Global Film Emperor

Chapter 294 Admission
"Hello, this is the room I booked last night. Lu Ze is Chinese. Please check in now and pick up your room key."

After getting into the car arranged by the embassy and traveling at 160 miles per hour on the highway, Lu Ze finally arrived at the hotel he had booked in Cannes around 5 p.m. Carrying his suitcase, Lu Ze anxiously clung to the front desk with both hands, followed by the makeup artist he had arranged to meet in Cannes, all waiting anxiously for their room.

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Lu. I'm sorry, because you didn't arrive at the hotel on time, your reserved room is already occupied by other guests. I'm sorry, I can only refund your deposit now."

"Madam, do you have any other rooms? Even the smallest room or the presidential suite will do, as long as there are any."

There is still a significant gap between the service industries in China and abroad. In other words, in China, people learn from the service philosophies of Japan and South Korea, where they should lower themselves to a lower status than the customers. In contrast, the service industries abroad usually place themselves on an equal footing with the customers, serving them simply because it is their job.

She didn't stand at attention, put her hands on her abdomen, or smile with her teeth showing. Instead, she bowed and scraped to the guests, only offering a regretful explanation to Lu Ze.

"I'm sorry, but the hotel is fully booked as the Cannes Film Festival is about to begin. There are no rooms left. I apologize, Mr. Lu."

Hearing this, Lu Ze became even more anxious. He had run around Paris for so long, and was covered in sweat. He needed to take a shower, change into the suit he would wear tonight, and then put on makeup. Now there weren't any rooms available. Lu Ze couldn't very well just strip naked and change in the hotel lobby, could he? He didn't care about his own appearance, but he couldn't bring shame to China.

"Oh no, what should I do?"

Lu Ze was in a panic. The awards ceremony started tonight, and it would be impossible to book a room at any hotel. Even the smallest inns would probably be full of reporters.

"Hey, Lu? I think you've run into some problems. What's wrong?"

Hearing someone speak to him, Lu Ze turned around and found six people standing behind him. The one leading the group was director Mickey, whom he had met by chance at the Louvre. Behind him stood the creative team of "Rainy Night." One of the men Lu Ze recognized was a Best Actor nominee at Cannes this year, and he was Lu Ze's competitor. Lu Ze had forgotten his last name, but he remembered that his name seemed to be Taylor.

“Mickey, what a coincidence! Something happened in Paris that caused me to arrive in Cannes a little late, and I couldn’t book a room.”

"That's a real shame, isn't it?"

"right"

Zhang Weiyu had a slightly amused expression, fanning himself with the room key in his hand. He was teasing Lu Ze, hoping to see Lu Ze's embarrassed look. After all, Lu Ze had refused his invitation at the Louvre. He wasn't a petty person; he was just waiting for Lu Ze to ask.

"Are you about to leave? Well, good luck to you, I'm off now."

Lu Ze really didn't want to ask Zhang Weiyu for anything, after all, they had only met twice, and it was in a private space like a room and bathroom. After thinking about it, the only way now was to take care of his personal appearance in the car. As for taking a shower, why bother?

"Hey! Wait a minute! Is Chinese education supposed to teach you to refuse even your friends' help when you need it? I think we should be friends, right? Putting aside your Florida accent that I can't understand."

"Then we should be friends."

"Then what are you waiting for, you typical Chinese man? Upstairs, 406, good luck, buddy. You probably have about half an hour left."

Zhang Weiyu tossed the room key to Lu Ze, then clenched his right fist, with only his index and middle fingers pointing upwards, placed it on his temple, flicked it upwards, and then left with his main creative team, chatting and laughing.

"Hey buddy, I owe you a favor."

"Yes, of course you owe me a favor. Besides me, who else would help you in this foreign land of France? See you at the awards ceremony, my Chinese brother."

Seeing Zhang Weiyu and his group leave the hotel, Lu Ze stopped being coy and quickly went upstairs with the makeup artist. Once in the room, he started taking off his clothes and rushed into the bathroom.

