It was the familiar cafe, familiar light fragrance, and the familiar piano piece.
Lu Yuan paused in his footsteps for a moment.
The piano piece today wasn’t [Neil Girl] but [Für Elise]
Of course, Lu Yuan recognized the pianist as well. It was Zhou Yao.
Her great skill, graceful disposition, as well as her long white dress emitted a strange feeling under the gentle cafe lighting…
“Brother Lu, you’ve come,” said the receptionist young lady.
“En.”
“There are seats upstairs. I’ll bring you there.”
“No need. I’ll just go up by myself. I know the way.”
“Are you meeting someone?”
“That’s right.”
“En, alright. This way please…”
The young lady looked pleasantly surprised after seeing Lu Yuan. She went up with enthusiasm.
In her opinion, Lu Yuan was a very talented and romantic guy. At the same time, he didn’t have the disdain and arrogance that scholars had toward other things. He was easy to get along with.
Her impression of Lu Yuan was very good.
“En, alright.”
Lu Yuan nodded and headed for the stairs leading to the second floor.
“Brother Lu, you’ve come?”
At this moment, the piece [Für Elise] was finished. Zhou Yao happened to see Lu Yuan when she stood up and came running over happily. When she arrived in front of Lu Yuan, there was a hint of shyness on her face.
“Uh, hello.”
“Did you hear the [Für Elise] I played earlier?”
“En, I did.”
“How did I do?”
Zhou Yao stood in front of Lu Yuan like a student, her gaze having both anticipation and uneasiness.
“Not bad.” After seeing Zhou Yao’s gaze, Lu Yuan nodded. “It’s quite good!”
“Oh… it’s only good?” Zhou Yao asked. The anticipation in her gaze became even more intense.
“En, it’s really not bad, quite flavorous.” Lu Yuan nodded, thinking hard but wasn’t able to think of words to describe her performance.
“Oh, quite flavorous? Although I know Brother Lu is trying to encourage me, I still feel very happy… En, I will work hard!” Zhou Yao nodded. After feeling a strange sense of disappointment, she smiled.
“En, good luck!” Lu Yuan couldn’t understand why a hint of disappointment would flash on Zhou Yao’s face, but he really couldn’t think of any words to compliment her performance.
He didn’t really understand the deeper world of the piano. Even though he was very familiar with [Für Elise], it wasn’t a case where being familiar with a piece would allow one to gain deeper mastery of it.
There were many things that required one to comprehend by themselves.
At the very least, Lu Yuan didn’t have such comprehension.
“En!” Zhou Yao nodded. She then silently returned to the piano to pack up her stuff.
[Für Elise] was her last piece for the day. After playing it, she should be heading back to get a rest.
Lu Yuan didn’t think much of it but headed toward the private room in the last row of the second floor.
“Maybe you should have given her recognition.”
“What?”
Just as Lu Yuan walked to the end, he saw a middle-aged man who seemed to be in his forties, leaning against the railing and looking at the cafe’s main hall. When he noticed that Lu Yuan had walked over, he turned and revealed a meaningful smile.
Lu Yuan felt that this middle-aged man was a little strange.
In his impression, he didn’t know this guy.
“This young lady is someone who tends to overthink things and is also someone who desires recognition. She hopes to get your recognition, and it’s clear that she has been trying quite hard during this period.”
“Uhh… I didn’t say that I don’t give her recognition.” Lu Yuan found this a little strange.
“She wants to see your admiring gaze, but she couldn’t see that from your eyes. Therefore, she is a little disappointed.”
“…” After hearing what the middle-aged man said, Lu Yuan didn’t know how he should react.
Could he say that he didn’t understand the in-depth meaning behind [Für Elise]?
Or could he say that he didn’t know how to admire the piece?
Wouldn’t that be very embarrassing?
Ignorant…?
Lu Yuan shook his head inwardly.
It seemed that he’d have to put in some effort into learning piano in the future. Otherwise, how was he going to give other people recognition?
That wasn’t right. This was getting too far-fetched.
Ordinary people wouldn’t notice these details.
“Erm, I’ll be going in first. I have an appointment with someone…”
“I’m the person who wishes to meet you.”
“Huh?”
“I heard that you like to smoke?”
“It’s alright.”
“How much do you smoke each day?”
“Uhh… It isn’t that much.”
“How much is not that much?”
“About a packet.”
“…”
The middle-aged man assessed Lu Yuan, suddenly feeling that this guy was really dishonest.
(One packet a day wasn’t considered much?
It has been many years since I’ve smoked a packet a day!
This guy…
Is really good at putting up an act.)
“Do you smoke? I brought two packets.”
“I’ll take one cigarette. I don’t smoke much either.”
“En, I understand.”
“Red Orchid or Huaxia?”
“You smoke ‘Red Orchid’?”
