Chapter 541: Isn't It Just Not Letting Me Be Jealous

"Jury Special Outstanding Award: *Kiss of the Spider Woman*, *Jacques' November*..."

"Best Director Award: Peter Gothár, *Time Stopped*..."

As the awards were announced one by one, the crew of *The Lone Army of the Homeland* became increasingly nervous.

Because now, only the final grand prize remained, but *The Lone Army of the Homeland* had yet to win anything.

Although everyone was immensely looking forward to winning the most important Best Film award, the topic of competition between *Typhoon Club* and *The Lone Army of the Homeland* had been constant in the newspapers over the past few days.

And according to relevant critical analysis, *Typhoon Club* seemed to have the upper hand.

Because many said *The Lone Army of the Homeland* was a "big-budget" historical landscape film, merely providing visual enjoyment to the audience while lacking exploration of the soul.

Conversely, *Typhoon Club* fully explored the relationship between family and society.

The young students in the film all came from incomplete or problematic family backgrounds, which influenced their growth and interpersonal relationships.

By showing their various conflicts and struggles, the film revealed the importance of family to individual identity formation and growth, expressing questioning and rebellion against traditional concepts and social expectations.

It also inspired the audience to think about the influence of family on individual development, and how to find balance and independence between family and society, guiding them to think about the individual's positioning in society and the struggle to pursue the true self.

In short, *The Lone Army of the Homeland* was too commercial and lacked artistic quality; it was like the difference between Cannes and the Oscars, not fitting the stance and style of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

And according to Li Ye's memory, the Tokyo International Film Festival had consecutive sessions later where literary films from the mainland won the grand prize.

*Old Well*, *New Year*, *Blue Kite*, *The King of Masks*... winning the crown for eight consecutive years.

It's just that Li Ye remembered when he watched *The King of Masks* back then, he felt very depressed; it was a completely different path from a film like *The Lone Army of the Homeland* that expressed the former power of the Chinese family, and he didn't know if that sense of depression was a reaction of artistic quality.

And now *The Lone Army of the Homeland* had swept the entire East Asian film market and was the undisputed box office champion; if it came away empty-handed here, wouldn't it just add a gimmick to this film festival to attract more news attention?

Li Ye looked at a group of young people in the distance; they were the actors of *Typhoon Club*. Looking at their expressions, they were even more nervous than Li Ye's side.

"The winner of the Best Film is..."

The host dragged out a long tone, and after earning enough anticipation from the audience, shouted loudly: "*The Lone Army of the Homeland*, congratulations to our friends who have come from afar."

"Wow"

Several people beside Li Ye jumped up, including the director, Old Xie, who was no longer young.

Although he had won countless awards overseas before, this time he gained both fame and fortune, which could be considered winning face and taking the substance.

And Li Ye looked at the young actors of *Typhoon Club* again; they were clearly very frustrated, and one child even shed tears.

Young people, they don't know how to disguise!

Old Xie and Pan Hong went on stage to receive the award and delivered their acceptance speech.

"First of all, thanks to the organizers. The reason we made this film is that we wanted to excavate the brilliant culture buried in history..."

Old Xie's speech draft was written by Yang Yang Yumin, a talented writer, which fully met the high, big, and up stance, elevating a historical film to the height

However, at the end of his speech, Lao Xie suddenly changed his tone, looked toward Li Ye's direction, and said, "Finally, I want to thank the original authors of *Orphaned Army of the Homeland*,

it is their silent and persistent dedication that has unearthed more history, culture, and stories, which in turn has led to one better and more brilliant film after another."

The photographers at the scene all swept their cameras toward the crew of *Orphaned Army of the Homeland*, and finally, guided by the gazes of the other staff members, locked onto Li Ye.

"Clap, clap, clap!"

Amidst the enthusiastic applause, Li Ye naturally raised his hand slightly in acknowledgment, his calm and composed demeanor no less impressive than that of those experienced Best Actors and Actresses.

