I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

"Cough cough!"

Cheng Guanxi's expression suddenly changed. He coughed twice in a panic, forcibly calming himself down, and made up an excuse to explain: "Before he left, he asked me to help look after the house. His wife called early this morning to say that the drain was clogged and asked me to help unclog it."

"Oh, I see." Guan Zhibing looked innocent, still puzzled, and asked, "But aren't there professional plumbers for unclogging pipes? Why would they specifically ask you? You can unclog sewers?"

"I...I learned a little bit of the basics in my spare time before." Cheng Guanxi's heart tightened, afraid that continuing to ask questions would expose his flaws. He quickly raised his hand to interrupt and hurriedly said goodbye: "It's getting late. I have things to do. I need to go back and study photography techniques. I'll be going now."

Without waiting for Kenny Kwan's response, he turned and hurriedly left.

Watching his hasty retreating figure, Guan Zhibing stood there, his face full of surprise and doubt, muttering to himself, "Strange, what are you studying photography techniques for in the middle of the night..."

……

On the television, Twins stood hand in hand on the podium, holding brand-new trophies, their eyes reddening as they gave their acceptance speeches, their faces brimming with the joy of a dream come true.

Seeing this scene, Da Tiantian couldn't hide her envy. She subconsciously turned to look at Cheng Sheng beside her, her voice soft yet stubborn: "Brother Sheng, I want some too."

Cheng Sheng glanced at her sideways, a playful smile in his eyes, and teased in a low voice, "What do you want? Haven't you had enough these past few nights?"

"You're so mean!" Da Tiantian's cheeks instantly turned bright red, and her ears were also tinged with crimson. She lightly punched Cheng Sheng's arm, feeling both embarrassed and angry.

She naturally understood the ambiguous meaning in Cheng Sheng's words, and her mind uncontrollably flashed back to the days she spent together at the film crew's residence.

Every time they were intimate, she seemed to be exhausted and disheveled, but deep down she always felt it wasn't enough and craved his tenderness and affection.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about! I want to win an award too, I want to be a Best Actress." Da Tiantian muttered softly, her head down, her tone full of longing.

Cheng Sheng's joking expression faded, and his tone became more serious: "Sweetie, with your current acting skills, it's too difficult for you to win Best Actress at the three major film festivals."

This was not Cheng Sheng deliberately belittling or suppressing her, but a genuine and objective evaluation.

Jing Tian's acting skills are simply not up to par for the title of international Best Actress.

These days, filming with him, every shot and every emotion is under his full control and precise guidance. With his help, my scenes are completed smoothly and I have never held the crew back.

However, once she is free from his control and guidance, and from the support he provides, and without a tailor-made script, her acting shortcomings will be completely exposed, and she will instantly be brought back to her original state.

If we were to force an international trophy out of resources now, it would not be an opportunity, but a disaster.

If she takes on other scripts and plays different roles in the future, but her acting skills don't keep up with her reputation, she will only be ridiculed by the entire internet. At that time, everyone will question whether her trophies were obtained through improper means, such as backdoors or connections, which will completely ruin her public image and acting career.

"Where is my acting bad?!" Da Tiantian immediately pouted, tilting her head back to argue, "I've been filming with you for so long, and I've been extremely serious the whole time. I only had three takes throughout the entire film, and I've improved a lot!"

Cheng Sheng almost burst out laughing when he saw her completely oblivious to her own shortcomings.

This girl is truly naive, completely unaware of her own true abilities. The idol dramas and popular dramas she acted in before were filled with awkward and stiff acting, monotonous expressions, and weak delivery of lines, making them so cringeworthy that they pulled viewers out of the story. It's just that she has never looked into it.

When her attempts to reason failed, Da Tiantian immediately turned to Zeng Li and Li Xiaoran, grabbed their arms and shook them gently, pleading and acting cute: "Sister Li, Sister Xiaoran, please help me! Brother Sheng is so biased! He'd rather write scripts for others and help them win international awards than help me!"

Zeng Li smiled helplessly, her heart filled with profound understanding.

She has known Jing Tian the longest and spent the most time with her, so she knows her acting skills very well and agrees 100% with Cheng Sheng's approach.

Prematurely elevating her status with resources and awarding her trophies that don't match her abilities will only backfire. After a brief period of glory, there will be endless controversy and backlash, making it a losing proposition.

Li Xiaoran, standing to the side, smiled and took the opportunity to advocate for herself: "Cheng Sheng, Da Tian Tian is still young and her acting skills need further improvement, so there's no rush for her to win an award. But what about me? You can't be biased. Sister Li has already won the Venice Film Festival Best Actress award, and I also want a Best Actress title from one of the three major European film festivals."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Sheng secretly shook his head, feeling that another troublemaker had joined the fray.

He didn't think Li Xiaoran's acting was bad.

On the contrary, Li Xiaoran's talent and charisma fully deserve an international Best Actress award.

Her temperament is highly distinctive. She possesses a stunningly beautiful and aloof appearance, yet when she portrays a character, she often brings a sense of unrestrained and unconventional madness. The perfect fusion of these two extreme qualities—aloofness and madness—creates a unique charm on screen.

Just as netizens aptly put it: those crazier than her aren't as beautiful, and those more beautiful aren't as crazi. In the entire Chinese entertainment industry, only Li Xiaoran can blend extreme beauty and extreme madness so naturally and with such tension.

Right now, Cheng Sheng is truly overwhelmed and doesn't have the extra energy to tailor-make an award-winning script specifically for her.

After finishing filming his current project, "Zheng He's Voyages to the West," he still has a lot of other things to do.

First, I must fulfill my promise and write a script for Feng Xiaogang; then I must head to Hollywood to keep my appointment with Scarlett Johansson.

He had already promised Scarlett that he would personally go to Hollywood this year to create a blockbuster film tailored for her to compete for an Oscar.

Since Scarlett returned to the United States, she has been sending him messages and calling him every three to five days, asking about his schedule and hoping that he will go to Hollywood.

He was busy filming and preparing for the production in China, which caused him to delay the project repeatedly.

Now that the year is almost over, if we don't set off soon, Scarlett will probably give us a hard scolding, since she's been nagging us about it.

Just yesterday, Scarlett even sent him some private photos, subtly urging him to go to the US as soon as possible.

In addition, he also had a lot of company affairs to handle personally, and was swamped with all sorts of trivial matters, so he simply couldn't spare any time to polish a high-quality award-winning film for Li Xiaoran.

Zeng Li saw through Cheng Sheng's predicament and took the initiative to smooth things over, smiling as she defused the situation: "Xiao Ran, don't pressure him. Cheng Sheng has been too busy this year, he hasn't had a chance to catch his breath. If you want to win an award, why not wait a little longer? Next year, let him free up some time to write a script specifically for you to compete for awards, and you'll be guaranteed to win Best Actress. Wouldn't that be great?" (End of Chapter)