Chapter 476: Kindness to Others, Fingers Interlocked (8300 Words)

Chen Nuo saw the red-haired female reporter from ABC television smile even more brilliantly, 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 about being kind to others.

During this period, he had been studying the script for *Eagle Catches Chick*. From the twenty-plus years of Xie Jiajun’s troubled, lowly, yet consistently resilient life, the greatest realization he gained was four words: be kind to others.

But this was a far cry from his own personality.

Therefore, in order to better immerse himself in the character, he had been practicing this in his daily life during this time, wanting to experience firsthand what kind of feeling such an approach would bring.

As of now, it felt pretty good.

Perhaps sensing his cooperation, the red-haired reporter’s questions became a bit more in-depth: "This time, The Weinstein Company’s *The Artist* and *The Iron Lady* have both received multiple nominations and are considered the strongest opponents 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 the biggest opponent, it’s actually hard to say, but indeed—*The Artist*..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Chen Nuo caught a glimpse of a round figure swaying past not far away.

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

He shouted three times in a row.

That fat man with the big ears, bulging eyes, and crooked mouth finally had to stop his steps and turn back, extremely reluctantly.

It was indeed Harvey Weinstein.

The CNN reporter was stunned at first, but immediately, driven by the instinct of a news professional, she extended her microphone with glowing eyes, 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 road perfectly fine, only to suddenly step into a pile of sticky dog shit—and one he couldn't shake off.

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

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

"Harvey, how are things? How have you been lately? 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 look of smug satisfaction, Harvey felt as if he had been slapped in the face in public.

However, he knew that at least dozens of cameras and hundreds of eyes were aimed here right now. 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 two met?"

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

He reached out his hand as he spoke—only for the man to slap his hand away.

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

Damn. Chen Nuo cursed himself inwardly. Be kind to others, be kind to others, yet he still couldn't control himself. It seemed his acting foundation was still insufficient and needed more training.

Now this was a fine mess; what should he do?

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

I f*** your mother! Harvey’s heart instantly screamed ten thousand profanities, but his face could only maintain a stiff smile: "Chen, you are still as humorous as ever. Haha... Hahaha."

"Hahahaha." Chen Nuo laughed along with him.

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

"What bet?"

"Just like last time. We all know that last time you lost a full two million dollars to Chen. Will you be looking to win it back this time?"

"Of course I will."

"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 face: "Actually, last time I was just joking with Harvey, I didn't expect him to take it seriously. 2 million dollars is not a small sum... I have always wanted to find a chance to return it to him. If Harvey is willing, tonight is a good time."

"Hahaha—" The reporter was already completely excited. Without needing the director to remind her in her earpiece, she knew that the ratings at this moment were absolutely rising like a rocket, and at the same time, tens of thousands of posts might be 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 with my asshole.

Harvey looked at that sunny, brilliant Chinese face, his stomach churning.

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

In the end, it cost him a full 2 million dollars, made him the laughingstock of the American media, and earned him the nickname "loser" from that day on.

This time, he must not be fooled again.

This Chinese man was as cunning and sinister as a venomous snake. The best way to deal with him was to not interact with him and not agree to any of his bets or agreements. This was the method he had discussed with his brother, Bob Weinstein. To deal with him, it had to be done in the shadows, secretly...

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

When Harvey said these words, countless people across America watching in front of their TV screens groaned in disappointment.

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

Then, a tsunami of mockery came crashing in:

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

"Fxxk Harvey Weinstein, this guy is even more of a coward than I imagined."

"Harvey looks like a grade-schooler being extorted by street thugs during lunch break. He’s terrified; look at the way he walked away, hahahaha."

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

"Did anyone notice Chen just pushed Harvey’s hand away? He was protecting his girlfriend, preventing this notorious 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 received thousands of likes and hundreds of discussions, and even the owner of this popular post, a blogger whose bio stated they were a Yale law student, replied personally.

"Wow, bro, for real?"

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

"WTF, such explosive news, and no American media has reported it?"

Afterward came the reply from the law student named J.D. Hamel: "I love it. A proud American girl, standing firmly by her man’s side, believing he will 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? Laughing-crying."

After that, this J.D. Hamel didn't reply again, whether he didn't see it or for some other reason.

Liu Yifei, of course, didn't know someone was gossiping about her background online at this time. 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 people grow up and know everything, their 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 much of anything, followed him the whole time, chatting and laughing, feeling very relaxed and happy.

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

It was only at the end of the red carpet that she finally recovered a bit, started waving left and right, and posed according to the photographers' requests.

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

Chen Nuo asked curiously: "What disaster?"

"No good photos. When the time comes, my mom and Li Jing will say I don't know how to pose again. Li Jing even bought me several layouts and prepared a trending search. Hehe."

Liu Yifei laughed twice like she had stolen a chicken.

Chen Nuo chuckled along, "How much does Sina charge for a trending search 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 walked and talked, 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’s here too?"

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

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

"Why are you here?" Chen Nuo, like Liu Yifei, hadn't expected her to appear, so he greeted her with pleasant surprise and gave Emma Stone, who was dressed particularly brightly, 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. Reuniting on such a special occasion as the Oscars, Chen Nuo, for once, revealed that gentle emotion of being kind to others from the bottom of his heart, without a hint 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 took 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 previously to him. But he didn't accept it."

Emma laughed: "Come on, who would believe that? Harvey isn't an idiot. Alright, we seem to need to go in; there are reporters watching 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?"

"Best Visual Effects."

"Oh, oh, that’s true, we are 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 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 nice, Emma."

"Chen."

"What?"

"Did you take drugs before coming today?"

"Nonsense!"

Sigh, how should I put it? Clearly, I was trying to be kind, yet it led to such a huge misunderstanding.

He really was prepared to pay back the money; he wasn't planning to dig a pit for Harvey to jump into like last time.

Because this year, the 3D version of *Inception* was delayed by a year, causing this film to intrude into various award ceremonies and become a giant butterfly, which meant that for tonight's Oscar for Best Picture—or rather, the outcome of any of the awards—he truly had zero predictive ability, completely different from two years ago.

Yet no one believed him. Look at Harvey; he walked so fast it felt like if he were any slower, his pants would fall off. What kind of person do they really take him for?

Chen Nuo chatted with Emma Stone as he walked, and they soon entered the main hall of the Kodak Theatre.

His seat and Liu Yifei's were in the third row on the left, while Emma Stone's was further back on the right, but the woman didn't say bye-bye immediately where they were supposed to part ways; instead, she said seriously again, "Chen, there is one more thing."