Chapter 397 A wonderful misunderstanding
The French Embassy in China excludes the small garden at the back and is divided into four areas: office area, confidential area, activity area, and living area.
The banquet was held in the multi-functional hall of the event area, surrounded by AFP and Xinxia News Agency that had not yet started work.
Previously in Spain, cultural exchange activities between China and the West were held in the multi-functional hall of the Chinese Embassy in Spain. This hall often hosted dances, small exhibitions, and banquets.
"I'm sad."
"Oh friend, at least we can hug each other now."
"I will definitely miss working with you."
"Thank you very much for coming to the banquet today."
Wait, no matter how unhappy they were at work, they hugged each other at the banquet and looked happy.
The drinks served at the leaving banquet are rum and white wine, not cocktails, sparkling wine and beer.
Everything for the banquet was prepared by my wife Camille. I don’t know if there is anything I should pay attention to regarding the drinks. Anyway, Camille personally selected it, and the only drink was Alain Milliat apple juice.
On the one hand, it is very official and only invites people from the French Embassy and diplomats who have more dealings with China. On the other hand, the participants all brought their families, which seemed to eliminate the seriousness from the component, so it was said to be semi-official and semi-private.
Soon, Bruno, the next owner of "Big TV", arrived with his wife.
Big TV is the nickname given to the embassy building by the embassy insiders. From a distance, the most eye-catching thing is the protruding LCD TVs on the third and fourth floors. Even Ambassador Dibo often jokes that you cannot "change channels" at will with the TV remote control.
"I'm really sorry yesterday. There was an urgent meeting suddenly." Bruno shook hands and hugged Dibo, and gave Camille a kiss on the face.
Debo said, "You're missing out on getting to know a very talented writer."
"That's such a pity." The expression on Bruno's face really pretended to be a little sad.
The two chatted for a few more words, and Bruno and his wife walked in. The former brought a glass of wine, and the latter picked up apple juice.
There are indeed many Chinese officials present today. People know in their hearts that the social nature of this type of meeting is stronger. Bruno found a director related to foreign trade and had some conversations. He will only officially join the company tomorrow, but he can no longer hold back his thoughts - he must promote the "Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Cooperation between Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" as soon as possible.
France's economic situation has been very worrying since 2017. Especially after the world-famous "Yellow Vest Movement", we need to find new trading partners.
After the banquet lasted for more than forty minutes, Dibo stood in the C position and gave a touching speech.
"Hello, gentlemen and ladies! From the time I arrived in China's Forty-Nine City in January 2014, I have served as the French Ambassador to China for nearly five years. When I return to China after completing my term, I am very happy to meet with friends from all walks of life in France and China again... …”
This speech is quite lengthy, but to be clear, it is Debo's summary of his work. Agence France-Presse and Xinxia News Agency started working at this moment. This can be regarded as a formal resignation report.
"Two unprecedented major events also occurred during my tenure. One is the birth of the panda cub "Dream Come True", which has become a new messenger of friendship between France and China. The other is the celebration of the Chinese writer Gu Lu's "One Night Genius" "The New Great Wall" and the singing of the national anthem in the Government Square are also representative scenes of France-China friendship. ”
The more than 20-minute resignation report finally came to an end.
"I am honored to witness and participate in these historic moments in France-China relations. I am extremely proud to continue the great cause started by General de Gaulle and Mr. Mao and contribute to the development of France-China relations."
There was a roar of applause.
Seriously speaking, due to the attitude of Dibaud Pompang, these five years have been the most fruitful years for Sino-French cultural exchanges. Just a lot of literary works from the two countries have been translated into each other.
Entering the next stage, Chinese friends give gifts.
The value of the gift is not high, but it is of great commemorative significance. For example, the director of a certain foreign trade department whom Bruno was talking to just now gave a gift of relatively precious tea leaves. Even if you have money, you can't buy that...
"There are as many delicious teas in China as there are delicious cheeses in our country, which impressed me deeply. I also know a tea poem: tea, fragrant leaves, buds. Mu Shike, Love Monk's Family. Grinding Carving White jade, woven red yarn..." Dibo recited. It’s really not easy. Many Chinese have never heard of Yuan Zhen’s one- to seven-character poems.
"When I go back, maybe I can write a book introducing Chinese tea." Dibo took the gift with both hands, looked at it carefully, and then handed it to his wife Camille behind him. Camille also took it solemnly, handed it to the staff after a while, and took it to the living area behind for storage.
For every gift Dibo faced, no matter whether it was delivered to his heart or not, the emotional value was given very well.
First, give me a few words of praise. If you are capable, quote scriptures. If you are not capable, just say a few sentences of French humor.
