 50 euros is well worth it. The best part is that it all feels so natural and logical, not only overshadowing Harvey and his group, but also greatly benefiting your public image. You know, Chen, you're actually making a bit too much money these days..."

Having spent so much time in the United States in his previous life, and almost becoming a "banana" (a person with a banana-like appearance but no real substance), Chen Nuo naturally understood what Allison meant.

That's the social climate in the US: if a wealthy person doesn't do charity, it's a significant blemish on their public image. It might not seem like a problem in everyday life, but when faced with difficult situations, this blemish could be fatal.

And what about him?
Aside from taking photos at Donald's charity gala a few years ago when I was trying to get Facebook shares, I've definitely neglected this area in recent years.

The main problem is that he is too petty and lacks any spirit of compassion. He can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on charitable foundations in China without batting an eye, but he can't even bear to spend ten dollars on a ticket to a charity dinner across the ocean.

In the long run, it's really not right for someone who wants to keep taking advantage of this place.

"So, in your opinion, my 50 euros was well spent?"

“I felt that every dollar I spent was worth ten dollars. If I hadn’t seen you drunk with my own eyes, I would have even thought this was your plan. Thankfully it wasn’t.”

"why?"

"Because if that happens, I'll feel that your public relations skills have surpassed mine, and I'm likely not far from losing my job."

"Hahahahahaha."

These foreigners are getting better and better at flattery these days.

Does he feel bad about giving away so much money?
I didn't feel anything at all.

Although he didn't lie completely, he did mistakenly enter an extra zero.

It's not two, it's one.

He initially intended to press 5, but when he pressed the button, he pressed it twice, and then he was too embarrassed to change it.

To put it in a pretentious way, since Facebook went public, Chen Nuo's concept of money has changed.

It's like he was a mortal before, but now he's become an immortal.

When you're alive, gold and silver are just gold and silver. But after you become an immortal, they're all just "worldly things."

As for being exposed, everyone knows that Chen Nuo spent 500 million RMB on a single meal, so... there's nothing he can do about it, right?
Anyway, I couldn't keep up the act any longer.

So, that's settled then.

The two talked as they returned to his suite.

Gulnazar opened the door, and he and Allison went inside, where they met James Pritzker and Richards Theron again in the living room of his suite.

At this moment, Chen Nuo was astonished to find that the originally 200-pound fat man had actually lost several sizes!
When he went in, he stood up next to Charlize Theron, the movie star with a stunning figure, and he didn't even notice that there was much difference in their body sizes!

He glanced back at Allison.

What exactly happened between the two of them during that time was something the woman never told him.

Chen Nuo called out, "Damn, James, what's wrong? Did you go to a weight loss summer camp?"

James smiled wryly, hugged him, and said, "Thanks for your sense of humor, Chen. This might be the funniest joke I've heard in months."

"Haha." Chen Nuo chuckled, then left James and hugged the South African diamond woman next to him, smelling the Dior Treasure perfume on her. "Hello, long time no see, how are you?"

“I’m fine,” Theron smiled. “Chen, you’ve been making headlines these past few days.”

Chen Nuo sighed and said, "It's all been quite dramatic."

Charlize Theron laughed, “But it couldn’t be better for our film. By the way, I just heard your parents are here too? Are they going to the premiere tomorrow?”

"No," Chen Nuo said without changing his expression, "They just came here to have fun."

"Why?" Theron asked in surprise. "They don't want to go?"

"Yes, they don't want to."

It would be strange if you didn’t want to.

The reason his relatives interrupted their journey to come to Venice was to see a movie.

Originally, after visiting Rome, I planned to go to Paris. However, when I saw that he had appeared in Venice, which caused a huge traffic jam, everyone got excited. Since Pan Shouyi was also there, I canceled my original plans and went directly to Venice to see the premiere of his new film the next day.

But isn't this a joke?
It would be fine if it were any other movie.

But Chen Nuo still had some pride. He didn't want his grandparents, uncles, and aunts watching his sex scene in the movie theater. So, in his room earlier, he used the excuse that there were no Chinese subtitles at the premiere to brush it off.

However, those two English-speaking high-achieving students from China Southern Airlines had no reason to refuse.

Speaking of which...

Chen Nuo looked at the gaunt James Pritzker and asked seriously, "Director, I have a question for you. In the final cut, there won't be anything inappropriate for children, will there?"

……

……

But clearly, too much time has passed.

After all, this movie was filmed in April 2011—almost a year and a half ago.

For someone like Chen Nuo, whose memory isn't very good, the exact details of what he filmed back then are actually quite vague.

otherwise,

He would never ask such a ridiculous question.

August 2012, 9, 1pm.

Three days ago, the Venice cinema palace resounded with five minutes of applause, and the entire audience in the screening room stood up, cheering wildly.

Three days later, at almost the same time, the cinema fell silent.

At this moment, the Sala Grande (main screening room) was once again packed to capacity.

It was even more dazzling than it had been three days ago.

