Exciting 1979!

Chapter 422 Performing at a Theater, Trouble

The Best Screenplay award went to Zhang Xian from Emei Studio for "The Corner Forgotten by Love," beating out strong contenders Wei Ming for "Mom, Love Me Again" and Xin Xianling for "Joyful Reunion."

The result was somewhat unexpected. Not only were Wei Ming and Gong Xue and Zhu Lin surprised, but even the more than two thousand audience members present were surprised, because they had basically never heard of this award-winning film. How well must it have been written?

Wei Ming has won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Screenplay and has been nominated twice for the Golden Rooster Award for Best Screenplay. If he still doesn't win it for "The Shepherd's Spring," then he might have to work hard for the Oscar for Best Screenplay.

The Best Director award was then presented to Cheng Yin, director of "The Xi'an Incident." The film was produced by Xi'an Film Studio, but the director was from Beijing Film Studio. Cheng Yin also serves as the dean of the Beijing Film Academy.

Finally, there's the Best Feature Film award, which goes to "Neighbors," another film that's not well-known to the general public. It was produced by the Youth Film Studio of the Beijing Film Academy and directed by Zheng Dongtian and Xu Guming, both professors in the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy. The film tells the story of the conflicts that arise among several families living in a dormitory building at a university over improving their housing situation.

Wei Ming thought that was the end of it, but he didn't expect that after Best Feature Film, there would be an honorary award and a special award.

These are not permanent awards. The Honorary Award was given to "Joyful Reunion," and the Special Award was given to "Mom, Love Me Again." It's as if the judges didn't appreciate the artistic expression of the films, but still gave them an award as a token of respect to the audience.

However, winning the award will allow the directors of the two blockbuster films to give their respective film studios a satisfactory explanation.

Next came the photo session. Wei Ming brought his own camera and took several meaningful group photos. He paid special attention to Sister Lin's expression and noticed that she wasn't upset about not winning an award, which shows that the sisters' friendship can withstand the test.

These award-winning films will be re-released nationwide in the coming days, especially the Best Picture winners. It is estimated that "Mom, Love Me Again" will once again create a tearjerker frenzy.

"Congratulations, Xiao Wei," Director Xie Jin said, coming over to chat with Wei Ming for a few minutes. "How do you feel about winning the Golden Rooster Award this time?"

Looking at the Golden Rooster Award for Best Original Score in his hand, Wei Ming was both amused and exasperated. Writing was his true calling.

"I heard that 'Qiu Jin' is about to start filming?" Wei Ming changed the subject. He glanced at Li Xiuming not far away and felt that she had started to gain weight for the role, making her look particularly sturdy.

She was unlucky; "Xu Mao" didn't win the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards, and coupled with her early retirement from the entertainment industry, few people will remember her in the future.

“Yes, we plan to shoot the scenes in Japan first,” Xie Jin said, still a little nervous about his first international collaborative film. He asked, “I heard that your film, ‘The Shepherd’s Spring,’ is going to be submitted to the Children’s Film Studio?”

"Yes, Director Yu Lan is very sincere, and she even said that I can choose any director."

Xie Jin snorted angrily: "I'd like to see what kind of reliable director you can pick out."

After leaving the venue, Wei Ming took the Best Actor and Best Actress, along with Zhu Lin, out for a late-night snack before returning to the hotel to sleep.

The next morning, news of the conclusion of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival quickly spread to households and workplaces with televisions through television media. However, the news was brief, only mentioning the winners of Best Feature Film and Best Actor.

~
Yanjing.

"Mom, Xizi won an award!" Lele was practicing her singing in front of the turned-on TV when she suddenly yelled.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Lü Xiaoyan came out, but the scene on the TV had already flashed past, and they started talking about other news.

Lele pointed at the TV and said, "It says Xizi won the Best Actor award."

“Stop joking,” Lü Xiaoyan said, not believing it. “You probably misheard. It’s him. Okay, hurry up and eat. I’ll take you to school after you finish.”

Lele didn't insist; she didn't really believe her brother could win the award.

However, after the mother and son went out, they met a neighbor who said to Lü Xiaoyan, "Congratulations, Editor-in-Chief Lü! Your son Xizi is really a capable person!"

"what?"

"Didn't you see the news this morning? Xizi won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor! He's only seven years old, no, he was only six when he was filming, and his acting is already so good. He's going to be amazing in the future!" the neighbor said excitedly.