Director Zhao of the United Front Department sent gifts, and Dibo also did the same thing.
The only difference is that Director Zhao also took out a document bag and said, "Mr. Dibo, this is the gift that Teacher Gu Lu asked me to bring."
Hearing this, Dibo's curiosity immediately arose. When we parted yesterday, Gu said that she wanted to give him a special gift.
How special?
A novel... Dibo laughed out loud when he saw the title "Who Touched My Cheese?" 》
Especially when his name was mentioned in the preface, Dibo immediately understood, "Gu must have felt the charm of cheese and loves cheese so much. Let me just say, no one in the world can refuse cheese."
The outgoing ambassador thought that the gift of cheese must be too little, and everything became clear when he read the title of the book.
When he returns to Paris, he will send more and better cheese. It can’t be too much, just fifty kilograms!
This figure is by no means random. The French consume an average of thirty kilograms of cheese every year. Gu Lu is not young anymore and must have a girlfriend. Is twenty-five kilograms for each of you and your girlfriend reasonable?
"Gu's creative ability really surprised me." Dibo said to everyone with a smile, with a boastful tone, "Gu specially created a novel and gave it to me. It really surprised me, alas!"< br>
The staff of the "big TV" on site all knew Gu Lu's name. After all, they had all watched "One Night Genius". They wrote a work specially as a parting gift, and there was a hint of envy in their eyes.
Bruno was not moved at all. His expression did not change at all, and he even wanted to laugh a little inside. Can you live forever? That's not right, but can it leave a name in history? Can't. Is this the only pursuit of a high-ranking French politician?
But don’t blame Fang Xing. After all, strictly speaking, Bruno will only get the remote control panel and control this big TV tomorrow. With an area of more than 20,000 square meters and more than 800 employees, it is indeed large for an organization.
Why does Bruno think Dibo has no ambition? Because the latter attached too much importance to the gift, he directly placed the manuscript on the high table at hand without even handing it to Camille.
The entire banquet lasted for more than two hours, and they dispersed at nine o'clock in the evening.
At this point, Dibo's burden has been completely lifted. After the banquet was over, Bruno did not rest and had a small-scale interview with the minister, minister-counsellor and ordinary counselor.
After explaining his policy, he worked for more than twenty minutes.
I have to say, this behavior is so annoying. Is there anything that cannot be said during working hours? Originally, attending the resignation banquet was considered overtime, but after overtime work, I had to make a summary, damn it!
A few counselors and ministers met in a small area. After all, Mr. Jettola, the minister, thought he could take over, but he didn't expect this one to be airborne...
"I want to change the channel before I even get the remote control. Mr. Bruno is too impatient."
"Eager to make some achievements."
"But it is indeed better to switch to the commercial channel than the cultural channel. At present, we in France lack money, confidence, and jobs, but we do not lack culture."
"Of course, France has never lacked culture."
……
Dibo returned to the room and couldn't wait to look at Gu Lu's parting gift.
His wife Camille invited Dibo if he wanted to take a shower together, but the latter didn't hear clearly and refused directly.
Just follow Gu Lu! Camille, whose face was flushed (the effect of alcohol), was also a little dissatisfied. It is true that the future achievements of Chinese writers can only be guaranteed by Mark Levy, but not yet!
Dibo didn't see his wife's expression, and of course he would pretend he didn't see it if he did. After all, his wife is ten years younger than him and has great physical strength.
"Why does Mr. Gu Lu like to use mice as an image? Is it because mice are neighbors of humans?"
A certain writer once had such a view, saying that humans can only look at or overlook the city, and the only mammals that can look up at the city are the rats living in the sewers.
"That should be the point of view." Dibo nodded silently, agreeing with his conjecture. This is the case for people who read a lot, and it is easy to start to make up their minds.
Besides, Dibo Peng Pang would have thought more.
Keep looking——
“The more important you think cheese is, the more you want to keep it.
“If you don’t change, you will be eliminated.
"Smell the cheese often so you know if it's still fresh.
"Go in new directions and you'll discover new cheeses."
……
It's about 40,000 words, and I finished it in less than an hour.
"A fable-like novella, Gu Zhen treats me as a friend, we are close friends!"
Dibo used the wrong idiom. He probably meant to say "we are friends". After all, his understanding of Chinese culture is limited. He recited Yuan Zhen's poem in advance. After all, someone will definitely bring tea and wine, and reciting poems about wine can also be used at banquets. "It's so important, this work is so important!" Dibo was so excited that he couldn't suppress his voice.
The sound attracted Camille after taking a shower.
She couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Is it that exaggerated?"
"It's not an exaggeration, dear, do you know what kind of work this is? Do you know the situation we are in in France now?" Dibo asked.
