Chapter 363: Dual Legend

"Wow!"

With this, the entire venue was in an uproar!

At this moment, everyone present, as long as they had their wits about them, understood what had happened in their hearts. If they still didn't understand, they only needed to turn their heads and look at the expressions of the judges on the panel to know.

Although they didn't know why this was necessary?

However, after a brief moment of surprise, the entire venue immediately erupted into thunderous applause.

There was no other way, because the main camera lens had begun to scan the entire venue.

It felt like a military inspection.

One couldn't help but think it might be replayed and checked later to see if anyone had the guts to jump out and disrupt the big picture at this moment.

At the same time, as the vote count on the screen finally locked in, the two hosts on stage finally reacted and both announced loudly:

"Congratulations to Chen Nuo!"

"Congratulations to Chen Nuo for winning Best Actor at the 30th Hundred Flowers Awards!"

After this voice rang out, the people in Room 322 of the Beijing Film Academy dormitory also began to cheer and shout.

Bao Wei exclaimed: "It really is Chen Nuo. Doesn't that make it exactly the same as the list on the internet?"

Yang Zi said: "What's strange about that? If it's not Chen Nuo, who else could it be? You tell me."

Bao Wei said: "It's so strange, why wasn't there a voting screen this time? We only saw the final result. Also, these vote counts are too even, right? It feels completely abnormal."

Yang Zi said: "What's abnormal about it? Hey, even if there were backroom dealings, it couldn't possibly be Chen Nuo, okay?"

Xu Xiyang said: "Zi is right. Forget about others, it's truly impossible for it not to be Chen Nuo. He already won an award in Berlin; it's impossible for the Hundred Flowers not to give it to him."

Bao Wei said with dissatisfaction: "Why do you two keep playing devil's advocate with me? I can't even be suspicious..."

Suddenly, she looked at Dilireba, who was listening very intently, paused for a moment, and then said word by word: "Xiao Di, I was just joking earlier. You didn't take it seriously, did you?"

Dilireba was a bit confused: "Why? I think what you said makes sense. There is a problem with this matter, and I also think there were backroom dealings."

Bao Wei said anxiously: "I actually didn't... I really didn't mean that... You shouldn't..."

Yang Zi chuckled in her heart and interrupted: "Alright, Wei, don't worry, Xiao Di won't report you. Chen Nuo is going on stage to receive the award, look quickly."

Chen Nuo stood up amidst the hosts' congratulations, first hugging Donnie Yen on his left.

Then he turned around and opened his arms toward Zhang Guoli.

Looking at his appearance, Zhang Guoli felt as if he had swallowed a dozen flies; it was so uncomfortable he wanted to vomit.

However, as the saying goes, the big picture matters most.

Having been in the industry for so many years, he naturally knew the weight of those four words.

When the pitch-black lens of the camera swept over, no matter how unhappy he was, he could only force a smile, stand up slowly, and squeeze out from between his teeth: "Congratulations, congratulations."

Teacher Zhang Guoli's current appearance was exactly the same as when Chiang Kai-shek was hiding in the rock crevices of Xi'an and was caught by a few soldiers.

Chen Nuo couldn't help but smile: "Thank you, Jiang... Teacher Zhang. It seems you didn't teach this lesson well today; I'll listen with respect next time."

After speaking, without looking at Zhang Guoli's face, which had instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot, he reached out and shook hands with Chen Kun.

Chen Kun smiled quite naturally and happily: "Congratulations, congratulations. Well-deserved."

Chen Nuo replied with a smile as well: "Many thanks."

Then came You Yong, who also offered polite congratulations.

Of course, Chen Nuo could also feel it.

Except for Donnie Yen, the congratulations from the other three were at most one percent genuine.

Like Chen Kun, it was estimated there wasn't even one percent.

Because everything that had just happened was indeed a bit unreasonable.

However, he didn't care about that much.

Chen Nuo stepped out from his seat and walked toward the stage.

