Lance and Charlize walked into the Kodak Theater side by side, climbing the steps along the red carpet, and from a distance you could see a man standing at the entrance. The dazzling lights fell from the magnificent ceiling, blurring the figure, leaving only a rough outline, but it was still recognized by people at a glance.

Tom Cruise.

"You owe me a bottle of red wine." Tom smiled and patted Lance's arm hard, then turned around and greeted Charlize politely, and then continued, "You kept the secret so tightly. I really thought you were going to be absent tonight. Everyone came to ask me, but I didn't know when I asked. You owe me a bottle of red wine. As for what kind of red wine it is, it depends on your sincerity."

Lance couldn't help but smile and punched Tom in the chest, "This time I bought a bottle of 1997 Roance-nti in Casablanca, and it's cheaper for you." Romani Conti in 1997, from the Burgundy region of France, is the owner of the most expensive single bottle of red wine. Except for the rare red wine at auction, the market reference price is around 1,500 US dollars. However, the most precious part of this red wine is not the price, but the rare production, with only about 2,000 to 2,500 bottles per year. Even the world's top-notch people have to queue up to buy this wine, and the average waiting time is more than six months. Among them, 1997 was an excellent year. That's why Lance used the word "tao".

"I heard from Cole, you brought your female companion tonight, why didn't you see me?" Lance looked around and found that Tom was just alone.

"Katie is already sitting." Tom pointed to the direction of the banquet hall, turned his head and saw Jack Gyllenhaal coming towards him. Tom lowered his voice and jokingly said in Lance's ear, "Your surprise, this huge surprise has disrupted a pond of lakes."

"Hey, Lance." Jack quickly walked forward and gave Lance a big hug, with an excitement on his face, "Wow, I thought I wouldn't see you tonight. I didn't expect you to arrive!" The big eyes were filled with excitement, and it was revealed without any concealment.

"I don't want to miss the showdown with you." Lance's teasing made Jack stunned, and then he burst into laughter. In the "day after tomorrow", Lance promoted Jack's director, but now the two are both shortlisted for the best supporting actor, and will compete for the Little Golden Man. Lance patted Jack on the back, "Go in first, we're already late."

"Of course, of course." Jack said happily, "By the way, I will introduce you to Lee later. We have talked about you on the crew before... Oh, sorry, Tom, I am Jack Gyllenhaal, Miss Theron..." The group walked into the banquet hall while greeting.

The banquet hall decorated in red looks grand and solemn, with low and noisy discussions rushing in the air, a warm breath rushing towards the face, and the remaining sea breeze on the surface of the skin suddenly peeled off.

Lance could clearly feel that his gaze projected from every corner, with expectations, speculation, banter, excitement, repulsion, and sharpness... All kinds of sights woven into a big net, and from the moment Lance entered the hall, he locked him firmly.

In full view of everyone, Reese Witherspoon raised his right hand high and shook it hard, her joyful joy was clearly written between his eyebrows; Jeff Daniels was walking out of his seat, but he didn't expect to meet Alexander Payne who was standing up, and the two couldn't help but smile, pointing to the direction of the entrance, moving and talking; Jennifer Aniston was already standing in the aisle, turning around and whispering to Sandra Brock and Keanu Reeves, but his eyes were always paying attention to Lance's actions.

Then, Meryl Streep shouted, "Hey, young man, if you don't come over quickly, I'll kick you in the ass." The heroic shout made everyone around him chuckled. Meryl also had a bright smile on her face and shook her head and said, "I just made a bet with Scott last week. Now it seems that this guy made me lose the bet." Scott here obviously refers to the big Hollywood producer Scott Rudin.

Lance quickly walked forward, Meryl raised her right finger and shook her lips slightly, looking like an old naughty boy, "You made me lose an important bet, so you have two choices now, either leave me a character in the next movie, or act as my flower guardian tonight on Oscar Night."

