As soon as the car door opened, Song Shi'an, who was about to get in, froze.
"What the hell?! The big boss is here!" He gave Ji Shuyao, who was sitting in the passenger seat, a frantic look.
Ji Shuyao returned a helpless smile, indicating that he was also completely unaware of the situation beforehand.
Shen Lingshu spoke first, "Aren't you coming up? Are you planning to have someone film me bullying my employees?"
Song Shi'an quickly got into the car and plopped down in his seat.
Shen Lingshu suddenly said something that sent chills down his spine, "Do you always want to run away when you see me?"
"No, no," Song Shi'an quickly shook his head. "You're my boss, how could I?"
"Oh?" Shen Lingshu's voice rose slightly at the end. "Then I misunderstood you."
Song Shi'an smiled but didn't say anything. Every time he was in the same space as the big boss, he felt the air temperature drop by several degrees.
I was afraid of teachers when I was in school, and I'm afraid of my boss now that I'm working. I'm hopeless...
Lin Fan quickly tried to smooth things over. "Well, we'll be there soon, bro, get ready, there might be a lot of media."
Song Shi'an hummed in agreement, took a deep breath, and admitted he was nervous. He figured he was just gaining experience.
He looked down and checked his makeup to make sure everything was normal.
Ji Shuyao turned around from the passenger seat. "Don't walk too fast on the red carpet later, give the media some time. Also, write your autographs carefully, and give us plenty of camera angles."
As soon as the car arrived, a flurry of flashing lights went off outside.
The staff opened the car door, Song Shi'an stepped out, always remembering to smile at the camera.
The moment the car door was opened in the live stream, the screen was immediately flooded with comments.
"My own brother didn't show up, so whose is this? Please allow me to climb the wall for a bit!"
"Tell A Yan I'm not going home tonight, that's really something!"
" An'an makes a dazzling entrance, instantly carrying the entire team!"
"Is this some big shot? I don't recognize him."
Under the lights, Song Shi'an's perfect body proportions, combined with her clothing, made her even more eye-catching.
The silver-gray satin shirt shimmered softly in the lens, a gray silk scarf draped over her shoulders, and a black leather belt sculpted her waistline sharply.
He calmly followed the stars of " The Number One Winner " onto the red carpet.
Actually, he didn't know the way either. It was his first time participating, so he just did whatever the people in front of him were doing. When he saw others taking pens, he took pens; when he saw others signing autographs, he signed autographs; when he saw others taking photos, he took photos.
He Minglou walked two steps ahead of him, turned around and whispered, "How does it feel to walk the red carpet for the first time?"
"It feels like entering an exam hall," Song Shi'an whispered back.
He Minglou almost burst out laughing, but quickly held it in and maintained the composed expression befitting a movie star in front of the camera.
Song Shi'an followed the crowd into the inner area, somewhat bewildered. He sat in the second row, while the first row was full of well-known veteran actors and actresses from the Chinese entertainment industry, each a household name.
Song Shi'an sat upright and proper, his back ramrod straight, just like a student afraid of being called on by the teacher in class.
Wen Qing sat to his left and quietly introduced him to the people in the first row, telling him what awards this person had won and what representative works that person had performed.
Song Shi'an listened in a daze, as if something had been forced into his mind.
" Song Shi'an." Someone called to him from the right.
He turned his head and saw He Minglou. He handed him a bottle of water and gestured with his chin towards the first row. "Don't be nervous, they sat like this when they were young too."
"I'm not nervous," Song Shi'an said, taking the water. "It's just that this chair is a bit low; I can't stretch my legs out properly..."
Wen Qing, watching his somewhat cramped legs, couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh for a long time.
With the opening ceremony concluded, the awards presentation officially began.
The lights in the entire venue slowly dimmed, and a montage of the shortlisted films scrolled across the large screen.
The host picked up the card, his steady voice resonating throughout the hall. "The Best Film in the Main Competition of this year's Golden Goblet Award is a powerful work. It walks the line between good and evil, using restrained yet sharp lenses to question humanity. The narrative is profound, the imagery is extremely powerful, and it illuminates the complexity and fragility of human nature in the darkness."
He paused slightly, then raised his voice to announce, "The winner of the Golden Goblet Award for Best Film is—'The Number One Winner '!"
The entire arena erupted in thunderous applause, and viewers in the live stream joined in the excitement, since this year's dark horse, apart from the Number One Winner, really had no one who could rival it.
The director and the main creative team went on stage to accept the award, Song Shi'an also stood up and applauded.
He stood in front of his seat, looking at the people under the spotlight on the stage, and suddenly felt a little unreal.
The Best Actress award was awarded to Jiang Zhi as expected.
As for Best Actor, everyone knew that, barring any surprises, it would definitely be Song Shi'an.
But when the host announced the name, the entire audience erupted in uproar.
The winner of this year's Golden Goblet Award for Best Actor is -- Yin Haowen!
A flurry of question marks appeared in the live stream chat.
"?????????"
"What role did this person play? I have no idea."
"Come on, that's more like it! How many movies has Yin Haowen acted in? How many has that guy surnamed Song done? You brainless fans have been marketing for so long, and in the end you didn't even win an award. It's laughable, hahaha!"
"Awesome! I've disliked that guy surnamed Song for a long time, now he's dumbfounded!"
"Exactly! He doesn't have a single representative work yet. Undeniably, the movies are well-made, but any other lead actor would have a higher chance of winning an award. With such a small amount of screen time, he really thinks he's something special!"
"Are you guys crazy? When did the Best Actor award start being decided based on the amount of screen time? No matter how much screen time you have, as long as you act well enough, you can win!"
"The reason why the movie starring Yin Haowen didn't get much attention this year is because of the limited number of screenings. What kind of star is he? What kind of star is this guy surnamed Song? He's just a clown."
Song Shi'an himself didn't feel anything at all. He searched his mind for a long time, but he couldn't remember who this Yin Haowen was.
Watching a slightly older young man go on stage to receive an award and give his acceptance speech, Song Shi'an clapped and cheered for him, just like everyone else.
Wen Qing nudged him with her elbow and mouthed, "Are you alright?"
Song Shi'an was a little puzzled; what could he possibly have to do?
The live stream camera deliberately panned across Song Shi'an's face; his expression, which was perfectly normal, was intentionally misinterpreted by those with ulterior motives.
"See? See? You pretend to be happy, but you're probably seething with hatred inside. Our Brother Haowen isn't that petty."
"Are you blind? Shi'an watched the awards ceremony attentively from beginning to end, and he was genuinely happy for others, and you've twisted it like this?"
"I really want to chop up all those fake people in the comments. Trying to stir up trouble, huh? Come on, I'll tear you all apart with my bare hands!"
The comments section erupted into a heated debate, with people comparing factors like billing order, endorsements, and celebrity status.
Song Shi'an was studying the program booklet in his hand, wondering if he could get some small cakes backstage after the event. Lin Fan had told him before that the tea breaks at these film festivals were usually quite good.