1994: I Became a Literary Master in America

Chapter 78 Julie's Decision - Please read on, vote, and add to your favorites!

Danny and the other two went out.

Xu Shengjie was the only one left in the living room.

He lit a cigarette, sat down at his desk, and looked at the messy surface, his thoughts a bit jumbled.

He had never been in contact with Edward Norton, and the two had never even met.

The reason we identified him was because of Julie's introduction... He didn't have Edward's contact information, and similarly, Edward was unlikely to have his contact information either.

unless……

So, how was he able to contact Julie?

Or perhaps, Julie was sending Edward some kind of signal?

Very likely!

……

Knock knock knock!

Someone knocked on the door.

Xu Shengjie snapped out of his thoughts, stood up, and said, "The door isn't closed, please come in."

Immediately afterwards, the door was pushed open.

A somewhat shy-looking young man walked in from outside.

He was slightly thin, looked to be in his twenties, and wore a brown suit without buttons, through which sweat stains could be vaguely seen on his shirt.

He is slightly shorter than Xu Shengjie, but definitely over 180 cm tall.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 12199.99]

He stood at the door, looking somewhat uneasy.

"Mr. Jeffrey?"

"Just call me Jeffrey, Mr. Edward Norton. Please have a seat."

The movie Fight Club (later renamed Fight Club) flashed through my mind again.

Norton at this time was remarkably similar to the schizophrenic Jack from Fight Club.

That's normal, Fight Club was probably filmed in the last few years... Wait, he hasn't even been in contact with Fight Club yet!

A piece of information surfaced from the depths of my memory.

The movie Fight Club is based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk.

In the future, this writer wrote a memoir called "Pallanik on Writing," which seems to be part of a series of books on writing by famous foreign authors. Unfortunately, Xu Shengjie bought the whole set at that time and read his memoir.

He once mentioned in his book: After graduating from university, I majored in journalism, but I couldn't find a job no matter what I did. At the age of thirty-two, I decided to pursue writing. However, I couldn't find a publisher for my first work.

Those bitches always try to tell me what to do, how to write this paragraph, how to write that paragraph, and what content should be deleted.

I'm very angry!

After a year of procrastination, I decided to temporarily put aside my debut novel and start writing a new one.

It's Fight Club... In the book, I talked a lot about what I told the publisher about "Fight Club".

But the publisher loved it dearly.

After Fight Club became a bestseller, my previous publisher contacted me, begging me to give them my debut novel, but I told them: Fuck you!

……

A very individualistic writer whose works are full of dark humor and bizarre tales.

The appearance of this information made Xu Shengjie suddenly realize something: Palahniuk should still be writing his debut novel, "The Invisible Monster"... Hmm, if that's the case, "Fight Club" is mine!

The male lead is practically offered to me!

What does this tell us?

This shows that I have a connection with this book.

If you don't take what Heaven offers, you will suffer the consequences...

We must not forget the teachings of our ancestors, so...

"Edward, um, may I call you that?"

"Of course! But my friends all call me ED, and Mr. Jeffrey can call me that too."

"OK, Ed... but why?"

Edward laughed and said, "When I was a child, I looked a bit like Ed, and coincidentally, my name contains the letters Ed."

Is that a valid explanation?

Xu Shengjie still doesn't quite understand the rules Americans follow when choosing nicknames or aliases.

"You can also call me Jeff... Sorry, things are a bit chaotic here, I'm currently preparing to assemble the film crew."

Edward's eyes lit up when he saw the messy documents on the worktable in the living room.

"Julie told me before that Mr. Jeffrey had a script that was ready to be filmed and asked if I was interested in playing the male lead."

I have been waiting for Mr. Jeffrey's summons.

She's quite the talker... no wonder she'll be thriving in Hollywood in the future.

Those who can make it in this industry are all shrewd and calculating!

Xu Shengjie laughed and said, "It's all true! Look, the script, storyboard, and script are all finished, and the budget is also ready."

But there's one thing I need to remind you: this is a female-led film. Although you play the male lead, your role might not be particularly outstanding throughout the entire movie. I don't know if you'll have any objections.

"No, no, no, I'm already very satisfied with being able to act in a movie."

