Chapter 273

The Best Supporting Actor award was presented by Dou Dao and Peng Yuyan.

Dou Dao is the man from Ren Xianqi's "Sad Pacific" MV.

The large screen soon displayed the nominees for Best Supporting Actor: Wu Gang for "White Deer Plain"; Zhang Shuhao for "Girlfriend, Boyfriend"; Zheng Zhongji for "Lowbrow Comedy"; Fang Hong for "Big Man."

When the large screen showed footage of Fang Hong from the film, Liu Tianxian grabbed his hand—her small hand gripped tightly.

"It's just a supporting role, doesn't matter." Fang Hong appeared completely indifferent.

"You need professional pride in your career, otherwise why act at all?" Liu Tianxian placed her other hand to her mouth.

"That makes sense."

Fang Hong nodded, thinking: for the money and fun.

Submitting films for awards is usually the Producer's job; directors know the quality of their own films and, if they have no chance of winning Best Director, generally won't bother.

Producers arranging award submissions can help sell the film for a better price.

After the large screen finished playing clips of each nominee's performance, the nominated actors all wore varying degrees of seriousness, their hearts tense.

Among them, Wu Gang was especially expressionless, stern as stone.

"The winner of the 49th Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor is…"

Dou Dao and Peng Yuyan opened the envelope and announced: "Congratulations, Fang Hong, Principal!"

The moment the name was announced, the entire hall erupted in applause; Liu Tianxian was delighted, stood up, and gave Fang Hong a big hug.

He also shook hands with Fang Long and Li Bailian beside him; Wu Gang specifically came over and without a word, embraced Fang Hong tightly.

This left Fang Hong wondering what the hell was going on? Why so emotional? What's the point?

But since they were so enthusiastic, he couldn't refuse—someone had to cheer, otherwise winning the award would be meaningless.

Zhang Songwen also came over specifically to shake his hand, though he wasn't as excited as Wu Gang.

After the commotion, Fang Hong walked onstage, took the Golden Horse Trophy from Peng Yuyan's hands, stood before the microphone, and faced the audience.

The audience below stared at him.

"Nothing to say—this award was too easy. I just acted casually, never expected to win. If I'd known I was this good, I should've gone for Best Actor."

Fang Hong's words triggered a wave of laughter from the audience.

The other Best Supporting Actor nominees couldn't even look at him—they had worked so hard, so seriously, yet still couldn't match someone playing around.

Where could you even argue that?

Meanwhile, the Best Actor nominees—Xie Biwang, Zhang Jiafei, Liu Qingyun—all wore smiles.

"Big Man" was essentially a dual-lead film; if Principal had competed for Best Actor, he might truly have pressured them.

He didn't act like a human—he acted like an animal.

Liu Tianxian's expression was warm and joyful, her eyes bright as she watched the man onstage, feeling honored.

"Alright, that's enough."

Fang Hong was about to leave the stage when he seemed to remember something and returned to the microphone: "Actually, I'm just here to support someone. You do your best."

He then casually raised the trophy.

The audience erupted in applause again; some couldn't help but turn their gaze toward Liu Tianxian.

Liu Tianxian still wore that warm expression; she was encouraged inside, hoping to win an award to show this man.

With real-time image-and-text dissemination, mainland NetEase saw the image of Principal winning Best Supporting Actor, holding up the trophy, and felt nothing.

It's not Best Actor—just a supporting role.

But his words still hit hard: he just acted casually and won an award.

"Major Verbal Flexing."

"He just acts casually and wins awards—I wish I could just work hard and earn money that easily."

"Hahaha."

"When he said he came to support someone, was it Liu Tianxian?"

"Probably—last time they came together too."

"Isn't Liu Tianxian into women?"

"Maybe they're just business partners—Zhang Songwen came too."

"Zeng and Liu are true love—look at how Liu looks at Zeng, their eyes are practically pulling threads! {image}!"

"."

Online, the narrative pushing Liu Tianxian as gay is still going strong, and the buzz remains high.

Even if some believe Liu Tianxian isn't gay and his relationship with Principal is complicated, others still believe Liu Tianxian is gay and his relationship with Zeng is murky.

They've left too much evidence: eating together, watching movies, appearing on shows.

People only believe what they see—the information capital puts before them—and refuse to consider that this might just be an ordinary thing blown out of proportion.

For example, "The Chess Girl" isn't banned—it's a normally published book anyone can buy, yet they relentlessly smear Liu Tianxian.

So some things, you simply can't explain clearly!

Winners should go backstage for interviews, but Fang Hong didn't—he sat back down in his seat.

Liu Tianxian took the Trophy from his hands, examined it closely—this was her first time seeing a Golden Horse Trophy.

Below was a square base; above it, a "Golden Horse" reared its front hooves high, head held proudly.

The "horse" looked gold, but it wasn't real gold.

There was also an inscription: To the Filmmakers.

The Golden Horse Awards ceremony continued; Huang Bo joked onstage: "If every filmmaker could win an award just by acting casually, how wonderful!"

"Just act properly. Don't think you're Principal," Ceng Baoyi mocked.

The audience burst into laughter again.

After another musical performance, Zhou Naicha and Gui Lunmei took the stage to present Best Supporting Actress.

Gui Lunmei appeared pure-looking, but at events she wore revealing outfits—either cut low to the navel or with hollowed-out chest panels.

Yet she was flat, with no discernible beauty. Best Supporting Actress went to: Liang Jing for Killing!

A very dark-skinned woman, whose husband was famous—his name was Guan Hu.

Then Ye Qianwen took the stage and sang a segment of "Don't Come at Dawn" from A Chinese Ghost Story, paying tribute to Zhang Guorong.

