His feet were numb at first, and then after taking a shower, they were in excruciating pain. He could hardly stand. Behind his bright and beautiful appearance, Jiang Se was the only one who felt so miserable.
Two assistants treated her bruised feet, and Mo Anqi massaged her calves. She gritted her teeth and took a breath of cold air almost every time she was massaged.
"I can't rest these days."
Mo Anqi looked at her with some pity. The movie needed to be promoted while the iron was hot recently. Jiang Se's schedule in the United States was full these days.
After she finished cleaning up, she lay down on the bed and finally had time to look at her phone. After "God's Redemption" won the award, she received congratulations from many people.
There were short messages from Feng Zhongliang, the Pei family, Nie Dan and others, Dai Jia, and even Zhou Hui, but the one who received the most was Pei Yi.
She was not in a hurry to call back at this time. He seemed to know that she was busy, so he expressed his feelings in the form of short messages.
He was already sending messages from the moment she even stepped onto the red carpet.
"My wife is so beautiful!" Attached to this message was a picture he had cut out of of Jiang Se walking on the red carpet. He had made some minor changes to it, cutting out Donald, who was originally holding her arm, and replacing it with a photo of him when he was younger, making it look like she was holding his arm. His tone was somewhat complacent.
"Grandma called me and told me that no one can look better in this cheongsam than you. I think she is right!" Jiang Se was praised by Old Lady Pei. He looked very proud and did not seem polite or modest at all.
"Mom and Pei Rui said they saw you." Along with the message, there was also a picture that should have been taken by Mrs. Pei on the spot. It was before the lights in the Sacred Auditorium were turned off, and Jiang Se was changing shoes and makeup in the aisle.
There were so many people at the scene, and Mrs. Pei also saw her and took a picture of her appearance at that time.
The camera she used to take pictures was pretty good, and she could see Jiang Se clearly even from a distance. She was reciting her speech with her head down and looked serious, and she didn't notice that someone was taking pictures of her.
"The heels are too high, Sese, do your feet hurt?"
"The yarn sewn at the back of the skirt is too long, and the heels are too high and thin. Ask Mo Anqi to help you twist them when you walk."
When she was not nominated for the 100 Years of Filmmaking Best Actress award, he was indignant:
"In my heart, I'm a perfect match. I'll have someone make eight or ten trophies for you. They can be made in any shape you like!"
Also, when he saw that "God's Redemption" finally won the "100 Years Filmmaker" Best Film Award, Jiang Se could feel his happy tone even through the phone screen, halfway across the world.
"Have you returned to the hotel?"
Before she finished reading the message sent by Pei Yi, there was a knock on the hotel room door.
Mo Anqi, who was massaging her legs, raised her head and looked at Chen Shan in surprise.
The hotel where Jiang Se stayed had strict management. To take the elevator, one had to hold the corresponding room card. Visitors had to register at the hotel front desk, and the front desk would call to notify them afterwards.
But at this moment, no one called in advance, and there was no news of visitors. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and Mo Anqi became alert.
Before Jiang Se could speak, his cell phone rang. It was Mrs. Pei calling:
"Sese, Aunt Ning has arranged two people to come and take care of you. They should be here by now."
After she said this, Jiang Se knew the identity of the guest knocking on the door. He motioned Mo Anqi to ask questions and open the door. Sure enough, two middle-aged women in their forties came in.
They were each carrying a box, and they saw Jiang Se lying on the bed at a glance. Mrs. Pei was still asking on the phone if the person had arrived. Jiang Se responded with a "hmm":
"I'm here, thank you Aunt Ning."
"Ayi urged me to bring it." He still remembered the last time Jiang Se was filming an advertisement, she acted coquettishly to him and said that her feet hurt after wearing high heels. This time, when Mrs. Pei took Pei Rui to the United States, she asked her to bring two people who could take care of Jiang Se.
"I have booked a room for them in the hotel you are staying in these few days. It is next to you."
Although Jiang Se has an assistant who can arrange her work and some personal matters, when it comes to taking care of people, they may not be as meticulous as the two people that Mrs. Pei brought from China.
Mrs. Pei said:
"You're probably busy with work these days, so Pei Rui and I won't come over to disturb you. When you're done cleaning up, go to bed early. When you're done with your work, come stay at Pei's for a few days. Grandma misses you very much."
