Chapter 375: Double Bingbing

Amid applause, the two took the stage in turn, received their trophies, politely deferred to each other, and Li Bingbing spoke first.

At this moment, Li Bingbing was still slightly choked up: "Sorry, I'm a little emotional."

"I never expected that on my second visit to the Golden Horse Awards, I'd win an award—thank you so much to the committee for your recognition, and to everyone involved in 'The Wind.'"

"I also want to thank Yan Li; after knowing each other for so many years, he has always supported and helped me wholeheartedly—without him, there would be no me today, and I'm lucky to have met him."

"I also want to thank Fan Bingbing, and congratulate her on winning this trophy. For 'Painted Skin' and 'The Wind,' we had conflicts, but we also encouraged each other, learned from each other, grew together, and ultimately stood on this stage side by side—this is the best ending."

"I also want to thank my agent, my sister Li Xue, and all my team and fans—for your constant companionship."

"…"

Li Bingbing's speech was simple, just pure gratitude—even she thanked Huayi's Two Wangs.

No doubt they were both pleased, given how things had looked before—Li Bingbing might as well have joined Yi'an.

Next came Fan Xiaopang; she wasn't as emotional or choked up as Li Bingbing, but her words were heartfelt.

She first thanked her team, crew, fans, and the committee, and also mentioned Li Bingbing.

"We've known each other for over a decade—back then, the Two Bingbing were just obscure minor roles."

"Along this journey, we've argued, hated, collaborated, broken up, schemed against each other, and fought side by side—we've been rivals and friends."

"Because of each other, we became our best selves—Li Bingbing cannot do without Fan Bingbing, and Fan Bingbing cannot do without Li Bingbing."

"Thank you for being there."

With that, Fan Xiaopang and Li Bingbing embraced, and the audience erupted in thunderous applause.

No one expected that on this stage, the Two Bingbing—who usually clashed fiercely—would publicly thank each other with such sincerity and emotion.

Just as they said, the Two Bingbing had competition and cooperation, rivalry and mutual support—neither could exist without the other.

Double Golden Egg: the Two Bingbing jointly crowned Best Actress, confessing their true feelings—a century-scale "reconciliation."

This scene was too beautiful—it was destined to become a brilliant highlight in Golden Horse history, even in entertainment history.

Fan Xiaopang also didn't forget Yan Li: "On the flight to Taiwan, I read a book with a line I loved deeply: 'I don't want stars in the sky—I only want happiness on earth. Thank you, my Mr. Yan.'"

The crowd roared with cheers; the camera instantly zoomed in on Yan Li, who smiled and clapped.

He knew it—those two women weren't honest; they always added lines.

If Li Bingbing's words could still be interpreted as Yan Li being her confidant or career benefactor, Fan Xiaopang's was an unambiguous confession.

If Qin Lan and Dong Xuan were watching TV right now, they'd probably go into labor.

So shameless—you get both career and love, what are we?!"

As they stepped down, Yan Li rose to greet them; Li Bingbing hugged him, and Fan Xiaopang practically threw herself into his arms—if not for restraint, she'd have kissed him already.

Yan Li remained calm—whether Fan Xiaopang or the Two Bingbing, everyone already knew the truth.

Whether Fan Xiaopang confessed or not didn't change the public's perception of their relationship—it was just more gossip over tea and meals.

Well, Fan Xiaopang might face some backlash, but with the Golden Horse Best Actress trophy in hand, it was merely a minor ripple.

For some, winning Best Actor or Actress is just an award; for others, it's an achievement that elevates status and resources; for others, it directly transforms their career.

Take Fan Xiaopang—she's now one of the nation's most popular female stars, with unmatched commercial success and leading box office numbers, top national recognition and popularity.

Internationally, she's not outstanding, but still respectable, especially across Asia, where she wields considerable influence.

Her only two weaknesses: public perception and awards.

Fan Xiaopang's poor public image stems from two sources: one is her relationship with Yan Li—whether it's his rise or the multiple-women-fighting-over-one-man narrative, it's all bad press, her biggest scandal, impossible to avoid.

