Chapter 18
A total of seven people from the "Painter" crew flew to Lake City, including the producer, director, screenwriter and four leading actors.
Because Xingchen had added funding, the producers had booked first-class flights for everyone. Ye He and his team, being incredibly wealthy, also booked first-class flights for everyone on the team. This group of sixteen people gave the impression of being quite a grand group.
The film festival lasted two weeks, and the busy people were mainly the producers and directors, plus Fang Chen, who was the nominal producer. They needed to attend as many events as possible, attract media, build momentum for the film, win the favor of the judges, and strive to sell the film in as many places as possible.
The only events Ye Yuze and He Tong need to attend are the opening ceremony and the premiere. If they win an award, they'll also attend the awards ceremony. Other activities are more optional. This isn't a Chinese-language film region, after all, and He Tong currently has no plans to expand into the international film industry.
As for screenwriter Yu Guang and the other two special guest stars, they basically just came here to have fun and will return home after the premiere.
There is already a breath of spring in Lake City in February, but it is still cold in the mornings and evenings.
The red carpet for the opening ceremony was held in the evening. As the sun set, a cool breeze began to blow.
Fang Chen opened the door of the rented stretch car, looked forward, and then retreated back into the car.
"We're almost there. Come on, have some ginger sugar water. The red carpet is only thirty meters long. Drink it to warm yourself up and get through it."
Xiao Zheng and Ling Ling quickly distributed thermoses to the six people walking the red carpet. Except for the producers, who entered directly, everyone else in the crew had to walk the red carpet.
Yu Guang said helplessly as he drank, "It used to be that only women were beautiful and freezing, but now even men are following this path."
Yu Zheng patted his belly and said, "If you didn't have such a big belly, you could have worn something thicker like me and been less cold."
Yu Guang: "Why did you sign up for a film festival that requires the entire crew to walk the red carpet together? If you sign up for something else, we can just go in directly. Things like walking the red carpet should be left to the young people."
Yu Zheng: "It's a rare experience in life. Besides, I'm still young, and I'm still considered a young director."
While the two brothers of the Yu family were bickering, He Tong took out his cell phone and asked Xiao Zheng to take a picture and post it on Weibo.
@贺同V: The clothes are too fitted to wear a heat pack. Everyone's going to be relying on my ginger syrup to stay alive on the red carpet. Another great achievement.jpg His Weibo post was immediately shared with the livestream commentary, drawing a stream of "hahahahaha."
[My buddy really loves his ginger syrup. [Spreading hands.jpg]
[After all, cooking is my only skill, so please be tolerant of my child.]
Some haters mocked He Tong for repeating the same meme over and over again. However, since Tong Ze's fans had recently been taken over by his studio and were not fond of arguments, they all chose to ignore the comments, focusing on their own discussions and brushing them off.
Is Lake City really that cold? I see almost all the actresses are wearing off-the-shoulder evening gowns. It's well known that fairies aren't afraid of the cold.
[We’re here! I saw them getting off the bus!]
There was a network delay, so when domestic audiences saw people getting off the car, they had actually already stepped onto the red carpet.
The four actors surrounded the director and screenwriter in the middle, Ye Yuze was next to Yu Zheng, and He Tong followed him half a step behind.
A group of people walked slowly down the red carpet, pausing for a few seconds midway to take photos with the media on either side. Because "The Painter" had been shortlisted, a significant number of reporters from China had flocked to the event to grab the news.
[Wait, are Tongzi and Zezi wearing matching outfits? They look so perfect together!] [(Whispering) I was about to say this, but I was afraid I'd be looking at someone gay...] [Handsome people really look good in anything. Of course, they look even better without anything.]
Their outfits are so chic. What brand are they? I want to buy one for my boyfriend too. [Fashion enthusiasts, raise your hands! I haven't seen this before. It must be a new model that's not on sale yet.]
[Ah! It's over! I didn't even take a few screenshots. They were walking too fast.] [Normal speed. I guess the people upstairs have watched too many people strolling the red carpet.] [It's cold, hurry up and get warm. 2333]
[Hoping to win an award, hoping to win an award, hoping to win an award! Then I can watch the red carpet again!] After the "Painter" crew walked the red carpet, the comments began to gradually decrease, and those who stayed to continue watching the backstage ceremony broadcast were basically movie lovers.
Tongze fans also moved back to the group from the live broadcast barrage to share screenshots and continue chatting.
[Honestly, I still feel like I'm dreaming. I'm a face-chaser, but my fans actually went to the film festival.] [Haha, I understand, I understand! I've always been a face-chaser for the March Party, but now I'm almost a career-chaser.] [I wonder when that movie will be released in China. I really want to see it, the trailer is so beautiful!] [It should be soon. Whether it's a runner-up or wins an award, I'll definitely seize this wave of popularity. As usual, we can see it by the end of March at the latest.] [I really want to fly to Lake City to see it, but I don't have the money. [Crying]]
【I can only focus on the film reviews first. 】
[Girls! My sister got me tickets to the premiere!] [What? You're in Lake City?]
[Yeah, yeah! There were so few tickets for the premiere that I was planning on buying tickets for the later shows. But then! My sister just said she got me one! Ah, I love my sister!! Everyone, wait for my reply!!] [I want a sister like that, too.]
[Sister upstairs, do I look like your little sister? [Dog head]] At the same time, He Tong was also talking to Ye Yuze about the premiere.
The opening ceremony has not yet begun, and everyone is chatting freely while sitting or standing.
He Tong whispered to Ye Yuze who was sitting next to him, "Our premiere is scheduled for the fourth day, and we don't have anything to do during that free time. Why don't we go visit Reis first?"
