711 A Judge In Dubai

The man waved at Qin Guan eagerly and said in a childlike voice, "I invited you here to ask for your help. Believe me, it's not about money. I'm Abdul. My family has never run out of money. The casino you visited is mine, and its daily turnover is hundreds of millions dollars. I don't care about that small sum you won."

Qin Guan relaxed. There's nothing to be worried about.

Abdul glanced at Qin Guan. When he saw that he had calmed down, he started talking again.

"Are you aware of the political system of the UAE and their domestic economic policy?"

Sorry, but I'm really not... Qin Guan was not ambitious by any means. What he had achieved so far had been in order for him to have an easy family life. He had never thought about the national economy or other people's livelihoods. That was far beyond his reach.

The small man murmured to himself, "Our country is not a large one. Half of its land is desert, and the cities are built around oases or petroleum factories. Petroleum is a non-renewable resource though. One day it will run out, and the fortune we made from it will burst like a bubble. That's why the seven emirates have united and committed themselves to changing the state of things. Tourism is our new way of development."

"We are the richest men in the world, so we know what other rich men think. We built Dubai so we could swallow money from other parts of the world. You can find anything you can imagine there. Luxury brands come to the city to make money, so Dubai will soon become the fashion capital of the world."

"In order to expand the influence of the city, we need talented people from all fields."

Qin Guan felt sick. What did they want him to do? Give a show in Dubai? Was the man kidding? If he cooperated with Arabian girls, he'd be killed on the spot. Besides, everyone was wearing robes there. One could only see their eyes. Those radicalized people would show Qin Guan their power.

While Qin Guan was pondering how to say no politely, the man surprised him.

"We are planning on hosting some international events in order to attract the world's attention. We have shopping streets, children carnivals, Ramadan… This is not enough though. This year, we saw China get the 2008 Olympics. We know that we are not qualified to host the Summer Olympics, so we applied for the next Winter Olympics."

"We are also planning on organizing an international film festival. I would like to invite you to be a final judge of the shortlisted films."

Qin Guan was stupefied. He had only focused on the first plan. You want to apply for the Winter Olympics? You live in the desert! Have you even seen snow before?

Before he could come back to his senses, the tycoon smiled at him. "Your silence means yes, right? Don't worry. I'll get your awards to your office safely as a reward. Of course, if you have any new films coming out, our festival will be looking forward to them."

Qin Guan nodded helplessly. The man had no idea how the entertainment circle worked. A new film festival couldn't attract popular films, just indie films or films with a limited budget, who participated only for the bonus. Famous directors and proud indie films would never give the Dubai Film Festival a chance. Money couldn't always solve everything.

Feeling sympathy for the patriotic man, Qin Guan accepted his invitation. According to his understanding of Dubai, the salary had to be very high.

Abdul was happy to see him accept. He shook hands with Qin Guan happily.

"Actually, we Arabians have no experience with entertainment awards, so we will be needing your instructions on many details. I'll contact your agent before the film festival. The reward will be 3.5 million dollars. What do you think of that? Is it too low?"

The two friends headed downstairs, surrounded by Han Zhujiu and Abdul's bodyguards. Qin Guan and Qu Xuemei nearly fell off the stairs at his words.

There was no such bonus for an Oscar or a European award!

When Qin Guan recovered from the shock, he asked the man seriously, "3.5 million per award?"

"No! We are rich men, but we are not idiots. That's the total sum."