I have not seen Chaplin since the middle of the year.

This movie performer who has experienced ups and downs, but because of a woman, don’t be so dirty that she has to rely on the evaporation of the world to avoid people’s accusations against him.

At that time, people wanted to dig three feet into the ground to twist him out, but no one saw him. Chaplin hid like a ghost, and even when summoned by the court, people could not catch him.

At that time, he was the focus, and almost all the people in the United States were talking about where Chaplin would hide.

But after so long, with the outbreak of the economic crisis and a series of events, people gradually forgot Chaplin's peach blossom case, and even Chaplin.

No one cares about where this unfaithful man hides, and even the media loses interest in him.

Hollywood filmmakers have almost forgotten that there is such a person in Hollywood.

Chaplin seemed to become air overnight and became dewdrops evaporated into the air.

Even I have rarely thought of him for such a long time.

If you can't see it, you will naturally not think of it.

But it was precisely because of this long-term neglect that when Chaplin suddenly appeared in front of me, I was shocked.

He sat less than ten meters opposite me.

The second floor of this tavern is a special private room. It is impossible for people without a certain status to come to the second floor. Therefore, the entire second floor is very quiet and there are not many people.

Chaplin sat in the corner, lowered his head and drank alone.

Wearing a black suit, the collar of the windbreaker on the outside was raised high. If it was outside, the collar would definitely cover his face tightly, and you would never see his face.

A top hat was placed on the table. The man, who was just forty, had thick black hair. He looked a little white and looked like he was a fifty or sixty years old.

His hair was chaotic, his eyes were deep and concave, his face was pale, and he had no blood.

He didn't seem to notice me, so he lowered his head and drank by himself.

There was a bottle of fine French red wine in front of me, and such a hobby has not changed.

His body became thinner than a few months ago, making him look even more slim as if he was already thin.

Sitting next to the table, holding a knife and fork in his hand, he was concentrating on a piece of steak on the plate, and the juice splashed on his clothes was completely unaware.

The eagle-headed silver cane was placed next to the table, which was very eye-catching. This cane was a symbol of his past glory, and he kept it with him at any time.

Chaplin in front of me is a little lonely and a little miserable. The former domineering has disappeared, and the former glory has become the current desolation.

Faced with all this, I don’t know what to say.

"Boss, this guy has changed a lot. If I hadn't looked closely, I wouldn't have found it was him." Stiller said to me with a laugh.

"It has changed, it has completely changed. I never thought that Chaplin would be like this." I shrugged and smiled bitterly.

"After counting, it's been nearly half a year since he disappeared last time. I'm about to forget this person." Munau also felt a little sorry for Chaplin. Like me, no matter how big he has to say about Chaplin, he still highly recognizes Chaplin's performance talent.

"It is said that his life is not very good." Stiller took the speech and whispered: "The divorce with Lita Gray made Chaplin worried. Not only did he lose half of his property, but his reputation also fell to the bottom. After the divorce, I heard that his private life was very Milan. I heard that Chaplin and Paulette Goddard are now in ambiguous relationship. Of course, I heard that this guy is also a person who can't sit still. Even if he is not with Paulette Goddard, he will be with someone else."

"Oh, by the way, I heard from Sidney Alcott that a month ago, Pickerford received flowers from a mysterious man. Pickerford did not tell anyone who gave the flowers to the ground, but it is said that after reading the cards inside the flowers, Pickerford cried bitterly and asked someone to throw the school bell into the trash can outside the college. Afterwards, many people analyzed that the flowers were given by Chaplin, as if to make up for the harm they brought to Pickerford."

Stiller smiled very gossipedly and looked at Chaplin in the distance meaningfully.

"This guy is such a passionate person. I also heard that he has been in his villa for a while in the past few months and has not left his home. He has been to the UK and lived in seclusion in a suburb of London, where he was in his childhood. Now he appears here, this guy is really confusing." Munau shook his head.

I didn't say anything, nor did I hear these guys whine, and my eyes were always on Chaplin.

In an instant, I remembered the situation where the two of us chatted in the smoking area of ​​the carriage on the train to Indianapolis.

I will never forget Chaplin's expression that day in my life.

That was the first time I felt that there was a sense of sincerity hidden deep in Chaplin's heart.

So, my impression of him changed a lot after that. I didn’t confront him like before, and Chaplin seemed to be very friendly to me.

It turned out that I thought such a relationship would continue, but with the occurrence of his peach blossom case, everything changed.

Now, in my eyes, Chaplin is more a lonely man than a filmmaker.

In him, it is difficult for me to see the aura of the past, the confidence and even the arrogance of the past.

What I want to say is that I don’t like the Chaplin now, the lifeless Chaplin. I prefer the past, even if it is a bit arrogant and ambitious, even if it is not a harsh person to me.

Because at that time, he was angry, but now he has become less different from some people around him.

"Boss, you don't want to go over and say hello to him, do you?" Stiller joked as I stared at Chaplin.

I chuckled and nodded, "You can't say anything, I really want to go over and say hello to him."

