Chapter 18: Unexpected Joy

Li Xiaoran's mouth was slightly agape, staring blankly at the big screen.

At this moment, the screen on stage began playing the scene where Li Xiaoran was drawing a portrait on the beach.

On the screen, Li Xiaoran gazed into the distance, her expression gradually becoming blurred, murmuring as if in a dream, "I don't know, will he miss me as much as I miss him?"

"Clap, clap, clap......"

Accompanied by the applause, Cao Yang gently removed the prompt earpiece for Li Xiaoran; only then did Li Xiaoran come back to her senses, covering her mouth and standing up stiffly.

A few months ago, she was still a small supporting role playing bit parts in TV dramas, and even getting a slightly more important supporting role required recommendations from friends.

Now, she stood in one of the highest halls of art cinema, the Berlin International Film Festival, and became the Best Actress, a Berlin Film Festival winner; could there be anything more unbelievable than this?

Li Xiaoran hugged Cao Yang and said excitedly, "Thank you, Cao Yang."

Afterwards, she hugged Zhao Tiantian, who had stood up beside her, and incidentally gave Old Tian a ritualistic one-armed hug before walking toward the stage.

On the side of Wang Xiaoshuai's crew, Gao Yuanyuan widened her eyes and said in surprise to Xun Ge'er beside her, "She really won Best Actress? The first Berlin Film Festival Best Actress from the mainland, the second Best Actress from the three major film festivals; truly amazing."

Although she had expected it, Xun Ge'er was still incredibly envious, staring at Li Xiaoran, who was receiving congratulations from the presenter, and corrected Da Meiyuan, "Counting Hong Kong and Taiwan, this is the second Berlin Best Actress, the fourth Best Actress from the three major film festivals; the mainland is indeed the first for Berlin."

"That's also amazing."

Xun Ge'er just stared at the stage, ignoring Da Meiyuan.

Of course it's amazing. International Zhang spends all day issuing press releases saying she has broken into Hollywood and is an international superstar, but what significant awards has she won? Isn't she just relying on the momentum from the National Master's "The Road Home"?

Last year, "The Road Home" won the Jury Grand Prix at the Berlin Film Festival; originally, it had nothing to do with International Zhang, but unexpectedly, she squeezed her way up, went on stage with the National Master wearing a big red bellyband, and triggered a huge wave of public opinion.

With that kind of drive, no wonder she can be more successful.

Receiving the Silver Bear from the presenter, Li Xiaoran couldn't help but look at it; it had some weight, and it was said to be made of pure silver and handcrafted; she wondered if it was true.

A lot of chaotic thoughts flashed through her mind for a moment; Li Xiaoran took a deep breath and arrived at the microphone.

"Thanks! I...... I......"

It's over, she forgot her lines; she had memorized them perfectly yesterday; it's all Cao Yang's fault.

Better to listen to Cao Yang; Chinese it is.

It's all Cao Yang's fault.

"Thank you, thank you to the Berlin International Film Festival, thank you to the jury, thank you to all the crew members and actors, thank you to my parents. Special thanks to director Cao Yang, thank you for giving me the opportunity. Also, thank you to my past self; your hard work did not go to waste!"

After speaking, she raised the Silver Bear in her hand and glanced at the screen frozen behind her, where she was gazing into the distance with a blurred expression, and the subtitle below read, "I don't know, will he miss me as much as I miss him?"

So, she lowered her head to the microphone and added another line, "I'm still thinking of you."

Raising the Silver Bear once more, she walked off the stage.

Is she hoping to win Best Actress again? Many people couldn't help but think.

"Such great ambition." Xun Ge'er muttered in a low voice.

After another round of applause, the Best Actor award was given to Benicio del Toro for "Traffic". The director of this film is Steven Soderbergh, who once won the highest award at Cannes, the Palme d'Or.

After the Best Actor award was presented, theoretically, there were three awards left: Best Director, the Jury Grand Prix, and the Jin Xiong for Best Film.

By comparison, the Jin Xiong is the highest award, followed by the Jury Grand Prix, also known as the second-best film; its weight is slightly higher than Best Director, though actually, it's about the same.

