03x02 - The Fever

Episode transcripts for the TV show "My Brilliant Friend". Aired: November 18, 2018 - present.*
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An Italian- and Neapolitan-language coming-of-age drama that's named after the first of four novels in the Neapolitan Novels series by Elena Ferrante.
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03x02 - The Fever

Post by bunniefuu »

- It's just a sip.
- As if!

He drank the whole bottle,
he poured it for her sister too.

It's not true,
I didn't pour it for her.

You did, you liar!

You saw it too. Come on, help me.

- Can I help?
- Professor, that's for the women.

Papa...

- Signora, it was all delicious.
- I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Your wife cooks so well
that I couldn't hold back.

Did you hear that compliment?

- How is he?
- Ugly, he's got crooked feet.

Papa was no better.

- What's that about your father?
- Nothing.

Be quiet then.
All you do is boss us around.

Pietro's so refined!

Do you really have to go?

Papa, Pietro's got things to do.

I know the professor's got things to do,
but I'm sorry he's going.

Signor Greco,
I'm sorry too, I wish I could stay.

I had a very good time.

But I really have to leave.

But first I have something
important to say.

Quiet now! The professor
has something important to say.

- Papa...
- Quiet, you.

Signor Greco,

I'm not good at these things.

You...

I imagine you already know, I mean...

I mean...

I'm asking you for your daughter's hand.

If an important person like you
asks for my Lenuccia's hand,

for me it is a great honor.

You have an important job,
you're from a fine family.

What can I say?

My daughter has happy eyes,

it shows that you love her
and that's enough for me.

Then let's celebrate.

But before that,
we need to clear something up.

We don't agree with you
not getting married in church,

because marriage without a priest
isn't marriage.

I understand.

I respect those who sincerely
entrust themselves to God.

I'm not a believer,
I have my own convictions,

but I don't believe in any god.

But signora, please, you can trust me.

Not being a believer doesn't mean
I don't believe in anything.

I have unshakable faith in the love
I feel for your daughter.

This love will make our marriage solid,

not an altar,
a priest or a city hall official.

If what counts is love,

what would it cost you?

Get married in church
then love each other, it's a formality.

No, it's a principle.

If I get married in church,
if I take communion,

I become someone who is untrustworthy,
who doesn't stick to his principles.

And knowing how your daughter is...

she would stop loving me.

And you, signora...

I can't believe you'd give your daughter
to someone untrustworthy.

Since she was small
Lenuccia has been out of the ordinary,

she did things no other girl
in the neighborhood was capable of.

This girl has never disappointed me.

She's my pride, she's the pride
of the whole family.

With what she's done,
she deserves to be happy

and if anyone makes her suffer I'll make
them suffer a thousand times more.

I know how precious Elena is

and I'm grateful to you
for bringing her up this way.

It was my grandmother's,
my mother's mother.

My family is very happy
for you to have it.

Kiss! Kiss!

Congratulations, my daughter.

Thank you.

- At last, welcome to the family!
- At last, Signora Immacolata.

Peppino.

Congratulations!

Gianni.

We've married off this one,
now we have to marry off the other three.

All in good time.

- Cigarette?
- Thank you, I quit.

The builders are doing a good job,
but it's a mess here.

- It's all dirty!
- Hi there.

They'll be done in a few days.

It's not your problem,
I'm the one who cleans.

Elisa and I will help you.

Why do you need a license
if you don't even have a car?

You like wasting money.

So, the phone and the TV
are a waste of money, too.

You want to buy a car, I know you.

- How much you got stashed away?
- It's none of your business.

No?

Elena!

What're you doing? I just cleaned it!

Then you say it's me!

Enzo!

- Pasquale, what's happened?
- Can you come down?

Now? Why?

- Come down, we'll explain.
- I'll be right there.

- Where are you going?
- Be right back.

Where's she going?

Hi.

Hi, Lenù.

What's happened?

Lila doesn't feel well
and she wants to see you.

What happened?

She usually gets back
from the factory at four-thirty,

tonight when I came home
she wasn't there.

Gennarino was still with the neighbor.
I gave him dinner and she came in.

It must have been seven o'clock.

She was very pale.

She wouldn't answer any questions.

All she said was:

"My nails are falling out."

I looked at her hands,
I told her there was nothing wrong.

