Chapter 337: The Rescued Chinese Worker

TMZ: "BREAKING: It is alleged that Harvey Weinstein, President of Weinstein Pictures, and Chen Nuo just made a super bet of up to 2 million US dollars on whether *Avatar* or *The Hurt Locker* can win Best Picture! #Hollywood #2010Oscars #SuperBet #AvatarVsTheHurtLocker #"

E! Online: "BREAKING NEWS: Harvey Weinstein and Chen Nuo have a dispute over the 2010 Oscar for Best Picture, and a super bet of 2 million US dollars is born! *Avatar* vs *The Hurt Locker*, who do you favor more? #2010Oscars #HollywoodInsider #AvatarVsTheHurtLocker #"

The Hollywood Reporter: "NOT TO BE MISSED: In the ownership of Best Picture, Harvey Weinstein and Chen Nuo are on it. They bet 2 million US dollars on *Avatar* or *The Hurt Locker*. Who will you bet on? #OscarBet #HollywoodBigBet #WhoWillWin #"

In the comment section below this news, the remarks were extremely lively, and in just half an hour, there were over a thousand retweets and two thousand comments.

However, the remarks in the comment section were almost one-sided.

"Of course it's *Avatar*. #AvatarVsTheHurtLocker #"

"No controversy, *Avatar*. #AvatarVsTheHurtLocker #"

"I like *The Blind Side*, but these two movies should be *Avatar*. #AvatarVsTheHurtLocker #"

"If *Avatar* with 2.7 billion box office cannot win Best Picture, it will be the biggest shame in the history of the Oscars. #AvatarBestPicture #AvatarVsTheHurtLocker #"

"What *The Hurt Locker*, I haven't even heard of it. Betting on it is not as good as betting on *Up* to win the first Best Picture for an animated film! Chen is crazy! #AvatarVsTheHurtLocker #UpBestPicture #"

"Chen must have been deceived by Harvey. Harvey is a scumbag. #HarveySexOffender #ChenWasDeceived #"

When major entertainment media reported this breaking news from the Kodak Theatre on Twitter, it immediately attracted the attention of all American netizens.

A Hollywood tycoon entangled in sexual assault scandals, one of the hottest young movie stars at the moment, the highest-grossing movie in history, the star-studded Oscars, and a huge sum of 2 million US dollars.

This piece of news definitely gathered all the news points that grab people's attention in American society today; from 14 to 84 years old, it is estimated that no one's eyes would not linger on this news.

Within just half an hour, the topic #AvatarVsTheHurtLocker# was pushed into the top ten of Twitter's trending list, and even #HarveyWon# and #ChenWasDeceived# entered the top twenty.

Actually, for the Best Picture award at this year's Oscars, *Avatar* definitely counts as the public's expectation.

This can be seen from the odds on betting websites like William Hill, Betfair, and Bovada.

The odds of *Avatar* winning Best Picture were the lowest among all films, just like the odds of *The Blind Side* female lead Sandra Bullock for Best Actress, which were between 1:3 and 1:4.

And *The Hurt Locker*? It was about the same as the odds of George Clooney in *Up in the Air* for Best Actor, between 1:8 and 1:10.

Among all the nominated films, it belonged to the lowest tier.

You have to know, the number of nominations for Best Picture at this year's Oscars doubled compared to previous years,

With strong contenders gathered among them.

Not only *Avatar*, but also *Inglourious Basterds*, *The Blind Side*, *Up*, *District 9*, *Up in the Air*, and so on, all big productions with their own backgrounds.

*The Hurt Locker*, with a global box office of less than 50 million US dollars, stood among these critically acclaimed and commercially successful films like a wild chicken standing among a group of phoenixes.

Chen Nuo betting 2 million US dollars on it was not only looked down upon on Twitter, but even on FB, and even on domestic Weibo, many fans who saw the news ran to his account to leave messages, asking him to withdraw the bet immediately.

In this kind of turbulent public opinion,

The Oscar organizing committee and ABC TV station were happy crazy.

For them, this breaking event was simply a super gift package sent by God.

Facts proved this to be the case.

Only one minute after the start of this year's Oscar ceremony, in the real-time viewership statistics calculated by the minute by ABC and Nielsen, the number of viewers reached 41.35 million, nearly 4 million more than at the same time last year.

While the people in the Oscar director's room were clapping and celebrating, they also talked about this topic.

"Who will win?" someone said.

This caused a burst of laughter.

"You're like asking if Barbie or a Pan Duola person is stronger." someone replied.

"Can't say there's absolutely no chance, right? Do members of the Directors Guild really love box office champions?" someone objected.

