Proofreader: Jesse
Du Yun Xiu felt as if he is riding on cloud nine.
How had he walked up to that podium, how had he received that little Golden Cypress Award from Xie Yi, how had he delivered his thank you speech, he really did not remember the whole process of it...Everything was just like a dream.
He only remembered the marble stage of the podium was very bright and beautiful.
As he walked up to the stage, hundreds of pairs of eyes were looking at him; they were of the most renowned artists and popular guests in the showbiz world.
They were looking at him, watching every move he made. Du Yun Xiu took a quick glance at those faces; there were unfamiliar, beautiful, and handsome faces; their expression was of envy, blessing, or jealousy...Under the spotlight, it bestowed him with the glory.
It is this attractive picture of a bustling surface that make up the fame and glory of this showbiz; not the solitude side of the entertainment world.
Du Yun Xiu saw Chu Feng and Amanda.
Chu Feng had just let out a gaffe, despite his efforts to cover it up; one could easily see the anger deeply engraved in between his brows.
Some unknown artists sitting next to him let out a small chuckle trying to pretend they did not see what Chu Feng just did. Although no one would bring up this event to joke about it, Chu Feng's complacent reaction was too obvious; it even got photographed by some reporters.
Undoubtedly, Chu Feng's action tonight would not just be the center topic among other artists; it would definitely make headlines for some media websites and entertainment news in the next few days.
At this point, Amanda's face did not look so good.
Chu Feng did not blow up at her on the spot, but he realized the winner of the Best Newcomer Award was Yun Xiu rather than himself, he then looked at her with angry eyes...
The Golden Cypress trophy is quite heavy.
The moment he received the award from Xie Yi, he was reminded back to when Xie Yi won the Best Actor Award.
In the past, after the celebration was over he sat in the car with Xie Yi, that night the sky was full of stars that were pasted along the car's roof all the way to the back window...
Xie Yi rubbed his head as he handed Yun Xiu the trophy, while telling him that he {Xie Yi} had always been envying him.
"The production process to make the 'little Golden Cypress' usually takes 15 steps, these steps are all done manually by meticulous craftsmen."
"First, the alloy is heated and melted then the craftsmen pour it into the mold, then they need to wait as the alloy inside the mold cools down for the liquid solidification to take place, after that they use the sandpaper to smooth out the edges and polish it to a shining gleam. The mold process is then followed by the plating process, the first coating is a layer of copper, followed by nickel, then silver and finally it is plated with 24k gold. During this process, one must pay close attention to the temperature, if the temperature is too high, the trophy will become deformed; if the temperature is not high enough, the alloy will be faded."
Du Yun Xiu was curious as to how Xie Yi knew so much about it, while he was looking at the Golden Cypress.
So this time when he was finally able to stand on the podium to receive the trophy and to say his thank you, Du Yun Xiu could not help but to say out loud his emotions of that year in the past.
"...That year a man told me of the production process of the "Little Golden Cypress" from then on I have been thinking, isn't our career also the same? Layer after layer of careful polishing, not making any mistakes. Otherwise, it would become deformed or faded in color."
"Every one of us holds the "Little Golden Cypress" dearly to ourselves, over the years we want to own it because the Golden Cypress represents our hard work in this career."
"Since our career is acting, we are closely linked to the Golden Cypress."
"Although the winners of each section are not the same, it still gives us the same spirit --- after we are thoroughly tempered, we can bloom and become sparkly!"
Du Yun Xiu found himself confused after saying these words.
Even though his speech was not the same as what he had prepared, unexpectedly the audience burst into a big round of applause.
*** *** ***
Xie Yi looked somewhat surprised at the nervous Yun Xiu.
Whether it was Yun Xiu or Chu Feng, he was not very fond of either of them because they both gave him a not so good feeling. But for a moment when the other person explained the meaning behind the Golden Cypress with such a serious and sincere demeanor, it had moved him...
Perhaps, his choice at that time was not wrong.
At the second round of voting, Chu Feng had seven votes, Yun Xiu had six.
Chu Feng originally had won over Yun Xiu by one vote, but those supporting Yun Xiu immediately asked for a revision to reverse the verdict.
