Chapter 121: The Clumsy Clown

Compared to the previous two years, Chen Nuo's phone was much busier this Spring Festival.

On New Year's Eve, he had to change two batteries just to finish saying what needed to be said and paying his New Year's greetings.

Among them, Zhang Yiyi seemed to have really made it; he was actually able to earn money based on his status. Together with Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, and Zhang "Big Beard" (Zhang Jizhong), he participated in a talent show called "Yahoo Search Star" as a mentor or something.

Zhang Yiyi said quite proudly on the phone: "Do you know? My group had the most people sign up, over 2,000 in total."

Chen Nuo sneered, "Isn't that just eating the leftovers from the Super Girl contest?"

Zhang Yiyi laughed loudly: "Jealous, right? Hahahaha, still remember that Silver Bear Award thing, right? That magazine editor forced me to hold the trophy for a photo, I was forced too."

Chen Nuo said disdainfully: "I saw you jumping up holding the trophy, and you were forced?"

Zhang Yiyi chuckled: "Really forced, but you're not wrong, I am eating leftovers. Do you know how much Yahoo paid? I guarantee you'd be happier eating it than I am." Then he mentioned a seven-figure number.

It made Chen Nuo really want to pounce over and take a few bites too.

No matter how cold the meal was, the fiery red RMB could make it steaming hot.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Yiyi brought up the real business: "I'm preparing a new script recently, expected to start filming in the second half of the year. How long will your Batman take to film? Do you have time to come and make a cameo in my movie?"

Chen Nuo thought for a moment and said: "If you film until the end of the year, I should be able to come."

Zhang Yiyi said: "That's a deal then."

A cameo for Xu Ke, a cameo for Zhang Yiyi; counting them up, he already had two cameos. However, the time for Xu Ke's cameo hadn't been set yet, and he didn't know if it would conflict with Batman. If they really clashed, he would only be able to apologize to "Old Monster" Xu and make it up in the next film. He believed the other party would understand.

Chen Nuo was still a bit curious about the new film from this lunatic Zhang Yiyi, so he asked: "What are you preparing to film this time? You filmed a mute, are you going to film a blind person?"

Zhang Yiyi chuckled: "Although I know you're joking, I can't help but admit it."

Chen Nuo was simply shocked: "Really? What are you up to this time? Tell me about it."

Zhang Yiyi said proudly: "You're not allowed to spread it around."

"Tell me quickly!"

It turned out Chen Nuo hadn't guessed wrong. After the mute, this lunatic Zhang Yiyi was actually preparing to film a blind person, and a female blind person at that!

"I haven't thought of a name yet, currently the tentative title is Spring of the Blind."

Chen Nuo's curiosity was bursting, so he chased him with questions: "What is the specific plot? Tell me quickly."

As a result, Zhang Yiyi refused to say, only saying that it was the yin and yang to the film about the mute, echoing each other inside and out. The mute was a big male lead film, while this one was a big female lead film.

"The hardest part is casting. I really haven't seen which current actress is suitable. Last time I asked you to play the mute, I'm not afraid of making you proud, I really had dog-shit luck. This time I don't know who to look for. I've already put the word out these past two days, preparing for a large-scale selection after the New Year. If you have a suitable candidate, you can recommend them to me. Age-wise, they need to be older than you, between about 25 and 30, and they need to be beautiful, charming, and preferably have eyes that are particularly captivating."

Chen Nuo laughed: "I don't know a single woman like that."

Zhang Yiyi laughed loudly, making Chen Nuo grit his teeth: "Zhang Yiyi, what kind of image do I have in your mind?"

"Guess for yourself, bye-bye."

Zhang Yiyi hung up the phone directly, making Chen Nuo so angry he wanted to fly to Europe to settle the score.

That's right, this guy used his parents' coffin money to turn his life around and make money. Of course, he couldn't forget the hardship of his parents having a child in their old age and raising him in a courtyard house for nearly 30 years.

In mid-January, he took his parents, who had never been abroad, out for a trip to enjoy themselves, traveling around the countries of Europe, and wouldn't return until the Lantern Festival ended.

Chen Nuo's family didn't spend the New Year in Sichuan last year, nor did they visit relatives, but this year was different.

Chen Bicheng was fine; he was an orphan, born of heaven and earth with no relatives to visit. But Pan Chengrong was the eldest, with four younger brothers below her.

