Chapter 843 A little bit of lip language (two in one)
"After this conference, the standards of future conferences may be raised a lot." Linde turned to look at the crowd of people outside the exhibition hall and said.
Although only a thousand people could attend the award ceremony, a large number of people still gathered outside the exhibition hall.
Opposite the International Convention and Exhibition Center is a snack street, which is the most popular these days.
The awards ceremony hasn't started yet, but the seats on the snack street are already fully occupied.
Because there is a huge LED screen above the main entrance of the Convention and Exhibition Center, facing the snack street opposite.
The organizing committee has already issued a notice that the award ceremony will be broadcast live on this LED screen for everyone to watch later. The snack street is the most suitable place to watch the live broadcast. Not only does it have a good viewing angle, but you can also sit down and eat safely.
look.
There are also some people who cannot occupy a spot in the snack street and can only stand on the flower stand across the road, or directly squat on the steps at the entrance of the convention and exhibition center.
Linde had never seen such a scene before. In all the previous World Science Fiction Conventions, there were not so many people at the entrance of the Convention and Exhibition Center.
The reason for such a scene is not only because of the large number of Chinese people, but also because of the strong assistance of the local government and the perfect supporting facilities of the two guild halls and the surrounding communities.
Linde suddenly felt that China seemed to be particularly suitable for organizing an event like the World Science Fiction Convention. As long as they took it seriously, there would be nothing wrong with it.
In recent years, the economic center of the world has begun to shift. Now not only the economic center, but also part of the culture has begun to shift. Chinese culture has slowly begun to flow back to all parts of the world.
More and more people can speak Chinese, especially at this conference. Linde has seen many Western faces who speak fluent Chinese. This was unimaginable ten years ago, or even five years ago.
.
The wheels of the Chinese carriage have begun to turn, and a virtuous cycle has been established. More and more people are interested in Chinese culture, and more and more people are learning Chinese culture. The two things are mutually reinforcing, and they are reinforcing each other.
interest.
Zhang Zhong on the side heard Lin De sighing like this, but he didn't expect that he would think so much and go so far.
"Whether the standard will be improved depends on what hosting the World Science Fiction Convention can bring to a city. As long as there are enough benefits, more cities will naturally follow suit, and the standard will be raised accordingly," Zhang Zhong said.
"Well, that's the case. I think Mr. Hilde should have tasted the sweetness this time. He will not allow the standards of the conference to be lowered too much in the future, and will definitely put forward some requirements for the host city." Linde said.
"If the popularity can be guaranteed and reasonable requirements are raised, the host city can accept it."
"Now it seems that the enthusiasm is still there, but I don't know if it can last until this time next year. Compared with the East, the West today lacks enterprising spirit, and people are unwilling to take risks by resting on the capital they have accumulated over the years."
The two of them walked to the end of the corridor while talking, turned left and entered the auditorium. Hilde and several conference staff gathered at the door.
Seeing Zhang Zhong and Linde coming over, Hilde came up and shook hands with them respectively, and then said a little surprised, "Why are you two here together?"
Zhang Zhong smiled and shook his head, "I don't know. When I arrived, Mr. Linde had just walked on the red carpet."
"How could this happen?" Hilde frowned, then turned to look at the secretary Fred next to him, "How could he make such a stupid mistake?"
Fred quickly apologized, "It was my negligence. I didn't make arrangements before. I'll go and take a look."
After Fred left, Hilde turned around with an apologetic look, "I'm really sorry, we didn't do a good job. In fact, there were suddenly a lot more people in this conference, and the specifications were suddenly raised. Our
There is also a bit of a shortage of manpower.”
In fact, Hilde has thought about this problem before and has given a strategy to deal with it, which is to recruit a large number of volunteers.
The number of volunteers this year is three times that of previous years, but even so, it is still not enough.
Moreover, volunteers are volunteers after all. If they are not familiar with the business, many things still need to be arranged by formal staff.
Take this incident as an example. Fred originally arranged the matter and asked a staff member to take a few volunteers to the door to arrange arrangements. However, just over a minute after the staff member left, something went wrong.
This problem is difficult to solve. The World Science Fiction Convention cannot recruit people casually. If a large number of people are recruited for this year's convention, so many people will not be needed next year, and they cannot be laid off.
