Chapter 295: Things are getting big

On June 10, 2009, when the video of Xiao Shenyang pointing out the country's affairs while drunk was uploaded to the internet, the sensational effect it caused was almost on par with the original "Edison Chen photo scandal."

So much so that many people were saying that if Andy Lau were still in the world—or rather, if the Heavenly King Lau were in Hong Kong—he would surely want to award a little red flower to Brother Shenyang.

Saving someone from fire and water, indeed.

The day before, everyone was still discussing how a male celebrity who was secretly married for 23 years seemed to treat his fans like dirt.

The next day, everyone was dumbfounded to see that Brother Shenyang from the Northeast, who was "not short of money," seemed to think that a freshly minted Cannes Best Actor was also dirt.

Perhaps that's not a very appropriate way to put it, because Brother Shenyang in the video didn't make any personal attacks; he just pointed out two things.

First, in terms of popularity, Chen Mouren is not as famous as him.

This should be a fact.

In 2009, Xiao Shenyang was as wildly popular as Xiao Yang was in 2019; it's estimated that anyone with a television at home knew this comedian from the Northeast.

And had Chen Nuo reached that level?

Many netizens' evaluation of this was: no.

At least in some mountain villages without internet or movie theaters, where people didn't care about international news and could only receive CCTV-1 and CCTV-2, Chen Nuo's popularity was definitely not as high as the "Have you?" "Really haven't!" Shenyang.

Therefore, when Shenyang asked in the video to poll the national population on whether they knew him or Chen Nuo, it really wasn't just nonsense; it was because he truly had the confidence to say so.

Likewise, the second point Shenyang made in the video also made a lot of sense.

Can this movie Chen Nuo is about to release make money?

Many netizens held the same view as Shenyang.

No.

At least it couldn't make a lot of money, and it certainly couldn't surpass *The Message*.

After all, it was a Korean film, and it would surely suffer from cultural incompatibility. Even with Chen Nuo in it, the cultural gap between China and South Korea couldn't be avoided. Furthermore, for a film with such a family-themed subject, just looking at the title *Mother* would make many people avoid it or feel uninterested.

However, no one cared about the first point Brother Shenyang made. But the second point was related to money, and the relevant parties reacted very quickly.

On the afternoon the video went online, the film's distributors, BJ Boya Culture Communication and Huaxia Film, both had people step forward to express their opinions.

A Huaxia Film executive stated that since *Mother* premiered in South Korea, it had been just over 10 days, and already over 5 million people had walked into theaters, with hopes of becoming the annual box office champion in South Korea. Director Bong Joon-ho had since been hailed in South Korea as the king of commercial film directors.

In professional Korean film reviews, *Mother* was called "the most moving and profound emotional masterpiece in a decade," and the performances of Kim Hye-ja and Chen Nuo were described as "the most hall-of-fame level acting duel between Asian actors since the 21st century," calling Chen Nuo "the undisputed king of Cannes."

At the same time, South Korea's developed entertainment media didn't think this film would stop there, believing it was not only "leaving the Blue Dragon and Baeksang awards at the end of the year without suspense," but also "definitely the most promising film in South Korean history to challenge for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film."

Therefore, Huaxia Film was extremely optimistic about *Mother*'s performance in the domestic market and had great confidence in Mr. Chen Nuo's box office appeal.

The BJ Boya executive explained the box office prospects of *Mother* from the perspective of herd mentality.

They said that back at Cannes, the *Mother* film booth was so crowded, and film buyers from all over the world inquiring about purchasing the film were like crucian carp crossing a river.

Finally, the *Mother* official side claimed that distribution rights for over seventy countries had been sold, with total foreign exchange revenue exceeding 70 million USD, setting a record for foreign sales of a South Korean film in history.

Even they had to go through heavy fighting to get the domestic distribution rights. From this, one could see how good the film's quality was and how highly distributors around the world thought of it.

