Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

As is customary, the jury at film festivals is always composed of an odd number of members.

The same thing happened this year. After Zhang Ziyi was kicked out, Wong Kar-wai took her place. It seems that he is indeed quite popular with the film festival.

The other candidates are: Lucrecia Martel, a South American female director and a representative figure of the Argentine New Wave cinema.

Ilya Suleiman is a renowned Palestinian director, a national treasure, who focuses on politically-oriented films and enjoys a high reputation throughout the Middle East.

French comedy director Patrice Lecomte will be invited to Beijing next year to film the Olympic promotional video "Impressions of Beijing," and he is considered a relatively friendly person towards China.

Helena Bonham Carter is a veteran British actress with a noble family background.

The two actors who frequently work with Quentin Tarantino and deliver outstanding performances in films such as "Pulp Fiction" and "Kill Bill" are American actor Samuel L. Jackson and British actor Tim Roth.

The former is Snake, H.I.E.L.D. braised egg, damn it!

The latter is The Legend of 1900.

The last one is Monica Bellucci, who was at the peak of her career and had the most charm.

With Zhuang Huai'an and Sunglasses Wang included, there are exactly 9 people. The probability of an odd number of people having the same number of votes is extremely small.

On the 16th, after the opening ceremony,

Zhuang Huai'an began to devote himself entirely to watching the films, which surprised the film festival chairman, Jacob, and artistic director, Fremo.

A normal, well-intentioned person would start lobbying and public relations at this point, since unexpected things might happen during a 10-day film festival.

Just as the organizing committee breathed a sigh of relief that Zhuang Huai'an was normal, their unexpected turn of events occurred first.

On the third day of the film festival, the festival program gave "Love" a high score of 3.4, ranking it second among the films in competition.

The feminist film "Return" ranked first with a score of 3.5, and the film's cast of actresses won Best Actress awards.

Third is "The Wind That Shakes the Barley," a film with an anti-colonial realistic theme, scoring 3.3 points. It was the Palme d'Or winner in the original series.

Almost at the same time as the ratings were released,

Bateson Group, a long-established European betting company, launched a prediction contest: Can Chinese director Zhang achieve the triple crown of winning three major film awards?

Subsequently, several other powerful and reputable gambling companies, including GVC, SK-Bet365, William Hill, and 888 Holdings, immediately followed suit.

The whole of Europe was shaken, and the Cannes organizing committee was ashen-faced.

"Fuck you!"

In a lavishly decorated room, festival director Gilles Jacob roared in fury, "That damn Huang! What is he trying to do? He's going to ruin Cannes, he's going to ruin us!"

"Shit! And you, you damned Fremo, why did you send him to Cannes? Why!"

Frémo clutched his head in panic, wailing, "I don't know! I really don't know! Who would have thought Zhang could make this movie? Who would have thought An would pull the same trick again! This is a conspiracy! It's sabotage!"

"Fuck you, Fremo! This is your dereliction of duty!"

Jacob was furious and smashed more than a dozen cups before he calmed down a little.

"Everyone, we're all in the same boat, so please share your thoughts."

The remaining people in the room looked at each other in silence.

How so?

The odds are 0.9 for Zhang to win the Palme d'Or and 3.4 for him not to.

This was a high-stakes gamble, a gamble wagered by the five major betting companies exploiting the ingrained European mindset.

Simply put, most Europeans believe that Cannes, as the highest temple of film art, would never allow a barbaric Chinese person to collect all three gold medals, especially since the Berlin Film Festival just recently produced a Chinese person who achieved a grand slam of the three gold medals!

But this blind arrogance is precisely the habitual loophole created by gambling companies.

"Or... should we just give it to them..."

An elderly man, dressed smartly and wearing a monocle, sighed. "If the five major gambling companies join forces and we really try to intervene, the consequences... are something neither of us can bear."

"So you think we'd accept it if you gave it to us?"

Another old man with slicked-back hair sneered, "Putting aside the overwhelming public opinion, just the accountability of the relevant departments could wipe us out."

"Gentlemen, this matter is actually quite simple."

A slightly overweight middle-aged man shrugged and said in a relaxed tone, "The relationships behind the gambling companies are incredibly complex. We only have two choices: reputation or life."

"I think Chris is right."

The only woman agreed, saying, "Defending your reputation might cost you your life, but saving your life doesn't necessarily mean losing everything. Besides, we've done things behind the scenes before. As for the public outcry, that's not important; it's just toilet paper, isn't it?"

After listening to everyone's remarks, Jacob sneered, "We can't afford to offend the online gambling companies, we can't withstand public opinion, and we can't withstand the accountability from the relevant departments. What you all said is as good as nothing at all."

"Mr. Jacob, aren't you the chairman of the film festival?"

The slightly overweight middle-aged man gave a forced smile, saying, "Actually, our opinions are not important at all. In the end, you are the one in charge."

"snort!"

Jacob turned to Fremo, who was still in a daze, and said coldly, "Fremo, what's your opinion? As the culprit, shouldn't you say something?"

Fremo snapped out of his daze, lit a cigar with trembling hands, took a deep drag, and said in a low voice, "In that case, give it to him."

"You're really crazy!" Jacob's temper flared up again.

"But we have no other choice, Chairman Jacob, don't you understand yet?"

Fremo gave a bitter smile. "Look at the people in this room. Even if you don't want to, according to the rules, they'll vote you out to make the decision in order to protect themselves. So why struggle?"

Jacob still wanted to insist: "But Cannes' reputation over the past decades..."

"This has nothing to do with us!"

Fremo abruptly interrupted him, his gaze as still and unfathomable as a stagnant pool.

"You're old now. You've guarded Cannes for over 30 years, and you're already inextricably linked to the film festival. But we're still young. I can't bear to give up my life for so-called fame!"

Upon hearing this, Jacob was utterly heartbroken and slumped helplessly onto the leather sofa. The others remained silent, watching him quietly and waiting for his decision.

In the silence, there was a knock on the door, and Jacob's son rushed in with a panicked expression.

"Father, please come out with me for a moment!"

Jacob snapped out of his daze and looked at his usually overly composed son with a puzzled expression. "What's wrong, Winster? We're talking business, you..."

"Could you come out first?" Winster's unusual behavior startled Jacob, who quickly followed him out of the room.

"Father, please look at this."

Winster opened his palm, revealing a bright yellow bullet.

"This was given to him by a stranger when Aiger was playing in the courtyard just now. Father... you only have me as your son... only Aiger as your grandson... you..."

Winston collapsed to the ground with a thud, tears streaming down his face. "Please, before you make a decision, think about your family, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Jacob felt dizzy and slowly sat down on the sofa next to him, his face extremely bitter.

He knew that, faced with the choice between his reputation and his family, he had no choice but to ruin his honor in his later years.

He also knew that Zhuang Huai'an had won yet another victory.

Inside the room, the group exchanged glances as they listened to the commotion outside the door, while Fremo coldly observed their subtle actions.

He was absolutely certain that as soon as they stepped out of that door, those damned businessmen would be eager to place their bets!

Vote for that damn Zhang!