This will lead to redundant personnel and funding problems.
Unless so many people can come to the conference next year and a lot of membership fees can be received, we can continue to develop like this.
After chatting with Hilde at the door, Zhang Zhong and Linde walked into the auditorium and found their seats.
"The organizing committee is very trouble-free. The seats this year are almost exactly the same as last year." After finding the seats, Linde joked with a smile.
Zhang Zhong also smiled and said, "It doesn't make any difference anyway, and we happened to collaborate once this year, so it's normal for us to sit together."
The seat to Linde's left is Llorente's, and the seat to Zhang Zhong's right is Penny Austin's. Neither of them has arrived yet.
The auditorium is now a quarter full, and all of them are in the front row, which means that ordinary members have not started to come in yet.
…
"Teacher Feng, it is a great honor to work with you once again to commentate on the Hugo Awards Ceremony."
In the Zhongmin live broadcast room, the host Hu Gang smiled and said to Feng He next to him.
"It should be my honor." Feng He said with a smile.
The guest lineup for this live broadcast is a bit more luxurious than in previous years. In addition to last year's old team of Hu Gang, Li Qin, and Feng He, there is also Huang Lei, the guest commentator of the last Nebula Awards, for a total of four people.
But this time Feng He came as a special guest, because he was not in the previous commentary lineup and was invited here temporarily.
Although Feng He's "Backside of the Earth" was not shortlisted for the Hugo Awards, he was still sent an invitation letter to attend the award ceremony.
However, Feng He did not let go in the end and chose to go to the Zhongmin live broadcast room to be a guest commentator.
This was suggested by his agent Chen Qing.
Since it's not shortlisted, it's just a background board at best, and there may not even be a lens. If you insist on using it, it may arouse readers' disgust.
It would be better to return to the Zhongmin live broadcast room as a guest. He has already commented here for several times, so it is natural to come back, and he will also have more opportunities to appear in the live broadcast room.
This is also true. The ceremony has not yet begun, and the topics among Hu Gang and others are centered around Feng Hezai.
"As everyone knows, Teacher Feng just won the Best Novella Award at the Nebula Awards Ceremony not long ago, and became the second writer in Asia to win this award. Teacher Feng, how did you feel during the period after winning the award?
And has there been any change in life?"
"It would be false to say that there have been no changes. After winning the award, my probability of being recognized on the road has greatly increased."
"Does this cause you any distress? Or do you enjoy this life?"
"It's a bit distressing. Sometimes when I meet enthusiastic book friends, I'm too embarrassed to ignore them, which always wastes a little time. But it's not without any benefits. Since I was recognized a few times in the vegetable market, my wife
I just took over the task of buying groceries."
Hearing Feng He's words, Hu Gang and the others also laughed.
"It seems that the Nebula Award has directly enhanced your status in the family."
"No, I was quite happy that I didn't have to buy groceries at first, but after a while I felt something was wrong. Because before, when I bought groceries, I could get some personal money out of the money I spent buying groceries, but now I am
Deprived of the right to purchase, the small treasury has shrunk a lot."
"..."
"It seems that in Teacher Feng's family, it is the wife who is in charge of the financial affairs."
"Yes, that's why I came here to be a commentator. It's hard to hide the royalties, but I still have the opportunity to save some money by appearing on the show."
"Oh? Your wife doesn't ask for the notice fee?"
"Ask me, she will read the contract, but the program team usually pays the carriage fee. The program team will pay five thousand, and I will pay three thousand when I go back, and I will still have two thousand left." Feng He said.
Huang Lei smiled and said, "Then after you said it on the show, wouldn't it be difficult to save money?"
"Teacher Huang, you saw the second floor. You thought Teacher Feng was on the first floor, but in fact he was on the fifth floor." Li Qin said.
"Oh, how do you say this?" Huang Lei asked.
"Now Teacher Feng said on the show that Teacher Feng's wife will definitely ask him for 5,000 when he returns, but in fact the program team gave Teacher Feng 10,000 for the carriage fee," Li Qin said with a smile.
Feng He immediately became anxious, "Teacher Li, how could you accuse someone of innocence out of thin air!"
"Hahaha."
For a time, the air inside and outside the live broadcast room was filled with joy.
