Chapter 181

The *Windtalk* crew really went all out this time; Jiang Wen, having money to burn, rented out an entire hall at the Hengdian World Studios to show support for his little brother.

After all, this is China, not the United States.

There are no Batman comic book fans here.

Nor are there any members of the public influenced by the overwhelming advertising blitzkrieg before Warner's premiere.

And certainly no ordinary moviegoers interested due to the online controversy surrounding the Joker role.

For Hengdian World Studios, a sixty percent occupancy rate for the midnight screening of *The Dark Knight* in Hall 3 would have been considered decent.

As for someone wanting to rent out the whole hall, the cinema was more than happy to oblige.

Not to mention, the person renting it out was surnamed Jiang.

Led by Jiang Wen, Fan Fan Binbing, Liu Yifei, Huang Bo, Duan Yihong, Yu Hewei, Zhang Songwen, and the two directors, the entire *Windtalk* crew—including those foreign staff members—arrived in full force, filling nearly half of the 300-seat medium-sized hall at Hengdian World Studios.

This also included Qi Yuntian, as well as the two newly signed young artists, Zhao Liying and Zhang Xin.

Zhao Liying and Zhang Xin sat in the middle of the fifth row with Qi Yuntian, and two seats away from them were Fan Fan Binbing and Liu Yifei.

Listening to the lively chatter of Jiang Wen in the back row, she caught a glimpse of Fan Fan Binbing and Liu Yifei whispering to each other out of the corner of her eye.

The two girls exchanged a glance.

Zhang Xin whispered, "Touch this and see how fast my heart is beating right now."

Zhao Liying looked at the towering chest beneath the other girl's pale pink T-shirt. She didn't need to touch it to know that, beyond the soft and bouncy sensation, the heartbeat must be fast enough to jump right out of her chest.

Because she felt the same way.

It truly felt like a dream.

Just three days ago, she was even choosing between giving up her career as an extra and giving up her dignity.

As a result, the tides suddenly turned. She actually followed her good sister and signed into the now-thriving entertainment circle, a place countless people dream of entering.

She became a label-mate with Fan Fan Binbing and Liu Yifei, and an artist under Chen Nuo.

If someone had told her a week ago that her future would be like this, Zhao Liying felt she wouldn't have believed it even if she died.

Zhang Xin looked to the right and whispered again, "Fan Fan Binbing is so beautiful. Liu Yifei is also so cute. My god, sitting with them, I feel so inferior."

Zhao Liying pursed her lips and smiled, whispering back, "I'm the one who should say that. At least you have a chest; I can't compare to them in anything."

Zhang Xin nodded triumphantly and said, "That's true."

Just then, a faint male voice interjected, "Want to get to know them? Do you want me to introduce you?"

Zhao Liying was startled.

Honestly, she was a bit afraid of this impossibly handsome Director Qi.

It was mainly the way this person looked at her; it was no different from looking at an object.

It wasn't until Zhang Xin enlightened her that she found out.

It turned out that Chen Nuo's manager, and the current General Manager of the thriving company, Director Qi, was a...

However, you really couldn't tell from his appearance.

With short black hair, he looked very spirited. Although he was born with a pair of "peach blossom eyes" that looked even better than a woman's, he was always serious and rarely smiled. He was both handsome and cool; Zhao Liying felt he wasn't any less impressive than Chen Nuo.

The only difference, if one had to mention it, would be his fingernails.

When signing the contract, Zhao Liying noticed inadvertently that he seemed to pay great attention to maintenance; they had a faint luster, were trimmed very regularly, and his fingers were neat and slender, looking better than many women's.

Before Zhao Liying and Zhang Xin could reply, Fan Fan Binbing, who was to the side, had already heard and turned her face, smiling like a flower: "Director Qi, are these two little sisters the newly signed artists of our company? Are they the two Chen Nuo mentioned before?"

Qi Yuntian said, "That's right, this one is Zhao Liying, and this one is Zhang Xin. Bingbing, you two should get to know each other."

Zhao Liying's heart was pounding like a deer. She first shook hands with Fan Fan Binbing, then greeted the smiling Liu Yifei.

For a small extra like her whose daily pay had just passed a hundred, getting to know these two big stars was no longer like being in a dream, but rather being lost in the clouds.

Fan Fan Binbing glanced at Zhao Liying and Zhang Xin twice more, then tilted her head and whispered to Liu Yifei: "Yifei, why do you think Chen Nuo signed them?"

Liu Yifei blinked her clear, black-and-white eyes and said very affirmatively, "Because Chen Nuo wants to expand the company."

Alright, Fan Fan Binbing was now once again certain. This person definitely wouldn't compete with her for the position of the company's top sister.

She immediately skipped the topic and smiled even more gently: "Yifei, you just said you were going to Africa after finishing filming?"

