National Tide 1980

Alain Delon is indeed very powerful in France.

The dinner on the evening of May 13 further proved this point.

Alain Delon entertained Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko at the oldest restaurant in Cannes, France - Provencal.

This restaurant is located on Saint-Antoine Street. It is famous for its traditional French cuisine and rural flavor. It is also a gathering place for artists.

European celebrities like to dine here, but for this reason, this high-end restaurant requires reservations, and it is difficult to get a seat.

In fact, not only is the Cannes Film Festival full, but the seats are already booked during the entire tourist season.

If you are an ordinary guest, you can only leave your contact information and try your luck.

See if you can meet a guest who changes his plan, then you may have a meal, otherwise you can only return disappointed.

To put it bluntly, the consumption here is high, but it is not a place where you can solve the problem by simply spending money.

For ordinary people to eat here, in addition to being willing to spend money, they also need to rely on luck, and the chance is quite slim.

For Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, they were unfamiliar with the place, and they were able to eat here because of Alain Delon.

In fact, after returning from Martinez Beach, they changed their clothes at the hotel first, and then called a taxi to go to the Provencal Restaurant to keep their appointment. Unexpectedly, before they arrived, they heard the driver muttering all the way in the car, saying how difficult it was to get into this restaurant.

When they arrived at the door of the restaurant, as expected, there was a long queue as the driver said, all of whom were people who had not made a reservation and came to try their luck.

Fortunately, they were Alain Delon's guests. When the waiter at the door heard them say Alain Delon's name, he immediately sent someone to lead them in.

However, there were some embarrassing situations.

Because they followed the Japanese time habits, they arrived twenty minutes earlier than the agreed time. At this time, not only the host had not arrived, but even the seats that could be taken had not been arranged.

It turned out that Alain Delon did not reserve a seat in advance. Although the restaurant was very considerate of him, when the guests really came, they could only add seats temporarily.

In this way, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko watched helplessly as the waiters in the restaurant temporarily moved tables, chairs and tablecloths, and arranged a table for them in the crowded restaurant by occupying part of the dance floor.

So many customers looked dissatisfied at them, and showed disgust and disgust for the two of them on their faces.

Some people even stopped the waiters and pointed at them to ask about this matter, as if they were protesting to the restaurant.

This made the two thin-skinned people feel a little uncomfortable staying here.

However, ten minutes later, when the host arrived, everything changed.

When Alain Delon, who was over 50 years old, and his 20-year-old girlfriend Rosalie appeared, everyone's eyes were on him.

As he walked in, at least one-third of the people in the restaurant greeted him.

The people who smiled at the big star included not only the waiters but also the guests, and even the guests at the tables around them who initially expressed dissatisfaction.

Even some actors and directors who were eating in the restaurant were proud to know Alain Delon.

And Alain Delon himself didn't look like he was here to eat, but rather to hold a press conference.

Even after he dragged Rosalie to a seat, the sensation was still not over.

Before Alain Delon had time to say a few words to Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, a waiter from the restaurant came to him on behalf of the guests from other tables and presented him with champagne.

It can only be said that Alain Delon is a real big star, and his influence has already covered the whole world.

Not only does the French film industry and the French people love him, but he also has a pivotal position in the international arena, and celebrities and wealthy people are willing to be friends with him.

It has to be admitted that in this era, even though he is old and semi-retired, the influence of this handsome old French man when he appears far exceeds that of "Little Leo" and "Tang" later.

It was because of witnessing this scene that Ning Weimin realized that Alain Delon had actually restrained himself enough when he was in Beijing.

When he celebrated his birthday at Maxim's restaurant, he once asked during his meal, "Today I am fifty years old. Let's close the restaurant after fifty guests are allowed in."

Now that I think about it, it is not too much, because this guy is undoubtedly more rampant in France, and his bad habits are actually spoiled by the people here.

As for the rumors that he is deeply involved with the Corsican Mafia, the origin of the Mafia organization, although Ning Weimin cannot get any clear evidence.

But from a feeling, it seems to be really interesting. Anyway, he believes this "rumor" more and more.

Not for anything else, just because Ning Weimin took the initiative to expose his family's dirty laundry during the meal, and mentioned that they were harassed by several drunkards while walking on the beach just now.

And he was quick-witted for a while, revealing his intention to spend money to hire two bodyguards and a car in Cannes.

Unexpectedly, Alain Delon laughed loudly for a while, and then agreed to take the matter on himself.

He said that Ning Weimin didn't need to worry about it anymore, and someone would pick him up at the hotel in the morning, and he didn't even mention the money.

As a result, the next day, May 14, the two burly men who came to the hotel to check in early in the morning were almost scared by Ning Weimin.