"But buddy, Chen bet on *The Hurt Locker*. And its opponent is not someone else, it's *Avatar*."

"I think *Precious* has a better chance." someone interjected.

"Then why is Chen optimistic about it?"

After a silence, someone said, "Perhaps because in front of someone like Harvey, the best thing you can do for yourself is to refuse all his requests and keep your mouth shut."

Someone else said regretfully: "Alas, poor Chen, I really like his vampire."

The general director, who had been silent, suddenly said: "It's a pity he met a real one now. Alright guys, chat time is over, now let's do our own things. The big stars are about to appear."

Before the two hosts of this year's Oscars appeared, there was actually another segment.

That is, the nominees for Best Actor and Actress at this year's Oscars lined up on the stage, letting the entire audience greet them one by one.

Female actors included Sandra Bullock, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, etc.,

And male actors? Besides George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Colin Firth, etc.,

There was also an acquaintance of Chen Nuo, Morgan Freeman, who collaborated on *The Dark Knight*.

This year, this old guy collaborated with Matt Damon on a historical biopic *Invictus*, in which he played South African President Mandela, and as a result, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor.

Before the two sat down, they bumped into each other and chatted for a few sentences, and Chen Nuo also congratulated him.

But congratulations aside, looking at this old black man who didn't act his age, standing between George Clooney and Hawkeye Jeremy Renner at this moment.

When the female voice in the theater's sound system loudly read his name, "Morgan Freeman," followed by the audience's thunderous applause, the old man on the big screen showed a calm expression, not even offering a smile, as if everything was so indifferent.

It would be a lie if Chen Nuo said he wasn't jealous of this act.

Don't blame him for being narrow-minded; although his Silver Bear award was fresh out of the oven, the Berlin Best Actor award definitely couldn't be called "irrelevant"—but that had a premise: "outside of America."

Coming to LA to film for half a month, he was also truly "when in Rome, do as the Romans do."

Before, at the entrance of the Hollywood theater, betting with Harvey, maybe it was also partly because Harvey hit some kind of dissatisfaction in his heart.

The protagonists of tonight appeared,

The female voice announcing the program said passionately: "... We are broadcasting the 82nd Academy Awards live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and the Highland area. Now, let us enter the moment we have all been waiting for."

Immediately, Neil Patrick Harris, this Broadway star, as the opening performance guest, presented a song and dance performance similar to the one Hugh Jackman did at the 80th Oscars.

It was also stringing together various hot movies, but Chen Nuo felt that although Neil, as a professional, was definitely stronger than him, he couldn't compare to the amateur Wolverine.

Including the lyrics mentioning werewolves and vampires, although the cameraman gave him a close-up next to him, and he was also laughing.

But sorry, he didn't even understand what that lyric meant.

Neil and some Broadway dancers performed a quite gorgeous group dance.

Then it was the turn of the two hosts tonight, the famous American comedian Steve Martin and comedian Alec Baldwin, to appear on a float descending from the sky.

It was at this moment that Chen Nuo saw Bong Joon-ho gripping the armrest tightly.

The applause subsided, and he said softly to Bong Fatty: "Best Foreign Language Film is estimated to be in 2 hours, relax."

Bong Joon-ho forced a smile at him, but still didn't speak.

Then let's watch the show.

After an opening joke teasing each other, Steve Martin said with a smile: "Welcome everyone to the 82nd Academy Awards. The Oscars, everyone wants to win it, but everyone understands that this is by no means an easy task."

Alec Baldwin continued: "That's right, Steve. Because every Oscar ballot is sent to 6,000 Academy judges, they fill out the ballots, and the results are counted by PricewaterhouseCoopers."

Steve continued: "It's hard to know who they all voted for."

"Except for Meryl Streep."

Amidst the laughter of the whole audience, he waved his hand and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, Meryl Streep, the actress with the most nominations in Oscar history so far."

Meryl Streep's smiling face appeared on the big screen, and at the same time, thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Amidst the cheers, Alec Baldwin said coldly: "But I prefer to understand it this way: she is also the actress who has lost the most at the Oscars so far."

"Hahahaha."

"Hahaha."

Chen Nuo followed everyone and laughed.

After the laughter subsided, Steve said: "Compared to previous years, the biggest difference this year is that a total of 10 movies are nominated for Best Picture. This not only means that many niche movies have entered everyone's field of vision, but also makes it much harder for many people to predict."

"Perhaps except for him."

"Ladies and gentlemen, Chen Nuo, the youngest billionaire in all of Hollywood."

Chen Nuo's face appeared on the big screen, and he smiled helplessly at the camera. He knew it was probably going to be about him and Harvey's bet.

