Chapter 105: Blueberries

"Wang, do you know? You are simply a genius. Finding this Chinese boy to act is an absolutely genius idea."

Darius Khondji said excitedly, "I see your intention now. That's right, in the European and American markets, Jude Law is definitely 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, and instead go on to think about your ex-boyfriend and other such questions. Chen, as the male lead, his skin color will make every woman fall into a dilemma."

Wong Kar-wai didn't speak.

"Oh, you really did think that, didn't you?" Darius Khondji looked at his expression and said with dissatisfaction, "You didn't tell me before, you just wanted to see me make a fool of myself, right? This isn't how friends treat each other."

Wong Kar-wai said: "Darius, I can pretend I didn't hear your racial remarks, but don't expect me to agree with you."

Darius Khondji smiled dismissively: "There is one more point, which I think you haven't noticed yet, that I discovered while filming."

Wong Kar-wai was a bit curious and said: "What?"

Darius Khondji said sneakily: "This pair of leads of yours is very strange. I bet they must have already slept together. These two little ones act so well, they even fooled you. But I stare at them from close range for 8 hours every day; they can't fool 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, held a hazy glow as she signaled to Chen Nuo.

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

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

"I learned to smoke when I was 15. Back then, 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 sense of self-deprecation, "Actually, to this day, I've only played extras in two dramas, worked as a part-time host on a children's show, and I even did voice acting for a dog. Being here now, I feel like I'm dreaming. Although Wang asked me to 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 the same before?

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

He stroked the hairless base of Emma Stone's 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 trembling as she stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray. Then she buried her head, her voice low and full of emotion, "I know you haven't yet..."

"Hiss~" Chen Nuo rested his head on his hands, unable to help but take a breath. A flash of complex emotion crossed his eyes; he didn't know if it was good to be like this with Emma Stone every day, but their scenes together were indeed becoming smoother and smoother.

In the restaurant, Chen Nuo was holding a broom and sweeping the floor; his movements were skillful, and his expression was very serious.

Not only because this was his job, but also because he didn't want to keep his attention fixed 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 customers who leave keys here for years; sometimes they come to take them after a few days, sometimes it takes several weeks."

"Most of the time?"

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

The camera in Darius Khondji's hand 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, and 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. That shouldn't be for me to decide, should it?"

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

But Chen Nuo didn't do that; he stood sideways, staring at the sticker on the refrigerator door, no expression visible in his eyes, but it just made Darius Khondji, looking through the viewfinder, feel a sudden tug in his heart.

Damn, did God kiss his eyes? Why did he do nothing, yet I see so much confusion and longing in there?

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

Perhaps because bodily fluids are contagious, Emma Stone's state, like Chen Nuo's, was getting better and better.

When Darius Khondji's lens moved to Emma Stone's face, she had a glass of 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, then shifted left and right; her gaze had nowhere to rest, just like her inner heart. Whatever she wanted to say, she couldn't get out; she gave people the feeling of sitting on a volcano, with erupting magma beneath her, and she had to pretend she was perfectly fine.

She finally admitted: "I think I just wanted to find the reason he betrayed me."

The camera 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 replied: "Everything has a reason."

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

He took a pie out of the display case, saying 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 perfectly fine, it's just that no one wants to eat it."

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

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

New York has tens of millions of people, 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 isn't because you did anything wrong. It's just that some people choose A, and some people choose B. A and B themselves are innocent, and the choice is actually innocent too. 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 movement.

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

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

(End of chapter)