She started screaming.

She locked herself in her room
and started saying:

"Call Lenuccia,
I want to talk to Lenuccia."

- Did you have a fight?
- No.

Did she get injured at work?

I don't think so.

I don't know.

Let's not panic now.

Hopefully Lila will calm down
when she sees you.

Let's go.

I'm so glad we found you!

You're an important person now,
you must be busy.

What are you two doing together?
You've moved to San Giovanni too?

No, I'm the section secretary now.

I often come to San Giovanni for
meetings, we met in the section office.

Is Lila a Communist too?

Lila's such a Communist
that she's never joined the party.

L'Unità reports a lot about students.
They interview them, listen to them.

People who actually work,

factory workers,
why don't they let them speak too?

The party stays mum, waiting
for Aldo Moro to go to government.

Are we Aldo Moro's lapdogs?

We have to make the revolution!

What do you reckon?

- You're right.
- Good, you've always been smart.

Go Lenù, she's in there.

Come in.

I knew you'd come. Give me a kiss.

I know all about you.

I saw you in the papers.

You look so good!

I also know you're marrying
a professor, well done.

Forgive me for bothering you
at this hour, but I need you.

My head's coming unstuck
like peeling wallpaper.

What happened?

I bothered you because
you have to promise me something.

If anything happens to me,
if I end up in hospital,

if they lock me up in an asylum,
if I disappear,

you have to take Gennaro.

You have to bring him up in your house.

Enzo's a good guy, I trust him,

but he can't give the child
what you can.

If you don't explain, I can't understand.

Promise first.

All right.

No, don't say all right!

You have to promise now
you'll take the boy.

And if you need money, go find Nino.

Tell him he has to help you.

But promise.

"I'll raise your child."

I'll raise your child, I promise.

Good.

Now will you tell me what happened?

I realized immediately
that Lila needed to talk.

Talking soothed her.

She told me that for her going to work
was a horrible and humiliating effort,

but she had to do it.

Put a little white meat in, not just red.

Bruno, Nino's friend
whom we'd met in Ischia,

who had given her a job,
was no longer the boy he once was.

His father d*ed, the sausage factory
fell on his shoulders

and it broke him.

Listen to this joke.

A man mistakenly enters
the ladies' to take a piss.

A woman comes in,
sees him and starts screaming.

And he goes:
"What the f*ck are you screaming at?"

And she goes:
"This is only for women."

He turns around and shows his d*ck.

"Isn't this only for women?"

Didn't make you laugh, eh, girlie?

I know what you need to have fun.

How dare you, you assh*le?

Never mind him!

He's all talk, he's harmless.

Harmless or not, he can't f*ck with me!

I'll show you!

Bitch!

If they lay their hands on me again,
there'll be hell to pay.

You hear me?

Bruno, what kind of sh*thole is this?

You can't kick up a stink every time.

People need to horse around a bit
or it's agony in here.

- I thought you liked jokes.
- When I decide I do.

You're always the same.

Go back to work.

Go!

She had no news of the neighborhood,
she hadn't even seen her mother.

She said:

"I erased the past
and the past erased me."

Until one night...

Lila, look who I brought to see you.

What are you doing here?

Good evening, Lila. How are you?

Standing, as you can see.

Shall I set a place for you?

No, I just dropped in to say hello.

I'll go back to the party meeting.

We bumped into each other.

He's become section secretary.

Who would have thought?

- A plate of pasta?
- There's plenty.

Come on.

Thank you.

So, what do you do in the party?

I'm the neighborhood party secretary.

But soon they're going to kick me out.

Why?

They complain I make
too much fuss, that I'm not calm.

Guess who's the head of the right-wing
party for our neighborhood.

Gino.

- The pharmacist's son?
- Michele Solara's sl*ve.

If the fascists raise their voices,
do I enact democratic vigilance?

What the f*ck is democratic vigilance?

Pasquale's a friend, never mind
if he uses bad words.

I only came to tell you this.

If people had the strength you have...

the world would be a lot different.

Don't tell anyone in the neighborhood
that you came to my house.

You'll get in trouble.

I'm not afraid, I'll follow your example.

No one gave it back to the Solaras
and the Carraccis as good as you.

I'm completely out of touch,
even with my family.

Better that way.

