The first award was for Best Supporting Actor. Xia Yitong sat up straight. It was the first time for her to attend such an important film awards ceremony as a nominated leading actor. She was like Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden, and even the performances were listened to with gusto. Lu Yinbing attended several times every year, sometimes as an invited guest and sometimes as a nominated leading actress. She could almost memorize the words said by the male and female guests presenting the awards, but when she saw Xia Yitong stretching her neck to watch so seriously, she pouted and watched carefully as well.
Director Qin went up on behalf of the crew and won an award for Best Editing and Best Visual Effects. When he gave his thank you speech, Xia Yitong was surprised to find that he was very calm and only praised her husband. She just frowned a little, and Lu Yinbing, who was always observing her, explained: "He gets one or two awards like this every year, so he can't get excited."
"Look." She pursed her lips, and Xia Yitong followed her line of sight. Qin Hanlin also threw the best visual effect into Zhan Tan's arms, folded his arms with both hands, and continued to look down with an expressionless face.
Xia Yitong pursed her lips and smiled.
When the camera turned around, Xia Yitong stopped smiling sharply. Lu Yinbing smiled very brightly in front of the camera. Just as an award ceremony was over, the host looked over and joked, "I wonder what Yinbing is thinking about that makes her smile so happily?"
Lu Yinbing smiled and said, "It seems that Director Qin is getting impatient waiting for the best director award."
People in the circle who are familiar with him and experienced hosts all know that Qin Hanlin just wants the Best Director Award. They easily get the jokes and the audience burst into laughter.
Coincidentally, the next award was for Best Supporting Actress. Lu Yinbing had just finished joking with the host when she went on stage to present the Best Supporting Actress award. Her partner was another movie star in his early 40s. They were old acquaintances, so it was inevitable that they would joke with each other and delay before announcing the result. No, they had to go through the normal process.
Actor Liang: "This time, Yin Bing was nominated for the Best Actress. Many people said that you were determined to win it. What do you think of this statement?"
Both of them were holding microphones, so their voices naturally reached the ears of everyone in the audience. Xia Yitong's heart tightened. This was really not a good question, but in such a large occasion, people usually didn't come up with quick wits, as everything was in the script.
On the stage, Lu Yinbing smiled slightly and did not answer directly: "Then Teacher Liang, do you think I will win the award?"
Actor Liang: “…”
If he said yes, the other four shortlisted actresses would bite him to death. If he said no, Lu Yinbing would be on the stage now.
Lu Yinbing said frankly: "Past achievements are in the past, and now is now. No one can rest on their laurels. This circle has had so many people coming and going for so many years, and no one knows when the new wave will overtake the old one. If there is no new wave catching up, then I will stand here and wait for it to come up; if there is a rising star who catches up and overtakes me in the wave, then I will definitely be the first person to wish her well."
Lu Yinbing's high EQ remark immediately won applause. No one thought she was talking nonsense because she had the capital. She won the Golden Cong Award for Best Actress for two consecutive years. She has won five in the past thirteen years and was nominated almost every year. The only year she was not nominated was because she was receiving treatment for moderate depression at home and did not shoot a new movie. Not to mention the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award. If a person is excellent, people will be jealous of him. If he is so excellent that no one can compare to him, he will only be envied.
No one noticed that when she said that, she was looking at Xia Yitong's seat. Xia Yitong's eyes met hers in the air for a second, and then they moved away.
Lu Yinbing smiled freely on the stage, while Xia Yitong clapped vigorously below the stage.
Actor Liang and Lu Yinbing jointly presented the Best Supporting Actress Award.
Qin Hanlin won the Best Director award as he wished, and he was as happy as a child. He praised Zhan Tan endlessly on the stage. The Golden Cong Awards are not held in the mainland, so the environment is relatively open. His praise only added to the heat of the award ceremony. Some older people who had acted with Zhan Tan when he was still in the industry took the opportunity to tease him.
The scene was lively.
Qin Hanlin came down jumping up and down, holding the trophy and refusing to let go. Zhan Tan looked helpless.
As the process progressed step by step, the moment of the Best Actress announcement was approaching. The Best Actor and Best Actress awards have always been the finale of the award ceremony. If the atmosphere at the ceremony just now was a bit relaxed, it was now completely solemn. Although she had a smile on her face, Xia Yitong clasped her hands unnaturally. Even though she knew her chances were slim, she couldn't relax when the time came. Besides, she was not only doing this for herself, but also for Lu Yinbing.
Finally, it was time to present the Best Actress award. The producers knew how to have fun and invited Qin Hanlin and Zhan Tan as presenters. This famous same-sex couple in the circle stood there, and it seemed to foreshadow something.
