Chapter 457

After Chen Nuo finished speaking, he did not leave the stage immediately. He stood on stage with a smile, turned slightly, and looked back toward the curtain.

Amidst the applause and cheers of the entire room, Johnny Depp, wearing a pair of light-tinted dark green sunglasses, walked onto the stage with that slightly strange but highly personal style of gait. He waved to the audience while walking steadily toward the center of the stage.

At this time, Johnny Depp was in the golden period of his acting career. *Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides*, released in 2011, had a global box office of as high as 1.011 billion dollars, and the total box office of the first four films in the series had already exceeded 3.7 billion. As the absolute lead of the series, he was undoubtedly one of the most bankable actors in the world that year.

Just as Chen Nuo had teased on stage earlier—if not for the sudden emergence of *Inception* and his own interference, Johnny Depp would have undoubtedly been the hottest male actor in the world last year.

Depp walked to the center of the stage and glanced at Chen Nuo through his sunglasses, a hint of confusion in his eyes—clearly not understanding why he hadn't left the stage yet. But the two soon hugged with a smile, and the applause continued to rise and fall.

Chen Nuo turned to look at him, picked up the microphone, and said with a smile: "Can I ask you a question?"

Johnny Depp nodded with a smile: "Of course."

Chen Nuo said again: "But you have to tell the truth."

Depp shrugged: "Okay."

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Chen Nuo suddenly stopped smiling and looked at him with a serious tone: "Have you ever peeked at Keira Knightley's butt?"

The room went silent, followed by an explosion of deafening laughter, "Hahahahahaha!"

Chen Nuo was holding back laughter while asking, and as soon as the question fell, he couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud, then turned and walked off the stage without hesitation.

In order to capture the most authentic reaction, this part had not been told to Depp in advance, but as a top actor, his improvised reaction was almost instinctive. Johnny Depp stood on stage, stunned for a second, then clenched his fist and pretended to chase after Chen Nuo, fully cooperating with this impromptu bit.

In front of the TV, Susan laughed so hard she almost rolled off the sofa, her laughter continuous: "Too funny, hahahahahaha!"

Beside her, Karen Wilson frowned, "What does that mean?"

Susan giggled: "Didn't you read the tabloid news last year? They said Johnny peeked at Keira changing clothes on the set of *Pirates of the Caribbean*. Hahahahahaha. Oh my god, Chen is just crazy tonight, firing on all cylinders, like a different person! I have to get on Twitter and see what the netizens are saying."

Karen understood and couldn't help but laugh as well.

On the TV screen, Johnny Depp returned to the microphone and said somewhat awkwardly: "I didn't. Chen Nuo's question is very interesting, OMG, he really is a humorous person..."

Karen Wilson shook her head.

To be honest, for a woman of her age, Johnny Depp was still a very charming man. But compared to the young Chinese man on stage just a moment ago, with his witty, dashing, and humorous demeanor, the contrast was really huge. There was no doubt that tonight, that young man would make it harder for her to look away.

Karen Wilson didn't continue watching, silently stood up from the sofa, and walked toward the bathroom.

At the same time, on the monitoring screen backstage at the Golden Globes, the live viewership, after reaching a peak of 20.5 million just now, began to slowly fall back.

Clearly, among the audience across America, Karen Wilson was not the only one with similar thoughts.

As soon as Chen Nuo walked off the stage, Alison and Michelle were the first to greet him. In addition, the backstage staff also gathered around.

"Chen, that was amazing."

"Better than the rehearsal!"

"Chen, you're in such great form, absolutely top-tier performance!"

"Perfect performance, congratulations, Chen."

Amidst the excited smiling faces, there were congratulatory voices from all sides.

"Thank you, thank you..." Saying a string of "thank yous," Chen Nuo shook hands and nodded to each of the staff members who came to congratulate him, accepting all these compliments.

Afterward, accompanied by Alison, he walked quickly toward the dressing room. He planned to go to the lounge to let Michelle Williams touch up his makeup and drink some water to adjust his state.

Next was the intermission.

In the ceremony schedule he had, after Johnny Depp finished introducing *Hugo*, there would be two paid advertising presenters: Gerard Butler, the lead of *Coriolanus* currently in theaters, and Mila Kunis, the lead of a new movie about to be released, who would present the "Best Supporting Actor" award together.

After that, there would be Best Actress in a TV Musical/Comedy, Best Miniseries, and so on. It wouldn't be his turn to go on stage until the Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy film award was finished.

There were four or five awards in between, plus commercial breaks, totaling over 20 minutes. That was enough for him to have a good rest.

Chen Nuo indeed needed a rest at this time.

