Chapter 473

"Hi, Chen, long time no see."

"Hi, James, long time no see. How are you?"

The two hugged, and after separating, James Pritzker smiled and said, "Very good. I exercise every day now; yesterday my total running distance reached six kilometers."

"Wow, amazing," Chen Nuo exclaimed, "No wonder I see you've lost so much weight."

James smiled bitterly, looked down, touched his shrunken stomach, and said, "That's not entirely because of exercise. Actually, if you had as many siblings as I do, staring tightly at every penny in your hand day and night, I believe you would lose weight too."

Chen Nuo couldn't help but laugh: "Alright, sit down. Tell me about your recent situation, and about our film."

January 27, 2012, still in the Beverly Hills mansion.

James Pritzker, who entered the house alone, was the third batch of guests Chen Nuo had welcomed this time.

Guli Nazha served a cup of coffee. James was clearly deeply impressed by her, took it, and smiled: "Miss Nazha, long time no see, you are even more beautiful than before."

Guli Nazha gave a smile and said, "Thank you, Mr. Pritzker, please enjoy."

Looking at the girl's back, James sighed softly: "What a cute and beautiful girl, like an angel. I would be willing to trade half of my inherited fortune for her loyalty."

"Haha, don't let your assistants hear that," Chen Nuo laughed.

"Them." James sneered, "They are just a group of... forget it, I don't want to use those bad words at this time. Because I want to ask one thing now—"

His voice slowed down, and his expression became gentle: "Is Nora okay? How tall is she now? It's been over a year... does she still remember me, her godfather?"

Chen Nuo originally wanted to tease him with "When did you become her godfather?", but looking at James's eyes, he swallowed the words and smiled: "She's grown very tall, and she can walk now. I have photos of her from a while ago here, do you want to see them?"

James nodded in surprise: "Of course, thank you so much."

For the next twenty minutes or so, the two grown men were like ordinary friends, huddled together flipping through the photo album on the phone. Those photos were sent by Fan Bingbing on WeChat, and Chen Nuo had saved them, not willing to delete a single one.

After looking at those twenty or thirty photos, James's expression was filled with emotion: "After I finish this film, I want to go to China to see her. Chen, do you agree?"

Chen Nuo pondered for a moment and said, "I think it's no problem. I'll ask her mother's opinion for you later."

"Thank you," James nodded, "Please tell Fan that I have no ill intentions. I just feel that there is a kind of... mysterious fate between Nora and me. Think about it, she lived next door to me before she was even born, and the first day after she was born, she came to my villa. When I first saw her... I don't know why, but I felt really close to her. Maybe it's God's arrangement, letting me finally have a real relative without blood ties."

Chen Nuo smiled and said, "Isn't that a bit exaggerated?"

"No, really," James said earnestly, "I have no relatives left in this world now."

Afterward, James began to talk about his recent experiences. In Chen Nuo's view, it was just another American wealthy family inheritance drama, only this time, it was told by the person involved, so the first-hand details seemed even more naked and direct.

Robert Pritzker, a veteran of the Pritzker family, co-founder of the Hyatt Hotel, and the man who laid the foundation for the family business alongside the Chicago real estate tycoon, passed away last November, causing quite a sensation in the American upper class.

From the *Chicago Sun-Times* to the *New York Times*, almost all mainstream media reported at length on the relief of this American old money after suffering from Parkinson's, and focused their attention on the billions of dollars in inheritance he left behind.

Hearing James talk about it now, Chen Nuo understood that some rumors were true, some were entirely media speculation, and some were even more absurd and outrageous than what was reported in the news.

"... That's how it is. I really didn't expect him to leave 80% of his assets to me in his will. I always thought he held a grudge against me. After all, for the past ten years or so, except for saying hello every Christmas, we had almost no contact. The last time I saw him was when I went to borrow money for the film *Drop*. Do you remember? I told you, he made me sign that agreement before he was willing to give me twenty million dollars."

James spread his hands: "As a result, in his will, he added... many times over to that twenty million."

Chen Nuo nodded and said, "It shows he still loves you."

"Hahaha! Who knows?"

James smiled and continued: "Just like I said on the phone, this time I originally wanted to let you see the finished film. But the lawyers over there told me that this violates the preservation clause in the will. Those old-school Chicago law firms—let me tell you, they are all old foxes he hired—they have now locked the entire film into a confidential archive and put it in a safe. Before the distribution of the estate is settled, no one can touch it, no one can move it, and not even a single frame can be edited."

