555: Chapter 555 A Revenge Story That Takes an Unexpected Turn

Torment. For Director Deng Yu, every day, every minute, and even every second now was pure torment.

The more glorious and dazzling Lin Chuyan appeared abroad, the more dilapidated, outdated, and rotten his own ship seemed—ready to sink at any moment.

The key issue was that the ship wasn't sinking immediately; everyone knew it was going to sink, and he knew it too, but it just kept him hanging on until the very last second. Lin Chuyan, that kid, had already declared that this was just the first award, and judging by current appearances, it really wasn't just empty boasting.

The public opinion online was unwatchable; countless people were tagging him, and he was inexplicably trending again!

"You can control me, but can you control who the audience wants to watch?"

Lin Chuyan's choice to say this at this moment was perfect; the implication couldn't have been clearer.

To the domestic audience, they knew this story all too well.

A gentleman takes his revenge from morning till night. Throughout this journey, Lin Chuyan had scolded when he needed to, mocked when he needed to, and even set up a bet to go head-to-head, putting the old guy on the spit. Now, success was within reach.

As for the foreign audience, they just felt confused: What does that mean? Who is controlling you?

No problem, don't understand, right? You'll understand soon enough.

With the announcement of the award, the team continued their work.

"Lin, one last look? If there are no issues, we'll send it out."

The person speaking to Lin Chuyan was George Anderson, whom he had met when he visited the Lionsgate headquarters. This time, Emily had sent him over to coordinate work with Lin Chuyan.

"I have no issues, no need to look. By the way, what do the foreign journalists think of this story?"

"Extremely satisfied! They can hardly believe it's true, hahahaha! Lin, with a story like this, you really should have brought it out sooner!"

"Andy, you have to understand one thing: if I had brought it out earlier, it wouldn't have been a 'revenge story,' but rather some kind of 'impotent protest.' Now is the best time."

"Makes sense. I'm really looking forward to everyone's reaction now."

Lin Chuyan's team started heading back, as the Venice Film Festival was about to begin its awards ceremony—la la land had been nominated for two awards.

One was the golden lion award, the highest award in the main competition section, intended to honor the best film in that section; it could also be seen as the "Best Film" award.

The other was the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, intended to honor female actors with outstanding performances in the main competition section.

As for the golden lion award, Lin Chuyan wasn't too concerned; the nomination was already an honor.

He cared more about the Best Actress award—helping his wife win a proper award was what mattered most.

Landing back in the Water City, they arrived at Lido Island.

Lin Chuyan's revenge story had already begun to circulate on foreign websites.

[The behind-the-scenes story you need to know about la la land]

[Banned domestically, winning awards abroad? How the director of la la land fights against capital]

[la la land—A Chinese director's perfect revenge plan]

[The unstoppable la la land: Great director, great love, great personality]

Word spread from one person to ten, then to a hundred; behind every headline was a string of stories.

Starting from la la land winning awards and becoming highly popular, it recounted Lin Chuyan's deafening "don't like it, not good-looking, not smooth" trilogy, how he made a "comeback" in Hong Kong after offending capital, how he traveled far to Hollywood to film la la land, how he went head-to-head with capital, staking his career on a bet for a 3.5 billion box office, ultimately winning Best Actor in a TV series and Best Actor in a film, delivering his acceptance speech of "not disappearing, not being a dog, not shutting up," and leading up to his current unlimited glory, with the bet's expiration date right before his eyes...

At first, this story only circulated within the film industry.

However, public opinion is just like that; sometimes you start it, but you can't necessarily control where it goes.

The first day was fine; at most, people in the film industry got to know Lin Chuyan again, and the audience exclaimed, "You're truly badass."

The second day, things started to change.

Lin Chuyan was attending the Venice Film Festival awards ceremony. Just as he sat down, a call came in.

It was George Anderson.

"What's wrong?"

The other person's tone was very excited, the kind of excitement that couldn't be suppressed: "Lin, if you have time, you can take a look online."

"Oh, I'm not very convenient right now, but you can make it short."

"Okay, okay. Do you know Luigi?"

"Emmm... I guess you're not talking about Mario's brother, the Luigi from the Nintendo games."

"...He's the protagonist of a shooting case that caused quite a stir in the United States a while ago. He's a rich second-generation kid who shot and killed a health insurance company executive on the street, ending the other person's sinful life." Andy explained briefly, "He is a hero in the hearts of all ordinary Americans abroad, including me."

Lin Chuyan remembered.

He knew this person. A while ago, refugees from the foreign TikTok came to Xiaohongshu and even asked people on Xiaohongshu, "What is your opinion on Luigi?"

But what did this have to do with him?

"Go on."

"There's a post today saying you are very similar to Luigi, and many people are liking it."

"...How are we similar?"

"It's obvious. The most important point is that both you and Luigi are fighting against capital, just choosing different methods. It's undeniable that you are just as full of courage as he is, just as handsome, and both stories are just as blood-pumping."

Lin Chuyan: "..."

Talking about different methods, he understood, he just didn't know if the Americans understood: wasn't the only difference that he used the "weapon of criticism" instead of Luigi's "criticism by weapon"? Now that they had reached the same goal by different paths, Luigi had already succeeded, and he was close too?

Andy continued, "There is news now that Luigi might be sentenced to death. Lin, this makes us very angry. The post also said that they hope you can succeed and win the bet."

Lin Chuyan was speechless: This works too?

But for him, this was certainly good news—no matter what, more people knew about this movie now.

Andy's voice continued from the other end of the phone: "Lin, I saw another post. Amazing, it's too amazing."

"...What is it now?"

"You and Luigi are both 26 years old?!"

Lin Chuyan: "...Really?"

He searched casually: How old is Luigi Nicholas Mangione?

The answer popped up: Luigi Nicholas Mangione is currently 26 years old.

Some things are just that coincidental.

After hanging up, Emily's call came in. The two chatted briefly, and Emily began to sigh: "When I heard you talk about a 'revenge story against capital' back then, I felt like I had heard it somewhere before. So it was this."

She added, "Lin, we don't need to deliberately promote this. Trying too hard to ride the wave of popularity might have the opposite effect. Let's wait and see for a while. The most important thing now is for you to win a few more awards."

"You're right."

This favorable situation; he had never played such a favorable game before.

Lin Chuyan started to focus on the awards ceremony.

Soon, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress began to be presented on stage.