Chapter 213: Star-Struck Infatuation
"Ahaha, Xiao Yu sure knows how to joke." Because Rong Yu's statement was delivered with such sincerity, the host, taking over the conversation, immediately took it as a jest.
In such a grand setting, declaring oneself one of the 'Three Thousand Beauties'—what else could it be but a joke? Even dedicated anti-fans wouldn't dare attack with something so bold!
Following the host's playful remark, the camera lingered on Rong Yu for a few seconds before quickly shifting to other artists, as the hosts interacted with various attending celebrities.
Once the atmosphere warmed up, the hosts moved on to the main agenda. The male host said, "Well, without further ado, let's first appreciate this year's nominees for Best Television Series. Which one will it be? And which handsome men and beautiful ladies performed it for us?"
The familiar suspense-building segment seemed to have become a specific ritual of this awards ceremony. Skipping it each year would almost feel like a disservice to the invited artists and fans.
The female host: "That would undoubtedly be 'Illustrated Tales of Mountains, Seas, and Clouds' directed by Cheng Xiao, starring Donghuang Qingyan, Xue Binghe, and Lu Weixin."
The venue immediately erupted into enthusiastic applause and excited cheers from Donghuang Qingyan's fans.
Male host: "'Illustrated Tales of Mountains, Seas, and Clouds' broke the historical viewership record for television series. Truly worthy of the renowned director Cheng Xiao. This collaboration between Director Cheng and Brother Donghuang certainly lived up to everyone's expectations!"
Female host: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's all watch the promotional trailer for this year's triple-crown winner—topping the charts in viewership ratings, votes, and viewer scores—the annual Best Television Series!"
The large screen suddenly went black. The attending guests, artists, and various fanbases all cooperatively quieted down, their attention focused on the screen.
Before the screen lit up, a melodious flute melody drifted from all corners of the venue.
The reason 'Illustrated Tales of Mountains, Seas, and Clouds' could become the annual best wasn't just due to the reputations of Cheng Xiao and Donghuang Qingyan. It was also because of its grand, majestic, and endlessly listenable theme song; its crisp, clear, hummable ending song; and the background music interspersed throughout various scenes of the drama.
The main plot, subplots, underlying narratives, filming locations, angles, backgrounds, costumes, props, makeup, casting, acting skills, visuals, and the subtly pervasive, heart-touching music—these were all key elements leaving a good impression on the audience.
If all these could be done well, then in the hearts of the viewers, it would be a good series: enjoyable, rewatchable, memorable, and enduring.
'Illustrated Tales of Mountains, Seas, and Clouds', from the perspective of a funeral parlor owner, unfolded story after story, depicting tales of love, hatred, entanglement, joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, parting, reunion, life, death, and fate among the mythical creatures of mountains and seas.
No one would object to this series being selected as the annual best. On the contrary, if it hadn't been chosen, people would suspect foul play.
After watching that grand trailer once again, the venue resounded with enthusiastic, long-lasting applause.
With the Annual Best Television Series announced first, the male lead of this series, Donghuang Qingyan, undoubtedly became this year's Best Actor winner.
This was also unsurprising. Whenever Donghuang Qingyan starred in a movie or TV series that year, the title of Annual Best Actor would invariably land on him.
However, what was worth anticipating was that this award category also included quarterly awards, divided into summer and winter quarters—this extra layer of competition was enough to keep the excitement brewing all year long.
The reason for splitting into summer and winter was that these periods included summer and winter vacations. Whether movies or TV series, they aimed to broadcast during this time, belonging to the peak viewing season. Series airing during such a peak undoubtedly faced immense challenges.
Therefore, many productions not keen on competing during this hot season would choose to air in spring or autumn. These were school terms, with viewership relatively lower than summer or winter. Series choosing these seasons wouldn't be caught in the peak broadcast frenzy, gaining some attention but simultaneously forfeiting eligibility for the quarterly Best Film/Series awards.
In short, the rules were explicitly laid out. Series wanting to participate in the awards should brave the peak broadcast period. Those not interested could choose spring or autumn, essentially voluntarily withdrawing from the awards—nothing to regret.
Of course, some web series aware they couldn't compete for these awards would choose to air during the more relaxed spring or autumn periods, a breathing space the market offered smaller web productions, so they wouldn't have to fight for traffic against big-budget IP dramas every quarter.
"...Well then, next, I'm going to announce the Annual Best Film Award! Can everyone guess which film it is?" The male host posed the question.
The female host laughed, "Hahaha, Brother Li, you're at it again, asking these trap questions. Everyone, no need to answer him, let him stand awkwardly on stage by himself."
Male host: "I won't be awkward, because I know the answer. It's right here in my hand—voted by the vast netizen community, referencing box office data and ratings, ultimately selecting this year's Annual Best Film."
