Huayu 2015, the Artist of Light and Shadow

Chapter 192 The Water Queen? You can have her if you want!

International Convention and Exhibition Center.

The opening ceremony of the Golden Eagle Awards was broadcast live.

"She is Bai Fengjiu, the lively and playful character in the TV series 'Eternal Love'; she is Ru Ge, the pure and cheerful character in red in 'The Flame's Daughter'; she is Li Huizhen, the character who is persistent in love in 'Pretty Li Huizhen'; and she is Ling Lingqi, the sincere and kind character in 'One Thousand and One Nights'. She is Dilraba Dilmurat, a representative of young actors who have been in the industry for six years."

Amidst the host's eloquent introduction and bathed in dazzling light, Dilraba, dressed in a Golden Eagle Goddess costume handcrafted by a renowned designer and taking 1200 hours to complete, appeared on stage like a goddess descending to earth.

She is the first Golden Eagle Goddess born in the 90s, and also the first Golden Eagle Goddess from an ethnic minority.

These two titles alone are enough to secure her place in history.

She's sure to be trending tonight.

Tonight's stage is specially made.

Around the stage, there is a special "rain room" that can make the raindrops change rhythmically with the changes in hand gestures.

Under certain conditions, it can even be seen that the rainwater is rolled up.

Dreamlike and magical.

Rain, starlight, and her shimmering golden goddess costume made Dilraba appear like Athena descended to earth, radiating endless brilliance as she stood center stage.

In an instant, Lu Yunzhou seemed to see that youthful past that he had sealed away for countless years, and it surged into his heart once again.

He actually knew Dilraba before he was reborn.

During the time he was studying at the music academy.

For Dilraba, that vague memory was only five or six years ago, but for him, it was more than 20 years ago.

Now it surges up again, truly as mellow as aged wine.

Applause gradually rose.

That dreamlike summer, before his eyes, seemed to stretch on endlessly, like a slow-motion replay, filtered through a bubble-like lens.

That afternoon.

He could vaguely hear music coming from a small bar on Wukang Road.

He vaguely remembered the song going like this: "Hearing winter leave, I woke up in a certain year and month. I think I wait and I expect, but the future cannot be arranged because of this —"

For some reason, Lu Yunzhou suddenly had memories from more than 20 years ago resurfacing in his mind on this occasion.

At that moment, he looked at the old face from his memories on the stage and clapped softly as well.

When the camera panned over, a genuine smile appeared on his face.

Wang Ran turned to look at him and saw a glimmer of light in his eyes that she had never seen before.

How can one describe that radiance?

In early March 2015, amidst cherry blossoms and light rain, one morning, she saw Lu Yunzhou appear for the first time on the playground of the Shanghai Theatre Academy's affiliated opera school.

She felt that the first time she saw Lu Yunzhou, his eyes shone with that kind of light.

It feels like we've known each other for a long time, yet it also feels like we've only just met.

It was as if, in that single glance, he had lived out his entire life.

"Don't look at her like that."

A surge of jealousy welled up inside her, and Wang Ran squeezed Lu Yunzhou's hand hard, her eyes conveying as if to say: Wake up! You're mine!

"She will help us make a lot of money in the future."

Lu Yunzhou turned to look at Wang Ran, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Look how healthy this cow/horse looks! It looks like it'll make a lot of money."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ran couldn't help but chuckle.

I guess I was overthinking it.

When he was in Changsha, he was probably thinking of Zhang Jingyi, right?

That Hunan five-step snake, that Xiangxi zombie king.

That girl with a hard-looking face, but who seems to have a very gentle personality?

Finally, Wang Ran couldn't help but think of Cai Xukun again—that damned noob!

Just as the performance was taking place on stage, a sudden commotion arose in the audience. Many people began whispering among themselves, their eyes filled with amusement.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Wang Ran turned to look at a female celebrity next to her and asked with a curious expression.

The other person said with a smile, "Open your phone and check Weibo."

As he spoke, the man glanced at Dilraba Dilmurat, then turned his head and looked at Yang Xiaozhi in the other row.

Are these two involved in some kind of scandal?

Eating gossip in person is so interesting, especially in the entertainment industry. Sometimes, people are still performing on stage, and the gossip has already spread all over the place.

