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

Chapter 545 Do it yourself

During his flight from Seoul to Chicago, Chen Nuo barely spoke a few words to Gulnazar or Linghu.

Either close your eyes and take a nap, or read Quentin's notes.

Or rather, he was using this method to try and shift his focus. Some people who have experienced life and death take it in stride. Others who have experienced life and death value it even more.

He's vulgar; he's the latter.

Finally, as the G650 pierced through the thick clouds and descended slowly, landing smoothly at Chicago O'Hare International Airport,
Chen Nuo then came to his senses.

Yeah.

He suddenly realized that he had come to the city whose name appeared most frequently in the Quentin Tarantino notebooks he had read on the way.

Chicago, the most important industrial and commercial center in the American Midwest at the end of the 19th century, was also the most representative place of settlement for Chinese laborers who left their homes due to the chaos of war.

It appeared before his eyes so abruptly.

However, for many Chinese people, their first knowledge of Chicago stemmed from Michael Jordan and his invincible team—

Chicago Bulls.

The U.S. immigration officers here are just like bulls, speaking very directly.

A white man, probably in his early forties, with thinning hair on top, had a tuft of light yellow goatee that clashed with his hair color, making him look somewhat comical.

From the moment Chen Nuo stepped into the immigration counter, he stared at him with his gray-blue eyes without blinking.

When Chen Nuo handed over his visa, he spoke bluntly: "You have never entered the country in Chicago."

Chen Nuo said, "Yes."

"So what brings you here this time?"

"Visiting a friend."

The man raised an eyebrow, lowered his voice, and suddenly blurted out, "You'll stay and take down those bitches—" He stopped mid-sentence, noticing the camera above him, and swallowed his words, changing his tone to, "...those bad guys?"

Chen Nuo was taken aback by this turn of events. He blinked and asked in confusion, "What is this? Who did you take down?"

The man gestured towards his hair.

Following his gesture, Chen Nuo looked at his sparse but strikingly bright red hair, realized what he meant, smiled, and said, "Sorry, no spoilers."

The man, still looking unwilling, asked again, "But there really is a second season, right?"

Chen Nuo said, "That's hard to say. It depends on how the ratings are for the first season."

"How about it?" The man's face was flushed with anger, making him look more like an enraged bull. "I dare say that all the Eskimos have subscribed to Netflix just because of this show."

Chen Nuo did not respond.

Because he couldn't respond. Although the second season was indeed in preparation, it was only logical and reasonable for Netflix to make the announcement, whether to immigration officials or the US president; he didn't want to overstep his bounds.

The man stared at him expressionlessly for about two seconds.
At that moment, Chen Nuozhen thought he was going to be refused a visa, but in the end, the man with the goatee lowered his head and stamped his passport with a snap.

Then, as he handed the passport back, he suddenly smiled and said, "Welcome to America. Please give my regards to Roger. May God bless him; my whole family was praying for him yesterday."

Chen Nuo paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded, saying, "I will."

His arrival was sudden; he didn't tell anyone, not even the paparazzi. He flew from South Korea to Chicago in a flash, but that doesn't mean no one picked him up at the airport.

After passing through security and stepping out of the FBO terminal, Gulnazar exclaimed in surprise, "Allison!"

Indeed, there stood a short, middle-aged, red-haired woman with her hands in her pockets, smiling at the three of them from a Cadillac Escalade bearing the car rental company's logo.

Once in the car, Linghu gripped the steering wheel and headed towards the route Alison had set on the GPS.

The Canadian woman sat in the back row and talked to Chen Nuo.

“Ten hours ago, just as you boarded the plane in South Korea, I contacted them. Roger has been discharged from the emergency room and is out of danger for the time being.” Allison smiled and said, “I think this is probably good news.”

At this moment, Chen Nuo's hypocrisy becomes apparent. However, conversely, if it weren't for his 40 years of experience from his previous life, his reaction might not have been so smooth. He clearly understood Allison's meaning; otherwise, why would he have taken a flight of over ten hours to come here? But his face showed no sign of it, feigning ignorance and asking with a hint of doubt, "Perhaps? Should?"

Allison, being more naive, assumed he genuinely didn't understand because he was putting on an act, and said in a serious tone, "If we consider Roger's film review from yesterday as an 'FYC' advertisement, if Roger were divinely inspired, its effectiveness would be 1000%. However, I think it's only 10% now."

