UchihaRemant
patreon
Ch - 35 Dating Swift? First Meeting with Nolan
🕑 Added 2025-02-12 21:09:20 +0000 UTCManhattan, New York, at night.
At the entrance of the Rockefeller Building, Xu Can and Taylor stood in the cold wind, waiting for their assistant to bring their car from the parking lot.
"How about I just take a taxi?" Taylor asked.
"It's so late, don't go alone. Be obedient, and I'll see you off," Xu Can said in a deliberately domineering tone. Taylor hesitated for a moment but eventually stopped insisting.
The atmosphere between them was a bit awkward now—each lost in their own thoughts, neither saying a word.
After getting in the car, the silence was deafening.
Assistant Vanessa couldn't take it anymore and turned on the radio to break the tension.
Coincidentally, the RJ was playing a country music feature, and Taylor Swift’s song Teardrops on My Guitar started playing:
‘He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do…’
Taylor’s melodious and emotional voice filled the car.
She was sitting less than 10 centimeters away from Xu Can—so close that he could have wrapped an arm around her shoulders with just a slight movement.
But he held back. The incident on stage earlier had been impulsive. He might have offended Swift.
If there were a progress bar for this relationship, her favorability must have dropped significantly.
On the SNL stage, when Xu Can had hung upside down dressed as Spider-Man, he had kissed Taylor Swift on the lips.
It had been an unconscious move. The moment he kissed her, he realized he had messed up.
It was just a light touch, a fleeting taste.
European and American girls might be open-minded, but not that open-minded.
They weren’t even dating, so kissing her out of nowhere was abrupt.
Taylor had reacted strongly, pushing him away with a look of shock.
This wasn’t part of the script!
Since Swift had been positioned to block the audience’s view, no one else had seen what happened—only she knew.
At this moment, the 17-year-old Taylor sat quietly, looking out the window at the New York City skyline.
"It’s over. I screwed up. In her eyes, I’m probably just a greasy fool now, right?"
Soon, the car arrived at Swift’s apartment building.
"Xu, thank you for driving me back. You should head home and get some rest," she said, forcing a smile.
She took a deep look at Xu Can, then opened the door and stepped out of the car.
After a few steps, Xu Can caught up with her.
"Xu, what’s wrong?" she asked, surprised.
"You’re so distracted today that you forgot your bag," he said.
Only then did Swift realize she had left all her belongings in the car.
"Oh... hahaha, you caught me," she said with an awkward laugh.
"That kiss... I didn’t mean it," Xu Can said, taking the initiative to address the elephant in the room.
"Eh?" Taylor gave him a blank look.
"No, I mean... I’m flying to Berlin tomorrow. Let’s have a drink together when I get back?"
"Are you asking me out on a date?"
Swift slung her bag over her shoulder, clasped her hands behind her back, and looked at Xu Can with a playful smirk.
"Yes, I am," Xu Can admitted, giving up on over-explaining.
"Okay, it’s settled. I’ll wait for you to come back."
To his surprise, Swift smiled brightly and agreed.
That meant she was willing to explore the possibility of something more between them.
"See you then. Good night, Taylor."
"Good night, Xu."
Swift stepped forward, gave Xu Can a light hug, and quickly disappeared into the apartment.
Xu Can stood there for a few seconds before heading back to the car.
As soon as he got in, Vanessa, the assistant, coughed twice before starting the engine.
"Did you enjoy the show?" Xu Can asked jokingly.
"Yeah, very—" Vanessa suddenly paused and quickly added, "I was looking at my phone just now. I didn’t see anything."
"Alright, alright, just focus on driving!" he said.
If paparazzi had caught that moment, it would definitely be all over the entertainment news.
Luckily, Vanessa was reliable, and Xu Can trusted her to keep things quiet.
Besides, nothing actually happened between him and Swift... yet.
Spider-Man had been in theaters for over a month and was extended for another ten days before finally being pulled from the North American market.
However, in some parts of the world, the demand was still high.
As the most successful live-action comic book movie of the 21st century, Spider-Man had turned countless casual viewers into die-hard comic book fans.
Among American comic fan communities, the film was even treated as a bible, revered and rewatched multiple times.
According to media statistics, the average Marvel fan had watched Spider-Man at least three times. Some extreme fans had seen it 26 times in a single month, setting a new record.
At this stage, the global box office wasn’t expected to shift much. Anyone who wanted to see it had already seen it.
Currently, Spider-Man had surpassed $1.08 billion globally and was projected to exceed $1.1 billion.
This officially placed it above The Lion King, making it the third-highest-grossing film in the world.
Xu Can, an amateur actor before this, had reached an unprecedented level of success with his very first film.
His Facebook followers had skyrocketed to over six million and were on track to hit ten million soon.
Even the latest issue of Time Magazine had his face on the cover.
Xu Can’s agent, Happy, received so many calls daily that he had to hire an assistant just to keep track of invitations from major film studios, talk shows, and advertisers.
Of course, Xu Can had no intention of accepting every role that came his way.
For now, his entire focus was on finishing John Wick.
After wrapping up the Berlin shoot, he had officially completed filming for the movie.
Coincidentally, it was Lunar New Year's Eve 2007, but he had to spend it in Europe.
Apart from his family, celebrities he was connected with—Emma Stone, Taylor Swift, Emma Roberts, Avril Lavigne, and others—called to wish him well.
London, Kensington – Meeting with Nolan
"You sure get a lot of calls. You’re definitely a hot actor now," Nolan teased.
"Damn it, Christopher, stop messing with me," Xu Can responded.
He was sitting in a high-end apartment in Kensington, drinking afternoon tea.
Though he wasn’t a fan of English black tea, he still preferred Chinese tea.
Sitting across from him were two middle-aged men who bore a striking resemblance to each other.
Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan.
The masterminds behind Interstellar, Inception, The Dark Knight, Tenet, and Oppenheimer!
Xu Can had come at Warner Bros.' invitation to discuss a Batman reboot.
"We’ve drafted a trilogy outline," Christopher explained.
"The first movie covers Batman’s origin. The second focuses on his clash with the Joker. The third is based on The Dark Knight Rises."
Jonathan remained mostly silent while Christopher did most of the talking.
"Warner Bros. wants you to play Bruce Wayne. What do you think?"
The entire industry knew the success of Spider-Man was largely thanks to Xu Can’s creative input.
Nolan valued his opinion.
Xu Can took a sip of tea, then said, "I have a bold idea that might differ from your original vision."
"It’s fine, go ahead. The script can be revised," Nolan said sincerely.
Xu Can smiled.
"As you know, I’ve founded my own company and invested in my own films. My priority is my own projects."
He leaned back and continued, "I can’t commit to all three movies. I’d like to star in just one and be a producer on the other two."
Nolan frowned slightly. "Oh? What do you mean?"
Xu Can’s next words confirmed his hunch.
"Batman doesn’t challenge me much as an actor—he spends most of his time in a mask. What I’m really interested in is playing the Joker."
______________________________________________________
Thank you to our amazing Patrons for your incredible support and contributions to our work. You're all legends.
___________________________________________________