Lance has met Meryl several times before, but the friendship cannot be considered deep. Tonight, Meryl is clearly giving Lance a strong momentum. Just from this detail, it can be seen that the surging tide under the surface of the awards ceremony season is far beyond imagination. The different reactions of people in the banquet hall at this time also prove this. What's more surprising is that there are quite a few people standing on Lance's side, especially before the list of awards was announced, some people were willing to show their position. This friendship is really valuable.

"Madam, this is a bit difficult for me." Lance wrinkled his nose and looked puzzled, which made Meryl stunned, as if he hadn't expected such a reaction, and then he heard Lance say, "Can't I choose both? I think, maybe I can do it, at least I can try it."

Meryl paused for a moment, then laughed happily, turned to the people behind her and said, "It seems that he is the big winner tonight."

Judy Denqi, who was sitting not far away, said loudly, "He has always been a lovely person, hasn't he?"

"Jazz." Lance greeted him, "I hope I did not offend you by using your name to attract attention." Lance was talking about the conversation on "Tonight Show" before, and they had met when they were in the West End of London. But Lance was just a small character at that time.

"I don't remember the character you don't say." Judy waved her hand and said lightly, and this silently made Lance laugh, causing everyone to laugh.

After finally saying hello, Lance and Charlize were able to sit down.

On occasions like the Oscars, all seat arrangements are of particular importance. For example, Lance and George are absolutely impossible to be arranged together, and even if ABC TV wants to create gimmicks, it will not be so risky; for example, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise are absolutely impossible to sit too close. This is also the reason why the college needs to confirm in advance whether the guests are present.

Because there are too many uncertainties in the shooting of "Raging Road", Chaos Pictures has always been preparing for the two people who were missing the Oscars. Abc TV station made two preparations before getting the confirmed news. However, because of Chaos Pictures' attitude, they were still doing the same as the two people who were absent. Now, Lance and Charlize made a brilliant debut at the last moment. Although Abc TV station is not in a hurry, they did encounter some minor troubles-

Lance and Charlize's seats are adjacent, but not in the first row or in the center, but in the second row near the left side of the stage. If it were not for the camera's care, the panoramic and close-up view would not be visible at all.

The arrangement of abc TV station is understandable. It was originally in the second row and it was not completely arranged to the corner. Even if the two people were really absent, such a hidden position would not be discovered by the audience. But now, this is a bit embarrassing. Not to mention that Lance is the bearer of the suspense tonight, it can almost be said to be the focus of every award. It is also ridiculous to say that Charlize, as a contender for the film queen, hid in a place that the camera could not take care of.

What's more, George was placed in the center of the first row near the aisle, with Felicity Hoffman sitting next to him, and Meryl Streep behind him, which can be said to be the center of the center. With such a comparison, how could people not think about it? Abc TV now has trouble.

The staff who were in charge looked a little embarrassed, but Lance was calm and politely greeted Noah Baumbach and Eanuel Lubezki who were sitting next to him, one was competing for screenwriter awards, the other was competing for photography; behind him were Amy Adams and Luc-jacquet, the former emerged as the best supporting actress competition, and the latter was nominated for Best Documentary with her debut work.

In front of him are Francis McDormond and Paul Giamatti - both of them are old acquaintances. Charlize and Francis cooperated with the "Northern Storm" to compete with this year's heroine and supporting actress department; Lance and Paul greeted him with a smile, and Paul pointed to the direction sitting on the other side, "Before setting off, Alex was still talking about why you didn't attend." It was Alexander Payne.

It can be seen that this corner is full of nominees, but none of them are popular awards, and none of them are core awards. As Lance, who won four nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Original Screenplay, sits here and looks like an alien.

Before the award ceremony officially began, the tense atmosphere spread in the Kodak Theater. It seemed that everything was taken for granted, but as if everything had started to go wrong, no one knew when it started to go wrong. Now, it was too late to retreat, so we could only continue with our teeth. As for what would happen next, no one knew.

Lance seemed to have not realized it, and lowered his voice and communicated with Noah on his right hand. Although "Squids and Whale" was distributed by Chaos Pictures, today is the first time that Lance and Noah officially met. After a while, the lights slowly dimmed, which also marked the coming of the live broadcast moment.

The gears of fate began to rotate slowly.
Chapter completed!