Chapter 573: Love Tiger Oil

Fang Hong stood up, straightened his suit, smoothed his glossy bald head, then walked toward the stage.

The applause still rang out; the foreigners were quite enthusiastic.

"This is China's eighth nomination and second win at the Oscars; the first winning film was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon!" The host announced in English the history of China's Oscar nominations.

At that voice, Fang Hong hurried onto the stage and took the Little Golden Man from Nicole Kidman.

Nicole Kidman said something, smiled warmly, hugged Fang Hong enthusiastically, and even kissed his cheek—no one knew if powder had stuck to her face.

The Black man also wanted to do the same, but Fang Hong shook his hand and let him go.

The two presenters stepped aside, leaving the stage to Fang Hong.

Fang Hong stood before the standing microphone, facing the international superstars before him—Black, White, Yellow—some familiar, some not.

He stood with one hand in his pocket, the other holding the Little Golden Man, relaxed and casual.

"Um…"

Fang Hong suddenly froze—he didn't speak English and didn't know how to begin, so he said: "I don't speak English; just bear with me!"

Since he couldn't speak, he wouldn't force it; let them understand or not—media reports would have scholars translate the subtitles later.

"We can arrange a translator for you, if you'd like." The host remained below the stage and did not come up.

He spoke in English, but the man beside him, Benny, took his microphone and translated it—he knew Chinese and had come to China during the film's promotion.

"Of course I need one—would you mind if I invited someone up right now?" Fang Hong looked at the gay host below.

The gay host, after hearing Benny's translation, gave an "OK" gesture and said: "OK!"

Fang Hong understood that word—he waved and called: "Liu Tianxian, come up. She understands me!"

The first sentence was to Liu Tianxian; the second was to the entire audience and the hundreds of millions watching the live broadcast.

It was a joke—many foreigners didn't get it; those who did laughed, especially Yu Xian, who laughed the loudest.

Liu Tianxian covered her face—this was too casual, as if this place meant nothing to him. She stood, lifted her dress hem, and walked toward the stage.

Fang Hong, being considerate, stepped to the edge of the stairs and reached out to help her up.

The gesture was affectionate; some foreigners whispered among themselves, wondering who they were and what their relationship was.

But Liu Tianxian was famous enough that some audience members called out her name—quietly, but audible.

After all, she'd built a fanbase since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and there were some Chinese viewers here too.

The two walked up the stage holding hands, the entire moment captured by cameras and broadcast live to global audiences—including domestic viewers who saw it too.

At this moment, the 1905 Movie Network live stream data surged—previously ignored, it now flooded with massive traffic.

"Wow! The Oscars!"

"Only our Principal can wave a hand and say 'She understands me,' and Liu Tianxian appears on the Oscar stage!"

"Awesome awesome! Principal takes Liu Tianxian to conquer the Oscars!"

"They're so well matched! Envious!"

"Yes yes! He's talented, she's beautiful!"

Now they were well matched, talented and beautiful—but before, Fang Hong had been vilified for being unworthy of Liu Tianxian.

These fans were too pragmatic.

At the Oscar venue, everyone watched the two on stage; Liu Tianxian, facing so many eyes, felt a little uneasy.

Because many of those eyes belonged to people more prestigious, more elevated than her—and the weight and spotlight of this stage pressed heavily on her.

Luckily, holding her man's hand gave her strength.

"I've planned for this award for six years. In China, there's an old saying: life cycles every six years."

In six years, countless cycles repeat—but I chose not to be lost in myself, working diligently every day, steering my cycle onto a different path."

"Arriving with joy, leaving with sorrow, merely walking through this world in vain. Better not to come, better not to go—no joy, no sorrow."

Fang Hong began reciting poetry, sounding quite literary.

Liu Tianxian found it hard to translate; she wanted to say, "Can't you just speak normally?"

The first part was fine—why recite poetry now?

She had no choice but to stumble through the translation—let the foreigners figure it out themselves.

The foreigners mostly understood—the poem simply said life has no meaning, while his earlier words showed his effort to make life meaningful.

It was quite philosophical; it added a bit of favor for the Chinese.

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause; foreigners were easy to impress.

"Winning this award came as a surprise. Thank you to the committee, thank you to the creative team—without your tireless efforts, I wouldn't be standing here today."

This time Fang Hong spoke properly, and Liu Tianxian could translate easily.

The audience on site watched silently.

"Most of all, I thank those who encouraged and helped me in life—my mother, my mother-in-law, and this woman beside me, my gentle, kind, virtuous wife—her support and encouragement brought me here."

Before Liu Tianxian finished translating, Fang Hong wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her lips, holding it a moment before pulling away, softly asking: "'Love tiger oil'—is that how you say it?"

"Ooh!" "Clap clap clap!"

The foreign audience burst into cheers and sustained, enthusiastic applause.

Though they didn't understand most of what he said, the clumsy "love tiger oil" was clear—even if spoken in dialect, they understood it, and Fang Hong's pronunciation was quite standard.