Ye Yuze replied nonchalantly, "Have you contacted him?"
"I've contacted him, and he said he's always available. Come to think of it, he speaks pretty good Chinese."
"There are two movies tomorrow that I'm interested in. Let's go the day after tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll go to the movies with you tomorrow~"
◇◆◇
Reese Lauer lived in a remote suburb of Lake City. When the car arrived, He Tong was surprised to find that it was a manor.
The car drove through the gate and continued along the main road for over a minute before arriving in front of the main building of the manor. A man who looked like a butler came out to greet He Tong and Ye Yuze. He politely invited the bodyguards to stay in the hall for refreshments and summoned a Chinese-speaking person to entertain them.
Ye Yuze nodded to the bodyguards, then took He Tong and followed the butler inside.
He Tong leaned close to Ye Yuze and whispered, "It's really uncomfortable not being able to understand what you're saying. That's why I hate going abroad."
Ye Yuze chuckled: "If you want to learn, I can teach you."
"I don't want to learn." He Tong took the opportunity to pull Ye Yuze's hand, "I'll just stay with you."
As he spoke, the butler led the two of them to the door of a room, pushed it open and walked in, making a gesture of invitation.
The two walked into the room and found it was a spacious sunroom. A man with long blond hair was sitting on a lounge chair near the floor-to-ceiling window, enjoying the sun. He was handsome, tall, and well-maintained, and he didn't look like he was nearly fifty.
Seeing someone come in, the man turned over and sat up, pointing to the two rattan chairs in front of him, and greeted them enthusiastically in fluent Chinese: "You must be Xiao Ye and Xiao He, right? I'm Reiss, and I've been waiting for you. Welcome, come and sit down."
The two walked over, and He Tong first held the chair for Ye Yuze to sit down, and then he sat down himself.
He was about to speak when Reese suddenly raised his hand.
"Wait, don't talk yet."
"?"
Reiss rubbed his chin with his hand while looking back and forth at the two of them. After a moment, he suddenly picked up a sketchbook from beside him, picked up a pen and quickly drew some messy lines on it.
He Tong and Ye Yuze looked at each other, but they didn't want to disturb the host, so they had to sit quietly.
Reese seemed to be lost in his own world, and he didn't even look up when the butler brought him tea.
A tall, middle-aged man in a well-tailored suit followed the butler in. He said helplessly to Reis, "Dear, didn't you say you were going to entertain guests today? Now you're just leaving them hanging?"
He Tong and Ye Yuze stood up and greeted the newcomer. He Tong was secretly surprised. He remembered this face; he was a world-famous jewelry tycoon.
The man waved his hand casually, sat down next to Reese, and said gently in his equally fluent Chinese, "Please sit down. You're welcome. Reese must have suddenly had an inspiration. He often does this. When inspiration strikes, he forgets everything else."
At this moment, Reiss finally woke up from his own world, threw down his sketchbook, and happily shouted while hugging the man sitting next to him, "My dear, the beautiful Chinese people are really my source of inspiration! Your company's 120th anniversary wedding ring has been found!"
"Okay, okay, you've worked hard." The man patted Reese's back affectionately. "Now, shouldn't we entertain the guests first?"
As if remembering he had guests, Reese quickly let go of the man and turned around, scratching his head sheepishly. "I'm so sorry, I always forget everything when I get a design idea, and Qin used to always scold me for this. By the way, let me introduce you, his name is Hank Sidesay, and he's my husband."
From the two men's words and actions, He Tong and Ye Yuze naturally guessed Hank's identity.
Hank said to the two again, "Welcome to our home. I heard from Reese that the movie you starred in was shortlisted for this film festival? You are really young and promising."
He Tong also politely replied, "Thank you. That movie premieres tomorrow. If you two are interested, you can go and see it. It will be screened fifteen times at the film festival."
"I think Reese would be very interested, after all, he just got an inspiration from you guys. Right, Reese?"
"Yes, we will definitely go and see it. But let's not talk about that right now." Reese leaned forward eagerly. "Once I design these rings, I hope you can show them to me. Is that okay? Please promise me."
Ye Yuze frowned slightly: "I don't quite understand what you mean..."
Hank pulled Reese back, smiled apologetically, and explained, "It's like this. I run a jewelry company. The founders are a very loving couple. To commemorate them and their relationship, every tenth anniversary, the company releases a pair of specially designed men's commemorative wedding rings. Reese has been agonizing over the design of this year's rings for the past few months, and just now, you gave him an inspiration, so he hopes that you can present them to best showcase the unique beauty of the rings."
He Tong asked: "Do you mean, let us shoot a commercial?"
"You could say that."
He Tong and Ye Yuze looked at each other again.
"But we probably only have time in May this year. After that we'll have to wait until after November." He Tong was a little embarrassed.
"May?" Reis's eyes lit up. "It's a bit rushed, but it's no problem. It's a deal!"
Then he took out his phone and said as he operated it, "I'm going to send a message to Qin to thank her. She really gave me a pair of treasures!"
Hank shook his head helplessly, took over the hosting job again, and warmly invited Ye He and the others to stay for dinner.
He Tong and Ye Yuze spent most of the day in this beautiful manor and had a very enjoyable dinner with both host and guest before they were personally escorted out the door by Hank and Reese.
On the way back to the hotel, He Tong lazily leaned on Ye Yuze's shoulder and said with a smile, "Brother, tell me, when Second Brother finds out that we secretly accepted a wedding ring advertisement, will he have any objections?"
Ye Yuze said calmly, "If he has any objections, let him raise them with his aunt."
He Tong laughed out loud.
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