Chapter 85: Wong Kar-wai's Flop Movie

Xia Yehe really cried.

Her troupe booked the whole theater today to watch *If Love*. Seeing the part where Chen Nuo danced, she remembered their initial meeting, remembered the bits and pieces in the dance studio, and remembered being thousands of miles apart now, meeting little and parting much, and tears kept sliding down.

Fortunately, the darkness could cover everything.

But she still couldn't help but secretly take out her phone and typed three words in the text message column: "I love you."

But immediately she deleted it again.

Let's just watch the movie.

Chen Nuo didn't know about Xia Yehe's feelings for the time being, but he felt the immediate impact of Yang Mi and Zhang Xiaofei's feelings after watching the movie.

Both girls strongly demanded that he wear suits and white shirts more often in the future, and if he could wear a round-brimmed hat like in the movie, that would be even better.

Chen Nuo smiled, "Then I'll have to find five girls to help me change clothes."

Yang Mi laughed with a "pfft" and said, "You said it! Believe it or not, if I go to the street tomorrow and call out, I can find 500!"

The next day, fresh movie reviews on Sina Blog verified Yang Mi's statement.

Among them, a movie review written by someone named Cheng Zimei surpassed well-known film critics like Shi Ningwei and Yi Xi Jiuse, topping the click list of the movie review section that day.

The movie name was *If Love*, and the title of her review was: *If, Making Love*.

It made Shi Ningwei, who was second on the click list, gnash his teeth. Could this kind of title even pass the review? Was Sina's review system too lenient?

The article wrote: "I forgot what the movie was about when I got home. But after I took a shower, I lay naked on the bed, tossing and turning until 3:00 AM. During this time, I came and went, went and came, but still couldn't relieve the itch in my bones... I really miss Mr. C."

"If, making love. I hope it's Mr. C. As long as he lies beside me, I don't care if he's a few years younger than me; I will follow my heart, grab his hair, and pull him under me."

"I want my teeth to undo his buttons, and then use my face to experience his green stubble. I will strip him naked bit by bit, and then use my tongue to tease every inch of his skin. I will press my most plump parts tightly against him, entangled with him like a snake in heat, so that no matter how many women he has in the future, he will think of me..."

The rest of the article was similar content. In Shi Ningwei's view, it was just a piece of erotic writing for a woman's self-pleasure.

He was really angry and made many calls to his editor, Maizi. "Tell me this isn't erotic writing, it's a movie review? And this has nearly 400,000 clicks? Why! Why don't you delete it yet?"

Maizi's answer was: "Teacher Shi, it really is a movie review. Didn't you see that she wrote the two words 'movie' at the beginning?"

Shi Ningwei felt that Maizi was insulting his intelligence and that Sina was provoking all film critics.

He was very angry because in his view, what he wrote was similar content, only...

The other person was a man! It was impossible to want to press him and torture him!

Shi Ningwei's movie review title was: "From Chen Nuo's raw photos to Chen Nuo's GIFs."

This movie review carried forward Shi Ningwei's past characteristic of having both pictures and text, putting up many photos of Chen Nuo on set that weren't put up last time. At the same time, among so many pictures, he wrote: "In this movie, the biggest mistake Peter Chan made might be letting Chen Nuo appear in the first scene of the movie. I believe many viewers should have the same feeling as me."

"After watching the first ten minutes, I couldn't calm down to think about the plot for the next 100-plus minutes. My brain was full of Chen Nuo's GIFs. Actually, the director should have replayed those ten minutes of footage 10 times, and then I would feel that the money I spent on the movie ticket was more worthwhile."

The 24-hour clicks reached 200,000, raising his blog click record by a large margin. Besides these blind comments on the internet, serious media also evaluated *If Love*. I don't know if it was to build some fame for their own young actors in the mainland, but the focus outlined was surprisingly consistent.

*Mass Cinema* special contributor Sun Wufan: "In the movie *If Love*, Chen Nuo has become an undeniable highlight in the film with his unique presence. His existence is not just to cater to the audience's aesthetic needs, but an extension of the film's artistic expression. On this point, director Peter Chan is undoubtedly successful. He used less than 10 minutes to leave this movie in our memory. Perhaps many years later, when we look back on Chen Nuo's acting career, that scene where he puts on glasses and flips through a book will be as shining as Leslie Cheung combing his hair and counting money in *Days of Being Wild*."

