Chapter 201: Just Praise It Hard Enough
Chapter 201: Just Praise It Hard Enough
After dinner, John Landis originally wanted to chat with Eric Williams over coffee about a few other matters. However, after noticing the two women seated not far behind Eric, John Landis very “considerately” took the initiative to excuse himself. Before leaving, he even winked at Eric and made a cheering gesture, leaving Eric both amused and helpless.
He knew John Landis had definitely misunderstood, but there was no way to explain this sort of thing. Any explanation would only make it sound worse.
After John left, Eric called over the waiter, settled the bill, then turned to glance at Julia and Elizabeth not far away. If he wanted to leave, he would definitely have to pass by the two women. The chances of not being recognized were practically zero.
Thinking back to Julia’s drunken rambling that night, Eric felt a little helpless again. Even now, he could not quite figure out what was going on with her. Had the woman genuinely fallen for him, or was it merely a submissive mentality caused by Stockholm Syndrome?
One thing, however, was certain. Julia clearly wanted very badly to break free from those feelings.
As far as Eric was concerned, he did not lack women. While he would do everything possible to keep women he truly liked by his side, Julia was not especially his type, so he had no desire to remain entangled with her.
The waiter brought over the change and receipt. After leaving a tip, Eric stood up and walked directly toward Julia’s table.
Since there was no avoiding it, he might as well say hello.
As Eric approached, Elizabeth noticed him first. The woman froze briefly, but calmly raised her coffee cup to conceal the surprise on her face. Because of that, Julia did not notice anything unusual about Elizabeth’s expression and continued chattering softly away, sounding very excited.
Although Julia was three years older than him, she had always acted somewhat restrained around him and rarely spoke this much. Eric therefore became curious about what exactly she was talking about. He made a silencing gesture toward Elizabeth and quietly moved behind Julia.
“...That producer told me, Julia, we’ll be filming entirely on soundstages. Even for location scenes, I can use a stand-in. I’d comfortably finish the whole movie without any trouble. And if I’m dissatisfied with the script, I can even revise it myself. The moment I heard that, I got really excited. They personally traveled all the way to that small Southern town to find me so sincerely, and they even offered a sky-high price of five million dollars. I felt like I’d never been valued that highly before. So I happily agreed to let them send over the script for me to look at. But the moment I saw the female lead’s name, I couldn’t stand it anymore. Can you imagine it, Liz? They actually named the heroine Vivian. My God, the copycat intent was way too obvious. So I suggested the producer change the name first, but he said the plot could be altered however we wanted, except for the name. Then he gave me a whole bunch of reasons why keeping the name was beneficial. I remembered some things he once told me about following trends, so I...”
Listening to Julia rattle on at high speed, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Eric’s lips.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth, whose eyes had curved into crescents, deliberately interrupted Julia and knowingly asked, “Julia, who exactly is that ‘he’ you keep mentioning?”
Julia seemed somewhat thirsty from talking so much. She took several sips of juice before replying, “Oh, you obviously know already. Even though that guy’s a bastard, a lot of what he says actually makes sense.”
“Oh...” Elizabeth slightly lifted her chin and inconspicuously glanced at Eric, who was standing behind Julia with both hands in his trouser pockets. “So that means you’ve completely escaped that guy’s shadow already?”
“Of course.” Julia waved her small hand without hesitation and slightly raised her voice. “I already yanked that bastard’s shadow out of my head, crumpled it into a ball, stuffed it into the toilet, and flushed it away.”
Pfft—
Elizabeth could no longer hold it in. Covering her mouth in panic, she collapsed onto the table while her shoulders shook with muffled laughter.
The surrounding diners heard the commotion and instinctively turned to look over. Of course, some of them also directed their attention toward Eric standing behind Julia.
If Julia still failed to notice something was wrong at this point, she would truly be hopelessly dense. Eric clearly saw her back straighten involuntarily. She seemed to want to turn around, but her neck appeared rusted stiff in place.
“Hearing you say that really breaks my heart,” Eric said jokingly with a shrug as he walked forward and casually sat down in the empty seat between the two women.
The moment Julia heard Eric’s voice, her expression already began rapidly changing colors. By the time Eric sat beside her, the last trace of fantasy she held completely shattered.
Her eyes remained fixed on Eric’s face for several seconds before she suddenly shrank her neck, bent her waist, and curled up as though trying to hide herself inside the chair.
“E-Eric, I... I didn’t... mean it like... that, I...”
Seeing how awkwardly embarrassed she looked, Eric smiled and was just about to tease her a little more when Julia stammered a few incomprehensible sounds before abruptly standing up.
