National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1283 Queen

Of course, Ning Weimin himself knew that it was impossible to expect the news to be kept completely confidential.

Even with the confidentiality clause, there were no less than dozens of staff members from the two production companies involved, including board members.

With so many people, how can we ensure that everyone keeps their mouth shut?

Otherwise, the groundless news about this matter would not have been leaked so early.

  God knows whether it is some big shot who is not careful with his words, or some small shot who wants to attract attention?

Therefore, the so-called confidentiality clause is based on the bottom line of trust, which is to guard against gentlemen but not villains.

What's more, there are some smart people who discover the truth of the matter based on intuition alone, which is something Ning Weimin cannot prevent, so it is impossible for him to block all the interference caused by this.

Catherine DeFurner is one of those extremely smart people, and her sources are earlier than most people.

On May 5, she was at the official hotel, drinking and having fun with several old friends from the jury.

By the way, I'd like to say a few words for Marcello Mastroianni, the leading actor of the film "Black Eyes" in the competition unit of this year's film festival, and try to win him the Best Actor Award.

Unexpectedly, after three rounds of drinks, during the intermission chat, she learned this shocking news from a friend who was a judge.

There is actually no need to verify the authenticity of the news, because the person who revealed the news works at the French Film Archive and is an authority in the film industry.

He never spreads unfounded gossip; whatever he says is definitely true.

When he told Catherine Deneuve about this, his real intention was to tell her that the Asian copyrights of dozens of movies in which she starred had probably been bought by someone else.

After all, the two French film companies that did business with Ning Weimin have acquired many other film companies over the years, either because of expansion needs or government requirements, and the size of their film libraries has become quite considerable.

No one would believe that someone would buy so many copyrights just for personal collection or personal appreciation.

So the judge was kindly reminding Catherine, hoping that she could pay attention to the Eastern film market.

He thought that perhaps in the near future, someone would create a good money-making opportunity for Catherine in Asia.

Given France's dire economic situation and the declining European film industry, she might be interested.

However, the judges never expected that Catherine Deneuve would react so strongly to the news. She almost became excited all of a sudden.

"What? Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course. Is this important to you?"

"Yes, I can't believe it, I can't believe it..."

Catherine muttered to herself, her expression changing from surprise to anxiety.

The judges noticed that she was in an abnormal state and couldn't help but worry, "What's wrong? Catherine? Are you okay..."

"Oh, I'm fine, but I have to go, thank you..."

Catherine kissed the other person's face gently, then turned and left without any reluctance.

The judges were left standing there in shock, silently savoring the lingering fragrance of the "First Lady of French Cinema"'s red lips rubbing against their cheeks, and watching Catherine in a red dress disappear into the crowd like a beautiful elf.

However, it was not so easy for Catherine to leave here smoothly.

Because this party was filled with not only big shots from the Cannes Film Festival Organizing Committee, but also heads and stars of major European film studios, and many of these people were also her friends.

Moreover, given her status in the European film industry, she was bound to be the focus of everyone's attention. It was almost impossible for her to pass through the crowd without being noticed and leave the scene as soon as possible.

So in fact, everyone who saw her in the group would keep her.

It was only by smiling and being polite along the way, and clinking glasses more than ten times, that she finally broke through the layers of blockades and found the gate.

Unexpectedly, just when victory was in sight and she was finally able to leave the party, her arm was grabbed by someone.

Then a man's cheerful voice sounded in her ears.

"Ah, my goddess, I finally see you! Where are you going, dear?"

Catherine turned around angrily to look at the people who tried to stop her because she failed.

But he discovered that it was his former lover, Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni.

Catherine did have some different feelings for this man.

Not only because when she was 28 years old, she fell madly in love with this man despite the fact that he was already married.

Even after they broke up, they still maintained an emotional bond, which was their illegitimate daughter.

That's why she willingly and without asking for anything in return, took the initiative to canvass votes for this man at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

  To be honest, compared to her ex-husbands who had formal marriages, this man who had only been fooling around with her for four years,

Instead, it allowed her to have the most unforgettable happy time, which was the most emotionally important.

So Catherine's brows, which had been frowned due to anger, turned to a relaxed one, and she expressed her demands as patiently as possible.