"Please have a seat... coffee?"

"OK!"

Xu Shengjie picked up a cup of coffee that had gone cold from the table, then scratched his head and said, "Danny and the others went out to eat, and mine is... cold. Do you mind?"

"Of course not!"

Edward ran over, and being thirsty, he accepted the coffee without a second thought.

"Ed, did Julie give you this number?"

"what?"

"I mean, the phone number."

"Yes, last Sunday night, she called me from Los Angeles and gave me your contact information so I could contact you myself."

She seemed uncomfortable on the phone; she hung up before I could ask her anything.

Last Sunday?

That was the 17th, the day of the World Cup final.

Xu Shengjie seemed to be deep in thought.

He tried to contact Julie on Monday and Tuesday, but to no avail.

But Norton received a call from her, asking him to contact her...

What is she trying to say?

Xu Shengjie thought for a moment, then picked up a printed copy of the script from the table and handed it to Norton.

"Here's the script. You can take a look before making a decision."

Edward was overjoyed; he had been working on Broadway for two years, waiting for just this opportunity.

Although it wasn't the first time he'd read a script, this one seemed extremely important to him...

He thanked him, took the script, and opened it.

The homepage displays information about this movie.

Run Julie, written by Jeffrey Tsui; directed by Jeffrey Tsui; produced by Danny Airo, Spike Lee, Pao Verhoeven...

Edward gasped!

When Julie told him about this, she didn't mention that these other people were involved.

She just said that her boyfriend has a movie project and they want him to act in it.

Edward's heart suddenly felt a little confused.

"Ed, did Julie say anything else to you?"

"Um, she said her dad found her a film crew job..."

Edward was a smart man. He suddenly realized what was happening and looked up at Xu Shengjie.

Xu Shengjie appeared to be very calm.

He smiled and didn't ask any more questions...

At this moment, Dani and his two companions returned from outside, bringing two takeout orders.

"Danny, this is Edward Norton, our leading man."

Edward quickly stood up and said respectfully, "Mr. Airo, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Edward, it's been a long time."

Danny's a New York veteran!

I know most of them—the talent agencies, the actors, the independent filmmakers.

Edward is now somewhat famous on Broadway, and since his role as the male lead was already confirmed, Daniello naturally did some research. And sure enough, he had actually met Edward before. However, he didn't have a strong impression of him. If Xu Shengjie hadn't mentioned him, and if he hadn't done some research, he probably wouldn't have remembered him at all…

"Your lunch."

Zhou Wenqiong handed the lunchbox to Xu Shengjie.

Then he turned to Edward and asked, "Mr. Norton, have you eaten yet?"

"Vivian Chou, an employee of my studio."

Charlie, Charlize Theron, is an artist under the same agent as me, an actress, and a member of my film crew.

They helped me a lot and made my life much easier.

Edward quickly greeted the two of them.

His stomach was rumbling; he hadn't eaten since morning.

That Americano I just drank was actually Zhou Wenqiong's; it's supposedly good for weight loss. But it doesn't make you feel full at all; in fact, it makes you even hungrier.

Edward's face flushed red.

However, Xu Shengjie seemed not to hear and opened the takeout box.

"Hey, La Caridad78 delivery, you guys are doing Broadway now?"

"Danny said this place is very good. Snow also recommended it before, saying that although it's not authentic Chinese food, but a fusion of Cuban and Chinese cuisine, the taste is good... Chinese people can get used to it, and foreigners also like it. It's said that 'Seinfeld' was filmed here."

"Hey, Vivian, this is America, you're the foreigner here!"

Danny immediately interrupted Zhou Wenqiong, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

Xu Shengjie handed Edward a takeout order, while he himself chose a Cuban roasted meat rice, which was similar to Cantonese char siu rice, but with Cuban roasted meat instead of char siu. It was sweet and sour, with a hint of the spiciness unique to South American cuisine.

Xu Shengjie took a spoonful, looked at Danny, and said, "Danny, we might be in trouble!"

"What's the trouble?" Dani asked, sipping his drink.

Xu Shengjie took a deep breath and said softly, "Julie is very likely not coming back, so our leading lady has run away!"

"what?"

Dani Airo's mouth dropped open.

……