It seemed every award ceremony had to pay tribute to him.

By this point in the ceremony, half the time had passed; after awarding several insignificant prizes, it was time for Best Director.

The award went to Du Qifeng for Golden Deception, but he didn't show up—Liu Qingyun accepted it on his behalf.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was time to present Best Actress; Liu Tianxian sat up straight.

Instead of announcing the winner, Huang Bo and Zeng Baoyi walked over to the guest seats and teased the five Best Actress nominees: Zhang Rongrong, Gui Lunmei, Hao Lei, Liu Tianxian, and others.

Huang Bo first teased Zhang Rongrong, saying she'd been nominated three times and surely would win this time—he joked endlessly, making her laugh brightly.

Then he teased Gui Lunmei too, saying she'd surely win as well.

He offended no one—his emotional intelligence was excellent.

When it came to Hao Lei, the girl wasn't having it: "You offended me—you said everyone else could win."

Huang Bo quickly spun some clever words, making Hao Lei very happy.

"What's going on?" Liu Tianxian whispered.

She felt this was deliberate, the atmosphere awkward—why not just announce the award directly? Why all this nonsense?

"We're padding the runtime," Fang Hong replied.

Liu Tianxian understood—no wonder they were dragging out each nominee's turn.

The two saw Huang Bo smiling as he approached them: "Let me introduce—I'm in the same class as Liu Tianxian; we're both from Beijing Film Academy, Class of 2002. I've gotten old, but she hasn't changed a bit—wherever she goes, she becomes a beautiful sight."

This was a compliment to Liu Tianxian's beauty; she smiled and nodded slightly. Huang Bo handed her the microphone, and she said: "Beauty is everywhere in this world."

Laughter echoed through the hall.

"I watched your films—from the little bunny at the start to the ruthless killing later—wow, so thrilling! What kind of posture was that? A defiant one! I'm certain this year's Golden Horse Best Actress is you. What do you think?"

Huang Bo talked nonstop, then handed the microphone to Liu Tianxian.

"I think what you think is right," Liu Tianxian said, covering her mouth as she laughed.

"Your ambition to become a Best Actress winner is obvious now—excellent! You've got queenly presence—you should be like this. This award should be yours," Huang Bo flattered, handing the microphone back to her.

"The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment," Liu Tianxian said.

"No way—it'll be you. Even if not this year, come again next year. You've been nominated twice already; one more won't hurt."

Huang Bo joked; Liu Tianxian pretended to hit him.

The atmosphere was warm; after this round of banter to warm things up, the time was sufficient.

Huang Bo's smile faded: "Such a prestigious award deserves a prestigious presenter. Please welcome Fang Long, and the Golden Horse Best Actress, Li Bailian."

No sooner had he finished than music swelled, and Fang Long and Li Bailian walked onstage.

"Before coming up, someone told us to speak longer—but didn't give us time to rehearse," Li Bailian said the moment she stepped on stage, exposing the organizers' shortcomings.

"All today's presenters and winners were too polite—they spoke too briefly. Before I came up, someone told me, 'Brother, can you make it longer?' But I have no script—I don't know how to make it longer," Fang Long spoke with strong, resonant voice.

"Forget it, brother. In past years, everyone at the Golden Horse was hungry. This year, I feel it's freezing cold—let's hurry!" Li Bailian shivered.

Laughter erupted from the audience.

Li Bailian was mocking the Golden Horse's rudeness and criticizing how dull the ceremony was.

The issue began because they were originally told to speak for 45 seconds, but right before going on stage, they were told to lengthen their speech—and forced to rewrite their script.

This demand was rude to the guests.

This incident was later exposed by Fang Long's agent on Facebook.

Onstage, Fang Long remained enthusiastic: "Don't rush—check the time, be considerate."

"Enough, everyone's desperate," Li Bailian urged, clearly impatient.

"Let me check if there's a signal."

Fang Long looked out into the audience and saw someone give him an "OK" gesture: "Oh, alright, OK. I was going to sing you a song if I couldn't speak longer—but they won't even give me that chance. Fine, let's watch the screen."

The audience roared with laughter; Li Bailian awkwardly covered her forehead.

Immediately, video clips of the five actresses appeared on the big screen.

Hao Lei in Floating City Mystery; Gui Lunmei in Girlfriends & Boyfriends; Zhang Rongrong in The Sun Also Rises; Liu Tianxian in Ex Machina.

When Liu Tianxian saw her own image on the screen, her relaxed posture stiffened instantly.

Then she felt a large hand envelop hers, warming her cold fingers and spreading warmth through her entire body.

"I'm fine, perfectly fine," Liu Tianxian insisted.

"I didn't say you weren't. I just wanted to touch and see if it's smooth."

Fang Hong joked, gently stroking her soft hand.

Liu Tianxian forced a smile, knowing he was trying to ease the tension, then turned her gaze to the stage as Fang Long and Li Bailian opened the envelope.

"The 49th Golden Horse Awards, Best Actress goes to: Gui Lunmei."

With Fang Long's booming voice, thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the audience.

Gui Lunmei covered her mouth, eyes wide, as if unable to believe it was real.

The other nominees couldn't hide their disappointment.

Yet it was also a relief—before the announcement, the waiting was agony; now that it was over, they felt lighter, mainly because the prolonged suspense had been so irritating.

Liu Tianxian couldn't help feeling a pang of disappointment; Fang Hong placed his hand gently on her back, stroking it—this offered comfort.

"It's fine. You said it yourself—when you're weak, you just train harder," Liu Tianxian exhaled softly, forcing herself to rally.

Winning an award is so hard; I was nominated twice and didn't get it.

(End of Chapter)