The autumn wind blows through January, the maple leaves turn red, and the crabs become fat.
The nominations for the Dream Pen Award are officially open to the public, and voting has begun. In addition to the seven official awards, as one of the most well-known literary awards in China, it is very friendly and has set up several unofficial awards.
For example, the most popular award, the most creative award, the best surprise award, etc. These are not serious awards, but they are more entertaining and have a lot of room for manipulation.
If an author's work is not that good but he wants to get some attention, then it is a good choice for the agency behind him to buy votes and give a surprise prize.
Of course, the audience also knows that these awards are highly unrealistic, and they make sarcastic remarks about them every year.
Passerby 1: "What the hell are the works being voted for this year's Creative Awards? I've never heard of them before."
Passerby 2: "'Love in Paris' is actually in the Welcome Award. Looks like it's a terrible flop."
Friendly reminder, "Love in Paris", the first work of Morning Star in 2021, tells the story of a Chinese girl and a European aristocrat who went to Versailles. It was the work that competed with "Devil Doctor 2".
Passerby 3: "It's a terrible writing, it's just to trick the kids."
Passerby 4: "The surprise prize is still a few stories."
after a few days.
Passerby n: "Fuck, vote manipulation again, tens of thousands of votes, sales less than 100,000, too much!"
But no one is paying attention anymore.
Everyone is seriously discussing the nominations for the six major awards. To be selected for the Dream Pen Award, it must be an extremely outstanding work this year, and each one has its own loyal fans.
It is said that love stories are the most fierce, and there are two most fiercely fought novels, one is romantic novels and the other is BL.
A reader of the romance novel website said: "I have never seen such explicit sexual descriptions, more lust than love. Winning the romance award is pure nonsense!"
A reader of Danmei said: "Love knows no gender. If same-sex love works can win awards, it will be of great significance to promoting gender equality and free marriage!"
Romance novel readers retorted: "Is it interesting to raise the theme? Works should focus on the facts, otherwise everyone will take political stances in their writing."
Danmei disagreed: "What you like is just an ordinary love between a man and a woman, which is neither special nor unforgettable, and has no meaning or expression."
The party was very lively.
Similarly in the history category, the two most popular works are one about the Song Dynasty and the other about the Ming Dynasty.
Song fans: "After Yashan, China is the best."
Ming fans: "The shame of Jingkang has not yet been avenged."
Song fans: "The eunuch party destroyed the country."
Ming fans: "The emperor guards the country's gates, and the king dies for the country!"
Passerby: "What would happen if Chongzhen and Song Huizong wore each other's clothes?"
During this time, he interspersed some words with a clear tone: "I really want to live another 500 years!"
So everyone was united in their hatred of the enemy: "The Qing Dynasty will not rebel..."
In comparison, suspense movies are much milder.
a: "Rose Gold is a big seller, but the suspense and mystery are not strong, right? It has more adventure elements."
b: "Who said that? The code for the treasure and the reasoning for the final case are both very typical."
c: "Rose Gold" is actually not bad in the romance genre... "
d: "I'm feeling depressed today because of the killer's death, woooooo"
e: "Why wasn't "Devil Doctor" selected???"
f: "The passerby upstairs? Mengbi is an author and a work, you can't nominate more than one person."
After all the lively debate, the awards ceremony will be held in November.
As usual, the entire process is broadcast live, and the ratings are always good - there's nothing special about the writers receiving awards, but the organizers will invite celebrities to perform.
This is an alternative evening show.
At 12 o'clock in the morning, Jian Jing got up, went to the beauty salon to do her hair, asked a makeup artist to do her makeup, and changed into a dress. The whole process took about five or six hours.
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, Kang Mucheng arranged his work, left work early, and went to the beauty salon to pick her up.
He was shocked.
Under the soft light, her carefully cared-for skin was fair and smooth, with a natural luster. The snow-white gauze feathers lightly wrapped around her youthful body, her back was straight, her shoulders were relaxed, and her even bones and flesh held up her long skirt, which was slender and agile, light and agile, which reminded people of the description of "wasp waist, ape arms, crane posture and mantis shape".
However, her wrists and neck were bare, and the pearl headband in her hair was not delicate enough, and when set off by the skirt, it immediately lost its luster.
"Boss Kang." Jian Jing turned around and said with a smile, "Come and pick me up."
Kang Mucheng paused slightly, as if he felt something was wrong with her, but then he thought that today was her first time attending an award ceremony, so she was inevitably nervous, so he decided not to say anything.
He pretended not to know and said, "I'll come and get it. Here you go." He opened the safe he carried with him and took out a diamond necklace. "Don't worry, I'm not giving it to you as a gift. My mother said she'll lend it to you for a day."
The cut diamond was illuminated by the afterglow of the setting sun, filling the room with brilliance and almost overshadowing the beauty.
The makeup artist said what everyone was thinking: "This is too beautiful, Miss Jane, please put it on."
"It's too heavy." Jian Jing waved her hand and said, "Please spare my neck."
Kang Mucheng said: "It's empty and I can't see it."
"I've prepared a jewel." She took out a choker necklace from the black box next to her. It was made of white velvet, bright red roses, and decorated with a few crystals. "I specially asked someone to make it for me. Do you want to see it?"
Look, the workmanship is average, but the roses are real flowers airlifted in this morning, budding and ready to bloom, better than any dead thing.
Kang Mucheng reminded her: "I can't control the situation."
"It's not about competing to see who's richer," she said. "Keep a low profile and don't steal the limelight from the celebrities."
Kang Mucheng didn't force it: "No one can steal your limelight today."
You hit the nail on the head.
