Chapter 100: The First in the Country

Gao Yuanyuan was visibly nervous; not just her, but every actress present who had a chance at the Best Actress award—who among them wasn't smiling with a certain stiffness?

Cannes Best Actress, this was the Cannes Best Actress.

It could be said to be the most valuable Best Actress award among all film festivals in the world, recognized globally.

For an actress, it represents not just honor and artistic achievement, but also fame, prestige, and money...

"Her immersion in emotions, which feels like reality, her highly infectious performance, combines the complexities of motherhood and humanity; her acting is delicate, authentic, and profoundly reveals the character's inner world..."

At this moment, not only were domestic media outlets focused on this awards ceremony, but many industry insiders were as well.

Especially many relevant actresses; many were staying up late waiting for the news.

Because of scheduling conflicts, International Zhang had failed to get an audition opportunity for *Secret Sunshine* and had been harboring a grudge in her heart; she didn't even know who she should blame.

Cao Yang was a great director, and his film started shooting in November, while she wouldn't have an opening in her schedule until December, so she couldn't blame Cao Yang for not waiting for her.

Old Mouzi was also a great director; it was impossible for him to ignore so many big names in his crew just to focus on her and rush her schedule.

Back then, this role was snatched only after a "great battle" with Li Xiaoran; could she blame Li Xiaoran?

Yes, just blame Li Xiaoran. If it weren't for her competing for the role, she might have considered it carefully back then and wouldn't necessarily have taken such a minor supporting role.

International Zhang let out a long sigh, suppressing the wicked fire in her heart.

A few days ago, she had just signed on for Lou Ye's *Purple Butterfly*. The male lead acting opposite her was her classmate, Venice Best Newcomer and Golden Horse Best Actor Liu Ye. She hoped to create chemistry and win a major award at one of the three big European festivals in one fell swoop.

If she didn't win a major award soon, she would be left behind by others.

There used to be Li Xiaoran, then there was Yu Feihong, and now who knows who else might...

No, it won't happen, it won't happen; I hope it absolutely doesn't.

If another Cannes Best Actress emerges, those big-name brand endorsements will be even harder to get.

Right now, she can barely hype herself as one of the "Three Great Young Actresses" or "Three Great International Stars." Could it be that after tomorrow, the press releases will become the "Four Great Young Actresses"?

International Zhang wanted to curse. Everyone is happy when a great director who can promote people emerges domestically, but when the person being promoted isn't oneself, who understands this feeling?

Besides International Zhang, Xu Jinglei was also paying attention.

She had excellent resources and usually didn't care much about such things, but having missed an opportunity before, and this time it was because of this woman Gao Yuanyuan who snatched her lead role, she had also been harboring a grudge.

That's right, she considered it Gao Yuanyuan who snatched her lead role.

For the lead role in Cao Yang's new film, she had invested quite a few favors, approaching two separate groups of people who had close relationships with Cao Yang.

One was Yu Feihong; when Yu Feihong was briefly teaching at the Beijing Film Academy, she was Xu Jinglei's teacher.

But what Xu Jinglei didn't expect was that Yu Feihong actually refused her and told her that with Cao Yang's current status, it was already very difficult for anyone to influence his casting choices.

Xu Jinglei didn't believe it.

She asked Wang Shuo to help, and she didn't know what connections Wang Shuo used, but in the end, it reached Tian Zhuangzhuang.

But unfortunately, Tian Zhuangzhuang told them bluntly: don't even think about the lead role; if Cao Yang doesn't nod, no one can do anything.

Xu Jinglei still didn't believe it. She thought, it's fine to connect with Cao Yang as a supporting actress for now; I don't believe it—men, heh.

Then, Tian Zhuangzhuang told her that Cao Yang had agreed to let her play a supporting role. Before she could even be happy, Old Tian added that the lead role was already taken—it was Gao Yuanyuan.

Xu Jinglei almost exploded. How could Cao Yang have such poor judgment, choosing a woman with no acting skills as the lead? Wasn't he afraid of affecting the quality of the film?

