Chapter 304: Tong Liya

During these days when Chen Nuo was acting like a madman on set, treating everyone like beasts of burden, if you had to ask who was having the hardest time.

That would undoubtedly be Zhang Mo.

It wasn't because he was also being treated like a beast of burden, but because while everyone else had become one, he seemed to be standing alone on the sidelines, ignored by that sheepdog.

This feeling of wanting to be a beast of burden but being unable to could truly drive a person mad.

Zhang Mo thought it over and over; it could only be that day, the words he spoke in front of Jiang Wen, which had somehow been passed on and reached someone's ears.

When he made those two snide remarks, besides Jiang Wen and Liao Fan, there were indeed others on set.

However, at the time, he hadn't paid any attention at all, and he had forgotten exactly which people were nearby looking at the viewfinder with him.

As a result, within a few days, everyone in the *Let the Bullets Fly* crew seemed to know that he apparently had some opinions about someone.

Later, who knows who dug up the matter of the role replacement, leading those who didn't know at first to now know that this "Old Six" was originally cast for him, and only after that was it Chen Nuo.

Once the two matters were linked, it effectively confirmed the authenticity of certain rumors, and for a time, it became known to everyone in private.

When his assistant heard these rumors and came to tell him, Zhang Mo hadn't thought much of it at first.

It was the same old saying: so what if it was Chen Nuo?

What was the problem with saying a couple of things about him?

What could he possibly do to him?

But he hadn't expected that as time passed, Chen Nuo indeed didn't do anything to him, to the point where he barely even spoke to him.

Yet, apart from him, every other actor had received guidance from Chen Nuo, and even when Jiang Wen couldn't find the right feel, Chen Nuo had offered ideas from the sidelines.

Only he, Chen Nuo, had not said a single word to him from beginning to end.

What did that mean?

There were two possibilities.

The first possibility: his acting was impeccable, just as he himself had said, better than someone else's. Naturally, the other person didn't dare to be so arrogant as to point fingers at him.

The second possibility... the words had reached the other person's ears, and he was being looked at differently.

Which one it specifically was, one could say it was a matter of opinion.

However,

Liao Fan never privately sought him out to chat again, Shao Bing never asked him to drink again, and Du Yiheng and Wei Xiao, who weren't familiar with him to begin with, would walk in the other direction every time they saw him approaching.

Including every staff member on set, they all seemed to view him as some kind of flood or wild beast, wishing they could hold up a sign saying "strictly business," and have no interaction with him beyond daily work.

Even when he finally couldn't take it anymore that day and pulled Liao Fan aside.

As a result, this person, who had been laughing and joking with him since joining the crew and even subtly sucking up to him, now wore an expression of utter awkwardness.

"Mo, it's really not that, it's really nothing, don't overthink it!"

"Brother Liao, don't lie to me, tell me straight, did someone say something to you?"

"No! Why would I lie to you? Oh, my stomach hurts, I'm going to take a dump, I'll come find you later."

Watching Liao Fan's panicked retreating back, Zhang Mo's complexion turned as dark as if it were about to drip water.

"What should we do?" The agent on the side saw this, walked over slowly, and asked cautiously.

Zhang Mo gritted his teeth and said: "You go find a reporter you're familiar with, you tell him..."

In the entire *Let the Bullets Fly* crew, besides Jiang Wen, the actor Chen Nuo appreciated most for his acting was Zhang Mo.

He truly was the beloved son of Teacher Zhang Guoli.

With family instruction, despite his young age, his acting was truly outstanding. Compared to the screenwriter Wei Xiao, the Liu Dehua impersonator Du Yiheng, and the handsome actors Jiang Wen had found like Shao Bing, he could be called a budding Best Actor.

There was no need for anyone else to say much; every take could quickly pass with Director Jiang.

If it weren't for...

Sigh, Chen Nuo might have actually been prepared to treat the other party as an equal.

After all, as a second-generation coal tycoon himself, he had never had prejudices against various "second generations," and even had a slight preference for them.