Your father's repairing shoes on his own.

We never see your mother,

she stays shut away at home.

And Rino... remember
how well Rinuccio was doing?

He's a thorn in Stefano's side,
always begging him for money.

Whenever you want to come,
there's no need to tell me in advance.

I'll put out an extra plate,
you just sit and eat.

Thank you.

- You're not eating?
- I'm not hungry.

If you want some more, there's plenty.

Enzo not only worked in the factory,

but at night he studied electronics
until he was in a stupor.

Aren't you going to bed?

No, I have to study.

Shall we study a bit together?

Lila helped him,
sorry to leave him alone.

Being near him calmed her.

We need to make practical examples
or it's just talk. Look here.

Zero.

One...

Schematize the door opening
using the 0-1 system, can you?

Sure.

Then you know how.

This way we can do even
more complicated things.

Yes, of course.

Everything okay at the sausage factory?

Why don't you tell me
how things are in your factory?

What can I say...

same as ever.

Same here.

You say you can apply it to everything,

then let's schematize the factory.

- With the binary system?
- Yes.

Are algorithms
a sequence of procedures?

So, we do lots of things
that are defined algorithms.

I know.

And if we do block diagrams,
we turn them into geometric shapes.

Exactly.

So they can be applied to everything.

We gotta try them on everything.

Help me.

Show me.

Shall we start with your factory?

They don't deserve anything.

Actually, do it by yourself,
I'm tired tonight. Good night.

What are you doing here?

I came to check, do you mind?

You can do what you want in here.

How's Pinuccia?

How would I know?

I think she's in the sh*t, she's
never been happy with your brother.

That summer she fell in love with me
and you with Nino.

That's when I found out that pregnant
women really like making love.

What? Pinuccia?

Do you really think
we went to get coconut?

You know, the factory
has always disgusted me.

Really,

since I was a kid.

But here in the drying room,
I felt all right.

Maybe because
there's the whole process.

The product being perfected

until it's ready to be sold.

Or the smell of cured meat

that reminds me of the smell of a man
and a woman touching each other.

What's wrong?

What are you doing? No!

Leave me alone.

Come on, show me.

Pull out that thingy of yours,
I'll break it off!

I hoped for a little gratitude, no?

Do I have to submit or you'll fire me?

Is that it?

Lila?

Are you all right?

This time you were lucky.

But I swear...

I don't give a sh*t if you fire me.

I'll make you regret the moment
you put your hands on me.

I didn't do anything to you.

Lila, I didn't do anything to you!
You hear me?

So, dear comrades, everyone has
their reasons to be here.

Lila had always liked
Pasquale's political passion.

One night he dragged them
to a meeting with students and workers.

The party abandoned my father,
although he'd been a great comrade.

He fought at the Ponte della Sanità
and after the w*r he took sides.

But nobody helped my mother,
she was left on her own.

She didn't exist anymore for the party.
The party!

Traditional left-wing parties are no
longer able to respond to the masses.

She realized at once
who that student was.

She was Nadia,
Professor Galiani's daughter.

Nino's girlfriend who sent him
love letters to Ischia.

I'd like to thank Nadia and all of you.

Tonight I've brought a dear friend
from my neighborhood,

Lila Cerullo,
a comrade from the working class.

She works in the food industry,
she's a mother...

She's my mother.

She makes many sacrifices

and although she's exhausted,
I persuaded her to come here tonight

because we have much to learn
from a person like her.

Please say something.

Lila would have done better
to keep quiet,

but she said: "She screwed me over.

What would that shiny clean bitch
know about hard work?

I spoke without thinking
that an extra word you say today

becomes trouble the next day
and even worse the day after."

I'm not like you.

You all talk about the working class,

and I know nothing
about the working class.

But I do know the workers
in the factory where I work

and I can assure you, there's nothing
to be learned from them, except misery.

Can you imagine what it means
to spend eight hours a day

standing up to your waist
in mortadella cooking water?

Or to have your fingers covered in cuts
from slicing meat off animal bones?

Or to go in and out of refrigerated rooms
at 20 degrees below zero

and earn ten lire more.

Ten lire, for cold allowance?

If you can imagine that,

what can you learn
from people forced to live like that?

The women must quietly accept
men squeezing their asses.

