Chapter 547: A Landmark Female Star

Fang Hong's words left Liu Tianxian momentarily speechless; indeed, when she saw Cui Yongyuan being invited, she had thought it was a very good idea.

After all, his reputation preceded him — a standard literati unafraid of power, with his own bottom line, neither hypocritical nor pretentious; ordinary people basically all liked such a person.

Because ordinary people felt especially satisfied watching him roast others, thinking he spoke wonderfully well.

Of course, once he turned to criticize themselves, they no longer felt that satisfaction — that was exactly how Liu Tianxian felt now.

Before going on stage, Liu Tianxian had especially flattered such literati, feeling that daring to be oneself was especially wonderful, especially envying such people; after going on stage and experiencing it firsthand, she no longer felt that way, finding it too embarrassing.

This is very normal — people all love to hear nice words; when they see others' dark sides being criticized, they feel that person is especially righteous; when their own dark sides are criticized, they feel especially uncomfortable.

Not only are people like this, society is too — if you criticize society's dark side, see whether they delete your comment or not?

They don't like hearing it, and feel uncomfortable when they do!

But when they see streamers or self-media outlets criticizing, they feel especially satisfied, feeling it's spoken with great reason.

This is human nature and the current state of society.

On stage, Li Bailian and Wen Muye had already taken their places at the standing microphones, facing the audience.

Wen Muye still showed some measure of reserve.

"Director Wen, this is your first time at the Macau Film Festival, isn't it?" Li Bailian asked.

"Yes, it is." Wen Muye clasped his hands behind him.

"Then you may not know — I've been here several times. The previous few times, many of us were crammed into one tiny little banquet hall. This time it's finally switched to a bigger place, no longer so cramped." Li Bailian was humorous, daring to say anything.

The audience all chuckled "heh heh."

The previous few Macau Film Festivals really were quite petty and small-scale.

"We should thank the Macau officials, thank the organizing committee for their efforts — it was their work over half a year that gave us this spacious, bright venue today, and this dazzling, eye-catching stage." Wen Muye went for the grand narrative.

"I think you missed one — we should also thank the Principal, thank Yutu. Without the Principal, no one would have put up the money; without Yutu, there would be no brilliant starlight." Li Bailian followed his words with an addition.

Laughter of "haha ha" rang out on site.

There was nothing wrong with what he said — the Principal was the moneybags; of Yutu's actors, stars, and behind-the-scenes directors, aside from those filming, at least more than half had come.

"Yes, as a member of Yutu, I feel very proud. I hope more film people will join Yutu's big family." Wen Muye took the opportunity to promote his own employer, recruiting talent for his own employer.

"Then do you think I'm suitable?" Li Bailian looked at him and smiled.

"Of course suitable — as long as you don't look down on our little temple." Wen Muye smiled.

"I've heard a proverb, though I don't know if it's appropriate — it says a small temple has big, sinister winds." Li Bailian teased.

"Hahaha!"

"Clap clap clap!"

Mixed laughter and applause rose from the guests on site — she really dared to say anything.

But no one thought Yutu's temple was small.

In today's entertainment circle, who would dare look down on Yutu's temple? Some were even dying to crack their heads open to get into Yutu. In the past, when Yutu was rapidly developing, it was still easy to get in; now, certainly, some requirements would be needed.

Very normal — any enterprise is like this: rough-and-tumble development in the early stage, refinement in the middle stage. Because to go the long haul, it can't be like before.

"I — I think you've misunderstood, our Yutu still has no sinister winds." Wen Muye felt he couldn't out-talk this woman, appearing somewhat halting.

"Just a joke. Yutu is a very proper company, and I still have great respect for the Principal as a person."

Li Bailian didn't make things hard for him either — a couple of safe words and she picked up the envelope in her hand and tore it open: "Let's present the award."

The guests knew the matter was let go at that; Fang Hong didn't mind what she had just said either — anyone would receive criticism.

While the two on stage were busy, the big screen played clips from several films respectively: "Silent Witness" — Yu Nan; "Dearest" — Yan Zi; "Four Days and Nights" — Hao Yan; "Coming Home" — Gong Li; "The Golden Era" — Tang Wei.

Certainly Yan Zi hadn't come; the others had all come.

Apart from Tang Wei, the other three were also powerhouse actresses; in terms of acting, they were a match for Gong Li.

Among them, Hao Yan had been nominated for the Feitian Award twice.

The competition was still quite fierce, which inevitably made those few actresses with the best hopes of winning somewhat nervous.

When they first arrived, they thought winning or not didn't matter — it was just a watered-down award anyway. But after this whole presentation process, they felt this award had actually gathered some credibility.

