1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 39 To Venice
This year marks the 37th Venice International Film Festival, held on the island of Lido in Venice, Italy.

The last one was eight years ago, but to talk about the last award, we have to go back three years.

Because of the unstable political environment in Italy from 1969 to 1979, the film festival was forced to abolish the award system during this decade and switch to a screening model. The award system was not officially restored until the 37th edition this year.

However, there is no doubt that the Venice International Film Festival's reputation, popularity, and buzz have declined significantly over the past decade due to its non-competitive format.

It's no exaggeration to say that their vitality has been severely damaged.

As a result, the number of films submitted for competition this year is less than half that of the other two film festivals that were once on par with it.

It was against this backdrop that a film from a mysterious Eastern country was given the green light when it entered the competition.

Otherwise, if it were the Cannes Film Festival or the Berlin International Film Festival, which have no shortage of films, they might not allow a film that missed the submission deadline to participate in order to ensure the fairness of the selection process.

So, is Lao Han really a chosen one?

……

"It looks like we're almost there."

Chen Fusheng had been to the Venice Film Festival in his previous life, and more than once. Now, he came thirty or forty years earlier than expected, but he was surprised to find that almost nothing had changed.

No wonder a term called "Old Europe" appeared on the internet in later generations; it turns out that "old" refers to architecture.

"How did you know?" Han Sanping asked from the side.

"There was a road sign just now," Chen Fusheng made up an excuse, since he couldn't just say he had been there before.

Sure enough, the car sent by the organizing committee to pick them up from the airport soon stopped in front of a hotel.

"Hey, my Chinese friends, we've arrived at the hotel. Please take your luggage and get off with me. I'm going to take you to check in now."

The person who spoke was a staff member sent by the organizing committee to pick them up at the airport. He was a slightly chubby black man whose original name was Oliver Caster Avrolida. Because it was too long and hard to remember, Chen Fusheng gave him a Chinese name based on his appearance in the car: Zhang Fei.

The foreigner had heard that Zhang Fei was a fierce general in ancient China and quite liked the name.

He even pestered Chen Fusheng to teach him several Chinese phrases along the way, such as "hello," "thank you," and Zhang Fei's catchphrase, "Me too."

As for why the organizing committee sent a staff member who did not understand Chinese to receive them, the reason is simple: the organizing committee could not find anyone who could speak Chinese.

"Chen, my teacher, let me help you with your luggage."

Chen Fusheng had originally intended to be polite to the foreigner, but the man simply took it from him. This familiar style of doing things almost made Chen Fusheng momentarily dazed. After he came to his senses, he stopped pretending to be polite to the foreigner.

But I added a thank you.

Of course, he couldn't go empty-handed, so he also helped the only woman in the team, Siqin Gaowa, share some of the burden.

Han Sanping whispered sourly, "Fusheng, you've only just arrived in Venice and you've already gained a lackey."

"This is the importance of mastering another foreign language."

After Chen Fusheng finished speaking, he received approval from Deputy Director Shi.

However, just as Zhang Fei led them into the hotel and prepared to check in at the front desk, two groups of reporters in the lobby, who were probably waiting there, saw a group of Asians appear, their eyes lit up, and the next second they walked towards them carrying their long lenses and cameras.

"Good afternoon, I'm a reporter from the local CNC. Are you here for the film festival?"

Faced with this unexpected interview, Chen Fusheng glanced at Deputy Director Shi, who nodded at him, before stepping forward to answer.

"Yes."

"Wow, you're the first group of Asians we've met here in the past few days. Are you Japanese?"

When the reporter immediately mistook them for Japanese, Chen Fusheng was a little annoyed, but he had to admit that the influence of ordinary people in that era was indeed much greater than that of China today.

Because Japan is now the world's second largest economy.

It hasn't been harvested by its American father yet.

Some of the wealthy, well-off individuals even became so arrogant that they considered buying up America. "We are Chinese!" Chen Fusheng corrected them.

"Oh my god, you guys are Chinese?!"

After Chen Fusheng introduced himself, the reporter showed a shocked expression, and it didn't seem like he was faking it.

