I Just Told the Truth

The entries in this film festival were mostly shortlisted films, and there weren't many feature films in total, just a few. They had already won most of the awards they were supposed to win.

According to Zhang Yuefan's balance theory, anyone could win the award.

Lu Ban wasn't in a hurry.

His goal was to win an award, but what award he won was not important. He was genuinely just expressing his confusion about not winning the Best Special Effects award, not being sarcastic.

Now that Lu Ban has won Best Actor and the film's box office has already exceeded ten million, completing the mission is more than enough. Winning a few more awards might just improve the evaluation of the mission.

"These are the shortlisted works for this year's Yannan University Student Film Festival. Now, please welcome our festival's judge, director Tao Ming, to announce the winner of the Best Film Award."

Director Tao Ming is also an elderly man with gray hair. He has directed several classic films. Although he no longer directs, he is often active as a producer in various works.

He went up on the stage, opened the envelope, and his expression turned somewhat grim when he saw the words on it.

The film that won Best Film at this year's Yannan University Student Film Festival is "The Cry".

As soon as he spoke, the background changed to a scene from the movie "Lu Ban," but it didn't quite fit the festive stage. The scenes were somewhat eerie and terrifying, especially since most of the people present had seen the movie. As soon as the images appeared, those terrifying memories flooded back, causing them to suffer from PTSD.

Lu Ban was slow to realize what was happening, but Zhang Yuefan reminded him before he stepped onto the stage and accepted the trophy from director Tao Ming.

"Uh, thank you, judges. It seems that you weren't quite satisfied with my acceptance speech, so I won't say much more. That's all."

Lu Ban said a few words, accepted the award, and stepped down from the stage.

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The scene became somewhat awkward at one point.

Director Tao Ming was the first to applaud, and it took him a while to smooth things over with the emcee.

"You're really something."

Zhang Yuefan said to Lu Ban as he came down.

"I feel like I need to stay away from you. I've never seen anyone like you. You offended all the judges on your first time on stage."

"I'm just telling the truth."

Lu Ban replied.

"You can't tell the whole truth."

Zhang Yuefan felt ashamed.

"But hey, it seems that having talent really does allow you to do whatever you want. The judges don't seem too angry."

"As long as a movie is entertaining and interesting, awards are irrelevant."

Lu Ban casually placed the two trophies aside.

"Hehe, you know what? If it weren't for your previous performance, I would definitely think you were in Versailles right now."

Zhang Yuefan said awkwardly.

The broadcast of the awards ceremony was quickly shared online.

Lu Ban's unconventional actions were met with considerable controversy.

In online discussions, opinions about him fall into two categories.

[Lu Ban is quite an interesting director; he doesn't follow the usual path. Indeed, I also think his film should have won Best Special Effects; there must have been some shady dealings in this selection process!]

[To be honest, if "The Crying" doesn't win Best Special Effects, why should other movies win? That movie about the college entrance exam—you couldn't see any special effects at all. Isn't that just random judging?]

My uncle had dinner with the selection committee, and he said that the committee felt it was inappropriate to award the special effects prize to this film because all the scenes were filmed practically.

Although I haven't seen this movie yet, I don't think a horror film can be that good. It's just meant to scare the faint of heart, so I'm not happy that it won Best Picture.

The main issue is that other films either depict the confusion and uncertainty of contemporary youth or focus on social issues, but his film is just a horror movie; it has absolutely no meaning!

I think those people praising this movie online are probably just paid trolls. How could there possibly be a horror movie that could scare people so much they wouldn't dare leave the theater? That's an exaggeration!

I've heard that some talent agencies promote popular celebrities this way: first, they generate buzz, then they get the star an award or something to gild their image, and then they're packaged up and sent to appear in other movies. It's outrageous!

[No way, no way, someone really peed their pants from a horror movie? You guys are such cowards!]

I heard that "The Crying" will be showing in theaters nationwide starting next month. I can go see just how scary this movie is!

Some felt that Lu Ban deserved more awards and spoke out in his defense, while others hoped that Lu Ban would quickly make a second film to prove himself. Still others felt that Lu Ban was undeserving of the awards and was too arrogant.

It will be divided into these two parts, the main difference being whether or not you have seen Lu Ban's movie.

The vast majority of those who have seen the movie support Lu Ban, while those who haven't seen it have various doubts.

It's actually quite normal. Even if someone raves about how amazing something is, if you haven't seen it with your own eyes, you'll definitely remain skeptical.

There are also some people who, the more others praise something, the more they feel there's something wrong with it.

Anyway, Lu Ban's movie will be released in theaters nationwide soon, and everyone will be able to go to the cinema to see it in person. This debate will definitely come to an end eventually.

After leaving Yan Nan, Lu Ban finally returned to his warm home.

He put the two trophies in the cabinet in the living room and turned on the TV.

The television was broadcasting news reports about the cruise ship "Stars" that had previously encountered a storm and fire. There were hundreds of Jiangcheng citizens on board the cruise ship, so local news outlets had been following the story closely.

Fortunately, most of the tourists were in hotels in the port when the fire broke out, and there were only a few crew members on the ship, so there were no major casualties.

However, with hundreds of people stranded on a small island in the Pacific Ocean, battered by a raging storm, and unable to receive any outside support, Pohnpei Island was filled with even greater anxiety.

As the news broadcast ended, Lu Ban saw that the text on the television screen had distorted and transformed into the shape of the system.

A series of characters emerged as if frozen in ice and snow, forming the system's cold text.

Making a movie: 1/1

Box office earnings: 10,000,000/10,000,000 yuan

[Awards received at any popular film festival: 1/1]

Congratulations on completing your Career Development Task!

Settlement will now commence.

[Mission Exploration Progress: 83%]

[Task Completion Status: Amazing]

[Having already shown your talent, you struck while the iron was hot, creating a legendary success that was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Your name will surely be etched in the annals of history. Celebrate! This is a small step for you, but a giant leap for entertainment!]

[Silence Points Gained: 7900]

Settlement complete

Thrills and excitement are what people always crave. It's when humans, accustomed to comfort, are placed in perilous situations that their true nature is revealed. Discover these things; you should do so.

Please complete the task to receive the reward.