“I... I’m leaving first.”
After saying that, the woman fled the restaurant in a panicked hurry.
Eric watched speechlessly as Julia’s figure disappeared into the distance and wondered whether he was really that frightening.
He patted Elizabeth, who was still collapsed on the table.
“Hey, Liz, stop laughing already. Be careful you don’t cramp up.”
Only then did Elizabeth raise her head. Her face was completely red, and her shallow dimples still lingered on her cheeks. She glanced across the table before asking, “Huh? Where’s Julia?”
Eric curled his lips. “Isn’t it because of your prank? You scared Julia away.”
Elizabeth glared back at him unwilling to back down. “How is that my fault? You were the one who signaled me not to say anything.”
“I was just curious and wanted to hear what Julia was talking about. You were the one leading her straight into the trap, weren’t you?”
Elizabeth turned to look toward the entrance but could not spot Julia anymore, so she said, “Fine. I’ll apologize to her later. But in the end, it’s still all your fault. I dragged her halfway around the world, and she finally almost managed to forget you. Yet you just had to appear again at this exact moment.”
There really was no reasoning with a woman who twisted logic like this.
Eric thought helplessly before changing the subject. “Aren’t you still in school? It’s already September. Shouldn’t classes have started?”
“I already completed all the courses I needed,” Elizabeth briefly explained. “My final year is just about writing my graduation thesis and doing social fieldwork. I told you before, remember? My thesis is an analysis of several of your films. So, Director, can you provide me with some ‘inside’ material?”
Instead of agreeing, Eric asked, “You’ve probably already gotten plenty of information from Julia these past few days, haven’t you?”
Elizabeth revealed a helpless expression. “I’m really curious about what exactly happened between you two. Julia’s completely lovestruck beyond saving. Even though she acts like she wants to bite you to death whenever she talks about you, everything she says is praise. It doesn’t feel real at all.”
“Maybe I really am like that,” Eric said with a smile.
“Impossible.” Elizabeth shook her head decisively.
Eric asked in confusion, “Hey, Liz, are you researching me as a person, or researching my films?”
“Both,” Elizabeth answered frankly. “I’m interested in everything about you.”
“I distinctly remember warning you...”
Before Eric could finish speaking, Elizabeth reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Staring at him with beautiful wide eyes, she interrupted, “Pah, pervert!”
“All right, all right.” Eric helplessly spread his hands. “We’ve already greeted each other. If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving. Remember to take Julia back to Los Angeles soon. Kapur’s hair’s practically turned white from Julia making him so angry.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Eric. “Nonsense. Don’t think I don’t know. Julia’s agent is bald. ‘His hair turned white’ my ass...”
“I was speaking metaphorically,” Eric said indifferently as he stood up. “Just remember what I said.”
Seeing Eric about to leave, the woman immediately grabbed his shirt collar.
“Hey, hey, hey, why are you in such a hurry? Since we ran into each other, stay and chat a little longer. Tell me about your films.”
Seeing the woman tightly clutching his clothes without caring about appearances, Eric had no choice but to sit back down.
“Liz, let me teach you something. What you actually need to do is reverse-analyze the known results. The method is simple. Just praise it hard enough. Exactly like those newspapers and media outlets do. List a whole pile of the movie’s strengths and praise it to the heavens. I guarantee your thesis will get an A.”
After saying that, Eric recalled those antique appraisal shows from his previous life. Without even waiting for the experts to announce the results, one could already tell whether an antique was genuine just from their wording.
It was very simple. If the item was authentic, the experts would start praising it immediately, talking about how delicate the material was, how exquisite the craftsmanship was, and so on. If it was fake, they would instantly begin criticizing it and nitpicking flaws instead.
Overall, most of the time, they were merely fooling amateurs who were watching for entertainment.
Hearing Eric’s perfunctory response, Elizabeth rolled her eyes unhappily.
“Hey, do you really think I’m that shallow?”
Eric raised his brows with an expression that clearly said aren’t you?, immediately angering the woman so much she looked ready to slam the table.
“I-I’m warning you. If you don’t help me, I’ll abduct Julia to an Australian ranch. Then you won’t be able to find her even if you want to make movies.”
Hearing the woman’s somewhat childish threat, Eric could not help laughing.
“Do whatever you want. As long as Julia agrees.”
Eric did not want to keep getting entangled with Elizabeth. He directly stood up and walked toward the restaurant exit.
The woman quickly waved over a waiter to pay the bill before hurrying after him.