Huayu: Enjoy Yourself

Chapter 8 Venice on the Water

Upon receiving the message, Chen An hurriedly packed his things.

After receiving the money, he left the film crew overnight.

I took a car to the nearby train station and boarded the train to Beijing overnight.

These days, even if you're half asleep on a train, you don't dare to sleep. When we arrived at the Beijing Film Studio, my eyelids were trembling.

After finding staff at the Beijing Film Studio and confirming the departure time, Chen An spent a large sum of money.

I found a hotel and slept there.

I woke up the next day and managed to contact Boss Lin by phone at the hotel:

"Boss Lin, we won't be leaving for a few days, so I need to expedite the passport application."

"I flew here yesterday. I have my passport. Just let me know when you're coming."

"Okay, I'll contact you then."

After hanging up the phone, Chen An contacted someone from the Beijing Film Studio to help him expedite the passport application process.

A few days later, Chen An, the people from Beijing Film Academy, and the people that Boss Lin brought with him boarded the plane.

We've gone to Venice, the city of water!

Venice International Film Festival.

It is located on Lido Island in Venice, Italy.

It is also the world's oldest film festival, known as the "father of international film festivals," founded in 1932.

Every year at the end of August, taking advantage of the spring breeze of the film festival.

This place will also attract countless tourists from the film festival and film distributors.

It brings huge profits to the local tourism industry.

Of course, there are also countless young ladies dressed in light and refreshing clothes, standing on the street to warmly welcome every tourist.

Although most of them also came from other places.

For example, the foreign woman in front of Chen An made him itchy to go up and try her out himself if he had the money.

"Hey, Brother Zhao, have a smoke."

While watching, he offered Zhao Xiong a cigarette.

The two squatted by the roadside, watching the young women on the street, smoking and chatting.

After his short film was shortlisted, Mr. Lin was finally able to relax completely.

On his first trip abroad, Chen An wanted to see the sights, but worried about safety, so he borrowed a bodyguard from Boss Lin.

Chen An was quite familiar with Zhao Xiong, so he pulled him out.

"That's nothing. Let me tell you, last time I went to France with my boss, people there wore even less clothing."

Zhao Xiong was there during the last filming, and the two became quite familiar with each other.

"That's right. I've heard from others that the people there don't wear clothes most of the time. There's also a film festival there. I really hope I can go there sometime."

"Brother Chen, you're just a college student, and you make great movies. You'll have a chance to go sometime."

"Okay, I'll ask Brother Zhao to do a cameo role then, and we can go together."

To be honest, Chen An and Zhao Xiong got along quite well; both were strong men from the Northwest.

They are down-to-earth when they chat, and they readily offer help when needed at the theater.

Chen Andu wanted to poach him when he had money in the future.

The film festival hasn't opened yet, so Chen An and Zhao Xiong can still wander around.

Chen An also carefully observed the city. The sun was shining brightly, and there were many waterways in the city with boats swimming by.

Chen An, who was going abroad for the first time in both his lives, watched with great interest and even dragged Zhao Xiong along on a boat trip.

I wandered around aimlessly until night before returning to the hotel.

"Brother Zhao, don't mess around. I've already asked around. That foreign horse costs a thousand dollars, which would be six or seven thousand in our country. It's not worth it."

As Chen An walked into the hotel, he pulled Zhao Xiong, who was hot-blooded, along with trying to persuade him.

"Well, it's a rare opportunity to come abroad, and I haven't seen anything like this before, so I couldn't resist."

"Your impulsiveness, driven by bloodlust, is unacceptable. We're not big bosses; we need to consider value for money. We can't just rush into anything that looks good; it has to be appropriate."

The two, who were chatting, walked into the hotel and happened to run into Boss Lin leading his men out.

"Xiao Chen, it's already evening, and I'm just about to go find you. Tonight, I'd like to treat you and these staff members from the Beijing Film Studio to dinner."

"Thank you very much, Boss Lin. I haven't had dinner yet. Please lead the way, I'll follow you."

"Alright, let's all come together."

With a hearty wave of his hand, Boss Lin led his group of people outside.

The final location was a restaurant near the sea. Everyone sat at several tables, and Chen An naturally sat with Boss Lin.

"Brother Chen, I'd like to thank you for today."

