Reborn, my online friend is the real me.

On New Year's Eve, Li Xiulan cooked a table full of dishes.

For the first time ever, Su Jian'an and Su Ting drank two glasses of baijiu (Chinese liquor), and Su Yu drank one glass with them.

The Spring Festival Gala was playing on TV. Su Yu glanced at it a few times and saw Andy Lau singing "Gong Xi Fa Cai" (Wishing You Prosperity). He thought to himself that this song would be popular forever.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, February 10th, Su Yu packed his luggage and prepared to set off.

Li Xiulan stuffed a large bag of snacks and a bottle of her homemade chili sauce into his suitcase. Su Yu said that customs might not allow him to bring these things, and Li Xiulan said he could eat them on the way.

Su Jian'an drove him to Wuhan Tianhe Airport, and they didn't talk much along the way.

Upon arriving at the airport, Su Jian'an parked his car at the departure level and took out a red envelope from his pocket, handing it to Su Yu.

"Once you get there, spend money as you should, don't be stingy."

Su Yu took the red envelope, squeezed it; it was quite thick. He didn't open it, but simply stuffed it into his pocket.

"Dad, I'm leaving."

"Okay; be careful."

Su Yu pulled his suitcase into the terminal, glanced back, and saw Su Jian'an still standing next to the car, smoking and looking at him.

Su Yu waved and turned to walk into the crowd.

He flew from Wuhan to Shanghai to meet up with Luo Jing.

..........

Luo Jing arrived two hours earlier than him and was already waiting in the departure lounge.

Upon seeing Su Yu, Luo Jing smiled, stood up, and waved: "Director Su, over here!"

Su Yu walked over, and the two gave each other a high five.

Luo Jing was wearing a black down jacket and a baseball cap, and looked a little thinner than when the short film was shot.

"Berlin, here we come."

Luo Jing smiled and asked, "Director Su, are you nervous?"

"I'm not nervous." Su Yu thought for a moment, then changed his mind, "A little."

"Me too. I've never been abroad."

Su Yu wanted to say that he had never been abroad either. In his previous life, the farthest place he had been was the border of Vietnam, let alone in this life.

He held back and patted Luo Jing on the shoulder: "It's okay, stay with me, you won't get lost."

After boarding, Su Yu leaned back in his seat and looked at the gray sky outside the porthole.

.......

On the afternoon of February 11th, Berlin time, Su Yu and Luo Jing walked out of Tegel Airport with two suitcases.

Winters in Germany are colder than in Beijing; the wind blows in through the airport gates and feels like knives on your face.

Su Yu wrapped his army green cotton-padded coat tighter around himself. It cost fifty yuan, was windproof and warm, and had no flaws except for being ugly.

Luo Jing, shivering from the cold, glanced at Su Yu and asked, "Aren't you cold?"

"I'm not cold." Su Yu patted his cotton-padded coat. "It's a solid piece of stuff worth fifty yuan, you wouldn't understand."

The two took a taxi to the hotel that the school had booked for them. It was a hotel near the cinema. The room was small, but the heating was very good.

The next morning, Su Yu contacted Gu Changwei's team through connections at the school.

Gu Changwei was a student in the Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy, class of '78, making him Su Yu's senior.

This time, he brought his directorial debut, "Peacock," to the main competition, and the entire crew stayed at a hotel in West Berlin.

When Su Yu and Luo Jing arrived at the hotel, Gu Changwei was talking to the photographer in the lobby.

He was wearing a thin black down jacket, his hair was gray, and he spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice not loud, but every word was clear.

"Hello, Teacher Gu. I am Su Yu from the 04 class of the Cinematography Department at Beijing Film Academy. This is Luo Jing from our school, from the 02 class of the Acting Department."

Gu Changwei looked up at him and said, "You're the one who directed 'The Black Hole'? Mu Deyuan mentioned you to me, you're really amazing!"

"You flatter me, Professor Mu."

"I've seen the film, it's good. Great concept, clean execution." Gu Changwei's tone was very calm, more like stating a fact than praising someone. "Those who come from the photography department have a stronger sense of imagery than others; keep up the good work."

Su Yu thanked him repeatedly. Gu Changwei then asked about his filming experience. They chatted for about ten minutes, and finally patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Berlin is a good place. Watch more movies and make more friends."

As Luo Jing left the hotel, he said, "Professor Gu is a very nice person."

Su Yu nodded, but he understood one thing: Gu Changwei was willing to spend ten minutes talking to him not because he was Su Yu, but because he was Su Yu from the Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy, and a student of Mu Deyuan.

Without this connection, why would an internationally renowned director bother with a freshman?

This is what the top three universities call connections—it sounds impressive, but ultimately, they have no obligation to help you. If you're capable, they'll lend a hand; if you're not, even being from the same university won't help.

.......

Over the next few days, Su Yu and Luo Jing embarked on an in-depth tour of Berlin.

Watch movies during the day and enjoy delicious food at night.

During the Berlin Film Festival, cinemas throughout the city were showing films, with schedules packed from morning till night.

Su Yu watched seven or eight movies; some were good, some he couldn't understand, and some he fell asleep watching.

Luo Jing was better than him; he didn't sleep at all because he couldn't understand English and could only stare at the screen, becoming more and more alert the more he watched.