Wang Ran couldn't resist and secretly took out her phone to take a look.

She almost burst out laughing.

In the past two hours, Yang Xiaozhi has gained millions of votes in the "Most Popular Actress" voting event.

They overtook Dilraba.

Both candidates currently have around 2200 million votes.

The difference was only a few hundred votes.

At this rate of increase, by tomorrow morning, Yang Xiaozhi could lead Dilraba by five or six million votes.

In this case, how can Dilraba possibly win the "Most Popular Award" that was supposedly predetermined?

As expected, Dilraba's side will also see a surge of fans who will cast millions of votes for her, allowing her to surpass Yang Xiaozhi.

Otherwise, Dilraba would be too embarrassed.

Yang Xiaozhi is quite shrewd—she's actually unwilling to accept her fate and, at this crucial moment, she's hiring people to rig the votes?

Back in September, Yang Xiaozhi went around asking people to vote for her, which even made her a trending topic on Weibo.

It's actually quite embarrassing.

You're secretly rigging votes, why make it known throughout the city?

"Brother, Zi is so shameless! She dared to inflate her stats and outdo our Aba. Isn't that like stealing money from my pocket?"

Following up on what Lu Yunzhou had just said, Wang Ran turned around and joked about the matter.

The name "Aba" was something Lu Yunzhou hadn't expected.

He was stunned for a while before realizing that this was Wang Ran's nickname for Dilraba.

"It's alright. Hunan TV can handle it. Who can outmaneuver the organizers?"

Although he witnessed a little commotion, Lu Yunzhou knew that Yang Xiaozhi was just expressing her displeasure.

She felt she was qualified to win the "Most Popular Award," but unfortunately, Dilraba was already a shoo-in.

She was powerless to change the outcome, but couldn't resist the urge to lift the lid.

Thinking of this, Lu Yunzhou turned to look at Li Yifeng.

Li Yifeng happened to turn his head and look over as well.

The two exchanged a glance and both revealed a knowing smile.

In the "Most Popular Actor" category, Lu Yunzhou led Li Yifeng by more than 1000 million votes.

Li Yifeng had no motivation to rig votes.

The main reason is that "Queen of Tears" swept the entire summer, leaving Li Yifeng's "Sparrow" speechless.

Say.

On the other hand, Lu Yunzhou's fans are younger and more united!

Li Yifeng is getting old. He was born in 1987, making him five years older than Lu Yunzhou. Now over 30, he probably wants to transition from a top idol to a more serious actor.

Since he's going to rely on his abilities, there will definitely be times when he needs Lu Yunzhou's help.

Besides, Li Yifeng is a member of Huanrui Media Group—even the boss of Huanrui has to address Lu Yunzhou as "President Lu."

Even if he voted, it was impossible for him to vote for Lu Yunzhou.

Don't you want to stay in this business anymore?

"Xiaomeng, if you also want to join the battle—I'll call on others to vote for you. Want to steal the spotlight?"

Seeing that Wang Ran seemed eager to try, Lu Yunzhou couldn't help but ask a question.

Wang Ran ranked third in the Most Popular Actress award.

There were approximately 1000 million votes.

If she hadn't caused the "porridge incident," the number of voters would obviously have been much higher.

Yang Xiaozhi garnered over 1000 million votes in one night; Wang Ran could do the same if he wanted to.

Wang Ran snorted and said arrogantly, "In a fight between oxen and horses, whoever wins becomes an ox, and whoever loses becomes a horse—why would I steal their thunder?"

Tang Yan was one of the producers of "Ashes of Love" and invested a lot of money in it.

The show became a huge hit, and Tang Yan also made money.

Dilraba is a top executive at Jiahang, while Tang Yan is a minor shareholder.

With Dilraba Dilmurat becoming a huge star, Tang Yan will definitely make money too.

If I, Song Yameng, even glance at Tang San's money, I'd be lowering my own status.

"There's really nothing to argue about."

Lu Yunzhou didn't care much about these kinds of TV drama awards, and encouraged Wang Ran, "If you want to compete, compete with Xiao Cun for the youngest Best Actress."

Liu Haocun?

A scheming woman who lied about her age!

Wang Ran thought she was born in 99, a year younger than Liu Haocun. How could Liu Haocun call her "older sister"?

Wang Ran knew perfectly well what Liu Haocun was thinking.

