Chapter 19: Screened
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As the plot developed, it was soon the part where “Hatchet” Harry schemed against Eddy and his friends, which was when the story began to unfold. The two dumb thieves continued making the audience chuckle, whereas when Bacon was seen explaining to Eddy how ruthless “Hatchet” Harry was, the scene when Harry was hitting a man with a d*ldo caused everyone to burst out laughing.
The film soon entered its climax, where the crowd was dazzled and fully immersed in the story due to the collision between the characters. The dumb thieves sold the antique guns that were supposed to be given to Harry, which were bought by the four-men group that was about to rob their neighbors. When the robbers finally broke into the weed chemists’ house, they were almost killed by a lady with minimal presence. The storyline caused everyone to laugh out loud, and at the same time made them eager to find out what would happen next.
It became more interesting when the robbers returned from their heist, and it took them a while before they realized that they had actually been robbed by their neighbors; The four-men group seized the weed stolen by the robbers, but carelessly sold them to the gangster leader of the weed-growers. While the robbers decided to “serve” the four men, the gangster leader was going to take his revenge, thus both parties arrived at the four men’s house one after the other. However, the four men had been drinking outside to celebrate the fact that they cleared their debt and earned a lump sum. Due to the strange combination of circumstances, the robbers and the gangster leader ended up in a shootout, which resulted in the deaths of all.
As the audience watched the scene happily, the screening hall was filled with waves of laughter, but that was not the end. The robbers’ boss managed to escape the gunfight, leaving with the money and the antique guns through another door but was so unlucky that he bumped into Chris, who was there to collect a debt. Not only was he knocked out, but he was also mugged of the money and the guns. With that, the poor four-men group felt like they had fallen from Heaven to Hell the instant they returned. Right then, the two dumb thieves had been thinking about getting the antique guns back as they had been threatened by Harry, so they followed Big Chris to Harry’s den. A problem arose because the thieves and Harry never met, hence they were unaware of each others’ identity. Since the dumb thieves had their minds set on getting the guns back, and Harry was obviously not one to be threatened, another shootout caused both parties to die.
“What the f*ck are you doing here?!” Barry, Harry’s bodyguard who had been communicating with the dumb thieves yelled after he was shot in his stomach by one of them.
“What the f*ck are you doing here?!” One of the thieves who had been fatally hit by a flying ax from Barry yelled back.
The screening hall was filled with laughter again.
At last, the film ended, and the lights in the hall were turned on. The audience, who did not get enough of it, began discussing with each other. Through the light, Adrian glanced at the hall and found that around 40% of the 500 seats were taken, which was a decent house. He was certain that more people would watch the film after this, which was a good sign.
“Look, I told you not to worry,” Adrian whispered to Kate.
Kate rolled her eyes at him as he had been wandering his hands on her thighs the whole time.
Adrian shrugged and was about to talk to the others on his team when he noticed Dennis bending over to his legs, and was rubbing his face with his hands.
“What’s wrong, Dan?” Adrian asked.
“Oh, no, nothing, I was just… Just a little excited…” Dennis quickly sat back up, and although he turned his head slightly to the side, Adrian noticed his reddened eyes.
After being startled for 2 seconds, he quickly felt relieved. Even though Dennis never talked about his time in Hollywood, Adrian could guess based on his spiritless character when he worked in the coffee shop. Therefore, when he finally became an important character in a low-cost film, while he was not the main character, he must be very touched upon hearing the praises.
“Eddy.” Dennis who finally collected himself looked at Adrian. “Thank you.”
Adrian raised his brows without saying a word.
“No matter what happens next, thank you so much,” Dennis thanked him again in an unusually serious tone.
Adrian nodded to himself. “Let’s go get some coffee, Dan.”
There were many open-air coffee shops on Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta street, which were either elegant-styled, unique or had historical touches. Each of them attracted plenty of tourists.
Since Kate could not move around too much, Adrian decided on a small yet delicate open-air coffee shop. Needless to say, drinking an Italian-styled cappuccino under the warm sun was a pleasant activity.