If the boss feels like it, a woman has
to follow him into his office,

just as they used to with his father,
maybe even his grandfather.

We're searched because
there's a thing called the partial.

The partial is at the discretion
of the guard, who's the boss' spy.

He searches you if he thinks
you're taking salamis out.

The partial is not just for thieves,

it's especially for pretty girls
they want to get their hands on.

This is the situation
in the factory where I work.

The union's never entered, the workers
are poor people who are blackmailed,

subject to the law of the boss:
I pay you, so I own you.

I own your life, your family
and all that surrounds you.

So, either you do what I say,
or you'll be in big trouble.

So what do you want to learn from us?

You were fantastic, you speak so well.

We still have a lot to learn,
your speech showed us how much.

- Will you come back?
- Where will I get the time?

I have a child, I work eight hours a day,
not counting overtime.

At night, people like me
only want to sleep.

You really work in those conditions?

Why, how do you work?
And the other workers?

f*ck off, you and the working class.

Why didn't you ever say anything?

- Who put their hands on you?
- Nobody.

They don't dare with me.

A few days later,
she found all her words

on a leaflet being handed out
outside the sausage factory.

INVESTIGATION INTO WORKERS'
CONDITION IN NAPLES AND PROVINCES

Lila, hi.

Don't you recognize me?
I'm Dario from the union.

- Bye.
- All the best.

And you've got the nerve
to not even say hello. Stop.

What do you want?

Listen up.

If you said the things written here,
you're in deep trouble.

- I don't know what you're talking about.
- You don't? Well, read this.

We always got along here,
only you could say these things.

I'll turn on the partial
whenever I like?

I put my hands on women?
Me, the father of a family?

Bruno's gonna make you pay dearly
when he reads this garbage.

By God, I oughta smash her face
with my own hands.

Where's Cerullo?

There she is!

- Was it you?
- No.

Tell me the truth, there's too many
troublemakers in here.

- Have you joined them?
- I said no.

So who was it?

Who had the nerve
to write this bullshit?

It must have been an office worker.

The office workers don't do this stuff.

What are you gonna do? Birds sing,
take it out on them.

Lunchtime!

It's lunchtime, I said! Enjoy!

No, you stay here.

Come on, it's lunchtime! Quickly!

I gave you a job, I didn't say anything
when you joined the union,

my father would have kicked you out.

I made a mistake in the drying room,
but I apologized.

You can't say I persecuted you.
So what do you do?

You put my factory in a bad light.

You say that I take
the women workers there.

Why, do I take them there? As if!

You make me regret
how good I've been to you.

Good? I work myself to death
and you pay me peanuts.

I'm doing you a favor.

See? You talk just like those assholes!

Just admit you wrote those things!

Bruno, trust me, I have a small kid.

I really didn't write those things.

You know what you're forcing me to do?

No, and I don't want to know.

I'll tell you anyway,
if they're your friends, warn them.

The next time they come here,

I'll have them beaten up so hard
they'll lose the will to go on.

And get rid of
this f*cking Christmas tree!

It's still Christmas in here...
Christmas is over!

She was furious, especially with Nadia.

She was fond of Pasquale,

he belonged to our world,

he always paid first-hand,
Nadia didn't.

Nadia's not here,
but come in and wait for her.

She'd gotten her in trouble
without risking anything.

This way.

- He can play with my grandson.
- So pretty!

We didn't get one.

Go and play with the little boy.

Please.

As soon as she set foot in the house,
she felt the same unease

as when she had accompanied me
to the party and felt tired.

Tired, as if the air in the house
were poisoned.

It's mine!

- Stop it or we'll go home!
- Leave them, they're just kids.

Mrs. Galiani had acted kind,
interested, understanding.

But Lila was immediately convinced

that all that courtesy
and understanding was false.

Do you want to make Mamma cross
or will you behave?

He never behaves, but he's clever.

He can read and write
all the letters, capitals and lower case.

I try not to speak to him in dialect,
to encourage him.

Teaching Gennaro
to speak proper Italian,

to read and write, to study,
served no purpose.

Mrs. Galiani and Nadia
and all their kind

would have stayed on top...

and she below.

Professor Galiani's grandson would give
orders and Gennaro would obey.

As she thought these terrible things,

she felt her heart break in her chest.

