Chapter 379: The Forgotten Trophy

December 20, 10:13 PM.

At a roadside barbecue stall in Hualien, Taiwan Province, some young people who had taken off their jackets and were wearing only loose T-shirts and flip-flops were eating and drinking enthusiastically.

The shop had the air conditioning on, making it hot and stuffy. The table was filled with grilled squid, chicken wings, and several plates of wild boar meat skewers unique to Hualien. Several empty Taiwan Beer cans were on the floor, and there were several packs of betel nuts on the table. The guys, whose mouths were full of red juice from chewing, were shouting loudly while spitting out the residue.

"Hey, A-Wei, is that batch of goods really that easy to get?" A guy with dyed gold hair and a thick chain around his neck asked while gnawing on a sausage.

"Nonsense, why would I talk bullshit to you!" The young man called A-Wei glared at him, his thin, tall body leaning against the back of the chair, shaking the beer can in his hand. "This time the 'Dongmen Gang' has reached an agreement with the rascals in Taitung. The goods will come in from the port and go straight along that line in the back mountains; the police won't even be able to touch the edge!"

"Xiao Bei," A-Wei turned to look at another guy sitting in the corner, "Didn't you say last time that you knew a little brother at Hualien Port? Get him to hook up this time, don't drop the chain like last time and get us targeted by the cops."

Xiao Bei, holding a cigarette in his mouth, narrowed his eyes and exhaled a puff of white smoke, replying lazily: "Don't worry, A-Wei-ge, that kid is my cousin, he's reliable. If this gets screwed up, I'll chop off my own hand to apologize to you."

"Haha, you chopping off your hand? Xiao Bei, do you really think of yourself as 'Monk'? If you were as brave as Monk, you would have led us to overthrow the Sea Shark Gang long ago!" The gold-haired guy slapped the table, laughing so hard that all his rotten teeth were exposed.

"Fuck your mother, I just don't have the leisure to bother with that group of rascals, otherwise I would have killed them long ago." Xiao Bei rolled his eyes and pressed the cigarette butt onto the table.

The gold-haired guy grinned: "Xiao Bei, you like 'Monk' so much, why aren't you watching the Golden Horse Awards tonight? Isn't Monk nominated for that Best Actor thing, about to win the Best Actor award?"

Xiao Bei spat out a betel nut residue with disdain and sneered: "Win my ass. The Best Actor this time is definitely that guy surnamed Chen. Even Doze Niu said Monk couldn't win, so what else is there to talk about."

A-Wei took a shrimp skewer and asked while gnawing: "Xiao Bei, which guy surnamed Chen? Even Monk can't beat him?"

The gold-haired guy said: "I know, Chen Nuo, that's the one who played the Joker. Although Ethan Juan acted very cool and *Monga* is also very popular, that's only in our Taiwan. Outside of here, who the hell knows him. Of course he can't beat the other guy."

A-Wei suddenly realized: "Chen Nuo, fuck, I know him, is it the one who has an American movie where he plays a vampire, Xiao Bei, is it him??"

Xiao Bei said: "Yeah, that's him."

"Fuck! My little sister has been crazy about him all day long, and he actually came to Taiwan to attend the Golden Horse Awards? I just said my little sister went to Taipei to find her classmates yesterday!"

The gold-haired guy laughed: "Haha, she must have gone to the Golden Horse Awards to chase stars."

Fuck A-Wei cursed a few more times.

At this moment, Xiao Bei's phone suddenly rang, and he answered it nonchalantly.

"Hey A-Jian, what's up... I'm eating with A-Wei-ge and the others over at Huiyuan Road... really??"

Xiao Bei shouted: "Boss, Boss, where is the TV remote? Switch it to the Golden Horse Awards for me!"

A-Wei and the gold-haired guy both looked over in surprise. The gold-haired guy asked: "Xiao Bei, what are you doing? Watching the fucking Golden Horse Awards?"

"I fuck, A-Jian said Monk won Best Actor! Telling us to watch quickly!"

"Eh???"