“Frankly speaking, I may have watched it multiple times back in the studio, but it felt completely different when I watched it just now,” Dennis expressed after sipping the foam on his cup.
“Perhaps because there were other people in the screening hall, and they gave good reviews,” Kate responded.
“There’s another reason. Since it’s a film, it’s more appealing when it’s screened on a big screen, which is unrelated to whether the film emphasized effects. A different environment and a different mind will naturally produce a different feeling,” Adrian explained as he stirred his drink.
After talking about ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,’ Adrian somewhat made a decision.
“Oh right, Dan. I’ll be preparing for a new film soon, would you like to play the main character?” Adrian asked.
“A new film?” Dennis was surprised because he did not expect Adrian to prepare for a second film before the first one was officially screened.
“Yes, I have a rough concept for the script already, and I only need to type it out,” Adrian replied. “The story’s very simple, and I’ve decided to play some tricks during the editing part.”
“No problem.” Dennis agreed right away.
“So fast?” Adrian was shocked. “I must let you know that according to the plot, the main character’s an extremely thin person who’s less than 110 pounds.”
“As long as you need me to,” Dennis put his hands out and said, “I’ll do it.”
“Wow, Eddy, you got yourself a good helper,” Kate stuck her tongue out after her comment.
“Is that so?” Adrian smiled at her. “Would you play one of the supporting roles then, Kate?”
“Do I have a part too?” Kate was both surprised and curious.
“Of course, but we’ll be shooting in Los Angeles around October or November,” Adrian responded seriously.
Kate was startled for a few minutes. She was about to say something when her face changed.
“What’s wrong?” Adrian quickly held her.
“I accidentally… Hit it too hard… It hurts…” Kate was embarrassed when she answered.
Although they spoke very softly, it was normal that Dennis heard them. Besides, Kate often went to London’s studio during the last few days of the post-production, and she was walking unusually slowly earlier. Since he figured out what happened, he let out a dry cough. “Oh right, Eddy, I have something else to attend to, so I’ll be leaving.”
At the same time, he gave Adrian a thumbs up under the table.
1
Adrian grinned. “Alright, we’ll talk again after the film festival.”
Once Dennis left, Adrian simply carried Kate like a princess. “Alright, Ms. Beckinsale, we’ve watched the film, so it’s time to go back to rest.”
“Must you carry me like this?” Kate, who was shy, looked around them.
“You have no choice, my love.” Adrian laughed as he carried her back to the hotel, and was unbothered by the looks of others. It was worth noting that he was very strong because he never had to catch his breath even after walking a few streets.
After placing Kate on the bed, Adrian filled the bathtub with hot water, then carried her to it. Nevertheless, Kate was not going to be manipulated so easily, thus she pulled him into the water when he let his guard down. As such, Adrian decided to remove his clothes, and bathed with her.
Of course, they did not proceed further due to Kate’s condition. Adrian hugged her from behind, leaned against the bathtub as he massaged her gently.
“Do you feel much better now?” Adrian looked at Kate. “I told you to stay at the hotel.”
“Is this meaningful now?” Kate pouted her lips. The flush on her cheeks had not gone away.
Adrian smiled without replying to her, then asked her after kissing her neck. “Do you like to act, Kate? Do you want to be an actress?”
Kate was startled for a while before she nodded. “Somewhat, I thought about it. After all, my parents were performers.”
“Follow me to Hollywood then, I’ll turn you into a great actress.” Adrian suddenly got up to hug her tightly.
“To Hollywood?” Kate was completely stunned. The intimate relationship she shared with Adrian all this time made her forget about two facts: One, she was a Briton who was still in high school; Two, Adrian was an American who worked in Hollywood.
“Yes, to Hollywood,” Adrian responded seriously.
Instead of responding, Kate hugged him even tighter.
“Don’t rush it, we still have time.” Adrian later kissed her lips, and they wrapped around each other passionately.
Followed by the screening of ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,’ a wave surged in the Venice Film Festival. The viewers included tourists who were attracted by its reputation, as well as movie critics and entertainment reporters from various countries. The film with a seemingly disorderly yet practically ordered thread attracted their attention because there were not many linear films in this style before 1990.
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