The glass of champagne he drank before the opening made his whole mouth feel uncomfortable, and after the ten-minute opening, he was also a bit parched, his throat smoking. He took the mineral water from Alison and gulped down two mouthfuls while walking, then turned and asked: "How is the media reaction now?"

Alison was about 165cm tall, walking quickly beside him, and said: "There are good ones and bad ones, but overall, the reaction on Twitter is better than we thought. The biggest controversy appeared during the Michael Jackson segment..."

"As expected," Chen Nuo interjected.

Alison smiled and said: "Exactly. As we expected, no controversy means no news. After that segment, the Golden Globes topic really caught fire on Twitter tonight."

By this time, they had reached the lounge, and Chen Nuo pushed the door open and entered.

This was the host's private space, not very big. In the corner was a 29-inch TV playing the NBC live broadcast. Currently, Johnny Depp was still using his deep voice to introduce *Hugo*, and on the screen appeared old Martin with his white hair and signature black-rimmed glasses.

Seeing him enter, the little black girl jumped up from the sofa excitedly and said in her African-American accented English: "Chen, there are many posts on Twitter saying your look today is especially handsome. I told you this look suits you perfectly, I'm definitely not joking, I'm a professional..."

Chen Nuo sat in the chair, and Michelle began to touch up his makeup, her mouth still running non-stop.

After a while, he turned the chair in the other direction and looked at the screen on the TV.

At this time, after showing some highlights from the movie *Hugo*, the screen returned to the venue. Amidst the applause of the whole room, Martin Scorsese was smiling and talking to the producer beside him.

At the same time, from this shot, he could also see Harvey Weinstein sitting not far behind Martin, chatting with Bob Weinstein beside him.

Chen Nuo watched for a few seconds and couldn't help but ask: "Alison, what are the chances for *Inception* for Best Picture this time?"

Alison was stunned for a moment and said: "Uh, I haven't paid much attention..."

Chen Nuo wasn't disappointed either, nodding: "Alright."

He had actually had the same mindset as Alison before. Anyway, he wasn't nominated, so how Warner Bros. arranged the PR for *Inception* this time, how the PR competition unfolded against rivals like *The Artist*, *Hugo*, *War Horse*, *Moneyball*, and *The Ides of March*, and who had the advantage—he hadn't cared about any of it.

Although winning a Golden Globe would be very helpful for the movie's ongoing long-tail release and subsequent DVD sales, after earning 400 million on one movie, he wasn't that desperate for money for the time being. These small amounts were temporarily not within his consideration.

But now, his mindset was different.

Maybe it really was a personality clash. Although they hadn't dealt with each other for a while and hadn't formed any new grudges, seeing Harvey's oily, fat face made him want to smash it.

Alison thought for a while and said: "But I think Warner Bros. must have put in a lot of effort this time. They haven't had any gains in the awards season for several years, and I think they would be willing to spend heavily on this to prove themselves. They even gave up on the Best Actor PR for this, so... I think the hope might be great." Chen Nuo nodded.

Hope so, otherwise there was nothing he could do. The award results had long been settled, and the results were in the briefcases of those staff members from Ernst & Young at the venue.

What names were written in those sealed envelopes, and who would ultimately win the biggest suspense of the night—Best Picture—would only be revealed in 2 hours.

At this time, on TV, following the introduction, a tall, curly-haired white handsome guy and a mixed-race woman with slightly dark skin walked onto the stage. It was Gerard Butler and Mila Kunis.

"Hello everyone, welcome to the Golden Globes, it's an honor to present the Best Supporting Actor award here." Gerard's diction was very clear, and he looked very generous, but beside him, Mila Kunis looked slightly nervous.

Gerard laughed and said: "I think this year's Golden Globes might be the only awards ceremony in the world where it's more miserable when the host mentions your name than when your name isn't in the nominations."

Mila Kunis laughed immediately and said: "You're so right, Gerard."

Gerard said: "So I'm very glad, because I'm sure he doesn't know my name."

A burst of laughter erupted from the audience.

Mila Kunis laughed: "Me too. Okay, the nominees for Best Supporting Actor this year are..."

In the hospital room in Toronto, Nurse Zhang picked up the remote control: "Alright, Zoe, entertainment time for tonight is over, go to sleep early."

The bald girl let out an "ah" and acted like a spoiled child: "No, Miss Zhang, let me watch a little longer, okay?"

"You can't watch anymore, you still have tomorrow morning—"

"Hey, just let Zoe watch TV for a while longer, what's the harm?" The nursing assistant, Auntie Jessie, interjected from the side, "Zhang, don't be so heartless."

Nurse Zhang rolled her eyes at her and said unhappily: "Don't think I don't know what you're up to, Jessie. You were the one laughing the loudest just now."