The award ceremony starts at 7 o'clock, and there is a 12-hour red carpet time. The earlier you go, the lower your status, and the later you go, the more important your status becomes.
Jinwu rented a luxury car early on, allocating one to each author, so that everyone didn't have to wear suits and take taxis, which was a hassle.
And since Jian Jing is with Kang Mucheng, it's easier for her and she can eat first.
She ordered takeout.
The designer was frightened by her and reminded her in French from time to time: "Dear, please be careful that your skirt is out of shape. Can we just have a couple of bites of salad?"
Jian Jing: "je peux pas (not so)."
Designer: “…”
She had pizza and fried chicken, and a half cup of coffee to go.
After eating, put on makeup and set off.
--
Jiahui didn't have any classes in the evening, so she had something to do, so she watched the Mengbi Award ceremony with her roommate.
The two girls were chattering and chatting lively.
My roommate sighed: "In recent years, literary awards have become more and more lucrative, more lively than film awards, and there are many celebrities."
"Only nominated stars can win the film awards, but literary awards are different, we can invite whoever we want." Jiahui ate potato chips and said vaguely, "Celebrities of high status can be the guests to present the awards, and celebrities of high status can perform on the show, which is very reasonable."
My roommate agreed: "I wonder who will come this year. Hey, isn't this Cai Tong'er?"
On the screen, Cai Tong'er, dressed in a formal dress, stood on the red carpet, looking radiant.
Host: "What do you think about participating in the Dream Pen Awards today?"
Cai Tong'er replied: "It's an honor. I liked you very much when I met you."
The roommate sneered: "She's just pretending. How many books has she read? Not even textbooks."
Jiahui laughed out loud.
After a few celebrities have passed, it is the turn of the authors to perform. They are all familiar faces, and the host has to introduce them one by one and announce their representative works, so that everyone can know who is who.
The two girls were very surprised.
"Ah, this is xx. I like his food articles. I thought he was fat. How come he is so thin? But his baldness is not surprising at all."
"So this is xxx, eh... he is indeed a greasy stud."
"Oh, so handsome, and next to him is his girlfriend? No wonder the love scenes are so sweet."
"This sister is very elegant. Who is she? XXXX. Hey, I really like her poetry collection. Do you want to read it?"
Then there is a wave of idols who are very popular this year.
Host: "Which work do you support?"
The idols replied: "It's about the flower stamens in spring, the story is very interesting, and the words are very beautiful."
The surroundings were quiet.
The barrage of comments was so intense that it blurred the screen:
Barrage 1: Spring is flourishing, right
Barrage 2: Oh my god, this is magical realism.
Barrage 3: It is very depressing, and the writing is weird and hard to understand.
Barrage 4: Can anyone explain to me what this is
Barrage 5: Domestic version of One Hundred Years of Solitude
…
The host remained calm and fooled everyone.
The writers who will come on stage next are all already famous and the audience can recognize them without the host's reminder. For example, Chen Xing is a series of romance writers. Although their looks vary, they are all very beautiful and radiant.
My roommate said: "I've discovered that romance novelists have the best looks."
Jiahui disagreed: "That's because our teacher Jian hasn't come on stage yet!"
Yes, Jian Jing, alone, has supported the reputation of being a suspense novel writer.
When she came on stage, it was already 7:05, a time reserved for the bosses of major publishing houses; the other writers had already entered and taken their seats.
Kang Mucheng has always been partial to her and took her to be the last one to leave.
The interlaced flash lights almost blinded her eyes.
There were many media on both sides of the red carpet. In addition to comprehensive media, many entertainment media also came to join in the fun because of the presence of celebrities, with cameras, mobile phones, tripods, and colorful microphones.
Lively, very lively.
Jian Jing held Kang Mucheng's arm and slowly walked through the interlaced light and shadow and the flashing lights. She stopped and smiled from time to time, facing the harsh camera with the most beautiful posture.
She did perform perfectly.
On the live broadcast website, the colorful comments are like a main road during rush hour, with traffic jams everywhere.
"My wife, my wife! I declare that Teacher Jian is my wife from now on!"
"We have obtained the certificate, thank you everyone!!!"
"Ahhh, help! Writers are stealing celebrities' jobs!!"
"From this angle, she looks like Akina Nakamori! She has such a great temperament!"
"Vice President Jinwu is so handsome, and he is a perfect match for Teacher Jian! It would not be out of place for this couple to attend the film festival!"
"The overbearing president and his concubine, I can imagine 10,000 words!"
"Oh my god! This fall's new haute couture dresses are so new! Oh my god!"
"I accompanied my beautiful, wealthy friend to Paris last month. I heard about this show. It's so popular!"
"Is that the wedding dress? I've seen the video, it's so beautiful!"
"Celebrities, please revise your press releases immediately. I suggest you stop publishing those that boast about your dress."
"We are all borrowing money, who is more noble than who?"
"Borrow your ass, this dress is so fitting, it must be custom made."
"Excuse me, is this a celebrity? That's too exaggerated."
"Fans, wake up! He is the real protagonist today."
…
In the dormitory, Jiahui asked her roommate: "Do you feel that when Teacher Jian and her boss walked the red carpet in this outfit, it looked like a wedding ceremony?"
Roommate: "I want to have a dad like this too!!"
Jiahui: "... Now that you mention it, it seems like something is wrong?"
The two looked at each other and quickly looked at the host at the end of the red carpet.
The host also said: "Wow, Teacher Jian looks so beautiful today. When she walked towards me, my heart beat faster. I felt like a groom in the church."
Kang Mucheng raised his eyebrows.
"Really?" Jian Jing smiled, her face radiant and looking much more beautiful than usual, like a red rose blooming in front of the camera, "I must look like a bride today."