Chapter 336: Let's make a bet, Harvey

When Fan Fan Binbing left, the sky in LA was not yet bright.

Her assistant Xiao Mei, who had been with her for many years, and her agent Sister Chen were both by her side. Xiao Mei had an expression of wanting to say something but stopping, but after looking at Sister Chen, she swallowed the words she wanted to say.

Sitting in the car to the airport, Sister Chen was asleep in the back seat, and Xiao Mei leaned into Fan Fan Binbing's ear and whispered: "Really just leaving like this?"

Fan Fan Binbing glared at her, turned her head to look, and only after turning back did she whisper: "Not allowed to mention this matter again."

"Oh, but..."

Looking at the tangled expression on Xiao Mei's face, Fan Fan Binbing knew what the other party was thinking.

Even half a year ago, she would have thought that this would never happen to her.

When did the first sprout appear?

Can't remember anymore.

It was probably that night when she went to Liu Yifei's house and had a long talk with the girl all night that this thought completely took shape.

And on New Year's Eve, watching him singing on TV, the idea finally became completely firm.

Originally, she hadn't thought it through—if she came to reunite this time and really succeeded, how could she avoid suspicion, what should she do next, how to escape inside and out, and where to spend those long months.

However, the reason she had made up on the spot just to cope with things turned into such an interesting idea in the man's mouth.

Canadian international student inn?

Haha.

If Fan Fan Binbing hadn't kissed him at that moment, she wouldn't have been able to stop herself from laughing.

She felt this was God's will.

It was God who let him provide her with a perfect excuse, as well as a very suitable place to live in seclusion, without knowing it.

God was helping her.

Helping her let this child appear in this world.

At this moment, Fan Fan Binbing's hand couldn't help but rest on her lower abdomen.

She was 29 years old, just right, a suitable age to be a mother.

She also seemed to be able to feel that a life had already begun to gestate in her body at this moment.

And this newborn life would be the sustenance that belonged solely to her in the future, her hope, and her everything.

It had nothing to do with anyone.

Fan Fan Binbing left, and Chen Nuo also returned to his life of going between the set and the hotel.

To be honest, it was quite boring.

*Inception* might be the most complex and tiring movie Chen Nuo has ever filmed.

Gunfights, car chases, street chases, all kinds of fighting, especially the IMAX 3D camera filming method, made him have to buckle down every scene, shot by shot.

Under these circumstances, the consumption of his spirit and physical strength was very large.

For example, a scene of entering a door, having a conversation, and starting to fight after two or three sentences could originally be arranged with multiple cameras and filmed in one go within ten seconds.

But now, it must be broken down into steps like entering the door, conversation, and fighting; if there are close-up shots, they must be reshot in post-production, and the entire workflow is almost three times what it was before.

It's like filming those low-budget independent films, the crew is so poor that they can only afford to rent one camera, so the machine can't be tired, only the people are tired.

If the filming work in the first half of the trip around the world still had freshness as support.

Then after returning to the studio in LA, no matter for the director or each actor, including the paper people, there was only one thought left in their hearts:

Hold on.

Not only do the actors' physical strength and spirit have to hold on, but the money in the account also has to hold on.

This day, Qi Yuntian came back from the production meeting and mentioned this point to Chen Nuo.

"According to the current filming progress, it might be overdue, and the production costs are estimated to exceed the budget."

"About how much will it exceed?"

"Estimated around 10-20 million, in US dollars."

"... And then?"

"Then both of them want to take more money today, Laura and that someone from Hengdian argued for half a day. Laura wants to follow the agreement between our two sides and squeeze Hengdian out. But how could Hengdian agree? Today they each let their lawyers look at the investment agreement Hengdian signed back then to see if there is a priority right for subsequent investment. Then they have to continue the meeting tomorrow."

Chen Nuo sighed and said: "She is really professional enough, isn't this project ending and she's going to Netflix? Also, this little money, they are all big families, and they still have to argue, is it interesting?"

Qi Yuntian chuckled and said: "In this situation, they definitely want a little more. If it weren't for seeing them like that, I would also want to invest a little more. But later I looked, forget it. The ridiculous thing is, Laura also wanted us to invest less, I told her to dream on, and didn't agree at all."

Chen Nuo drank a sip of coffee with a calm expression, nodded and said: "Well done."

What is called "different from the past"?

The current situation should be called "different from the past."

Not only does that old guy CEO of Summit Entertainment now almost kneel and call him grandpa, but the profit sharing of *Twilight* was also given exceptionally quickly. It is said that the rescheduling of *Twilight 2* made him look glorious and proud at the year-end board meeting, making his position more and more stable.

Likewise, Warner and Hengdian now also treat *Inception* as the most fragrant bun.

You have to know,

At the upcoming 2010 Oscar ceremony, this year's super hot favorite for Best Picture and Best Director, *Avatar*, is currently sitting in the bright global film history number one position.