"Marcelo, now is not the time, please let me go, I have something to deal with..."

If it were someone else, and she had not received such treatment, she would probably have been angry by now.

After all, the title of "Ice Beauty" is not undeserved, and Catherine's family background and connections are enough to support her in releasing herself freely.

However, I don’t know if it’s because Italian men, who pride themselves on being romantic, always think highly of themselves, or because his own films have received very good reviews and reputation, but he was really happy.

Of course, it is also possible that this guy was a little drunk, or he thought that he had a special relationship with Catherine.

Anyway, Marcello Mastroianni clearly heard Catherine's request, but instead of obeying it, he hugged Catherine even tighter.

"You are such a bad person. I have been watching you silently for a long time, and I only saw you chatting and laughing with other men. What? Now you want to leave me? Stay, at least have a glass of champagne with me..."

This kind of olive oil-like sweet talk is his specialty.

If it is paired with a pair of bright eyes that look like glaze, pretending to be affectionate.

From an eighteen-year-old girl to a fifty-year-old middle-aged lady, nine out of ten people will be infatuated and fall in love with this.

The same was true of Catherine, who was 26 years old and married to David Bailey.

This was deliberately expressed by Marcelo, just like a love confession scene in a movie, and even attracted cheers and applause from the two onlookers who had just been chatting with Marcelo.

"Look! What a beautiful couple! The best actor and the best actress, a match made in heaven."

"Yeah, it's really interesting, Marcelo, if you were a man, you wouldn't let her escape." So in such a booing atmosphere, Marcelo became more excited, as if he wanted to prove his charm in front of his friends.

He really held Catherine tightly, and no matter what she said, he held her tightly and would not let her go, and even wanted to kiss her.

As a result, his rogue-like behavior exhausted Catherine's patience and tolerance.

Unable to bear it any longer, the "First Lady" finally exploded.

  Catherine showed her toughness and slapped Marcelo in the face, then snatched a glass of champagne from the onlooker and poured it over Marcelo's head!

The cold wine flowed down Marcelo's hair onto his face and neck. The coolness combined with the burning sensation on his face was like a panacea, causing Marcelo to hiccup and freeze in shock.

All the complacency and glibness left him, and instead, his face was replaced by a look of panic and helplessness.

This was probably the first time that this Italian romantic and famous actor was treated like this in public.

His original intention of happiness was the opposite of the final result, and his face was full of unbelievable embarrassment.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to call Catherine's name, but after trembling for a long time, he didn't have the courage to do it, so he just murmured.

"It was just a joke... Sorry, I didn't expect it... It was just a joke..."

As for the two people who were causing trouble just now, their faces were even paler, as if they themselves had been splashed with wine.

Even the surrounding environment began to become silent.

Many guests noticed the abnormality here and turned their heads, widened their eyes, and watched in surprise what happened next.

Only Catherine raised her chin and stared coldly at the frightened unfortunate guy in front of her.

"You asked for it!"

After a moment, he added in a carefree and proud tone, "Are you awake now? Very well, let go of your hand and let me go!"

Then, having gotten rid of the entanglement, she turned around and walked out the door without even looking at Marcelo.

Whether it was her cold expression or her righteous statement, it seemed to remind everyone present.

Catherine Deneuve will always be Catherine Deneuve!

She is as unpredictable as the characters she plays.

Although she is indeed beautiful, she has never had the burden of beauty and has crazy genes.

If you make her angry, she may let you know at any time that beauty is not made of sugar.

It is fortunate that there were no media reporters present, otherwise such an explosive scene, coupled with the exaggerated imagination of some reporters, would have been enough to make people in Cannes, and even movie fans in France, talk about it for a year.

But then again, even though Catherine passed away so elegantly and ostentatiously, she is now very happy.

She had even guessed who was the culprit that had shaken the French film industry, and directly asked her driver to drive her to the hotel where Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko were staying.

But unfortunately, she came up empty-handed.

She came here excitedly and with great anticipation, she learned a disappointing piece of news from the hotel front desk.

Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko actually left early this morning.

This left her with nowhere to vent all the words she had on the road, and she became even more irritable.