After chatting with Feng He for a while, Hu Gang began to turn the topic to the main topic of tonight, "Do any of the teachers have their own predictions about tonight's awards? Teacher Li, can you tell me first?"
Li Qin nodded and said, "Unlike the Nebula Award, there are now many awards after the revision of the Hugo Award, as many as nearly twenty categories. However, everyone is still paying attention to the old awards, which are Best Novel, Best Novella,
There are three best short stories. We pay more attention to the novels and short stories, because Zhang Zhong’s works are shortlisted for these two awards. For the long stories, I personally prefer "The Wind-up Girl". For the short stories, I still maintain the previous choice.
I think "Calorie Man" will finally win the award."
"You are no different from the previous Nebula Award predictions." Hu Gang asked Huang Lei again, "Teacher Huang, do you have any different opinions this time?"
Huang Lei said with a smile, "Same as last time, I agreed with Mr. Li's statement in the first half, but I disagreed with him in the second half. I insist that "Yellow Card Man" can finally win the award, and the facts have proved that last time I
The prediction was right.”
"Teacher Feng wasn't here last time. Maybe you don't know that the two of them had been arguing for a long time about which one of "Yellow Card Man" and "Calorie Man" would win the prize."
"Actually, I know. I looked for the video and watched it after I came back."
"It seems that Teacher Feng still cares about our Zhongmin Live broadcast. So what do you think of this award?" Hu Gang asked.
"Actually, I think "Harry Potter" has no chance of winning. In the past two years, the Hugo Awards have shown signs of moving closer to derivative works, such as the film and television adaptation of the works. Although "Harry Potter" and "The Wind-Up Girl"
"have not yet been adapted into film and television, but comparing the two, the film and television adaptation of "Harry Potter" should be more successful, which is also its advantage. As for "Yellow Card Man" and "Calorie Man", these two short stories
I like them all very much, and I would not be surprised if any of them wins. In my opinion, they are all worthy of winning. The reason why one of them cannot win is just because of the award setting."
Feng He said it more moderately and did not vote for one of them.
"This point mentioned by Teacher Feng has been discussed a lot in recent years. From ancient times to the present, works have been put on stage and screen. However, with the development of the times, this situation has become more and more common.
.The Hugo Award tilts in this direction, can it be understood as a compromise to public aesthetics?"
"Public aesthetics must be a factor considered by the organizing committee, but it is still inappropriate to compromise. I guess they want to find a balance that can not only ensure a high level, but also be accepted by more people." Feng
and said.
"I think this is a good thing. Science fiction literature is also popular literature. Since it is popular literature, if the public cannot accept it, then what is popular? Let more people accept fantasy literature and fall in love with fantasy literature, which will be the world's best
It’s completely understandable that the purpose of science fiction conventions is very thoughtful,” Li Qin said.
"I understand what you two said. It means..." Hu Gang was halfway through his words when he saw a close-up of Zhang Zhong in the live video. He quickly changed his words and said, "I gave Zhang Zhong a close-up. Zhang Zhong didn't seem to have any thoughts."
I noticed that the camera was filming him and he was chatting with the person next to him."
At this time, the camera zoomed out and people could clearly see the person next to Zhang Zhong.
"The person sitting next to him is Linde. I remember that Linde also sat with Zhang Zhong during the Hugo Awards last year."
"Yes, when Zhang Zhong participated in the Nebula Award for the first time, he and Lin De also sat together. The two of them are quite destined," Li Qin said.
"It seems that this cameraman is a fan of Zhang Zhong and the others. This close-up took too long. It's a pity that there is no radio, otherwise we can hear clearly what they are talking about."
Huang Lei said with a smile, "Actually, I have studied lip reading, and I can probably read what they are talking about."
Hu Gang was surprised and said, "Teacher Huang still knows lip reading?"
"I know a little bit, Zhang Zhong was asking Linde what he had eaten tonight, and Linde replied that he had scrambled eggs with tomatoes..."
Li Qin rolled his eyes and said, "Teacher Huang, you are doing this again."
"Hahaha, yes, I'm talking nonsense again this time."
Hu Gang smiled and shook his head. Huang Lei was really good at creating atmosphere. Last time it was micro-expressions, this time it was lip reading. He just opened his mouth.