Chapter 702: The Aftermath of the Magnolia Awards

To the fans, the results of last night's Magnolia Awards might seem fair and credible, a "everyone is happy" and "what the public expected" awards ceremony.

But in the eyes of the industry, it was simply beyond words. Yes, truly beyond words!

After it started airing, *The Legend of Mi Yue* was mocked by the entire internet, yet it actually won the Grand Prize for Best Television Series?

You have to know, the costumes, makeup, props, lines, and acting in *The Legend of Mi Yue* are all recognized as over-the-top. Throughout the entire series, there were too many errors regarding historical events and character timelines.

And Sun Li winning Best Actress for Mi Yue is truly "similar in effect" to her winning Best Actress for *Hot Mom! * back then—both were just as forced and indefensible.

Furthermore, although *Nirvana in Fire* was also produced by Lin Nan Film Industry, and their share was as high as fifty percent;

In Lin Nan's view, Hu Ge winning Best Actor was indeed a bit of an obvious bias from the Magnolia Awards, because the person he defeated head-on was Li Xuejian's Zhang Zuolin!

No one would question that *Marshal* is a good series, and Li Xuejian's Zhang Zuolin was even more brilliant;

And in the eyes of many industry insiders, Li Xuejian was absolutely the undisputed first among the Best Actor nominees, yet even so, he still lost.

Last year, the Magnolia Awards "humiliated" Li Xuejian, being directly blasted by the final jury members on the awards stage, so this year they learned their lesson and gave him a nomination.

But this result is truly outrageous, and the methods were a bit deliberate, using such a recognized Best Actor candidate to pave the way for Hu Ge!

However, not many people had objections to Kong Sheng and Li winning Best Director.

On stage, the giggling sounds of Fan Bingbing—dressed in a white V-neck slim-fit long dress, wearing sky-high heels, with wavy hair draped over her shoulders and bright red lips—cuddling and hugging Cheng, brought Lin Nan back to his senses.

Today, Fan Bingbing is excessively seductive; no wonder Cheng couldn't help but play around and flirt with her at the movie's promotional press conference.

This kind of promotional "battle formation" is indeed eye-catching. Look, many people off-stage are laughing out loud, and there must be quite a few lechers among them.

"The opening ceremony is this afternoon. This isn't your first time bringing a movie here for promotion. Do you have any thoughts on when you'll bring a movie to compete?"

"Is Chairman Ren talking to me?" Lin Nan turned his head, looking at Ren Zhonglun sitting next to him; the other party seemed to be asking him.

"*Cock and Bull* isn't that produced by my company? Director Cao Baoping has also been shortlisted for the main competition section."

"I'm referring to you, your movie!" Ren Zhonglun emphasized again.

Hearing this, Lin Nan couldn't help but reveal a slightly declining smile, "You really don't give me a chance to be evasive."

"How about it, consider it?"

"No thoughts." Lin Dao shook his head and decisively refused.

"Why, do you look down on the Golden Goblet Award?" Ren Zhonglun didn't give up and was still striving.

"Chairman Ren, if I weren't still too young, just over 30, I would have already been the jury president for the main competition section of the three major film festivals! You want me to come to Shanghai to compete?"

Lin Nan gave Ren Zhonglun a "you know" look. One can't say "look down on" explicitly, right?

"Are you being snobbish? Many top international directors don't have your viewpoint; even Li An wouldn't dare to have this intention! Furthermore, as the saying goes, a son doesn't dislike his mother for being ugly..."

"Hey, Chairman Ren, why are you still scolding people?" Lin Dao immediately interrupted Ren Zhonglun's words, guessing that he wasn't prepared to say the next sentence either.

"A slip of the tongue, it was my slip of the tongue.

But you can really consider it. Although the Shanghai International Film Festival is a Grade A festival and past editions have mostly favored international films, as the old saying goes, recommend the worthy without avoiding relatives..."

Lin Nan curled his lips, looking at Ren Zhonglun, who was talking eloquently in a low voice, and was speechless for a moment.

At this moment, Cheng and actresses like Fan Bingbing, Shi Shi, and Zhang Lanxin were performing a scene of women vying for favor. The stage was busy and lively, and the audience was full of banter and cheers.

"Let's talk about it if there's a chance in the future. Where would there be so many films suitable for film festivals?" Lin Nan really couldn't stand it anymore and had to respond evasively.

"Fine, having your word is enough. Didn't your teacher, Director Tian Zhuangzhuang, come to the Shanghai International Film Festival?" Ren Zhonglun smiled and nodded, looking like he was just waiting for these words.

Looking at that "look" on the other party's face, Lin Nan suddenly realized and reacted:

It turns out Ren Zhonglun never expected him to immediately agree to come to the Shanghai International Film Festival to compete in the future from the very beginning. This was a trap for him! Truly old, cunning, and slick...

Because of the time, when he went out in the morning, Lin Nan didn't have time to congratulate Hou Hongliang and the others.

So after he left the promotional press conference for *Skiptrace* during the intermission, he called them immediately.

Cai Yinong and Hu Ge ran over early in the morning to visit Hou Hongliang, Kong Sheng, and Li.

The Magnolia Awards had already ended, and the Daylight Entertainment team was also planning to return according to the schedule. After all, *Surgeons* had to start filming in two days, and they also had to prepare for two other dramas.

"*Nirvana in Fire* and *The Disguiser* have been a huge help to Hu Ge. Tang Ren and I are truly very grateful to Producer Hou, Director Kong, and Director Li for their support of him..."

When it comes to social skills in the industry, Cai Yinong naturally surpasses Hu Ge by a lot.

