Chapter 47

Zhang Yi's call came after Chen Nuo had fallen asleep.

"Chen Nuo, hahahahahaha!" Zhang Yi laughed before he even spoke. The wild laughter traveled over ten thousand kilometers along the phone line, reaching Chen Nuo's ears and dispelling a good half of his sleepiness.

"Ah~" He yawned.

"Do you know that you won the Silver Bear for Best Actor!? Do you know I went on stage to accept the award for you? I didn't prepare a damn thing—no, wait, I prepared one for Best Director, but I didn't prepare an acceptance speech for you! When I got up there, I didn't know whether to speak Chinese or English..."

"That's right!" Li Xiaotian's cheerful voice came from the side. "In the end, he just said a few words, thanked himself, and thanked me, which made those reporters think he was Chen Nuo at first. They kept shouting 'Chen, Chen' over and over~ haha."

Chen Nuo couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Then you should just go along with it."

Zhang Yi laughed triumphantly again, and Li Xiaotian interjected with deep emotion from the side: "Chen Nuo, I must tell you, when Yao'er first asked you to act, I was skeptical. I never imagined we could walk step by step to where we are today. I remember when we first started filming, Yao'er told me he felt our fates would be changed by you. Looking at it now, it's true. So, thank you, Chen Nuo. Really, thank you."

Zhang Yi said, "Why are you thanking him? If it weren't for us, could he have won Best Actor? Hey, remember to come back and treat me to a meal! Otherwise, I'm not giving you the trophy."

After finishing the call with Zhang Yi and preparing to sleep, Hearing Qi Yuntian call came through.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap..."

As soon as he picked up, he heard Qi Yuntian howling and screaming on the other end, reeling off countless exclamations.

"Berlin Best Actor! Chen Nuo, I was still sleeping when my mom woke me up and lectured me, asking how I could be your manager when even such big news had to be told to me by her. I said, the only artist under my management is currently working hard to get into the Film Academy—you want me to believe he'd win Best Actor? Isn't that testing my imagination a bit too much? But I'm ready to turn over a new leaf now. Where are you? I'm coming to find you immediately."

Chen Nuo had to use all sorts of persuasion to calm down Hearing Qi Yuntian urge to rush over to him.

"Alright, since we're at this point, let's discuss what you plan to do next." Hearing Qi Yuntian voice became more serious. "The list only came out tonight. Tomorrow, all the media will react. I bet that before noon tomorrow, their calls will definitely be hitting your phone and mine. Do you want us to use this momentum to stir up some fame, or..."

"Or what? Stop talking. Come pick me up early tomorrow morning. I'm catching the earliest flight back to Xichuan. After the exam, I have to go back and study."

"You mean you're choosing the second option? You really don't want to be a star?"

"I'm not even playing a 'scumbag' anymore, what kind of star would I be!"

The next day, Chen Nuo got up very early. After packing his things, he checked the time—it was only 6 o'clock. Yang Mi's room door hadn't opened yet. Last night, when he was on the phone, Yang Mi had already gone to sleep. She probably didn't know about his situation yet.

There was no need to wake her up.

Chen Nuo left a note for Yang Mi. Knowing she would definitely get into the Film Academy as she wished, he didn't write much—just two sentences: "I'm not checking the results list. I'm leaving first. We'll meet again at school later."

Chen Nuo pulled his suitcase out the door. At 6:20, Hearing Qi Yuntian red Mazda arrived at the entrance of the residential complex.

Upon meeting, Qi Yuntian gave him a big hug. "Let me rub off some of your good luck!"

Chen Nuo smiled and hugged him back. "Alright, go ahead."

Qi Yuntian let go, looked at him, shook his head in amazement a few times, and asked, "You're really leaving?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then."

On the way to the airport, Chen Nuo received a congratulatory call from Chen Kexin. He checked his watch—it was only 7:30.

Chen Kexin offered his congratulations first, then asked if it would be convenient for Chen Nuo to return to Shanghai in a few days to reshoot a few scenes, saying there were some minor adjustments to the script.

Chen Nuo agreed, saying to just contact him when he was needed. After hanging up, Qi Yuntian said, "See? This is just the beginning. Once you go back, I can imagine how busy my phone will be. By the way... never mind."

"Spit it out."

Qi Yuntian hesitated and said, "You and that person surnamed Xia?"

"It was just that one time."

Qi Yuntian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. From now on, you really can't mess around. If anything happens, let me know in advance. I don't want to wake up one day and see your photo with someone on the front page of the newspaper."

"Got it."

"Yeah, then go home and study hard. I'll handle whatever comes up."

Qi Yuntian said it nicely, claiming he would handle it, but after Chen Nuo had been back in Xichuan for three days, Qi Yuntian couldn't handle it anymore.

"To be honest, we both thought too simply before, thinking you could find peace by returning to Xichuan, but... unless you and I cut ourselves off from the people and move overseas to live permanently at Mount Rushmore. But I don't think you have that kind of power. So... you must accept this interview."

"Alright then, set a time and let them come."

Tu Jingwei, a host for CCTV-6, had worked as an on-location host at Macau Television at 19, doing it for over three years. Later, she was finally spotted by CCTV and came to Beijing to host "China Film Report" on Channel 6.

"The Mute's House"—this film was already known to everyone in the industry, with a reputation ten times louder than "Peacock" or "The Wayward Cloud." But those who had actually seen it were few and far between.

Director Zhang Yi was said to be a graduate student in the Directing Department at the Beijing Film Academy and hadn't returned to the country yet.

Lead actor Chen Nuo was a young student in the Acting Department at the Beijing Film Academy, only 18 years old, not yet enrolled, and currently preparing for exams in his hometown, which was why she had gone on location for the first time in a long while.

When Tu Jingwei and her team got off the taxi at the given address, the group looked left and right. It was a fairly large residential complex entrance. The complex was quite new, likely built not long ago, consisting of elevator apartments, which stood out like a crane among chickens compared to the surrounding buildings.

"Is this it?" Tu Jingwei asked.

There were four of them in total this time. Besides the host Tu Jingwei, there was a cameraman, a lighting technician, and a young assistant.

"42 Dongping Street, Tiancheng Garden entrance. That's right, it should be this entrance," the assistant said.

"The complex is quite nice."

"I checked before coming here. This city doesn't have much industry; it relies on exporting a bit of coal to make money every year. These houses would be considered quite good even in Beijing. Here, I reckon only the wealthy can afford to live in them."

"I wonder if they'll treat us to a good meal tonight. Xichuan cuisine is famous nationwide."

"Haha, I want to eat it too."

Tu Jingwei and the others were chatting when they saw a boy around 20 years old come out of the complex. He looked around and then walked toward their group.

"Are you Ms. Tu?" the boy asked.

Tu Jingwei nodded and said, "I am."

"I'm Chen Nuo. Welcome to Long'an."

(End of chapter)