Chapter 473: The Light That Never Dims

"Hi, Chen, long time no see."

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

The two men hugged, and after pulling apart, James Pritzker smiled and said, "Very well. I exercise every day now; yesterday, the total distance I ran reached six kilometers."

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

James gave a wry smile, looked down, touched his shrunken stomach, and said, "That's not entirely due to exercise. Actually, if you had as many siblings as I do, staring at every penny in your hands day and night, I believe you would be thin too."

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

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

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

Gulinazha 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."

Gulinazha flashed a smile and said, "Thank you, Mr. Pritzker. Please enjoy."

Watching 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 property for her loyalty."

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

"Them." James sneered, "They are just a bunch of... never mind, I don't want to use those bad words at this moment. 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 make a joke about "when did you become a godfather," but looking at James's eyes, he swallowed the words and smiled: "She's grown quite tall and 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, 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, unable to bear deleting a single one.

After looking at those twenty or thirty photos, James's expression was filled with emotion: "After I finish with 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 that's fine. I'll ask her mother for her opinion later."

"Thank you," James nodded. "Please tell Fan that I have no ill intentions. I just feel that there is a kind of... mysterious bond between Nora and me. Think about it, before she was even born, she lived right next door to my house, and on 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 a special closeness. Perhaps it was God's arrangement, allowing me to finally have a real relative, even without blood ties."

Chen Nuo smiled and said, "Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"

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

Subsequently, 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, making the first-hand details seem even more naked and direct.

Robert Pritzker, a veteran of the Pritzker family, co-founder of the Hyatt hotel chain, and the man who, along with the Chicago real estate tycoon, laid the foundation for the family business, passed away last November, causing quite a stir in the upper echelons of American society.

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" figure after suffering from Parkinson's, and cast their eyes on the billions of dollars in inheritance he left behind.

Hearing James talk about it now, Chen Nuo realized that some rumors were true, some were entirely media speculation, and some were even more absurd and outrageous than the news reports.

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

James spread his hands: "As it turns out, in his will, he added... many times that amount to those twenty million."

Chen Nuo nodded and said, "It means he still loved 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 the old foxes he used to hire—they have now locked the entire film in a secure archive, put it in a safe. Until the distribution of the estate is settled, no one can touch it, move it, or even edit a single frame."

He gritted his teeth and cursed: "Damn it, if I had known this, I wouldn't have told them the film was finished. They didn't say anything before, but the moment I signed the confirmation, they immediately turned their backs on me and sealed it! 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, do you?"

Chen Nuo said, "No. I swear."

"OK, I believe you. Chen, frankly speaking, you are actually 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 through the floor-to-ceiling glass wall at the black Lincoln SUVs outside, as well as several burly men in black suits and sunglasses, and smiled: "Is this why you not only hired a bunch of hot assistants to carry your bags but also brought so many bodyguards?"

"Something like that," James nodded with a calm expression. "I'm worried they might hire a hitman or use some other means to take me out."

Chen Nuo was speechless.

"Never underestimate the temptation of money," James Pritzker said in a heavy tone. "This isn't actually 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. Just tell me, James, what exactly do you want to ask? Ask and then leave quickly."

"Hahahahaha."

Chen Nuo's slightly rude words instead made James burst into laughter. "You are truly so interesting, Chen."

He pulled himself together and said, "Alright, let's talk business. Chen, you know, I was just a bottom-tier fringe director before, scraping by 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 the room, 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.

As he left, his expression was both heavy and a bit relieved.

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

You see, when he first started making films, he had 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; with the Beijing Film Academy in the East and Cannes in the West, what's with all the posturing?

However, after Chen Nuo spent a long time in the European and American circles and saw more, he had his own answer.

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

He just didn't finish his sentence.

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

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

A huge gray area is formed within that.

If you ask which of the three major European awards is the easiest to "get things done with money," it's not because he is missing a Venice to complete the set of the three major European awards and summon the dragon, but truly, it is—

Compared to Cannes, which has the most independent and closed-off 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 undertones, talks about the left wing and social issues, and values public intellectuals more than money,

Venice, being in Italy, has a local cultural atmosphere that is less resistant to "operations."

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

In this regard, Chen Nuo and James belong to a community of interests, so he didn't hold anything back and shared his understanding completely. It's just that James doesn't trust others; otherwise, Chen Nuo feels that if Alison were to explain it, it would probably be more thorough than his own explanation.

When James left, his expression suggested 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 how he originally held huge expectations, wanting to see the true face of the finished *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 while watching James's motorcade leave from under the eaves.

The Venice Film Festival, the final piece of his puzzle for the three major European awards—can he really complete it this year? What kind of opponents will Italy in August bring him?

He couldn't wait to reveal this suspense.