Chen Nuo shook his head and said, "Allison, you're too cold-blooded."

Allison shrugged and said, "I'm just stating the facts. As your PR director, I have to always consider things from your perspective."

Gulnazar then interjected, "Allison, what is an FYC advertisement?"

Allison glanced at her, then opened her bag, took out a copy of Variety magazine, flipped it open, pointed to a colorful page, and said, "This is called an FYC ad."

"FYC is an abbreviation for FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, a promotional tactic unique to Hollywood awards season."

As Allison explained, holding up the magazine, she said, "Every year when the Oscars, Golden Globes, or Emmys are approaching, studios, distributors, and talent agencies will run these kinds of ads."

She pointed to the image in the magazine and said:

"Look, in the middle it says FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. The part above lists the awards it has received and reviews from film critics."

Below for your reference is a list of all the awards it has submitted for this year's Oscars. The phrase "including all awards including BEST PICTURE" indicates that the film hopes for nominations across all categories, aiming for votes from the judges in every category.

This last piece—

Allison swiped her finger to the bottom of the screen, "The white names above the title of the movie 'Lone Survivor' are the names of the film's producers, meaning they think their production team is good enough to attract the judges' attention and that it's worth watching."

Gulnazar blinked and said, "So, this FYC ad is specifically for the award judges, and it's different from regular ads?"

"That's right."

Chen Nuo felt that Allison seemed to genuinely consider Gulnazar her apprentice, and patiently explained, "First of all, the content is different. FYC generally emphasizes critical acclaim and award value, while ordinary advertisements highlight whatever is eye-catching. Secondly, it's the distribution channels. FYC usually only advertises in professional film magazines that judges subscribe to, such as Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, or IndieWire, or in outdoor locations where judges gather, like Beverly Hills and Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. You won't see them on television or in mainstream media."

Gulnazar said, "So, Alison, Roger's film review was essentially a targeted FYC advertisement for us, is that right?"

“That’s right.” Allison put away the magazine and said, “If he’s dead, then his final appeal in his film review would be an invaluable advertisement for NYC, and it’s even possible that Chen could win the Oscar for Best Actor because of it…”

……

……

"...But if I don't die and just end up in the ICU, it's only worth $10. If I end up in a regular ward, I think it might not even be worth $1000, definitely not enough to reimburse your airfare from South Korea. What should we do?"

Roger Albert's synthesized voice sounded strange and his enunciation was very unclear, but Chen Nuo still understood what he was saying.

Chen Nuo couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile.

Perhaps at the beginning he had a little bit of dark thoughts that he couldn't say out loud, but it was really just for a moment.

After all, he is a person, not an animal.

Seeing that Roger Albert had not only been transferred from the ICU to a regular ward but was also able to joke with him, it seemed that he had really escaped a disaster. He breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "It's okay, I was on a private jet, it didn't cost a ticket."

"OMG, I wish I were dead right now."

"If you die, I'll go after your wife for money."

Roger Ebert would have laughed out loud if he hadn't lost his jaw and was now completely powerless.

To be honest, this was the first time the two had met in real life. They had only talked for about 2-3 minutes since they met, but Roger felt an instant connection with the young man in front of him.

In my excitement, the cardiac monitor next to me started beeping, and a nurse immediately came over and said, "I'm sorry, it's time."

Chen Nuo immediately stood up from the stool. "Alright, Roger, you get some rest. I'm leaving."

Seeing that Chen Nuo was about to leave, the old man said with difficulty through his throat lozenge, "Thank you for coming to see me, Chen. I'm sorry to meet you like this."

Chen Nuo said, "Roger, when I was going through customs just now, someone asked me to give you his regards. He said his whole family prayed for you yesterday. And I believe that millions of people all over the world are doing the same. I sincerely hope you get better soon. Without you, I might lack a little motivation to make movies. I really mean it."

Roger Albert looked at him for a few seconds, then his eyes curved slightly as he said in a guttural voice, "Don't think that just because you said that, I'll go easy on you in the future."

Chen Nuo laughed and said, "No, I won't think that way. I know that if you did that, you wouldn't be Roger Albert. Take good care of yourself and hope that one day when I stand on the Oscar stage to accept the Best Actor award, I can see you sitting upright below, applauding me."