It seems that China, which has just opened up to the world, is still quite mysterious in the eyes of these foreigners.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else. In our opinion, all Asians look pretty much the same. I hope you understand."

Seeing that the reporter's attitude in admitting his mistake was quite good, and that it was just an unintentional act, Chen Fusheng's little temper came and went quickly.

However, in the following interview, he simply introduced the crew members and the name of the movie.

Then, citing fatigue from the journey and feeling unwell, he declined to answer any further questions the reporter wanted to ask.

However, Chen Fusheng's reason was not really an excuse. They hadn't eaten or slept well on the plane, and some of them were even a little airsick. Now they really just wanted to get some rest.

They arrived right on time, as the film festival opening ceremony was the next day.

Chen Fusheng thought that he might walk the red carpet tomorrow.

But when I looked down at the Zhongshan suit I was wearing and imagined walking the red carpet in it tomorrow, I felt a little out of place.

He glanced at Han Sanping's white shirt and blue flared pants, and once again imagined him walking the red carpet, which made him chuckle.

"No, why are you staring at me and laughing?" Han Sanping asked, somewhat puzzled.

Since everyone was eating in the hotel cafeteria, Han Sanping's words immediately drew everyone's attention.

Chen Fusheng wanted to get a suit, even if it was just rented, but he didn't have any money in his pocket, so he had to apply to the organization.

So, taking advantage of the looks he received from everyone, he brought up the issue of whether they should dress uniformly if they were to walk the red carpet at tomorrow's opening ceremony.

The representative from China Film Group was named Wang Tao. After listening to Chen Fusheng's words, he immediately retorted: "We are here to participate in the competition, not to compete. I think that as long as everyone dresses properly tomorrow, there is no need to do anything unnecessary."

Chen Fusheng ignored the China Film representative, who had been somewhat at odds with him on the way there. He looked directly at the core of their team, Deputy Director Shi.

The latter hesitated for a moment, then asked Chen Fusheng, "Are there any dress requirements for walking the red carpet?"

Chen Fusheng did not answer the question himself, but instead passed it on to Zhang Fei.

Then he translated Zhang Fei's answer again, mainly for people like Han Sanping who didn't understand English. On the other hand, Deputy Director Shi and Wang Tao, the representative of China Film Group, could understand it themselves.

"Zhang Fei said that it's best to dress formally for the red carpet. Men usually choose suits or tuxedos, while for women, dresses are the best choice."

As an official, Deputy Director Shi naturally wouldn't be on the red carpet tomorrow. He then looked at the three people who would be walking the red carpet tomorrow and asked, "What do you all think?"

Han Sanping and Siqin Gaowa were undecided, but since Chen Fusheng had raised the issue, they both looked at him at the same time.

This time, Chen Fusheng did not back down and shared his views with Deputy Director Shi: "I think we should adopt Zhang Fei's suggestion. After all, when we walk the red carpet, there will be many reporters from various countries present. And this time, we represent not only ourselves, nor just the movie, but also the countries behind us. So, I do not agree with what Comrade Wang Tao just said about my idea being a competition."

Imagine if everyone else was dressed formally on the red carpet tomorrow, and we were the only ones dressed casually. Would we face criticism or ridicule? Honestly, the three of us could ignore what others thought, but wouldn't that damage the image of our country?

"It's not as serious as you say..." Wang Tao retorted again, but his confidence was not very strong.

Deputy Director Shi then spoke up: "You've given me a real challenge."

Seeing that Deputy Director Shi had relented, Chen Fusheng quickly shared his solution as well.

"Director Shi, this matter is actually not difficult to solve. We can just rent a few sets of clothes."

"Rent clothes?" This was the first time anyone had ever heard of clothes being rented, which shattered their previous common sense, so they all looked at Chen Fusheng with suspicion.

Chen Fusheng didn't explain directly. Instead, he looked at Zhang Fei, who was sitting to the side and couldn't understand what they were saying anyway, so he decided to just focus on eating and passed the question on to him.

"You want to rent clothes?" Zhang Fei looked up and said, "That's easy, leave it to me."

(End of this chapter)