Not only did the two men carry guns, they also looked cold and fierce, and it would be fine if they had tattoos.

The key point is that both of them had scars on their heads and faces. They were obviously people with stories, and they were definitely not bodyguards in the ordinary sense.

Even if they were both wearing black suits, it was not the case.

In Beijing dialect, these two people were not good people. Anyone who saw such people on the street would avoid them.

Ning Weimin regretted it very much. He felt that he had lost his sense of security when he went out with them, and it was as if he was kidnapped.

It can be seen from this that Alain Delon's background might not be so clean.

His heroic demeanor on the screen may not be acted at all.

To paraphrase what a small-eyed star in China said decades later, that is, "What's wrong with acting as a gangster? I have a life."

So Ning Weimin had no choice but to call Pierre Cardin's assistant Gao Tianmei when he returned to the room and asked her to help him contact the bodyguard and rent a car.

After thinking about it, he thought that it might be difficult to find a place in Cannes, so he added that it didn't matter if he transferred someone from Paris, and he didn't care about the cost.

And he didn't dare to let Matsumoto Keiko get in the car with him. He just went to the appointment alone and took the car of two "bodyguards" to meet Alain Delon.

But to be honest, Alain Delon sometimes overdoes things.

Just like these two bodyguards, although the candidates are not quite what Ning Weimin wants.

But his vigorous and self-willed style of doing things still makes Ning Weimin quite satisfied in some things.

Like the implementation of the screening of "Li Xianglan" and the purchase of a booth in the underground market of the Palais des Festivals.

When Ning Weimin came to the cafe near the Palais des Festivals, Alain Delon had basically negotiated the specific conditions for him.

The screening time was on the third day after the opening of the film festival, with a screening room with 80 seats in the morning and a screening room with 300 seats in the afternoon. The morning screening cost 100,000 francs and the afternoon screening cost 200,000 francs.

The booth will be available in four or five days at the earliest, and a standard booth costs about 200,000 to 300,000 francs.

Ning Weimin had no objection to this. Although it was a little expensive, that was for filmmakers with insufficient funds, not a big problem for him.

After all, this was a temporary queue jump, and it was good to settle the matter so quickly, which was much better than carrying a pig's head and not being able to find the temple gate.

So after he arrived, he met a Frenchman in charge of the screening work of the organizing committee under the introduction of Alain Delon, and then they sat together for breakfast and chatted about a lot of gossip about the film festival.

After eating and drinking, several people went back to the organizing committee office of the Film Festival Palace together, and Ning Weimin came to sign and pay the money. This matter was basically settled without any twists and turns.

The only thing worth mentioning is that Ning Weimin discovered an incredible unspoken rule of the film festival through Alain Delon.

It turns out that for real international celebrities, the Cannes Film Festival Organizing Committee has stipulated that paid interviews are a way to make money.

For example, the interview fee for American director Barbet Schroeder in the competition unit "Wine and Love" this year is 10,000 francs, while last year when Martin Scorsese brought "Eight Hours Outside" to Cannes, the interview fee reached 15,000 francs.

As for people like Alain Delon who have no films to participate in the exhibition and are just here to join in the fun, as long as their status is high enough, each reporter also needs to pay 5,000 francs.

But this part of the interview fee is only for reporters outside Europe and the United States, and interviews with European and American reporters are free.

There is no doubt that this is a kind of regional discrimination based on cultural discourse power.

In fact, in the process of accompanying Ning Weimin to do things, Alain Delon was interviewed by more than a dozen reporters.

Sometimes, because there were several people interviewing together, the time spent was less than half an hour, and he could easily get 30,000 or 40,000 francs.

It has to be said that European and American stars in this era live a very comfortable life. In half an hour, they can earn the income of an ordinary Frenchman for half a year.

In just half an hour, Ning Weimin made money faster than he could earn 1.2 million francs in interest every day.

Next, of course, it was time for entertainment.

At this point, it must be said that the French love of pleasure.

In fact, there was no need to find another place. With Alain Delon, an old bird, leading the way, Ning Weimin knew that there was a nightclub-like casino in the Palais des Festivals.

Downstairs was a serious cultural event like the film festival, and upstairs was a den of decadence. Such a ridiculous thing actually happened.

With his eyes wide open, Ning Weimin didn't know how to comment. He could only use traveler's checks to buy 200,000 francs of chips like Alain Delon, and follow this playboy to see it.

People like Alain Delon certainly wouldn't gamble in the hall, they had to go to the big room.

There is no threshold for the big room, but the minimum bet is relatively high. The outside hall has different starting points such as 100, 200, and 500, while the VIP room has a minimum of 1,000 francs per round.