Good morning, there are guests.

Hi, Mamma.

Give Mamma a kiss.

Lila! Thank goodness you're here,
we need to talk.

That's why I'm here,
I don't have much time.

All right, let's go.

Guys, we're going to my room.

Hi.

You've unleashed hell! The boss is
threatening to bring some ugly people.

How scary!

Don't ever show up there again,
you risk causing real trouble.

Of course I'm going to show up.

Wait, listen to me.

What you told us is too important,

we decided
it was our duty to divulge it.

We'll protect you and your comrades.

- What job do you do?
- What do you mean?

- What job do you do?
- Doctor.

- Like your father.
- Yes.

Are you risking your job? Could you
end up on the street with your son?

It's not a contest to see
who risks more, how can I put it?

He was arrested, I have eight charges
against me, it's not about risk.

Then what is it about?

We're all on the front line and ready
to assume our responsibilities.

So if I lose my job
I can come and live here?

Yes, you can!

If you like, yes.

You can't work in those conditions,
you have to fight to change things.

Don't get in the way.

That's how it is, Lila.

Stretch your legs out. Breathe!

- Take her coat off.
- Give her some air.

I'm fine.

Hand me my bag.

Are you sleeping well?

It depends.

On what?

My thoughts.

- I have to go now.
- Wait, Lila.

- Lisa, can you...
- Of course.

Thank you.

Do you ever feel pain in your chest?

Like a weight, but light.

Have you fainted before?

No.

Are you regular?

- With what?
- Menstruation.

No.

- When did you last have it?
- I dunno!

- Don't you keep track?
- Why, should I keep track?

Yes, it'd be better.

Do you use birth control?

The spiral, condoms, the pill?

What pill?

It's a new medicine
for not getting pregnant.

But why are we talking
about these things?

You've pushed your body too far,
you need to slow down.

Meaning?

You're malnourished,
you've neglected yourself.

Your liver is enlarged,
you need to do some tests.

I don't have time for that,
give me some medicine.

No point mincing words with you.
I think I heard a murmur.

A murmur?

A murmur is a heart problem,
we have to see how serious it is.

- You mean I'm dying?
- No.

You need to see a cardiologist,
come to the hospital tomorrow...

Hold on.

On Monday I'm going to work.

Pasquale, take me home.

Gennarino, put that car down.

No, it's a gift.

- You taking me home or not?
- I'm right here.

You're all very generous
in this house, thank you!

What did Armando tell you?

I need to eat more.

See? You neglect your health.

You're not my father,
you're not my brother, you're nothing.

Whaddaya want from me?

- Can't I worry about you?
- No.

And watch what you say and do,
especially with Enzo.

If you tell him I wasn't well,
you've lost me as a friend.

And anyway it was just a dizzy spell.

Lila, listen to me.

Take a couple of days off,
don't go to Soccavo's.

We're trying to get the union involved,
it's better that way.

It's a political opportunity.

The f*ck do I care
about political opportunities?

You got me into trouble
and now I'll do what I want.

Stay home for a couple of days.

Again...

Listen to me.

Come, Gennarino.

Bye, Gennarino.

Bye.

Take care.

Pasquale was trying to warn her.

He knew the grapevine would
generate more unpleasantness

and Bruno would call the fascists.

Go and wash your hands.

You go out and come back
with Pasquale.

Why? What secrets do you have?

Nothing, he bugs me.
Him and the union...

What's wrong?

Pasquale's a friend. But what are you?

Why am I the only one
who never knows anything?

Can I sleep with you?

Sleep how?

You decide.

And do you want to?

As long as you hold me close.

You don't want me.

I want you,

but I don't feel anything.

So why do you want to sleep with me?

I'm scared you'll send me away.

Let's go to bed.

Each in our own room?

No, in mine.

You're trembling?

My feet are freezing.

Can I put them near yours?

Shall I caress you?

Don't bother.

Can I sleep?

Sleep.

- Cerullo!
- Gino.

This is where you ended up?
You acted the lady and look at you now.

- What is it?
- Can you still read?

WORKER!
ENOUGH RED BLACKMAIL!

I do, but when did you fascists
learn to write?

Be careful, I asked your husband
for permission to smash your face in.

And he said yes.

And to smash my face in

you went to ask for
my husband's permission?