According to the old rules, their family of three finished their reunion dinner at home on New Year's Eve, and on the afternoon of the first day of the New Year, they went to Pan Chengrong's parents—that is, Chen Nuo's maternal grandparents—to celebrate the New Year.

Pan Chengrong's father was 70 this year and had retired from the position of section chief at the Power Supply Bureau. Pan Chengrong's mother was a kindergarten teacher.

Actually, her family conditions were quite good growing up, but among the five children, she was the only daughter and the eldest one.

With the old generation's preference for boys over girls, one could imagine how much suffering she had endured as the eldest sister since childhood.

One could also imagine how much courage it took for Pan Chengrong to defy her whole family's opposition and resolutely marry the coal miner Chen Bicheng.

However, those were all things of the past. Now, when Chen Bicheng's Volvo just drove into the Power Supply Bureau's family compound, from far away, they heard the voice of Chen Nuo's cousin, Pan Shouyi. The fourteen-year-old girl's voice was very sharp, instantly traveling from inside the courtyard to the entrance.

Chen Nuo was still thinking at the time that with that volume, it would be enough for Yang Mi to practice for a lifetime.

As a result, when the car stopped downstairs, seven or eight girls rushed out from the building entrance all at once. They were all about the same age and quite excited. Seeing Chen Nuo get out of the car, one girl holding a camera even screamed directly, then immediately covered her mouth, her eyes blinking as she stared at Chen Nuo.

Among the girls, the one leading the charge was his cousin Pan Shouyi.

Pan Shouyi rushed over, first calling out: "Big Aunt, Big Uncle." Then she pulled on Chen Nuo's sleeve and called out in a sickeningly sweet voice: "Nuonuo brother."

Pan Chengrong frowned, looked at the pile of young girls, and asked: "Shouyi, who are they? Your classmates?"

Pan Shouyi had always been a bit afraid of her big aunt, so she shrank behind Chen Nuo and said: "Um, they are all Nuonuo brother's fans, they want to ask him for an autograph. Nuonuo brother, is that okay?"

Stared at by his cousin's cute big eyes and watched by the expectant gazes of six or seven young girls, what else could Chen Nuo do? This was the afternoon of the first day of the New Year; these girls had probably argued with their families countless times to run out to find him for an autograph, and they might even get beaten when they went back.

No matter how hard-hearted he was toward fans, he couldn't refuse.

He could only nod happily and say: "No problem, come, come, everyone come together."

It could only be said that Chen "Scumbag" Nuo really had a way with girls. Before long, these young girls left satisfied with autographs and photos. Only then was Chen Nuo able to go up to the fifth floor and enter his grandparents' home.

Counting it up, it had been over a year since they last met, and everyone was incredibly affectionate toward him.

Pan Shouyi's mother, his second aunt, even came over specifically to apologize to him, saying that Pan Shouyi promoted her big star cousin at school every day, which had resulted in many girls in their entire junior high school being Chen Nuo's fans.

Upon learning that Chen Nuo was coming for the reunion today, Pan Shouyi showed off triumphantly in the group chat. She didn't expect to be caught in a bind and had to hold such a small fan meet-and-greet.

Meet if they want to meet, Chen Nuo didn't think much of it.

Of course, he didn't know that these girls took the photos and autographs back and showed them off in the QQ group, and the junior high girls of the entire Long'an No. 6 Middle School were almost going crazy. If he hadn't boarded a plane to Beijing the next day, his cousin, who was calling him "Nuonuo brother" so crisply, would probably have held a large-scale fan meet-and-greet for him.

This time it was a trip for the family of three, and Chen Bicheng bought three first-class tickets quite lavishly. Chen Nuo didn't say anything, letting Old Chen show off a bit of presence.

Arriving at Beijing Airport, Qi Yuntian was there to pick them up in a 740i.

The Chen family of three got in the car. Not long after driving, Chen Bicheng, sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly asked: "Mo Xiaoqi, if Chen Nuo wants to buy a house in Beijing now, where would be more suitable?"

Qi Yuntian smiled: "Uncle Chen, what's your budget?"

Chen Bicheng didn't give a fixed number: "Can you buy a good one for 50 or 60 million?"

Qi Yuntian coughed and said: "There shouldn't be a problem." Chen Nuo listened in the car without saying a word, because this was something they had discussed before coming.

Since Chen Bicheng didn't want to buy land, he had to spend the money. Otherwise, the leaders above weren't fools; if you kept saying you had no money, but had tens of millions in the bank, the bank people weren't deaf, so it was impossible for the leaders not to know. Including transferring the money in the account anywhere, it could be checked just the same.