According to later statistics, when Ti Lung shouted the three words "Ethan Juan" on stage, the number of viewers for the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan Province began to rise sharply, and the number of people went from 2.1 million to 3 million in less than a minute.

There were no telling how many people like Xiao Bei turned on the TV or switched channels immediately in Taiwan Province.

On one hand, it was because the movie *Monga* was really popular in Taiwan Province, especially for young gangsters like Xiao Bei and the gold-haired guy; the "Monk" played by Ethan Juan was full of ruffian spirit and valued friendship, which was simply their idol.

On the other hand, it was also because of the drama of the event, leading to word-of-mouth among ordinary people.

A local young actor from Taiwan defeated, or rather confronted, a "dragon crossing the river" from the mainland, and finally didn't fall behind, ending in a tie.

Such a narrative instantly caused an uproar among all the people in Taiwan.

3 million was just a start. When Chen Nuo and Ethan Juan went up to the stage one after another, modestly yielding to each other, and finally Chen Nuo stood in front of the podium and opened his mouth.

The number of viewers for this Golden Horse Awards had reached 4.3 million, accounting for 59.7% of Taiwan's 7.2 million TV households, and the ratings reached 19.8%, almost catching up to the historical peak of 20.8% in 2003 when Tony Leung won the award for *Infernal Affairs* at the 40th Golden Horse Awards.

Although it was slightly lower than that time, considering the rise of online live streaming in the past two years, which diverted TV ratings, the overall influence might even be better.

But strangely, the control room should have been a scene of laughter and celebration for the new ratings high, but the actual situation was as if it were ice and fire.

On one hand, the grassroots staff were jubilant, switching cameras and recording data in a flurry, wishing they could open champagne to celebrate on the spot.

On the other hand, the core team, including the general director in charge, Lin Zhihong, had solemn expressions.

Their expressions were just like everyone in the audience now.

No one could be seen smiling; everyone sat up straight, looking at the man on stage holding the trophy, about to speak.

Especially those people from the *Hawthorn Tree* crew, such as Zhang Yimou, such as Liu Yifei.

Although Liu Yifei remembered Chen Nuo telling her to maintain her expression when entering the venue, she really couldn't smile now.

Also unable to smile was the old master, who had always appeared easy-going and smiling in front of the camera. At this moment, his face was as black as a pot; even though the camera was shooting his face, Director Zhang still didn't mean to hide anything, without a trace of perfunctory smile.

At this moment, on the podium, Chen Nuo opened his mouth.

He said: "Thank you."

After speaking, Chen Nuo took a step back, signaling Ethan Juan to come forward.

His words were finished.

Everyone in the audience was stunned.

Including the 4 million-plus Taiwanese people in front of the TV, they were all dumbfounded.

What does this count as?

Two-word acceptance speech?

Can a two-word acceptance speech even be considered an acceptance speech?

This is a slap in the face!

This is nakedly stepping on the face of the Golden Horse Awards and stomping on it twice.

In the TV lens, everyone panicked.

Hou Hou Xiaoxian's face had turned liver-colored.

And Huang Jianye only felt a deep sense of humiliation flooding him like a tide.

How dare he! This is the Golden Horse Awards, this is the highest award in the Chinese film industry!

Chen Nuo actually acted like this, not leaving any face at all! Does he not intend to come to the Golden Horse Awards again, or intend to set foot in Taiwan in the future?

At this time, the bitter smile at the corner of Ang Lee's mouth became more obvious.

Regarding Chen Nuo's actions on stage, he wasn't very surprised.

After all, since the audition in Shanghai, he had frequently contacted Chen Nuo and witnessed this young man gradually climbing to his current status. He knew this young man too well.

Indeed, in the Asian region, Chen Nuo's image was gentle, giving people a harmless feeling.

However, in the United States, that was another matter.

Just look at what he did to Summit Entertainment, and it's clear.

Therefore, facing this kind of humiliating "double yolk" result, it was already quite good that Chen Nuo didn't sit still in his chair, causing a huge live broadcast accident for the Golden Horse Awards, and was still willing to go on stage to receive the award.

Only saying "Thank you" on stage?