However, it would have been better if these two companies hadn't explained; once they did, it immediately triggered online mockery, and even more people became pessimistic about the film.

"You guys have to explain *Mother*? Are you guys fucking crazy?"

"These two companies are just idiots. Does Chen Nuo need you to back him up? Is this your first day working in the film industry?"

"Who are you saying these things to? Why does it feel like you're just cheering yourselves up in the office every day? Fuck, if you don't have confidence in Nuo Nuo, then don't buy it, you bastards! Trash!"

"You have to respond to what people like that say? Did you eat too much? If you really can't find anything to do, you can sleep at home or go play with some female celebrities; don't come here to disgust everyone."

"I guess they've seen the movie and think the plot is bad and the market effect won't be good. Otherwise, why would Nuo-ge's award-winning film need them to come out and issue a statement?"

"The person above is right. You have to know, Nuo-ge's debut, the pure art film *The Mute's House*, could sell tens of millions at the box office back then. I really don't know what these two companies are worried about. There are only two possibilities: one, the plot of *Mother* is rotten to a certain degree; two, these two companies are brain-dead."

Once these noisy online comments came out,

Boya Culture, which had spent a huge sum to buy the distribution rights and was really worried about losing money, and Huaxia Film, which had always been a little brother to China Film and was doing such a heavy-hitting film distribution for the first time, had to jointly issue another official announcement, claiming that the anonymous executive in the media was not from their company, and hereby refuted the rumor.

Aside from that, they didn't say a word about the film's box office or anything else.

As a result, this actually won back quite a few public opinion points.

After all, the "Nomi" (Chen Nuo fans) were all looking up to the sky now; why the hell would you ask me to go watch some random stray cat or dog? Are you sick?

And Mr. Shenyang, who was personally attacked as a stray cat or dog, reacted quite swiftly, issuing a statement on the afternoon the video went online.

The statement claimed that the remarks in the video were drunken ramblings and did not represent Mr. Shenyang's true attitude; Chen Nuo had always been an actor Mr. Shenyang respected, and he hoped to have the opportunity to cooperate, so how could he think he wasn't good, and so on.

As a result, once the statement came out, it didn't seem to have the intended effect. Netizens didn't buy it, saying it wasn't drunken ramblings, but rather the truth spoken while drunk.

Chen Nuo wasn't sure if Brother Shenyang was speaking the truth while drunk.

But he knew one thing: Brother Shenyang had offended someone.

He had seen this kind of thing too many times.

Setting someone up, framing them.

Just like that someone in later generations, who went to see a prostitute on a whim, only to have a transvestite shoved onto him. I guess after seeing the news, the onlookers around the world didn't feel as disgusted as he did himself.

The Shenyang incident was the same.

Chen Nuo felt that someone just thought Xiao Shenyang was too popular, got jealous, and deliberately set a trap.

It was nothing big at all.

When Qi Yuntian showed him the video and asked him how to handle it,

He just said directly, "Of course, I forgive him."

He had gone to the Northeast to play before and had seen some Errenzhuan performances and interviews, knowing that Errenzhuan actors really had it tough; if you really talk about it, they were the ones truly going through wind and rain, much harder than actors.

Mr. Shenyang had worshipped a good teacher and finally made it big, and having had too much to drink and getting a little carried away was human nature; no need to take it to heart.

In fact, Chen Nuo was even a little grateful to Xiao Shen.

If it weren't for this video mentioning Zhang Weiping going to find Zhao Benshan, he might not have been able to recall Zhang Weiping's influence on Zhang Yimou.

In his previous life, he had seen the news that when Director Zhang went to film *A Simple Noodle Story*, he hadn't originally intended to invite that group of people from the Northeast.

As it turned out, it was Zhang Weiping who took the initiative to invite Benshan and his disciples to join, wanting to use their sky-high popularity to sell tickets.

The result, of course, was well known.

It wasn't just *A Simple Noodle Story*; in the previous life's *The Flowers of War*, it was also Zhang Weiping who insisted that Zhang Yimou add a bed scene between Christian Bale and Ni Ni.