Not allowed!

"it's over."

The opening ceremony was short, mainly consisting of announcing the actors nominated for awards.

Besides that, there are speeches from leaders.

Nobody really cared—everyone already knew what the awards were for this year before they came.

Who will win the award and who won't—it's a completely predictable matter, so what's the point of arguing?

The only surprise was that Lu Yunzhou intervened and forcibly snatched Dilraba Dilmurat's "Best Actress" award, which made many people take notice of him.

Because, as everyone knows, he is the behind-the-scenes shareholder of Jiahang.

From a certain perspective, Dilraba is one of his subordinates.

He was incredibly impartial in award selection, even actively requesting the organizers to make a fair and just choice, and ultimately gave the "Best Actress" award to Cherry.

This magnanimity is truly exceptional in today's industry.

That's admirable.

The opening ceremony has ended.

The crowd gradually dispersed.

"Brother, promise me one thing: you're not allowed to go out at night."

Seeing others with their arms around each other and talking in a lewd manner, I guess tonight, local celebrities will be hosting some special events for their fellow travelers.

Wang Ran stayed close to Lu Yunzhou, forbidding him from leaving the house.

I'm afraid Lu Yunzhou will go astray.

No, it's more like they were led astray by others.

Lu Yunzhou is kind-hearted by nature. As long as there are no bad people around him, it would be difficult for him to go astray.

Right now, the worst person around Lu Yunzhou is Cai Xukun, who brought back the American fraternity and corrupted Lu Yunzhou.

But in today's environment, Cai Xukun is as innocent as a little white rabbit.

"Don't worry, I won't go out."

If he goes out tonight and things go wrong, Lu Yunzhou will have to issue a public announcement saying that he will be undergoing closed training for more than 20 days.

"It's good that you don't go out."

Lu Yunzhou is indeed different from those low-class blond-haired kids.

Wang Ran nodded in satisfaction and whispered in Lu Yunzhou's ear, "Didn't you say you were a little tired lately? Tonight, I'll give you a massage—with my feet, how about that?"

It feels great to have big feet stepping on your back.

When you go out to play, isn't it always the same old thing?

The team behind "Chicken Feathers Flying to the Sky".

After the opening ceremony, Zhang Yi was officially nominated for Best Actor, and ranked very high.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will win the Best Actor award.

There are two TV Kings.

On the way back, Cherry congratulated him in advance: "Brother Zhang, congratulations! If nothing unexpected happens, you'll definitely win the Golden Eagle Award this year."

"I am ashamed, I am ashamed."

Zhang Yi couldn't stop smiling.

He's 40 years old and has never won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Actor. If he can win it this time, it will be a huge encouragement for him.

However, until two weeks ago, he had no hope.

Because there are two Best Actor awards.

Lu Yunzhou is a sure bet on one of them.

The ratings for "Queen of Tears" were absolutely phenomenal. Lu Yunzhou's acting was superb, and he was also the producer and executive producer of the series.

One person holds multiple positions.

so amazing.

In addition, Lu Yunzhou also had special deals with Hunan TV in private.

After its initial broadcast, the second run of this drama was practically sold off to Hunan TV.

Hunan TV knew perfectly well that the Golden Eagle Award for Best Actor was reserved for Lu Yunzhou.

The second most popular candidate is Uncle Xiubo.

The two critically acclaimed works, "The Advisors Alliance" and its sequel "The Advisors Alliance 2," made Uncle Xiubo a top influencer among older men.

That's right.

Uncle Xiubo is a top celebrity who gained popularity for his sophisticated and edgy style, aside from young heartthrobs!

Who says talented people can't be top stars?

As long as you have enough fans, you're a top influencer.

Zhang Yi never imagined that he would be able to compete with Uncle Xiubo in 2018.

There's absolutely no way they could win.

Even if he launched a sneak attack, he couldn't do it.

Unexpectedly, just half a month ago, Uncle Xiubo suddenly collapsed.

Therefore, one must believe in fate in this life.

He's destined to be a TV King—no matter how far or difficult the journey, Heaven will bring it to him. He'd even go so far as to ruin the career of top star Xiubo to help him become a TV King.

There have been so many scandals lately.

The incident of Uncle Xiubo's house collapsing has been a hot topic on Weibo for half a month. Everyone wants to know if there is a story behind it.