The current situation in France is very bad. Although Camille stays with her husband in China all year round, she still knows the situation in her own country relatively well.
“Since 2017, the domestic situation has begun to decline, and the country has tried every means to stimulate the economy and consumption.” Dibo said, “The wealthy tax was even canceled last year in an attempt to stimulate household investment, but it fell short of the expected target... …The gap is too far. In order to improve the employment situation, many recruitment restrictions have been eased and the universality of employment has been increased, but there has been no real progress.”
There are many measures, but they are useless, and Dibo doesn't want to say them all one by one. "After the yellow vest incident, the government's credibility plummeted and the fiscal deficit further worsened. At this time, open source and confidence are even more needed."
Open source and confidence, so what does it have to do with Gu Lu's gift? Camille's eyes were filled with confusion.
"This work is a cultural shot in the arm, a fable that inspires people to work hard." Dibo said, "Gu must have known that I would serve as the first minister of the Ministry of Culture and Communications, so he deliberately wrote such a work. Give it to me. This is the best gift for me.”
Although the position that Dibo will be transferred to after expiration has not yet been announced and ordinary people cannot know it, it is not a secret in the circle.
Think about it, if Gu Lu specially sent out such a work, wouldn't that be just to throw his political achievements in his face? Can Dibo not be moved?
If you put it this way... Camille sighed, "Gu's writing ability is too strong. After eating a meal of cheese, you can come up with such a work."
"I will take care of the future cheese!" Dibo said decisively.
That's what it should be. Camille nodded, and she asked, "Dibo, what are you going to do?"
"I can't live up to Gu's kindness. I personally translated it into French, and then I will do my best to promote it after I take office as minister!" Dibo said, "I want this work to win all the awards that can be won in the country!"
This is no lie. The first minister of the Ministry of Culture and Communications is quite the leader in managing the culture and communications departments in the country. With such power, it is too easy to win awards.
"Dear, the specific publisher will trouble you." Dibo said.
Camille's full name: Camille Jean Lagardère, is the third princess of the French Lagardère Group. Hachette Publishing Group, a subsidiary of this group, is one of the six largest publishing groups in the world, as well as a media giant and an aviation giant. To put it simply, the Lagardère Group has a strong monopoly on French publishing.
You see, as an heir to the famous Peng Pang family, his wife must not be a commoner.
"I will definitely let Mog go all out to publish this book." Camille knew the seriousness of the problem. Her husband was the head of the Ministry of Culture and Information, so there was definitely no way to change the country's real economy, and it was not under his control. But it is also a great achievement to lift the people's spirits.
Without further ado, "Who Touched My Cheese?" 》At least SS+ publicity and promotion...
Just do what you say, Dibo can be considered an action man.
That night, I started to do some basic translations, such as place names, the main title "Who Moved My Cheese", and the subtitle "Send a Book to Dibo Peng Pang"
In the original text of Earth, it was cheese station C, and Gu Lu made slight modifications to the place name. Station C has become station N. If you have to say what it means, it may be N in the south. Southwest is also south!
The names have not been changed, because the translators on Earth translated them as Xin Daya. The two little mice were translated as Sniff (sniffing), Scurry (hurriedly running) as hurriedly, and the two dwarfs translated Hem as Heng Heng and Haw as Haw. Chirp.
Dibo's French translation turned station N into the cheese station Normandie. Because Normandy is one of the birthplaces of cheese, Gu’s love for cheese really shows in every aspect. Dibo thought so.
"Who touched my glutinous rice cake?" "At that time, Gu Lu wanted to release it, but President Jian blocked it because it looked like the sales would not be very good.
Gu Lu also agreed very much. The book "On Earth" was published in 1998. At that time, the global economic environment was changing rapidly, so it was very suitable for this book.
In itself, the content of the book is easy to understand and can be read by young and old, but without publicity, sales will not be too high.
To sum up, Gu Lu has stayed until now. He just adhered to the idea of not wasting money and never thought of triggering such a misunderstanding...
Gu Lu is currently promoting the theatrical version of the anime.
Promotional messages were posted on both Bilibili and Weibo - it's just that, Gu Lu looked at the former and felt a little guilty.
We agreed to continue to update the interview series with King Guru, and Jia Xudu helped find the person, but there were too many miscellaneous things. More than a month passed, and there was no update at all.
"I'm getting older, and my energy is not as good as when I was young." Gu Lu said.
It’s not entirely an excuse for myself, because since my return, there have been too many things.
Even next year’s itinerary already has two things in mind. The first is a celebration of the country of the furry bears, a continuation of Tolstoy's play. Secondly, next year’s Student Day, the lineup is Zhejiang Foreign Studies University, Beijing Film Academy, and Nanjing University of Technology. Gu Lu was entrusted to help write a small script and shoot it into a short story...