The other is her excessive marketing and exposure—sometimes her tactics are too aggressive, inevitably sparking resentment.

But because Yi'an consciously controlled it, while controversy never vanished, her reputation wasn't especially bad.

More importantly, the other big flowers weren't much better.

Fan Xiaopang's flaws were, among the general public, even slightly above average.

As for awards, as mentioned before, Fan Xiaopang was the only one among the Four Dan and Two Bingbing without any major awards.

Zhou Zhang? She won awards until her hands were tired. Li Bingbing had two Hundred Flowers Best Actress awards. Even the weakest, Xu Cai'nu and box-office poison Xiao Yanzi, had won a Hundred Flowers Best Actress and a Huabiao Best Actress and Shanghai Film Festival Golden Goblet Best Actress respectively.

When the Four Dan and Two Bingbing feuded, everyone targeted Fan Xiaopang, calling her a celebrity, not an actress—a vase, the worst actress among the big flowers, and so on.

After 'Painted Skin' and 'The Wind,' because Fan Xiaopang performed well, the "vase" label grew outdated—but without a real award, she still couldn't stand firm.

Today, with her Golden Horse Best Actress win, Fan Xiaopang escaped her bottom-rung plight and surged into the middle tier of the Four Dan and Two Bingbing.

Though she still couldn't match Zhou Zhang, or even her old rival Li Bingbing, at least she wasn't zero anymore.

So this Golden Horse Best Actress trophy meant a great deal to Fan Xiaopang—it filled a major gap in her resume and began elevating her personal image and brand value, raising her worth across the board.

In short, she became more valuable.

Previously, with no major award, Fan Xiaopang already pressured the other big flowers; now, with the Golden Horse Best Actress card in hand, no one could imagine what she'd do next.

While the audience was still immersed in the afterglow of the Two Bingbing's joint Best Actress win, the Golden Horse Awards revealed the Best Actor winner.

'Dog Bite'—Huang Bo

After the award was announced, Huang Bo looked stunned; only when Guan Hu pulled him to celebrate did he snap out of it.

Yan Li had told him the company had done PR for him, that he had a chance—but he hadn't been certain he'd win, so he'd spoken vaguely.

Before arriving, Huang Bo had entertained hopes, but after seeing the Two Bingbing win together, he'd already given up.

He thought Yi'an couldn't possibly sweep both Best Actor and Best Actress.

Besides, the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress had already gone to mainlanders Wang Xueqi and Xiangjiang's Hui Yinghong—the Golden Horse Awards couldn't possibly give zero awards to Taiwanese actors.

But he never expected the surprise to come so suddenly—after the Two Bingbing won the double Golden Egg, Yan Li had still managed to get him a Golden Horse Best Actor.

Huang Bo, usually eloquent, stumbled slightly at first, but being seasoned, he quickly recovered.

He told his story like a joke—how he'd first entered Beijing Film Academy, mocked his own looks, then concluded: "Women fear marrying the wrong man, men fear choosing the wrong profession—but today proves I chose right."

Then came thanks, focusing on three benefactors.

Guan Hu, who cast him in his first film, 'Dog Bite,' and directed it; Ning Hao, the director who made him truly famous and brought him into public view; and Yan Li, his boss, for his support and help.

He joked self-deprecatingly about Yan Li and Bingbing: "Maybe I spoke too lightly—I actually wanted to express deeper admiration to the boss, but I'm afraid Yan Zong will have nightmares at night, and even more afraid Bingbing will give me trouble."

Yan Li smiled and shook his head; Fan Xiaopang laughed uncontrollably, and Li Bingbing smiled and clapped.

Huang Bo's use of "Bingbing" was particularly clever—no one explicitly named which Bingbing.

From Yi An's perspective, it was clearly Fan Xiaopang—and even a subtle compliment to the boss's wife—as a statement of stance, yet without directly pointing fingers or offending Li Bingbing.

Huang Bo stepped down and embraced each of the three people he'd previously thanked; Ning Hao stood slightly farther away, but Huang Bo specifically walked over to him.