So then, Alain Delon became the unlucky guy in the end.

Because when Catherine called him to inquire about Ning Weimin's whereabouts.

This noble, repeatedly frustrated "Her Majesty the Queen" who felt let down by her friends, all the negative emotions that came from this today also fell on him.

"Alan, what's going on? Has our friend left Cannes? Where is he now? How can I find him?"

"What's going on? Who are you talking about?" Alain Delon's confused voice came from the phone. "Catherine, have you been drinking?"

"Hey, don't play dumb with me! I'm talking about Ning, our mutual friend. Now the news of his great deeds is everywhere in Cannes. He bought the Asian rights of all copies of World Television Film Company and Inoue Productions. Huh? Oh my God, I can't believe that I actually heard all this from someone else! Don't tell me you don't know about this, don't say this has nothing to do with you..."

When Catherine said this, she was shaking all over, so much so that she had to light a Yves Saint Laurent cigarette to help calm her emotions.

Alain Delon on the other end of the phone was greatly surprised.

He hadn't expected Catherine to react like this to this.

"Catherine, don't get excited. In fact, I am as surprised as you. I have been kept in the dark and had no idea about it. When I learned about it, I also felt unbelievable. I assure you that this deal was just a spur-of-the-moment idea of ​​Ning, and even his wife was also surprised." Alain Delon could only try his best to explain.

"I don't believe it. How could such a large transaction be unplanned? Don't treat me like a fool!"

Catherine made a judgment based on common sense. "Tell me the truth, how much did Ning spend on these two transactions?"

"I can't help it if you don't believe me, but what I said is the truth."

Alain Delon's voice remained gentle throughout. "As for the transaction amount, I was not at the scene, so I don't know too much, but if you add it up, it's probably around 500 million francs!"

"Five hundred million! Ha!" Catherine couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise. This number was far beyond her imagination.

She really didn't understand where Ning Weimin got so much money, and why he spent it on these useless copies.

Of course, what she couldn't understand even more was why the two of them had kept this matter so secret from her.

"I can't believe that as your mutual friend, both of you chose to hide this from me. I didn't even know he was gone! Why didn't he want to say goodbye to me? He didn't even call me to say goodbye? Did he never consider me a friend? What did I do to make him treat me like this?"

"Don't let your imagination run wild, Catherine. Just listen to me..."

Alain Delon sighed helplessly. Dealing with an excited woman was troublesome enough, let alone trying to appease the proud and arrogant Queen.

"My dear, what's so hard to understand about this? I have to say that confidentiality is indeed necessary. Think about it from another perspective. What will happen to Ning and his wife if these things are leaked? All the studios will treat them as big fat pieces of meat. In order to sell their own stock of copies, they would like to pester them. Of course, they don't want this. As for not telling you and not having time to say goodbye, it was entirely because of an emergency. Originally, Ning and I had discussed inviting you to the closing ceremony on the day of the ceremony and get together again. Unfortunately, later..."

"what happened?"

"His chairman also knows about this. So Mr. Pierre Cardon hopes to meet him as soon as possible and have a good talk in person. You know, this is like the Middle Ages, when a lord is summoned by the king. It is urgent and must be respected. So I helped him get two plane tickets temporarily, and he left by plane at noon today. He did ask me to take him to say goodbye to you. However, I am also busy with other things. Sorry, I forgot..."

"So he is in Paris now? I can find him in Paris?"

"Hey, relax. If I tell you how to find him, then I must know why you are so anxious to find him. After all, he also asked me to help block the news. Although I can make some special arrangements for true friends. But, you can't make it too difficult for me in front of him..."

"Okay." Catherine finished a cigarette and finally regained her composure. "I'm looking for him for Yves. You know, Saint Laurent has always wanted to go public, but it still lacks some financial indicators to meet the listing standards. Now my friend Yves is sick and lacks inspiration, and there is not much capital to support him as firmly as before. For Yves and my own investment, I urgently need to find someone to help. You really should have told me earlier. If you would rather invest this 500 million... no, even only half of it in Yves, then Saint Laurent's listing may not be a problem. This is good for everyone. Now it's good, God knows how much money he still has..."