Chapter 458: Commercial Break

"Bang!"

A crystal wine glass shattered into pieces on the dark, hard wooden floor.

Here, in a country villa in France, a blonde woman in her forties looked at the glass shards on the floor and the spreading pool of wine, momentarily speechless.

"What exactly does he want from me? That damn bastard, does he want me dead? Is that what he wants? It's him—he's kept me from making a movie for two whole years. That worm, that son of a bitch, that scumbag, that maggot, that pile of shit! And now he's bringing me up again! I really want to..."

A torrent of profanities spewed from the mouth of an old, white-haired man. He paced back and forth in the room like an enraged bull. On the television in the spacious living room, amidst the roar of laughter, Chen Nuo took a leisurely sip of champagne from the crystal glass in his hand, cleared his throat, and continued, "Sorry, my words might have awakened some painful memories for you."

"Hahahahahaha..."

Chen Nuo smiled.

With that smiling expression, every muscle in his face appeared relaxed, making many who watched him unable to help but curl the corners of their mouths.

Hosting this time, he was undoubtedly more at ease than the last. He had gained a deeper understanding of the job of a host.

Hosting an occasion like the Oscars or the Golden Globes was less like reading a memorized script with a microphone, as one might for a Spring Festival Gala, and more like performing a sketch. Beyond the lines, his expressions and movements, just as he had practiced, became tools to infect the audience with emotion. He made the mood in the entire venue flow in the expected direction with every smile, every laugh, and every word.

He turned serious, waved a hand, and said, "Sorry, just a joke... I shouldn't have said those were your painful memories. Perhaps some of you find that offensive, right?"

"Hahahahahaha."

Amidst the laughter, Chen Nuo laughed as well.

"Alright, alright, let's stop there. I know it's too cruel to associate you with Luo Man Polanski. I won't mention it again. After all, you beautiful, wealthy people are world-renowned international superstars, and you are here enjoying this annual feast; you wouldn't want anyone to spoil your fun."

"Most of you are like that."

"But, to be honest, there is another part of the audience here who simply married the right person. No, don't look at the man next to Meryl Streep..."

Backstage,

The bearded assistant director of the Golden Globes stood beside Allison again and whispered, "He has a lot of charm. Even if his jokes aren't any softer than Ricky's, they sound much better to the audience. The director says the ratings are back over 20 million now. Hmm, there shouldn't be many people cursing him on Twitter right now, right?"

Allison was swamped at the moment, looking at the stage and then at her phone, and said briefly, "Yes."

But the assistant director didn't feel snubbed and continued, "Before he hosted the Oscars, I actually always thought he would be someone like Sean Penn or Daniel Day-Lewis."

Allison said flatly, "He isn't like anyone. He is one of a kind."

The assistant director chuckled twice. "Yes, yes. Thinking back to the awards he's won, I inevitably have that illusion. Plus, he's Chinese, and you know, the Chinese in our impression might be able to act, but they seem to lack a sense of humor."

Allison moved her gaze from her phone and glanced at him. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

The assistant director, who had a full beard and was about forty, touched his nose awkwardly, reached out a hand, and said, "Can we get to know each other? My name is David Nord."

Allison buried her head back down and ignored his hand. "Not interested."

On stage, Chen Nuo continued his performance. He smiled and said, "... I met Tang Mu once before, and I know he is a generous person; he won't be angry. But I can't say the same for the next guest. His temper, as far as I know, isn't very good."

"I have a deep impression of a performance he gave in a movie. He beat a man into a pulp with his fists. Just like this..." Chen Nuo's expression changed. He reached one hand into the air as if grabbing someone by the collar, and swung the other hand fiercely several times. "Bang, bang, bang. He almost beat that man flat."

Chen Nuo paused. "But later I heard that this scene wasn't actually in the script."

"Hahahahaha—" Along with the laughter, many people were applauding.

The bearded assistant director backstage wasn't too embarrassed and said, "Chen's improvisation is truly amazing. By the way, I heard he only needs one Venice trophy to complete the Grand Slam of Best Actor, just like Sean Penn. Considering his age, that's crazy, don't you think?"

Allison kept a straight face, looking at her phone, and didn't say a word.

Not far away, Chen Nuo stood behind the podium, saying in all seriousness, "However, it is precisely because of his realistic performance that he is now known to everyone in the world. The 'Mission: Impossible' series he starred in has been released in over 100 countries globally."

At this moment, everyone knew who he was talking about, and applause erupted throughout the venue.