Simply because everyone was convinced, even the viewers following this matter online had no major disputes, all feeling it matched their own expectations.

And there was such huge exposure — what star actors need is exposure.

Of course, Gong Li still had that same composed, unflappable look; what was in her heart, no one knew.

"Wow! Let Director Wen read it!" Li Bailian exaggeratedly said, handing the card to Wen Muye.

Wen Muye saw the name on it, didn't find it particularly surprising, and read: "The winner of the Best Actress award at the 6th Macau Film Festival is—"

At this point he suddenly paused, making the people below tense; the whole venue went quiet for a moment, and the nominees were even holding their breath and focusing.

"Gong Li! 'Coming Home'!" Wen Muye announced loudly.

Cheers immediately rose from the audience seats, and warm applause quickly rang out from the guest seats.

Those nominees who hadn't won showed varying degrees of disappointment, slumping back in their seats like deflated balls, as if relieved.

Gong Huang smiled radiantly, rose unhurriedly; beside her, Chen Daoming shook her hand to offer congratulations — the two had starred in this film together.

Including other acquaintances and strangers, everyone also offered her congratulations; Gong Huang was still very popular.

And Gong Huang handled each one with ease, appearing more than capable!

"Congratulations, Sister Gong Li." Liu Tianxian stood up to offer congratulations.

"Thank you." Gong Huang was happy and gave her a hug.

This moment was captured by the camera — the camera had already been pointed this way; two great beauties embracing, it was estimated fans would talk about it with great relish again.

Being able to mingle with Gong Huang, Liu Tianxian's level felt different.

Gong Huang and Liu Tianxian separated; afterward, after shaking hands with Fang Hong, she headed toward the stage, her walk still as poised and confident as ever.

Before the film festival had even started the award presentation, the livestream rooms and the internet had already spread the news that Gong Huang had won the Macau Film Festival Best Actress.

Whether netizens or media, everyone's screens were flooded with it.

#Gong Huang Crowned Best Actress! #

Such a headline quickly climbed to the top of every major trending-search list; clicking it open, one finds photos of Gong Huang receiving congratulations.

Most of all, there are shots of Gong Huang and Liu Tianxian embracing. After all, both of them have traffic, and the embrace made many Wangyi and fans take an extra look.

One Wangyi commented: "Two milestone actresses in Chinese-language cinema."

"Liu Tianxian doesn't really count—she's just got box-office numbers, she hasn't won any real awards."

"She does fall a bit short, too few representative works!"

"."

Of course, there were corresponding dissenting voices. One blogger posted: "The Macau Film Festival has insider dealings. The reason Gong Huang got the award is because she slammed the Golden Horse Awards, and the Principal gave it to her."

That's a bit conspiratorial, but it does have an audience. Some felt the blogger's analysis made sense—why give it to Gong Huang the moment she arrived? It looked like she had a pretty good relationship with Liu Tianxian.

There must be insider dealings in the middle of this!

Just as the outside world was full of doubts and disputes, Gong Huang stepped onto the stage, took the Golden Lotus Awards Award from Li Bailian and Wen Muye, and the two presenters then stepped back to one side, leaving the stage to her.

"I'm very grateful to the judges for giving me such a high honor. Thank you Director Lao Mouzi of 'Coming Home,' and all the staff."

Gong Huang paused when she got to this point, then said again: "Thank the Principal for inviting me to the Macau Film Festival. If he hadn't invited me, I might have missed out on this award, and on such a fair awards ceremony."

When she said this, her gaze turned toward Fang Hong's direction: "Thank you, Principal. You've done a great job this time—very professional!"

Fang Hong gave her a slight nod, indicating she needn't thank him!

"Clap clap clap!" Applause on site.

"There's probably insider dealings, it was decided for her long ago. Otherwise Gong Huang wouldn't have gone all-out slamming the Golden Horse Awards." Someone in the audience whispered.

"Shh! Don't let anyone hear."

The venue quieted down. Whispering about someone like that—if there were ears listening through the wall, they could still hear it.

But because the voices were low, it was limited to exchanges among people seated close together with good relations; others couldn't hear.

This is also quite normal. Gong Huang being able to win the award—her earlier behavior really does invite doubt. All that slamming of the Golden Horse Awards makes it hard not to suspect the Principal was returning a favor.

"Some people may think the Principal had some hidden motive when he invited me. Here I want to explain—when the Principal invited me, I did ask him whether the Best Actress would be given to me."

Gong Huang also realized others would suspect her of foul play, and she couldn't stand any grain of sand in her eye, so she had to explain.

