National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1278 Extremely Happy

Finally, there is one quality of Alain Delon that Ning Weimin particularly admires, and that is his superhuman self-control.

This is also what Ning Weimin just discovered from Alain Delon.

This guy really means what he says and does what he says.

For example, after coming out of the casino, Alain Delon promised him that he would not go back, and he really did not go.

Not everyone has this ability.

To be honest, Ning Weimin has also been to Macau, and he himself has been a "red and blue warrior".

Although he played small and was not addicted, he had experienced the excitement of gambling and the various means used by the intermediaries to flatter him, and he knew how great the temptation was.

You know, in a casino, it’s not just the losers who are unwilling to leave, the winners are even more so.

The more fun you have playing and the more you win, the more reluctant you are to wake up from your sweet dream and the more unwilling you are to let go of such good luck.

In fact, there are very few people who can really quit while they are ahead in a casino.

Most people, after winning money, even though they may realize it right away, they just exchange chips and happily take the money away. That’s because they are tired of playing.

The so-called lucidity is only temporary and can't last more than three hours.

People often go out to eat a meal, take a bath, have some fun and relax, and when their food and clothing and all their desires are satisfied, once they have recovered, they immediately become confused again.

Many people have even bought their plane and boat tickets and are eager to check in their luggage, but many people suddenly change their minds and go back to fight a few more rounds.

Naturally, there is only one result.

It means paying back the money to the casino with interest until your pockets are empty and then leaving in disgrace.

Even Ning Weimin himself, if it weren't for the cheats, would be playing games every day where he could cheat openly, only win and never lose, and make huge amounts of money.

For him, this kind of gambling game that gives the casino an advantage has long lost its appeal. Putting himself in Alain Delon's situation, he probably finds it difficult to resist the urge to continue winning money and expand his victory.

So his advice to Alain Delon was just a matter of course, and he did not really hope that he could do it.

But after eating and shopping, Ning Weimin saw that Alain Delon still showed no signs of being restless.

Instead, he took them to the cafe again, and then slowly started making phone calls, patiently trying various channels to contact Catherine Deneuve and arrange a meeting with her for Ning Weimin.

Ning Weimin was moved and admired, but also naturally became curious. He didn't understand how Alain Delon controlled himself.

So in order to test him, Ning Weimin deliberately said, "Mr. Delong, we have taken up too much of your time today. Thank you very much for your help and hospitality. In fact, you don't have to spend more time with us. My wife and I are very grateful. It's still early now. If you have other plans or want to do something to entertain yourself, please feel free to do so. We can get together another day."

Unexpectedly, Alain Delon saw through his thoughts and immediately smiled with understanding.

"Don't worry, my friend. I won't go to the casino today. Since I promised you, I will definitely keep my word. Maybe in a few days, I will try my luck with tens of thousands of francs. If I lose, I will leave without hesitation. That's it. Maybe you don't know me well enough. I like to seek excitement and enjoyment, but I can control most of the addictive things. Cigarettes, alcohol, gambling, shopping, hunting, sailing, and women, just know when to stop, all of them."

"Oh, is that really the case?" Ning Weimin's tone still showed his belief with reservations, "Can you control all of this?"

Alain Delon spread his hands and expressed his certainty.

"Really? If I can't do this, then forty-eight hours a day wouldn't be enough for me. I'd probably have died of overindulgence long ago. I might even have left hundreds of illegitimate children in this world. To be honest, there's probably only one thing in this world that I can't control..."

"What is it?"

"emotion."

This answer made Ning Weimin stunned.

Alain Delon continued to explain, "People's emotions are uncontrollable. That's what I fear the most, but I can't give it up. My friend, I've tried countless times. No matter what you think at first, how careful your plan is, whether you are determined to execute it ruthlessly, as long as you mix in emotional factors, things will always be beyond your control in the end. This is the biggest experience I've had in my life. That's why I stay away from women, and I never want to get married. Of course, if I say that I have hurt anyone, then I should be considered a bad person. Yes, I don't deny that. But I also tried my best to avoid these things, and I even got slapped by women because of my refusal. In fact, I'm not the kind of person who can be really cruel and vulgar. You know, I didn't want to do this at first, especially for those women who really love me. I often fall in love with them in the end, but the result is that things become more complicated and worse..."