"Yes, a very remarkable achievement, worthy of applause." Chen Nuo also clapped a few times in a mock-serious manner. "The total box office of the four films combined is only a few hundred million dollars less than 'Inception'. Very great, very good."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Amidst the laughter, the camera cut to the table for 'Inception'. Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas were both laughing, and Jonathan Nolan, sitting on the other side, was laughing too.

'Inception' was nominated for four awards today. The candidate for Best Original Screenplay was the two Nolans, Jonathan and Christopher, so Jonathan had also come to the scene.

"Alright, now everyone should know who I'm talking about. Let us welcome one of the most popular male stars of this century, Tang Mu Cruise!" Chen Nuo gestured toward the back. A man with curly black hair walked out from behind the curtain with a smile.

He smiled and nodded at the other man, then turned to leave the stage.

At this moment, the relevant topics on Twitter became lively again.

The Variety magazine account posted the latest tweet: "Mystery revealed! Tang Mu Cruise is the ninth target of Chen's mockery tonight. It is surprising to see that Chen, at the Golden Globes tonight, has shown a side no less than Ricky Gervais. Everything in front of him has become his target of mockery. He has made the stars of Hollywood tremble under his gaze and made us laugh out loud. As of now, what do you think of his performance tonight? Compared to Ricky Gervais, whose performance do you like better? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section!"

"Don't compare that vulgar, sleazy Englishman Ricky to Chen. He is sleazy; Chen is different!"

"Ricky Gervais? Even if Chen were hinting that he would shove the Golden Globe into his butt, the gentlemanly demeanor he displays is still Ricky Gervais's ceiling."

"Ricky is vulgar and rude; Chen is humorous. Don't mention them in the same breath."

"Excluding the blind worship of these Twilight girls, I think Chen's performance and Ricky's have their own strengths and weaknesses. Ricky is more biting, while Chen is more pleasing to the eye."

"After watching the Golden Globes, I want to see Chen host the Oscars even more. The Golden Globe stage is still too small, or SNL! Do it again!"

"Nothing is more pleasing than seeing a handsome man display a sense of humor. This is a beautiful weekend. I don't regret refusing the bar tonight, turning on the TV, and tuning the channel to NBC. The only problem is, I'm a fan of 'Boardwalk Empire'. But I haven't seen any footage of them yet."

The comments on this last one quickly accumulated a large number of likes and replies.

Allison clicked in to take a look.

A smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, then she thought for a while, and said to Chen Nuo, who was sitting in a chair drinking water, "Chen, next time you go on stage, is it to present the award for Best TV Series?"

"Yes, why?"

"Then I think you can say a little more about those TV actors."

"Why?"

"The reaction online now exceeds our expectations. Many fans are complaining that their favorite actors have too little screen time... I think you might be able to satisfy their wishes. They represent a large proportion of the lower-middle class in the United States. Gaining their favor is good for your image."

"So, I don't need to worry about the difference between movies and TV?"

"That's right... Hmm, I suddenly thought, actually we can take this opportunity to run an advertisement."

Chen Nuo was slightly surprised. "What advertisement? You mean..." "Yes, your show 'Eagle Catching Chicken'. Given the current ratings, I think, as long as you give them a heads-up, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association shouldn't object." Allison smiled. "This is a live advertisement facing over 20 million people. If I were someone at Netflix, I might be impatient to carry you into the board of directors. But the prerequisite is that you need to think of a good joke in these ten-plus minutes and tell the directing team that you need to make a temporary change."

"Uh..." Undoubtedly, after hearing Allison's words, Chen Nuo was truly tempted.

Whether 'Inception' could win an award was irrelevant to him, but 'Eagle Catching Chicken' was different. The Netflix board of directors thing was Allison joking, but for him, this TV series carried more than just money. Its success might be a very critical step in achieving his ideals.

"Wait, let me think."

Still in that French country villa.

The glass shards on the floor still hadn't been cleaned up, but the people in the room had gradually calmed down.

"Luo Man, you can't go on like this." The woman spoke.

"What do you want me to do? Admit defeat to him?" The white-haired man's voice was low.

"Not admit defeat. Talk. It's not shameful." The woman sighed. "That one sentence of his just now shattered the hope for your new film. Unless you are content to rot away in Provence for the rest of your life, you have to face reality."

"Shut up!"

"As you wish. But I believe he must have heard some rumors." The woman stood up. "It's been two years since Berlin. He is still young, but you are no longer young, and time is still on his side."

