Chapter 132: The 132nd Melon Film Festival

Xu Qingye helped Shen Que put on his coat and handed him a cup full of hot water. Shen Que didn't take it and stuffed it back to Xu Qingye.

"I'm not cold, you can take it yourself." Shen Que tightened his coat and coordinated work with the brand staff.

The main purpose is to take a look at the approximate finished film and communicate some subsequent areas that require cooperation.

The brand representative was a young white man who admired Shen Que very much. After talking about work, they started talking about personal issues.

"Shen, I think you know that you are a very attractive man. I would like to ask if there is a chance for me to develop further with you."

Chinese people like to be subtle, so he has tried his best to use euphemisms. To him, Chen Que is like a sweet little cake. He has been looking at it from the cupboard for a long time and really wants to take it out and taste it.

"Sorry, if I were single I'd love to try to date you, but alas I already have a lover, and he's over there."

Shen Que pointed at Xu Qingye, and the white man followed his gaze. Xu Qingye was holding a cup to warm his hands. When he saw the two people suddenly looking at him, he quickly stood up and waved to them, looking a little cute.

Looking away, the white man sighed with some regret.

"Your boyfriend is a very cute guy. It seems that we are not suitable for each other, but we can still be friends. I hope you can come to the next fashion week. I will send you an invitation, including your cute boyfriend."

"Thank you, but he's not my little boyfriend. He's older than me."

"Oh, you Chinese people really don't look your age. I thought he was only eighteen. Okay, okay, bring your good brother with you next time. That's how you can address each other."

Chen Que smiled and said, "Well, he's a good brother, so it's okay to call him that."

Xu Qingye was standing a little far away from the two of them and couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could tell that they were having a great time talking. They looked a little strange at first, but after a while they were laughing together. It was rare for him to see Shen Que chatting so happily with someone.

When Shen Que came back from chatting, Xu Qingye glanced at him and said sourly, "It was a very pleasant chat."

"Well, Mr. Janis invited me to the fashion show."

"It's all arranged."

"Well, let me bring my little boyfriend along."

"Boyfriend, who is it? You have a boyfriend?" Xu Qingye was stunned for a moment, and his mind couldn't figure it out for a while. How could Chen Que have a boyfriend?

"Silly boy, he's talking about you. He said you look like you're eighteen."

Shen Que pinched Xu Qingye's face, and it was really tender.

"You are the youngest!" Xu Qingye's face turned red all of a sudden. He quickly pretended to be busy to hide his embarrassment. Shen Que looked at him pretending to be busy and reached out to embrace him.

"Let's go, it's time to go back."

After the filming is completed, the next step is the film festival schedule. The most important part of the film festival is the various film exhibitions, and the only official event to attend is the award ceremony.

Shen Que didn't actually need to go too far in advance, but he had his own plans. He planned to watch all the movies that interested him, which could be considered a form of communication and learning.

There are quite a few domestic films participating in the film festival this time, most of which are from independent filmmakers. Compared with the films shown in theaters and online, they have more story-telling elements.

Xu Qingye checked his Weibo and found that many celebrities had already started to go to the film festival. The film festival has various red carpets to walk on and is also a good place to create topics. Every year, many Internet celebrities come to the film festival to take advantage of the popularity.

Zhao Wen arranged some filming work for Shen Que, and the rest of the time he was free to do as he pleased.

The main point is that since you are here, you should at least take some photos before leaving, so that others won’t compete with each other on the Internet and there will be no photos at all.

During the film festival, all the hotels around were fully booked. Zhao Wen booked a nice one early. After packing up his things, Xu Qingye lay down on the big bed. He had been very tired recently and it had been a long time since he had lay down so comfortably.

"It's so comfortable. I want to lie like this forever. Come and lie down too. This mattress is nice."

Xu Qingye patted the place beside him and asked Shen Que to come over and lie down. Shen Que glanced at him and went over to lie down obediently.

"It's quite comfortable."

Shen Que nodded in agreement, and Xu Qingye looked at him sideways after he lay down.

Shen Que's young face was clean and beautiful, and she didn't look haggard even though she had been wearing makeup and staying up late. Xu Qingye was fascinated by her and subconsciously moved closer. Just as he was about to give her a kiss, the phone in his pocket vibrated at an inopportune time.

Xu Qingye sat up in annoyance, took out his cell phone and took a look. It was Xu Hong calling, so Xu Qingye hung up the phone.

"Why don't you answer?"

"I don't know what to say to her. She just wanted to ask if I'd arrived yet, and if so, to have dinner together."

After Xu Qingye hung up the phone, Xu Hong sent a message. Just as Xu Qingye had guessed, it was first to show concern and then to ask her out for dinner.

"Look."

"Are you going then?"

"I don't want to go, but I can go. After all, you gave birth to me. Why don't you go with me?"

Xu Hong had asked Xu Qingye out many times, but Xu Qingye always refused. She didn't seem to be affected at all and would ask him whenever she had time.

"Yes, if you need me to accompany you, I will accompany you at any time and in any situation."

Shen Que shook Xu Qingye's hand with a very serious expression.

"Hahahaha, don't be like that. We're just having a simple meal. Never mind. Let's talk about it after we're done. She's definitely going to stay here for a while anyway."

