Chapter 64: The Trend of the Times

Portal websites like Sina, NetEase, and Sohu all updated the news on their sites at the very first opportunity.

"Yu Feihong crowned queen in Venice!"

"Following Gong Li, Yu Feihong becomes the second Venice Best Actress."

"Director Cao Yang helps Yu Feihong win Venice crown."

"At the 58th Venice International Film Festival, Yu Feihong wins the crown in one fell swoop for 'Empty House'."

"Yu Feihong wins Best Actress at the 58th Venice Film Festival, becoming the second domestic Venice Best Actress."

"Yu Feihong's road to the Venice International Best Actress award."

"Good news: Yu Feihong takes home the Venice Best Actress award."

"Following Liu Ye's win for Best Newcomer, 'Empty House' crowns Yu Feihong as Venice Best Actress."

……

In an instant, the three major portal websites updated many articles in succession, all about Yu Feihong winning the Venice Best Actress award; it seems they had been prepared for a long time.

On the Tianya Community, under the post "Who will be the next Best Actress at the three major European film festivals," people began to leave comments.

"No need to argue, you can lock the thread; the results are out. It's neither Xun-ge nor International Zhang; Yu Feihong just won the Venice Best Actress award."

Some people still didn't quite believe it and asked in the comments: "Really? Yu Feihong? With her acting skills, she can win a Venice Best Actress award?"

"It's absolutely true. I reckon there should be news on Sina and Sohu by now. Yu Feihong really gave everyone a surprise."

"This... I still find it a bit hard to accept. Her acting skills... Venice Best Actress?!"

"Haven't you noticed? Before Li Xiaoran won the Berlin Best Actress award, the acting in the TV dramas she played in wasn't that great either; it was on par with Yu Feihong's acting in TV dramas."

"I posted about this before, and a whole bunch of people said that TV dramas and movies have different requirements, saying Li Xiaoran wasn't trying her best. So what do you say now about Yu Feihong? Are you going to make excuses for her too, saying she didn't try her best in TV dramas?"

"I understand what the person above means; both Li Xiaoran and Yu Feihong encountered a key figure: Director Cao Yang."

"Once you put it that way, I understand. Damn, I even followed along in a thread to bash Cao Yang before, the one that said he just got lucky by running into Li Xiaoran, who had god-tier acting skills, which is why he won two Silver Bears."

"There were even posts earlier saying it was absolutely impossible for Yu Feihong to win the Venice Best Actress award, and a whole crowd of people were swearing their support for that."

"I suddenly remembered that over the past six months, some directors have stated in public that if you gave them a Li Xiaoran, they could also win a Silver Bear. I wonder how they feel now?"

"How else could they feel? They'll definitely continue by saying, 'Give me a Yu Feihong, and I could also win a Venice Silver Lion,' hahaha..."

"Hey, don't say that, you really shouldn't say that, haha..."

"To the person above, hurry up and delete your comment. Believe me, they really would dare to use that."

"Haha... I believe it."

The "Number One in the Circle" looked at these posts, his face ashen. He really couldn't understand how Yu Feihong, with her lousy acting, could possibly win the Venice Best Actress award.

Watching the constant stream of new posts and sarcasm, it felt like slaps to his face. The more he read, the angrier he got, especially one that read:

"Number One in the Circle, hurry and write this down. Next time you can tell others that Cao Yang just got lucky, that he ran into Yu Feihong. 'Give me a Yu Feihong, and I could also win a Venice grand prize,' haha..."

"To the person above, he shouldn't be that shameless, right? After all, he just said that if Yu Feihong could win Best Actress, he would take Cao Yang's surname, haha..."

"Number One in the Circle, congratulations, you're going to change your surname."

People who love to watch the chaos never fear things getting too big, so many more comments followed.

"Number One in the Circle, congratulations, you're going to change your surname."

"Number One in the Circle, congratulations, you're going to change your surname."