Alain Delon was a regular here at first glance, and he sat directly at the blackjack table and started to fight.

Ning Weimin stood beside him and watched for a while, and felt that it was not interesting, so he leisurely changed to another table to wander around.

In the information age decades later, it is almost known that Chinese people are a world-famous gambling family.

Standing in the casino, you look around, at least half of the faces are Orientals, no need to go up and ask, nine out of ten are either overseas Chinese or Chinese.

So decades later, most casino managers always treat Chinese people with special favor and are particularly attentive to oriental faces.

Because everyone here knows that the Chinese, called "old Chinese", are the best gamblers. They never blink when giving tips at the gambling table and are generous.

No matter what profession they are in, even if they come from restaurants or clothing factories, from bosses to workers, from chefs to sewing women, they will give their hard-earned money to the casino.

Some old overseas Chinese have worked hard all their lives and gave their only income to the gambling table.

If you ask them why they do this, they will smile and say, "I will get it back sooner or later."

However, in this era, the gambling nature of the Chinese has not been widely recognized by the casino owners around the world.

As one of the few oriental faces here, Ning Weimin did not attract much attention whether he stopped at the blackjack, roulette, baccarat, or dice gambling table.

And Ning Weimin is indeed an alternative among the Chinese.

With the blessing of God, he knew how the world would change in the next few decades, and he could easily use the stock market as an ATM.

If he was still interested in the "bloodless" game in the casino, that would be a ghost.

I'm afraid that in this world, he would be the most boring and uninteresting person for any gambling game.

So he wandered around without placing a bet, and finally ran to the hall outside to drink free drinks and watch the performances of the singing and dancing girls.

After feeling bored, he returned to Alain Delon, and Ning Weimin found that the 30,000 or 40,000 francs that this guy had just earned, together with his own tens of thousands of francs, had already bottomed out and would soon be lost.

So he simply gave Alain Delon a generous hand and put all the chips of 100,000 francs in front of him as a favor.

Alain Delon was stunned, "Ning? You..."

"Nothing, I don't want to play anymore, so you don't have to change it again."

As he said that, Ning Weimin also joked, "Friend, calm down and take your time. You might as well try my chips. Maybe with the help of the magic of the East, you will soon change your luck."

"Haha! That's true, that's great."

Alain Delon laughed and stopped being polite, directly betting 10,000.

Unexpectedly, Ning Weimin's words really came true. This time, he actually won a grand slam blackjack.

Before he opened his mouth, the dealer had already given him one and a half times the chips, and four 2,500 chips became ten.

In this way, his luck really started to go smoothly.

Because he was talking happily with Ning Weimin, he didn't have time to collect the chips, and the dealer had already dealt the cards.

When he lit a cigarette and took a puff, just when he was about to spit out the smoke, well, ten chips became twenty-five again.

Another grand slam blackjack.

This is too smooth.

It's so smooth!

So he was completely excited.

In less than a few minutes, the ten thousand francs he threw on the table turned into sixty-two thousand and five thousand!

Can you imagine it?

At this time, Alain Delon looked at Ning Weimin again, his eyes were really shining, and he regarded him as his lucky boy.

And it’s strange to say, once gambling luck comes, it can’t be stopped anyway.

In the next hour, Alain Delon lost less and won more, and it seemed that no matter how he bet, he won more than one million francs.

This made Alain Delon so happy that he forgot everything, forgot that his model girlfriend Rosalie was still waiting for him in the hotel, and forgot that he promised Ning Weimin that he would take him to see Catherine Deneuve today.

Until Ning Weimin looked at his watch and urged him for the third time, "If you don’t leave, the oriental magic on the chips will dissipate."

He stopped out of superstition, and this was not only because the beautiful bikini lady brought him cigarettes and wine.

Even the casino manager came up to congratulate them on their victory.

He also shook his hand and said, "Mr. Delon, you are such a lucky man today!"

Then he enthusiastically gave them two cards, one for each person, which could be used to have a free meal at the Cannes Film Festival Palace.

When Alain Delon exchanged the chips for cash, he not only returned all the money Ning Weimin had, but also gave him half of the winnings.

However, Ning Weimin refused and said with a smile, "I don't want to share the money, I just want you to promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"Don't gamble anymore today. Gambling is all about luck. The casino gave us a free meal because they are afraid that you will leave and hope that you will come back. Don't be fooled. Irrational people are always losers and are the most popular people in the casino. There are so many enjoyments outside, let's change our entertainment."

This reminder was absolutely in place. Alain Delon was stunned for a moment and said, "Friend, you are right! Okay, then let's go to dinner now! Call your wife and Rosalie too! I want to buy them gifts!"