Jiang Se choked with sobs and agreed in a soft voice.
After the two men came out after washing their hands, there was no room for Chen Shan and the others to treat the wound on Jiang Se's foot. Compared with the cautious assistants, the two people sent by Mrs. Pei were obviously much calmer.
The two introduced their names, quickly treated Jiang Se's foot injury, and massaged her calves with a comfortable force that was neither too strong for her to bear nor too light that she could not feel it.
She returned Pei Yi's call and was happy that he cared about her. Although the injury on her foot was just a small matter, the fact that he remembered her unintentional complaint was enough to prove his intentions.
The subsequent promotion in the United States was particularly smooth because "God's Redemption" won a big award. On the 26th, "God's Redemption" was scheduled to premiere at the Hollywood Theater.
This movie had already attracted a lot of attention before it was released because of various gimmicks. First, there was the controversy over the replacement of the female lead, and then in the subsequent "Filmmaker of the Century" election, all major gambling websites were unanimously pessimistic about "God's Redemption". In the end, they did not expect the movie to unexpectedly win the grand prize.
Coupled with the huge amount of publicity spent by investors, the media, magazines, news and websites were all about topics related to "God's Redemption", making the audience curious about the film.
On the day of the premiere, domestic media reporters such as Tao Tao and Yu Zilin also attended the premiere. The film crew spent a lot of money to decorate the auditorium in front of the Hollywood Theater to look like the scene in "Salvation". Donald appeared in the image of Andre in the play, Jiang Se also appeared in his "demonized" appearance, Cesare and the main creative staff of the crew dressed up as knights, which brought surprises to the media, film critics and fans on the scene, and also made the premiere press conference full of climaxes and screams.
With the certification of the best film of the "Filmmakers of the Century", the doubts from all sides before the release of the film about Cesare's bold use of Jiang Se in "Salvation of the Divine" were completely dispelled.
The film was released in various formats including D, D, and IMAXD, and was announced to be fully released in major theaters in North America. The enthusiastic atmosphere on the scene and the photos released by major domestic media outlets have aroused more and more expectations from domestic movie fans.
Taking advantage of her work convenience, Tao Tao also watched the English version of "God's Redemption" in the United States.
Before watching the movie, she had heard many people praising the movie. Some people in the media praised the movie for its grand scale, while some members of the "Century Filmmakers" praised the movie for its exquisite costumes and beautiful colors.
There are also people like Shu Payne who deeply analyze the meaning of the movie, and some praise the movie's special effects for exceeding the current level of overall movie special effects.
But those compliments are not as meaningful as actually seeing and feeling it yourself.
The shock I got when I watched the trailer was not even one-tenth of the shock I got when I watched the feature film. Those thrilling scenes, when experienced in the best screening room, multiplied the sensory stimulation to people, and each shot was so exquisite that it made people relive it again and again.
The hideousness of the "devil", the hypocrisy of Andre, the "purity" of Lannie in the early stage and the "evil" in the later stage form a sharp contrast.
Even though the dialogue was entirely in English, coupled with the deliberate accents of some of the actors, it was a little difficult for Tao Tao to hear. Perhaps she could not fully understand the meaning of every word in the lines, but the actors' performances completely brought every audience member into the play.
If there were still people who doubted the authenticity of "God's Redemption" winning the award before the movie was released, the strength of the movie after its release was enough to make these doubts disappear.
After 28 days, the North American box office of "God's Redemption" reached 107 million. This box office data broke the previous US box office history and jumped to first place.
As the word of mouth about the movie continues to rise, it will only attract a huge wave of people to watch the movie.
Once "God's Redemption" forms a viewing trend, even if people were not fans of Cesare or the two leading actors at first, and did not pay much attention to the movie, they would become curious because of the topic and public opinion created by "God's Redemption" and go to the cinema.
Such a high starting point was like a shot in the arm for the investors of "God's Redemption", and newspapers and magazines were all reporting on this grand event.
The film has achieved impressive results overseas, and domestic movie fans are even more enthusiastic.