"Boss, don't make trouble. This guy just let him fend for himself. I can't eat when I look at him." Stiller didn't have much affection for Chaplin.

"Eat, I'll go over and talk to him." I stood up and walked towards Chaplin.

Chaplin lowered his head and ate there. He didn't notice me at all. Even if I sat on the chair opposite him, he didn't notice it.

"I didn't expect that you would eat steak here." I said with a smile, looking at Chaplin's gray hair.

Hearing my voice, Chaplin's whole body was filled with a burst, and his hand holding the knife and fork stopped moving.

After knowing me for so long, he could naturally tell my voice.

Although I don't know what Chaplin is thinking about now, I know. He must have felt a little embarrassed.

Chaplin loves face and values ​​fame and fortune. The root cause is that he cares too much about what others think of himself. Now in this down-and-out situation, he naturally does not want to be seen by others, especially his old opponents.

"Sir, you recognized the wrong person." Chaplin didn't even raise his head, and continued to eat with his head down.

"I'm very disappointed. The famous Chaplin doesn't dare to admit himself now." I took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a sip.

Chaplin's movements stopped again, and my words seemed to have worked.

Then, Chaplin put down his knife and fork, wiped his lips with a napkin, and raised his head.

This time, I saw his eyes.

Unlike before, in his eyes, I did not see confidence and arrogance, but calmness and loneliness.

The eyes are turbid, dull and dry, as if they are an old man who has experienced vicissitudes and hardships in life.

"Andre. How can I meet you anywhere?" Chaplin looked at me, smiled slightly, and shook his head helplessly.

His smile is a relief smile, but it is even worse than crying.

"It's fate." I smiled and pulled out a cigarette from the cigarette box and handed it to Chaplin.

Chaplin did not refuse, he took it, lit it, took a sip, and then squinted his eyes in the smoke. "I heard that you have started filming a new film recently. How is it going?" Chaplin blew the cigarette butt and asked me in a low voice.

"That's it, I took a quick shot." I answered him lightly, and asked, "How are you doing? What are you busy with?"

My words made Chaplin laugh, and he coughed violently while laughing, as if my words were so ridiculous.

"How is your life? Just look at how I look now. I live like a fool, I don't go out during the day, I can only walk outside at night, dealing with messy things all day long, and the divorce case has made me almost collapsed. But now it's a little better, and people seem to have forgotten me. Look, I've been sitting here for more than half an hour, and you are the only one who can recognize me."

Chaplin shrugged and made a very free and easy move.

But in my opinion, it's more like self-deprecating.

"So long has passed. People are now concerned about the economic crisis, and your affairs are covered with dust. I don't think you need to do this, you can consider working." Looking at Chaplin, I said my heart.

Chaplin was stunned for a moment and said, "Andre, you are right. But I don't want to come out to work yet."

"Why?" I asked.

Chaplin spread his hands and said, "It's not the time, at least it's not the time for me to come back. Moreover, now Thunderbolt Film Company is completely Hitchcock's world. Even Van Punk has betrayed me, so how could I go back?"

His words make sense. Leidianhua Film Company is now completely under the world of Hitchcock and Van Punk. It turns out that all the people supported by Chaplin were driven out of Leidianhua Film Company by Hitchcock and Van Punk. Although there is no problem if Chaplin wants to return to Leidianhua, he may not be able to fight back against Hitchcock and Van Punk.

"Then what are your plans?" I asked after taking a sip of wine.

"Plan!" Chaplin laughed silently: "I don't have any plans, but I'm writing a script. I don't know if anyone is willing to shoot it after I finish writing it. Apart from that, I'm completely unemployed."

"Andre. To be honest, I envy you very much. You are the only person I envy in Hollywood." Chaplin looked at me, and the muscles on his face twitched.

It seems he is a little drunk.

"I envy me? What's there to envy me?" I shook my head.

We are so polite, and we are really not used to it.

"I envy you for being able to shoot the movies you want to shoot. I envy you for being so loved and respected by the people. Unlike me, I can't find anything related to the movies." Chaplin said pitifully, and made me feel sad and a little sad. He squeezed his eyes.

Chaplin would not have expected me to say such words, and he was stunned.

"What did you say?!" He didn't believe his ears.

I had to repeat it again: "Don't you have nothing to do now, and you also want to find something to do. I think this is the case. The film school has shortages of people recently. If you want to, I can arrange for you to take classes in the film school for a while."

"You also know that that place is a very pure place, and you won't be infected. And you can communicate more with young people who like movies so that your talents will not be abandoned. How about it?" I said my thoughts.

Chaplin looked at me with a frown, obviously weighing the pros and cons.

Then, he raised his head and said to me lightly: "Andre, I will not join DreamWorks. I will never."

I laughed: "Charlie, I just asked you to teach at the Film Academy. There is no other meaning. Many people from other film companies are teaching there. This does not mean anything. The Film Academy belongs to the entire Hollywood."

Chaplin nodded, then said to me in a grateful tone: "Andre, thank you."

"I don't want to let your genius disappear. I think if we change positions, you will choose to do this." I picked up the cup and raised it at him.
To be continued...