The head of the committee gave his opening speech and the atmosphere became carefree with a bit of excitement from the audience. Each of them couldn"t wait to see who would win tonight. As soon as he finished his speech, the emcee announced the different major awards. The order of the awards announced were from least significant to most sought. Therefore, they would need to finish awarding the smaller categories before they could announce this years" best actor and actress award and who would get the t.i.tles of the Film Emperor and Empress of the Year.
The ceremony took longer than what Lan Jinyao expected and she was surprised that their film had actually bagged a number of other awards aside from the best cinematography and best director awards.
Director Yun went on stage and received his award with a huge smile on his face. The cheering from the audience was loud enough that it almost brought tears in his eyes.
"As everybody should know by now, I wasn"t the first pick to direct the film "To You With Love". I was just a mediocre director back then who hadn"t had a big break, but Lady Li invited me and gave me a chance to prove myself to everyone," His voice slightly trembled as his hands held the first major award he"d received in his decade long career.
Director Yun found Li Chuntao in the audience and lifted his hand, showing her his award. He had been in the industry for a long time and had only recently pursued his pa.s.sion for directing films. And this movie had completely changed his life.
"Lady Li, this is for you. Thank you so much for believing in my skills and capabilities when no one had bothered to spare me a glance. This win, this award… is made possible because of you." His voice sounded so sincere and filled with grat.i.tude that made everyone curious about the Lady Li he was talking about. He was grateful for her help and bowed his thanks to her.
The cameras spotted Li Chuntao in the crowd and focused on her, smiling and clapping her hands at the director. Li Chuntao once again felt the need to freak out and run away, but she forced herself to remain seated next to Mu Jianyu.
"Ying, that"s really amazing. How did you know about Director Yun in the first place?" Mu Jianyu asked her once the cameras stopped focusing on her and resumed spying the crowd for reactions.
Of course, he knew that initially, it was Yao Qigang who was directing the film "To You With Love" but when the Li Corporation started injecting funds to support Zheng Yue and letting Lan Jinyao keep the female lead role, Yao Qigang was replaced by Director Yun.
"I"m not sure myself but his profile that I saw on my desk showed that he had made underrated and unappreciated works before. Maybe I saw great potential in him. Didn"t people say I"m good at recognizing talents?" Li Chuntao said. She had already given the profiles a good look, but if Ying had personally picked Director Yun out of all people, then she trusts Ying"s judgement. Ying rarely makes a mistake when it comes to hiring people to work under Li Corporation, and Li Chuntao wanted to believe that choosing Mu Jianyu as her husband was an isolated case.
Director Yun walked down the stage with teary eyes and the emcee took charge again, announcing the best newcomer actress of the year.
"The nominees for the best newcomer actress award are Chen Yilan of "Night Sky", Lan Jinyao of "To You With Love", Chu Tianxin of "Endless Horizon" and Lin Meirong of "To You With Love"."
Whenever the emcee mentions the nominees, the huge monitor behind him flashed the scenes showing snippets of their performances. In the end, the screen was divided into four, showing the four nominees for the award with Lan Jinyao at the right bottom part.
The emcee received the envelope and opened it.
"This year"s Best Newcomer Actress Award goes to—" he dramatically paused and let the cameras capture the reaction of four women. Lan Jinyao only had a relaxed expression on her face while Lin Meirong were all smiles.
"This year"s Best Newcomer Actress Award goes to Lin Meirong of "To You With Love". Let us congratulate her!"
Collective gasps could be heard from the crowd, but they clapped their hands as Lin Meirong stood up from her seat and made her way up the stage. She had the biggest smile on her face as if she just won the jackpot in a lottery.
Tonight, she was wearing a black evening gown that ballooned around her, perfectly hiding the small b.u.mp on her stomach. Remembering the last event she attended in her favorite red dress where she was outs.h.i.+ned by Li Xiuying, she opted to wear a different dress.
Lin Meirong felt like she was in heaven as she made her way to receive her award. Although Mu Jianyu and Xi Shaohua had already told her the result, she was still over the moon to finally beat Lan Jinyao right in her face.
So what if she was the female lead for the film they starred in? Without a strong backing and a golden thigh to hug, Lan Jinyao was nothing against her.
"Lan Jinyao, do you see now? You are nothing compared to me." Lin Meirong snickered inwardly.
Lan Jinyao clapped her hand and ignored the smug look Lin Meirong was throwing her way when she pa.s.sed her seat. She clenched her teeth and looked elsewhere as she refused to watch Lin Meirong receive the award she longed to win herself. But she trusted Li Chuntao and she knew there would be a good show later.
She willingly hugged the golden thigh of the wicked witch as that was the only way for her to survive the obstacles on her way to stardom. Li Chuntao promised her that she would destroy Lin Meirong"s reputation until she had no other chance to save herself.
Li Chuntao had somewhat forgotten her discomfort when she heard Lin Meirong"s name being announced as the winner. She took a side glance at the man sitting next to her and saw the deep scowl on his face.
Did Lin Meirong force him to do this? She couldn"t get the nomination and award herself, so she forced Mu Jianyu to get it for her?
Right now, they both watched as Lin Meirong elegantly walked to the stage with the spotlight focused on her.
In the private villa owned by the Li family, Meng Huan and his sister watched the scene on television. Meng Huan was surprised to see his wife walking elegantly, dressed in a million bucks while their child was hanging by a thread before Li Xiuying saved him. He clenched his fists on his lap and watched Little Ling Ling play with his toy blocks.
"The show is about to start," Meng Lan told him. Li Xiuying had informed them of what she planned to do with Gu Changge and neither of them were against it. Both of them, especially Meng Lan, wanted to see Gu Changge pay for her lies and sins she committed.
Lin Meirong stood in front of the microphone and gladly received her award. She was about to deliver the speech she had prepared when she noticed a sudden change in the atmosphere in the audience area.
The people around them started to give her complicated looks that she couldn"t understand at all. They were all holding their phones and whispering to each other, throwing malicious looks at her.
Li Chuntao hid the insidious smile behind her hand.
"Here we go."
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