After Zhang Yimou bit the bullet and filmed it, Zhang Weiping even took this bed scene everywhere to promote it, which not only ruined the reputation but eventually led to the two of them breaking up.

So, could there be a possibility?

Was *Under the Hawthorn Tree* the same?

It's just that this film's fame wasn't as high as those two, so there were no related leaks?

Chen Nuo felt that this time Zhang Yimou's messing around might not necessarily be Director Zhang's own wish, but perhaps he was also influenced by Zhang Weiping.

Then, if Director Zhang were given some external stimulation, could he be pulled back, at least to change those dead-looking black-and-white subtitles?

Be a bit more arrogant, respect the audience a bit more; don't assume everyone lacks the slightest artistic appreciation and needs subtitles to understand.

Moreover, the plot of *Hawthorn Tree* wasn't complicated, right?

*Inception* in the previous life was filmed like that, and Nolan didn't even use subtitles, so what are you in such a rush for, Director Zhang!!!!!!

Chen Nuo decided that after *Mother* was released domestically, he would invite Director Zhang to go watch it together.

After watching the movie, they would talk openly and honestly, and he would voice these loud calls in his heart to Director Zhang.

Of course, if he eventually found out he had overthought it and it was actually all Director Zhang Yimou's own decision, then he would just consider it as him passing gas.

He would then have to go back and tell Auntie Liu that he had tried his best.

However, sorry, the help that needed to be given still had to be given; no returns allowed.

Chen Nuo was originally thinking about when to call Director Zhang,

But the next morning, before he had even brushed his teeth, he received a call from a big shot no less important than Zhang Yimou.

Hearing the laughing tone and the full-voiced self-introduction on the other end.

Chen Nuo quickly agreed, "Hello, hello, Zhao Laoshi, yes, I am Chen Nuo."

Then he squeezed a bit of toothpaste onto his toothbrush, stuffed it into his mouth, and started brushing.

After listening for a while,

"Use five..." Chen Nuo spat, spitting out the toothpaste foam in his mouth, and said, "No need, no need, Zhao Laoshi, it's really nothing."

Then he continued brushing.

While brushing, he saw a pimple on his chin in the mirror, so he held the toothbrush in his mouth, tilted his head to hold the phone, and prepared to squeeze the pimple.

The voice on the phone continued.

"Ouch." Fuck, this pimple really hurts. "It's really nothing, Zhao Laoshi, you really don't need to explain so much, I can fully understand. Teacher Shenyang was just acting out while drunk, I understand, I've had that too, hehehehehe..."

"Alright, alright, mutual understanding, okay." Chen Nuo agreed, finally got the pimple taken care of, and started rinsing his mouth.

"Goodbye."

Chen Nuo hung up the phone, feeling a bit inexplicable.

He didn't know why this highly respected old senior had called him.

Clearly, it was someone else in the video. Could it be that when the disciple has trouble, the master serves?

However, by the afternoon, another call came to his mobile phone.

This time it was the person himself.

As a result, after listening to only two sentences, Chen Nuo hung up the phone directly.

Are you apologizing to me, or am I apologizing to you?

How could you vaguely say "sorry" and then ask me to manage my "Nomi," tell them not to cyber-bully your Tieba, harass your master's company, and also ask me to issue a statement?

Who is your master? I don't know him, does he not have a mouth? Why doesn't he come and say it himself?

Oh, he called this morning, right? Then why do you sound more like a master than your master? You're not Chef Fan, why are you so arrogant?

What Nomi?

Did I found it?

You ask me to manage them, how do I manage them?

And you want me to issue a statement, do I owe you something?

Chen Nuo hung up the phone, muted it, looked at his classmates on and off the stage, and several acting teachers who were hanging around with nothing to do, and asked, "Is it my turn? Sorry, come, come, Zhang Xiaofei, let's go, let's start now."

