Chapter 222: No one will question the Best Supporting Actress...
Before heading to Taiwan the next day, Li Sishi, using her cousin Rong Juezhang as a connection, invited Zhou Shengyi and Kong Wei to lunch, and also brought along a set of videotapes of Zhou Shengyi's films from her collection.
Rumor has it that Rong Juezhang and Zhou Shengyi had some disagreements during a previous collaboration on a Lunar New Year film. In fact, neither of them is particularly vengeful, and after talking things out, they were able to joke and cooperate with each other. This time, the film was set up to reconcile interpersonal relationships and conflicts in filming concepts. Therefore, even though Zhou Shengyi dislikes socializing, he readily agreed and said that he and Kong Wei would try to make time to go together.
For Kong Wei, who also dislikes socializing, this kind of lunch gathering with familiar people who can liven up the atmosphere is naturally acceptable to her, so the two of them arrived at the private room on time at noon the next day.
When everyone at the scene came with the intention of making friends or catching up, the atmosphere in the private room was quite harmonious even without a socialite like Rong Juezhang to liven things up—especially since Li Sishi spoke fluent Mandarin, which was a pleasant surprise for Kong Wei, who, although she could speak Cantonese, usually preferred to speak Mandarin.
Kong Wei usually tries to speak Cantonese as much as possible to accommodate everyone on the set. After holding back for a while, she can now use her mother tongue again, and the feeling of joy that arises is particularly hard to describe.
“Actually, you can also speak Cantonese, and I can understand it,” Kong Wei added.
When both parties can understand each other, communicating in their respective native languages is the most convenient and effective way to communicate. Although Li Sishi speaks Mandarin very well, it is not Kong Wei's habit to always expect others to accommodate her.
“You don’t need to worry about her. She’s practicing Mandarin. She’s releasing a Mandarin album soon, so it’s good for her to practice now while she has the chance,” Rong Juezhang explained.
"Yes, Ms. Kong, I especially love your performance in 'The Red Lantern,' you acted so well!" Since there is no use of the word "you" in Cantonese, Li Sishi naturally seized the rare opportunity to communicate with a senior actress who was particularly good at delivering lines.
"Thank you for your kind words, but you don't need to be so polite. I'm a few years older than you, you can call me 'sister'," Kong Wei quickly said.
“Okay, Sister Kong Wei, these are some videotapes of Hong Kong movies that I’ve collected. You can take them back and watch them.” Li Sishi took out the videotapes.
Kong Wei knew that her sudden arrival was essentially equivalent to "stealing" Li Sishi's role, and she was prepared for Li Sishi to hold a grudge. She hadn't expected Li Sishi to be so capable, generous, and sensible; she didn't hold a grudge at all.
Despite holding a grudge about being replaced, she still came to help resolve the issue when she heard that Zhou Shengyi and she had differing opinions on filming methods.
After all, Zhou Shengyi probably wouldn't do something like this: having the female lead he's working with watch his previous works so she can get a good understanding of his acting style—a classic case of self-promotion.
But it would be different if someone else were to do it—especially since Li Sishi has a certain understanding of both of their works. She can use her dual identity as a junior and a fan to comment on their works, analyze their acting styles and philosophies based on their previous works, and use the communication skills she has cultivated in a wealthy family to help them understand each other.
Kong Wei's film works are mostly serious academic works, and she has won many awards. Given Zhou Shengyi's personality, he must have collected them all. As for Zhou Shengyi's film works, due to the channel issues between Hong Kong and the mainland, it is not necessarily possible to collect them all quickly. Therefore, Li Sishi specially brought Kong Wei a copy of her own collection.
Kong Wei was very grateful for Li Sishi's righteous act, and with Rong Juezhang, a local bully, adding fuel to the fire, the four of them had a very pleasant lunch together.
However, a small mishap occurred when it came time to pay the bill—Li Sishi felt that since she had initiated the lunch, she wanted the waiter to put it on her tab; while Zhou Shengyi and Kong Wei both felt that this lunch was meant to solve their problems, so they each insisted on paying their own bills…
As for Rong Juezhang, who has always had no concept of numbers and is particularly extravagant with money, his reason was even simpler: "I pay for whoever I go out to eat with! Don't try to take it from me!"
Unexpectedly, the initially pleasant conversation turned tense when it came time to pay the bill. Just as Li Sishi was pondering how to resolve this age-old problem unique to China, the waiter, who had gone out for a walk, returned with the bill for them to see. He explained that a Mr. Wang outside had claimed to be Kong Wei's friend, so he had already paid the bill for them in advance.