The audience below was taken aback—that was asked far too directly, the equivalent of demanding it. But those present were very curious how the Principal answered.

"The Principal replied that he couldn't guarantee this award would end up in my hands. As for who it went to, he didn't know, nor could he inquire about the winner.

He said that as one of the organizers of this Macau Film Festival, what he had to ensure was the festival's reputation—to make sure this festival could be held for the long haul, not run for one or two editions until its name was ruined and then shut down.

Those were the Principal's exact words at the time. You can see that, up to now at this festival, you rarely see any Yu Tu films winning awards. That means the Principal is ensuring fairness and justice to the greatest extent, doing his utmost to prevent this award from becoming his own backyard, and striving to build an awards event that belongs to Chinese-language cinema itself.

This is very admirable—a selfless spirit that many people want to do but cannot. I deeply respect him."

Hearing Gong Huang finish, "clap clap clap" applause rang out across the venue. Some stars looked toward the man in the front row, their hearts involuntarily gaining a measure of respect.

Even Gong Huang respected him—and their own status was no higher than hers.

Beside her, Liu Tianxian watched the stage with a smile, her heart also moved that her man could be praised by Gong Huang.

Now that she was a wife, her heart had long since thrown itself onto Fang Hong. It didn't matter how much she herself suffered; Fang Hong must not suffer. If he shone, she would feel honored too.

"After that I asked him a second question. I said, if I agreed to attend the Macau Film Festival, would you all hype me up the way the Golden Horse Awards did?

He probably knew I didn't like that kind of hype, so he proposed a plan: before I came to the Macau Film Festival, no information about my coming would be leaked. If word got out that I was coming, I could change my mind and not come before that happened."

Hearing Gong Huang's explanation, many people at the scene suddenly understood.

No wonder there wasn't a whisper of news before Gong Huang came to the Macau Film Festival—it turned out the two of them had agreed not to leak any information.

Their secrecy work was really done too well!

It didn't really need any secrecy work either. If the two of them didn't say anything, wouldn't everyone just not know? But now it didn't matter anymore, and they weren't afraid of people knowing.

"Alright, thank you to the Macau Film Festival." Gong Huang raised the grand prize in her hand, then cleanly and decisively headed backstage for press interviews.

If others wanted to read into it wildly, there was nothing she could do about it.

And her words quickly spread online. Wangyi saw her remarks and one after another praised Gong Huang for being true to herself, saying everything, and praised the Principal for being sincere.

"So what if the Principal told her about the Best Actress? Does my Gong Huang not deserve a Best Actress?"

"Exactly, exactly. It's just one Best Actress—my Gong Huang still deserves it."

"Hahaha, Gong Huang even specially explained—doesn't she deserve the Best Actress on her own merits?"

Most Wangyi felt there was nothing wrong with Gong Huang winning the award.

Even so, the internet still had all kinds of doubts about her winning through insider dealings—probably someone was setting the pace.

This couldn't be avoided. Some people were deliberately trying to undermine this film festival. Other small awards or individuals offered no excuse or opening, and Gong Huang here happened to give them a bit of an opening.

How could they not make use of it!

Film festivals are like this—hand it out well and people talk, hand it out badly and people also talk. Even if you explain, it's useless; they'll always find an angle to attack.

This is exactly what Fang Hong said back then—hard work with no thanks!

The awards ceremony on stage continued. Now being presented was the Best Actor award, with Guoji Zhang and Chen Daoming as the presenters.

These two had won countless awards big and small, and had countless classic works to their name—one could say they carried plenty of honors, so they were qualified to present this award.

"Good evening, everyone. I'm actor Chen Daoming." Chen Daoming spoke very briefly.

"Respected leaders, seniors, and our film colleagues, dear audience—good evening, everyone. I'm actor Guoji Zhang." Guoji Zhang came up and said a great long speech.

From this one could see that Chen Daoming was more confident, not trying to please anyone; Guoji Zhang was more smooth, willing to please others.

This was also a kind of difference in status showing through.

"I've been sitting down there for almost two hours—you could say I've taken part in the entire awards ceremony. How should I put it—today's ceremony is the best one I've attended in all these years.

Of course it also has many shortcomings; we have to give it time to grow. I won't say more here."

Chen Daoming spoke very briefly, looked at Guoji Zhang and asked: "I want to ask—Ziyi, have you ever won the Golden Lotus Awards Award?"

"No, this is also my first time attending the Macau Film Festival. But I've won many other major awards—you might envy me." As Guoji Zhang said this, an involuntary proud smile appeared on her face.

In anyone else's eyes, that would just be showing off!

(End of chapter)