Lü Xiaoyan and Wei Le exchanged a glance. They actually won an award!

Wei Xi winning Best Actor at the age of seven was indeed big news, enough to earn him the title of China's male version of Shirley Temple. However, the most widely circulated and hottest news was Gong Xue winning two awards.

Having won these two awards, Gong Xue can almost be considered the top female star in China. Although Zhu Lin did not win any awards, she is also considered one of the top female stars in China because of the saying "Gong Xue in the South and Zhu Lin in the North".

This made Liu Xiaoqing so uncomfortable that she didn't even want to eat breakfast. At this time, she was in Hengzhou, Wei Ming's hometown.

Because she had already taken leave from the film crew for the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards, and was not invited to the awards ceremony, she simply went out to do some promotional work with her friends. She didn't go far, just stayed in Hebei, since it's so close and beautiful, and she went to Hebei for the weekend.

When Liu Xiaoqing heard about singers with mediocre singing skills performing in teahouses in Guangzhou to make money, he got the idea. Coincidentally, a few of his friends who were crosstalk performers also had the same idea, so they formed a group and started performing together.

Because Liu Xiaoqing is the most famous, and can host, sing, and even perform a few crosstalk routines, she is very versatile. Therefore, she is the leader of this touring group, and she also receives the most money.

You don't know until you go out and see for yourself; once you do, you're shocked. It turns out that these poor, remote places are now so wealthy. The reform and opening up has really made them rich in just a few years.

Liu Xiaoqing has even become addicted to the feeling of making money by performing at various events, earning in one day what she could earn in three months!
If I could earn this much normally, why would I bother mooching off Liang Jiahui's meals? I could just let Xiao Huihui mooch off me.

Today, Liu Xiaoqing saw a brief news report on TV, but the next day she saw a detailed report in the newspaper and learned that Wei Ming had won a music award but lost the screenwriting award, which she found somewhat amusing.

Many critics felt that Wei Ming should have won the award last year, but despite writing such a sensational work as "Mom, Love Me Again," he still didn't receive the award this year.

Some people also revealed that Wei Ming had already won the Best Screenplay award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, their highest film honor, and mocked the Hong Kong people for being more discerning than us.

Amid the controversy, Wei Ming and other figures from the arts and culture circles who attended the awards ceremony visited Yan'an for study and observation—an officially arranged event.

Wei Ming also took Xizi to live in a cave dwelling. It was already getting hot this season, but the cave dwelling was still quite cool. Living in the cave dwelling, Wei Ming couldn't help but think of Lu Yao's "Ordinary World".

That night, Wei Ming told Xi Zi, who was too excited to sleep, about the deeds of the great leaders in Yan'an back then.

After completing this itinerary, they disbanded on the spot. Since there was also a train from Yan'an back to Beijing, Wei Ming simply accompanied his two older sisters on the train back to Beijing, and they could chat with people from the Beijing Film Studio along the way.

But unexpectedly, this group dragged Wei Ming into the conversation, or more accurately, Wei Ming and Gong Xue.

Although there is a significant age difference between the two, their numerous collaborations and striking good looks have led many to speculate about their relationship, with some even making suggestive jokes and questioning whether they are dating.

If it were just the two of them, Wei Ming wouldn't mind and could easily brush it off with a joke. However, since Sister Lin was also there, Wei Ming immediately denied it, saying that she was just a good older sister.

This disappointed the onlookers, and Xizi was the most disappointed. Xue's mother was so good, what a pity.

Gong Xue also naturally clarified her relationship with Xiao Wei, and even joked, "I should avoid suspicion in the future, and I can't film your scripts anymore."

Gong Xue has been resting for more than two months. She is quite conflicted about what her next film should be. Since the huge success of "Mama", she has been given priority to choose suitable scripts in China. However, there has never been a script that has moved her as deeply as "Mama".

It seems I should lower my standards a bit; not every script can compare to Xiao Wei's.

After a day of travel, Wei Ming and his group arrived in Yanjing. Along the way, passengers kept coming over to talk and chat with the newly crowned Best Actress and Best Actor. Zhu Lin was also very popular, and in the countryside, the popularity of "Happy Family" was no less than that of "Mom, Love Me Again".

Li Xiuming wasn't envious at all. He was about to go to Japan and broaden his horizons. He was sure he could get the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards sooner or later.

