Reborn, my online friend is the real me.

The day before the Berlin Film Festival opened, Su Yu and David stood by the window of their hotel room, looking at the snow outside.

Su Yu reached his hand out the window and caught a few snowflakes. The snowflakes melted before he could even see them clearly, leaving only a small patch of coolness.

David flipped through the schedule next to him, muttering to himself as he filled Su Yu's schedule to the brim: sign in at nine o'clock the day after tomorrow, meet with Variety reporters at eleven o'clock, have a meeting with Lionsgate's European distribution team at three o'clock in the afternoon, and attend an independent filmmakers' party in the evening.

Su Yu closed the window and put his hands in his pockets: "David, what are you arranging? I don't even have time to eat."

David looked up with an innocent expression, took out his schedule, and pointed to a line of small print: "Yes. Look here, '12:00 to 1:00, lunch (with the German publisher)'. I've scheduled lunch for you, and we can discuss business at the same time. It's efficient."

Su Yu looked at his "Am I not thoughtful enough?" expression, sighed, put on his coat, took the room key, and left the room.

.....

The registration area was in a large hall next to the cinema, and there weren't many people. After registering, Su Yu and David stood at the entrance of the cinema for a while.

The sky over Berlin was overcast, somewhat like a winter in Beijing. Su Yu took a deep breath of the cold air, took out his phone and snapped a picture of the Cinematheque. He was about to send it to Liu Yifei, but then thought better of it and didn't.

Su Yu had prepared for the publicity well in advance, arranging for David to rent a venue in Berlin well beforehand, from the opening day until the end of the awards ceremony.

The venue isn't large, but the location is great, less than a five-minute walk from the cinema. You can hang posters at the entrance, show trailers inside, and even discuss copyrights with film distributors.

David said the money was well spent, and Su Yu looked at the bill in silence for a moment without replying.

The promotional standee for "Buried Alive" attracted a lot of attention as soon as it was put up in the lobby.

The sign has a black background with the outline of a coffin in the center. The coffin lid is slightly open, and a hand reaches out from the crack, holding an old cell phone.

It has no face, no name, only a small English title: "Buried".

Many people stop to take a look when they pass by. Some look for a few seconds and then walk away, some look a little longer, and some even lean closer to read the director's introduction below.

Su Yu stood not far away, observing the expressions of those people, like a watermelon farmer watching customers linger in front of his watermelon stall.

Su Yu was standing next to the signboard talking to David when a middle-aged man with a goatee walked over, holding a notebook, and asked, "Are you the director of 'Buried'?"

Su Yu answered each question in turn, saying very little. The goatee took notes on a few pages and left.

David leaned over and said, "This is a film critic from Screen magazine; he's very influential."

Su Yu simply said "Oh".

.......

The film distributors arrived faster than Su Yu had expected. On the very afternoon the standee was put up, several people came over to talk to him, including people from Europe, Asia, and two from South America.

David, looking like a cat that had stolen a fish, leaned closer and whispered to Su Yu, "Su, more than a dozen film distributors asked for my contact information today. Your Golden Bear trophy is really useful."

Su Yu glanced at him and smiled slightly: "Is it my Golden Bear trophy or your business card that looks better? You know the answer in your heart."

David glanced down at his business card, which read "CEO of Time Pictures," and chuckled.

Su Yu didn't continue joking with him because her phone rang; it was Han Sanping calling.

"Su Yu, you've arrived in Berlin?" Han Sanping's voice came through the receiver, direct and without any pleasantries.

Su Yu, holding his phone, walked to a corner of the lobby, avoiding the crowd: "President Han, I just checked in today."

"I'll be there tomorrow. I'll invite some friends over for dinner, and you can come along."

Han Sanping paused, lowering his tone as if he were talking about something inconvenient to discuss over the phone, "I have a few old friends in Berlin, Shi Nansheng and Ning Ying, they're all here. I've mentioned you to them. You should also make your own connections, don't wait for people to come to you. That's how film festivals are, if you don't reach out, they won't reach out to you."

Su Yu leaned against the wall and tapped his knees lightly with his fingers.

"Mr. Han, thank you; I understand. Casey also mentioned it to Schrader on my behalf, saying that Lionsgate also contributed."

Han Sanping hummed in agreement: "You need to hold onto the Lionsgate connection too. Building relationships in Hollywood takes time. Alright, I'm off to talk to you now. See you in Berlin."

After hanging up the phone, Su Yu stood there for a moment.

.......

The following evening, Su Yu attended the opening ceremony of the film festival.

The red carpet lights illuminated the entire road. Su Yu wore a dark gray suit without a tie. David wore a black suit, and today he made a point of wearing a tie.

When walking the red carpet, Su Yu and David, two grown men, walked side by side, with about half a meter between them.

The photographers on both sides took a few pictures of a woman with both European and Asian features, then quickly turned their lenses to the female celebrity in a gown behind her.

Su Yu didn't care about any of that and walked very fast.

David jogged after her, calling out, "Sue, slow down! The photos are all blurry!"

Su Yu glanced back, but didn't stop walking.

Once inside the cinema, Su Yu found his seat and sat down.

My seat was slightly to the right of the middle, not a great spot but not bad either; I could see every face on stage clearly.

After he sat down, he began to look around at the people. To his left sat an unfamiliar European director, to his right was empty, and to his right were several people chatting quietly.

The opening ceremony followed a similar format to the last one: the host took the stage, the judges appeared, and the chairman of the jury, Paul Schrader, gave a speech.

Su Yu didn't listen to everything. His gaze swept around the room, and he spotted several Asian faces in the crowd.

He recognized the crews of "Apple" and "Tuya's Marriage," the two Chinese-language films sitting in different sections.

Fan Binbin sat in the "Apple" crew's seat, wearing a strapless dress, her hair up, a large gold chain, and revealing her slender neck.

She seemed to be looking for something, her gaze sweeping around the room before landing on Su Yu, and she smiled slightly; Su Yu nodded and returned the smile.

During the break, Su Yu stood up from his seat to get a glass of water when he heard someone call his name from behind.

He turned around and saw Liang Jiahui and Yu Nan chatting not far away.

Liang Jiahui was wearing a dark suit, looking very fit and energetic; Yu Nan stood next to him wearing a dark green long dress, exuding a calm and composed demeanor.

"Director Su, hello." Tony Leung Ka-fai took the initiative to extend his hand, which Su Yu grasped; his hand was warm and strong.

"Hello, Professor Liang; I really enjoy your films."

Tony Leung smiled and waved his hand: "You're too kind. I saw your 'The Black Hole,' three minutes long, zero dialogue, very interesting. This time, 'Buried Alive,' I heard it's a one-man show? Performed entirely by one person?"

"Almost, one person, one coffin."

Tony Leung raised an eyebrow: "You've got guts. These kinds of films are hard to make. The actors have it tough, and the directors have it tough too. How was it working with Hollywood actors?"

Su Yu thought for a moment about how to phrase it, and finally simply said, "Donnie is very involved."

Yu Nan, who had been standing silently to the side, finally spoke up, "I saw the brochure for 'Buried Alive,' and the concept is very interesting. When is the premiere? I'd like to go check it out."

"The 10th, the day after tomorrow."

Yu Nan smiled and nodded: "Then I'll go."

Su Yu looked at Yu Nan in a daze. She was a very good actress, but unfortunately she really fed a dog; she met a scumbag!