Chapter 476: Goodwill to All, Fingers Interlocked (8,300 words)

Chen Nuo saw the red-haired female reporter from ABC TV smile even more brightly, clearly very satisfied with his answer of "I'm most optimistic about Leo."

He also smiled politely.

There was no special reason; it was just goodwill to all.

During this period, he had been studying the script for *Eagle Catches Chicken*. From the life of "Xie Jiajun," which had been filled with over twenty years of hardship and lowliness yet remained resilient, the greatest realization he had gained was four words: Goodwill to all.

But this was far removed from his own personality.

Therefore, in order to better embody the character, he had been practicing this in his daily life during this time, wanting to experience what it would feel like to act this way.

As of now, it felt pretty good.

Perhaps sensing his cooperation, the red-haired reporter's questions became a bit deeper: "This time, The Weinstein Company's *The Artist* and *The Iron Lady* have both received multiple nominations, and are considered the strongest competitors to your *Inception* for Best Picture and Best Director. What is your take?"

"I think all nine nominated works this time are excellent. As for who the biggest competitor is, it's actually hard to say, but indeed—*The Artist*..."

Before he could finish, Chen Nuo caught a glimpse of a round figure walking unsteadily not far away.

His tone suddenly rose by three degrees: "Hey, Harvey!... Harvey! Harvey Weinstein!"

He shouted three times.

The fat man with the bloated face, bulging eyes, and crooked mouth finally had no choice but to stop and turn around, extremely reluctantly.

It was indeed Harvey Weinstein.

The CNN reporter was stunned at first, but immediately, the instinct of a news professional made her eyes light up as she thrust the microphone forward, wishing she could stick it right next to Chen Nuo's mouth.

At this very moment, Harvey Weinstein's mood was like walking down the street perfectly fine only to suddenly step in a pile of sticky dog shit—and not being able to shake it off.

He had pretended not to hear the first two shouts, but the third one, which included his full name, made it impossible for him to play dumb.

He could only grit his teeth and turn around, forcing himself to put on a stiff smile.

"Harvey, how are things? How have you been? Come over and chat for a bit," Chen Nuo said loudly.

Seeing that bastard not far away with his arm around a young, beautiful, black-haired beauty, waving at him with a face full of smug satisfaction, Harvey felt as if he had been slapped in the face in public.

However, he knew that there were at least dozens of cameras and hundreds of eyes fixed on this spot. Any micro-expression or detail would be infinitely magnified.

So he tried his best to control his emotions, squeezed out a bit of a smile, walked over, and said: "Hi, Chen, how are you?"

"Very well, Harvey, my old friend. So happy to see you. Come, let me introduce you; this is my girlfriend, Crystal Liu—Crystal Liu. Have you met?"

"I don't think so." Harvey struggled to maintain his facial muscles. "Nice to meet you, Miss Liu."

He said this and reached out his hand—only for the man to slap his hand away with a *thwack*.

In that instant, Harvey almost failed to control his expression.

*Damn. * Chen Nuo also cursed himself internally. *Goodwill to all, goodwill to all*, yet he still hadn't been able to control himself; it seemed his acting foundation still wasn't enough, and he needed to strengthen his training.

Now that this had happened, what should he do?

With his mind racing, he showed an apologetic expression and shifted the blame: "Sorry, she, my girlfriend, is a germaphobe."

*I'll fuck your mother! * Harvey's heart was instantly filled with ten thousand profanities, but on his face, he could only maintain a stiff smile: "Chen, you're still as humorous as ever. Haha... Hahaha."

"Hahahaha." Chen Nuo laughed along with him.

"Mr. Weinstein," the ABC reporter interjected, "will you be making a bet with Chen this time?"

"What bet?"

"Just like last time. We all know you lost a full two million dollars to Chen last time. Do you want to win it back this time?"

"Of course I do."

"No..."

Two voices spoke at the same time.