"Oh, it's Mr. Wang Heyang. I know. Please tell him for me that I'll thank him properly when I have the chance." Mr. Wang's tobacco company often sponsors Kong Wei's movies and regularly invites her as an award presenter at the Beijing-Hong Kong Off-Road Rally organized by his company. He and Kong Wei are old acquaintances, so she nodded and felt relieved.
Now that the bill issue has been resolved, Zhou Shengyi and Kong Wei plan to quickly return to the film set to continue working.
Rong Juezhang, who still had some free time, thought for a moment and then turned to ask Li Sishi, "What about the dress you wore to the Golden Lotus Awards?"
Are you ready?
"It's ready, it's that fuchsia dress you made for me." Li Sishi roughly understood what he meant, "Are you planning to find some accessories to match my dress?"
"Since I'm your date this time, I have to go along with you." Recalling that particular fuchsia dress—a color that was notoriously difficult to wear but would definitely make you stand out if styled correctly—Rong Juezhang cheerfully put his arm around her shoulder. "You'll have time later, right? Want to go pick one out with me?"
"Go ahead, do you think I'm afraid of you?" Li Sishi bumped him with her shoulder, and he immediately made a face as if he had been hurt, which made Li Sishi both angry and amused, so she gave him another punch.
"Hey, hey, hey, are you kidding me? I only put on this 'form' to cooperate with you, you can't just kick me out before I've even crossed the river!" Rong Juezhang laughed.
Despite their playful banter, on the red carpet of this year's Golden Lotus Awards ceremony, two exceptionally beautiful women, whose outfits were meticulously coordinated, undoubtedly attracted a lot of attention and flashes of light.
In particular, both of them are already stunning on camera, but they are even more beautiful in real life. When they move, their unparalleled charm in every gesture is absolutely wonderful. As for the visual impact that is greater than the sum of its parts, it has captured countless photos.
At this year's Golden Lotus Awards ceremony, "Mermaid Romance" took the lead, winning "Best Original Film Score".
This is an award.
However, the "Best Original Film Song" award was given to the Taiwanese film "Crazy for Love" due to "fairness".
It just so happens that the presenter for the "Best Original Film Song" award is Shang Hanyou, who was nominated for both the lead and supporting roles but lost. So when he went on stage, he gave the audience a rather helpless yet cute wry smile: "The award we are going to present now is 'Best Original Film Song' - but I am in a bad mood right now because I was nominated but did not win, so I don't really want to talk... You can do it."
Although everyone knew that Shang Hanyou had deliberately given more screen time to his partner Tang Jingwen, many people couldn't help but sigh softly when they thought about his experience of being a runner-up.
"I feel sad, but the award still has to be presented." Tang Jingwen was quite direct, "This isn't the first time you've suffered a blow like this, is it? So you should be used to it..."
Upon hearing this, Shang Hanyou was speechless: If he hadn't known that Tang Jingwen was just like this, and if someone hadn't hinted that Tang Jingwen had forgotten her lines again and was improvising, he really wouldn't have known how to respond to this, nor would he have wanted to.
Just as Shang Hanyou was about to finish his prepared lines and present the award, he looked down at the microphone and immediately realized that because of this little incident and his partner forgetting his lines, he couldn't deliver his already poorly memorized award speech as planned...
Unfortunately, he had rushed back at the last minute to attend the Golden Lotus Awards, and he didn't have much time to memorize the script. Fortunately, this was an awards ceremony, not a movie or performance, so he could just improvise a few lines like Tang Jingwen did to get through the time.
Moreover, the most crucial aspect of this award is not whether the two presenters forgot their lines or how good their speeches were, but rather the winner and the person who accepted the award on their behalf: the winner of this award is Cheng Xing, the author of "Crazy for Love," but the person who came up to accept the award is Cheng Xing's apprentice and the film's leading actress, Hou Yaoxin.
The "teacher-student romance" between the two has been widely discussed in Taiwan. When Hou Yaoxin came up to accept the award on her behalf, although the song was definitely a classic of the year and well-produced, there was still a little commotion in the audience.
However, Hou Yaoxin ignored this and accepted the award in a Taiwanese accent that sounded even more coquettish compared to Tang Jingwen's proper Mandarin. She then happily carried the hard-won trophy away.
The next awards to be presented were Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress. Rong Juezhang went on stage and teased Shang Hanyou, whose partner had forgotten his lines and he had also forgotten his lines. Then he smiled bitterly and said, "Hanyou, let me tell you, I'm in a much worse situation than you because my partner—she's not here!"
After eliciting laughter from the audience, Rong Juezhang slowly picked up his award-presenting partner: a mobile phone.
While introducing his award presenter from Hong Kong, Rong Juezhang dialed the phone number and spoke in a thick Beijing accent: "Hey, baby, is that you?"