The movie hasn't been released yet, but the advance sale of tickets alone has already broken the historical record. After completing his trip to the United States, before Jiang Se returned to China with the crew on the 29th to carry out a new round of "God's Redemption" promotion, the domestic pre-sale box office had already reached nearly 600 million!
Domestic professionals have already predicted that after the release of "God's Redemption", tickets will most likely be hard to come by in a short period of time, which will undoubtedly make people more curious about this movie.
While Jiang Se was busy with work, Tao Cen also flew back to China from France.
She got what she wanted. After several months of hard work, she got the endorsement of Carolus shampoo in China. If it were in the past, such news might have occupied the domestic news pages, created heat, and brought topics for Carolus shampoo and Tao Cen herself.
Being able to snatch the endorsement of Carolus from Xia Chaoqun is enough to prove Tao Cen's ability. In the past, Tao Cen would definitely be happy about this and regard it as one of his achievements over the years.
But at this time, facing the overwhelming news in the country that Jiang Se's work "God's Redemption" won the "Best Film of the Century Filmmakers" award, Tao Cen was rarely happy.
Her contract with Carolus only occupied a small part of the news headlines, and only a few people clicked on it to read it.
Century Galaxy is also cooperating with "God's Redemption" in promoting the film, as if all the glory that was once bestowed on Tao Cen has been transferred to Jiang Se.
This is the reality of this industry. When people in the company no longer regard Tao Cen's return as the biggest topic in the short term; when Luo Ao and other company executives obviously value Jiang Se more than himself; when Chairman Luo Yin is willing to retain Jiang Se with shares, while he needs to sign a long-term contract in order to gain the company's attention, Tao Cen feels more and more unbalanced.
In a sense, she and Jiang Se are the same kind of people. Her original intention of entering Century Galaxy was very clear from the beginning, that is, she came for the 'best', 'most outstanding' 'queen position'.
She stayed in Century Galaxy not to be compared with others. Even though the company had favored her more in terms of artist profit sharing in her later renewed long-term contract, this "honor" made Tao Cen feel uncomfortable compared to Luo Yin's offer of shares to Jiang Seyi.
She called the company personally and wanted to meet Luo Yin.
Luo Ao answered the phone. After recognizing her voice, he first congratulated her on getting the endorsement of Carolus. Then, after knowing her intention, he tactfully tried to reject her words:
"The weather has turned cold recently. Mr. Luo has been unwell in recent years. The doctor suggested that he go abroad for some time after New Year's Day to recuperate. He may not have time to see you."
Tao Cen insisted on meeting Luo Yin. In the end, Luo Ao had no choice but to convey her opinion to Luo Yin and arrange the meeting place in Luo Yin's mansion.
After returning from France, Tao Cen rushed to Luo Yin's home as soon as she got off the plane. When she was led into the hall by the servants, Luo Yin squinted his eyes and looked at this once most dazzling pearl in the Century Galaxy. She was wearing high heels and had taken off her black cashmere coat before entering and threw it to the servant at the door.
Her face could not hide the fatigue from the long journey, but her eyes were still bright and moving, reminding him of the first time he saw Tao Cen.
The heating was on in the hall, and the scent of tea added to the warm atmosphere. Luo Yin had recently become fascinated with the tea ceremony. The boiling water in the tea tray on the coffee table made a gurgling sound, and the curling hot steam added some worldly air to the luxurious room, making the huge space seem less cold and depressing and more real.
"Are you back? I heard from Luo Ao that you got the endorsement of Carolus?"
Luo Yin's face showed no trace of the two most important actresses under his command competing openly or secretly for endorsements and resources. Instead, he was smiling.
His hair was neatly combed, and he looked distant as if he was meeting a guest, but it also seemed like he was meeting a close friend. He was wearing casual clothes and had a thick blanket on his legs.
Tao Cen guessed that Luo Yin might have guessed the purpose of her visit.
"I had already prepared tea and boiled water before you came. You came just in time."
He happily made tea himself, each movement was slow and steady, and he had no intention of calling for help from the servants. Tao Cen wanted to pour water for him, but was stopped by Luo Yin. It was not until the cup of tea was handed to her that Luo Yin had a profound thought:
"This is a cup of tea I made myself. Others may not be able to afford it, but you can!"
This sentence made Tao Cen stunned for a long time, and then he laughed softly. (To be continued)