Speaking of this, Liu Yifei got excited and said with a smile, "Yes, I plan to go to Tanzania first to see the Serengeti plains. I calculated the time; it will be the season of the zebra migration. It must be very interesting. Hey, Sister Bingbing, do you want to come with me?"

Fan Fan Binbing's eyes also revealed a sense of longing, just like when Chen Nuo heard Liu Yifei went to Antarctica.

She said something similar to what she told Chen Nuo: "Let's see, um, after the New Year, if I have time, I will definitely go take a look."

Liu Yifei didn't understand that people who often say such things, even after twenty years, are unlikely to go.

She actually took it somewhat seriously and even talked to Fan Fan Binbing about the various travel plans she had made.

Fan Fan Binbing listened very carefully as well.

Come to think of it, in all the years she had been in the entertainment industry and spent so long at Poly Huayi, she had truly never seen such a person in the circle.

Thinking about it, it was quite incredible.

Fan Fan Binbing sighed slightly to herself; it turned out that when she played Zhao Linger, Li Xiaolong Maiden, and Wang Yuyan, she was actually playing herself.

The key was that her fate was also good.

Everything went smoothly all the way.

In the last year or two, whenever she encountered a slight setback, she immediately had noble people to support her.

As for who the noble person was, that went without saying.

That person was truly a bit different toward her.

After spending a long time with Chen Nuo, Fan Fan Binbing actually felt she couldn't see through this person. This boy wasn't old, and on the surface, he looked gentle, but in reality, Fan Fan Binbing felt his heart was a bit cold, like a block of ice, with no temperature.

Including how he treated his current girlfriend, Fan Fan Binbing didn't feel he loved her that much.

But toward this soulmate of his, there was truly an indescribable feeling.

Perhaps it really was Yang Guo and Li Xiaolong Maiden.

Such things could only be called fate, something you couldn't ask for. So she could be carefree now, thinking of nothing. All day long, she only thought about where to travel.

Who wouldn't want to live such a life? Fan Fan Binbing wanted to as well. But was it possible?

If one day Liu Yifei lost her fame, Fan Fan Binbing guaranteed that Chen Nuo would still keep her in the company, and might even invest in a few dramas for her to play around with.

However, if she, Fan Fan Binbing, were no longer Fan Fan Binbing, she wouldn't have the confidence of not being kicked out.

She chatted with Liu Yifei for a while, and then the cinema manager came over to ask, since everything was ready and the time had come, whether the movie should start.

"Then start playing!"

Jiang Wen's voice was truly loud, just like the sound of gunfire in a gang war after the movie started.

One benefit of renting out the hall was that everyone was one of their own.

No matter what they did, said, or shouted, they didn't have to worry about disturbing others.

Therefore, Chen Nuo's first appearance made the entire hall explode.

From the moment Jiang Wen shouted, "Holy shit, did Nuozi get plastic surgery?" the discussions rose one after another.

Ning Hao said, "He gained weight, he definitely gained weight. No wonder when I saw his photos in Cannes, he was completely different from before."

Yu Hewei said, "I've seen their promotional posters before, but it still feels different from the movie. This is too realistic; who could tell it's Chen Nuo?"

Gao Qunshu shook his head and said, "No wonder I saw the Sina news this afternoon saying that Americans were shocked."

Duan Yihong and Zhang Songwen didn't speak; both of them looked at the big screen with flickering eyes, their expressions focused, not knowing what they were thinking. As for the girls sitting in the front row, Fan Fan Binbing let out a breath and said to Liu Yifei, "If I had to gain so much weight to act, I definitely couldn't do it. How about you?"

Liu Yifei thought about it and said, "I could."

Fan Fan Binbing was taken aback because she knew this girl would never lie.

But why would such a beautiful actress be willing to do this?

Liu Yifei's face flickered in the light of the big screen.

She indeed hadn't lied.

Ever since she practiced in Teacher Zhang Songwen's courtyard with Chen Nuo for those ten days or half a month, a small seed had been planted in her heart.

Perhaps one day the seed would sprout, perhaps it would grow into a towering tree, or perhaps it would die halfway.

She didn't think that much; she just wanted to live her life well now, living every day freely and happily. However, if possible, she also wanted to let people praise her like this once.

If there was one person in the entire cinema who was the most shocked at this moment, it was none other than Zhao Liying.

Zhao Liying had rarely paid attention to Chen Nuo's news before; she had heard about him going to play the Joker.

After *The Dark Knight* entered the promotional period, she had also seen the promotional photos of Chen Nuo as the Joker while browsing entertainment news.

But the difference between the photos and the living character on the movie screen was really too great. When this person moved, Zhao Liying felt she might be crazy.

For the next 120-plus minutes of the movie, from beginning to end, she didn't say a word.

Even during the most sensational moments in the middle of the movie.