"I heard from the staff that if the short film wins an award, it can sell some US dollars, which would be enough to break even."

After saying that, Boss Lin picked up his wine glass, clinked it with Chen An's, and took a sip.

"No way, this short film was made because Boss Lin trusted me. You deserve much more credit than I do."

Chen An continued with polite words, after all, he still needed to persuade him to continue investing in him.

"Don't call me Boss Lin anymore. My name is Lin Dajiang. Although I'm quite a bit older than you, just call me Brother Jiang."

After saying that, he handed Chen An a cigarette.

Chen An also took it and lit it; he couldn't usually afford to smoke such high-end cigarettes.

"Brother Jiang, if we win this time, how about we talk about something?"

"What is it?"

Lin Dajiang was also a little curious when he heard Chen An's question.

"Look, even though you filmed the movie, your costumes still haven't been promoted."

"I also have a feature film here. If it wins an award this time, I estimate it could bring in two or three hundred thousand US dollars. You should be able to recoup a significant portion of your investment this time."

"I just don't know if you trust me. Let's work together again. I believe you know me very well."

After saying that, Chen An didn't ask any more questions.

Lin Dajiang didn't answer immediately, smoking and thinking about what Chen An had said.

Chen An could understand; this was just the beginning, the film festival had only just started.

It's normal for Lin Dajiang to have doubts after just being scammed once.

"I don't want to think about it anymore, Brother Jiang, let's eat first, we'll talk about it later."

Chen An quickly offered a way out, voluntarily avoiding the topic.

"Okay, I'll think about it and give you an answer later."

"It's okay, let's eat first, I'm starving."

After saying that, Chen An started eating seafood in big mouthfuls.

Lin Dajiang didn't have much of an appetite. He sat at the dining table, lit a cigarette, and watched the surging tide beside him under the cover of night, seemingly lost in thought.

the next day.

The opening ceremony began.

The opening film was a movie from the United States.

Chen An had never seen the film "Red Tide," directed by Tony Scott and starring Denzel Washington, in his previous life.

This time, I decided to give it a try. It's a story about two great powers, which isn't exactly Chen An's type.

However, Chen An did see Denzel Washington inside, so he felt it wasn't a complete loss.

When the film ended, a group of people applauded, and then a reporter interviewed Chen An. Chen An didn't watch and just left, since he wasn't interested anyway.

His short film hadn't been released yet, and it would be a few more days, so Chen An wandered around looking at things he hadn't seen in his previous life.

It was only after attending the film festival that Chen An realized that "Lust, Caution" was just a small film, and that some movies made him feel hot in his lower body.

Finally, it was my turn to present my short film.

Not many people came to the theater, since it was just a short film. A few film critics and reporters came, but there were very few tourists.

Chen An didn't wait any longer. After a while, when no one came, the film started playing.

The film begins with the title of the movie, followed by director Chen An's introduction, and the short film officially begins.

From her awakening at the beginning, to writing down the only name she could leave for her child before turning into a zombie, to her eventual burial.

The film slowly came to an end.

Just when Chen An thought he could disperse, the staff found him and said he still needed to be interviewed.

Chen An also walked to the front of the stage and said in Chinese, "I'm sorry, this is my first time attending a film festival, and I was about to leave."

The staff member's translation drew laughter from the audience.

After the silence subsided, a reporter asked, "Do your films about the living dead have an audience in your country? What message are you trying to convey through the living dead?"

"I'm not too sure about that, it's just that I personally like this subject matter," Chen Anke said, not daring to take the bait.

Later, a reporter who had seen the film asked, "The film has no dialogue, only background music. Is this a way of expressing fatherly love?"

"You can tell, in my understanding, a father's love is like a heavy mountain, not easily revealed."

Chen An patiently answered his questions.

After a barrage of questions, the audience and reporters left one after another. Although the film would continue to be shown, Chen An also left.

Let's go check out some other movies that are showing.

What he didn't know was that a journalist who saw the film went back and wrote a film review titled "A Different Yet Same Father."

A young director from China has brought us a short film that focuses on the lives of ordinary people in rural areas, unlike anything he's done before. He's created a unique film about the living dead, dispelling all fear and leaving only paternal love.

I've signed a contract, brothers, please give me your votes, I'll do anything for you.

(End of this chapter)