I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 412 Debate
On September 8th, Liu Jin prepared to return to Toulouse.

Before leaving, he called out to Mark Müller.

Next year, he will take over the Venice Film Festival.

He also heard that Liu Jin's film "Beautiful Life" was going to start filming next year, so he wanted to get closer to Liu Jin.

Liu Jin hosted a banquet in the small garden.

I bought two bottles of Maotai from Venice's Chinatown, and then found a Northeastern Chinese restaurant and cooked a meal of Northeastern dishes.

Enjoy the sea breeze, listen to the waves, drink wine, and chat.

Marco Müller's Northeastern dialect was enough to make up for Liu Jin's lack of Italian.

"A Beautiful Life?"

Liu Jin thought for a moment and said, "I think it will be a bit difficult."

He handed Old Ma a cigarette and said, "I estimate that formal preparations won't begin until after February next year, and filming won't start until the second half of the year. It would be very difficult to finish before the end of the year, and it won't be able to make it to the Venice Film Festival at all."

Furthermore, I don't plan to run for office next year.

"why?"

"I hope this movie will be released on August 15, 2005."

"It can be sent in 2005."

"Disaster!"

Liu Jin didn't say why, but Marco Müller could probably guess.

If he were to submit his film to a film festival, Liu Jin would most likely choose Cannes.

"Why don't you come to Italy to study?"

"what?"

"Aren't Italian girls attractive to you?"

Old Ma beat his chest and stamped his feet, putting on airs.

Liu Jin couldn't help but laugh. "Italian girls are certainly attractive to me, but the problem is I don't speak Italian!"

"Then you learn it!"

Old Ma said, "Let me tell you, Italian girls are much better than those French girls. They're passionate, outgoing, and they'll even sing opera for you."

Liu Jin was stunned.

But I realized it immediately.

He grabbed a piece of cucumber from the table and threw it at them.

You old pervert!

Marco Müller couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Amos, if you have the chance, write two Italian novels, adapt them, and submit them to the Venice Film Festival."

"You're kidding me. I still owe Carmen Barthes a Spanish novel, and I haven't found a way to get it yet."

"What's there to write about in Spain? All they say is 'Si, Genial'..."

Liu Jin couldn't stop smiling.

"And what about Italy? If you're talking about Tesoro, would you say, 'sei Davvero fantastico'?"

"No, no, no, it's fantasya."

After saying that, both of them laughed.

This topic was then moved on.

But before leaving, Marco Müller strongly suggested that Liu Jin learn Italian.

"Could you please refrain from fidgeting while you're speaking?"

"What's so difficult about that?"

As he spoke, Marco Müller put his hands behind his back.

But after only a few words, he couldn't help but put his hands in front of him and make various gestures, which made Liu Jin realize that Italians really couldn't speak without gesturing.

……

The next morning, Liu Jin called Tom Rothman to say goodbye.

They then proceeded to the airport to return to Toulouse.

It was noon when we got back to Toulouse.

Stepping out of the airport, I was immediately enveloped in a wave of heat.

It's already September, why is it still so hot...?

At the airport entrance, he couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath, then hailed a taxi.

Back at my home on Rue Saint-Jacques, it was cold and deserted.

It was about the same size as when I left two months ago, but it was very clean.

This also shows that someone has been cleaning the house all along.

Liu Jin glanced at the empty refrigerator and then walked out of the house.

He called Ottilie, and upon learning that he was back, Ottilie insisted on sending Eva and the others back.

"Sure, anytime is fine."

But aren't they your favorites? Why are you so impatient?

"I'm so busy, I really can't take care of them anymore."

Eva is doing a little better, but the key is Julie and Adrian, who need to be walked twice a day, each time for at least an hour.

It's fine when things are quiet, but it can be quite troublesome when things get busy.

Not to mention that Ottilie also has three cats and two dogs at home, which she can't take care of by herself and often has to ask Old Zhong to help.

"I'll bring it to you tonight. I'll hang up now."

Liu Jin was a little confused, so he called Mela again.

"You're finally back... Congratulations on winning the Best Kiss Award."

Mela kept giggling on the phone.

Liu Jin's face turned ashen.

"It was Bertolucci who did this."

"Haha, I know... but I'm more curious about what it feels like to hug Monica Bellucci?"

I noticed you were holding on quite tightly back then.

"This is slander and fabrication. I only hugged you briefly before letting go."

"Yeah yeah!"

Mela's answer was somewhat perfunctory.

This made Liu Jin feel a little guilty. He tried hard to recall if he had really hugged Bellucci tightly.

But it feels like she's the one who's clinging to me!
Anyway, I didn't, I'm not, don't talk nonsense...

"Is Chloe back?"

"She's back, but she's been incredibly busy lately, dealing with several of your contracts alone."

"What contract?"

"The adaptation rights contract."

Do the math yourself, how many adaptation rights did you sell this year?
A father trapped in time, childhood sweethearts, million-dollar baby, and fifty first loves.

Recently, someone has even been inquiring about the adaptation rights to Wind-Up Bird…

Woody Allen?

"Ah."

Mela said irritably, "I used to live such a leisurely life, but now, things are constantly going on..."

I haven't gone shopping in ages!

"I don't think I have any new works to publish in the second half of the year." "Isn't Notre Dame enough?"

What happened to Notre Dame Cathedral?