Unless you really spent it.

Therefore, for the Chen family, buying a house was imperative.

However, Qi Yuntian had a different opinion on this: "Uncle Chen, if you want to use so much money to buy a house, then I suggest you don't buy it in Beijing. This weather in Beijing is dry and cold, and there are sandstorms every day; it's really not that good. I think, why don't you go to Shanghai to buy a house? There was a real estate project that opened in December, the houses are particularly good, the privacy is also no problem, and it's right by the Huangpu River. Pushing open the window, you see the river view; it's particularly great."

As expected of Beijing's number one braggart, he just wanted to be further away from Professor Li, right? Last time he even said he wanted to move the studio to Shanghai.

However, hearing this, Chen Nuo was also a bit shaken. It was true; hadn't he sworn before that when he had money, he would go to Shanghai to buy a house? Why not now? Was it interesting to run to Beijing to buy a house and blow sand for ten years?

When all is said and done, Shanghai also had Xia Yehe, and it was even closer to fly to Hong Kong. What did Beijing have?

What was he thinking?

Chen Nuo also changed his mind and said: "Dad, why don't we listen to him and buy in Shanghai."

"Shanghai?" Chen Bicheng hesitated and said: "Isn't it better in Beijing? Aren't you still studying here?"

"I have to live in the dormitory for school."

Several people started discussing lively in the car whether to spend half of Chen Bicheng's hard-earned money in Beijing or Shanghai.

Actually, this matter was really quite significant. The Bund or old Beijing—if it were you holding 60 million, where would you be willing to live?

But the result of Chen Nuo and the others' discussion was ultimately that the minority followed the majority. After Pan Chengrong was also persuaded, Chen Bicheng couldn't stand alone and had to agree to go to Shanghai to take a look in a few days.

"By the way, what's the name of that real estate project you just mentioned, Mo Xiaoqi?"

"Tomson Riviera."

When he saw Li Er at Li Er's house, the moment Chen Nuo saw the amused look behind her gold-rimmed glasses, he immediately felt weak. All the things that had happened this year flashed through his mind, checking to see if there was anything that violated the sect rules.

It was strange to say, he had met so many big shots this year—let alone Wong Kar-wai or Nolan, even when facing Michael Slan, the vice president of Warner Bros., one of the six major Hollywood studios, he could play mind games with the other party on the phone. Back then in the Warner conference room, he didn't feel the slightest bit intimidated facing 30 people alone.

But as soon as he returned to Beijing and saw Professor Li, he was truly like a chick seeing a hawk; he was completely well-behaved. After greeting her, he sat obediently on the sofa, waiting for Professor Li to speak.

Fortunately, after thinking for a long time, he found that he didn't seem to have done anything that would make Professor Li angry.

Pan Chengrong laughed uncontrollably on the side: "Professor Li, this naughty monkey of ours, now only you can really keep him in check."

Li Er also laughed and said: "Xiao Pan, Xiao Chen, don't bring bags and bags of things when you come over in the future. Just visit and chat."

Chen Bicheng said "Eh" and said: "Professor Li, what's this? These are all local specialties from our Sichuan."

Qi Yifei laughed on the side: "Is Moutai also from Sichuan?"

Chen Bicheng laughed: "Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan are one family, it's all the same, all the same. Sigh, Professor Qi, regarding the coal reform recently, I've already closed the coal mine. Please give me some guidance on what to do next. The city is asking me to support the work, buy land, and engage in development, but I don't know if I should do it."

Qi Yifei said: "Real estate is a sunrise industry, and it's also an industry that our country will focus on in the next few years. Although there has been macro-control in the past few years, in my opinion, there is still great potential for the future. However, you are just starting to change careers, so the pace shouldn't be too big. After all, many things need to be explored by yourself. Take it step by step, slowly. You must be steady; steady development is the long-term plan."

Chen Bicheng sighed: "Professor Qi, I only know now that what you said last year was truly golden advice. This time I will definitely listen to you, take it slowly, don't rush."

Li Er and Pan Chengrong also sat and chatted about family matters for a while. Afterward, she suddenly turned her head and asked: "Chen Nuo, have you considered what I said on the phone? Do you want to say it now and discuss it with your parents?"

Pan Chengrong asked curiously: "Professor Li, what is it?"

"Chen Nuo, do you want to tell them?"

Chen Nuo smiled bitterly: "Professor Li, let me say it."