Someone nearby teased, "Student Li Ye, you really have quite the air about you!"

Li Ye smiled faintly and said, "Nothing to it, I've just seen a lot of this."

The next day, on the plane returning from Tokyo to the capital of the mainland.

"Student Li Ye, take a look at these newspapers; all the limelight for us has fallen on you alone! No way, you have to treat everyone to a good meal when we get back to the capital."

"How can you say that? The Japanese newspaper was willing to use Li Ye's photo, can you blame Li Ye for that? But treating everyone to a good meal is fine; I'm really missing the food from our hometown now."

"Exactly, exactly, that so-called cuisine... looks good but doesn't taste good."

Because *Orphaned Army of the Homeland* won the grand prize at the film festival, everyone was very happy; even Team Leader Zhou, who had been preoccupied with how to write his self-criticism upon returning, couldn't help but smooth his furrowed brows.

And when they left this morning, several morning papers had published Li Ye's photo along with an introduction to *Seven-Inch Blade*, which was why everyone was teasing Li Ye about being "the center of attention" and pestering him to treat them.

"Fine, after we get off the plane, you guys pick the place, and I'll treat everyone to dinner."

"Hey, hey, hey, that's enough from you guys! My brother here is an honest man, you need to know when to stop with the jokes. Why should one person have to pay for the meal? Come to me, Old Xiong, I guarantee I'll arrange everything comfortably for everyone..."

"You, Old Xiong, are just blindly generous. If you spend your own money to treat everyone, then we'll be impressed by you."

"Go on, we men from Chang'an keep our word."

A group of people were chatting and laughing on the plane, somewhat forgetting their surroundings, which made it seem a bit noisy.

Then, a young girl in front became unhappy.

"Can you all be a little quieter? Can't you keep quiet in a public place?"

Old Xiong and the others were stunned. Looking at the girl who had stood up in front, they wanted to retort, but felt they were in the wrong, and for a moment, they felt both ashamed and uncomfortable.

And after that girl swept her gaze over Li Ye, she sat back down.

But not long after, when that girl got up to go to the restroom and passed by Li Ye, her gaze drifted over once more.

The quick-witted Wen Wen Leyu immediately realized something and poked Li Ye with her elbow.

Li Ye turned his head to look, and Wen Wen Leyu's little eyes were clearly asking: "Who is that woman? What is her relationship with you?"

Li Ye whispered, "Li Li Dayong's ex-girlfriend. They broke up because their values didn't align, and later she went to study abroad in the Lighthouse."

Lin Lin Qiuyan was one year ahead of Li Li Dayong; according to the timeline, she was just graduating now.

And on this flight Li Ye was taking, there were passengers transferring to the mainland from the Lighthouse; clearly, Lin Lin Qiuyan was one of them.

Wen Wen Leyu nodded, indicating she understood.

She had heard the story about Li Li Dayong from Jiang Jiang Xiaoning and also knew about this Lin Lin Qiuyan.

However, Wen Wen Leyu immediately poked Li Ye again: "Then if she runs into Li Li Dayong and Pei Pei Wenhui later, wouldn't that be..."

Both Li Ye and Wen Wen Leyu looked toward the business class in front.

Fu Fu Yiruo and Pei Pei Wenhui were both sitting in the front!

And given how much Li Li Dayong doted on Pei Pei Wenhui, he would definitely come to pick her up at the airport. When the ex and the current girlfriend meet...

Li Ye slowly shook his head: "It's fine. Although Pei Pei Wenhui isn't as clever and transparent as you, she is sensible and won't be jealous."

Wen Wen Leyu stared into Li Ye's eyes for a long time before curling her lip in disdain.

She had run into Lu Lu Jingyao many times; it wasn't as if she didn't understand that Li Ye was speaking with hidden meaning.

Saying it so nicely, isn't it just to keep me from getting jealous? Hmph.

(End of chapter)

mhtxs

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