Huayu: Reborn in 97, transferring to the Central Academy of Drama's star-studded class

As the old saying goes, the New Year should bring a fresh start.

Foreigners had never heard of this, but naturally they wanted to make the first film festival of the new century a spectacular event.

Neighboring Berlin invited its own president and chancellor, and Cannes was not to be outdone. Unable to invite the president, it dragged over its chancellor to bolster the event, and incidentally spared no expense in inviting a bunch of Hollywood stars to show their support, such as Jim Carrey and Leonardo DiCaprio.

On the road to commercialization, Cannes has always been further ahead than its neighbors Venice and Berlin. At least those two cities are still somewhat secretive, while Cannes is practically ready to confront them head-on.

As a result, in the future, any low-level internet celebrity can go and crash the red carpet, and then brag about it all over China.

Of course, film festivals are essentially commercial activities, and Cannes just understood this earlier.

Since it's a commercial event, there will definitely be various brand sponsors. Promotional parties and annual parties like to be held when there are many stars.

Gong Li is the brand ambassador for L'Oréal Paris, one of the sponsors of this year's Cannes Film Festival. It's a pity that Gong Li, who just finished her work in Berlin, has to rush to Cannes again.

The reason why Gong Li is the queen is that even if she doesn't have any works or serve as a judge, the three major film festivals are still very happy to invite her. This time, she is not only a brand ambassador, but the film festival also entrusted her with hosting the official party.

Two days before the opening ceremony, Jiang Wen had already arrived in France.

He didn't intend to bring many people, so he brought his wife and children, along with the lead actors Kagawa and Jiang Hongbo, and the screenwriter Shuping. Somewhat surprisingly, a certain guy also came with him.

"Hey Jiang, why are you getting involved in this mess with me?" Jiang Wen asked, holding his French wife's hand.

"Since no one told me, I'll just pretend I don't know."

Jiang Lai teased Jiang Wen's daughter, the mixed-race little girl with really big eyes, "And Boss Jiang, don't forget that my movie 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' will also be screened in Cannes."

"By the way, where's your sister-in-law?" Jiang Wen suddenly asked.

"She's going with Director Li An and the others; it'll probably be another ten days or so," Jiang said.

Jiang Wen nodded without saying anything more, but he understood perfectly well.

Jiang Lai came so many days early not for the screening of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," but to accompany him into this mess.

He recalled his earlier words, "We'll see about this later," and sighed inwardly.

"Brother!" The little girl ran up to Jiang Lai and called out, tilting her head back.

Jiang Lai bent down. "What's wrong?"

"Brother, hug me!" The little girl hugged Jiang Lai's leg, revealing her two little tiger teeth.

Jiang Wen frowned. "Ichiro, call him uncle."

The little girl pouted, "No! I want to call him 'brother'!"

Jiang Lai smiled and picked up the little girl. "It's alright, it's alright, let's each do our own thing."

Jiang Lai was also quite puzzled. Such a pretty little girl, and Jiang Wen named her Ichiro. It seems that Jiang Wen is also terrible at naming things.

That evening, at a party hosted by Gong Li.

Jiang Lai followed Jiang Wen inside, with his French wife Sandrine carrying Ichiro behind them.

Gong Li was surrounded by a group of people talking when she saw Jiang Wen in the distance and waved to them with a smile.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." She said to the person next to her as she walked over.

Sandrine tactfully took her daughter and walked to the side, giving the group some space to talk.

Gong Li glanced at Jiang Lai, and Jiang Wen, noticing her hesitation, said in a gruff voice, "Little Jiang is one of us, so say whatever you want to say."

Gong Li gave an awkward laugh, and Jiang Lai, seeing this, smiled and tried to ease the tension: "Sister Gong Li, I'm so hurt that you don't treat me like one of your own."

Upon hearing this, Gong Li relaxed and generously replied, "How could that be? I was just afraid you'd think I was being nosy."

He then turned to Jiang Wen and lowered his voice, "I heard that the higher-ups are planning to send people after us, so you'd better be careful."

Jiang Wen grinned and said gruffly, "What's there to be careful about? If the sky falls, there's always someone taller to hold it up."

He patted Jiang Lai on the shoulder, "Besides, with this grandson around, the sky won't fall!"

Jiang Lai glanced at him speechlessly. "Boss, so you're just using me as a shield, aren't you?"

Jiang Wen grinned mischievously, put his arm around Jiang Lai's shoulder, and said, "From now on, you're my boss!"

Jiang Lai curled his lip.

This year's Cannes Film Festival boasts a star-studded lineup of Chinese-language films.

In addition to Jiang Wen's "Devils on the Doorstep" and Wong Ka-wai's "In the Mood for Love," the main competition also includes Edward Yang's "Yi Yi."

In the days leading up to the opening, two other Chinese-language film studios also arrived, and they would visit each other to some extent.

Jiang Lai also saw Zhang Manyu again. The two did not become estranged because of what happened that night, but they did not become closer either. They were just like before.

The opening ceremony was held on August 14th.

As evening approached, the red carpet at the entrance of the Palais des Festivals was already laid out, and both sides were crowded with reporters and photographers.

He changed into a black suit and followed Jiang Wen onto the red carpet.

Kagawa and Jiang Hongbo followed behind, and the group walked forward at a leisurely pace.

Suddenly, someone on the sidelines shouted, "Gianlae! Gianlae!"

Jiang Lai was startled and turned his head to look. A group of foreigners were shouting at him, and they were quite loud.

He asked Jiang Wen, puzzled, "Is he calling me?"

Jiang Wen remained calm. "Think about where this is? Romantic France. You even won Best Actor at their film festival in their capital city. Have you forgotten?"

Jiang Lai thought for a moment, "You mean 'Suzhou River'?"

"Yes." Jiang Wen nodded. "This movie is quite popular here."

Jiang Lai looked horrified. "You've seen this movie too?"

"Hey! How novel!" Jiang Wen rolled his eyes. "I also really like romance movies, okay?"

Jiang Lai's eye twitched; he really couldn't imagine that this rough man liked watching romance movies.

After quickly walking down the red carpet, Jiang Lai hurriedly circled back to the entrance.

He had to go through "In the Mood for Love" again; it was Wong Ka-wai who dragged him along.

Wang Jiawei led the way, wearing his ever-present sunglasses, followed by Tony Leung holding Carina Lau's hand, while Maggie Cheung linked arms with Jiang Lai.

This time, there were still quite a few calls for Jiang Lai, but even more calls were for Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung.

Reporters on the sidelines kept taking pictures.

The next day, Hong Kong's entertainment pages were filled with news about Cannes.

"Mysterious tycoon Jiang Lai makes an appearance at Cannes, hosts Gong Li's party, and celebrities vie to chat with him! — Sing Tao Daily"

"The man behind Andy Lau has now become Maggie Cheung's protector! — Eastweek Magazine"

Exclusive Coverage: Berlin Film Festival Best Actor Headlines Cannes! Maggie Cheung in a form-fitting cheongsam walks arm-in-arm with Carina Lau, while Carina Lau steps aside! — Next Magazine

Driven by Next Magazine, Hong Kong is now particularly keen to report on Jiang Lai, and the accompanying photos are all of him, including pictures of him walking side by side with Jiang Wen, as well as pictures of him alone.

But most of the photos are of him walking hand in hand with Maggie Cheung, and Jiang Lai's popularity in Hong Kong continues to rise.