Chapter 948: Chapter 636: Twelve [07] Encountering a Genius—It’s Actually Michael Quinn

Henry Chapman’s words, Nora Scott had to listen.

Moreover, Henry Chapman let her participate in "Twelve" until now, all for her own good, she couldn’t take his good intentions as donkey liver and lungs.

"Is ’City Secret’ starting to film again?" Nora Scott flopped onto the soft chair, slumping. "Where is it, who are the people?"

"In Zhuxianel Town, the theme is Wooden New Year Painting." Henry Chapman said, "For the specific guests, you should ask the director. I know Luna Durant and Annabelle Pinto are both there."

Nora Scott pondered, "On purpose?"

Henry Chapman let out a "hmm", "It’s marketing. Only with topics is there buzz."

"You who never hype unless it’s for promotion, have the nerve to say that?"

"..." Henry Chapman pondered for two seconds and then ruthlessly hit back at Nora Scott, "I have capability."

Nora Scott: "..." Fine, you’re capable, you call the shots.

This time’s filming is the first episode of the new season of "City Secret". Luna Durant and Annabelle Pinto are both supporting actresses in "Twelve". The former is a regular guest, the latter is one of this year’s top stars, and now adding a top figure in the agency circle, comic circle, and entertainment circle, Nora Scott...

They must be trying to make big news.

However, Nora Scott kept changing her phone number and didn’t check WeChat. She didn’t have an agency or a business phone. As long as she didn’t want to, no one could contact her. So "City Secret" could only find Henry Chapman to take a roundabout way.

They succeeded.

After the call with Henry Chapman, Nora Scott actively contacted "City Secret" and finalized the contract in less than three days.

Seeing her finally have some work, Pedro Langley raised his eyebrows, not saying much, only asking, "How long is the filming?"

"Two days." Nora Scott said, "Including travel, four days."

"Oh." Pedro Langley nodded, "I might need to go to Zhuxianel Town."

"What for?"

"There’s something I need to confirm, I’ll tell you then."

"..."

Nora Scott stared at Pedro Langley for a couple of seconds, her expression full of suspicion.

"Not cheating."

"..."

"No lovers."

"..."

"Not even a guy."

"..."

All talk and no action!

Nora Scott grabbed a throw pillow and threw it at Pedro Langley’s head.

*

Two days later, Nora Scott and Pedro Langley set off one after the other, arriving at Zhuxianel Town.

Zhuxianel Town is in the north, but not as cold as Fenton City. Filming in January outside wouldn’t require bundling up like a rice dumpling, allowing some attention to etiquette and clothing.

Nora Scott was mainly afraid that Fátima, idle at home with nothing to do, would watch the show and ridicule her for dressing too bulky.

On the day of filming, Nora Scott wore a red wool coat, her makeup and hair meticulously styled, exuding a domineering "I’m returning to the entertainment industry" aura that stunned the entire crew. Some couldn’t help discreetly taking photos to commemorate.

"..."

"..."

Luna Durant and Annabelle Pinto, immediately overshadowed by Nora Scott, were so resentful they could feel their teeth itch.

"Let’s talk about the process first."

Director Sullivan gathered them, holding a script, explaining the filming schedule to them.

The show had its routine. This episode focuses on promoting "Wooden New Year Painting". The guests would split into groups to learn from the Wooden New Year Painting artisans, eventually handing in their finished "Wooden New Year Painting". To add interest, there would be segments like "record a video for audience likes" and "set up game sections for hints".

After the explanation, Director Sullivan waved them on to proceed, "First go to the artisan’s place to group up."

Thus, the group of stars boarded cars.

Clement Winter, as a regular guest, wouldn’t miss the first episode of the season and was present. He wasn’t originally in the same car as Nora Scott, but with a little maneuvering, he managed to board and sit with Nora Scott.

"Nora!" Clement Winter breathed out cold air, handing two hand warmers to Nora Scott, "Langley said you were cold and often forgot the hand warmers, so he had me prepare in advance for you."

"Thanks."

Nora Scott accepted the hand warmers effortlessly.

The vehicle started, Nora Scott tore open the hand warmers, then suddenly, the driver slammed on the brakes. If not for her quick reflexes, she would have slammed into the front seat’s backrest.

"What’s going on?"

Nora Scott frowned.

The driver had followed the car ahead to brake and was puzzled. He quickly used the intercom to reach the crew and soon gave Nora Scott an answer, "Fans blocked the road, it’s on Annabelle Pinto’s side."

"More hype."

Clement Winter put a lollipop in his mouth, frowning and mumbling.

Without needing to pay attention to cameras, Clement Winter spoke quite plainly on the road.

Nora Scott turned to him, "Oh?"