The Golden Cypress has a rule:
If one has more than ten votes, it's an automatic win. But if the votes are closely matched, it would cause a controversy, so it must be put forward to a reverse verdict vote.
Xie Yi took one look at the situation and knew what was going on --- the ones requesting for a reversal of the verdict are the two judges that have a very close friendship with Feng Jing.
Feng Jing sure has such charisma.
The ones that Feng Jing called as his friends are the ones that would go at any length to finish the task he entrusted them.
Eventually, ten reviewers had approved this request. So the third round of voting started, Yun Xiu won by eight votes. Those supporting Chu Feng did not agree with the result and requested to review the verdict, and then burst into a fierce war of words.
Those supporting Chu Feng had all agreed that even though Chu Feng only plays as a second male lead, his performance is very well-done; he shows a very high-handed interpretation of his character and a very natural expression in his acting.
Those supporting Yun Xiu said that Yun Xiu's performance in 《Tang Yun Qi》 has a degree of relaxation, a very hierarchical emotion, explosively strong, was able to deliver a variety of complex feelings to the viewers at different stages in the character's status and relationships, and each emotion is well played and accurate.
The two sides argued fiercely.
Xie Yi listened to the two sides without saying anything. Li Rui wants him to vote for Chu Feng, but Feng Jing wants him to vote for Yun Xiu; as a result the one having a hard time is not the two of them but himself.
Over time, the scale began to weigh over to Chu Feng's side...
Those supporting Chu Feng even firmly stated that Chu Feng's acting is much better than Yun Xiu.
It was this statement that Xie Yi came to a realization.
Even though his friendship with Feng Jing is quite deep, his relationship with Li Rui is not so casual.
Li Rui is the President of ESE.
How many people would go against his words and not giving him some face? For example, those supporting Chu Feng had been openly lying about Chu Feng's performance; another example, in the second round of voting he still voted for Chu Feng.
No powerful background.
Even if one is really good at acting, can they not be recognized by others?
This is just like that person.
*** *** ***
Those supporting Chu Feng had started to boast up his lousy and incompetent acting skills; Xie Yi began to form a greater resentment in his heart.
Those in favor of Chu Feng again started to say that Chu Feng is not only good at acting but his popularity is quite high, by giving the Best Newcomer Award to him it will pave the way to motivate the new faces. It will make them feel that they are closer to the glory of this entertainment world; Xie Yi could not hold it in anymore and started to say.
"Chu Feng and Yun Xiu are excellent actors in the new generation with great popularity; they also had a chance at taking the leading role."
Xie Yi had been in this circle for numerous years, so when speaking to the veteran critics he would never do it too vaguely: "This time the acting ability of these two in their movies is drawing a tie, it's difficult to draw to a final conclusion; therefore, in order to have the final answer, let's go beyond the traditional method by looking at their acting ability in a 'horizontal view' and 'vertical view' in a side-by-side comparison."
"Horizontal view" refers to the frame by frame comparison, just simply comparing Yun Xiu's 《Tang Yun Qi》and Chu Feng's 《The Kingdom》together.
[T/N: Frame by frame comparison in film - means to compare which movie has a better quality; usually this has got to do with the editing team, yet also with the actors. If the actors are good at acting, there won't be many takes; that means the editing team does not have to worry about editing out too much; so by doing frame by frame, it will show which actor has less NGs.]
"Vertical view" is to look at the actor's past performance, and comparing the actor's character interpretation through each role that he takes on.
[T/N: This refers to comparing the actor's acting skill throughout the year to see how much the actor has grown; whether the actor is getting better or still stepping at the same place.]
The whole room fell into an impasse.
Xie Yi's remarks seemed quite impartial, but it has an ice-breaking effect. The judges all agreed.
Only Xie Yi, who has been working with these two in 《The Legacy》, understood that --- the balance of victory started reversing itself!
Sure enough, after analyzing Chu Feng's and Yun Xiu's acting skills in the first and second season of 《The Legacy》and then to their current films, Chu Feng's characters in 《The Legacy》and in the new film have the same characteristic of an overbearing affectionate character.