"Hello... Is this Arong? Yes, it's me. Hello everyone, this is Kong Wei." Kong Wei's clear and articulate voice quickly came from the other end of the phone.
There always seems to be an "unspoken rule" at these kinds of award ceremonies.
Organizers are usually happy to invite award presenters who are related to the winners to present the awards.
This awards ceremony was no exception.
The only difference is that normally, the award is presented to elders or friends who have a good relationship with the winner. This time, however, the award for Best Supporting Actress was given to Kong Wei, who is internationally and domestically renowned but disliked by many in Taiwan. Li Sishi used a "lead-to-supporting role" tactic to gain influence and overshadow local films and artists, so they secretly and deliberately chose Kong Wei, who had recently...
It is said that Kong Wei, who has a conflicting role with Li Sishi, came to present her with the award.
They probably intended to "disgust" Li Sishi, but to their surprise, Li Sishi not only didn't dislike Kong Wei, but Kong Wei also got to know Li Sishi well during the previous lunch party, so the two currently have a pretty good relationship...
So, amidst the watchful eyes of some, Rong Juezhang, carrying Kong Wei's phone, first announced the winner of the Best Supporting Actress award: "The winner of the 32nd Golden Lotus Award for Best Supporting Actress is—that's right, it's you, tonight's most beautiful little cousin, MayLee! Come on up!"
As the award ceremony music played, Li Sishi strode onto the stage to accept her award. When she faced the camera for a close-up shot, her pretty face, made even more delicate and charming by her rose-red dress, showed no signs of grievance, dissatisfaction, or displeasure. Instead, it was full of joy at winning the award.
What puzzled some people the most was that Kong Wei even congratulated Li Sishi on the award over the phone. Her tone sounded happy for Li Sishi and also showed some closeness, which didn't seem like the rumors that the two had fallen out because of conflicting roles...
After Li Sishi came down with her award, the next winner was Shao Fenfen, the undisputed Best Actress.
As Shao Fenfen happily accepted the Best Actress award from Rong Juezhang, the audience applauded according to custom, but they also secretly pondered: As expected, this year's Golden Lotus Award winners were "When You're Forty," which had already won the Baicheng Best Actress Award in the middle of the year, and its lead actress, Shao Fenfen. Moreover, "When You're Forty" had won most of the major awards at the Golden Lotus Awards.
Therefore, it is clear that this film and the people involved in it are definitely strong contenders for the Golden Film Awards a few months from now.
Because both "When You're Forty" and Shao Fenfen are impeccable in terms of status, experience, and the quality of their works, further digging would only be icing on the cake. Therefore, for the sake of hype, some reporters, during the post-Golden Lotus Awards interviews, maliciously surrounded Li Sishi, who had won the award on her first attempt at the Golden Lotus Awards: "Hello, Ms. Li..."
Rumor has it that some people think your decision to nominate someone for Best Supporting Actress is akin to a "Tian Ji horse racing" strategy. What is your personal opinion on this?
"Tian Ji's horse race? What do you mean by that?" Li Sishi's smile remained unchanged. "After all, the story of Tian Ji's horse race has three levels of horse racing: superior, middle, and inferior."
While this practice of giving screen time to supporting actors might seem a bit unfair, the other four films are arguably more suitable for awards.
The films are Taiwanese-style art films, and the actors are all veterans who are at least ten or even several decades older than Li Sishi. Two of these films also feature actors like Li Sishi who are not central figures, so their roles are essentially the same as the leads… Given these factors, Li Sishi's decision to win the Best Supporting Actress award is understandable.
They didn't feel there was any problem at all.
Even the other four competitors acknowledged these rules and unspoken conventions, agreeing that Li Sishi's award was entirely justified. As Li Sishi walked away with the award, they even came over to shake her hand to congratulate her as a gesture of good manners.
But there are always these "troublemakers" like the one in front of us who are dissatisfied with young people climbing over their elders and with outsiders dominating locals. They just find a topic and want to stir up trouble.
The reporter was momentarily speechless after being countered by Li Sishi's sarcastic remark. He then quickly explained that he didn't mean it that way, but simply wanted to ask Li Sishi what she thought of the result, because some people felt it was unfair.
Faced with someone deliberately trying to cause trouble, Li Sishi naturally wouldn't let it go. She once again flashed a near-perfect smile and gave a classic response to the camera, a statement that would later become a famous example of a counterattack against deliberate provocation: "The story of Tian Ji's horse race is a well-known tale in history..."
"No one will question whether it is fair or not; people will only praise Sun Bin's wisdom and resourcefulness."
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