After exiting the station, Wei Ming asked Gong Xue and Zhu Lin to wait for him at the courtyard house, as he wanted to take Xizi home first.

When the bus stopped outside the North Gate, Wei Ming saw Wei Hong riding a bicycle and quickly called out to her.

"Brother, Xizi!" Xiao Hong rushed over as soon as she saw Xizi and pinched and squeezed the actor's face. "Xizi is amazing! He won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor. It's a pity he didn't win the Hundred Flowers Award."

It will take several more years for the Golden Rooster Awards to surpass the Hundred Flowers Awards. For now, the Hundred Flowers Awards still reign supreme, after all, it is voted on by millions of viewers who have spent money. Compared to them, the experts seem insignificant.

Then Xizi took out the trophy and showed it to her sister. After that, Xiaohong went with them back to Uncle Ping'an's house. Uncle Ping'an had been away on a business trip yesterday and was back today, so he was home.

He also showered Xizi with praise, saying, "You've already won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor. When are you going to have your brother write a Hong Kong script for you and win the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor?" Wei Ming laughed and said, "Sure, I'll talk to Aunt Xia Meng about it next time I go to Hong Kong. Also, there's the Golden Horse Award in Taiwan. In a few years, when cross-strait relations ease, I think Xizi can also try for it."

Seeing his nephew say this, Wei Ping'an said seriously, "It's settled then, let's make it a matter."

He was planning to accompany his son to Hong Kong to see his father.

After dropping the person off, Wei Ming didn't linger and immediately said goodbye, saying he needed to go home and catch up on his sleep. Wei Hong followed him out.

"Brother, there's something else. I was so happy just now that I almost forgot."

"What's the matter?"

Wei Hong: "I left home this morning and received a call from director Li Hanxiang. He's looking for you."

"Didn't they say what it was about?"

"No."

"Okay." Wei Ming planned to call him back that night. After parting ways with Xiao Hong, he went home first, rode his motorcycle, and then traveled to his home in Nanluoguxiang. However, no one was home. What was going on with the two of them? Had they not arrived yet, or had they gone out again?

After entering, Wei Ming looked at the pool in the inner courtyard and then at the sun in the sky. It's almost here, almost here.

Once inside, I saw Sister Xue's luggage; hmm, she must have gone out again.

It was midday, and Wei Ming had finished eating and was taking a nap. He didn't know when, but there was a knock on the door. He went to check and saw it was Sister Xue. He quickly opened the door and let her in.

"You're here. I thought it was Sister Lin." Gong Xue looked around for a moment before squeezing through the door.

Where did you go?

"I gave a report back to Beijing Film Studio," Gong Xue said, taking Wei Ming's arm as they entered the room. "In addition, Director Wang told me that Shanghai Film Studio has another film they want me to work on, and the script has already been submitted to Beijing Film Studio for me to take a look."

She took the script out of her bag, which had four words written on it: "Under the Bridge".

Wei Ming thought it was "The Happy Bachelor" but actually the script for "Under the Bridge" was completed earlier, but it hadn't been filmed yet. After the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards were announced, Shanghai Film Studio was very optimistic about the mother-son duo of Gong Xue and Xi Zi, so they took the script out of their script library and sent it to Beijing Film Studio, hoping to rekindle their collaboration with Gong Xue.

Wei Ming remembers this film was shot next year and released the year after. It's also Xue Jie's masterpiece. Is it going to be released earlier?
Of course, looking back now, this script certainly wasn't Xue Jie's masterpiece, but it was still quite good, as long as the male lead wasn't that guy surnamed Zhang.

Actually, the idea behind "Under the Bridge" is quite good. It tells the story of self-employed individuals, who constitute a large proportion of the population in today's reform and opening-up society, and their stories are well worth writing about.

Wei Ming said, "Next, I need to go to Shanghai to inspect the work of Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Why don't you come with me and go home to see our parents?"

Sister Xue blushed and said, "Who said anything about our parents? Shameless."

Wei Ming: "Don't you know whether I have teeth or not? Want to try again?"

As he spoke, Wei Ming tried to pull off Xue Jie's top, wanting her to test the sharpness of his teeth.

Wei Ming had just finished speaking when there was another knock on the door. Gong Xue quickly straightened her clothes and called out, "Who is it?"

"I."

It was Sister Lin. Wei Ming, who was about to hide, stopped. He had finally gathered the two of them together. During his nearly one-week trip to Shaanxi, Wei Ming hadn't touched them at all and had collected a bulging bag of good stuff.