Regardless of whether it was sincere or fake, there were quite a few people standing up and applauding at this moment, such as Zhou Xun, Shu Qi, Ge You, and Huang Jianxin, etc...

However, there were also quite a few who didn't stand up, such as Feng Xiaogang and Zhao Wei.

Zhang Yimou sat in the center seat, smiling like a blooming old chrysanthemum.

Chen Nuo walked over and gave him a heavy hug.

As for the others, he really couldn't attend to them. Including old acquaintance Zhou Xun, he could only smile and wave from a distance. Zhou Xun returned a lip-reading gesture, saying "Amazing."

"Congratulations, congratulations to Chen Nuo!"

"Congratulations to Chen Nuo, let us invite the award presenters, Simon Yam and Qin Yi."

Amidst the repeated congratulations from the two hosts, Chen Nuo walked onto the podium, received the trophy and certificate from Simon Yam and Ms. Qin Yi, and after a few words of thanks and pleasantries, he caught a glimpse of Tu Jingwei, who hadn't left the stage, standing to one side, looking at him with a smile, clearly waiting for him.

He walked over with a smile, and the two hugged lightly.

Tu Jingwei said sincerely: "Congratulations."

A faint fragrance drifted to his nose, and his hand touched her soft waist; although this might have been the two-hundredth "congratulations" Chen Nuo had heard in this short minute.

Yet, facing this beautiful host he had known since his debut, Chen Nuo always felt a special closeness, and he immediately whispered: "Thank you."

Tu Jingwei only felt a wave of heat at her earlobe; she suppressed the flutter in her heart, retreated to the side without changing her expression, and watching the man's back, a feeling of emotion suddenly welled up in her heart—so the once green youth had quietly grown into a man.

Chen Nuo stood on the stage, looking at the audience gathered with stars.

It could be said that more than half of the big names in the current Chinese entertainment industry were here.

No wonder people said the 30th Hundred Flowers Awards was the most star-studded one in history.

He had thought that having attended so many award ceremonies, from Cannes to Berlin, his mood wouldn't fluctuate much, but at this moment, he realized he was somewhat wrong.

Facing these familiar faces with black eyes and black hair in the audience, his heart was also filled with mixed feelings.

It was just like no matter how many achievements one made abroad, sometimes it couldn't compare to returning home and receiving a word of recognition from one's parents.

Although... however... there were twists and turns in the middle,

But the title of the 30th Hundred Flowers Best Actor was finally placed on his head.

At this moment, there was truly a feeling of "winner takes all."

And this principle, not only him, but whether it was Zhang Guoli or Chiang Kai-shek, should also understand.

He calmed down and began to speak sincerely: "Thank you to the 101 judges for their votes, and thank you to the Hundred Flowers Organizing Committee. Thank you to the Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Thank you to all the leaders of the Film Association."

Even though Chen Nuo had thanked the Cannes Organizing Committee, the Berlin Organizing Committee, and the Oscar Academy, it was estimated that all of those combined weren't even half as sincere as this one.

Because this was truly real!

Seeing his earnest words, Deputy Director Zhang in the audience also let go of half his worry.

Actually, before Chen Nuo went on stage, Zhang Pingmin was vaguely a little worried.

Because he knew that this young man was very good at speaking most of the time, but sometimes he was prone to speaking without restraint. For example, the time he scolded Sun Haiying and Lü Liping for the sake of his agent.

So would he speak wildly on stage today because he felt wronged? His worry dissipated by more than half upon hearing this opening.

And as he listened further, he became more and more moved. In the end, he turned his head and said to Kang Jianmin: "A sincere heart. Jianmin, go back and discuss with your Chairman Li immediately, and send someone to contact him as soon as possible."

Kang Jianmin also nodded and said: "Okay, I will report to Li Lao tomorrow."

Chen Nuo didn't expect that his words would make Deputy Director Zhang determined to include him in the system, and he was impatient to do so.

He was just returning the favor, wanting to do something to repay the organization's help to him today.

Without the organization, Jiang... no, it was Zhang Guoli, how could he know what the hell fairness was!? And how could the pent-up anger in his chest be released?