"The filming locations for ’City Secret’ are generally kept strictly confidential, but sometimes stars don’t follow the rules and leak the location to big fans, resulting in such situations." Clement Winter analyzed, "Given ’City Secret’s’ hype, a wave of trending searches is inevitable."

"Oh."

Although Nora Scott rarely mingled in the circle, she had heard of such things.

Nora Scott asked curiously, "Do you seem to dislike Annabelle Pinto?"

Clement Winter bit into the lollipop and slightly lowered his head, "...Yeah."

He has two reasons for disliking Annabelle Pinto.

One is that he once collaborated with her, and Annabelle’s marketing team was very formidable, tying Clement into the hype, smearing him thoroughly while she harvested a wave of popularity herself. If not for Clement’s strong fanbase, he would have gone cold long ago.

Clement rarely had conflicts with people in the circle, but Annabelle Pinto was certainly one of the few exceptions.

The second is... Annabelle Pinto had clashed personas with Nora.

Annabelle Pinto came from a martial arts star background, starting higher than Nora, and her career path was smooth. However, she never marketed herself with "martial arts" or "vase" personas until this year when Nora became explosively popular, overshadowing others. Only then did Annabelle start to follow the trend of marketing herself with "martial arts" and "vase" personas.

In fact, Annabelle Pinto became favored because of this.

This year the entertainment circle, thanks to Nora’s fresh existence, was high in popularity yet not business-driven, causing other young actresses who followed her path to become incredibly popular.

Annabelle Pinto was among those who benefited the most.

Recently, it has become increasingly intense.

Not only has she tried to align herself with Nora but also released press materials to smear Nora, playing high to low, with ambitions to overshadow her.

After all—

No matter how amazing Nora Scott is, she lacks one crucial aspect in the entertainment circle—no acting skills.

On the contrary, Annabelle Pinto’s acting skills are among the best in her batch of actresses, towering over many young actors. This is also the capital her fans often boast about.

"...Is she releasing press to criticize my acting skills?" Nora Scott, after listening, slightly twitches at the corners of her mouth.

"Yeah."

Clement Winter blinked.

Nora Scott: "..."

Why doesn’t she have an acting skills cheat?

Now, she’s really unable to fight back.

Nora Scott falls back, using a wide-brimmed hat to cover her face, surrendering.

Clement Winter quietly observes her, not understanding how the normally confident and flamboyant her suddenly seemed deflated.

*

They spent some extra time avoiding fans.

Fortunately, they safely arrived at their destination.

A total of eight guests, divided into four groups, with four artisan masters, requiring a game segment for selection.

Nora Scott and Clement Winter formed a group.

After the groups were formed, their artisan master led them to the studio, introducing them—and the cameras—to the creation process of the Wooden New Year Painting.

"So many New Year paintings!"

Upon entering the studio, Clement Winter couldn’t help but exclaim, as his view was overwhelmed by an array of wooden board New Year paintings.

The emergence of one New Year painting requires drafting, carving, printing, coloring, printing, and face opening steps. This time they will mainly engage in the "carving" process.

Specifically, it’s about pasting the drawing reversed onto the wooden board, then finishing and carving out the lines into a stencil.

Nora Scott glanced around, noticing many boards hadn’t begun, asking, "Is it a new studio?"

"Yes." The master hesitated, nodding, "Just two days ago, our old studio had a fire, destroying half of the works. We are doing rescue carving; many New Year paintings are out of print, one of a kind, gone in an instant."

"Ah."

Clement Winter regretted and lamented.

The master sighed but then showed a lucky expression, "However, we are lucky to have met an extraordinary person."

Clement Winter asked curiously, "What kind of extraordinary person?"

"A young man," said the master, "He showed great interest in our Wooden New Year Paintings, came over to visit the day before the fire. After hearing what happened, he came back, asked about the loss, and said he could recreate all the paintings he had seen. We thought he was joking, but last night he really sent over the completed out-of-print New Year paintings. We all said we met an extraordinary person."

Nora Scott listened, her expression stiffening.

Clement Winter was shocked, "Can he manually recreate after just one look? Such an extraordinary person exists?"

"Definitely!" The master nodded hurriedly, "He even joked with us, claiming he had been called the ’copier.’

Clement Winter listened excitedly, chatting nonstop with the master.

Nora Scott: "..."

No way, such coincidence?

Is Michael Quinn here?

With a thought, Nora Scott asked, "Is the extraordinary person still in the area?"

"Don’t know," said the master, "He supposedly stays one or two days, leaving only because the New Year paintings burned; whether he left today, I’m not sure."

Nora Scott squinted, "Do you know his address?"

"Yes," the master responded, then glanced at the camera, "You want to go?"

Nora Scott said, "Could you kindly give me an address after the program ends?"