Aside from the sheer weight of the cast—if Philip Hoffman, an Oscar-winning actor, and Charlize Theron, an Oscar-winning actress, are evenly matched—the comparison in another role is almost without suspense. The actor who hasn't yet filmed "Joker" is not in the same league as the one who has, both in terms of personal accolades and industry standing.

In addition, many of the big names that failed to attract the "Master" event three days ago also showed up today.

For example, George Clooney, who lives in seclusion in Italy.
For example, Leonardo DiCaprio, who is currently vacationing in the Mediterranean with his 23-year-old new girlfriend, Erin Heatherton.

Besides the presence of celebrities, the skin tones of the journalists and film critics seated in the 1408 seats at this screening also appeared more even.

That refers to the extra portion of yellow skin.

"Kou Ni Ji Wa," "Kam Sang Mi Da," and "Hello"—these three languages ​​were rarely seen gathered together, and there was no conflict between them.

All those tangled and complicated grudges and affections of the past, at least for this moment, seemed to have been tacitly paused by everyone.

Before the event started, these men and women, all with black hair and yellow skin, would sneak together in this predominantly white venue as soon as their eyes met.

Language barrier?
That's fine. We can still communicate by gesturing.

Before entering the venue, Shi Ningwei had already "exchanged" with two groups of Japanese people and one group of Koreans, and had also watched other people exchange ideas.

He didn't care who the other party was, what kind of deity they were, or what kind of demon or monster they were—just like he hadn't actually been able to come up with a truly respectable official identity.

The reason he traveled all the way to Venice was simply because Sina Weibo thought his unedited photos were so good that they paid him to become a journalist and asked him to take pictures.

Although they didn't speak the same language or know each other's origins, these Asian faces had one thing in common: an irrepressible excitement.

Shi Ningwei didn't understand what these Japanese and Koreans were so excited about.

It's impossible for Chen Nuo to change his nationality.

Regardless, seeing these foreigners gesticulating wildly and speaking halting English to express their immense anticipation for "Chen Nuosang" or "Chen Nuoxi's" upcoming appearance, even excitedly hoping he could bring Asia its first-ever Grand Slam of the three major European awards—

That feeling was indeed quite nice.

So when he sat down to wait for the movie to start, Shi Ningwei's heart was racing, and he didn't seem like a father in his thirties with two kids at all.

Then, there will be no meeting between the main creators and the film crew; in Venice, this will take place after the film screening ends.

The movie just started abruptly, without any warning.

At first, it was a huge container ship sailing on the dark sea.

Then, the camera slowly zooms in.

We entered one of the less noticeable ones on the edge of the container yard.

Passing through the walls of the compartment, one after another, fleshy bodies appeared in the darkness. Some were sitting, some were lying down, one on top of another, one upon another, making it difficult to distinguish whether they were human or animal.

In fact, Shi Ningwei had already heard a lot of rumors about this movie in the country.

In terms of subject matter, this is absolutely a banned film—it will never be shown in mainland Chinese theaters.

As for why Chen Nuo didn't take his prestigious path and instead chose to collaborate with an unknown independent director to make such an shady independent film.

Film critics have offered a variety of opinions and reasons, some of which are even outrageous.

Shi Ningwei heard a version of the story that the director forced Chen Nuo to film the movie by pointing a gun at his head.

He, too, was full of questions.

But as the camera pans among these people, it eventually settles on a corner somewhere.

All his questions seemed to have been answered.

He appeared in that swaying, dilapidated shipping container, crammed among a group of ragged people who looked like pigs.
He was a boy carrying a backpack, with dark, innocent eyes like a fawn's, looking timidly at the camera with a touch of childishness.

Shi Ningwei smiled knowingly.

reason?

That must be the reason.

After a weighty opening, the boy disembarked and spent his days and nights in the unfamiliar streets of America. Finally, he mustered the courage to enter a restaurant with Chinese signs and began a conversation with the owner, who spoke Hong Kong-accented Mandarin, using Chinese with English subtitles.

"What's your name?"

On the screen, a thin, bony boy timidly said, "My name is Chen... Cassian, my name is Cassian."

Seeing the film progress in a conventional manner, Shi Ningwei felt even more certain of his feelings.

That's how it is.

He won the Berlin Film Festival's Best Actor award for his debut role as a deaf-mute boy. Seven years later, he wants to use the same youthful spirit to win back the last trophy he missed. Is there anything wrong with that?

At that moment, ninety-nine percent of the people in the Venice Film Palace were thinking the same thing—
Returning to his comfort zone, the art-house film prodigy plays a naive, kind-hearted, and tragically tragic little character in a script tailor-made for him, a role he excels at and has successful precedents for, in an attempt to win a grand slam of awards...

This is absolutely a wise move.

Any actor in his position would probably do the same.

No one can say he's wrong.

However, for everyone who had been full of anticipation,

Just like the current storyline, it might lack a bit of surprise. That's all.

Ps:

Listen to my explanation before you start cursing.

The air conditioner here broke down today and wasn't fixed until tonight.

The following plot unfolds more smoothly and is more enjoyable.

So I'll just take a short rest today and not stay up late, so I can conserve my energy and write more tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)