Seeing his expression, those who knew the situation had already laughed, making those who hadn't heard curious, and they were asking around what this joke was.

Steve said: "Before this, no one knew how much money he made in *Twilight*. Until an hour ago."

Alec Baldwin said: "He made a 2 million US dollar bet with Harvey Weinstein on the red carpet, believing that *The Hurt Locker* could win Best Picture."

Steve said: "God is my witness, he must be very, very wealthy."

Amidst the uproar of the whole audience, Alec Baldwin said seriously: "2 million, *The Hurt Locker*, Best Picture. I know, this sounds like a joke. But it's not."

Then he pointed to Chen Nuo, who was helpless on the big screen, "Look, Chen Nuo can't laugh anymore."

"Hahahahaha."

The whole audience laughed.

Chen Nuo on the big screen also laughed. Amidst the laughter, many people in the audience were still half-believing.

But the ABC studio didn't care.

This emergency added joke was never meant for these people at the scene,

But for the audience in front of the TV who didn't know yet.

If the audience doesn't understand, they will naturally google it.

After reading the news, who wouldn't stay in front of the TV, waiting for a result?

Amidst the laughter, Steve Martin continued to introduce: "Now let me introduce you to the director of *The Hurt Locker*, Kathryn Bigelow, the only female director nominated for this year's Oscars."

On the big screen at the scene appeared a middle-aged woman with long brown hair, dressed up, and looking quite attractive.

A beautiful female director, this is definitely a rare breed in Hollywood, and the whole audience erupted in warm applause again.

Steve continued: "Likewise, Kathryn is also the hot favorite for Best Picture tonight, the ex-wife of *Avatar* director James Cameron."

The camera gave to James Cameron, who was sitting behind Kathryn Bigelow with a head of white hair and a face full of wrinkles.

If this were in China, this way of introduction would probably lead to some bloodshed, but in America, whether it was Kathryn or Cameron, their faces were all smiles.

Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin took out a pair of 3D red-green glasses and put them on their faces at this moment.

"Kathryn and Chen Nuo, versus James and Harvey..."

"Wow, the first pair are beautiful Pan Duola star people."

"The second pair... are humans?"

"Hahahahaha."

In the face of Baldwin's question, the whole audience burst into laughter.

Even the nervous Bong Joon-ho laughed, turned his head and asked Chen Nuo: "Did you really make a bet with Harvey?"

"Yes."

"............ Why?"

"What else could it be for? Because I like this movie, I think it's very good, and it can win an award." Chen Nuo said without changing his expression.

Bong Joon-ho shook his head in disbelief, and then asked curiously: "2 million US dollars, about 3 billion won, you just bet it out like that? My brother, how much did you earn from *Twilight*, don't tell me you really earned 100 million US dollars?"

Bingo!

Chen Nuo laughed: "Trade secret, no comment."

Next, the two hosts teased the stars in the audience, and after talking about George Clooney, they talked about Chen Nuo here.

It was obvious that this joke was the one that was already prepared, refined and funny, unlike the previous one that was improvised and a bit long-winded.

Steve Martin said: "Ladies and gentlemen, Chen Nuo, this year he brought his Asian compatriots to the Kodak Theatre to compete for Best Foreign Language Film."

Amidst the applause, Chen Nuo's face appeared on the big screen again.

Steve said seriously: "Chen is from China, but he loves America more than Americans."

Alec Baldwin said: "Make America great again? Thank you, Chen." He even made a crying expression.

As a result, the biggest laughter since the opening broke out, and Chen Nuo couldn't help but laugh out loud.

With such loud laughter, it only shows that everyone understood the real reason why he said MAGA in Berlin. Of course, it wasn't really to revive the great America.

Afterwards, the two hosts teased the Best Actress favorite Sandra Bullock, and then started the first award of this year's Oscars, Best Supporting Actor.

In the end, this year's Best Supporting Actor was taken by Christoph Waltz, who played a cold-blooded, ruthless Nazi officer who slaughtered Jews everywhere in *Inglourious Basterds*.

Chen Nuo felt that if he changed his skin color, he could probably also win this award if he acted in it.

In the long awards ceremony that followed, several Koreans remained in a state of sitting upright, no matter how Chen Nuo tried to persuade them, even Teacher Kim Hye-ja was looking forward, sitting upright.

Alright, the charm of the Blue House is really strong enough.

It would be great if they were this well-behaved when participating in sports games.

After the awards ceremony started for 2 hours and 12 minutes, it finally reached the time for the Best Foreign Language Film award.

The five nominated films for Best Foreign Language Film this year are definitely strong contenders.

