The party was very relaxed, and the conversations flowed easily.
Cameron Diaz asked about Gilbert's recent plans: "What are you planning to do after 'Speed'?"
"Let me think..." Gilbert said, stroking his chin. "I might go on vacation to China."
"To China?" Cameron Diaz frowned. "Where is that? What's there to see? Wouldn't it be better to go to Japan?"
"You don't understand," Gilbert said with a nostalgic tone. "It's an obsession that has never faded!"
Whether he was posing as a white person or truly an "outsider," Gilbert could never forget where his soul came from.
That was an era when a nation's self-confidence was rising, an era that also faced many opportunities and challenges.
However, that era had nothing to do with him anymore.
For his former homeland and the people on that land, he was already an outsider, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.
Still, he was quite curious about what life was like in China in the 1990s.
Unlike the effort it took for people from there to come to North America, it was quite convenient to go there from North America now.
Gilbert submitted his visa application to the embassy. When they heard he was going for tourism and was a famous Hollywood director, he got his visa with no problems.
The embassy staff also warmly told Gilbert, "Welcome, Mr. Landrini, to China!"
With the visa in hand, Gilbert took his cousin Ally and headed to China for a trip.
Their first stop was the capital. Unlike the modernized capital of decades later, the current capital was full of a strong sense of its era.
After exchanging dollars for RMB, Gilbert took Ally to wander the familiar yet unfamiliar streets.
A tall man and a small girl, both with blonde hair and blue eyes, attracted the attention of the local residents in the capital.
Especially the older one, who could actually speak fluent Chinese, greatly surprised the well-traveled people of the capital.
Gilbert took Ally to visit the Forbidden City, went to the Temple of Heaven, and even climbed the Badaling Great Wall.
He had brought his camera and took many photos as a memento.
Then they also tried some local specialties like Peking duck and涮羊肉 (instant-boiled mutton). The taste almost made Gilbert cry.
"Damn it, they're all unscrupulous merchants! Quanjude, you've done too many bad things. The people from this era are truly honest, and the Peking duck is so delicious!"
Next, Gilbert, relying on his memory and asking for directions, found the Beijing Film Academy, his alma mater from his previous life.
He had started there, toiled hard, and struggled to become a director of online movies.
One could say this was the starting point of his film dream. Without this school, there wouldn't have been the person he was then, or the person he is now.
Perhaps because Gilbert was a foreigner, or maybe the management at Beijing Film Academy wasn't strict at the time, Gilbert easily took Ally into the campus for a visit.
It was almost summer break, and students on campus were rushing around, troubled by their final exams.
When they suddenly saw two foreigners, they just pointed and whispered, but no one dared to boldly come up and stop them from wandering around.
"Cousin, is this place different from USC, where you studied?" Ally asked curiously, her eyes full of wonder as she looked at the young Chinese students.
"They're probably the same. They're both art schools, but USC might be more comprehensive," Gilbert replied.
"Are there any famous movies or directors from here?" Ally asked.
Because of Gilbert, Ally also paid attention to the film industry. Before Gilbert bragged to her, she hadn't even known there was such a country across the Pacific.
She certainly didn't know if there were movies there.
"Didn't you see the sign outside? Film Academy. What do you think, are there directors here?"
"Well, they definitely aren't as good as you, Cousin, otherwise I would have heard of them," Ally said proudly.
Gilbert was embarrassed. He knew that many famous directors from later generations, like "Guoshi" (a respectful term for Zhang Yimou), had already made their mark.
It was hard to compare when they weren't in the same circle.
Soon, Gilbert and Ally's aimless wandering was stopped. Upon hearing that two foreigners were roaming the campus, the director of the school's academic affairs office quickly found them.
"Hello, may I ask who you are?"
Hearing the English, Gilbert turned around to see a middle-aged man in his forties with a young woman in her twenties.
The young woman had spoken that English sentence.
Gilbert smiled and said in Chinese, "Chinese is fine, I understand Chinese. My name is Gilbert Landrini."
The girl and the middle-aged man were stunned, not expecting this young foreigner to speak Chinese.
"Ahem," the middle-aged man spoke up, "May I ask who you are looking for?"
"Excuse me," Gilbert extended his hand and shook hands with the middle-aged man, saying, "I'm a film director. I heard your school is very famous, so I came to visit."
"A film director?" The middle-aged man looked at the Gilbert with some disbelief.
But then he thought that since he was a foreigner, it could be explained – they were geniuses, after all!
"Yes," Gilbert didn't explain further but asked, "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"
The middle-aged man then realized and quickly introduced himself: "I am Li Jianshe, the director of the school's academic affairs office, and this is Tian Fang, one of our students."
"Hello," Gilbert nodded and turned to Tian Fang: "Your English is good. Although you have a bit of an accent, communication isn't a problem."
Receiving validation from a foreigner made Tian Fang very happy.
"Since you are a foreign colleague, why don't I show you around the campus?" Li Jianshe invited.
"No problem, you lead the way!"
Li Jianshe then instructed Tian Fang: "Go tell the cafeteria to prepare some good dishes for lunch to entertain our foreign friends."
Tian Fang quickly ran off to notify the cafeteria. In Gilbert's eyes, her old-fashioned attire didn't detract from her pure charm.
He hadn't seen that kind of feeling in a long time.
Li Jianshe then invited, "If you're not busy, would you honor us by having a simple meal with us for lunch?"
"No problem. Ally and I are both hungry after walking all morning," Gilbert readily agreed.
From then on, with Li Jianshe as their guide, the tour was much better than Gilbert and Ally wandering around like headless chickens.
Li Jianshe assumed Gilbert didn't know about Beijing Film Academy's history, so he explained it as he showed them around, including famous alumni and outstanding Chinese films.
In this era, the impact of the Western world made the Chinese people realize the gap between them.
Having a director like Gilbert voluntarily visit the Beijing Film Academy was an honor for the school.
The young girl Tian Fang quickly found Vice President Zhu Zhijun and told him that Director Li Jianshe of academic affairs was currently giving a tour to a young American director.
"An American director?" Zhu Zhijun frowned and asked, "What's his name?"
"Gilbert... Landrini..."
"Landrini? That's a strange name."
"No," Tian Fang corrected, "It's Landrini."
Zhu Zhijun was worried that Gilbert might be a spy, so he quickly called to verify.
In those days, it was difficult to look up information online, so verification required making phone calls.
The call went through several departments, eventually reaching the foreign affairs department, which then contacted their counterparts across the Pacific for verification. After getting the results, they relayed the information back to Zhu Zhijun.
"It's confirmed. There is indeed a Hollywood director named Gilbert Landrini, who just turned twenty-three this year. He applied for a visa to travel to China."
Hearing this information, Zhu Zhijun was relieved and also curious why this young American wasn't visiting other attractions but came to Beijing Film Academy.
Thinking that his friend Tian Congming knew something about Hollywood, Zhu Zhijun called Tian Congming over so they could all have lunch with the foreigner.
"Old Tian, I have a Hollywood director here, Gilbert Landrini. Do you want to come and see him?"
"Gilbert?" Tian Congming was surprised. "Is it that Gilbert?"
"Is he very famous?" Zhu Zhijun asked curiously.
"More than famous! Do you know how the American media describes him? A once-in-a-century film genius. Just wait, I'll be right there."
It's a good thing Gilbert didn't hear that last sentence. If he had heard "a once-in-a-century film genius," he might have blushed a little.