As for Yun Xiu, one role is a gentle person with great tolerance with a hidden dark side under his gentleness; while the other role, he broke his own perfect image and replaced it with an image of a bloody heroic man. Especially with his eyes, all his emotions are being conveyed into those eyes, such a strong emotion that caused a great impact on the viewers!
"Although these two have showcased very good performances, it's obvious that in the 《Tang Yun Qi》 movie, Yun Xiu's acting is broader and even more surprising!"
Xie Yi smiled mischievously, a pair of obsidian eyes swept across the room.
Perhaps everyone presenting in this room today is the renowned critic that has wide knowledge about theater performance and is of great influence in the industry; but Xie Yi has been in the international market for so many years, so he has tried many different roles compared to many of them here.
This type of person tends to have a lot of life experience.
Not only does this type of person have a great knowledge about the industry, but they can also face any distress in this line of work; more importantly at the specific time, this person will reveal that characteristic of a king, or more so the king among the actors! That is something that is unattainable by others!
At this point Xie Yi used his assured tone to sum up the solution, it was as if his whole body was distributing a kind of momentum, other people could faintly see the answer and settled with it!
Seeing that no one spoke again.
Xie Yi frowned lightly and with a pen in his hand he wrote down his answer: "So it's settled? Yun Xiu's performance this time is much more promising than Chu Feng's."
This was the most appropriate and most official explanation.
It's not that Chu Feng's "performance" was bad, just that his acting does not bring the same surprises to the audience as Yun Xiu's.
......
When he made his choice then, Xie Yi did not regret it.
His only problem was how is he going to explain it to Li Rui?
Li Rui is the President of ESE, and his contract with ESE is still not over yet; he really does not want to offend the other man.
Even if their contract were to come to an end, Mu Zhe Bai often persuaded him to live by this principles: Rather to have one less friend than to have one more enemy.
Moreover, the enemy is the most influential public figure in the industry.
Mu Zhe Bai was waiting in the lobby for a long time, finally he saw Xie Yi walk out of the room, so he considerately handed him a cup of coffee.
"The situation is not in our favor; Chu Feng did not get the Best Newcomer Award?" Mu Zhe Bai saw Xie Yi's hesitation, knowing that the situation had an unexpected twist.
"At first, it was his...but then they reversed the verdict." Xie Yi pinched his brow.
He did not know how he told Mu Zhe Bai all the strange emotions that he was experiencing in that room...
As if it was an illusion of guilt towards Yun Xiu.
As long as the thought of Yun Xiu losing entered his mind, he could not help but think about that person who had missed the Best Actor Award at that year's Golden Cypress.
"...In the end I voted for Yun Xiu. Yun Xiu won."
Mu Zhe Bai was slightly stunned at hearing this, but a quick flash of light crossed his black-rimmed glasses.
"This is what Feng Jing wanted us to do. We only followed along without a choice."
"Ah?" said the confused Xie Yi as he raised his head and looked at Mu Zhe Bai.
"You originally intended to go according to Li Rui's words to vote for Chu Feng, but at the most critical moment, Feng Jing gave you a call and said to vote for Yun Xiu, isn't that right? ...You were in the judge panel room, so you did not know what ESE really wanted. Feng Jing on the phone implied the choice, so obviously you just wanted to vote according to ESE's wish."
There were 13 people in the review room.
Even if they were to hide the fact that Xie Yi voted for Yun Xiu from Li Rui, there was no guarantee that no one would disclose this in the future. Even if it was just a slip of the mouth, it would eventually reach Li Rui's ears.
It was Feng Jing who mentioned such matters to Xie Yi from the beginning.
Mu Zhe Bai decided to place Feng Jing's command in the last segment --- Li Rui first suggested to vote for Chu Feng; Feng Jing then later called to say vote for Yun Xiu. They could only think that ESE came up with such a judgement because they had switched their choice of candidate.
Anyway, that was the truth...
It was a bit too much to use Feng Jing as their shield.
But compared to having Xie Yi offending Li Rui, Mu Zhe Bai felt absolutely no guilt for coming up with such a solution.
As for Feng Jing and Li Rui over there...
Mu Zhe Bai used his middle finger to push up his glasses; although he did not know what happened specifically, through this he could feel that there is a contradiction between the two...
Mu Zhe Bai smiled.
---
End of Chapter 26