Then let him be.

At least it could be used to deal with external doubts with his similar actions at the Berlin Film Festival.

Ang Lee was more worried about...

Another thing.

And this thing, in his view, Chen Nuo was extremely likely to do.

If that really happened, then the Golden Horse Awards would really be finished.

At this time, Ang Lee couldn't help but look at Hou Hou Xiaoxian.

And Hou Hou Xiaoxian also looked over.

The eyes of the two old friends met in the air, and they immediately understood what the other was thinking.

Ethan Juan was giving some messy acceptance speech on stage. However, no one was listening to what he was saying; most people off stage were looking at each other, and a small number of people were still whispering.

In a state of distraction, the departure of Ang Lee and Hou Hou Xiaoxian immediately attracted the attention of many people.

"Aren't Director Lee and Director Hou presenting Best Director? Why did they go to the backstage so early?"

"What do you think? The acceptance speech just now was only one sentence. This is Golden Horse, not Berlin, and he didn't drink too much. Can Ang Lee and Hou Hou Xiaoxian still sit still?"

"... Also, they must be furious. Sigh, what are the judges of this Golden Horse Awards doing? Do they not want to play anymore in the future?"

"What are they doing? They want to mess with him. He's so prominent, I just said, I'm not the only one who can't stand him, there are plenty. It's just these Taiwanese, they are really fucking like idiots, double yolk, hehe."

"This Golden Horse Awards will definitely become a big joke, and it's hard to say what will happen in the future. When the time comes, the reputation will stink. Even if you win Best Actress this time, it's like picking up a hot potato, with more trouble than benefits. Fuck."

After Feng Xiaogang finished speaking, his wife, Xu Fan, who was also nominated for Best Actress for *Aftershock*, also had an ugly look on her face.

On the other side, Hou Hou Xiaoxian and Ang Lee entered the backstage area together. The first thing Hou Hou Xiaoxian said was: "Director Lee, you have known him for a long time and have had many contacts with him. What do you think he will do next? Will he attack the Golden Horse Awards in front of the media?"

Ang Lee said: "Based on my understanding of him, an attack shouldn't happen. However... it's better to meet him before he sees the media. Director Hou, sigh, what exactly is going on? Do you know?"

Hou Hou Xiaoxian said with a bitter face: "It should be Huang Jianye who did it. He... sigh, I really regret it; I shouldn't have chosen him to be the jury president in the first place."

He really didn't understand why such a thing happened.

What were those people in the jury doing?

Is this helping Taiwan?

This is harming Taiwan!

Hou Hou Xiaoxian continued: "Director Lee, you have a deep friendship with Chen Nuo, please help me persuade him. I can resign because of this, but let him let the Golden Horse Awards go; we must not let the Golden Horse Awards be destroyed by this matter."

Ang Lee's face wrinkled into a ball, and he smiled bitterly: "I'll try my best. Director Hou, let's walk faster."

"Okay."

Just a second after the two directors left their seats, Ethan Juan on stage hurriedly ended his speech.

On one hand, he wasn't completely unaware; the sparse, focused gazes in the audience clearly indicated that not many people were listening to him seriously.

On the other hand, he really didn't expect that he could step onto this stage. He had no preparation at all, and he hadn't prepared a single word for the acceptance speech.

It was like a gold ingot hitting his forehead without any warning; he was surprised and happy, and his head was buzzing. After stuttering and thanking the director, his parents, and the judges, he really couldn't think of anything else to say, so he hurriedly ended his speech.

However, there was no doubt that the joy in his heart was genuine.

It was even happier and more joyful than if he had won the award alone!

However, he was also a bit worried in his heart, fearing that the other party would vent his anger on him.

So when he stepped down, Ethan Juan said nervously: "Chen, Chen Dage, I really didn't expect it at all. I am especially honored to share this award with you, I'm really sorry." Although he knew he was four years older than the other party, the word "Dage" (Big Brother) came out very smoothly.

He didn't know what Xiao Bei and other Monk worshippers would think if they saw this scene.

Chen Nuo wasn't as happy as Ethan Juan.