*Huaxia Film News* commentary: "If Peter Chan only hoped to keep the audience with a scene at the beginning, then he miscalculated. Whether a movie is good or bad is definitely not determined by a man's posturing. The first musical in the Chinese-speaking world is nothing more than that. Polishing oneself and telling a good story are the basic conditions for a good movie to be established. However, in this movie, we only saw a story that was fundamentally not established. As a musical, I believe its box office exceeded everyone's expectations. We must be vigilant; perhaps from this day on, Chinese cinema will enter an era where gimmicks outweigh content."

*Contemporary Cinema* movie column Luo Luo: "After watching *If Love*, I want to say that no one knows how to film men better than Peter Chan. He pulled Chen Nuo, this mute, from the wilderness outside Jingcheng to the bustling Shanghai Bund, becoming a sexy and dashing gentleman. If I didn't know Chen Nuo's age, I would really forget that he is still a teenager under 20. Although he danced that musical piece unsatisfactorily and the singing can only be said to be barely listenable, the scene of flipping through a book on the bus, the tease and sexiness in his eyes reached people's hearts directly. I want to applaud Chen Nuo. If the whole movie is a fine wine carefully brewed by Peter Chan, then Chen Nuo's interpretation is undoubtedly the most intoxicating sip of aged wine."

Wang Meng was holding a copy of *Contemporary Cinema* that had just been released this week. Seeing this, she couldn't help but smile. This film critic named Luo Luo who wrote this review is 100% a girl, because she is also a girl, and she understands.

Yuan Shanshan, who was lying on the bed, suddenly turned her body and poked her head out, her long hair hanging down like a waterfall, and asked, "Mengmeng. Have you finished reading? Can you lend it to me?"

Wang Meng closed the magazine, held it up, and said generously, "Finished, here."

Wang Meng didn't stand up, so Yuan Shanshan struggled a bit to poke half of her body out and reached out to take it. The collar of her pajamas was a bit low, and a large piece of white, greasy, smooth, and elastic snow-white flesh reflected into Wang Meng's eyes. She felt a bit sour in her heart, stood up slightly, and handed it into Yuan Shanshan's hands.

Being big is a big deal, swaying around all day.

Yuan Shanshan took the magazine without even flipping through it, and the magazine automatically opened to a certain page. Looking at the title and the creases on the book page, Yuan Shanshan hummed disdainfully in her heart: pretending to be a literary girl every day, isn't she still looking at Chen Nuo? I thought you were really untainted by worldly things.

Yuan Shanshan also started to look at it herself.

Perhaps because the heating in the dorm was very sufficient, she was still covered with a thick quilt. Looking at this film review with delicate brushwork, Yuan Shanshan's eyes seemed to see the scene she saw in the cinema yesterday, and her body couldn't help but become a bit dry and hot.

What she liked most was Chen Nuo's Adam's apple. Thinking of the way it slid up and down, she wanted to pounce on it and lick it.

Thinking and thinking, her slender, naked legs entangled together.

Suddenly, the dorm door opened all at once, and their roommate Zhang Xuan rushed in, shouting, "Big news, Chen Nuo is going to the United States to film a movie soon!"

Wang Meng stood up all at once, and Yuan Shanshan also sat up from the bed immediately. Even though her body was still sticky and wet, she couldn't care about it anymore. "What's going on? Who did you hear it from?"

"Just now I went to find Teacher Li for something. Before I even entered the door, I inadvertently heard a sentence. Really, Chen Nuo's agent came, and it seems like he was the one who said it."

Wang Meng didn't know why, but suddenly her heart was in a mess, and she said, "But... don't we still have to attend class?"

Yuan Shanshan bit her lip and said, "We need to attend class, but Chen Nuo doesn't. Xuan, whose drama is it, going to the United States? Could it be some big director in Hollywood? No way, this rhythm is too fast, right?"

Zhang Xuan said, "How dare I listen more? My heart couldn't take it after hearing two sentences, so I ran away immediately."

The three girls didn't speak for a while, looking at each other, and then sighed in unison. Having such a person as a classmate is really discouraging.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 86 =====