"Two Best Actress winners and one Best Actor—Yi An is really showing off now."

Fan Xiaopang didn't look at the subsequent 【Best Picture】 and 【Best Director】 awards—the Best Actor and Best Actress went to mainland actors; it was impossible to leave nothing behind.

"It's showing off, but also controversy."

Yan Li could foresee that a double win plus sweeping Best Actor and Best Actress would invite endless criticism—even his own presence at the ceremony might be seen as manipulating the awards.

But Yan Li didn't care; he dared to do this precisely because he wasn't afraid of the controversy.

Yi An is going public and wants to be the industry leader—it must demonstrate strength in every aspect: box office, awards, and exposure are all part of proving Yi An's hard achievements and hard power.

Don't fear controversy—nothing worth doing is without controversy; the key is gaining benefits amid the controversy.

Moreover, Yan Li believed that even with controversy, the negative impact wouldn't be too great, because both Bingbing and Huang Bo were already huge favorites.

Bingbing had high expectations before; their only real rival was Young Master Zhou, but Zhou was a two-time winner, making victory inherently harder—so Bingbing's win was understandable.

Whether Huang Bo or Zhang Jiahui from The Witness won, either outcome was justifiable; some might sympathize with Zhang, but it wouldn't amount to a scandal.

Yan Li wouldn't forcefully push someone to the top—that would cause too much backlash and invite counterattacks.

If the opportunity is right or the competition is close, strike when you can; even if there's temporary turbulence, calm will soon return—and it'll all be beneficial.

The entertainment industry is about dividing the cake; if Yan Li has the knife, should he just wait helplessly for others to hand him a slice?

…

After the award ceremony, a special farewell banquet was held.

Bingbing and Huang Bo, as the newly crowned Best Actor and Best Actress, held their trophies for countless photos and interviews; Yan Li chatted with the jury chair Hou Hsiao-hsien and several other senior figures, expressing his gratitude.

In recent years, Chinese-language cinema has changed: mainland films have surged wildly, Hong Kong films have gradually declined, and Taiwanese films have retreated into self-contained circles.

This year's Golden Horse Awards acting prizes were mostly won by mainland actors, very few went to Xiangjiang, and all Taiwanese actors returned empty-handed.

Although there were many other reasons, the most important one was the decline of Taiwanese cinema.

In response, the Taiwanese film industry is actively changing, trying to halt its downward trend.

But the local market is too small to support costs, and massive talent migration northward has made it impossible for Taiwanese cinema to resist the tide—either self-indulgence or cross-strait integration, known as the localist and northward factions.

At present, the northward faction holds absolute dominance; this can already be seen in the Golden Horse Awards' recent trends.

The Golden Horse Awards serve as a submission of allegiance, seeking support for Taiwan's TV and film circles; as the mainland's leading force, Yi An is a key target for such courting.

Personally, Yan Li had little affection for certain Taiwanese capital interests and actors.

But now, cross-strait relations are in the Honeymoon Phase; Yan Li could never defy the overarching direction—he couldn't bear that hat.

If so, cooperate when necessary; at most, Yan Li will be more conservative, set higher thresholds, and demand a larger share of benefits.

Yan Li still retains flexibility in this middle ground.

At the banquet, Hou Hsiao-hsien also told reporters why this year's Golden Horse Awards produced a double win.

In the Best Actress contest, the jury voted in multiple rounds, always ending in a tie with one vote shifting back and forth.

Under these circumstances, awarding it to either side would be unfair; so the jury decided to vote again—resulting in the same outcome—and ultimately unanimously agreed to award two Golden Horse Best Actress prizes.

Notably, Huang Bo and Zhang Jiahui initially faced nearly the same situation as Bingbing.

But perhaps because Best Actress was already a double win, some jurors made new choices during the re-vote, and Huang Bo narrowly prevailed.

Hmm, this is the official explanation.

Award selections like this are highly subjective; jurors are influenced by all kinds of factors, hence the so-called "jury tearing up the award" phenomenon.