He probably wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight.

Therefore, after thanking the director of *Under the Hawthorn Tree*, Zhang Yimou, the crew staff, actors, his alma mater, his agent, etc., he changed the subject and said: "Finally, I want to share one thing."

"Just now, while I was off-stage, I heard Elder Yu Yang talk about his acting career after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, and he also mentioned his current regrets. He said he only hated that he couldn't be twenty years younger. Because he wanted to continue to interpret the stories of those heroic figures."

"I want to tell Elder Yu Yang, although I cannot bring back twenty years of time for you, in your unfinished regrets, I am willing to contribute my own meager strength. Thank you, thank you everyone."

"Chen Nuo wins Best Actor at the 30th Hundred Flowers Film Festival."

"Best Director won by Feng Xiaogang for *If You Are the One*, Zhang Yimou doesn't mind, talks and laughs with Chen Nuo after the gala."

"Best Film well-deserved, *The Founding of a Republic* elected by a high vote."

"Best Actress Zhao Wei sheds tears at the scene, Liu Yifei absent from the awards ceremony, perhaps due to being pre-determined."

"The fairness of this year's Hundred Flowers Awards sparks controversy again! The final winners are almost identical to the list circulating on the internet beforehand! Backroom dealings or coincidence?"

"Chen Nuo's acceptance speech implies he wants to film a mainstream movie? Defaults in post-event interview."

"Chen Nuo's award-winning moment sparks controversy? Are the rumors of electronic display failure true or false?"

"Film Association Vice Chairman Kang Jianmin praises Chen Nuo's acceptance speech, saying Chinese cinema has successors."

The next day, various news about the 30th Hundred Flowers Awards exploded across the entire internet and media.

If it were any other day, it might not have had such high heat, but the things that happened that night really had many points worth discussing.

"Stop arguing, if it were someone else, I'd believe it. There's no way there were backroom dealings for Chen Nuo's award."

"It should just be a technical issue."

"Those who say Chen Nuo winning an award had backroom dealings, please scold the judges of Cannes, Berlin, and the Oscars one by one first. Oh, and the Golden Horse Awards, and all the Joker fans and Twilight fans around the world."

"To say that Chen Nuo winning the Hundred Flowers Best Actor had backroom dealings is not insulting Chen Nuo; it's insulting the aesthetics of those 101 judges."

"No need to argue, several judges have accepted interviews and said there were no backroom dealings; they all voted themselves. It's just that the voting machine was a bit glitchy at first; it was indeed a technical failure."

"Did you notice that when Chen Nuo won the award, Zhao Wei didn't even stand up."

"She must be unhappy; she and Chen Kun have such a good relationship."

"If Chen Nuo films a mainstream movie, I really want to watch it."

"It's probably just talk; you guys actually took it seriously, laughing to death."

"I also want to see a mainstream movie filmed by Chen Nuo ah ah ah ah! I absolutely guarantee it will be the first box office champion mainstream movie in history! Definitely stronger than *The Founding of a Republic*!"

"In *The Founding of a Republic*, Han Sanping cut Chen Nuo's footage to only three seconds, I hehe." "I hope Chen Nuo lets Han Sanping know what a real mainstream movie is. What is *The Founding of a Republic* filming? I really don't know if I'm watching a movie or counting stars."

"Chen Nuo, film it quickly ah ah! Win a box office championship and hammer Han Sanping to the ground!"

When Fan Fan Binbing saw this, she finally couldn't help but laugh.

If it were a year ago, she might not have understood why Chen Nuo wanted to say such things?

With his current status and position, what kind of movie couldn't he get?

Why would he take the initiative to express that he would take on some mainstream movie?

Mainstream movies pay very little, and it doesn't benefit his international reputation, does it?

Many times in the past, she had thought this way, unable to understand his decisions.

But this time, she could finally understand his intentions in advance.

Indeed, on the road of life, walking fast is not important; what's important is that every step must be taken steadily.