The vehicle was speeding along the road, constantly overtaking other cars, which looked somewhat dangerous, but if they didn't hurry, they would run out of time. Lu Ze had just finished speaking with the Cannes Film Festival staff, who agreed to adjust the order of the red carpet for him, allowing the three actors following him to go first, which would give Lu Ze about ten minutes.

However, this gave him plenty of time. Eight minutes after hanging up the phone, he finally arrived at the Classic Theatre on the southern coast of Cannes, where the awards ceremony would be held that evening.

"Mr. Lu? Hand me the invitation. Okay, there's no time. Let's go straight to the red carpet. Driver, after you drop Mr. Lu off, walk 300 meters forward, turn left at the first intersection, and enter the theater parking lot. Got it? GO!"

After accepting the invitation from the staff member and politely thanking him, Lu Ze closed the car window and started moving the car until the rear door came to a steady stop on the red carpet. Lu Ze breathed a sigh of relief, opened the car door, and got out.

He had gotten used to the flashing lights, and the brightness of the flashes now was far less than what Lu Ze used to see at parties in China.

Although "To Live" broke through the competition and amazed audiences at the off-site market, making Lu Ze a hot candidate for Best Actor at this year's Palme d'Or, the memory of these reporters' cameras is still reserved for internationally renowned movie stars. It is estimated that only when he is actually selected will they focus their attention on this "winner".

At the very front of both sides of the red carpet, Lu Ze couldn't find any of his fans, so his long-standing habit was broken at this moment. He could only follow the routine of other actors and stop on the red carpet for reporters to take pictures.

"I thought you wouldn't make it. I was really scared."

After waving to the reporters, Lu Ze stepped into the theater, where Wang Zhen and Zhuang Yu came over and gave him a hug.

"Don't even mention what you think, I don't think I'll make it either. I'm exhausted from this journey. Let's go inside and sit down so I can rest for a while."

Cannes at the end of May wasn't actually that hot, but Lu Ze was sweating profusely, which showed just how anxious he must have been on his way here.

"How's your new movie going? I've never heard you mention it. Here's our seat, have a seat. Do you know anyone from 'Rainy Night'?"

Zhuang Yu led the two to their seats, which were in the very front of the stage, the seventh row from the front. The seats were quite good. Lu Ze glanced around and saw Mickey not far away, so he greeted him.

"Yes, we've met a few times before. They even helped me out on my way to Cannes. But let's not talk about others. How's your trip in France?"

Zhuang Yu and Wang Zhen arrived in France in mid-May. Because Lu Ze was still filming "Find You" at that time, they did not plan to have Lu Ze come. Instead, they came to participate in various competitions such as the preliminary rounds, the official competition, the Directors' Fortnight, and the off-site market exhibition. Only after Lu Ze was confirmed to be nominated did they call him over.

It's worth mentioning how many awards "To Live" was nominated for. In fact, it was only nominated for Best Actor, Best Director, and the Palme d'Or. Even Wang Zhen wasn't nominated; he could only ride on Zhuang Yu's coattails to gain some attention.

This year's Cannes Film Festival is being called a year of intense competition, featuring not only "To Live" but also other excellent films such as "Rainy Night" (UK), "Vienna in March" (Austria), "The Gunman" (France), and "Tim Hotel" (Italy).

Although "To Live" was stunning, the other films were also strong, and they all achieved excellent reviews and results at the off-site market exhibition.

Many actresses in these movies gave outstanding performances, successfully ousting Wang Zhen and leaving only Lu Ze with one leg still hopping around.

Zhuang Yu looked very tired, probably because he was busy with a lot of things related to the award. He did not answer Lu Ze's question, but just leaned back in his chair and waved his hand gently.

Seeing him like this, Lu Ze glanced at Wang Zhen and saw that she also looked very tired, so he stopped chatting, found a comfortable spot to lean back, closed his eyes to rest, and waited for the awards ceremony to begin.

"."

(End of this chapter)