His mood was quite special right now.

In short, it was like being fed a piece of shit.

It wasn't that he couldn't accept losing; he hadn't never lost before, and he would only smile and applaud if he lost.

But a double yolk?

In the concept he was taught by Li Er, he really felt that things like double yolks were meant to make people vomit. He felt it was hot to the touch when holding it, and it felt foul when talking about it.

Hearing Ethan Juan's words, he showed a smile and said: "It's okay, actually there's no need to share."

What does this sentence mean?

Ethan Juan was in a state of excitement at this time and didn't react.

But the presenters who went down the stage with them, Xu Xu Ruoxuan and Ti Lung, both heard it.

Ti Lung, as an old hand, naturally understood what this meant immediately. He said "Wow" in his heart. He didn't say anything.

And Xu Xu Ruoxuan, as a local from Taiwan Province, was shocked and turned her head back.

At this time, although she was 35 years old, she was still graceful, and the charm that had haunted countless mainland teenagers in the past hadn't diminished in the slightest. Just this year, she also collaborated with mainland actor Jing Boran on the movie *Hot Summer Days*, and the box office performance after the movie was released was quite eye-catching.

But at this moment, she had completely lost her sweet appearance in love, and her face was full of panic, as if she had witnessed a Godzilla landing in Hualien County, rushing toward Taipei aggressively, and everything it passed would be ruthlessly destroyed.

"Chen, Chen Nuo, you..."

The location for the reporter interview was set in the news center backstage at the Taoyuan County Performing Arts Center, which was the customary interview area after the 47th Golden Horse Awards ceremony.

At this time, the news center was already crowded with reporters from both sides of the strait and three places, flashbulbs flickered incessantly, and camera lenses were aimed at the entrance.

This was definitely a posture unprecedented in the backstage of the Golden Horse Awards.

When Chen Nuo and Ethan Juan walked up to the interview stage from the back, the reporters in the audience went crazy.

"Chen Nuo, what is your opinion on the result of this Golden Horse Awards Best Actor double yolk?"

"Will you accept this result?"

"You only said a short acceptance speech when receiving the award just now, are you expressing your dissatisfaction with the result through this?"

"Chen Nuo..."

"Chen Nuo..."

No one cared about Ethan Juan; every microphone, every lens, was aimed at Chen Nuo.

Similarly, a series of questions smashed toward Chen Nuo like a barrage.

Contrary to many people's expectations, Chen Nuo's expression was quite calm.

He sat down, placed the trophy in his hand gently on the table, pondered for a moment, and was about to open his mouth to answer.

But just then, he caught a glimpse of Ang Lee and Hou Hou Xiaoxian entering hurriedly from the door in front of him, almost running.

The moment Ang Lee entered the door, he smiled bitterly and made a gesture of putting his hands together, almost begging, toward him.

Chen Nuo was stunned.

It seemed that this sophisticated director should have guessed it.

And he still owed Ang Lee a favor.

When filming *The Message*, if Director Lee hadn't given him most of the team that filmed *Lust, Caution*, *The Message* might not have had its later achievements.

And at this moment, next to Ang Lee, Hou Hou Xiaoxian actually bowed slightly to him with a bitter face.

This.

Chen Nuo felt even more embarrassed.

After thinking it over, he sighed in his heart. *Forget it, then... some words won't be said. *

*Anyway, both sides of the strait are one family, saying too much hurts the harmony. *

Immediately after, he stood up neatly and walked toward the door.

In an instant, all the reporters in the audience were stunned; his unexpected move was completely beyond everyone's expectations.

No one expected that this person would walk out straight like this.

From walking in to turning around and going out, he didn't say a word, not a single word.

All the reporters were confused and at a loss for a while, and then with doubtful and shocked eyes, they finally focused on something on the table.

I saw that the freshly baked 47th Golden Horse Awards Best Actor trophy, which carried the longing of I don't know how many filmmakers, was left alone on the table and was not taken away by him.

PS:

I'm out of town, a little less today, I'll make up the monthly vote addition when I get home.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 380 =====