The closing ceremony and award ceremony of the Yannan College Student Film Festival was held in the auditorium of Yannan University of Communication.

For Lu Ban, it was indeed his first time to attend such an award ceremony in person.

Lu Ban watched the leaders' speeches, the judges' speeches, and the performances very attentively.

Zhang Yuefan, who was standing by, had been yawning for a long time, looking like he had not slept well.

I guess it's because he felt that he couldn't win the award, so he came here to be a foil, so he was also slacking off.

Lu Ban felt that this person and Qin Tiantian might have a lot in common when it comes to slacking off.

When it came to the award ceremony, Lu Ban clearly felt that everyone in his group was a little more energetic.

After all, you are a candidate and the camera may come at any time. Even if you don't win the award, it would be very embarrassing if someone around you wins and the camera finds you picking your nose.

The emcee is introducing the awards. This award ceremony is a bit like the company's annual meeting lottery. In the beginning, the prizes are all small, and everyone will secretly pray that they will not be picked. But when it comes to the end, when the big prizes are drawn and it is not their turn, they will lament that they might as well have drawn a prize first.

"…The winner of the Best Original Screenplay Award this time is…"Short Night"!"

A celebrity guest on the stage unveiled another award, and there was thunderous applause from the audience, but the winner didn't seem that happy.

It’s probably because now that I’ve won an award, there’s a high probability that I won’t win any other awards in the future.

It is really difficult to win all the major awards and get the Grand Slam.

Lu Ban applauded them vigorously and sincerely congratulated these respectable opponents.

"There's no need for you to get so excited. Someone might think you're being sarcastic to them."

Zhang Yuefan was lazy and applauded sporadically.

"Will it?"

Lu Ban was puzzled.

"Yes, if you act happy and clap, it's gloating, if you act unhappy and clap, it's jealousy."

Zhang Yuefan explained.

"What about no expression?"

"To applaud without expression is to show disdain."

"So if I applaud I'll be misunderstood, so I won't applaud."

"You can't not applaud. If you don't applaud, you can't afford to lose."

“…”

Lu Ban really doubted how idle some people were.

He still applauded enthusiastically.

When it came to the Best Special Effects Award, Lu Ban put his hand down.

He felt that it was time for him to receive the award.

"... Now we would like to invite Director Lin Shu to announce the winner of this year's Best Special Effects Award."

The emcee invited a director whom Lu Ban knew. This director was one of the earliest people in China to engage in special effects shooting. He had made several disaster films, which Lu Ban quite liked to watch.

The director, who was over fifty years old, walked briskly onto the stage, took the envelope, opened it and took a look.

As soon as he finished reading it, he was stunned and asked the emcee beside him in a low voice.

This action caused a stir among the crowd, with many people whispering, and no one knew what they were discussing.

After Director Lin Shu confirmed it, he came to the microphone.

"The winner of the Best Special Effects Award at this year's Yannan College Student Film Festival is... "College Entrance Examination! College Entrance Examination! College Entrance Examination!"

"?"

Lu Ban was stunned.

On the side, Zhang Yuefan was also stunned.

“My movie won an award?”

He was clearly out of form.

"Congratulations!"

Lu Ban patted his shoulder.

Zhang Yuefan suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as if he had returned to the eerie hospital corridor in "The Wailing".

"Go get your award!"

Lu Ban urged.

Zhang Yuefan had no choice but to go up to receive the award in a dejected manner. It felt more like a public execution than receiving an award.

After giving a bunch of acceptance speeches that he had no idea what they were about, Zhang Yuefan sat back down.

“What special effects are in your movies?”

Naturally, Lu Ban took the time to go to the cinema and watch all the movies in this film festival. Most of the entries were about daily urban life, and there was no sign of any special effects. Lu Ban originally thought that the award would definitely be his.

But I didn't expect that the flower would fall into someone else's hands.

He was a little curious.

"Special effects? Uh... it's about the scene where after the college entrance exam, a whole building of students tore up their books and threw them all over the floor. Because there wasn't enough time to tear up so many books, I made a simple special effect..."

Zhang Yuefan felt a little guilty, so he immediately explained after he finished speaking.

"I really don't know about this. I guess the judges probably wanted to balance the awards, so they gave me this award, which means you must have won the grand prize."

“Is there any balance in this?”

Lu Ban felt that there were really many tricks in this circle.

"Yes, even if it's the Oscars, if the quality of the works is similar, or the director is very famous, it will be done this way. Those who can't win the Best Picture will win the Best Actor, and those who can't win the Best Actress will win the Best Screenplay. Everyone is in harmony and still has to do their best on the surface."

Zhang Yuefan said again.

"Let's see later."

Lu Ban nodded.

The film and television circle, after all, is still a circle of acquaintances. Everyone often cooperates and relies on relationships to make a living, so this kind of award ceremony may really have a bit of the meaning of dividing the cake.

As an outsider, Lu Ban knew no one and was almost the only member of the film production staff. Yet, he rushed into the circle in such a hurry. This was indeed something that people should think about.

The special effects awards were over, and soon it was the Best Actress award.

The winner of the Best Actress award was the leading actress of "The Past Is Like Smoke". She had played supporting roles in other movies before, but this time she won the award for her large-scale performance. It can be seen that the girl was very moved and her eyes were red.

After Best Actress comes Best Actor.

"The winner of the Best Actor Award at this year's Yannan College Student Film Festival is... Lu Ban from "The Wailing."

"?"

Lu Ban didn't expect to hear his own name.

He was a little skeptical, but still stood up and walked to the podium.

The award presenter was an actor in his fifties. When he was young, he acted in many well-known TV series. Now he is a professor at the Communication University and occasionally makes cameo appearances in other movies.

After receiving the trophy, Lu Ban walked to the microphone and the host signaled him to give his acceptance speech.

Lu Ban looked at the people in the audience and spoke in a slightly hesitant tone.

"I'm actually a little curious about winning this award. Did the organizer give the wrong award? I think I should have won the Best Special Effects Award, but since the judges gave it to me, I'll take it."

His words caused more discussion, as no one had ever said such words at an awards ceremony.

Under normal circumstances, even if one feels that there is a problem with the awarding of the award, one would superficially thank the judges and pretend that it is so. After all, some rules are unspoken and one doesn't speak out.

But there are very few people like Lu Ban who directly question the issue.

"...I think my acting skills still need to be improved. Thank you to the judges for your affirmation of me. Thank you."

Lu Ban said a few simple words. He really didn't have much experience in acting. What was shown in the movie was a true reflection. If someone asked him how to act fearful, he might suggest that the other person first find a monster to experience it face to face.

As he walked off the stage with the trophy in his hand, Lu Ban heard a lot of doubts along the way.

Some think that he is taking advantage of others, some think that he is arrogant because of his talent, and some think that he is not worthy of his position.

Lu Ban didn't care.

As soon as he sat down, Lu Ban heard the host on the stage begin to announce the candidates for Best Picture.

He saw his own movie.