Chapter 63: Premiere Ceremony

Heh, this Liu Yifei, she really isn't as simple as she looks.

With Lady Liu sitting in the back, Chen Nuo simply pretended he hadn't heard Liu Yifei's words.

The car started and drove out of the valley. It was a journey of over 30 minutes from the location to the hotel, and the daily transfer and maintenance of filming equipment was no small feat, so Zhang Jizhong, Yu Min, and the others were busy to the point of exhaustion every day.

Relatively speaking, actors like Liu Yifei and Chen Nuo were the most relaxed of everyone, provided they could complete their filming tasks on time and in full.

Chen Nuo kept his eyes closed to rest the whole way and didn't say anything more to Liu Yifei. Just as they were about to reach the mouth of the valley, his phone suddenly rang; it was Zhang Yi.

As soon as he answered, Zhang Yi said in an exceptionally loud voice, "Chen Nuo, our movie has a release date! April 30th, the May Day holiday slot. Before Labor Day, we're offering a gift to the people of the nation. Hahaha!"

Chen Nuo was quite happy too: "Congratulations, congratulations."

Zhang Yi laughed: "Congratulations to you too. It's only a little over a month until the release, and Tian Er and I discussed it; we're planning to take out some money for promotion, hold some roadshows, and learn from that *Peacock* film. Are you participating?"

Chen Nuo said: "I definitely can't make it; I have to take the college entrance exam."

Zhang Yi said: "I know you have to take the college entrance exam, so our current plan is to arrange the premiere in Xichuan. You must be there when the time comes; there's no room for negotiation. Also, if the promotion requires you to accept interviews from a few media outlets, you and your agent are not allowed to refuse."

Chen Nuo said: "I'm in Jiuzhaigou. Whoever wants to come and interview me can just come. I still have to stay here for over a month."

Zhang Yi asked in surprise: "What are you doing in Jiuzhaigou?"

"Forgot to tell you, Sister Qi got me a new role."

Chen Nuo gave a rough explanation, and then the car arrived at the hotel.

Hearing that Chen Nuo was filming in such a remote place, Zhang Yi didn't bring up the interview matter again, and after saying he must attend the premiere, he hung up the phone.

Chen Nuo didn't expect that during a break in filming the next day, Liu Yifei would suddenly bring this up again. It was just after she had finished touching up her makeup, and the cameraman was changing tapes; they were the only two people there at the time.

Liu Yifei brushed her hair and asked: "Your movie is about to be released?"

Chen Nuo was stunned for a moment: "Ah, yes."

Liu Yifei revealed a hint of curiosity and said: "What's it about?"

Chen Nuo felt a bit embarrassed. Although it had won an award, he always felt that this film *The Mute* was shot by a ragtag team, and it had absolutely nothing in common with Liu Yifei, who had claimed since her debut that "you only know what a star is once you've met her."

"Uh, it's just a pretty miserable film; you probably wouldn't be interested."

Liu Yifei frowned and asked: "Then what do you think I'm interested in?"

"Big productions, like Disney movies or something."

Liu Yifei raised her head, revealing her gracefully curved, fair neck. She didn't look at Chen Nuo, but instead gazed at the fake flowers on the ceiling and said: "After I finish releasing my album in Japan, I also want to return to the country to film movies."

Chen Nuo was a bit baffled and said "Oh." He wanted to ask if returning to the country meant returning to China or the United States, but in the end, he didn't dare to ask.

Liu Yifei said: "I'll go watch it when the time comes."

"Ah?"

"Your movie."

Chen Nuo was even more confused, like a monk unable to grasp the head of the Buddha: "This, thank you."

Liu Yifei suddenly asked: "What do you think of my acting? " "Mm, I think it's quite good."

Liu Yifei said: "I've been observing your acting these past few days. I've discovered that we are the same type."

Chen Nuo was simply flattered: "Thank you, I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. You've already filmed so many dramas, and I've only acted in one movie. I have much to learn from you."

Liu Yifei was silent for a moment and said: "They all say I'm a vase."

"Uh, that's all jealousy."

"Director Zhang said your acting is much better than mine."

"……Director Zhang is getting on in years; it's normal for his eyesight to be inaccurate."

"Director Yu told me to pay attention to how you act when I'm filming."

"He gave me pointers on acting too. We're playing opposite each other, so we have to observe each other."

"What year were you born?"

Chen Nuo felt Liu Yifei was a bit erratic; the topic jumped too much. "86."

"In the future, if I act poorly anywhere, you can tell me directly."

Chen Nuo was startled and kept saying: "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare..."

Before Chen Nuo could finish his sentence, the director called for them to get ready.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Nuo had been filming in Jiuzhaigou for a month. The filming process went very smoothly, and even Zhang Jizhong praised them several times, saying that the chemistry between Chen Nuo and Liu Yifei was getting better and better.

However, the truth was that Chen Nuo was increasingly learning how to cooperate with Liu Yifei's current acting style. In Chen Nuo's view, she was a standard "Douyin-style" actor at this stage, and as long as he could create a sense of a couple with her in front of the camera, it would count as a success.

As for how well Liu Yifei was acting, he didn't dare to say.

Because Lady Liu was almost always watching on set the entire time, what could he say?

Chen Nuo finished filming all his scenes there on April 28th and left Jiuzhaigou the next day. He rushed to make this deadline because Zhang Yi's premiere was about to be held.

Having missed the global premiere in Berlin, Chen Nuo was quite happy about his first movie being shown on the big screen. On the afternoon of April 29th, he called Chen Bicheng and Pan Chengrong to the provincial capital as well.

Chen Bicheng originally had things to do and didn't really want to come, but under Pan Chengrong's "forceful" persuasion, he came anyway.

The premiere of *The Mute* was at the Chengtian Cinema in the city center.

Other cinemas were unwilling to give an art film more screenings. Although *Peacock*, which Gu Changwei won an award for in Berlin at the beginning of the year, looked like it had decent box office numbers, the actual results didn't really meet expectations. Now that another art film had come along, several major theater chains were very cautious. Even though it had won the Silver Bear Award.

Besides that, there was another reason: *The Promise* had been released, and it was clashing head-on with *The Mute*.

A commercial blockbuster with an investment of over 100 million and a top-tier cast competing against a small-budget art film—any cinema manager with a brain knew how to choose. Chengtian, which gave it 35% of its screenings, was already the cinema with the most screenings for *The Mute*.

Before going to the cinema to attend the premiere, Chen Nuo received a call from Nini from Jiangsu.

Nini was very excited on the phone; she would also be watching the premiere of *The Mute* over there today. At the same time, the girl happily told Chen Nuo that her mother had already agreed to let her go to Jingcheng to study, and then she asked on the phone about the keychain she had given Chen Nuo back then.

When she heard Chen Nuo say he had been using the keychain for a long time, Nini was very happy; she couldn't help but shriek on the phone and even showed it off to someone nearby.

After finishing the call with Nini, Chen Nuo's family and the group of four led by Qi Yuntian set off for the cinema.

(End of chapter)