Chapter 52
When netizens discovered that Hermann was publicly supporting Su Xingyao, it was already three days later.
At first, some people came out to mock Su Xingyao.
"I don't know what's so great about this supposedly resurgent star. When it comes to VFX-heavy films, you have to look at the recently emerging foreign genius director whose name starts with 'H.'"
"+1, one video and suddenly he's the next big thing. Some people really need to get out more and experience the world."
"I completely don't understand why Su Xingyao is being hyped so much."
"But wait... one is a video edited by a non-professional in a few days, and the other is a movie made by a professional director. The cost, time, and technology are all different. How is it fair to pit them against each other like this?"
"LOL, comparing him to a genius director now, are we? Fine, I'll take it as you guys complimenting my Su."
Just as everyone thought this comparison was utterly ridiculous, a netizen suddenly asked those sarcastic commenters:
"Genuine question, are you talking about Hermann, the newly emerging foreign genius director whose name starts with 'H'?"
Seeing how easily it was decoded, the person thought they had found a fellow fan and excitedly replied: Yeah! You a fan too?
Netizen: Nah, but I saw him hyping up Su Xingyao.
"...What?"
With that, the netizen dropped a screenshot.
While these so-called fans were trashing Su Xingyao, Hermann himself had already been gushing over Su Xingyao on his own social media page.
Hermann: Yao, you're a genius!!!!!!!!!
The comments were flooded with people asking Hermann who 'Yao' was.
Hermann then proudly shared a screenshot of Su Xingyao's video edit.
Netizens couldn't stop laughing when they noticed Hermann's nine exclamation marks.
"LOL, the genius director you're hyping up is calling Su Xingyao a genius too."
[While 'fans' are trashing Su Xingyao, the director himself is singing his praises.]
"LOL, this sounds like me fangirling, but this director's praise is next-level."
"This screenshot has me dead."
After getting called out, the haters went quiet. But it only made others more curious.
"But seriously, how did this foreign director even find Su Xingyao's video?"
"No clue how he found it, but calling him 'Yao' sounds pretty familiar—like they're tight."
"Wait, WHAT?? Su Xingyao and Hermann are actually friends????? That's wild!!!"
"?????? Su Xingyao is on another level."
Seeing so many people shocked, those who didn't know Hermann at all were confused.
"Late to the party... can someone fill me in on who Hermann is? Is he that big of a deal? Why the shock?"
"Whether he's awesome or not, I don't know, but his movie this year dominated the box office, and he's most likely to win Best Director at the end of the year."
Netizens, after getting the lowdown: ...
"6" (a slang expression of approval or amazement)
"6"
"6"
Meanwhile, netizens are going wild discussing what kind of relationship Su Xingyao and Hermann have.
Su Xingyao has already picked him up at a private airport.
This time, Hermann came to the country to attend the upcoming international film festival.
As soon as he saw Su Xingyao, Hermann, who had a blank and world-weary expression just a second ago, immediately transformed, reaching out his long arms and pulling Su Xingyao into a tight hug.
Young master Hermann not only looks like someone you don't want to mess with but is also usually cold and distant when speaking to his family.
On set, his temper is explosive and his tongue sharp, and no one dares to cross him within a mile.
But such a person now smiles like a big, clingy cat upon seeing Su Xingyao.
The accompanying assistant was completely stunned by the scene.
Among Su Xingyao's roommates, Hermann has the worst and most difficult temperament.
When they first met, the usually arrogant Hermann often gave him the cold shoulder.
But within a semester, Hermann's attitude towards Su Xingyao did a complete 180, even proposing to be roommates with Su Xingyao.
Geniuses are often lonely.
Hermann had an extremely tense relationship with his family during school and was also hitting a creative block.
At that time, he couldn't communicate normally with anyone and equally despised everyone, his emotions teetering on a very dangerous edge.
But Su Xingyao's presence was like a gentle spring, endlessly tolerating all his bad temper and negative emotions.
During countless nights of going out to shoot footage, find inspiration, and stay up late editing videos together, Hermann finally learned how to vent his emotions and pull his thoughts back from the dangerous edge through his interactions with Su Xingyao.
So, upon seeing Su Xingyao for the first time, he habitually hugged him as before.
But this time, he didn't start complaining about the stupid things he encountered as he used to.
Instead, he looked at Su Xingyao with a puzzled expression and touched his arm.
"Yao, have you lost weight?"
Su Xingyao looked at his body and shook his head, "No, I don't think so."
"Yes, you have."
Hermann was certain.
Su Xingyao never mentioned his family background to his roommates, but Hermann, who also comes from a complex family situation, is quite sensitive to these things.
Although he never asked, he could sense that Su Xingyao's family was very cold towards him.
Seeing that Su Xingyao had lost a lot of weight, Hermann's first reaction was whether Su Xingyao's family had been giving him a hard time, and a hint of worry immediately flashed across his eyes and brows.
"Maybe I haven't been eating or sleeping well lately because of editing videos. You saw that video—it took me six days to edit it."
After Su Xingyao explained the reason to Hermann, he added a sentence to ease Hermann's concerns.
"I've recently met a very good friend who's been taking really good care of me."
When mentioning Lu Jiuxu, Su Xingyao's eyes curved into crescents.
"We live together, and he has a great personality. I'll introduce you to him when I get the chance."
Hermann noticed the look on Su Xingyao's face and immediately perked up.
"Living together? Is he your new roommate?"