“You must not have been paying attention to the news lately… Last month, the Dean of the Golden Stone Academy of Literature, Jacques Gernet, published a commentary on Notre Dame Cathedral. His assessment of Notre Dame was: It roared through the world like a storm, awakening all the good things in people’s hearts.”

The response has been tremendous, with many people joining the discussion.

From last month until today, the whole of France has been talking about this work.

In a conversation earlier this month, President Chirac mentioned that he had been reading "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" for the past two months, having already read it three times. He still loves it and even carries a copy with him at all times so he can read it anytime.

He said the book is a gem of French literature.

I'm not quite sure why he said that, but I can tell he really likes it.

Several times during interviews, I would unconsciously quote lines from the book… however, the New Wave organization didn't quite like it.”

The New Wave liked to talk about human nature and stream of consciousness.

I enjoy exploring the darkness and sin hidden beneath the surface of beauty, and I love letting my imagination run wild...

The only problem is that I can't tell a good story.

Many new-style writers like to depict homosexuality, pornography, and pedophilia, and enjoy writing about the distortion of human nature.

One or two books, they seem alright.

Too much of it gets boring...

In fact, since the debate between Liu Jin and Michel in 01, the debate between the New Wave and the traditionalists has become increasingly intense.

The success of Liu Jin's works has allowed the traditional school to gain the upper hand.

After the publication of Notre Dame de Paris, sales were generally mediocre, which led to the rise of the avant-garde movement.

In the past two months, most of those attacking Liu Jin have been writers from the avant-garde school.

President Chirac's sudden and frequent mentions of the book are causing them some panic.

At this point, Jacques Gernet, a leader of the avant-garde movement, suddenly made a comment, which made the debate even more intense.

Liu Jin is not in France recently, so he is not sure.

These debates are mostly confined to the cultural sphere and have not yet spread, so they haven't had a significant impact in Europe.

Otherwise, Liu Jin would inevitably face difficulties during his time in Venice.

"I really don't know, I'll look into it later."

Oh, by the way, I'll send you the manuscript of "The Girl Playing with Fire" in a couple of days. Please forward it to Ms. Irene.

"it is good!"

Singer's resources are mostly focused on Notre Dame Cathedral these days, leaving her with no capacity to release "The Girl Who Plays with Fire."

Moreover, this book had already been signed by Midnight.

Midnight Publishing House also unequivocally sided with Liu Jin in this debate about "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".

Logically and emotionally, any girl who plays with fire should be a member of Midnight Publishing House.

"How about a family dinner at Old Zhong's house tonight?"

"Of course, no problem. I'll contact Chloe."

Ask her, "How's my Z8?"

Mela chuckled on the phone, "You should ask her yourself."

Liu Jin suddenly had a bad feeling.

……

After finishing his meal, Liu Jin strolled over to La Fontaine Street.

He walked into a 4S store, a Mercedes-Benz 4S store.

The store is filled with Mercedes-Benz cars.

That's right, the French love Citroën, Renault, and Peugeot.

But for luxury cars, they still choose Mercedes-Benz or BMW, so the store does good business and has several customers.

Liu Jin walked into the store, wandered around for a while, and then stopped in front of a sports car.

"Amos?"

A salesman walked over, and upon seeing Liu Jin, exclaimed in surprise.

Liu Jin turned his head and was quite surprised after seeing the other person clearly.

"Matthew?"

"Hey, it really is you! I almost didn't recognize you when I saw your back."

Amos, congratulations on winning the award at the Venice Film Festival.

Liu Jin said with a wry smile, "If you hadn't brought this up, we would still be good friends."

Matthew was Liu Jin's classmate at ESC Toulouse, the guy who had previously introduced him to an apartment.

Originally, Liu Jin and Ma Xiu had a good relationship.

But later he became closer to Sun Yue, while Liu Jin was busy with his creative work and was often not at school, so they drifted apart.

"you……"

"Hehe, I just started working here."

"Didn't you say you were going to Paris?"

“I went there and stayed for two months, but then I found it quite difficult, so I simply returned to Toulouse, since I’m more familiar with it.”

As he spoke, he followed Liu Jin's gaze and glanced at the car.

"Interested in learning more about the newly launched Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren this year?"

"Of course!"

Matthew immediately changed his attitude and began to introduce himself to Liu Jin.

"This is a model that pays homage to the Mercedes 300 race car, with a carbon fiber chassis and a supercharged V8 engine..."

"how much is it?"

"what?"

"I mean, how much?"

"The suggested retail price is 45 euros, but since this car is a Stirling Moss limited edition, it costs 52 euros."

"Ha, that's really not cheap."

"Of course, this car..."

"Matthew, I want it!"

Matthew paused for a moment, then his face lit up with surprise.

He smiled and said, "Why don't you give it a try?"

"I'm driving it away today, is that okay?"

"No problem at all."

Matthew breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the first car he had sold in two weeks of work.

I never expected it to be this Mercedes-Benz McLaren sports car... Just this one sports car alone could earn him more commission than most salesmen.

"By the way, have you seen Kasimi recently?"

"I haven't seen him for a long time, but I heard from his teachers at school that he has returned."

"Hehe, I'll go and brag to him another day... You know that guy's personality, he'll definitely buy one."

"Haha, then I should thank you."

Matthew's smile grew even brighter.

……

(End of this chapter)