To be a supporting actress for that woman and let her get the upper hand? Not a chance!

She was staying up late waiting for the news now just to know sooner: was Cao Yang really as god-like as the legends said? Could he really promote a woman with zero acting skills to Best Actress? How is that possible!

Please don't let it happen. I snatched your things, but you suddenly didn't want them, and then you suddenly became a huge hit—it makes me look like I have no class.

Tianya Community was also buzzing with posts. Some said that if Cao Yang could also promote Gao Yuanyuan to Best Actress, then he could truly be deified in the entertainment industry, at least among actresses.

"The Number One in the Circle" wasn't asleep either. He was simply envious, jealous, and hateful of Cao Yang's consecutive awards, which made him think that the three big European festivals were nothing special.

This time, "holding" Jiang Wen, his original plan was to try his luck at Venice, but hearing that Cao Yang was going to participate in the Cannes Film Festival, his competitive spirit flared up, and the thought of "I can do it too if I go" made him itch with impatience.

Why not "go head-to-head" and take down Cao Yang?

That grandson Jiang Wen had just won the Cannes Jury Prize the year before last with *Devils on the Doorstep*; he should have decent connections at Cannes, so why not make good use of them?

Right, let's just go to Cannes.

!

So he told Jiang Wen to find a way to send the film to Cannes, thinking that getting into the main competition section would be easy.

And then, there was no "then." The film was rejected and failed to make the main competition list.

"The Number One in the Circle" was furious. That dog-son Jiang Wen must not have tried his best; otherwise, how could they not even get into the main competition section?

Pfft, trash, what kind of shitty film did he shoot? Next time, I must never let him influence my thinking again.

"The Number One in the Circle" didn't dare to blather on Tianya Community for fear of being mocked again, but he didn't believe it: could Cao Yang really help a woman who became famous by shooting commercials win a Cannes Best Actress that no one in the country had ever won before?

He was holding his breath now, just waiting for Gao Yuanyuan to lose the Cannes Best Actress award so he could go to Tianya Community and mock those who followed the trend and kissed ass to his heart's content.

When Cao Yang heard the presenter mention motherhood and humanity, he felt it was about right; the Best Actress award shouldn't go elsewhere.

Gao Yuanyuan's performance was absolutely flawless, and he had mobilized so many connections, with Bellman running around helping out, all for the sake of winning this award.

"The winner of the 55th Cannes International Film Festival Best Actress is, Gao Yuanyuan, *Secret Sunshine*, congratulations."

Then, the big screen behind the presenter played neither the scene of identifying the body at the shallow beach nor the crying scene in the church, but the clip of Wu Qihua holding the mirror while Gao Yuanyuan cut her own hair.

The image presented on the big screen was Wu Qihua holding the mirror with both hands, Gao Yuanyuan's face appearing inside, expressionless, pale, and motionless, very much like a funeral portrait.

Then the camera shifted, and the cut hair rolled with the wind, mixing with the debris on the ground. Under the sunlight, the hair was blown into a dark crevice of the debris, untouched by the light.

Finally, the screen faded, and the name of the winning film appeared: *Secret Sunshine*.

Cao Yang couldn't help but think that the Cannes officials were quite interesting; the clip they chose, when edited together with the film's title, was truly fitting.

Gao Yuanyuan had been covering her mouth with her hand just now, seemingly unable to believe it. Only then did she react, quickly lowering her hand, while squeezing out a smile that looked normal on her face. Amidst the attention of all, she stood up and gently hugged Cao Yang.

"Thank you, thank you..."

Her voice was clearly trembling a little.

International Zhang slammed the table hard. She originally had a chance to get this role; it's all because of... all because of Li Xiaoran, that bitch!

Xu Jinglei slammed the table hard. She originally had a chance to get this role; it's all because of Gao Yuanyuan, that bitch!

"The Number One in the Circle" slammed the table hard. A fix, this is definitely a fucking fix!

(End of chapter)