Roger Albert said, "I may not live to see that day."

Chen Nuo said, "No, you must wait until that day."

Come out of the ward.

Roger Albert's burly assistant and nanny said to Chen Nuo with gratitude, "Thank you for coming. I know you were still in Africa at the time. Roger was really happy to see you. He just likes to joke around, so please don't mind him."

Chen Nuo said, "I know. Where are Roger's family? Why are you the only one here?" The burly man replied, "Chaz, that is, Mr. Albert's wife, is currently on vacation in Canada and hasn't arrived yet."

Chen Nuo asked, "What about his child?"

The burly man said, “Mr. Albert has no biological children. Oh no, perhaps the movies are his children.”

……

No one expected that things would be done so quickly.

I traveled all this way, only to see Roger Albert once and congratulate him on surviving, and that seemed to be the end of it?
In the hospital parking lot, several people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Gulnazar asked, "Boss, what should we do?"

Chen Nuo was thinking and hadn't had a chance to speak when suddenly, a majestic Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled up next to their Escalade. The rear window rolled down, and a man with a face full of wrinkles appeared in front of him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Chicago?" These were the first words he said after he and Allison got into James Pritzker's Rolls-Royce.

Chen Nuo asked, "How did you know I was here?"

James rolled his eyes and said, "What else could it be? Half an hour ago, my secretary told me that the internet is buzzing with the news that you flew from South Korea to Los Angeles for over ten hours to visit Roger Albert. Didn't you know that your car was followed by paparazzi as soon as you came out of the airport? Look at this."

When Chen Nuo looked at the picture on James's phone, he exclaimed, "Holy crap, it really is him!" Wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, he was seen leaving the airport, getting into a car, and being followed all the way to the hospital. The picture was so clear it could be used as wallpaper. But he genuinely didn't notice any cameras around him the entire time.

Allison leaned over from the passenger seat, her face looking rather grim, and said, "It's my fault, I was careless."

James said, “Miss, it’s not your fault. Chicago paparazzi are notorious throughout the United States. They’ve been doing this ever since Jordan’s time. Think about it, during the Chicago Bulls dynasty in the 90s, everyone in the city knew where Jordan went golfing, who he ate with, and how many chips he won or lost at the casino the next morning.”

Allison sat back down, her face grim.

James added, "Alright, let's get down to business..."

Chen Nuo nodded.

He thought James would talk about the box office figures for the past two days, or discuss the upcoming awards campaign with him.

Unexpectedly, the chubby man, who had lost a lot of weight, said, "I've already asked people to make preparations. We're definitely going to have a good time tonight. Welcome to Chicago, the sin capital of America."

……

……

At the party, a girl said to Chen Nuo,
Although cell phones and any recording devices are not allowed, and you have to be searched to enter, all the hottest girls in Chicago are here for tonight's party! It might even be the most sensational party since that super-popular black singer held a party here in the 1990s.

Chen Nuo didn't know if what the girl said was true, but that night, in the Pritzker family's luxurious villa, the large party with five or six hundred people could indeed be described as a scene of debauchery and extravagance.

The women around him changed one after another—some flirted with him, some offered him drinks, some kissed him, and some even tried to touch him inappropriately. If it weren't for Gulnazar sticking to her post and driving away these American swarms of women, he would never have been able to sleep alone that night.

2, 3, 4, and 5 are all possibilities.

It can be said that the number p can be as large as one's ambition.

At this moment, Chen Nuo was fast asleep.

Because in his dream, he no longer needs to worry about his image, nor does he have to worry about someone accusing him of rape in the future, or about a pregnant woman with a baby coming to him and asking him for money every month. He can freely mingle with these disreputable women.

He was playing human Russian roulette, the kind where a lot of people lie on a table and spin around. He happened to land on the prettiest woman of the evening, a dark-haired woman of Italian descent. He chuckled lewdly, about to make a move...

Suddenly, he seemed to hear someone calling his name—"Chen, Chen."

He groggily opened his eyes and saw a long, ugly face only centimeters away from him in the darkness, staring intently at him.

"Fuck your mother!"

Chen Nuo was so frightened that Xi Chuan blurted out something, and his fist almost flew out.

James had no idea he was about to get panda eyes. When he saw that Chen was awake, he immediately said with a serious face, "Chen, you have to help me."