Zhu Lin went back to her parents' house. She returned empty-handed from her trip to Shaanxi and thought she would receive comfort from her parents, but instead she heard her mother complaining about her father: "I told you, you wouldn't have won if you voted for Linlin. You should have listened to me and voted for Xiaoxue instead."

So in the end, they still cast their votes for their own daughter in Popular Cinema, but it sounds like they should have just not voted at all.

Wei Ming quickly gave her two comforting kisses: "Don't worry, Sister Xue doesn't have any new dramas this year, so it'll be your turn next year."

"Forget it, I've watched 'Rickshaw Boy' more than once. Siqin Gaowa's portrayal of Tiger Girl is truly excellent," Zhu Lin said sincerely. That's why she's now thinking about honing her acting skills at the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Wei Ming thought to himself: She has good acting skills, but she will have to take sheep placenta injections when she gets old, unlike our Sister Lin, who ages naturally and remains elegant even in old age.

Five months have passed this year, and Zhu Lin's biggest competitor is Siqin Gaowa, but Sister Lin also has a film called "Middle Age".

Wei Ming brought up the matter of going to Shanghai again, and Gong Xue even asked Zhu Lin for her opinion. When she said she didn't object, he agreed.

Next, Wei Ming carried one of them in each arm into the bedroom, ready to make up for the important matters he had missed these past few days.

It was already dark when we finished, and everyone was hungry, feeling both tired and satisfied.

However, with the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards in full swing and Gong Xue's exposure being extremely high, it was not advisable for them to go out together. Wei Ming decided to go out and find food for them.

Before leaving, he called the Yanjing Hotel to look for Li Hanxiang.

"Ah Ming, what's Liu Xiaoqing up to? We're supposed to start filming her movie tomorrow, but I can't get in touch with her at all. I just called the Beijing Film Studio again, but I still don't know where she is!" Li Hanxiang said angrily. If the female lead doesn't show up by tomorrow, he'll have to adjust the filming schedule.

Upon hearing that it was about Liu Xiaoqing, Gong Xue and Zhu Lin quickly threw on some clothes and rushed over to eavesdrop, their gossip-loving spirit reignited.

Wei Ming said, "I don't know either."

"Didn't you go together to receive the award?"

"Oh, she was supposed to go, but since she wasn't nominated, they didn't let her go."

"Will she be able to come back tomorrow?"

“We’ll only know tomorrow,” Wei Ming said. “We’ll still be filming at the Forbidden City tomorrow, right? I’ll go take a look.”

"With such good acting skills, how can you be so unreliable!" Li Hanxiang praised and criticized helplessly.

After hanging up the phone, Gong Xue and Zhu Lin understood what had happened.

"They're filming tomorrow, and it's so late and we still can't find her. That shouldn't be the case," Gong Xue said, adding that she thought Liu Xiaoqing was usually very dedicated to her work.

Because of the underdeveloped transportation and communication, these days even if you don't have your own scenes, you'd rather be on set the whole time during filming. It's rare to find someone who can't be found the day before filming.

"Perhaps she encountered something tempting enough." He guessed it might be related to performing at gigs, because he had heard rumors in his previous life that Liu Xiaoqing had stood up Li Hanxiang in order to perform at gigs.

Wei Ming did not stay overnight that night, but went to the Beichizi courtyard house and spent the night with the cats and dogs. The next day, he made a special trip to Li Chengru's house to ask him about the trial shooting of the album.

Li Chengru spat out toothpaste foam: "What a coincidence! It's airing today, it's airing tonight!"

He repeated it loudly several times, so that everyone in the courtyard could hear it. There were two television sets in their courtyard, and the residents were very excited. One of the old men who owned a television set said that he would move the television into the courtyard so that everyone could watch it together.

Wei Ming nodded, then dashed off to the Forbidden City.

When he arrived, he saw Liang Jiahui and Biaozi. Biaozi, who only had a few minutes of screen time, practically followed the crew the whole time and came whenever he could. But he didn't see Liu Xiaoqing.

Wei Ming approached director Li Hanxiang, who quipped, "Does Miss Liu have such a lack of time management even when filming movies by famous mainland directors?"

Wei Ming sighed, "Old Li, once the others arrive, just fire her. It's only been filming for less than a month, the loss won't be significant."

(End of this chapter)