B-level director

Chapter 17 The Outsider

On Friday evening, Chengtianlu went to an old five-star hotel as promised.

Huge pillars stand on the majestic facade, and yellow spotlights illuminate the mosaic floor, which is the scenery of the last century.In the tall buildings in the city, it looks extraordinarily dignified.

As soon as he walked up two steps, someone stopped him from behind.

"Master Editor-in-Chief!"

Looking back all day long.Brother Qi walked towards him slowly.As if he didn't know him, he stared at Brother Qi for a long time.

Every time Tianlu looked at him nicely, Brother Qi felt nervous. He rubbed his nose, "I'm particularly handsome today?"

Cheng Tianlu smiled, "Well, very handsome."

When his eyes lingered on Qi Ge'er, it was usually because Qi Ge'er was weird.But this time it's completely the opposite - Qi Ge'er is too normal today.He didn't wear a granny wool cap, his hair was neatly combed, his upper body was a navy blue fine checked woolen coat, and his neatly cut trousers wrapped straight to his ankles, outlining his well-proportioned skeleton.

Cheng Tianlu really thinks he is beautiful, under this classical building, he has the style of the son and brother in the old movie of the 30s.Brother Qi's background should be pretty good, although his mind is full of killing and destroying corpses, he is still very personable when he cleans up seriously.

Brother Qi said: "You are really here."

"Well, you don't want to see me?" Cheng Tianlu moved closer and stood beside him: "You're still angry."

It's fine if you don't mention it all day long, but when you mention it, Brother Qi feels ashamed, "Angry, don't say it! You're still swaying in front of me, aren't you afraid I'll beat you up?"

"I'm afraid, but Uncle Hai is begging and begging again and again, so I'm reluctant to take a look."

If it was someone else, Brother Qi would have turned around and left long ago, but he felt helpless for Cheng Tianlu's thick skin, and in the end he went with Cheng Tianlu to the banquet hall.

It was a decent awards ceremony, with a green carpet, and well-dressed staff asked their names at the door and asked them to sign on the board.Brother Qi took the pen, twirled it in his hand, and then drew a whale.Cheng Tianlu was amused: "Hey, don't you even know how to write your own name?"

"Well, I'm illiterate, why don't you write it for me."

Seeing him looking bored all day long, "You were also forced by Uncle Hai to entertain you." He wrote "He Leqi" in a correct manner, but did not sign his name.

Brother Qi had a pained look on his face: "I don't know many people in the circle, and I'm here just to collect people's heads."

Cheng Tianlu was not surprised by this.The movie circle looks crowded, but it’s actually very narrow. They come and go from a few schools, and they’re all brothers, masters, sisters, and classmates who talk to each other. They can be connected everywhere, and the human relationship inside is also intricate. , anyone can pull out a series of origins.Brother Qi is a rare outsider, not to mention an art school, he never even went to a serious university; self-reliant filming, no one to rely on, most of the funds are raised from outsiders like Uncle Hai, it is not uncommon to not mix circles .

All day long, he realized his own role.Uncle Hai sincerely invited him over to show Brother Qi the way.Although he doesn't run film and television, he is the editor-in-chief of a major magazine after all, and he knows everyone he should know, and a few of them have good friendships.

After he figured this out, he stopped teasing Brother Qi, and tried to persuade: "The gangsters have the benefits of being gangsters. If you hook up with a few more people, even if you don't need them, it's not bad to have more friends, right?"

Brother Qi smiled: "Teacher Cheng is right." "Be more upright!" Cheng Tianlu said with a straight face, "This classmate, don't be smiling and secretly planning a truancy route."

Brother Qi did have this plan, and put his arm around Cheng Tianlu: "Don't talk nonsense, hurry to find Uncle Hai, and leave after saying hello, it's strangely cold, let's find a place to have a drink."

Cheng Tianlu thought to himself, this is a good idea.But he felt that since he came, he was responsible for Brother Qi.He wanted to help Brother Qi, and he had the same mentality as he would help Tang Weiqin and Tong Yiru. Although he didn't agree with Brother Qi's taste, he appreciated Brother Qi's courage and ability.He believes that the path that Brother Qi is taking has a limited future, and resources should be expanded in all directions to make films that are more acceptable to the industry.

Just thinking about it, he caught a glimpse of an acquaintance at the door, and immediately pulled Qi Geer over.

"Tianlu, you are here. I haven't seen you for a long time, what are you busy with?" The man who spoke was a man in his sixties. His gray hair was thick and neat. The cheeks and bags under the eyes were a bit thick on his square face, but his eyes were clear and bright. god.

"It's the end of the year, can you be busy? Don't you come here to eat and drink?" Taking advantage of the opportunity, he sold Brother Qi, "I came here with my friend today, and Le Qi; this one needs no introduction. , Director Ban Wu."

Brother Qi stretched out his hand and shook hands with Ban Wu.

Ban Wu: "He Leqi, I know." The heat in his tone suddenly dropped a bit.This is a restraint towards strangers, and it is also an exposure of Qi Ge'er's evaluation.