As for food, the two ate German pork knuckle, Berlin white sausage, curry sausage with fries, and a variety of breads.

Su Yu started missing Li Xiulan's hot dry noodles after eating them for three days. Luo Jing was even worse off, saying that he felt like vomiting whenever he saw sausages.

........

February 20th, the day of the awards ceremony.

Su Yu woke up at eight o'clock in the morning, not because he was nervous, but because he was woken up by Luo Jing's alarm clock.

Luo Jing said he needed to prepare two hours in advance. Su Yu said, "You only have one face. Isn't it a bit much to prepare for two hours?" Luo Jing said, "You don't understand. It's about the sense of ritual."

Su Yu pulled out the suit from the suitcase. It was dark blue, bought in Wuhan before he left. It wasn't a big brand, it was from LILANZ, and it fit him well.

He put it on in front of the mirror, tied the tie, and it took him two tries to get it right.

Luo Jing adjusted the length of his tie, stepped back, and looked at him: "Not bad, looks like an insurance salesman."

"You're the one selling insurance." Su Yu looked in the mirror and realized he did look a bit like an insurance salesman.

.....

At 5 p.m., the two arrived at the awards ceremony venue, the Berlin Film Palace, an old building with red brick walls, a red carpet at the entrance, and reporters standing on both sides.

Su Yu took a deep breath and walked onto the red carpet with Luo Jing.

No reporters called out their names, no flashbulbs went off, and no one even recognized who they were.

Su Yu and Luo Jing walked side by side, like two random passersby who had accidentally wandered onto a film set.

When the official camera panned over, Su Yu subconsciously straightened his back and gave what he thought was a very handsome smile.

The camera lingered for about two seconds before turning away without hesitation to the next person, a female celebrity in a gold dress.

"Are we walking too fast?" Luo Jing whispered.

"Not fast, normal speed."

"I feel like nobody's filming us."

"Someone was filming, you just didn't see it," Su Yu lied without batting an eye.

After entering, the two found a corner seat; in the front row sat a row of big names, including directors, actors, and producers, all chatting and exchanging pleasantries.

As Su Yu watched their retreating figures, he felt no resentment, only a clear sense of purpose: one day, he would sit in the front row and chat with these people about the weather.

The awards ceremony has begun.

The host came on stage and spoke a long string of German words, which Su Yu couldn't understand a single word of.

Later, when they switched to English, he understood about 60% of it; the gist of it was a welcome to the Berlin Film Festival or something like that.

Then came a series of awards, one after another. Su Yu listened, feeling drowsy, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

Until he heard a word.

"...Golden Bear for Best Short Film..."

Then the blond, blue-eyed, burly white man pronounced a name in heavily accented English: "Yu Su, The Black Hole."

Su Yu's mind went blank for a moment.

Luo Jing was the first to react, and shoved him hard: "Su Yu! It's you! You won the award!"

When Su Yu stood up, his legs were weak. He walked forward along the corridor, with only one thought in his mind: Please don't fall, please don't fall.

Fortunately, the carpet at the Berlin Film Palace was flat enough that he made his way to the stage.

The blond fat man handed him the trophy, a golden bear, heavy and heavier than he had imagined.

Su Yu held the trophy and stood in front of the microphone, the audience below was a sea of ​​people.

He took a deep breath. "Thank you."

There was a moment of silence in the audience, then someone applauded.

"I'm a freshman at the Beijing Film Academy, and this is my first short film. I never expected to win an award, really. Thank you to the Berlin Film Festival, thank you to the jury. Thank you to my school, and thank you to my actor Luo Jing, who's sitting down there, the one with the bigger face than me."

Luo Jing chuckled "Hey!" from below the stage, then laughed even louder.

"Thank you to my roommates Lu Yang and Wang Boxue. They helped me carry a lot of lighting fixtures and volunteered as stagehands for several days. Thank you to my mom. She kept asking me if I was eating enough while she was in Jingzhou. Thank you to my dad. He didn't say a word when he drove me to the airport, but I know he was really happy."

Su Yu paused for a moment, and An Qian's image suddenly flashed through his mind. He refrained from saying anything.

"When I was making this film, I wanted to convey a very simple truth: one shouldn't be too greedy, because in the end, greed will trap you. The truth isn't complicated, but I hoped to explain it clearly in three minutes. Now it seems the judges understood."

Some people in the audience applauded; the sound wasn't loud, but it was very sincere.

"Finally, I'd like to say that I will come to Berlin again in the future. Next time, I'll bring a feature film."

Su Yu raised the Golden Bear trophy, waved it at the audience, applause erupted, then bowed, turned and left the stage.

Su Yu walked very slowly from the stage to his seat.

It wasn't because his legs went weak; it was because he wanted to remember this moment.

Holding the Golden Bear trophy in my hand, it feels heavy, cool, and has a metallic texture.

He looked at the bear face on the trophy and thought the bear looked a bit silly, and quite like himself.

Back in his seat, Luo Jing snatched the trophy and examined it closely, exclaiming, "Golden Bear! Is it really gold?"

"It's gilded, not pure gold."

"Even if it's gilded, it's still gold!" Luo Jing shoved the trophy back into his hand.