"As long as I am in France, what can he do?"

"He can't do anything to you, but he can destroy your film career. Luo Man, I know you aren't convinced. Fifty years of a film career... and now being ridden by a twenty-something-year-old Chinese man..."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Get out of here right now! I tell you, I will never, absolutely never, let this 20-something-year-old Chinese man ride on my head!"

"Fine, you wait and see." The woman walked to the door, turned back, and said, "I hope that one day in the future, you can at least stop him in Venice. Otherwise, you're finished, and I'll have to go down with you."

20 minutes later.

Chen Nuo made his third appearance. Just as he walked out from backstage, he was greeted by overwhelming applause.

He nodded all the way and walked to the center of the stage with a smile.

"Thank you, thank you everyone." Chen Nuo smiled. "Everyone should know my relationship with Jonathan, so I'm really embarrassed to tell you... actually, I also contributed a bit to this script."

He shrugged. "If I hadn't been shouting 'What's going on', 'I can't understand this shit', 'What kind of stuff is this' on the side, I reckon this script would have been twice as hard."

"Don't believe it."

The audience burst into laughter.

Immediately, Chen Nuo continued, "Next, we are going to present the awards for TV series. This year, we have seen many wonderful new shows, such as 'Homeland'—that was truly thrilling from beginning to end."

Following his modulated words, a round of warm applause suddenly erupted in the banquet hall.

Chen Nuo paused amidst the applause and nodded in acknowledgment. Following his action, the applause not only grew louder, but everyone at the 'Homeland' table, besides being stunned, suddenly glowed with glory.

When the applause died down a bit, Chen Nuo said, "And the climactic 'Boardwalk Empire'. I like it very much; the characters in it are more than just handsome."

The big screen showed the leads of 'Boardwalk Empire', and there was another round of applause.

After waiting for a while, Chen Nuo continued, "I can briefly introduce the plot of this show. It tells the story of a group of immigrants who came to the United States a hundred years ago and got involved in a business of bribery, prohibition, and selling alcohol..."

As he spoke, he gestured with his hands. "They used all kinds of despicable, dirty means to climb into the upper class and give orders to the natives..."

Then he paused and smiled. "Hmm, alright, let's not talk about the scandals of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."

"Hahahahahaha..." The whole venue suddenly erupted into a violent burst of laughter.

On Twitter, many tweets with the tag "#Chen Nuo" were posted.

"LMAO, every sentence of his is a joke. My laughter almost woke up my grandma. #Chen Nuo"

"Absolutely top-tier hosting. Every second I looked forward to this was not in vain. #Chen Nuo"

"The Foreign Press Association can loudly mock the Oscars this time. At least their host this time is definitely a complete victory. #Chen Nuo"

"He is mocking everything. This is definitely a side you can't see on TV, LMAO. #Chen Nuo"

Chen Nuo stood at the scene, waiting for the applause to die down a bit, before continuing to speak with a smile: "The Golden Globes is definitely a small society with strict hierarchy. Movie stars sit in the middle, and TV stars sit on the periphery. Many people have come from the periphery to the middle, such as George Clooney. But there are also some people who have gone from the middle to the periphery, such as—me."

"Tell you a piece of news: I will also produce and star in a TV series this year."

"My current idea is that next year I can also sit on the edge of this place, even if it's in any corner." After Chen Nuo finished speaking, only a small part of the audience was applauding, while others raised their heads to look at him.

"Period. This is not a joke. Don't look at me like a curious baby. Tell you, there's no follow-up."

Laughter and surprised looks suddenly came from the audience.

Obviously, he wasn't yet a big enough star that everyone paid attention to his every move, even though this matter had already been announced by Netflix on its official website before this.

And the joke he just thought of didn't achieve any stunning effect, but as an advertisement product, it should be qualified.

Chen Nuo continued, "This is the commercial break for my new show. For this, I went to negotiate with the Foreign Press Association. They agreed to let me advertise at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony, for free, but the additional condition was that I also had to run an advertisement for them. That's how the joke before came about. I think the Foreign Press Association should be satisfied now."

"Hahahahahaha..."

When the sound died down a bit, Chen Nuo said, "Remember, this July, lock in Netflix."

In a mansion in Silicon Valley, a burst of satisfied laughter came out at this moment.

PS:

I've been out of town these past few days and didn't want to ask for leave, so I've been squeezing out time to type.

So the update time is unstable, please forgive me.

(End of this chapter) ===== CHAPTER 459 =====