At this time, she was chatting and laughing with Hou Hongliang and the others, building relationships. But the latter also understood Cai Yinong's intention; it wasn't just as simple as "thanking them again."

"President Cai, to be honest, we really appreciate Hu Ge. But for the second part, we really can't use him." Hou Hongliang said with a smile, refusing tactfully.

That's right, Daylight Entertainment was preparing to launch *Nirvana in Fire 2*.

This matter was something Kong Sheng said himself on the Magnolia stage last night, a result of being excited for a moment.

Hearing this, Hu Ge smiled awkwardly. He was mentally prepared, but Cai Yinong didn't want to give up and dragged him over this morning.

"Why is that? His popularity, which complements this drama, is something almost no one in the industry can replace." Cai Yinong asked in confusion, not wanting to give up.

"Although it's the same background world, it's a different timeline, so naturally, different actors are needed, otherwise it's easy to give the audience a feeling of being pulled out of the story.

We also won't do that purely for ratings and the market." Kong Sheng took the initiative to explain.

"Secondly, the script has just started, and it will take at least another two or three months. After that, we have to confirm the share with Lin Nan Film Industry..." Li added, the copyright was still with Lin Nan Film Industry.

Before Cai Yinong and Hu Ge could react, Hou Hongliang stood up, holding his phone and smiling, saying: "I'll go out to take Lin Dao's call. It should be about congratulating us on winning the award."

More than half an hour later, Cai Yinong and Hu Ge left the hotel where Hou Hongliang and the others were staying, returning empty-handed.

In the afternoon, as time approached evening, a sea of people was visibly gathering outside the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

A hundred-meter red carpet was laid out, cameras were bunched together; isolation barriers were connected in pieces, and cheering flags were flying...

Nearly a thousand actors and stars were busy with makeup and styling, high-end custom gowns and suits were being sent into various hotels, and high-end jewelry and accessories were even being escorted by special personnel...

Lin Nan sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, his suit already changed.

And Liu Yifei's plain embroidered long dress, diamond hair clip, bracelet, and ring were still waiting for her to put them on. Well, Miss Liu herself was applying makeup.

Han Jia is a "top-tier second generation" in the industry and will walk the red carpet with Han Sanping, La Peikang, and others. Zhou Xun also withdrew; she isn't with the crew, but is appearing solo as a guest!

"Is this a graceful fairy style today?"

Xing Aina came over with Ning Hao, looked at Liu Yifei's outfit, and asked with a smile.

"Hmm, no need for too many accessories, and no need for heavy makeup, just a graceful fairy style." Lin Nan responded before Liu Yifei.

"Don't listen to his nonsense, it's just casual dressing." Liu Qianqian was very proud, smiling sweetly at the mirror.

"Yifei, you'd better not be serious about being humble; it's very easy to offend women."

"Hehe..."

At 4:30 PM, the four of them set off from the hotel on time, heading to the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

At the same time, the red carpet scene was already in a state of "waiting for the battle."

Because this year's Shanghai International Film Festival red carpet is already a well-deserved "Number One Red Carpet in Asia"; this title is enough to show the degree of starlight and the massive number of off-site audience and fans.

Looking at it, not counting the number of security guards, just the police maintaining order at the scene to prevent accidents like stampedes, there were hundreds of them!

At 6:00 PM, the sky gradually darkened, and the motorcades arriving one after another were still endless. Stars appeared one by one in high profile, but the red carpet ceremony had not yet begun.

When Lin Nan held Liu Yifei's hand and Ning Hao helped Xing Aina down, the cheers outside were truly earth-shattering.

Zhang Yimou and the others, who were about to walk into the waiting area, looked back and waved to say hello.

Walking beside Director Zhang, Jing Tian in a sky-blue evening gown was particularly eye-catching, not inferior to Liu Yifei in fairness.

The waiting area was like a green screen studio connected together; the area and space were very large;

Looking at it, it was full of people, and there were so many acquaintances that they couldn't even be counted, but the people from the Hong Kong circle were the most prominent, because almost all of them were standing in groups.

"Lin Dao, Director Ning, we came early today."

Jiang Wen rarely came out to attend the film festival, guessing that the script for *Hidden Man* had been completely finalized. This guy, he's probably about to start raising investment, right?!

"It's not easy to see Director Jiang now. Those who don't know would think you're at home pondering about having a... third child or fourth child?"

When it comes to being uninhibited, Ning Hao can keep up with Jiang Wen's rhythm. While joking in public, he didn't forget to ask Lin Nan.

"Where would I know?"

Lin Nan waved his hand with a smile, and Liu Yifei was amused.

Jiang Wen wasn't angry either, saying quite confidently: "There is a third child, and there must be a fourth child. Take it slow, no rush."

Good guy, as soon as this sentence came out, many people in the circle around couldn't help but laugh, making Zhou Yun on the side feel a bit embarrassed.

While talking, Jiang Wen leaned over to the four of them and whispered in a low voice:

"After the opening ceremony, how about taking some time to support me, Lin Dao, Director Ning?"

"What's the matter?" Lin Nan and Ning Hao asked in unison, and Liu Yifei and Xing Aina were equally curious.

"The last *Gone with the Bullets* was truly beyond words... This time the budget for *Hidden Man* is higher... Investment is not easy to gather, so I organized a group... You two don't need to put in effort, just come to support me, shout for me..."

Good guy, hearing this, Lin Nan admired himself; he really guessed it right.

The reason Jiang Wen didn't directly ask Lin Nan if he had any intention of investing was because he knew Lin Nan had no intention;

When he looked at the script before, Lin Nan had argued with him several times; but he felt that it should be done that way, his script was impeccable, and showing it to Lin Nan was just for peace of mind.