A short clip of the nominated actors’ performances was played on the big screen, and at the same time, the audio prompt on the screen added to the tense atmosphere: “Nominees for the Best Actress Award are: Lin Chaoying - "Dark"... Zhao Li - "Gradually", Yu Xian - "How Many Flowers Fall in Dreams", Xia Yitong - "Broken Snow", Lu Yinbing - "Broken Snow."
The big screen was divided into five small squares and illuminated. The five candidates had different expressions in the small squares. Lu Yinbing was in the middle. She didn't smile, but she wasn't expressionless either. She looked a little serious. It was the first time for Xia Yitong to pretend again. She was visibly nervous. The other three candidates were similar to her, but they tried their best to maintain a natural smile on their faces. Of course, no one knew how their fingers were clenched in private.
Qin Hanlin held the golden envelope in his hand, held it up to the light, and said, "It's really sealed. I can't see any words at all."
Zhan Tan said: "If you can see this, why block it?"
Qin Hanlin: "That's true."
The candidates were going crazy. Although they knew it was a process requirement, could they please announce the names of the two sooner? Finally, the teasing time was over. Qin Hanlin slowly tore open the golden envelope. It seemed that what was hidden inside was not a simple two- or three-character name, but a Pandora's box that would drive people crazy.
Qin Hanlin exclaimed, "Wow!" and said with a smile, "This result is really..."
As he spoke, he handed the answer in the golden envelope to Zhan Tan and asked him to announce it.
The heart in Xia Yitong's chest almost wanted to break free from her body. The blood was rushing around in her blood vessels in a disorderly manner, trying to widen several times. Her whole body was stiff, and the body leaning against the back of the chair seemed not to be hers anymore.
Lu Yinbing held her trembling fingers.
Xia Yitong was still shaking, but the shaking was less intense. The other candidates on the screen could no longer laugh.
The lights in the auditorium suddenly dimmed again. There was total silence except for the beating of hearts, the stretching of blood vessels, sweat soaking the palms, and many people pricked up their ears.
Zhan Tan's powerful voice echoed throughout the entire auditorium.
"The winner of this year's Golden Cong Award for Best Actress is Lu Yinbing! Congratulations!"
Xia Yitong pulled her hand back, and all the lights focused on Lu Yinbing, who was sitting next to her, only two fists away.
All the reporters and media pointed their cameras at Lu Yinbing, and flashes of light went on and off, just like a sea of starlight shining on one person.
Lu Yinbing put down her handbag, lifted her long skirt and stood up, with only a faint smile on her face. The actors around her rushed up to hug her, and she hugged them back one by one, thanking them politely.
But she was always paying attention to Xia Yitong who was sitting next to her. Xia Yitong burst into tears of joy almost instantly. If Lu Yinbing didn't know her well, she would probably think that she was crying because she was not selected.
After everyone else had hugged her, Xia Yitong was still crying, so Lu Yinbing had no choice but to forcibly pull her up from the chair and hug her. Xia Yitong hugged her shoulders tightly, crying bitterly, and kept saying in her ear: "Lu Yinbing, I see you, I see you."
She had worked hard for so many years and was finally able to witness Lu Yinbing's pride here with her own eyes.
This means much more to her than winning the award.
What's the point of crying her heart out? Just let her indulge herself this time. No matter what the media reports tomorrow, saying anything good about her, her happiness is her own and no one can interfere.
Lu Yinbing patted her shoulder gently, and her originally calm mood suddenly began to surge. The person she was hugging now was her lover, who was crying because she won the award.
"I will see you in the future too." Lu Yinbing whispered softly, "I should go upstairs now, wipe your tears."
"good."
That's what she said, but when Lu Yinbing went up to receive the award, the camera kept following her gaze. Xia Yitong was seen crying while wiping her tears. Fortunately, her makeup was waterproof so she didn't look that scary.
Many people cast doubtful glances at Xia Yitong.
Host: "I'm sure you are already very familiar with this stage. Please give us your acceptance speech again, Ms. Lu."
Xia Yitong quickly wiped her eyes to prevent the tears from blurring her vision, and stared at the big screen.
Her lips were slightly open and her eyes were red, making her look like a rabbit that had fainted from crying and then fainted again.
"That..." Lu Yinbing's prepared acceptance speech and the emotions she had built up all fell apart the moment she saw Xia Yitong. She took the microphone away and said to the host with a smile, "Sorry, I'll just laugh for a while."
She covered her face with her hands and laughed on the stage.
host:"… "
Xia Yitong cried again.
This time I cried out of anger.