Auntie Jessie didn't care at all and laughed: "So what? What a humorous and cute young man! If I were twenty years younger, I would definitely try my best to sleep with him."

"Jessie! Zoe is still here!"

"So what if she is? Wow, I truly hope Chen isn't as old-fashioned as you. Zoe, don't you think?"

Zoe pulled the sheet to her mouth and smiled with a blushing face: "I don't know, Jessie."

Auntie Jessie grinned: "Dear Zhang, I don't think it's a big deal. Zoe is almost an adult. In two days, after the surgery is done, she'll be fully recovered. By then, she'll fall in love, date, grow up... isn't that what life is? Letting her watch TV for a while longer now, what's the big deal? I think her mother would think so too. Besides, those jokes just now weren't exactly PG-rated content."

She turned her head to look at Zoe: "But having said that, did you understand it all, little Zoe?"

Zoe's face turned even redder, and she shook her head gently: "I didn't understand a lot of it."

"Hahahahaha, is that so? But I heard you laughing the loudest, especially... that segment." Auntie Jessie licked her lips, "Seriously, that guy Chen Nuo is quite sexy, right?"

"Heeheehee..."

"Jessie! Shut up!" Nurse Zhang really couldn't help it, "How can you say these things to Zoe?"

"Alright, I'll shut up, I won't say it anymore, but," Auntie Jessie suddenly straightened her expression, looked at Nurse Zhang seriously, and said pointedly: "I suggest you don't turn off the TV, Zhang. Let Zoe watch for a while longer, let's leave behind some beautiful memories. Okay?"

Nurse Zhang and Jessie looked at each other for a while, hesitated, and then turned to look at Zoe, who was full of anticipation.

The laughter in the hospital room just now was definitely something that hadn't sounded in this room for a long time.

Especially the jokes Chen Nuo told on TV just now about plastic surgery, which made the girl laugh exceptionally happily. You know, in the past year or so, ever since her hair fell out, the girl rarely showed a smile on her face.

Nurse Zhang hesitated for a while and said: "Then watch for another half hour?"

"Okay, thank you Zhang, I knew you were a good person!" Zoe shouted happily, her eyes smiling into two crescents.

Seeing her so happy, Nurse Zhang also smiled, "But just half an hour. After half an hour, I'm turning off the TV, no matter what you say. Okay?"

"Okay!"

"And you, Jessie, no more of that messy talk."

"Okay, ma'am. But I just saw you laughing too..."

"Shut up!"

"Hahahahaha!"

During the time Chen Nuo was resting, the 81-year-old legendary Canadian actor Christopher Plummer won Best Supporting Actor for *Beginners*, and Best Actress in a TV Musical/Comedy was won by Laura Dern.

Subsequently, Kate Winslet defeated Charlize Theron and won Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy film as she wished. Chen Nuo saw Theron's expression on TV, which was quite natural; it seemed she really wasn't that disappointed.

Afterward, another star guest appeared to introduce the second Best Picture nominee of the night, *War Horse*.

Chen Nuo also walked to the backstage entrance at this time, preparing to go on stage.

In his earpiece, the general director of the Golden Globes tonight was complaining about the ratings.

In just these 20-plus minutes, the Golden Globes' viewership had fallen to the 20 million mark, a full 2 million less than the peak. The director was frantically complaining about how hard it was to please the current audience; just a little bit of boredom and they would switch channels, preferring to keep pressing the remote rather than wait a while.

But Chen Nuo's mind wasn't on this; instead, he looked at the slightly chubby actor on stage with messy hair, his mood somewhat complicated.

In his previous life, the grass on this person's grave might have been three feet high. But now, he was still standing here alive, standing on the Golden Globes stage, and in the past few years, he had continuously had new works released.

Chen Nuo also truly felt at this moment that because of his rebirth, perhaps the fates of countless people had really changed. It might not just be Zhang Yiyi, not just Cui Xueli, Heath Ledger, but more people in places beyond his sight.

When Heath Ledger finished introducing another Best Picture candidate for the night, *War Horse*, and after that most famous director in Hollywood and even the world, Steven Spielberg, finished enjoying the applause and cheers of everyone's tribute,

At this moment, Chen Nuo stepped onto the stage from backstage.

"I originally wanted to rest a little longer, but the director's team told me the show was too boring and the ratings were getting lower and lower, so I had to come up to save the show." Chen Nuo had changed into a white suit, stood in front of the podium, with a helpless expression, spread his hands and said: "Hey, guys, what's wrong with you?"

"You are all millionaires living carefree lives. But it's like you have some childhood nightmare, you have no sense of humor."

"Honestly, did you all date Roman Polanski when you were kids?"

"Hahahahahaha!"

The whole room exploded with thunderous laughter.

(End of chapter)