What does every digit in its 2,743,577,587 US dollar global box office sparkle with?

Sparkles with the golden light represented by IMAX and 3D.

The gold of gold coins.

Now the only two authentic IMAX 3D cameras in the world that are in the same line as *Avatar* are in their hands, even James Cameron himself doesn't have a third one.

What kind of concept is this?

Originally, it could be said that all of Hollywood was waiting to see their joke.

At that time, *Avatar* hadn't been released yet, Laura Eisner had just taken over as Warner's producer, and after arriving in XJ, she told him personally,

Spending 1 million US dollars a month in rental fees to rent two bullshit IMAX cameras from James Cameron to film a movie,

Almost laughed the other five major Hollywood studios to death, especially 20th Century Fox, which invested in *Avatar*, laughed the hardest. Thought it was another big sucker fooled by James Cameron, that liar.

Now.

No one can laugh anymore.

If time could go back a few months, even if Warner were eating shit, they definitely wouldn't let Hengdian come in to stick a foot in.

Likewise, Chairman Xu of Hengdian definitely wouldn't have called him the first time on the night of the Berlin award, congratulating him affectionately, and even saying on the phone that if Zhang Weiping didn't give him a big red envelope, it was basically equivalent to having no conscience.

What does that mean, can Chen Nuo not understand?

That doesn't really mean anything about Zhang Weiping, it means that if *Inception* makes money in the future, Hengdian Group will definitely not forget the well-diggers, so he can rest assured.

In fact, if their investment in this movie had been a little smaller, *Inception* would have been launched in the market as the first authentic IMAX 3D movie after *Avatar*, and there would have been almost no possibility of losing money. Several investors would probably be opening champagne to celebrate now.

And now, it's just that the investment amount is a bit larger, although it's still a drop in the bucket compared to *Avatar*'s 500 million US dollars, there is still pressure.

Indeed there is, but not much.

"Money is not the problem, the problem now is on Cameron's side, Warner is still negotiating with them."

He spread his hands, "They are not very willing to rent to us for another month, at least not at the current price. The reason is also very simple, now in the outside market, several companies are waving banknotes, waiting for us to free up these two machines. The highest bidder, Disney, has even called for 5 million US dollars a month."

Chen Nuo was truly shocked this time; although he knew that times were different, he didn't expect it to reach this extent.

"One month, 5 million, for one? Ten times the price!? Is Mickey Mouse fucking crazy?"

"For their *Pirates of the Caribbean 4*, Mickey Mouse is definitely willing to invest. You have to know that *Avatar* sold 2.7 billion US dollars. Nearly 20 billion RMB! It's twice your *Dark Knight*'s 1.338 billion US dollars. But actually, it's not that Mickey Mouse is crazy, but the world's audience is crazy. Before, they were still saying at the conference table that in just this one month, there were 82 movies launched worldwide claiming to be 3D. All are fake, at most adding a little special effects to some scenes. But every one of them can sell excess box office."

"That... alright. Then you guys handle it yourselves."

"By the way, Laura Eisner said at the meeting today that if you decide to attend the Oscars, can you go have a chat with James Cameron, talk to him in person, and kill the price? Do something for our crew?"

If the phone hadn't rung, Chen Nuo would definitely have been unable to help cursing.

People attend the Oscars to walk the red carpet and win awards in a glorious way,

He goes to be a small peddler, right?

Chatting with the 5 billion director who is the highest-grossing in the world today, when he is worried about who will win the Best Picture and Best Director at this year's Oscars, he goes "Hi, James, your camera, can it be cheaper..."

Laura was obviously joking with him, he didn't believe that Qi Yuntian, this shameless guy, didn't know, and actually followed suit.

Qi Yuntian went out laughing, but the sound in his ear didn't disappear.

The woman's voice didn't sound very crisp on the phone, the voice line was quite special, a bit low.

For the past week or so, he had to listen to it once a day. So Chen Nuo knew who was on the other side without even looking at the phone number after one word.

"Good morning."

"Hmm, good evening."

There were a few chuckles on the phone, and Chen Nuo didn't know what was funny.

Is this time difference joke even a joke?

Even if it is, having to chuckle every day, aren't you tired of it?

After laughing, the other side continued: "Are you tired from filming today? Let me tell you, I have so many things to do today. I have to go to the cover shoot for Harper's Bazaar in the morning, have an interview in the afternoon, and have to go out to eat in the evening. My aunt and the others have come to BJ, and my mom and I are planning to take them to eat..."

Liu Yifei muttered about some trivial matters on the phone, while Chen Nuo answered one sentence or another.

This has been his daily routine between 9 PM and 10 PM every night for some time now.

What time exactly, chatting for 20 minutes or 30 minutes, depends on what time she wakes up and what time she goes out over there.

