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

Chapter 40 The Shock After the Opening Ceremony
"Why do I feel so awkward wearing this suit?" Han Sanping felt uncomfortable all over after putting on the suit.

“Me too!” Siqin Gaowa, wearing a white turtleneck dress, recalled the catchphrase that Chen Fusheng had taught Zhang Fei in the car yesterday and felt it was appropriate to use here, so she used it.

"Don't be so tense, relax a bit, otherwise you might embarrass yourself on the red carpet, especially Comrade Siqin Gaowa, your dress is quite long, if you're too nervous you might accidentally step on it." Chen Fusheng had some experience with walking the red carpet.

"What should I do? I'm already very nervous now. I'm afraid I'll be even more nervous when there are so many people watching on the red carpet." Siqin Gaowa was a little flustered.

"My experience is that if you're nervous before going on stage, take a few deep breaths."

Han Sanping chimed in, "Deep breathing is indeed helpful."

Chen Fusheng was also worried that Siqin Gaowa might fall on the red carpet, so he came up with another idea:
"How about this, you can link arms with me or Lao Han when you walk later."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Han Sanping said, "Let's stick with Fusheng. He doesn't seem nervous at all. Is that what you call a big heart?"

"You can hold my arm."

"Okay, thank you."

The opening ceremony red carpet also follows a specific order, based on the order of the nominated film crews.

Chen Fusheng's "Cow" crew received number 12. When the crew ahead of them walked onto the red carpet, the staff immediately led them to the front of the red carpet to prepare.

"The crew of 'Cow,' you can leave now."

The three of them didn't have to wait long; they had only taken a few deep breaths when the staff member leading them reminded them.

"Old Han, slow down and wait for us. We're in a hurry to be reincarnated."

"There are so many reporters, the camera lights are so bright I can't even open my eyes."

"Just get through it, it'll be over soon, remember to keep smiling."

With Chen Fusheng's reminder, although the three of them received a lot of curious glances because of their Asian faces, they were quite decent compared to the other contestants on the red carpet and did not make any fools of themselves.

After the red carpet ceremony, representatives from the organizing committee and members of the jury came out to introduce the Venice International Film Festival's illustrious history and emphasize the festival's principles of fairness, impartiality, and transparency.

In the afternoon, we watched a movie. The opening film was called "Walking with Grace," a comedy produced by Warner Bros. It tells the absurd story of three septuagenarians who, due to the lack of social security for the elderly in the United States, planned to rob a Manhattan bank, but ended up only getting $30,000.

Chen Fusheng was also watching this movie for the first time, and he thought it was pretty good. There were a lot of funny moments, which reminded him of the movie "The Nameless" from his previous life, which also used absurd plots to depict the joys and sorrows of ordinary people.

Strictly speaking, his current film "Cow" is also of this type, except that "Cow" doesn't have as many commercial elements.

That evening, while Chen Fusheng and the others were having dinner, Zhang Fei brought news that shocked everyone.

"Hey my friends, do you remember the movie we watched this afternoon?"

"Are you talking about the story of the three old men robbing a bank?"

"That's right, it's that damn movie, Chen, you've hit the nail on the head."

"Zhang Fei, what happened to this movie? And why couldn't we find you this afternoon?" "Sorry, I just went to the secondary market to inquire about the copyright transactions for this movie. Chen, guess how much the copyright for this damn movie sold? You'd never guess."

"How much?" Wang Tao, the representative of China Film Group, was also very curious after hearing their conversation and couldn't help but ask.

"Take a guess first," Zhang Fei said, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense.

Chen Fusheng didn't like playing these guessing games, but Wang Tao boldly estimated a figure: "One million US dollars?"

“My God, King, you’re too cowardly. It’s not $100 million, it’s $1000 million, and you’re only selling the rights outside of North America… Shit, these guys make money so easily. If I had that much money in my life, I would retire immediately.”

When they heard that "Walking Elegance" had sold for $1000 million, everyone at the table was stunned and no one heard Zhang Fei's subsequent ramblings.

Yes, even Chen Fusheng was shocked by this number, but after calming down a bit, he felt it was only natural.

Even if the film itself isn't worth $1000 million, it doesn't seem so surprising once it's labeled as a production from a major Hollywood studio.

After all, Hollywood movies now hold a terrifyingly dominant position in most English-speaking countries around the world.

After a while, Deputy Director Shi also came to his senses and said with a mixture of envy and emotion, "1000 million US dollars! Our country's total foreign exchange reserves last year were only 8400 million US dollars. Sigh, if only our movies could also sell for high prices."

China Film Group is responsible for film import and export, so Wang Tao knows all too well the price of Chinese films on the international stage. It's practically the price of cabbage, no, even less than cabbage. People would still be picky even if it was sold or given away for free. So when he heard Deputy Director Shi's lament, he shrank back like an ostrich and remained silent.

Han Sanping clenched his fist, as if a seed had been planted in his heart.

Siqin Gaowa and the rest of their team had just recovered from their shock when they suddenly realized that the food didn't taste so good anymore.

A brief silence fell over the air.

At this moment, Chen Fusheng suddenly spoke up: "How about we apply to the organizing committee to hold a screening of 'Cow'?"

"Fusheng, do you mean we should do what 'Walking Demeanor' did and sell the copyright?" Han Sanping's breathing became rapid just thinking about it.

Everyone else, including Deputy Director Shi, had varying degrees of interest in their eyes, but Wang Tao alone said, "Isn't this against the rules?"

"How is it against the rules? Aren't you from China Film Group? Otherwise, why would we send you out?" Chen Fusheng retorted again.

Wang Tao wanted to argue with him, but then Deputy Director Shi spoke up.

"Comrade Fusheng, do you think we can sell the film rights?"

"It will definitely sell, but how much it will fetch is hard to say."

Chen Fusheng continued, "That's why I suggested that we also hold a screening and invite more film distributors to watch the movies. After they watch the movies, if any of them are interested, they should give us a quote, and then we can decide based on the situation."

Seeing that Chen Fusheng's words made sense, Deputy Director Shi decisively waved his hand and said, "Then let's do it your way."

(End of this chapter)