He gritted his teeth and cursed: "Damn it, if I had known, I wouldn't have told them the film was finished. They didn't say anything before, but as soon as I signed the confirmation, they immediately turned their backs and sealed it directly! Fuck!"

Chen Nuo said: "Since that's the case, is there anything I can help you with now?"

James looked left and right and said: "You don't have surveillance here, right?"

Chen Nuo said: "No. I swear."

"OK, I believe you. Chen, frankly speaking, you are the only person in the world I trust right now. As for the others, I feel they would be bought off by my siblings or those lawyers."

Chen Nuo looked at the black Lincoln SUVs outside through the floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall, as well as several strong men in black suits and sunglasses, and laughed: "Is this why you not only hired a bunch of hot assistants to carry bags, but also brought so many bodyguards?"

"Pretty much," James nodded calmly, "I'm worried they'll hire hitmen or use some other means to get rid of me."

Chen Nuo was speechless.

"Never underestimate the temptation of money," James Pritzker said in a deep tone, "This isn't really a big deal for our family. You know back in Canada—"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Chen Nuo raised his hand to interrupt, "I don't want to know anything. Tell me quickly, James, what exactly do you want to ask? Ask and leave quickly."

"Hahahahaha."

Chen Nuo's slightly rude words instead made James laugh out loud, "You are truly interesting, Chen."

He reined in his tone and said: "Alright, let's talk business. Chen, you know, I was just a low-level fringe director before, muddling along in Canada, and I actually know nothing about the European film circle. I want to ask you one thing..."

Although Chen Nuo said there was no surveillance in this house, James still lowered his voice, leaned in, and asked: "Do you think Cannes or Venice, which place is easier to get things done with money?"

More than half an hour later, James Pritzker left with his entourage.

When he left, his expression was both solemn and a little relieved.

Chen Nuo didn't know if his answer could satisfy him, but he did indeed give his own insights. As for whether what he said was correct or not, he didn't know either.

You know, when he first started making films, he actually asked Wong Kar-wai a similar question.

He still remembers Wong Kar-wai's answer at the time. He said, "If it could be bought, Cannes would no longer be Cannes."

It felt so damn sacred.

Chen Nuo even spat at him in his heart, thinking to himself that all crows are black under the sun; there's the Beijing Film Academy in the East and Cannes in the West, what are you pretending for?

However, later on, after Chen Nuo had been in the European and American circles for a long time and had seen more, he had his own answer.

Wong Kar-wai wasn't actually pretending; he was right.

He just didn't finish his sentence.

Indeed, wanting to win the main competition awards, the Palme d'Or, Golden Lion, or Golden Bear, is absolutely not something that can be solved by spending money.

But conversely, the film festival is ultimately part of the real world, which means that while the awards themselves cannot be bought, the peripheral resources that can influence the awards can be operated with money.

A huge gray area is formed within it.

If you ask among the three major European awards, who is the easiest to "get things done with money." It's not because he is missing a Venice to collect the three major European awards and summon the dragon, but really, it is—

Compared to Cannes, which has the most independent and closed jury system among all international A-list film festivals and considers itself the highest temple of film art,

Compared to Berlin, which has the heaviest political implications, talks about the left wing and social issues, and follows the public intellectual path more than the money path,

Venice, because it is in Italy, has a local cultural atmosphere that is not so resistant to "operations."

It's just that taking a box of money to talk to the organizers about an award is still courting death...

In this regard, Chen Nuo and James share common interests, so he didn't hold anything back and told him all his understanding. It's just that James didn't trust others; otherwise, Chen Nuo felt that if Alison were to explain it, it should be more thorough than his explanation.

When James left, his expression looked like he understood, because he agreed with his suggestion to choose Venice.

But Chen Nuo ultimately didn't know how much he understood in his heart.

Just like he originally held huge expectations, wanting to see the true face of *Drop*, but in the end, because of a dramatic wealthy family inheritance dispute, he still didn't know.

This made him want to fast-forward time when he watched James's motorcade leave from under the eaves.

The Venice Film Festival, the last piece of his three major European awards puzzle, can he really piece it together this year? What kind of rivals will Italy in August bring him?

He couldn't wait to reveal this suspense.