Chapter 50: Return to Shanghai

It was the same familiar film base.

But this time, from far away, Chen Nuo saw a crowd gathered at the base entrance. As they got closer, he saw Chen Kexin standing there with almost the entire crew. Chen Nuo even seemed to spot Zhou Xun in the crowd.

While they were still some distance away, Qi Yuntian had the taxi stop. Because judging by the scene, if they actually drove right up to the front, someone might come to open their car doors. For two greenhorns just starting out, they really couldn't afford that kind of treatment.

As soon as they stepped out of the car, Chen Kexin and his group noticed them and walked straight over.

Chen Nuo hurried forward two steps and heard Chen Kexin's Hong Kong-accented Mandarin.

"Welcome, welcome! Nuo-zai, I saw it early on—you were definitely going to make it big! But, I didn't expect it to happen so fast!"

Chen Kexin walked up with a beaming smile and opened his arms to give Chen Nuo a hug. "Congratulations, congratulations! It really wasn't easy. Berlin Best Actor—even Hong Kong doesn't have one of those."

Chen Nuo smiled shyly. "Pure luck."

Chen Kexin shook his head. "In this circle of ours, there is no luck, only strength. When is it being released domestically? I really want to see it."

Chen Nuo shook his head. "I'm not sure if it can even be released domestically."

Chen Kexin laughed. "It definitely can! Even CCTV reported it, how could it not be? Come, I don't need to introduce them, right? You should know all these people, Chen Nuo. They're all here to get a first look at the new Best Actor."

"Liu Dao." Chen Nuo shook hands with Assistant Liu Dao Wenjing, who was behind Chen Kexin.

Liu Wenjing said with a face full of smiles, "Congratulations, congratulations! I once went to Berlin with others to participate; the competition there is truly fierce. When the news came, we couldn't believe it. I'm happy for you, truly." He was so enthusiastic he seemed like a different person, completely unlike the last time.

"Thank you, thank you."

Chen Nuo shook hands with the crowd one by one, then suddenly saw Zhou Xun standing slightly behind the crowd with a faint smile. Chen Nuo hurried over and gave her a light hug. "Sister Xun, why are you here joining the fun?"

Zhou Xun said, "Just to see you. See if you've changed at all after winning the award?"

Chen Nuo laughed. "And do you think I have?"

Zhou Xun said, "Can't tell yet. Still have that punchable feeling."

When they were filming here last time, Zhou Xun was the actor Chen Nuo got along with best. Both in personality and age, they were quite close. So, whenever they both had scenes, they would arrange to eat together and go to KTV once, making them quite familiar with each other.

The two chatted for a bit, then Chen Nuo turned back to continue greeting other staff members. It took a full few minutes before Chen Nuo followed Chen Kexin into the film set inside the base.

Afterward, Chen Kexin and Zhou Xun chatted with Chen Nuo alone for a while. Then, Zhou Xun had something to attend to and left first. Chen Kexin began to tell Chen Nuo about the shots he needed to film this time.

Chen Nuo understood after listening for a while. Just like Qi Yuntian's guess, and his own, it was just to reshoot some close-ups and dance scenes. It had almost nothing to do with the plot; to put it bluntly, they just wanted to ride the wave of his popularity.

Chen Kexin wasn't a director who stood on ceremony; for the sake of the box office, he could do anything.

But this was also because they thought highly of Chen Nuo, which was why they were doing this.

So Chen Nuo still listened very carefully. He even discussed with Chen Kexin how to film it. Chen Nuo didn't know much else, but as a short-video expert, he had done quite a bit of research on how to film his own face.

After some discussion, Chen Kexin couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder and say, "Nuo-zai, you're truly amazing. You deserve the Best Actor title."

Chen Nuo could only accept the praise with a thick face.

After agreeing to come back the next day to film, Chen Kexin had Liu Wenjing see Chen Nuo and Qi Yuntian off.

Qi Yuntian looked around the set for a long time, then turned his head and asked, "Liu Dao, among your dancers, there's a female actor surnamed Xia. Did she not come today?"

Liu Wenjing paused. "You mean Cindy? She's had some family matters recently and asked for leave. Little Qi, you know her?"

Qi Yuntian nodded with a smile. "Yeah. What happened to her family?" "Her father passed away."

"Ah?"

"Sigh, it's a pity. When the call came from her home that day, I was right next to her. Her face went pale in an instant; it was so scary. But she's quite strong; she never cried. She asked for leave and drove back herself."

Liu Wenjing saw them to the set entrance. He had originally planned to arrange a car to send them off, but Qi Yuntian firmly declined.

After Liu Wenjing left, Qi Yuntian and Chen Nuo stood there, neither moving for a moment.

Qi Yuntian said, "Let's go take a look."

Chen Nuo shook his head. "Forget it."

Qi Yuntian smiled. "Come on, you think I can't tell?"

Qi Yuntian glanced at him, turned around, and shouted, "Hey, Liu Dao..."

"Shut up!" Chen Nuo grabbed him. "Wait until I make a call."

But when Chen Nuo pulled out his phone, hesitated for a while, and dialed the number, Xia Yehe's phone was actually turned off.

Qi Yuntian asked in surprise, "How long has it been since you last contacted her?"

Chen Nuo calculated. "Damn, over 20 days."

Qi Yuntian glared at him and said irritably, "Wait here."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to ask the girls for the address."

Ten minutes later, he returned. "Got it. It's in the Jiang-Zhe area, not too far... What are you doing?"

"Hailing a taxi to go there."

"OMG, if you go today, you definitely won't be back tomorrow. Why not wait until you finish filming these two days..."

"……I'm going to ask Director Chen for leave right now."

"Then go ask him to borrow a car, and we'll drive there."

Chen Kexin was a bit surprised by Chen Nuo's return. Upon hearing that he wanted to postpone filming for two days, he readily agreed on the spot. In fact, according to the shooting schedule, he was supposed to film other scenes anyway; Chen Nuo's part was a last-minute change, so it didn't disrupt anything.

"What about the car? Did he agree?"

"He agreed." Chen Nuo opened his hand to reveal a black, oval-shaped key with a shimmering silver three-pointed star on it.

The car Chen Kexin lent Chen Nuo was a G-Wagon, likely his own; at the very least, Chen Nuo had watched him pull the key out of his own pocket. Chen Kexin hadn't asked a single question at the time and just tossed it to Chen Nuo.

After Qi Yuntian started the car and got on the road, he couldn't help but click his tongue. "A G-Wagon. I've only driven one twice when I was abroad. Sure enough, being famous is great. Someone just hands you a million-dollar luxury car without a second thought. If it were before, you'd be lucky if they lent you a Chery QQ."

"Can you drive faster?"

"This is Shanghai, big brother. How fast do you want me to go!? This is a G-Wagon, not a jumbo jet, okay?"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 51 =====