The three of them exchanged a few words, and after finishing their social conversation, Cheng Tianlu said to Ban Wu, "I'm making a movie with Brother Qi. You have time to guide and guide me." .”

Ben Wu was surprised, "You want to make a movie?"

"It's a task assigned by the leader. But I saw a lot on Qi Ge'er's set, and it was quite fun."

"Uh," Ban Wu didn't hide the disapproval in his tone, "The news is well done, why not wade through this muddy water, it's fun to be fresh, and when the energy is over, it's all bad and troublesome. "

Cheng Tianlu smiled and shook his head, "Which line of business is not like this, it's better to watch from the outside. You know I have occupational diseases, and I want to see everything, so I will be an undercover interview."

Ban Wu was noncommittal, but just patted Cheng Tianlu on the shoulder as a show of human encouragement: "As soon as I pass as a director, no one will pay for the filming. If you want this opportunity, do it well." To Brother Qi, He had nothing to say, turned around and chatted with others.

Ban Wu's attitude towards Qi Ge'er was indifferent, and Cheng Tianlu felt very uncomfortable, but he still said to Qi Ge'er: "Ban Wu is very honest and not very good at talking about scenes, don't feel uncomfortable."

Brother Qi smiled wryly—he said this in person, he couldn’t hide his displeasure, "Thank you, he is a great director who has won an international award, isn't it normal to look down on me? Don't bother gone."

Cheng Tianlu sighed, "So buddy, the films you are making now are useless just to make money, they have no status in the industry, and they cannot be respected by peers."

"It's useless for me to ask their respect, they pay for movie tickets?"

"Don't carry it, if you don't care, Lin Xiaosheng will say something to you, you will be so angry that you want to cut his eggs? It's human nature to want money and glory. Which movie maker doesn't care about word-of-mouth ? That sucks."

Brother Qi had no choice but to say: "Well, Teacher Cheng is right."

Cheng Tianlu clicked his tongue, "Student He Le Qi, be serious! I'm planning for your future."

Although Brother Qi didn't want to socialize at all, he was still very grateful for Cheng Tianlu's kindness.With a self-deprecating tone, he smiled: "Don't drag me around, everyone in the circle knows that you hang out with a bad film director, which will damage your reputation."

Cheng Tianlu's tone was serious: "Your movies suck, but you're not. Let's go, don't talk nonsense!"

Without any explanation, he led Qi Geer to another acquaintance.After all the greetings that could be said, they sat down at the banquet.There were more than 70 tables in the lobby, and everyone with a slight status in the industry came.

Brother Qi felt surprised: "Aren't you a journalist, you know a lot of people in the circle."

Cheng Tianlu was helpless, "Sitting in my seat, I don't even know if I want to know you. Are the dinners all these years for nothing?" Because of the high attention of entertainment news, they had to increase the reports on film and television, and also because of the angle and depth of the reports. It is big enough, and the readership is mostly middle-class, so it is quite recognized by the circle.Then Cheng Tianlu said again: "Speaking of which, you don't know many people, but they all know 'Brother Qi'—your films these years have not been shot in vain."

Brother Qi felt that this was not a good word, and was about to turn back when he heard Uncle Hai calling from behind: "You two are here!"

Uncle Hai is still wearing a three-piece suit with hot stamping, tall and handsome, with a silver beard and hair combed meticulously, even the pleats on the cuffs are impeccably designed.

Uncle Hai came over with leisurely steps, smiling: "It's early. Everyone is here today, everyone is here. Have you gone to say hello?"

Brother Qi replied lazily: "Teacher Cheng took me for a walk, and I kowtowed all the heads that should be kowtowed."

Uncle Hai gave Cheng Tianlu an approving look, thinking to himself that this person is really good, no wonder he was able to climb to the position of editor-in-chief in his early thirties.

Cheng Tianlu does not need to ask for credit from Uncle Hai, and there is no need to flatter him at all; Uncle Hai is Qi Geer's client, and it is also Qi Geer's job to be perfunctory and flattering, and to serve him one after another. .He just planned to sit down, drink some wine, eat some melon seeds, and wait for a suitable opportunity to escape.

Uncle Hai was followed by an assistant, a neat bald man, who immediately pulled chairs for them, took off their coats, and put them on the back of the chairs.Seeing Uncle Hai's situation on the road all day long, he must be the master who shouts at the front and hugs at the back. Brother Qi will definitely not be too easy to serve Uncle Hai well.With Brother Qi's temper, how did he win over such a local tyrant?

When the bald assistant wanted to take off Brother Qi's coat, Brother Qi refused and slowly unbuttoned it by himself.Uncle Hai immediately approached him and whispered softly, "I'll help you."

Uncle Hai ignored everyone's gaze, stretched out his slender and white fingers, slowly and flexibly untied Qi Ge'er's coat, and then laid it on the back of the chair carefully.That demeanor and neat posture can't be faulted in European state banquets.

You can see straight all day long!It's fine for Brother Qi's actor to tie his shoelaces on his knees, but why does the benefactor want to spoil him like this!

Brother Qi sat down calmly, as if nothing happened.Uncle Hai poured him wine, asked him for ice water, wiped his hands with a hot towel, and almost threw peanuts into his mouth.