Chen Nuo, still shaken, was also somewhat nervous due to his influence and asked, "How can I help you?"

James said, "I need your help with the Oscar race."

"Oh, me? How can I help you? Didn't you hire a PR firm?"

"No."

Chen Nuo shook his head, somewhat unsure if he was still dreaming, and hesitated before asking, "What do you mean by 'no'?"

James Pritzker said, "No, that means I didn't hire a company, and I wasn't aiming for any awards... Chen, calm down and listen to me. After we won the award in Venice, I was just a little short of what that old man's will stipulated, and now is the crucial moment."

"Almost there? I thought you'd already got it all sorted out when I saw you today. If you haven't even received the money yet, where are you going to get the money to buy a Rolls-Royce? And throw a party like this?"

"The car was rented. For tonight's party, all I did was hire two bodyguards to search people at the door. The party company heard you were there, so they didn't charge me a penny; all they asked for was my permission to put tonight's party in their brochures. The girls were the same; I just let it be known you were there, and they all came voluntarily..."

After hearing this, Chen Nuo barely managed to stay calm and asked, "What about all the distribution and copyright fees you made at the Venice Film Festival?"

James coughed and said, "You know, this is my first time directing a feature film, and it's achieved such great success. My deadbeat father never expected it, and neither did I. So, to celebrate, I went to Las Vegas... Wait, Chen, what are you doing?"

James Pritzker grabbed Chen Nuo's hand.

Chen Nuo said, "Let go."

James said with a wry smile, "Chen, please."

Chen Nuo said coldly, "If you don't leave now, your face might run into my fist."

James released his grip, sighed, and said, "Go ahead and hit me. Until the overseas box office revenue arrives, I don't even have money for film promotion. I feel like punching myself right now."

Chen Nuo stared at him, and after a while asked, "...Then what do you want me to do?"

“I need you to lend me some money to hire a PR firm, and then we can do this together. My brothers and sisters all want to kill me right now. If it weren't for the old man's will stating that they wouldn't get a single penny if I died, you'd be retrieving my body from the sea by now. Chen, save me. I swear, once this is over, I'll make it up to you tenfold, a hundredfold. I swear to God, I will.”

"..."

"List?"

"Get out, now!!"

……

Chen Nuo knew that if he were nominated for Best Actor this time, he would be nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor for the second consecutive year.

If last year's "Inception" was a somewhat opportunistic way for him to get an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, it was because he leveraged the film's commercial success and market influence.

So this year, if he can get a second nomination as the lead actor with a purely art film like "Water Drop," then no one will have anything to say. From then on, he can rightfully enter the Oscar nomination list for Best Actor and have the right to win the trophy someday.

Therefore, Chen Nuo also attached great importance to this, which is why he saw Roger Albert's recommendation and traveled a long way to come here.

Of course, who could have known that the old man hadn't died, but instead had recovered and was full of energy?

It's a good thing, but his previously certain nomination has now vanished.

Although Chen Nuo had previously thought that it would be a joke to pin his hopes for an Oscar nomination on James Pritzker, a rookie who not long ago didn't even know how to conduct public relations at the Venice Film Festival.

But he never imagined that one day he would need to win the lottery himself.

However, when Alison told her the next day, the Canadian woman didn't react much.

He nodded, seemingly unsurprised.

Chen Nuo asked in surprise, "You knew this beforehand?"

Allison nodded readily. “Yes. Remember the variety shows I had in my bag? I didn’t just buy this one; actually, I’ve been buying them all this time. Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline—I’ve never seen an FYC ad for our Drop in any of those professional magazines. Not a single one. So, that’s when I knew something was wrong.”

James Pritzker coughed lightly and said, "Allison, I'm sorry..."

"Don't rush to apologize, let Alison finish speaking," Chen Nuo said irritably.

Without money, you lack confidence. After being yelled at, James shrank back and immediately fell silent.

Allison smiled.

He didn't know if it was because an Oscar or Golden Globe nomination meant the woman would earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. Anyway, what Chen Nuo saw on her face wasn't disgust or annoyance, but eagerness.

James Pritzker watched from the side, his eyes seemingly glazed over.

Alison said, "In that case, let's give it a try. I'd like to see which is harder, an Oscar nomination or a presidential election."

(End of this chapter)