Harvey turned his head in astonishment to look at Chen Nuo.

He saw him say with a sincere expression: "Actually, last time I was just joking with Harvey; I didn't expect him to take it seriously. Two million dollars is not a small sum... I've always wanted to find an opportunity to pay him back. If Harvey is willing, tonight is a good time."

"Hahaha—" The reporter was completely excited. Without needing the director to remind her in her earpiece, she knew that the ratings at this moment were absolutely skyrocketing like a rocket, and at the same time, tens of thousands of posts were likely popping up on Twitter.

"So Chen, you want to make another bet?" She suppressed her excitement and asked: "Mr. Weinstein, what is your take on Chen's statement?"

*What is my take? I'll take it up the ass. *

Harvey looked at that sunny, smiling Chinese face, and his stomach churned.

This bitch, he was here two years ago, using a similar smile and a similar tone to lure him into making that damn bet—betting that *Avatar* wouldn't win Best Picture.

As a result, he ended up losing a full 2 million dollars, became the laughingstock of the entire American media, and had earned the nickname "loser" ever since that day.

This time, he absolutely could not be fooled again.

This Chinese man was as cunning and insidious as a venomous snake; the best way to deal with him was not to interact with him, nor to agree to any of his bets or agreements. This was the method he and his brother, Bob Weinstein, had discussed. To deal with him, it had to be done in the shadows, sneakily...

Harvey made up his mind and smiled: "Thank you, Chen, but no need. I won't disturb you anymore; you go ahead with your business. Goodbye."

When Harvey said this, countless people across America watching in front of their TV screens let out sounds of disappointment.

"I knew it, Harvey Weinstein is a total pussy!" Three seconds later, the first tweet was posted, and it received tens of thousands of likes.

Then, a tsunami of mockery followed:

"I believe the manager of William Hill must have let out a sigh of relief and said to his odds analysts: 'Dismissed.'"

"Fxxk Harvey Weinstein, this guy is even more spineless than I thought."

"Harvey looks like a primary school student being extorted by street thugs during lunch break; he's terrified. Look at the way he walked away, hahahaha."

"I'd pay $50 to see Chen Nuo slap Harvey on the red carpet."

"Did anyone notice Chen just slapped Harvey's hand away? He was protecting his girlfriend, preventing this notorious serial sexual harasser from getting close to her. It's just a pity he didn't follow up with a punch to his face."

And under this last popular post, a Chinese account wrote a reply in English: "Does anyone know? Chen's girlfriend is an American."

This comment quickly gained thousands of likes and hundreds of discussions, and it even prompted the owner of this popular post—a blogger whose bio said he was a Yale law student—to reply personally.

"Wow, bro, for real?"

"Shit! I just Googled it, and it's actually true."

"WTF, such explosive news, and the American media hasn't reported it at all?"

Following that was the reply from the law student named J. D. Hamel: "I love it. A proud American girl, standing firmly by her man's side; she trusts him to protect her. This is our traditional American woman."

And under this reply, that Chinese account replied again: "She actually only stayed in the US for five years; I don't think that counts as a traditional American woman, right? Laugh-cry."

After that, this J. D. Hamel didn't reply again, whether he didn't see it or what.

Of course, Liu Yifei didn't know someone was gossiping about her background online at this moment. After finishing the interview, she finally adapted a little.

People are sometimes like this: when you don't know anything and don't understand anything, you are fearless. But when you grow up and know everything, your courage shrinks.

Liu Yifei felt she was just like that.

Five years ago, at 19, she felt the Oscars were just that—nothing special. When she came, she didn't think about anything at all, just followed him around the whole time, chatting and laughing, feeling very relaxed and happy.

However, this time, at 24, revisiting the old place, she felt like she was carrying a heavy burden.

It was only at the end of the red carpet that she finally returned to normal, starting to wave left and right and posing in various ways according to the photographers' requests.