On this point, there is a huge difference between Liu Yifei and Wen Yongshan.

Wen Yongshan rarely disturbed him when he was filming; when he was filming *The Dark Knight*, they didn't even talk once in two months, at most sending text messages every few days.

Liu Yifei is completely different.

After the two separated, she almost had to call him every day.

Fortunately, it's not like checking up on him.

For example, the few sentences about having things to do when Fan Fan Binbing came, the other side would at most complain a few words and not say anything more.

This made Chen Nuo not too disgusted with chatting for a while every night, at least for now. After filming with his nerves and muscles tense every day, this boring phone call can also be considered a disguised form of relaxation.

"By the way, you this time... *huff huff huff*... mother... Oscar..."

Chen Nuo couldn't help it, "Can you brush your teeth and rinse your mouth before talking?"

"Okay, right away... *huff huff*, *ptui*... *huff*, *ptui ptui*. Alright. Have you decided on this Oscar? Are you going?"

"Going."

"Do you think you can win an award this time?"

"Whatever, have to go whether I can win or not."

"Then don't drink alcohol this time, I'm not by your side, there's no one to call you."

Chen Nuo actually wanted to say, that's not necessarily true, but in the end, he just chuckled and said "OK."

"I think the news in China is so boring. They all say that your chances of winning this time are quite difficult, especially that *The White Ribbon*, I thought it was really funny last time, who stipulated that they won the Palme d'Or at Cannes last time, so they must be able to beat you to win the Oscar this time, it's not like children playing games... Don't you think so?"

After a while, it seemed like she heard the faint snoring from this side, and the girl's voice coming from the phone that Chen Nuo dropped on the pillow became both gentle and soft, not at all like before.

It was like a strand of hair or a strand of affection brushing across his sleeping face.

She said: "Remember to dream of me."

Then the screen lit up, and the call hung up.

March 7, 2010, the 82nd Academy Awards arrived as scheduled.

The lineup of *Mother* coming to America this time was even larger than the people in Cannes last year.

Not only Bong Joon-ho, Kim Hye-ja, Lee Jung-eun, but also Jin Goo, who played Chen Nuo's friend in the film, also came.

More importantly, Choi Cui Xueli also came.

Even more importantly, Chen Bicheng, Pan Chengrong, Li Er, Qi Yifei, Zhang Yiyi, Li Yu, and Zhang Yiyi's parents came as a group.

Don't doubt it, this visiting relatives and friends group was definitely organized by the now wealthy Boss Chen.

From the business class air tickets to five-star accommodation, for a mere dozen people, it didn't count for anything to Boss Chen. You have to know, in the whole year of 2009, the average price of commercial housing in the country rose by 24%.

The whole country! Average!

Not to mention the real estate under Brother Nuo's name,

Even Boss Chen, who does real estate in Long'an, of course has the confidence to call a bunch of people to organize a 10-day North American tour, and by the way, come to visit the unfilial son who hasn't returned home for the New Year for two consecutive years.

However, Choi Cui Xueli would not walk the red carpet. She would just follow Pan Chengrong and watch the ABC Oscar live broadcast in the hotel. Professor Qi Yifei, who has very good English, would do real-time translation for them.

For this reason, Chen Nuo originally didn't intend to let Qi Yuntian wait for him outside the Kodak Theatre again, and told him to go accompany his family.

As a result, Qi Yuntian resolutely refused, and in the end, he still followed him to the scene.

When they finished walking the red carpet and sat in the Kodak Theatre, and the two hosts of this year's Oscars, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, appeared, Chen Nuo saw Bong Fatty's hands tightly gripping the armrests.

It wasn't surprising, as the film nominated for an Oscar again after *Taegukgi*, Director Bong definitely wanted to achieve something.

He was different.

He came today just as a spectator.

With clean hands and nothing to do with himself.

Whether he wins an award or not, he doesn't take it to heart at all. His only purpose for coming was to brush his face at the Oscars.

At least that was the case originally.

However, things suddenly changed a few dozen minutes ago.

The cause was that Harvey Weinstein, that bastard, was just like him, also here to brush his face.

Even worse than him, because clearly tonight Weinstein Pictures didn't have any movies selected, but this fat guy still came with a thick skin.

When the two bumped into each other at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre, they chatted for a long time in front of many photographers, both with smiles on their faces, very gentlemanly.

No one could have imagined that their conversation was actually like this:

"Disappointed you in Berlin this time, right?"

"Haha, not at all. Congratulations, Chen. Winning such an irrelevant award should make you very happy, right?"

"It's alright, no matter what, it's better than coming away empty-handed. I heard that your new company hasn't had a single movie nominated for an Oscar in the past two years. What's wrong, Harvey, do you think the Oscars aren't worthy of you? Otherwise, why don't you try submitting your next movie to Berlin?"