Are second generations wrong? Do you think they want to be born into such families? Isn't living in a basement and being self-reliant better? Must you have your old man give you tens of millions to start a business? If life turns out like that, what's the point?

Even though Chen Nuo thought this way, he was truly a bit afraid to get to know this one. After all, no matter how little he understood the entertainment industry, he still knew about those drug users who were reported in later generations.

Therefore, there was no need for Qi Yuntian to remind him; he would only keep this half-fellow-townsman at a respectful distance.

Better to just film quickly.

Finish filming early, finish work early, and stay far away from these demons, monsters, and stinky men.

He only needed to finish the scenes here in Huairou, and he could eat jelly once he got to Guangdong.

After eating the jelly, he could fly to Palm Beach to sunbathe and ask Xiao Zha over for coffee again.

Hurry, hurry, hurry!

If the entire *Let the Bullets Fly* crew were compared to a bicycle, Chen Nuo was currently in a state of standing up and pedaling.

The two bicycle wheels spinning, even if they weren't the "Invincible Wind Fire Wheels," they weren't far off.

As the days went by, more and more people were crying and complaining in front of Jiang Wen.

Is this the pace of a successful person?

It's too fast, everyone really can't keep up!

Jiang Wen also had his own unspoken difficulties.

Although the current filming schedule was at least one-third faster than the original progress, and they might be able to change locations in another ten days or so—absolutely exceeding everyone's expectations, including his own, and making all the producers feel incomparably satisfied.

However, this was truly too exhausting.

He, Jiang Wen, was no longer a young lad. Sometimes rest wasn't an option, it was a necessity!

But what could he do?

How could he say it to Chen Nuo?

Jiang Wen didn't even know how to bring it up.

Tell him to take it easy? Slow down, don't rush, how about sleeping in a bit more in the morning and leaving a bit earlier at night?

Is that something a person can say?

Besides, the other party came to help out of friendship, taking not a single cent. You could say that for every second he stayed here, he, Jiang Wen, owed another debt of favor that he didn't know how he'd ever repay.

How could he have the nerve to bring it up directly and waste the other party's time?

Word was the other party had already set up a mansion in Palm Beach; in this mountain ditch, why should he be in no rush?

It was under these circumstances that Tong Liya arrived at the *Let the Bullets Fly* crew to audition.

When Chen Nuo saw Tong Liya wearing a simple little white dress downstairs at that dilapidated guesthouse in the town, his eyes widened, and he pointed at her in surprise: "You, you, you, how are you here?"

Tong Liya looked at him, smiling until her canine teeth were revealed.

Honestly, in Chen Nuo's eyes at this very moment, Tong Liya's smile truly had a glow to it.

That radiance seemed to have magic, instantly making him forget the stinky environment around him, like a gentle breeze, wrapping him up and carrying him across thousands of mountains and rivers.

It made him return to the high skies and light clouds of Yili, thousands of miles away, made him see the continuous, towering snow-capped mountains there, see the clear, winding waters, see the vast, boundless grasslands like a green carpet spread over the earth, with little red flowers blooming wantonly, dreamlike and illusory.

Tong Liya smiled and said: "Brother Nuo, I'm here to audition."

"Ah?" Chen Nuo came back to his senses, shocked. What the hell did Tong Liya have to do with *Let the Bullets Fly*? He was 100% certain that some butterfly effect had occurred again.

He couldn't help but turn his head to ask Jiang Wen beside him: "Brother Jiang, what role is she here to audition for?"

Jiang Wen looked at Chen Nuo, then looked at Tong Liya, and immediately said with a smile: "Of course, it's the female lead."

"Chen Nuo participates in Jiang Wen's new film, exposed for acting like a big shot!"

"An insider reveals to reporters that Chen Nuo acts like a tyrant on set, with no one daring to provoke him."

"Complaints from top to bottom, no one can control the Best Actor halo!" I don't know when, but on the domestic internet, among the various attacks on Chen Nuo, these black materials had been added.