*The White Ribbon*, winner of the 2009 Cannes Palme d'Or.

*The Milk of Sorrow*, winner of the 2009 Berlin Golden Bear.

*A Prophet*, 2009 Cannes Jury Prize, 7 major awards including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director at the French César Awards.

*The Secret in Their Eyes*, six major awards in the Spanish-language film awards.

And *Mother*?

In 2009, it won a Best Actor award at Cannes that had nothing to do with the film itself, and self-entertaining awards like the Blue Dragon and Baeksang in Korea...

From the film itself, it seems that compared to the other four, it is not on the same level.

But strangely, after the nomination, the voices of the Koreans were the loudest.

The presenter for Best Foreign Language Film was Quentin Tarantino and the famous Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar.

The two didn't speak the same language, only told a joke with a strange accent that was mutually complimentary and not funny at all, and then began to play the candidate films.

*Mother* was the first of the five films to appear on the big screen.

Obviously, 90% of the audience at the scene probably hadn't seen this movie.

Because when Lu Sang-woo, played by Chen Nuo, appeared on the big screen of the Kodak Theatre with a foolish look, eating, peeing, arguing with Kim Hye-ja at the police station, and after a few quick shots, began to dance alone in the golden light,

A small gasp appeared in the entire Kodak Theatre.

After the five films were played, Quentin said with a weird laugh: "Different from *Twilight*, right?"

Obviously, this joke had a much better reaction than their previous one.

Chen Nuo was really relaxed at this moment, even when he heard Pedro Almodóvar announce in English with a strange accent: "The winner of this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film is *Mother* from South Korea, film director Bong Joon-ho."

His state of mind still didn't change, and he was even thinking, should he be happy or unhappy?

Finally, he decided to be a little happy.

Although it had nothing to do with him, at least he could brush his face.

He didn't react, but the few Koreans were really excited. Not to mention Lee Jung-eun and Kim Hye-ja, even Jin Goo, a man with style, was trembling when he went on stage.

Chen Nuo walked behind him and saw it clearly.

Yes, South Korea's first Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in history, and also their first Oscar award.

After winning, from the director to the small supporting roles, they will definitely rise to the top in Korea in the future, and will never have to worry about food and drink for a lifetime.

Especially for second and third-tier actors like Lee Jung-eun or Jin Goo, the improvement must be the greatest.

Even Jeon Do-yeon told him that after winning the award, the whole crew would definitely be received by the Blue House.

So, can these few Koreans not be excited?

Come to think of it, China doesn't even have a single Best Foreign Language Film award.

"... Thank you to my mother, maybe it is because of her blessing in heaven that I am standing here today. Also thank you to Chen, my brother, without his wonderful performance in the movie, this movie would definitely not have won so many honors..."

The acceptance speech time at the Oscars is really short. After going on stage, Chen Nuo felt Bong Joon-ho hadn't said two sentences before the LED screen under the stage started a ten-second countdown.

At this time, Bong Joon-ho turned to the side, moved away from the microphone, and signaled Chen Nuo to step forward.

No time left, Chen Nuo didn't hypocritically push back. Because his purpose for coming was this, he walked up to the microphone and said quickly: "Hello, everyone, I'm back."

"I promise, I will be back, thank you, thank you Oscars."

It can only be said that Americans love this set too much, and many people should still remember that the winner of the first Asian acting-related Oscar award used the *Terminator* joke in his acceptance speech the year before last.

Thus, Chen Nuo, along with several Koreans and the two presenters, walked off the stage amidst exceptionally warm applause and whistles.

Quentin Tarantino seemed really interested in him, deliberately walking to his side when walking off the stage, chatting with him.

Chen Nuo was quite strange, because Quentin's movies are few, and they are all filmed quite well, so he has seen all of this person's movies.

Chen Nuo could almost be sure that no movie was suitable for him to act in.

Then what are you chatting with him about? And why are you asking about his schedule for next year between the lines?

What does that mean?

Before the two sides separated, when he heard Quentin seriously invite him to collaborate on his next movie, Chen Nuo was really a bit confused.

"Your next movie? By the way, aren't you only filming 10 movies in your life? Which one is this?"

"Haha, you know that too? This is the seventh. In fact, this is because I saw your performance in *Mother* at Cannes last year, and I suddenly wanted to collaborate with you very much. A script I tailored for you. Originally my idea was... no matter what, now I need you to act."

"............ What is the name of the movie?"

"A 19th-century western, I haven't fully thought of the name yet, but I think you can temporarily call it—*The Rescued Chinese Worker*."

PS: Happy Lantern Festival

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 338 =====