That's right, Chen Nuo was currently in the small theater at the Beijing Film Academy, rehearsing the graduation play for their 2005 acting class, *Story of a Staircase*.

In this famous Spanish play, the character he played was called Little Fernando.

After Director Niu's arrangement, this Little Fernando was slightly different from the original play.

His screen time was significantly reduced, only returning from afar at the very end of the play.

Before that, most of the time, he would only appear in the words of his sweetheart, Little Carmina, played by Zhang Xiaofei.

After he appeared, there was a less than two-minute scene with Zhang Xiaofei, and the two of them also had to dance a Spanish Flamenco dance together.

It wasn't long; the part he danced was really only ten seconds.

For the rest of the time, he just watched Zhang Xiaofei dance, stomping his feet and clapping on the side. But when he danced, let alone anything passionate or surging, he was completely dancing the Cha-cha.

Even after last night's short-term special training, today he felt it hadn't gotten much better; clearly, he had to practice more when he went back.

However, apart from the dancing, in other areas, Chen Nuo felt he was on the right track.

"What does your resentment and prejudice have to do with me? Why can't Carmina and I love each other?"

At least with this line, when he walked down the stairs and shouted it out to the four directions, he felt he already had two parts of the flair of a stage actor.

At this time, standing on and off the stage watching him rehearse were not only his classmates but also some teachers and teaching assistants who had popped up from nowhere.

This was also the norm during rehearsals these past few days.

The second-floor theater of this Beijing Film Academy small theater seemed to have become a place for many idle people in the school to hang out these past few days.

Besides Li Er,

Huang Lei, Cui Xinqing, Ye Linghui, Zhang Tianyou, and so on, and some teaching assistants, all came frequently.

Including the busy Dean Zheng, who had taken time to come twice and had instructed those around him to ensure the security of this place, and that students from other classes or grades, except for teachers, were not allowed in, so as not to interfere with the normal rehearsal.

Today was the same; Huang Lei had nothing to do and came again. This time he also brought his wife, Teacher Sun Li, to sit in the seats below the stage and watch.

Chen Nuo had just appeared and said a simple line, and Teacher Sun Li, who was there for the first time, gave a soft "Wow" and tilted her head to say to Teacher Huang, "Listening to him say it like that, it suddenly feels so good. What's going on?"

Huang Lei chuckled, "I don't know what's going on either, that's why I asked you to come and see. I guess it might be because he's handsome."

Teacher Sun Li couldn't bother to say anything more, her eyes fixed tightly on the stage. Because Chen Nuo's stage play had begun.

Chen Nuo was seen dressed as a young Spanish man, wearing a gray skullcap, using a small-step trot, rushing toward a tall, thin girl wearing a long Spanish skirt.

Then, the dance Huang Lei had mentioned to him earlier appeared.

Sun Li watched for a few seconds and couldn't help but laugh, "This dance really needs more practice. However, if the audience is watching him dance, it seems no one cares how well he dances, right?"

Huang Lei also laughed, "That's what they say, but this incident fully illustrates what it means that no one is perfect. Similarly, look at the girl partnering with him, her name is Zhang Xiaofei, she dances quite well, and she's quite hardworking usually, but..."

"But what?"

Huang Lei didn't answer.

On the stage, after dancing a short, stiff dance step for a while, Chen Nuo stood on the side, stomping his feet and clapping, watching Zhang Xiaofei dance.

Zhang Xiaofei didn't dance "quite well"; she danced very well.

The girl's skirt hem was like the wind, and her footsteps were like fallen leaves spinning in the wind.

She waved her arms at times, twisted her waist at times,

Paused like a sculpture at times, and flew like spinning leaves at times,

Fully embodying the characteristics of Flamenco dance—combining hardness and softness—and also fully demonstrating the results of Zhang Xiaofei's 132 days of hard practice, not even resting during the Chinese New Year.

132 days ago, when Zhang Xiaofei drew the lot for Little Carmina, she felt like she had been hit by gold from heaven; she was so surprised she didn't know what to say, her mind was completely blank.