This moment was frozen by the camera; images and video quickly returned to China, where domestic viewers watching the live stream also saw it.

"Wow! Wow!"

"Oh my god, are they married?"

"Impossible—they never announced a wedding, no one heard of a ceremony."

"Maybe it's a proposal—she couldn't refuse in this setting, so she had to say yes!"

"Principal is awesome! Propose!"

"Damn you, Principal, let go of my wife!"

"Let's see who still says they've broken up—they're perfectly fine, they're even married."

The latest novel is first published at ⊥⊥⊥!

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This kiss, this form of address, instantly blew up the domestic internet, with every trending topic centered on "Principal" and "Liu Tianxian."

The focus of every major portal site and social media outlet was also on the two of them—of course the talk was about their "proposal" and "confession."

For a time, the buzz around the two reached an unprecedented height.

Incidentally, that day's box office for Gravity also got a wave of upward momentum; domestically it was now the fifth day of the New Year.

On the fourth day the box office had dipped—310 million! It only exploded for the first three days; the market is only so big.

And with the two of them putting on this show, the box office that morning alone broke 200 million; movie theaters were sold out, even midnight screenings were packed—breaking 400 million for the day was entirely possible.

One can only say the Principal knows how to play the game, running off to Oscar to chase the buzz.

The domestic theater chains were grinning from ear to ear, immediately lowering the screening slots for other films and putting them all on Gravity.

No choice—it was too hot, and capacity is only so big; they could only cut the screening slots for other films.

Nobody goes against the audience, against the flow of people.

Even overseas media like Yahoo and Facebook featured the photo of the two embracing and kissing on their front pages.

After all, the whole world was watching this moment; even those who didn't know would be a little curious, and those who did know were sharing and liking it left and right.

Liu Tianxian has her share of fans and moviegoers, and now Gravity has its own fanbase too.

With the buzz the two of them generated, plus the existing fan base, it was enough to sustain global popularity.

Google Trending: #Liu Tianxian Gravity! #

Sitting in sixth place; ahead of it were all social hot topics and international events, like Mexico's big drug lord, the Baltimore unrest, and so on.

This is the benefit of exposure—with enough exposure, plus just a little over-the-top action, you can spark a wave of popularity.

Donna sat in the audience clapping, watching the two on stage—one could only say the Principal was a talent, never letting any opportunity slip by.

Lao Zha, on the other hand, wore a flat expression, not understanding young people's love—he preferred to take by force!

Yu Xian clapped especially hard, even raising his fist and shouting: "Principal, you're awesome!"

The beauty beside her wore a baffled face—why did it feel like this man and the man up on stage were the real couple? Whatever he said, whatever he did, he got especially worked up.

On the Oscar stage, Liu Tianxian blushed bright red; she had been translating just fine, and before she could react, her mouth was already covered.

But in her heart she didn't blame him—instead she felt boundless emotion.

To publicly declare her his wife in front of the whole world, to say she was the person he was most grateful for—this courage, this confidence, and this elevation, he had already done enough!

Not to mention the goal of pushing her overseas—at the very least it proved this man had never thought of anyone else, only of walking forward with her; when people mentioned the Principal, they would think of her.

Think of her, and they would mention the Principal—the two were one.

Jing Tian also had the habit of checking the news; silently, she blocked Fang Hong on WeChat and stopped contacting him.

She knew in her heart that she would never have a chance in this lifetime, and she was unwilling to be the other woman—she had her own pride.

The Principal had never hurt her, nor shown her any interest; it was only her own wishful thinking. That scene in the bathroom back then was only meant to make her keep her distance, not to entangle him.

In truth, Fang Hong's heart was in the right place—he didn't want to hurt any woman who had feelings for him, nor show anyone unnecessary flirtation or closeness.

That kind of thing easily leads to misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

His status was already high, and the resources he controlled were many—even without a title, there were plenty of people willing to be his mistress.

Jiang Shuying, Nazha could all have developed into that, including Fan Xiaopang could have too, but he never did—never putting excess energy into unnecessary women.

Because he knew in his heart there was no future; if you toyed with someone and then cast her aside, she would still go find another man.

Women can't do without men, especially women in the entertainment industry—they need a backer;

Fan Xiaopang, Li Bailian, Guoji Zhang—flip open their résumés and in the early days they too relied on men. Honestly, very few women have Liu Tianxian's kind of independence, her kind of independent mind.

In the end, a man must return to his family!

"My six years have succeeded, yet the woman beside me has cycled through twelve years—twelve years, which we in China call a full cycle of the zodiac. And how many twelve-year cycles does a life hold?"

Fang Hong turned to look at Liu Tianxian and said: "Years flow like a dream, waking at last; looking back, every moment was scenery; the future is worth looking forward to—never forget the original aspiration."

This was encouragement for Liu Tianxian—encouragement for her to win an Oscar too.

Fang Hong finished speaking and raised the Little Golden Man high in his hand; the scene froze at this moment!

(End of chapter)