From now on, she would no longer be that workaholic Fan Fan Binbing. Thinking all day about how much money to earn, how much gold to add to her face, wishing to work 365 days a year.

As a mother, she wanted to give her child a stable home, a reliance that could shield him from the wind and rain no matter what happened in the future.

Since August, Fan Fan Binbing hadn't really gone out much.

Although Bridle Path, as a wealthy area of Toronto, was known for its low-key luxury and extremely high privacy, with spacious distances between mansions and lush trees, almost undisturbed, she still rarely risked going out for safety.

Every day in the house, besides listening to prenatal music to coax the little one in her belly, doing some light prenatal stretching exercises on a yoga mat, and taking walks, she was just looking at various news from home.

Seeing all the messy comments on the internet, and then finishing looking at the man smiling brightly in front of the photographer with the Hundred Flowers trophy and certificate.

A gentle-as-water smile appeared on the corner of Fan Fan Binbing's mouth, and then she supported herself on the chair armrest and stood up.

At this time, the local nanny she hired, a middle-aged Toronto local woman named Marisa, was walking over with a cup of warm prenatal tea.

Marisa was hired by her in early September through a high-end housekeeping service company in Toronto, the kind of nanny specifically for women in the third trimester.

This company only took orders in wealthy areas and introduced experienced locals; Marisa had been doing nursing for more than ten years and also had a certificate in prenatal and postnatal care.

She came five days a week, from 9 am to 5 pm every day, responsible for helping Fan Fan Binbing prepare nutritious meals, accompanying her for walks, watching her do prenatal exercises, and tidying up the house by the way.

The salary was calculated by the hour, 20 Canadian dollars an hour, 8 hours a day was 160 Canadian dollars, and 900 Canadian dollars for 5 days a week.

Although the price was slightly high, considering it included a confidentiality agreement, Fan Fan Binbing was quite satisfied.

What's more, Marisa was quick-handed and witty, bringing a lot of fun to these dull and boring days.

Sure enough, Marisa walked over with the teacup, and as soon as she saw her appearance, she exclaimed with an exaggerated expression: "Oh, dear Fan, you finally smiled. Let me think, the last time I saw you smile, it seems like it was in the last century."

Fan Fan Binbing laughed even louder: "Haha, don't be so exaggerated, Marisa."

Marisa said with a smile: "Anyway, you really should smile more, Fan, do you know, I have served so many clients, and the experience I have concluded is that smiling is of great benefit to every baby about to be born. What's more, I swear to God, the smile on your face might be the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life. You really should smile more."

"Thank you, Marisa, I will."

"OK, come, drink this cup of tea, I'll help you go to the yard for a walk."

Five minutes later, Fan Fan Binbing held her waist, and under Marisa's support, slowly paced in the backyard of this mansion in Bridle Path.

The yard of the villa she rented was as big as half a football field, surrounded by neatly trimmed holly hedges, which could block all the sight from outside. Under her feet was a path paved with delicate pebbles, which felt a bit prickly to step on, but it was still comfortable.

On the right was a small fountain, the water flowing into the marble pool below, and several pots of autumn chrysanthemums in full bloom were placed next to it.

On the left was a lawn, the grass was trimmed as flat as a carpet, and in the distance, it leaned against an old maple tree, which rustled when the wind blew.

Marisa asked curiously: "Fan, your mood is really good today, can you talk about why?"

Fan Fan Binbing shook her head and said: "Just saw some photos of old friends on the internet, so I'm a little happy."

"You are going to give birth on the 20th of next month, Fan, although this is your private matter, I want to know, will the child's father come then?"

Fan Fan Binbing subconsciously touched her high-bulging belly, smiled, and said: "No, he won't."

"Fan, doing this is not good. I sincerely suggest you, no matter what past you and him have had, you should talk to him properly. Don't easily choose to bear everything alone and become a single mother. I have seen too many similar examples, this is unfair to the child, and for yourself, it will also be unbearable, and even crushed."

"Alright, don't say anymore, Marisa. Thank you for your kindness, but I decided on this matter long ago, don't say it again."