After posing for a while, she walked up the steps and let out a slight sigh of relief: "That was almost a disaster."

Chen Nuo asked curiously: "What was a disaster?"

"Not having any good photos. When the time comes, my mom and Sister Jing will say again that I don't know how to pose. Sister Jing even specially bought several layouts for me and prepared a trending topic. Hehe."

Liu Yifei laughed twice like someone who had stolen a chicken.

Chen Nuo chuckled along: "How much does Weibo charge for a trending topic now?"

"I don't know. Aren't you a shareholder? You don't know?"

"I didn't attend the board meeting this year. However, I saw last year's performance; it was indeed quite good." As Chen Nuo spoke while walking, he suddenly saw a girl in a red dress standing at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre smiling at her, and he immediately smiled in surprise.

Liu Yifei noticed it immediately as well and said in surprise: "She came too?"

There weren't many of Chen Nuo's female friends that Liu Yifei was familiar with, especially in Hollywood.

But without a doubt, Emma Stone was definitely a figure that both she and the entire Chinese audience knew. Especially that speech at Cannes back then, which was simply legendary, with countless edits on major video sites and memes on Weibo over the years.

"How come you're here?" Chen Nuo, like Liu Yifei, hadn't expected her to appear, so he greeted her with surprise and gave the exceptionally bright-looking Emma Stone a light hug.

"Here to be a presenter." Emma Stone smiled with her eyes curved, her red dress as dazzling as flames under the lights.

The two hadn't seen each other for a while, and reuniting on such a special occasion as the Oscars, Chen Nuo, for once, revealed that gentle emotion of goodwill to all from the bottom of his heart, without a trace of performance.

"Come, let me introduce you." He said, "This is my girlfriend..."

"Hello, Emma." Liu Yifei extended her hand naturally.

"Hello, Crystal." Emma Stone held her hand, smiling all over her face: "Your dress today is very beautiful; I like it very much."

"Thank you, yours too."

Letting go of her hand, Emma Stone turned her head and asked with a smile: "Were you causing trouble for Harvey on the red carpet again just now?"

Chen Nuo shook his head: "No, I just wanted to return the money I won earlier to him. But he didn't accept it."

Emma laughed: "Give it a rest, who would believe that? Harvey isn't an idiot. Alright, it seems we should go in; there are reporters looking this way... Chen, do you know what award I'm presenting today? I have to say, the award I'm presenting is very likely to be won by you guys."

"What is it?"

"Best Visual Effects."

"Oh, oh, that's true, we are definitely the hot favorites for that."

"Best Director or Best Picture, do you guys have a chance this time?"

"I don't know. I've been in China during this period, and I haven't asked about the PR matters on Warner's side."

"Alright, regardless, I hope you guys can win. I don't want to see Harvey Weinstein's face appear on the big screen at all."

"Hahaha, don't say that. One should be more harmonious, be nicer, Emma."

"Chen."

"What?"

"Did you take drugs before coming today?"

"Nonsense!"

*Sigh*, how should one put it? It was clearly goodwill to all, yet it caused such a big misunderstanding.

He was truly prepared to return the money, not like last time, preparing to dig a hole for Harvey to jump into.

Because this year, the 3D version of *Inception* had been delayed for a year, causing this film to crash into various award ceremonies and become a giant butterfly, which meant that for the Oscars tonight, he truly had zero ability to predict the outcome for Best Picture or any other award, completely different from two years ago.

Yet no one believed him. Looking at Harvey's appearance, walking so fast, it felt like if he were any slower, his pants would fall off. What did they take him for?

Chen Nuo chatted with Emma Stone while walking, and soon entered the main hall of the Kodak Theatre.

He and Liu Yifei were in the third row on the left, while Emma Stone was in the back on the right. But the woman didn't immediately say goodbye where they were supposed to part ways; instead, she said seriously again: "Chen, there's one more thing." ===== CHAPTER 477 =====