So Chen Nuo explained what he was thinking. As a result, let alone Chen Bicheng, Pan Chengrong was the first to explode: "You dare! I'd rather you never film movies in your life!"

Facing the woman he had no way of dealing with, the only one of the two in his life, Chen Nuo could only sigh and say: "Mom, I only have a preliminary idea, and I also know it's not mature."

Pan Chengrong sneered angrily: "Not mature? Heh, Mo Xiaoqi, give me his passport now!"

Chen Nuo's passport had always been kept by Qi Yuntian. This person was also an ingrate; after looking at Chen Nuo with sympathy, he really went to the bedroom, took out Chen Nuo's passport, and handed it to Pan Chengrong.

Pan Chengrong said bitterly: "Now let's see where you can go. If you have the ability, go swim across the Taiwan Strait!"

That was it; what was there to discuss? There was no need to talk at all.

Finally, it was Professor Li who spoke: "Chen Nuo, I think it's excellent that you want to experience life. I also appreciate your attitude. After all, your living environment is too good; saying you have no worries about food and clothing is even insulting you. If this continues, you will definitely be detached from the masses. By then, your acting will inevitably lose its vitality. Don't say it won't; this is an objective law, and it has nothing to do with your talent. Why do we see many actors with great talent who, at the beginning of their careers, play roles that are vivid and lifelike, but later become stereotyped and rigid? The root cause lies here."

"No matter who you invite to act with you, and no matter how many acting teachers you invite to teach you how to act, as long as you are detached from the common people, you will inevitably be unable to act in good plays."

The entire living room was filled with Li Er's voice, but both Chen Bicheng and Pan Chengrong listened very carefully. Because what Li Er said was not just about acting; other aspects seemed to be the same.

"This is not a slogan shouted at a conference, nor is it some feudal dogma. Look at those acting masters abroad; which one of them is not like an ordinary person in life? Chen Nuo, you are willing to spend several months to endure loneliness for a role, to abandon all the affluent life you have now, and to step out of your comfort zone. I want to praise you for this."

"Xiao Chen, Xiao Pan, to be honest, I was more gratified than anything else when Chen Nuo made this request to me this time. Do you know why?"

Li Er didn't let Chen Bicheng and Pan Chengrong chime in, answering the question directly, "Because I know he hasn't floated away yet, he hasn't forgotten himself in the praise of the outside world, and he hasn't forgotten the bits and pieces I once taught him. He is still the Chen Nuo who could act as the mute a year ago!"

Undoubtedly, Li Er had started her New Year's speech again.

"Don't think this is easy. I told you a year ago that I hoped you wouldn't let Chen Nuo become an actor who only sees money in his eyes. Now it seems you have done it."

Chen Bicheng straightened his back unconsciously, coughed lightly, and said: "Professor Li, ever since you said that, every time I call Chen Nuo, I tell him not to worry about the pay. As long as you think the role is good and has artistic value, even if they don't give you a cent, you should take it if you should, and even scramble to take it."

Li Er adjusted her glasses and nodded: "So this time, I also hope you, Xiao Chen and Xiao Pan, will support him."

Chen Bicheng's expression stiffened a bit, and he chuckled: "Professor Li, you tell us, how should we support him? If he goes to the United States alone, it's not impossible, it's just..."

Li Er interrupted him: "It's definitely impossible to let him go to the United States."

Chen Bicheng looked like he had suddenly relaxed, his expression becoming easygoing: "Then whatever you say, Professor Li, we will cooperate."

Pan Chengrong had been silent on the side, but finally spoke up: "Right, Professor Li, what do you think we should do?"

Li Er looked at Chen Nuo and said: "I hope you understand him and let him do what he wants to do. Of course, safety is the first priority. Regarding this point, Old Qi and I have found a suitable place in the last two days. Old Qi, why don't you say it?"

Qi Yifei said happily: "It's also a coincidence. I have a college classmate I'm quite close with who is just about to be transferred to a small place near Beijing to be the deputy mayor in charge of the economy after the New Year. I thought, asking him to take care of Chen Nuo would definitely be no problem, so there would be a guarantee for his personal safety. And that place is close to Beijing; it only takes an hour or so to drive. If there's anything, it's convenient to go back and forth."

Chen Bicheng and Pan Chengrong looked at each other, and finally, it was Pan Chengrong who asked: "Professor Qi, what's the name of the place you mentioned?"

"Langfang, Langfang, Hebei."

Should I just post two chapters at midnight from now on? I feel like reading them together is more comfortable.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 122 =====