"Okay, okay, but I'm really doing it for your own good..." Marisa was still muttering, and Fan Fan Binbing shook her head helplessly.

At this time, they were walking on the flower path near the wall in the backyard, and the pebble path under their feet was full of autumn chrysanthemums on both sides. When the wind blew, the faint floral fragrance mixed with the rustling sound of maple leaves drifted over.

Fan Fan Binbing didn't know that on the sidewalk just a wall away from her, two men—one with black hair, one with brown hair—had just drilled into a gray, dusty van.

"Are you sure your girlfriend's boss is that big star? She lives here now?" The brown-haired white man asked with a squint.

"Yes, I saw their group photo with my own eyes from her mobile phone. This woman is called Fan Fan Binbing, she is the most famous female star in our China. Do you know Zhang Ziyi? They are at the same level." The man with the Asian face and black hair lowered his voice and said triumphantly.

"Shit, you mean she's pregnant, didn't tell anyone, and she's hiding here now?"

"Yes, yes. Hey, my girlfriend has been talking about her boss, she said she is prepared to be a single mother. But she never said who her boss is. Until I cracked her phone password. Do you know how much this news is worth?"

"No, I don't know."

"Alan, as long as I take a photo of her, I guarantee that all the media in China will wave money to find us to buy it. At that time, you and I can become millionaires overnight. Haha, I said, why has she been like missing for this year, it turns out she was hiding in Canada to give birth. Haha."

"... Jeffrey, I'm not very sure if what you said is true, I'll go home and google who this person is later, and then give you an accurate answer. But you can say, what do you want me to do?"

"OK, it's like this, I have been squatting here for almost a week, she has never gone out. But I have figured out the pattern, she has a companion who will come back here around 6 pm every night, and her nanny gets off work at 5 pm every day. There is about an hour in the middle when she is the only one at home. My idea is, you disguise yourself as a repairman to ring the doorbell, and I will hide on the Bridle Path sidewalk to take pictures. Because you are a Canadian white man, she won't be suspicious, and if I go, I guarantee that she will definitely not open the door when she sees my face."

"Just that simple?"

"Yes, just that simple, you put on the plumber's clothes, walk over, ring the doorbell, you don't have to worry about anything else, just wait to share the money."

Having finished the Hundred Flowers Awards itinerary, logically Chen Nuo should have flown to the United States without stopping to deal with Summit Entertainment's affairs.

If possible, he had to quickly sign the renewal contract with Summit Entertainment, and then run to Canada to reshoot the scenes of *The Twilight Saga: Eclipse*, so that the movie could be released on schedule at the end of the year.

This was not only a big deal involving hundreds of millions of dollars, but even directly related to the option contract he signed with Facebook.

Honestly, if he couldn't fulfill the contract by then, it would probably really make Zuckerberg's jaw dislocate from laughing.

Let's review what happened at that time:

In October 2009, Chen Nuo tried his best to sign a contract with Facebook. It was agreed that two years later, that is, in October 2011, he could buy 2% of Facebook's shares for 200 million US dollars.

At that time, Facebook's valuation was still hovering around 10 billion US dollars.

Because Microsoft spent 240 million in 2007 to buy 1.6% of the shares, which calculated to a valuation of 15 billion. But in May 2009, Russia's DST invested 200 million to buy nearly 2% of the shares, and the valuation fell to 10 billion.

Therefore, when Chen Nuo signed the contract, 200 million US dollars to buy 2%, calculated at a 10 billion valuation, was considered acceptable to both him and Zuckerberg.

However, Zuckerberg probably didn't expect that in these two years, his Facebook would develop in a dazzling way as if it had opened a cheat.

By October 2010, that is, now, Facebook was no longer the social website with some potential from two years ago.

The number of users not only skyrocketed from 300 million in 2009 to 500 million, and it was just announced in July that it had broken the 500 million mark, with half of the people going online to swipe for 34 minutes every day, and the mobile terminal launched early this year also jumped to 150 million users.

Revenue was even soaring by leaps and bounds.

