Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 23 Celebration
The people in Montreal are not very efficient. It has been almost half a month since the film festival ended, and the $5000 prize for the best film has only just been paid.

As the weekend passes, there is another piece of good news.

Li Qiutang received an official email from the Toronto International Film Festival, informing him that "The Night the Comet Came" was successfully shortlisted for the Un Certain Regard section of the film festival, and the first screening time is 9:10 am on September 8th - which is not a very good time.

But it doesn't matter.

As usual, Li Qiutang announced the good news in the crew's Penguin group and asked who would go to Toronto with him. However, no one went. The reason was still the same: those who had money didn't have time, and those who had time didn't have money.

After returning from Montreal, Li Qiutang worked hard to improve his English listening and speaking skills and felt that he had made great progress.

At least he has learned a few swear words in English very well, but I don’t know if he can use them in Toronto.

Li Qiutang's life is very regular now. He works when there is work in the crew or studio of "The Night the Comet Came". If there is no work, he writes his own things. He goes swimming at night, comes back to practice English for 1-2 hours, and then goes to bed to read until he falls asleep.

On the weekend, he subcontracted the filming of a promotional video for an exhibition to an outside film and television studio: "The money is not much, 2 yuan, including post-production. See if you can do it. If not, I will find someone else."

Li Qiutang swore that he definitely did not take more than what he had taken. He only took 1 in the middle. If he were to be more ruthless, he would take 3 out of the 2 and ask students from the School of Media to shoot the remaining 5. Why would he find a professional studio to shoot for you?
There is nothing that cannot be done. Li Qiutang is very famous in their circle now and has a lot of face. Besides, the price he offers is fair, so they will definitely do the work he assigns.

In the blink of an eye, it was the 16th, and Li Qiutang really received an invitation to Huayi's 12th anniversary celebration. In order to prevent him from refusing, a car was specially sent to pick him up.

Li Qiutang combed his hair into an adult style, put on a handsome suit, and went to the banquet.

The venue was at the China World Hotel in CBD. Huayi booked an entire floor for the celebration and also allowed fans to watch.

It was not Li Qiutang's turn to be the protagonist in this kind of occasion. He just came here to socialize and make friends. After all, his movie would be released next month, and it was very necessary for him to get to know more people in the circle.

There was a red carpet walk at the celebration, and Huayi was polite enough to put Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei together.

Li Qiutang was quite surprised when he saw Liu Yifei in the lounge. He really didn't expect Liu Yifei to come to Huayi's 12th anniversary celebration.

Huayi started using "The Forbidden Kingdom" to hook Liu Yifei?

It shouldn't be that early. This might be an event for Liu Yifei. After all, Huayi is the number one film company in the mainland. It's not strange for her to come and make an appearance at the anniversary celebration.

"Why are you here?!" Liu Yifei was surprised and happy to see her classmates.

"I just come here to have a meal and make myself familiar with you. Hello, Auntie." Auntie Liu also came.

Liu Xiaoli didn't know her daughter's classmate, but she still greeted him generously: "Are you classmate Xixi?" As far as she could remember, there was no one like Li Qiutang in the acting class.

"Ah, I'm in the directing class, and I take some classes with their acting class. We became familiar with each other after a while."

"Very good." Liu Xiaoli smiled, "What are you doing after graduation?"

"Just shoot something myself." Li Qiutang was quite modest.

Liu Yifei was not modest for him and said with a smile: "You call that shooting something. Mom, he shot a movie himself, which will be released next month."

Liu Xiaoli was surprised. She knew how valuable the cinema was to young directors. She smiled and said, "I didn't expect he was such a talented person."

Li Qiutang felt a little embarrassed by the compliment and said with a smile, "Auntie, you are too kind."

"I also said that I wanted to film his movie in the future." Liu Yifei said with a smile.

Liu Xiaoli smiled and said, "You guys will definitely work better and better together as classmates." Liu Xiaoli didn't treat all the opposite sex around her daughter as thieves. It was just like that, classmates would chat and laugh. After chatting and laughing with Liu's mother and daughter, Li Qiutang was called away by Huayi's people.

Huayi wanted to make friends with Li Qiutang, and knew that in today's occasion, Li Qiutang knew others but others did not know him, so he appointed a manager to act as a middleman for him.

"This is director Li Qiutang. His new film will be released next month."

"Hello, Brother Hua."

"This is Director Li Qiutang, a young director that President Wang is very optimistic about. He is very talented."

"Hello, big brother."

"This is Director Li Qiutang. He just won the Best Film Award at the Canadian Fantastic Film Festival last month. He is a very talented young director."

"Hello, Teacher Guoli, Hello, Teacher Deng Jie."

Li Qiutang is probably the least famous person in this big lounge, but he maintains normal and polite communication with these famous celebrities.

When meeting Feng Xiaogang, Director Feng was in high spirits and encouraged Li Qiutang as a senior: "You are in a good time now. You can make movies at such a young age. When we were young, we had to be someone's grandson for a few years before we could even touch the camera."

Director Feng is very lively.

After some small talk in the lounge, the ceremony began.

Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei appeared earlier. Li Qiutang wore a simple casual suit with her sleeves rolled up, while Liu Yifei wore a black T-shirt and white hot pants, paired with a black and white spotted long bow tie, looking pure and lively. The key is, she is really white. (Those who can find this picture are amazing.)
"I didn't expect you to look so handsome in a suit." Liu Yifei said with a smile. This should be the first time she saw Li Qiutang wearing a suit.

"It's okay. I only have this one and I wear it once every eight hundred years." Li Qiutang said with a smile.

Liu Yifei laughed at him: "Then you should buy a few more sets. When you become a big director in the future, socializing and entertaining will be indispensable."

The two walked onto the red carpet chatting and laughing, without even holding hands.

The flashlights on the red carpet were clicking. Li Qiutang whispered to Liu Yifei, "They must be wondering in their hearts, who is this guy and why is he here with Liu Yifei. I am taking advantage of you this time."

Liu Yifei smiled and said, "So you knew."

The two took photos on the red carpet, signed on the autograph wall, and then entered the venue.

The ceremony was very grand. At the ceremony, Wang Zhongjun officially admitted to the media that Feng Xiaogang's new film "Assembly" had begun preparations.

Feng Xiaogang revealed to reporters: "Huayi has painted a pie for me and Zhang Jizhong, and told us that we have to work hard to get it. They also promised that by the time of Huayi's 24th anniversary celebration, Zhang Jizhong and I will each earn more than 12 billion. I hope to get this pie in years. By then, I will also set up a company as big as Huayi to make movies."

Zhang Jizhong said his next drama is "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and also talked about the "The Deer and the Cauldron" he is currently filming: "We have already filmed 4 episodes. Apart from the hot weather, there are no other problems."

After all, they are not the hosts, and other people who have "nothing to do" with Huayi don't need to release any news at other people's celebrations.

"This is a celebration, look at the way you eat." Li Qiutang was eating fruit snacks on the table in the audience and was "disdained" by Liu Yifei.

"I'm fine." Li Qiutang peeled off an orange and handed half of it to Liu Yifei, "Do you want some?"

"No, eating too many oranges will make your skin turn yellow." Liu Yifei took a glass of water and took small sips.

(End of this chapter)