From Yang Mi to Yuan Shanshan, from Duanmu Conghui to Wang Meng, she knew clearly how many girls in the class had their eyes on this role.

Little Carmina—ever since the class announced that Chen Nuo would play Little Fernando, this small supporting role, which originally had little screen time and little weight, became the most sought-after role in the whole play.

No one expected it to be drawn by her, who was plain and unknown!

Afterward, at least half of the girls in the class had approached her.

Some through friendship, some through benefits, some indirectly, some straightforwardly; it could be said that the Eight Immortals crossed the sea, each showing their own magic, all for the sake of wanting to swap roles with her.

However, Zhang Xiaofei refused them all.

She knew how she had entered the Film Academy in the first place. After these four years, she already understood.

Acting opposite the most proud student of Teacher Li Er, and showing her four years of academic results in front of Teacher Li.

This could be said to be the best graduation gift heaven had given her, so how could she give it up?

She made up her mind that she must seize this opportunity to show her best state and let Teacher Li know that he hadn't misjudged her.

At this time, Zhang Xiaofei completed her dance with a nimble skirt-flicking movement.

Sun Li saw this and said, "She has talent, but unfortunately... her appearance is average."

Huang Lei finally sighed and admitted, "That's why I said, no one is perfect. In my class, she can be said to be the most hardworking one, and she acts very well. But just this appearance, it really has no characteristics. Even if she wants to get ahead, I guess she'll have to wait many years, and it will depend on luck."

Sun Li didn't have as many feelings as Huang Lei, saying lightly, "Isn't this normal? How many students graduate from Beijing Film Academy every year, and how many have movies to film?"

Huang Lei chuckled, "I know. But that's what they say, but every time graduation comes, I look at these students I taught, each one about to step into society, and then be taught a lesson by society, and my heart... it still feels a bit uncomfortable."

While the couple was talking, Chen Nuo on the stage had already walked up and held Zhang Xiaofei's hand, who was panting slightly, and found that the girl's hand was sweaty.

He didn't know how to act in a stage play, but since the director had told him to act like he was acting, he just threw himself into it like he usually did, acting like a man in love, while slightly opening his voice, trying his best to say his lines with emotion: "Don't abandon me, idiot! I love you, fool!"

The first half of the line was low, and the second half added a bit of tremor, more excited, and with a hint of pleading.

This wasn't the first time.

During the rehearsals these past few days, Chen Nuo had already shouted this somewhat cheesy line many times here in a tone tinged with slight sadness.

Others were a bit used to it.

But Sun Li wasn't; it was her first time, and she savored it in her heart, not turning her head, just asking softly, "Old Huang, how many points do you give this line?"

Huang Lei chuckled, "The line is actually average, the main thing is you have to observe his physical movements, that's the part that's full marks."

Sun Li heard this and looked carefully,

Seeing the boy's slightly green but incomparably serious expression, his slightly flushed cheeks, his eyes revealing a bit of tension and persistence, and his body that seemed to be slightly tense unconsciously,

It was simply from head to toe, every part was in the play.

Actually, many stage actors could do this.

However, being so unpretentious, so natural, making Sun Li look at him and immediately think of Teacher Huang in his youth, that was truly rare.

Just this moment made Sun Li feel that sacrificing the time to be with her daughter this afternoon by leaving Duoduo to the nanny to come and watch this rehearsal was indeed worth it.

Is this the actor recognized as the most talented in China today?

No wonder people say the relationship between director and actor has to be reversed with him.

The performance on stage continued.

Zhang Xiaofei and Chen Nuo were close at hand; she felt the temperature of the man's palm, lowered her head and smiled, then looked back, her eyes seeming to contain infinite affection, saying, "I love you too, fool."

Chen Nuo was overjoyed by his sweetheart's response, his eyes filled with joy, he held Zhang Xiaofei's hand, looked into her eyes, and said, "Little Carmina, we must be stronger than our parents, because they were defeated by life."