It's not even good as toilet paper.

Pick it up right now.

Or else?

- I said pick it up.
- Or else what'll you do?

Pick it up!

- Who's this, Cerullo?
- The neighborhood idiot.

Is this assh*le bothering you?

What the f*ck are you doing?

Piece of sh*t!

Goddamnit!

Let's get outta here.

- I'm gonna k*ll him.
- No, you'll get hurt!

Let's get outta here.

Communist shitbag!

assh*le! Next time I'll k*ll you!

Before you wanted to tear his ear off
now you're helping him?

- He helped me.
- Did you?

I'm gonna smash her face,
not some fascist.

Did you call the Communists?

No, but I know who called
the fascists: Soccavo.

What a piece of sh*t!

- We gotta do something.
- Who'll help us, the union?

First, we gotta realize that
all our problems are connected.

We still need to figure out
what to fight for.

All our illnesses
are linked to our working conditions,

problems with our hands, our lungs...

The factory is pitiful, the hygienic
conditions are disgusting.

There's no need to wait for the union,

we gotta speak with Soccavo.

You go.

- I get pissed off too easy.
- Better.

No, you go, you know how to talk,
you'll put him in his place.

Forget it.

Lila!

What a pleasure! How are you?

And you kept Signora Carracci
hidden among the salamis?

I'll come back later.

Sit down.

Sit down, or you'll get tired.

How are you?

Everything's okay.

We've restructured
the store in Piazza dei Martiri.

There are new shelves,
modern light fittings...

- I'm not interested in your store.
- Our store.

- We invented it together.
- I didn't invent anything with you.

If you'd kept working with me
you'd be a queen.

You know I'm marrying Gigliola?

I'd invite you to the wedding
but I can't embarrass your husband.

He's having a hard time too,
his grocery stores aren't doing so well.

The competition's growing.

Even Marcello sells bread, pasta...

You and your brother had the nerve
to put Stefano under too?

What are you thinking?

We help our friends.
Isn't that right, Mr. Soccavo?

- You know who Marcello got in to help?
- No.

Your brother.

You're making Rino work as a clerk?

What could he do? You disappeared.

He's got the whole family on his
shoulders, Pinuccia's pregnant again.

He asked Marcello for a hand
and he helped him.

Aren't you glad?

No, I'm not glad.
I don't like anything you do.

This girl is determined,
she has the courage of a lion.

She can turn sh*t into gold,
she could reorganize your business.

She has a brain like no other woman,
or even us men.

But she's crazy in the head.

And so one day she didn't show up
for work, she disappeared.

This is because she still hasn't found
a real man to put her in her place.

She can't cook? She learns.
The house is dirty? She cleans.

A real man has
the woman do everything.

Just to give you an example...

I met a woman
who didn't know how to whistle.

We were together for two hours of fire.

And then I said to her: "Go on, whistle."

You won't believe it but she whistled.

If you know
how to educate a woman, fine.

If you don't, forget it,
she'll only hurt you.

But with her it's difficult.

Just look at her: small eyes,
tits you can't even see...

An ass like a little kid, a broomstick.

With someone like her
you can't even get it up.

But it only takes a moment
and you want to f*ck her.

Piece of sh*t!

Bitch.

You think I'm nobody?

You really think you depend
on Mr. Soccavo? You're wrong.

Mr. Soccavo is in my mother's red book.

Michele, you're taking it too far.

Remember, you depend on me,
always and only.

And if I want you,
you come running, is that clear?

I don't know what trouble you're in
to end up in the Solaras' hands.

Maybe you better go to work.

To work?

I could whistle when I was five.

Go away! Go away!

Mamma, Mamma, help!

I beg you...

don't hurt me.

With the appearance of Michele Solara,

her small world made up of Enzo
and Gennaro crumbled away.

The boundaries were dissolving again,

everything was spilling out
without borders.

Lila had a breakdown.

I let her talk
and then here we are,

in this room in San Giovanni a Teduccio.

I felt incredibly guilty, I thought:

this is the life I could have had

and if it didn't happen
it's also thanks to her.

Remember what I told you
about Gennaro.

I'll stay for a while longer.

Watch over me until I fall asleep.

Watch over me always,
even when you leave Naples.

So I'll know you're watching
and I can relax.
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