Sometimes there is also a Jury Prize, which is more of a consolation nature, and its weight is not even as good as Best Director.

This year there was a Jury Prize, given to "Italian for Beginners", a work by the Danish female director Lone Scherfig; that has more of a symbolic meaning, after all, she is a female director. Cao Yang's ambition isn't huge; winning Best Actress achieved his goal; from now on, he is no longer unknown, and he can boast of being a "famous director"; filming movies again won't be so difficult.

So, he didn't pay much attention to the ownership of the subsequent awards, playing with Li Xiaoran's Silver Bear in his hands, thinking about the investment and cast for his next film.

Wang Xiaoshuai was a bit nervous; the remaining ones were all major awards, so his inner anxiety was inevitable. He secretly guessed which one of the remaining ones would be his, while also coveting the Jin Xiong.

Coming to participate in the Berlin Film Festival, who doesn't want to win the only Jin Xiong?

Until he heard the presenter on stage read out, "Wang Xiaoshuai, 'Beijing Bicycle'."

Wang Xiaoshuai was dazed for a moment, feeling some regret, but also some relief.

Regret for not winning the Jin Xiong, regret that the film didn't pass censorship, relief that he had Teacher Xie's help, relief that he had the assistance of Big Sister Jiao; Best Director was in hand.

Cao Yang applauded along, feeling puzzled in his heart; he remembered that Wang Xiaoshuai had previously won the Jury Grand Prix, but his butterfly effect had fanned it into Best Director.

Actually, it's fine; although it's slightly less in weight than the Jury Grand Prix, for those who don't know much about the domestic situation, Best Director sounds more impressive than the Jury Grand Prix.

Wang Xiaoshuai was very excited; this was also his first time winning a heavyweight award, and he thanked many people on stage, rambling on, which was a bit inconsistent with his introverted persona.

Cao Yang felt that Wang Xiaoshuai should be satisfied; risking being banned as a director to win Berlin's Best Director was worth it.

!

With this Silver Bear for Best Director, Wang Xiaoshuai also stepped into the ranks of famous directors.

Cao Yang was lost in thought when Old Tian poked him and asked in a low voice, "Are you not nervous at all?"

"What would I be nervous about?" Cao Yang was a bit stunned; everything that should be won had been won, what else was there to be nervous about?

"I was bored just now and counted; only 'Intimacy' is left without an award, but there are still two major awards left."

"Hmm?"

Cao Yang suddenly had a strong premonition; the themes of "Intimacy" and "On the Beach at Night Alone" are both love and extramarital affairs, both using these to express human loneliness.

Same theme, different methods of expression.

"Intimacy" is about silent cheating between two strangers; actually, it's not really cheating, every time the heroine comes, her husband sends her over... achieving the goal from sex to love.

While in Cao Yang's hands, it was supported by Li Xiaoran's super-god acting, which carried the entire film; there were no erotic scenes, but it perfectly achieved the goal.

By comparison, it seemed much more "advanced" than "Intimacy"; in fact, the word-of-mouth was indeed much better than "Intimacy", and the Festival Daily rating was far ahead of "Intimacy".

Although the plot is very simple, it can't withstand the comparison.

Could it be that the two films were once locked in a fierce battle for the Jin Xiong?

And since there was compensation for the finale screening yesterday, then......

"The winner of the Jury Grand Prix is: Wow, this year's youngest and most handsome director, I believe he should also be the youngest director and major award winner in the history of the Berlin International Film Festival, Cao Yang, 'On the Beach at Night Alone', congratulations."

The big screen on stage began playing a clip from "On the Beach at Night Alone"; this time it was the clip of Li Xiaoran singing while smoking outside the cafe.

Just a few lines of a cappella, as if believing that time would dilute everything, yet the longing didn't diminish by half, instead growing more intense, unstoppable, and the inner desolation and loneliness leaped out.

"What a pity." Tian Zhuangzhuang muttered.

Asking for monthly tickets, brothers, please, thank you.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 19 =====