Chapter 104: Both Leads Are Monsters

"Wong, you know what? You are simply a genius. Finding this Chinese boy to act is a completely genius idea."

Darius Khondji said excitedly, "I see your intention now. That's right, in the European and American markets, Jude Law would definitely be more popular than this boy, but..."

"But what?"

"But Jude Law is too handsome. Although this Chinese boy is also handsome, he has an Oriental face. So the audience won't think—oh, damn it, Jude Law is pursuing you, kissing you, why don't you accept him, but instead go to think about your ex-boyfriend, and so on. As the male lead, Chen's skin color will make every woman fall into entanglement."

Wong Kar-wai didn't speak.

"Oh, you really thought so, right?" Darius Khondji looked at his expression and said dissatisfiedly, "You didn't tell me before, just wanted to see my joke, right? This isn't how friends should act."

Wong Kar-wai said, "Darius, I can pretend I didn't hear your racist remarks, but don't think I'll agree with you."

Darius Khondji smiled indifferently, "There is one more thing, I think you might not have noticed yet, it was something I discovered while filming."

Wong Kar-wai was a bit curious, "What?"

Darius Khondji said sneakily, "Your pair of leads are very wrong. I bet they must have already slept together. These two little guys act so well, they even deceived you. But I stare at them closely for 8 hours every day, they can't deceive me."

Emma Stone's fingers lightly held a white lady's cigarette, the smoke curling around her face like a mysterious veil. Her eyes, through the smoke, carried a blurred light as she signaled to Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo shook his head, "I don't smoke."

Emma Stone nodded lightly, seemingly not surprised by this answer. She held the cigarette with both hands, sitting on the edge of the bed, her posture natural.

"I learned to smoke when I was 15. At that time, I was auditioning every day, but no one was willing to give me a chance."

Her fingers lightly flicked the ash, her tone revealing a kind of self-mockery, "Actually, until today, I've only been an extra in two dramas, worked as a part-time host on a children's show, and I even dubbed for a dog. Now that I can be here, I feel like I'm dreaming. Although Wong made me dye my blonde hair black, I didn't hesitate for a second. I need someone to tell me that my choice wasn't wrong too much."

Chen Nuo sighed slightly. Hadn't he been like this before?

Thinking you have talent, and others confirming you have talent, often have an uncrossable chasm in between. Fortunately, he crossed it.

He stroked Emma Stone's hairless inner thigh, his movements gentle and full of tenderness, comforting her, "Emma, I have a premonition that after this movie, your life will be different. There will be many Hollywood directors pursuing you like bees pursuing flowers, and in the end, you will become an incomparable actress. Really, believe me."

"Thank you." Emma Stone's eyes were also full of love. Her hands trembled as she pressed the cigarette out in the ashtray. Then she buried her head, her voice low and full of emotion, "I know you haven't..."

"Hiss~" Chen Nuo rested his head on his hands and couldn't help but gasp. A complex emotion flashed in his eyes. He didn't know if it was good for him and Emma Stone to be like this every day, but their scenes together were indeed becoming smoother and smoother.

In the restaurant, Chen Nuo was sweeping the floor with a broom. His movements were very skilled, and his expression was very serious.

Not only because this was his job, but also because he didn't want to keep focusing his attention on the girl in front of him.

Emma Stone said softly, "Do you think he will come to get the key?"

Chen Nuo said nonchalantly, "I have guests who have left their keys here for several years. Sometimes they come to take them away in a few days, and sometimes it takes several weeks."

"Most of the time?"

"Most of the time, the keys stay in the jar."

Darius Khondji's camera moved from Chen Nuo's back as he took things to Emma Stone's face in front of the bar. She was stunned for a long time, then asked with a trace of anger, "Why do you keep the keys? You should throw them away!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because if I throw the keys away, these doors will never open again. This shouldn't be decided by me, right?"

Originally in the script, he would hold a bottle of beer here, drinking while speaking.

But Chen Nuo didn't do that. He stood sideways, looking at the sticker on the refrigerator door, unable to see any expression in his eyes, but it just made Darius Khondji look through the viewfinder and feel a sudden tug in his heart.

Damn, did God kiss his eyes? Why did he do nothing, yet I saw so much confusion and melancholy in it?

What Darius Khondji found most terrifying was that there was more than one monster in this movie.

Perhaps because body fluids are contagious, Emma Stone's state was the same as Chen Nuo's, becoming better and better.

When Darius Khondji's camera moved to Emma Stone's face, she had a beer in front of her and a tissue on the table. After hearing Chen Nuo's words, she didn't answer immediately; she also began to learn to speak with her eyes.

She looked down diagonally for a while, then wandered left and right. Her eyes had nowhere to rest, just like her heart. She wanted to say something, but couldn't say it. She gave people the feeling of sitting on a volcano, with erupting magma right beneath her, and she had to pretend to be fine.

She finally admitted, "I think I just want to find the reason he betrayed me."

The lens slid from a vase to Chen Nuo's face. His face revealed sincerity as he advised, "From my observation, sometimes, many things have no reason."

Emma Stone's black hair draped over her face, and she immediately followed up, "Everything has a reason."

Chen Nuo's pupils moved upward, as if thinking, then he thought of something and gestured behind him with his thumb, "For example, like this cake and pie. Every night when closing, the cheesecake and apple pie will be sold out, and the peach pie and chocolate mousse will also be sold out, but..."

He took a pie out of the display window and said with a trace of helplessness, "... the blueberry pie is always untouched."

Emma Stone was stunned, "What's wrong with the blueberry pie?"

Chen Nuo smiled, "There's nothing wrong with the blueberry pie; it has no problems at all, it's just that everyone chose something else. You can't blame the blueberry pie; it's fine, it's just that no one wants to eat it."

He looked at the blueberry pie and finally softened his tone, "No one wants to eat blueberry pie, that's all."

He wasn't talking about the blueberry pie; he was talking about himself.

There were tens of millions of people in New York, making countless choices every day, but no one chose to come to this shop to eat blueberry pie, just as from childhood to adulthood, no one would choose him, this Chinese boy.

He was also telling Emma Stone.

Your boyfriend's cheating and betrayal wasn't because you did anything wrong. It's just that some people chose A, and some people chose B. A and B themselves are innocent, and the choice is actually innocent. Then who is guilty? God knows.

Sometimes, some questions really have no answer.

Chen Nuo prepared to put the unwanted blueberry pie back, and Emma Stone said loudly, "Wait."

Chen Nuo stopped his action.

"I want to eat a piece." Emma Stone said quietly.

Chen Nuo stared at her for a while, then suddenly laughed, with ease and playfulness, and even a bit of excitement, "Do you want to try adding some ice cream to the pie?"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 106 =====