At the senior management meeting of Sina headquarters, a fierce discussion unfolded around the relevant content.

Sina Vice President and General Manager of the Wireless Business Unit, Wang Gaofei, said: "... Therefore, I admit he is one of the best candidates, but the recent controversies surrounding him are a problem we must consider."

Sina Chairman and CEO Cao Guowei nodded and looked toward the other end of the conference table: "Shaobing, tell us your opinion."

Peng Shaobing, head of the Desktop Products Business Unit, said: "Cao Zong, my opinion is different from Manager Chen's. I think these current controversies are truly a godsend. It is precisely because of the current situation that it is possible for the other party to join our Sina and become one of us."

"Otherwise, why would he? What can we at Sina offer to attract him? Just rely on money? How much money can we come up with to make him willing to settle into this new product of ours? You have to know, rumors in the industry say he invested 1 billion in a film..."

Cao Guowei coughed lightly and interrupted: "Shaobing, don't get excited, rest for a moment. Manager Chen, what do you think?"

Sina Executive Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Sina. com, Chen Tong, smiled: "I have always had a good impression of him. I believe that our blog business being able to stand out among many portals is inextricably linked to our editorial department's development of celebrity dynamic blogs led by him in the entertainment section."

"This really brought us a lot of traffic at the beginning. From the house of the mute, to *The Return of the Condor Heroes*, to the recent *Twilight*, just the pictures and photos posted by his various fan blogs add up to tens of millions of clicks every day..."

Wang Gaofei interrupted: "A lot have been closed recently, so that might not be the case, right?"

Chen Tong was interrupted, but he wasn't annoyed, nodding: "It might not be, because now the total clicks on topics about him are estimated to be 20 million a day."

Wang Gaofei said with a laugh: "Manager Chen, you... are joking, right?"

Chen Tong said: "I'm really not joking. Those scolding him, those praising him, added together, the click volume really exceeds imagination. Cao Zong should be clear about this."

Cao Guowei nodded and said: "So, Manager Chen's meaning is that you agree with Shaobing's point of view?"

"That's right."

Cao Guowei said: "Then Shaobing, you continue."

Peng Shaobing had been muted for a while, a bit wilted, and said listlessly: "Manager Chen just mentioned traffic, I'll add one more point, which is his operational skills. I have carefully studied every post of his on Facebook, and I think either he is truly a genius in content creation, or he has a powerful professional team behind him... but regardless of which, both are urgently needed by us!"

As he spoke, Peng Shaobing got a bit excited again: "15 million followers, the most followed Facebook account globally. What kind of concept is this? Everyone, this is a record created by a Chinese person in the Western world! Before this, who could have imagined it?"

"Could this just be achieved by Facebook recommending him?"

"No, it's not."

"Because our blog also has recommendations. Can you rely on recommendations to create a blog with tens of millions of clicks? Impossible! What did Han Han rely on to succeed? It was the content he wrote himself. And in this regard, to be blunt, Han Han isn't even fit to carry his shoes..."

Cao Guowei coughed and said: "Shaobing, you're excited again, rest for a while. Gaofei, regarding what Shaobing just said, what is your opinion?"

Wang Gaofei said: "I partially agree with Shaobing, however, we must also notice that he can have 15 million fans on Facebook, among which the hit of *Twilight* at the time, and this time the passing of Michael Jackson, all contributed significantly. If it weren't for him accidentally catering to Michael Jackson's fans..."

Peng Shaobing shouted: "Accidentally! Manager Wang, you try accidentally gaining 5 million followers and show me, what kind of joke..."

Cao Guowei looked over coldly.

Peng Shaobing stopped talking immediately. Damn it, the mute time is probably going to be extended again.

Wang Gaofei glanced at him and continued: "In short, I think his success model abroad is likely not replicable. Whether he can be as successful domestically, I want to put a question mark."

