Chapter 21: The Lost and the Missing

At nine in the morning, Yu Feihong arrived at the lounge next to the television station's studio and saw that Milk Tea Liu and Huang Yi had already arrived, so she smiled and greeted them.

The film "New Crossroads," starring the three of them, was set to be released on March 1st, and they had come to the television station to participate in a program to support the promotion.

Huang Yi stood up, gave Yu Feihong a hug, and teased, "Sister Feihong, looking at how happy you are, is there some good news?"

She and Yu Feihong had collaborated on the television series "Life Has Dreams" last year, and their relationship was quite good.

"That's right, the smile on your face is about to overflow; is there really something good?" Milk Tea Liu also gave Yu Feihong a light hug and said with a smile.

"Wasn't the Berlin Film Festival awards ceremony yesterday? On the way here, I received a call from the company; a film I participated in won the Jury Grand Prix and Best Actress," Yu Feihong explained softly, her face full of smiles.

"Wow! Which great director is so amazing? Two Silver Bears, and one of them is for Best Actress—that's a Berlin Best Actress award," Huang Yi said with great envy. "Who won the Berlin Best Actress?"

Milk Tea Liu was also extremely envious. She was known as a literary talent; if she had won a Berlin Best Actress award, a recognized international honor, she could naturally have advanced to become a literary queen.

"If I had the chance to win Best Actress at one of the three major European film festivals, I would be willing to pay any price," Milk Tea Liu thought to herself involuntarily.

"Li Xiaoran."

Mentioning this name, Yu Feihong felt a bit jealous and a bit admiring.

She had originally turned down the lead role because of scheduling conflicts, but out of consideration for them being fellow alumni, she agreed to make a cameo appearance.

She spent about ten days playing a supporting role with a fair amount of screen time.

She was supposed to go to Berlin this time as well, but because the new film was being released and needed promotion, she didn't go.

In Yu Feihong's view, Li Xiaoran's role as the lead was a "lucky find."

But during those few days of acting opposite her, Yu Feihong witnessed what "the person and the role becoming one" meant; she felt she would never forget the fact that she had been completely outclassed by the other's acting skills.

This made her doubt her own acting ability for a time.

Could it be that she was really just a vase?

Regarding Li Xiaoran's acting, she had nothing to say; if that couldn't win Best Actress, one could only say the judges were blind.

Huang Yi thought for a long time and blurted out, "Who is Li Xiaoran?"

Milk Tea Liu also shook her head, indicating she didn't know her.

Yu Feihong introduced her to them: "She wasn't famous before and only played small supporting roles. Director Cao had a sharp eye and found her; her acting is very, very good."

She used the word "very" twice.

"I really envy her."

Huang Yi said this, then asked Yu Feihong, "Sister Feihong, who is Director Cao? Which great director? Is he from Xiangjiang or Wanyan?"

Yu Feihong smiled and shook her head. "No, he is a junior in the directing department at my alma mater, the Beijing Film Academy. This is his first practical film."

"What?"

"No way?"

Two surprised voices sounded at the same time. Milk Tea Liu looked at Yu Feihong in disbelief. "A junior student?"

Huang Yi's mouth was slightly agape as she also looked at Yu Feihong; this was simply too incredible.

Yu Feihong smiled even more brightly.

"That's right, his name is Cao Yang, and he's a junior this year. I heard this was an assignment from their directing department to shoot a practical film with no limit on length. Everyone else almost all shot short films of a few minutes, but he shot this feature film and then won two Silver Bears."

Huang Yi's mouth opened a little wider; she was truly shocked. A student's practical film? How could it be linked to a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival? Milk Tea Liu was also incredibly surprised. Suddenly, a thought struck her: Beijing Film Academy? A junior student?

She hurriedly took out her phone, apologized to the two, and went outside to call Huang Lei.

After five minutes, Yu Feihong saw Milk Tea Liu walk back in, looking dejected, and hurriedly asked what was wrong.

Milk Tea Liu was somewhat distracted. It took a few calls from Yu Feihong for her to react. She squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying and said she was on her period and her stomach hurt badly.

In Wang Shuo's small courtyard, Zhang Yuan was drinking tea while discussing the plot with Wang Shuo. Beside them, Xu Jinglei was quietly brewing tea, looking relaxed and content.

Zhang Yuan graduated from the cinematography department of the Beijing Film Academy and had won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the 1999 Venice Film Festival.

Don't look at the domestic market these past few years; literary films were still very powerful at the three major European film festivals.

At this moment, what Zhang Yuan and Wang Shuo were discussing was adapting Wang Shuo's novel "Die After One Addiction" into a film. The title had already been decided: "I Love You," and the lead actress was definitely going to be Xu Jinglei.

Wang Shuo suddenly said, "Yuan, have you heard? That kid Wang Xiaoshuai won Best Director in Berlin yesterday."

"Really? I haven't watched the news; I've been busy revising the script lately. Didn't they say his film didn't pass censorship before? How did he go to Berlin? Did he go privately?"

!

"Probably."

Wang Shuo took a sip of tea and mocked, "He has some talent to be able to win Best Director, it's just that he hangs out with that bunch from Wanyan every day. Once someone instigates him, he gets hot-headed and goes, not even afraid of being banned from directing."

"To be able to win this award, it's worth it even if he's banned."

"There's something even more awesome; I thought it was fake news. In your school, there's a junior in the directing department who shot a film for the first time, used an actress whose name I've never heard of, and yesterday he suddenly won the Jury Grand Prix and Berlin Best Actress. Do you dare believe this?"

"Pfft!"

Zhang Yuan spat out the tea in his mouth, stared with wide eyes, and said in disbelief, "Fake, right? A junior? Two Silver Bears? Impossible, impossible."

"Sigh! I felt it was fake news at first too, but that Sina Entertainment report was very detailed, as if it were real."

Beside them, Xu Jinglei refilled Zhang Yuan's tea and said, "It should be for attention, right? Speaking of this, I remember a very funny thing. Before the year ended, it seems a directing student wanted to shoot a film and asked the school to pass on a request for me to play the lead. I thought it wasn't reliable, so I ignored him."

Wang Shuo was amused and joked, "It wouldn't happen to be a junior in the directing department, would it?"

Xu Jinglei thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "It seems it actually was."

The three of them suddenly stopped talking.

Zhang Yuan took out his phone. "Let me ask."

And so he began to make calls.

A few minutes later, Zhang Yuan put down his phone in disbelief. Seeing the two looking over curiously, he coughed and gave Xu Jinglei a strange look.

"Junior in the directing department, Cao Yang, first time shooting a film, and it was a practical film. Yesterday he took home the Jury Grand Prix and Berlin Best Actress."

"Ah?"

Xu Jinglei covered her mouth with her hand and stared at Zhang Yuan with wide eyes. Was this real?

Zhang Yuan nodded. "I just called a deputy director of the directing department. He said Cao Yang sent out several invitations for the lead role, but no one paid him any attention, so he used an unknown actress, and as a result, he suddenly turned her into a Berlin Best Actress."

"That's fucking incredible!"

Wang Shuo was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh in annoyance and pointed at Xu Jinglei. "Berlin Best Actress, you, you..."

Xu Jinglei threw the teapot, instantly losing all interest. The days were no longer peaceful, and there was no point in being relaxed and content. She would be slapping her thigh in annoyance even when sleeping at night... Wang Shuo!

(End of chapter)