"Thanks for your kindness, but it's better to leave Berlin and Cannes to those losers."

"Ah? Then shouldn't you go even more? Still remember the bet last time? Or are you too old and already forgot?"

"You... heh, Chen, did you get it wrong? That wasn't a bet with me."

"Then you don't even have the courage to sit at the table, isn't that even more pathetic?"

"Don't play word games anymore, Chen."

"Did I? Then do you want to make another bet?"

"What do you want to bet?"

"Let's bet on the Best Picture of this year's Oscars. I bet 1 million US dollars on *Avatar*."

"Hehehehehehe."

"Hehehehehe."

The two laughed together, and even waved at several photographers who were aiming their lenses at them.

Harvey whispered: "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Chen Nuo asked in surprise: "Why do you say that? Do you think *Avatar* is a sure win? No way, clearly it has so many competitors. For example, *The Hurt Locker*."

"Hehehe, are you saying James Cameron will lose to his ex-wife, a woman?"

"Why is it impossible?"

"Then why don't you bet on *The Hurt Locker*, and I'll bet on *Avatar*, then I'll bet with you."

"Hey Harvey, just say it if you don't dare to bet."

"I've already bet, 1 million US dollars, *Avatar*. Now it's your turn, Chen. You wouldn't dare not to, right? Aren't you a famous feminist? Aha, what's wrong. Don't dare to bet on whether the first female director in history to win an Oscar for Best Picture will be born tonight? You poor worm, you are too pathetic."

In the face of Harvey Weinstein's mockery, at that moment, the humiliated expression on Chen Nuo's face fully demonstrated that he truly possessed the strength of an Oscar Best Actor.

He bit the muscles of his cheeks out, and squeezed a few words through his teeth, "Don't think I don't dare, Harvey."

"Then agree to it, Chen, if you are a man."

"Haha, I just think 1 million is too little, 2 million, if we bet, let's bet 2 million."

"Hahaha, Chen, you've lost your composure. 2 million? No problem. Sorry, you really should go and ask around. All the gamblers in the United States know that no one should use bluffing to make Harvey Weinstein fold at the poker table, not even Des Plansky."

"Fuck you, Harvey, fuck you."

"Hahahahahaha, don't be so ungentlemanly, okay? I know you made a lot of money on *Twilight 2* this time."

"Heh, whatever you say, bye-bye."

"Wow, it seems someone has already preferred to be a loser rather than lose those 2 million."

"Who said that?"

"Isn't it? Hi, Jennifer, you look beautiful today. Can you do us a favor? He and I are making a bet, can you help be a witness..."

In order to prevent him from going back on his word, and also to force him onto the beam, Harvey Weinstein can be said to be very good at handling things, actually finding Jennifer Lopez, this well-known big mouth in Hollywood, to be a witness.

This was truly a stroke of genius.

Not even half an hour later,

Chen Nuo, in his seat at the Kodak Theatre, received a gentle encouragement from Kate Winslet, who came over specifically to say hello.

"Chen, I must say, you are too impulsive, but, it is indeed as Leon said, you are a very good person, and also a very good friend. At the banquet later, we must have a good chat."

At this moment, Chen Nuo subconsciously turned his head to look around, seeing many people looking at him with smiles.

There was mockery, and there was also goodwill.

The former were mostly men, the latter mostly women.

Alright, no matter what, the bet he made with Harvey, obviously, half the Kodak Theatre probably knew about it.

Chen Nuo also had to helplessly admit that some of his images were now completely rooted and couldn't be washed away.

Originally coming as a spectator, it seemed that tonight, he had become the center of attention in some sense.

At the Oscar ceremony, betting 2 million US dollars with Harvey Weinstein on the ownership of a certain award?

If he were an onlooker, he would definitely be interested to see which rich and stupid fool would do such a stupid thing, right?

"Okay Kate, see you later. However, I think I will win, and when I get the money from Harvey, remember to come to my party."

"Haha, Chen, you are very optimistic. Hope so. Mua, mua, see you later, dear."

After the two performed the cheek-kissing ritual, Kate Winslet politely nodded slightly to the few Koreans sitting next to him, and returned to her first-row seat.

After sitting down, that group of Koreans next to him, who were out of place in the Kodak Theatre, all looked at him with an indescribable complex expression.

In the end, it was Bong Fatty who said with a slightly jealous tone: "Kate Winslet, tsk tsk, took the initiative to come over and talk to you. My brother, I think Hollywood is more welcoming to you than Cannes."

Chen Nuo smiled, shook his head and said: "No, no, not familiar enough yet, otherwise..."

Otherwise, do you think I'm in the mood to sit here and accompany you now?

Go back and tell those shameless people in your country, if you want to speed skate, just speed skate, stop pushing people, okay?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 337 =====