"Especially since times have changed. After the love scandal some time ago, how much of his 'sticky rice' is left? This incident has not yet subsided, and now there are so many new rumors about him, true or false aside, but in the end, it will affect his popularity."

"So, spending such a high price to invite him to settle into the product we have high hopes for, whether it can actually have an effect, I currently hold a reserved opinion."

Cao Guowei nodded: "Everyone, speak in turn now."

Subsequently, in the conference room, more than a dozen people all spoke their opinions.

Among them, there were those who agreed and those who opposed.

Those who agreed put forward some new points, for example, if Chen Nuo was signed, could they also take the opportunity to invite Fan Fan Binbing?

If she could be brought on board, that would definitely be the best advertisement for many male users.

Although not face-to-face, this would also be a platform where one could directly contact Fan Fan Binbing.

There are countless men in the country who would be willing to give everything just to have Fan Fan Binbing see the questions they ask and the confessions they make.

Therefore, setting Chen Nuo aside, just for the sake of Fan Fan Binbing, it is worth contacting 'Huanran Yixin'.

At the same time, opponents also said that Chen Nuo's current direction has changed from clear to blurry.

The black materials currently exposed on the internet, whether they will stop here or if this is just the beginning, is also an unknown.

Their new product, temporarily named "Weibo," is a substitute after Fanfou was banned.

Then, shouldn't they be more cautious in this regard, to avoid larger and more serious incidents breaking out, ultimately causing dissatisfaction from regulators and following in the footsteps of Fanfou's ban?

Amidst the various opinions, finally, after almost two hours, it was finally Peng Shaobing's turn to speak again.

At this time, Peng Shaobing, who had been released, had completely lost his spirit, his whole person was like a spine had been pulled out, and he said softly: "I agree with Cao Zong's opinion, I also think everyone is right..."

Cao Guowei said: "Shaobing, speak properly, it's not that I don't want you to speak, cheer up."

Peng Shaobing barely lifted his eyelids and said slowly: "Then I'll add one more point. This time we plan to start internal testing in early August and public testing at the end of August."

"According to current market research, similar products launching almost at the same time as us or currently in development include the big three: NetEase, Sohu, and Tencent. Other small companies are countless."

"I'll ask everyone a question."

"Even if Chen Nuo's black materials are endless, he looks very down and unlucky. However, what if Boss Ma of Tencent, Boss Ding of NetEase, Boss Zhang of Sohu, these competitors of ours, they don't mind, or rather, they are willing to take the risk and invite Chen Nuo to their platform."

"Then, if this result comes out, can we accept it?"

This question immediately made everyone in the conference room frown, as if they were all imagining how they would feel if they heard that news.

Finally, including Cao Guowei, their brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Peng Shaobing said seriously: "Everyone, some people, even if we don't want them too much, we must ensure they don't fall into the hands of others. Right?"

When Jiang Wen said Tong Liya was auditioning for the female lead, Chen Nuo really thought for a long time.

In the end, he couldn't figure it out; there's a female lead in *Let the Bullets Fly*?

But if the director says there is, then there is.

However, even if it's the female lead, after the audition, after getting the role, shouldn't she leave?

As a result, at Jiang Wen's request, the female lead stayed.

Because this female lead didn't have enough filming experience, the director wanted her to familiarize herself with the atmosphere of the crew and feel the filming style of this movie before official shooting began.

Moreover, there is another benefit to looking at the script on set: if there's anything you don't understand, you can immediately ask the excellent actors in the crew.

As for who the excellent actor is?

Of course, it's Miss Tong Liya's good friend, the Mr. Chen Nuo who can't stay idle every day.

Hearing Qi Yuntian's sarcastic words, Chen Nuo frowned: "Meaning, this is a honey trap? They want to use this woman to drag down my pace?"

Qi Yuntian said: "Currently, it looks like that."

Chen Nuo chuckled: "They think they can succeed?"

Qi Yuntian looked at him with a strange expression: "Hasn't it already succeeded?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 305 =====