Although Xu Hong is his mother, the relationship between the two is here. Shen Que doesn't need to have any particularly big psychological burden when seeing her. He can just treat her as an ordinary senior in the entertainment industry.

Shen Que was going to shoot, so Xu Qingye wandered around the film festival alone. The film festival lasted for a month, and different movies were broadcast and shown every day. Xu Qingye looked at the list and chose a movie that interested him and started watching it.

After spending a whole day at the film festival and watching three or four movies, Xu Qingye felt a little dizzy. He walked out of the cinema and into an exhibition hall.

The exhibition hall is full of introductions to various movies.

There was no one in the exhibition hall at the moment. Xu Qingye casually looked at the introductions on the wall and stopped in front of the profile of a director.

Xu Qingye was reading the introduction when he saw a person appear beside him. He glanced sideways and saw that he was a middle-aged man with an elegant appearance.

Seeing Xu Qingye looking at him, the man gave Xu Qingye a kind smile.

"Do you like Su Zhijie's works?"

Su Zhijie is the director whose introduction Xu Qingye is seeing.

"I quite liked his works before 'Snow Burning', but I'm not so fond of his works after 'Snow Burning' because they're too commercial. Most importantly, I don't quite appreciate director Su Zhijie's personality."

Xu Qingye answered casually, and seeing that the other party seemed to want to hear more, he continued speaking.

"If you choose an art film, you have to accept the loneliness of being too highbrow for the masses. You can't blame the audience for not appreciating your elegance just because the box office is too poor. His works after "Snow Burning" have clearly been compromising with the market, but he himself doesn't admit this. He wants the reputation of an art film and the box office of a commercial film. He has to have both, which is a bit embarrassing. The subject matter of this film is also full of flattery. He knows that foreign judges like to see the suffering of the Chinese people, so when making the film, he blindly exaggerates the suffering, resulting in the film's rhythm and story being very wrong. It can only be said that it is getting worse and worse."

Xu Qingye expressed his opinion, and the middle-aged man nodded.

"What you said makes sense. His works after 'Snow Burning' have indeed been a bit lacking in quality. 'Snow Burning' has become a dividing point in his directorial career."

The leading actress of "Snow Burning" is Xu Hong. Xu Hong won the Best Actress award for the second time with "Snow Burning". Her relationship with Su Zhijie also became the hottest story that year. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. The two parted ways in just one year.

Without mentioning personal matters, "Snow Burning" is really a very good work. It's a pity that neither the director nor the leading actor has been able to come up with a better work to surpass it.

"People always say that we should never forget our original aspirations, but this is actually the most difficult thing to do. If Su Zhijie had maintained his original style, he would definitely have produced more exciting works. Unfortunately, he was too anxious to make money."

Xu Qingye sighed. Sometimes a person cannot have both talent and wealth at the same time.

"I'm quite pleasant to talk to. My name is Dai Qingyue. I wonder if I can tell you my name?"

Dai Qingyue looked at Xu Qingye and always felt that he was somewhat familiar, especially those beautiful eyes that made him subconsciously think of an old friend.

"My name is Xu Qingye. What a coincidence that we both have the character 'Qing' in our names. Uncle Dai, are you also a filmmaker?"

Xu Qingye had a good impression of Dai Qingyue. Since the other party introduced himself, he naturally did not hide anything. However, Xu Qingye couldn't help but feel curious.

There are two types of people who come to the film festival. One is filmmakers who work in related fields, and the other is movie lovers. Of course, movie lovers also include fans of various artists, etc.

Dai Qingyue has a good temperament and handsome appearance. He looks like a person with a lot of cultured background. Xu Qingye has never heard of his name, but for some reason, he always feels that he is not a simple movie lover.

"When I was young, I directed two films. Later, I became interested in documentaries, so I started making them again. I also worked as a landscape photographer for a while. I have a lot of interests and hobbies, and I do whatever I want, so I've done a lot of work."

Xu Qingye frowned as he listened to Dai Qingyue's words.

"Uncle Dai, it seems like your jobs don't make much money."

The profession Dai Qingyue was talking about was very extreme. The top people made huge amounts of money, while the bottom people were considered pretty good just to be able to make ends meet.

"Hahahaha, that's true. Luckily, my family is well-off enough to support myself, so I just treat work as a hobby."

Dai Qingyue laughed out loud. Thinking about it, it was indeed true. The movies he made won some awards, but he didn't make back the money he invested. He made some money from the documentary, but it took a lot of time. After careful calculation, he lost money again. As for landscape photographers, it was even more of a hobby. He spent a huge amount of money to buy equipment, and had to pay for air tickets and hotels when he went out. He worked hard to take pictures, but a photo might only sell for a few thousand yuan, which was not enough to make back his investment at all.

I didn’t think about it carefully before, but now when I think back on it, it seems like he has always been at a disadvantage in his life.

"I'm leaving now. We'll talk again next time we have a chance."

Xu Qingye's hand vibrated. It was a message sent to him by Shen Que after he finished his work. Xu Qingye greeted Dai Qingyue and walked out briskly.

Dai Qingyue looked at Xu Qingye's back as he left, then retracted his gaze to the poster of "Snow Burning" on the wall.

In the poster, Xu Hong was lying in the snow with delicate makeup. Her face was indifferent, yet breathtakingly beautiful. Dai Qingyue stared at the photo for a long time before slowly walking to the other side.