He actually said these words with a cynical look, as if he was making fun of himself with the well-known negative information about him.

But for some reason, Ning Weimin read some seriousness in his eyes.

Just a few simple words seemed to make Ning Weimin see the countless hidden secrets and stories in his life.

It's a pretty magical feeling.

Anyway, no matter how you look at it, Alain Delon's image in Ning Weimin's mind is completely different from the past, as he can do such a thing and say such words.

One cannot help but think and doubt whether the choices Aladron made in emotional issues back then were made under specific circumstances and based on his own unique considerations.

If we take his career achievements and wealth into consideration, it is amazing that despite spending money so lavishly, he has never had a financial crisis.

Such an Alain Delon could not be the conceited, romantic, yet cold, selfish, and empty-hearted person as rumored by the outside world.

On the contrary, Ning Weimin could conclude that Alain Delon was actually a very shrewd person with a clear mind and strong willpower.

It's just that these characteristics of his have probably been covered up by gossip and ordinary people's prejudice against him for many years.

And perhaps because he himself was born a poor boy, Ning Weimin could even feel two completely opposite and contradictory emotions, self-confidence and inferiority, from Alain Delon at the same time.

This seems to be the similarity between the two of them.

Perhaps they can become friends regardless of age difference because they can feel this familiar smell from each other.

This is Ning Weimin's new definition of Alain Delon after he refreshed his understanding of him - a partner who is quite capable, familiar with the local situation in France, and values ​​friendship, but is deeply misunderstood by the outside world and can basically be trusted and relied upon.

For such people, it is certainly reassuring if we can work together.

  why not?

Ning Weimin already had a clear idea at this time. He planned to have a good talk with Alain Delon after the Cannes Film Festival opened and everything was on track. In addition to the cooperation on Crazy Rich Asians, he also wanted to make some real estate and commercial investments along the French coast, perhaps to get Alain Delon to be a partner.

And that's not all.

As expected, with the help and promotion of Alain Delon, Ning Weimin finally got in touch with Catherine Deneuve, and soon heard Catherine Deneuve's warm greetings to him from the phone in the cafe.

This woman, who is known as the "director harvester" and the "First Lady of European Cinema", is a very important figure in the French film industry. In fact, she is quite sociable.

Like Alain Delon, she did not forget their friendship in the capital and did not treat him well as a friend who once took her around the city.

Although she had just arrived in Cannes and would attend the opening ceremony tomorrow and had many important social engagements today, she still did not leave Ning Weimin aside.

She invited him over the phone to bring his wife and Alain Delon to her hotel room in the evening to attend the small private party salon she was organizing.

Catherine said that in addition to meeting with the organizing committee in the evening, she would also get together with some friends from European film companies, all of whom have a significant influence on the Cannes Film Festival.

If Ning Weimin just shows up, gets to know these people, and has a quick meal, he will surely gain something.

As expected, Ning Weimin brought Matsumoto Keiko to the appointment on time in the evening. With the help of two French superstars, they met the chairman of this year's jury, the famous French film star and singer Yves Montand, French national treasure actor Philippe Noiret, César Award winner Catherine Deneuve, Oscar winner Jon Voight, producer Pierre Edelman of France's Inoue Films, and Paul Giant, owner of Italy's Medusa Films.

Although Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko did not have a strong presence at this meal, in front of these European film moguls, they were just two strange guests from the East, young and unfamiliar, who did not speak French and did not understand French customs and etiquette.

In fact, in this era of cultural lack of mutual understanding between the East and the West, it is difficult to find common topics. Even when they want to say some polite words to each other, compliment each other and greet each other, it is a bit awkward and difficult to find the focus.

On the contrary, they are more likely to strike up a conversation with Alain Delon's girlfriend.