Hermann's question caught Su Xingyao off guard.
What exactly was his relationship with Lu Jiuxu?
While Su Xingyao was still pondering, Hermann quickly pulled out his phone and started wailing in their roommate group chat.
Hermann: Yao's got a new roommate.
Hermann: Injured puppy.jpg
The previously silent group chat.
After Hermann sent this message, it was instantly flooded with emojis.
Lance: Injured puppy.jpg
Leon: Injured puppy.jpg
Louis: Injured puppy.jpg
Lance: "Sad" "Sad" "Sad"
Lance: Which lucky guy is this?
Leon: Which lucky guy is this?
Louis: Which lucky guy is this?
By the time Su Xingyao realized what was happening, the group chat had already been spammed with dozens of injured puppy emojis.
His gaze fell on the last sentence from his roommates.
Seeing that his roommates had misunderstood Lu Jiuxu, Su Xingyao couldn't help but defend him.
Su Xingyao: He's not...
Hermann, who was with Su Xingyao and didn't want to ruin his image in front of him, didn't send anything but was secretly lurking: Oh no, oh no!
After having dinner together, Su Xingyao and Hermann headed to the film festival venue.
The film festival lasted for a week, with many screening rooms open to the public where audiences could buy tickets to enter.
However, the more professional inner venues were not open to the public and required an invitation to enter.
Su Xingyao had not ventured into the film industry within the domestic entertainment circle and had only recently gained popularity, so naturally, he hadn’t received an invitation from the organizers.
But the guy who brought him along was Hermann, and no one dared to stop him when he entered the main venue.
This international film festival had foreign participants, but there were even more domestic directors and artists in attendance.
To avoid any trouble, Su Xingyao went all out with a hat, mask, and sunglasses, covering himself head to toe.
At first, he was worried he might be overdoing it.
But he noticed there were even more oddly dressed people around, and compared to them, he looked pretty normal.
Moreover, everyone’s focus was on the various big directors and movie stars, so no one really noticed him.
In contrast to Su Xingyao’s "normal" appearance, the insiders in the main venue were clearly very interested in Hermann.
He had just arrived and almost instantly drew everyone’s attention, with people lining up to chat and interact with him.
Seeing this, Su Xingyao, being the cautious type, split from him after they entered.
As a result, Hermann was pretty annoyed about all the attention and not being able to hang out with Su Xingyao.
But knowing Su Xingyao hated drama and liked to stay under the radar, he had to suck it up, sulking and handling it on his own.
The main competition section in the main venue, being where the big awards were handed out, was always crowded.
Su Xingyao skipped the crowd and headed straight to the emerging talents section.
This spot showcased and screened works and intros from new filmmakers, both local and international.
Since all the directors were newbies, this spot wasn’t as packed as the others.
Su Xingyao wasn’t too into the ongoing film intros, so he wandered around the booths checking out the new directors’ intros.
There were a lot of new directors showing up this time, but after checking them out, only three really stood out to Su Xingyao.
One was a foreign doc filmmaker.
The other two were local newbies making short narrative films.
One was named Xin Yan, and the other was named Xu Huan.
The first guy made heartwarming but kinda bittersweet shorts, and his film this time was about two outcast kids helping each other grow, all wrapped up in a warm vibe.
But Su Xingyao was more into the second guy.
Xu Huan’s style was completely different.
The short narrative film he brought this time was called *The Ghost Marriage Guest*.
It focused on a group of people in the ghost marriage business.
The entire film was only seven minutes long, with an open ending, but the dark visuals paired with an absurd and eerie style.
Although the film didn’t pretentiously delve into human nature, Su Xingyao felt a chill down his spine while watching it.
After noting down these directors, Su Xingyao noticed that the sky outside had darkened.
He took out his phone and sent a message to Hermann.
However, the other party had taken on the role of a juror and still had many tasks to complete.
After saying goodbye, Su Xingyao walked outside.
As soon as he stepped out of the exhibition hall, he ran into someone.
Su Xingyao was putting away his phone at the time, and the other person was rushing forward, so they collided accidentally.
The person was carrying a stack of printed documents.
The collision sent the documents flying, scattering them all over the ground.
"My bad, my bad."
Realizing he’d made a mess, Su Xingyao apologized and bent down to help gather the papers.
As Su Xingyao spoke, the young man knelt down too and said, "Sorry about that."
"Sorry, I was running too fast and didn’t see where I was going. Are you okay?"
Su Xingyao smiled. "No worries."
When Su Xingyao looked up, he finally got a good look at the guy.
The young man had a refined face, but his attire was somewhat rugged, with some unshaven stubble on his chin.
The young man nodded at Su Xingyao, then turned his attention to gathering his papers without another word.
Su Xingyao thought the guy looked familiar but couldn’t put his finger on it.
After handing the gathered documents back to the young man, Su Xingyao watched as the young man quickly ran off again.
That’s when it hit him—he knew who this was.
Xu Huan. One of the up-and-coming directors he’d spotted earlier!
However, the photo displayed in the exhibition looked different from the person in front of him.
It wasn’t until the guy was gone that Su Xingyao remembered his name.
Su Xingyao recalled reading that Xu Huan was gearing up to shoot a new film.
Curious, Su Xingyao hurried after him.
"Hey, hold up..."
Su Xingyao got no reply.
Xu Huan, busy handing out materials to drum up support for his film, had already vanished into the crowd.