Zhang Xiaofei replied, "Little Fernando, I know. I believe we will have a different future."

"Yes, we will definitely have a different future!"

In the original play, this would be a pair of male and female actors kissing, as the grand finale of the play.

But this time the director changed this part; after finishing, Chen Nuo and Zhang Xiaofei hugged each other tightly.

Sun Li looked left and right at this time, then smiled and whispered to Teacher Huang, "How did this girl get this role? Did the others have no opinions?"

Huang Lei laughed, "It was drawn by lot. You say, were there opinions?"

Sun Li said, "I think there must have been a fight."

Huang Lei said, "Then how do you know there wasn't?"

After saying this, the couple both laughed softly.

Huang Lei then added with a bit of emotion, "Many teachers in our school feel that Chen Nuo actually acts best not in character-specific roles, but in love scenes. It's just that Western judges might not appreciate his Eastern way of expressing emotion."

"I think so too."

"I still feel that Jeremy in *My Blueberry Nights* was his best performance. Unfortunately, he didn't win an award. Although this *Mother* hasn't been released yet and I haven't seen it, I feel his performance in it is definitely not as good as *Blueberry*."

"Including the media saying how well he dances in it. You just watched him dance, do you think it's good? I think it's all bragging."

"As a result, not only did he win Best Actor, but it was a unanimous vote. From this, it can be seen that no matter how well you act, you need someone to appreciate it, otherwise, it's useless."

Sun Li nodded while listening, but when she heard the end, she tilted her head, thought for a while, and said, "Mother... the evaluation outside is so high, it might not be as bad as you say. I actually really want to see it."

Huang Lei laughed, "Then let's make a bet, how about it?"

"Bet on what?"

"Bet that if he acts better in *Mother* than in *My Blueberry Nights*, I'll wash the dishes for a week."

"Haha, okay, but you don't need to wash the dishes, you go learn to cook. How about that?"

"Haha, good, it's a deal."

After the first rehearsal was finished, Chen Nuo and Zhang Xiaofei rehearsed two more times.

Even though Zhang Xiaofei was still a youthful and energetic girl, after dancing the high-intensity, fast-paced Flamenco dance three times in a row, she couldn't take it anymore; her face and neck were covered in fine beads of sweat, and after coming down from the stage, she sat in her seat panting.

Chen Nuo also sat on the side to rest, shaking his head, "Xiaofei, you dance really well. Did you practice it yourself?"

Zhang Xiaofei nodded with a bit of pride, "Mm."

"Amazing, I can't do it. Sigh."

"No, I think you dance, um, very well. After all, you've only practiced for such a short time."

Chen Nuo laughed, "Don't comfort me. By the way, do you have time this Saturday?"

Zhang Xiaofei hesitated, "Yes, what's up?"

"Before graduation, I'd like to invite you to watch another movie."

Hearing this sentence, Zhang Xiaofei couldn't help but feel a trance.

That winter more than 3 years ago, she and Yang Mi, and him, the three of them went to the cinema to watch *Perhaps Love*.

At that time, they had just entered university, and although he had already won the Berlin Best Actor award, at that time, she and Yang Mi stood together, and the gap wasn't as big as it was now.

"Okay." Zhang Xiaofei suppressed the sourness in her heart and forced a smile, "When?"

Chen Nuo actually making this decision also had a bit of nostalgia for youth.

Unknowingly, four years of university had passed just like that.

People are sentimental during graduation season, aren't they?

It just so happened that he had another movie being released, revisiting the youth of those years, and having another movie date seemed to fit his current mood.

And he was originally going to invite people to watch a movie; inviting one is inviting, inviting three is also inviting, just a few more movie ticket costs.

He answered immediately, "This time it's still at night, Saturday at eight o'clock."

"Still you, me, and Yang Mi?"

"There's also an old senior from our school. You can just say hello when the time comes, you can ignore him."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 296 =====