Female host, pretending ignorance: "Oh? Which film is it?"
Male host: "It is... this year's highest-grossing..."
After a thirty-second suspense-building pause, the male host finally revealed the answer, "...the film directed by our Mo Huai... 'Ghost Traces'! The lead actor of 'Ghost Traces' is also someone very familiar to us all, a member of this year's GCD boy group—Rong Yu! Congratulations!"
Female host clapped: "Congratulations to 'Ghost Traces' for becoming this year's highest-grossing and highest-rated film! Now, let's all watch the 'Ghost Traces' promotional trailer together!"
Thunderous applause filled the venue. Yin Chengjue only reacted after seeing the familiar trailer appear on the screen—'Ghost Traces' had actually won the Annual Best Film award.
Although the award was for the film and not Best Actor, it was still immensely gratifying. The attending 'Yuxiang Rousi' fans cooperated fervently, applauding and cheering with all their might.
After the trailer ended, amidst cheers, Mo Huai took the stage to accept the award. While delivering his acceptance speech, he couldn't help saying, "Actually, the person I should thank most is the author who wrote the 'Ghost Traces' script. If he himself weren't so averse to publicity, I'd really want to shout out his name right now—because he is personally present here at the venue!"
The venue fell silent at Mo Huai's words, then erupted into even more excited and fervent cheers. The most prominent voices began urging Mo Huai to reveal the name of the person who wrote this story.
However, Mo Huai clearly had no plan to reveal the name. His hint was just a bit of playful teasing—a clever way to stir up curiosity before smoothly introducing his next announcement.
"Hahaha, I promised the author I wouldn't tell. How can I go back on my word? If I break my promise, and the author gets angry, decides not to collaborate with me anymore, then you all probably won't get to see me direct the spiritual successor to 'Ghost Traces'."
What?! Ghost Traces has a spiritual successor?
Mo Huai, the old fox, knew exactly how to handle this promotion. Instantly piquing everyone's interest, everyone present knew this round of promotion for the Ghost Traces spiritual successor was secured!
Yin Chengjue pressed a hand to his forehead in silent exasperation: This Director Mo… for a moment there, I really thought he was going to expose me.
Rong Yu chuckled softly beside him, "Brother, why don't you want others to know you wrote the script?"
"No need. I don't rely on this to make money." It was a script written for Rong Yu in the first place. Even if he wrote more in the series later, they'd be for Rong Yu. No need for publicity—he wasn't going to write for others anyway.
"Oh. So, has Brother already thought about what to write next?" Rong Yu asked curiously.
Yin Chengjue's gaze rested on Rong Yu for a few seconds before he replied, "That depends on what kind of role you need next year. Whatever you need, I'll write it for you."
Rong Yu: "Brother, you're flirting with me again."
Yin Chengjue raised an eyebrow: "Which part of what I said was flirting?"
Rong Yu placed a hand over his heart: "You said you'd give yourself to me... Ah, well then, I'll graciously accept~"
Yin Chengjue: "...Did I say that?"
Rong Yu nodded: "Isn't that what you meant? You said I could have whatever I want, but all I want is you, so you can only give yourself to me."
Yin Chengjue: "..." Fine, as long as you're happy.
"Hey." Donghuang Qingyan suddenly tapped the armrest of Yin Chengjue's chair. Yin Chengjue instinctively turned to look, only to find a strong beam of light falling on him, illuminating his table area.
Simultaneously, his and Rong Yu's figures appeared on the large screen.
Yin Chengjue's first thought: Did Director Mo actually say my name?
Until the host spoke again from the stage: "Xiao Yu, come up to receive your award! We all know President Yin is handsome, but you don't need to seize every second to stare at President Yin in a daze!"
Others: "Hahahaha..."
The hosts, absorbed in managing the live event, had no time to follow trending topics online. Their offhand, teasing comment accidentally added fuel to the fire of the already-rising hashtag #RongYuStarStruckInfatuation#, permanently stamping the image of a lovesick Rong Yu gazing at Yin Chengjue into the public’s memory of that year’s Lingxiao Awards.
Rong Yu smoothly stood up and walked onto the stage amidst applause, his demeanor and expression flawless.
Only Yin Chengjue, who had been whispering with him moments before, understood that Rong Yu was currently in a state of utter confusion, completely unaware why he was being called on stage.
Fortunately, hosts typically announce the award again when presenting it. Yin Chengjue finally heard clearly—Rong Yu had won the Summer Quarter Best Actor Award.
The female host smiled: "Let's all revisit the roles Xiao Yu portrayed as the male lead during the summer quarter! I'm sure everyone remembers them vividly!"
No comments:
Post a Comment