In 2009, it was only 770 million, and in 2010 it rushed directly to around 2 billion.

According to some semi-public news, FB is currently in a round of financing led by Goldman Sachs, and the valuation has reached about 50 billion US dollars.

What does that mean?

It means that as long as Chen Nuo's original 200 million US dollar option is exercised, it will immediately be worth 1 billion US dollars in the capital market, a full 5-fold increase!

It can be said that when the world economy is still slowly recovering from the 08 economic crisis, once this achievement of his spreads, it will definitely be a dual legend of Hollywood and Silicon Valley!

However, this matter has a premise, that is, by October 2011, he must take out 200 million in real money and hand it over to Facebook.

This is why his asking price for the *Twilight* series contract was 20 million US dollars plus a 15% box office share.

These were all calculated.

The cash dividend of *Twilight 3*, calculated according to the share of the first two parts, is about 50 million US dollars.

By *Twilight 4*, according to the plan, it was split into two parts, upper and lower, and the contract signed was 20 million US dollars per film, plus a 15% box office share.

Based on the 900 million US dollar global box office of *Twilight 2*, even if *Twilight 4* upper and lower parts are conservatively calculated at 800 million box office each, 15% share of each part is 120 million US dollars, and the two parts combined are 240 million US dollars.

Plus 20 million salary per film, a total of 40 million cash + 240 million box office share.

The bank can lend 85% of the 40 million cash, which is 34 million. For the 240 million share, the bank will generally only give 50% of the loan, which is 120 million.

Added together, the loan can reach 154 million US dollars, plus the 50 million dividend cash of *Twilight 3*, a total of 204 million, which is just enough for him to exercise the 200 million option.

One deduction and one combination, it is simply perfect.

Therefore, after learning that Summit Entertainment had loosened its mouth, he was so happy. The day after the Hundred Flowers Awards ended, he should have flown to California.

But in the end, after discussing with Li Jing and Qi Yuntian, he still postponed the itinerary for two days.

The first is to put more pressure on Summit.

Second, the organization sent someone to talk to him.

Actually, the Film Association can only be considered half an organization, it is just a mass team under the organization's leadership.

In the face of 1 billion US dollars, logically speaking, it doesn't matter if it's a little later.

However, who made the person looking for him have such a high rank.

It was none other than the current chairman, national first-class director, and national film artist with outstanding contributions, Li Lao Qiankuan.

The meeting between the two was on October 18, 2010, the third day after the Hundred Flowers Awards ended, and the place was in an old-fashioned teahouse in Xicheng District, Beijing. This place is called "Lao She Teahouse," not far from the headquarters of the China Film Association.

Except for Li Lao, the other vice chairmen also came, one of whom was an acquaintance of Chen Nuo.

The conversation time was not long, about 50 minutes,

When leaving, Kang Jianmin and Principal Zheng Zhongjian sent them to the door together, and a few people stood there and chatted for a while.

"Li Lao health has not been very good recently, and originally this time it was prepared for me to talk to you first. But Li Lao saw your speech at the Hundred Flowers Awards, and after learning about this, he forced himself to come over despite his illness to talk to you in person."

"Whether it is Li Lao or us, in fact, there is only one heart, which is to hope that Chinese cinema can do better and better. Now it seems that Xiao Chen, you indeed have some unique conditions in this regard, and you have also made some achievements."

"Now, you are already the well-deserved leader of our Beijing Film Academy, and in the future, I hope you will become the leader of Chinese cinema."

"Principal Zheng is right, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, you have to step in with one foot first."

"This time you won the Hundred Flowers Best Actor, the biggest harvest, I think, is that whether it is the National Theatre of China, or the People's Art, or other art groups, the doors are open for you, and you can choose."

"I believe that contacting some old artists among them and learning more diverse and rich performing arts should also be helpful to your future acting career."

"In short, think about it carefully, we will wait for you to come back from the United States."

PS:

700 monthly tickets, 1500 words added!

(End of this chapter) ===== CHAPTER 364 =====