"Number One in the Circle, congratulations, you're going to change your surname."……

The "Number One in the Circle" was so angry his face and neck turned red, and he swore, "Let you bastards be smug for a while. My movie is finished too, and it stars that bastard Jiang Wen. I'm going to Venice next year.

I just don't believe that with the connections of that bastard Jiang Wen, I can't win a few big awards!

I'm a graduate student; if Cao Yang, a mere undergraduate, can get things done, how the hell could I be worse than him?"

……

As Yu Feihong went up on stage, it was clearly visible that the "Feihong Fairy," who always presented herself as calm as water, was a bit emotional this time.

She even gave her acceptance speech in a stuttering manner, thanking many people one after another, and only thanking Cao Yang at the very end.

She said: "During the early stages of filming, I remember clearly, the director scolded me sixty-two times that day. I thought for sure he would be angry and not give me a good look, but I didn't expect that he would call Liu Ye and me over that same day and spend over two hours coaching us on the scenes...

Thank you. Meeting you was my luck; I 'came alive.' I also thank the jury for giving me this award. Thank you, Venice Film Festival."

Yu Feihong returned to her seat amidst applause. No sooner had she sat down than Liu Ye couldn't help but borrow her Silver Lion to compare it with his own, even weighing it in his hand.

"Don't even say it, the two are exactly the same."

!

Afterwards, he said with a grin: "I'm really envious of Sister Feihong. Yours is the Venice Best Actress Silver Lion, while mine is for Best Newcomer; there's no comparison."

Even so, Liu Ye was already very satisfied. Best Newcomer is also a Silver Lion, which is much better than coming away with nothing.

From now on, he wouldn't be an unknown newcomer actor anymore. Although he couldn't compare to Xia Yu, who reached the peak at his debut and won the Venice Best Actor award for "In the Heat of the Sun," this starting point was already considered very high.

At the very least, when talking about it, everyone has a Silver Lion, haha!

Cao Yang couldn't help but ponder that, in fact, given Liu Ye's performance and screen time in the film, the probability of him winning the Venice Best Actor award should have been higher than the probability of Yu Feihong winning Best Actress.

But the jury only gave Liu Ye Best Newcomer and didn't give him Best Actor.

Could it be because there were too many female jurors this year, and their bias was too strong?

Or was it caused by the content and influence of the film?

Thinking about how all sorts of monsters and demons in Europe are standing up now, speaking out for women, protesting and marching—it's as lively as the Lunar New Year—the jury giving Yu Feihong the Best Actress award can be considered going with the flow.

Damn it, won't this be hyped up by the media as "independent women" when we get back?

Whatever.

Best Newcomer is a special award, and it's normal to give it to multiple people. The gold content of this award is just average; compared to other major awards, it's more of a consolation prize.

But Yu Feihong's Best Actress award is also a "double yolk" (shared award), won alongside someone else, which is a bit abnormal.

Having gathered such great strength, it shouldn't just end with a shared Best Actress award, right?

Will there be more?

Cao Yang began to feel a bit anxious about gains and losses.

Next, the Best Actor award went to Luigi Lo Cascio for the Italian film "The Light of My Eyes."

The award presenter took the stage to announce the Best Director.

Cao Yang was nervous; he was both unwilling to settle for just Best Director and worried that he would end up with nothing at all.

When the presenter announced that the winner of Best Director was Babak Payami, the director of the Iranian film "Secret Ballot," Cao Yang didn't even know what kind of mood he should be in.

Only the Grand Jury Prize and Best Film remained.

But Old Tian gave Cao Yang some rather depressing news: there were still two films on the scene that hadn't won any awards.

Could it be that "Empty House" was out of the running?

It's 3:00 AM, that's all for today. I've been a bit anxious about gains and losses these past two days. Thank you all for your comfort and support, and thanks to the brothers for your sincere opinions and banter. In short, thank you all for your support and kindness. Heartfelt thanks.

(End of chapter)