“That’s right. I’ve always been smoking this.”
Lu Yuan nodded and subconsciously opened up a packet of “Red Orchid”, offering it to the middle-aged man. When the middle-aged man saw the “Red Orchid”, his eyes lit up. Taking one, he immediately lit it up like, seemingly experienced in this.
“It has been many years since I’ve smoked this kind of cigarette. The taste is really authentic as it had been…”
“I’ve always liked to smoke this.”
“How long have you been smoking?”
“About seven to eight years.”
“It’s hard to tell that you’ve been a smoker for a long time.”
“It’s still alright. I don’t really smoke that often, only when I’m bored.”
“To be able to finish a packet in a day, it seems that you’re quite bored the entire day.”
“I’m used to it…”
“Smoking is bad for health. You’ll get lung cancer. Smoking one packet a day is too much.”
“I’m also considering reducing the amount I smoke.”
“Quit it.”
“Are you able to? How harsh must a person be to themselves to quit smoking?”
“Hahaha.”
Both of them were birds of the same feather and could smell the cigarettes from each other. Therefore, after they both lit up a cigarette, they sat in the private room and enjoyed the rising smoke. Their exchange went beyond words.
This was a feeling of enjoyment as if having met a soulmate.
Although, it was really crap talk to bring out such feelings through smoking.
The middle-aged man saw sincerity from Lu Yuan, and he appeared very naturally after the feeling of restraint was gone.
Lu Yuan saw kind intentions and peacefulness from the middle-aged man. This feeling was very comfortable.
“I’ve watched your movie. It’s quite well done. The actors and actresses you found are quite good as well. Most importantly, your concept is very good—using a small capital to win box office ratings steadily. Your idea isn’t bad.”
“Uh, thank you.”
“Do you know who I am?”
“I didn’t previously, but I sort of have an idea now.”
“Oh?”
“You should be the boss of Tianhe Cinema Chain, right? Even if you’re not the boss, you should be a member of the management,” Lu Yuan smiled and said.
“En, you’ve guessed it right. I’m Wang Yaohua, the boss of Tianhe Cinema Chain.”
“Oh, nice to meet you Brother Wang…” Lu Yuan was first pleasantly surprised and then quickly stood up to shake hands with Wang Yaohua. At the same time, he also felt a little overwhelmed.
“What did you call me?” However, Wang Yaohua’s smiling expression suddenly stiffened up a little.
“Brother Wang. I feel that calling you Uncle Wang… is a little too inappropriate.” Lu Yuan looked at the middle-aged man and felt that he wasn’t considered too old. It would be strange to call him uncle.
“So be it…” Wang Yaohua seemed as if he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he shook his head. “What are your plans for this movie?”
“Wait for it to be released.”
“No, I mean, are you going to bring it to Berlin or to Taiwan? Or both?”
“What are the differences?” After seeing Wang Yaohua’s expression, Lu Yuan immediately understood.
Berlin International Film Festival or Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards…
After all, an art film would have the chance to clinch an award.
Getting a box office rating was secondary. What was important was clinching an award.
“Berlin’s will be March next year, and Taiwan’s will be in November. Of course, you can send it to both sides separately before the movie goes on air. There’s also a film festival in Spain that you can send it to.”
“You feel that this movie can get an award?”
“It’s impossible for there to be much box office ratings for art films. Their value is in getting nominated and receiving awards… I think that [Buried] will be able to do well.”
“Then… you’re saying that…”
“Send it to all of them. Regardless if it manages to win an award or not, it won’t be bad to do that.”
“En… you’re right.” Lu Yuan nodded after seeing Wang Yaohua’s serious expression.
It seemed that the [Buried] in the world he had come from had managed to clinch quite a number of awards, having both a good reputation and box office ratings.
………
After chatting with Wang Yaohua late into the night over coffee and cigarettes, the two packets of cigarettes were gone very quickly.
At about 1 a.m., Lu Yuan took Wang Yaohua’s Rolls-Royce to return to the office.
Wang Yaohua looked at Lu Yuan’s office and then back at Lu Yuan, feeling a little emotional. However, in the end, he merely said something along the line of “Work hard. Smoke less in the future.” and then left.
He acted as if he was Lu Yuan’s senior…
When Lu Yuan opened the door and entered the office, he realized that Fatty Wei hadn’t slept yet…
Not only was he not sleeping, but…
“Damn, A`Yuan, there’s good news! I received a good script. There’s a character inside that suits you a lot!”
“What?”
“Male lead!”
“So amazing?”
“Yes! The male lead is a homeless man, but at the same time, he is also addicted to smoking, drinking, and drugs. It’s an inspirational film of someone who isn’t loved by anyone…”
“???”
Lu Yuan was instantly stunned when he heard this.
What?
Something like this is considered an inspirational film?