Let’s talk about next year’s matters, and the rest of this year’s tasks must also be completed.
I went abroad to do scientific research with Teacher Lu, and also published my second full-length work this year.
"I'm too busy. In the next few months, I won't accept anything or anyone!" Gu Lu said firmly, "I want to concentrate on writing "From the New World"."
As soon as he finished speaking, a phone rang.
The caller is the chairman of the Grand Diplomacy International Think Tank.
It is not convenient to disclose the details of the phone call. After all, it is a national matter. To sum up, the chairman relayed it here, and the country will consult if there are any questions. Regarding strategic consultation on cultural export to Europe and the United States, every expert has to write a countermeasure.
Don't underestimate this consultation, it can really go directly to Tianting. After all, the purpose of establishing six core think tanks is to brainstorm ideas. For example, in the past five years, the suggestion given by the think tank (called the expert panel at that time) was to break through through Confucius Institutes and film and television works. Therefore, in those years, the state gave full support to overseas film and television productions and the establishment of Confucius Institutes.
Chairman Wen also knew Gu Lu's special nature, so there was no need to put too much pressure on him to comfort him.
There must be pressure. After all, the experts and professors in the think tank really study foreign relations, and they have written books and biographies on foreign trade, culture and other aspects.
For example, Professor Zhang Lili has a pile of resumes and there is not enough room for so many people here. Let’s just talk about a chief researcher of the “East Asia Strategy and Peace Forum” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His book "Foreign Decision Making" is a textbook in most diplomacy academies.
"Chairman Wen, look at this, can I directly show the results? The strategy of replacing words with results." Gu Lu thought about it.
"Huh?" Chairman Wen sounded confused in his nasal voice.
"The cumulative sales of my books "Mr. Holmes" and "The Little Prince" have exceeded three million copies, and the sales volume of books in Asia is even higher." Gu Lu said, "I can directly carry out actual combat and provide some information for this national consultation. Practical experience.”
Writing down theoretical knowledge is a waste of time. Now that there is an expert brand, Gu Lu also wants to really contribute.
This is a path I have never thought of. Chairman Wen has been the head of a think tank for two or three years, and the head of the "Foreign Affairs Expert Group" for four or five years. He has never seen this situation before, direct actual combat?
"If possible, the actual combat situation shown by the experts will definitely provide us with a richer perspective for this consultation." Chairman Wen said immediately.
Okay, okay, if that's the case, let's get it straight.
After hanging up the phone, Gu Lu suddenly realized that something seemed wrong, why he had taken on another task.
It’s okay, after all, it’s considered fulfilling its responsibilities to the best of its ability.
So, how to do it? Gu Lu had a little idea. After all, if he dared to say this, he must be somewhat confident.
Cultural export should mainly be exported to Europe and the United States. After all, Annam, Neon, and South Korea are heavily influenced by Chinese culture and have little reference value.
Gu Lu fell into thinking.
There are currently two ideas, one is to go to the United Kingdom via the Cthulhu route, and the other is to go to the United States through another work in the Arsenal.
What you choose depends on the situation.
Purely Chinese popular novels are very few popular in Europe and the United States, but it would be much simpler if they only contained Chinese elements. For example, nowadays, more and more people use wine to commemorate the deceased. Even if they don't know "酹", they know that this is a custom that has been followed in China since ancient times. This is the small modification King Gollum made to "Mr. Holmes".
In addition, Da Ying media ranks dog breeds around the world. No wonder Da Ying likes various rankings to export culture. In the past, when Akita dogs were mentioned, Chinese pastoral dogs were not mentioned. But now even if you don’t approve of the combat effectiveness, you will still mention it... because after all, the pastoral dog has killed a descendant of the Outer God in the Cthulhu series. If it is not excluded, many British readers will make a fuss.
Gu Lu is still better at outputting in a subtle way.
On the other hand, "Kuroko's Basketball: Peak Battle" was released.
The box office performance in the first week was quite good, with more than 85 million, and the market forecast was around 300 million.
Why should we use "quite" to describe it? Let’s take an example from Earth: Conan the Movie, the best performing film in China in 2019 was “The Fist of Cyanosis”, with a box office of 231 million yuan. But think about it, how famous is Conan on Earth?
There is no Conan in the parallel world, but there is One Piece. Oh, it is called "One Piece" to be precise. Action Frenzy, released this year, is the best box office performance of One Piece so far, surpassing 200 million.
"The fame of Kuroko Basketball cannot be compared with One Piece! Why does the box office look better than One Piece?"
There are Umi (One Piece fans) who don’t understand.
(End of chapter)