But Catherine Deneuve was not exaggerating.

Favors are favors, and face is face.

With the warm hospitality of Catherine Deneuve as the hostess and Alain Delon's recommendation, it played a significant role. It was equivalent to them effectively endorsing Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko.

So, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko easily obtained movie tickets for tomorrow's film festival opening ceremony and an invitation to the post-screening dinner from the jury chairman Yves Montand.

Although only the movie tickets were free, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko still had to spend an additional 50,000 francs on food for the dinner.

But this thing is what is commonly known as a red carpet ticket.

Decades later, anyone in China who knows a little about the Cannes Film Festival knows how scarce industry resources are tickets and dinner invitations to the Cannes Film Festival.

This has also led to many filmmakers spending huge amounts of money to buy tickets just to be able to appear on the red carpet.

There is even an industry chain that has been formed where some people specialize in selling this qualification.

The price of a single ticket can be as high as tens of thousands of euros, and the price of the dinner is five times that.

Not to mention that this year is a little different, because with the presence of the Prince and Queen of Wales, this year's Cannes Film Festival is bound to receive much attention from the world's media.

However, Ning Weimin easily got the opportunity to walk the same red carpet with the British royal couple at the opening ceremony tomorrow. This shows how valuable favors are in an industry.

Ning Weimin was indeed lucky. Having these two French movie stars as friends was equivalent to giving each of them one million francs for free.

It is not only beneficial to the publicity of their films, but also plays an important role in improving their social status, expanding their influence, and helping them to get in touch with European celebrity circles.

And that’s not all. Representatives from two French and Italian film companies promised to go to the cinema to watch the movie "Li Xianglan" when it was screened.

There is no doubt that such a harvest is a big pie that Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko had never thought of before they came, which made them overjoyed.

It really was worth it for Ning Weimin to come to France this time. He brought Alain Delon and Catherine Deneuve each a Pierre Cardin and Goldlion co-branded gold lighter as a gift. The other party's return of favor made him earn a lot of money.

To put it bluntly, the French are not much different from the current situation in China in terms of human relations.

If you don’t know anyone, even the smallest thing will be difficult to handle. If you know someone, even the most difficult thing will be easy to handle.

  But is that all they get out of attending the party here?

No, still not. When the party was halfway through and the hotel waiter was recommending La Rochefort to everyone in Catherine's room, a late guest broke in.

However, none of the guests in the room minded, and even the hostess personally went up to him and hugged and kissed him.

As a result, when Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko saw each other's faces clearly, they were both stunned.

It turns out that life is always full of coincidences. This person is none other than David Bailey, the photographer who offered to take pictures of Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko on the beach yesterday.

It was only then that both of them realized that they were no ordinary people.

Needless to say, the next topic naturally turned to them. After their respective statements, their encounter yesterday became a hot topic of discussion in the salon.

It was only at this time that Ning Weimin realized the quality of this photographer - one of the most outstanding and unique photographers in the UK and the ex-husband of Catherine Deneuve.

Since he can grasp almost all fashion trends, he is very famous in the industry. His works are enthusiastically sought after by European and American celebrities, and many of them are regarded as classics.

Not only has he taken photos for many famous European and American film actors and fashion models, this time, he was even hired by the British royal family as the official photographer of the Prince of Wales.

It is conceivable how lucky I am to have met such a friend by chance and to have the honor of being asked to take photos by this master photographer.

Just from the fact that Rosalie worshipped David Bailey as a god and other bigwigs in the film industry all surrounded David and treated him as the central figure, Ning Weimin knew that he had unexpectedly gained a huge piece of gold.

At this moment, perhaps because the harvest was beyond his imagination, or perhaps because he drank too much, he only felt an indescribable pleasure surging throughout his body.

A stream of warm current rushed from Dantian straight to the brain, then spread to the limbs, and soon spread throughout the body.

He felt relaxed all over, from his mind to his life, from his soul to his body, everything was refreshed and enjoyable.