The cinema hall was silent as death while watching, and then discussions broke out afterward.

Come to think of it, laymen watch the excitement, while experts watch the technique.

When the crew members were mesmerized and worshipful of Chen Nuo's gang scenes, the charity gala hostage scene, and the police station confrontation scene, and were saying things like,

"How is this acted so divinely?"

"It would be unreasonable if this doesn't win an Oscar."

"If this were in China, I wouldn't even dare to imagine it."

"I've been to so many crews, damn, I've never even heard of such acting, let alone seen it."

"People say Teacher Chen Baoguo was like a demon when filming *Ming Dynasty* a while ago, but this guy's Joker is definitely even better."

And so on.

Zhang Songwen and Duan Yihong were more focused on the scene where Chen Nuo wore a nurse's uniform to persuade the prosecutor to fall into becoming Two-Face.

Duan Yihong shook his head and said, "This identity is too complex, and the psychological logic is too twisted; I can't quite wrap my head around it."

Zhang Songwen said, "It's useless for us to look at it like this; just thinking about it, we definitely can't act it out."

Duan Yihong nodded, quite agreeing: "As an enemy who killed this prosecutor's lover and destroyed half of his face, why does the Joker dare to sit in front of him, and is also very confidently prepared to persuade him? I can't even figure it out, but he acted it out, and acted it extremely naturally and fluently. I just watched him act it once, but if I were asked to follow his example, I couldn't do it."

Duan Yihong's words were mysterious, but Zhang Songwen understood.

Because he had been a teacher.

In the appreciation class at the Film Academy, they would play a classic movie and extract one or two classic characters, asking students to analyze why they acted so reasonably, and what the psychological logic and changes were.

It was precisely because of the principle Duan Yihong mentioned.

Seeing it clearly and thinking it clearly are two different things.

You watch others act like this and feel comfortable, but if asked how it was acted out?

Analyze it.

Nine out of ten would be speechless.

Therefore, him being able to act it out, and you being able to act it out by following his example, are two different things.

What is being tested is more than just imitation, and what is needed is more than just imagination.

This scene of Chen Nuo's was like setting a similar problem for everyone.

It was like telling these people who prided themselves on being professional actors.

Come on, I've already acted it out.

It's equivalent to a math exam; I've given you all the answers, you just need to provide the solution process.

Simple, right?

Zhang Songwen shook his head and said to Duan Yihong, "We have to come watch it a few more times."

Duan Yihong nodded: "Call me when the time comes; if I don't have any scenes, I'll come with you."

These two people seemed to have hit it off immediately. They had been quite close lately, and who knew if there would be a *The Knockout* starring Duan Yihong and Zhang Songwen in the future.

After watching the movie, it was past 2 o'clock.

Jiang Wen came up with an idea.

In the cinema hall, one or two hundred people were quiet.

He put the phone on speaker and dialed out.

When the call was picked up, there was some noise on Chen Nuo's end, but the voice was still clear: "Brother Jiang, what's wrong? Did you guys finish the screening too?"

Jiang Wen said, "Yes, we finished. After watching it, we have something we want to say to you."

"Come on, brothers and sisters, get ready."

"3, 2, 1"

The hundred-plus men and women in the cinema hall, with smiles, heard Jiang Wen count down to the end and shouted in unison:

"Awesome!!!"

Afterward, everyone laughed together.

Jiang Wen laughed, Ning Hao laughed.

Zhang Songwen, Duan Yihong, Huang Bo, and Yu Hewei all laughed.

Fan Fan Binbing and Liu Yifei also laughed.

Zhang Xin laughed, Qi Yuntian laughed.

No one heard what Chen Nuo replied.

This seemed to be the first time Zhao Liying had seen Qi Yuntian laugh.

Perhaps among everyone in the hall, she was the only one who didn't laugh.

She couldn't laugh.

Because she had been reminiscing in her mind.

The day she left Langfang, Su Tuan, Xiao Si, and Wang Xiang were eating pork knuckles at her house.

Wang Xiang seemed to have grown a bit fat at that time, and his face was a bit round; Su Tuan was making Wang Xiang control his diet.

Wang Xiang said something in his gravelly voice at the time, the specific content of which she had already forgotten. However, the voice was really similar to that Joker in the movie.

Moreover, when she followed Wang Xiang to the bus station, she watched Wang Xiang's back for the whole way.

It couldn't be said to be exactly the same as the Joker in the movie; after all, the body shape and everything were different, but in her memory, the movements and posture were at least 70% similar.

After coming out of the cinema, Zhang Xin asked her if something was wrong.

Zhao Liying shook her head.

At the same time, she smiled at herself in her heart.

How could that be?

Two people worlds apart. She must be crazy to think like that; it was probably because she couldn't forget it after all.

(End of chapter)