The hottest topic on Weibo today is that Yang Xiaozhi and Dilraba are frantically calling on each other to vote for "Most Popular Actress".

That night, the two took turns being in first place.

Their fans even got into a fight, exchanging insults on Weibo's public platform.

One person accused the other of vote rigging; that's shameless.

Another person insulted the other, saying it was pre-arranged and what's so great about it?

In Dilraba's room.

Because Tang Yan moved into Jiahang, Dilraba changed her agent.

After all, Dilraba used Tang Yan to climb to fame and constantly created on-screen couple pairings with Lu Yunzhou—all things her former manager did.

In order to maintain Dilraba's image as "beautiful, kind, and innocent" in Lu Yunzhou's mind, and to prevent Tang Yan and Lu Yunzhou from feeling disgusted with each other.

Jiahang immediately replaced Dilraba's agent.

The newly appointed agent, surnamed Xue, is chubby and wears thick glasses; he seems much more honest than the previous one.

Dilraba calls her Aunt Xue.

"I'm exhausted."

After changing her clothes and wearing loose pajamas, Dilraba sat down on the sofa and took out her phone to browse Weibo.

"That's hilarious. I'm already this thin, and people still say my arms are thick?"

The hashtag "[Dilraba Dilmurat, Golden Eagle Goddess]" indeed trended on Weibo.

However, there's another comment below: "[Dilraba's arms are a bit thick]", which I don't know who bumped it up, but it's also getting a lot of attention.

This left Dilraba speechless.

"Aunt Xue, are my arms really a bit thick?"

Dilraba raised her arm and touched it; it seemed to be a little fleshy.

But he should be a bit stronger than Wang Ran, right?

Wang Ran's arms are fleshier than hers. Why doesn't anyone mention Wang Ran?

"Aunt Xue, please help me revise my fitness plan and the combination of various nutritional meals. I need to lose another 5 pounds."

Since I'm already a celebrity, I might as well be the best.

Improving acting skills is a bit difficult. But what's so difficult about losing weight?

It's simply a matter of eating less and exercising more; you'll lose weight quickly.

Dilraba is very confident about losing weight.

After scrolling through Weibo for a while, Dilraba's finger suddenly stopped at a certain spot.

Yang Xiaozhi actually got more votes than her?

She has already given up the title of Best Actress—but she can't give up the title of Most Popular Actress!

If we give way any further, we'll be giving way to Siberia!

Aunt Xue, realizing something was amiss, chimed in, "Dilraba, Yang Xiaozhi's actions are a bit excessive. If this continues, she might overtake you and take first place before the awards ceremony on the 14th, stealing your Most Popular Actress award. Should we retaliate?"

"certainly!"

Dilraba gritted her teeth, ready to fight back and let Yang Xiaozhi know just how many marketing accounts Jiahang had cultivated—Yang Xiaozhi was not worthy to compete with Jiahang in stirring up trouble online.

In this respect, Jiahang has never lost.

After all, she and Yang Mi alone can support so many marketing accounts.

"Okay, I'll take care of it right away. I'll make sure you're back in the lead by the 13th."

The agent, Aunt Xue, nodded slightly and picked up her phone to make a call.

"etc."

Dilraba suddenly realized something: "Aunt Xue, I've thought about it, but I'll pass—let her use her influence! Let her climb to the top by stepping on me!"

Why?

Aunt Xue turned to look at Dilraba, her eyes filled with confusion.

Dilraba twirled a strand of her hair and laughed: "I've thought about it carefully, what use would I have for this award?"

Is this award something I can eat or drink? Or will it increase my salary?

If Cherry wins this award, it will definitely increase her salary.

Because Cherry was taking on roles outside the company.

Despite winning these awards, Dilraba's salary has not increased at all.

Currently, all the roles she's taken on are for projects within Jiahang.

The roles the company assigned her were all very low-paying, so she couldn't earn any money at all.

She mainly earns money by appearing in TV dramas, walking the red carpet, attending fashion events, and through endorsements.

"you mean----"

Aunt Xue paused, looking at Dilraba with some confusion: "The Best Actress award is indeed undeserved for 'Pretty Li Huizhen.' My brother doesn't want you to win it, fearing it might backfire due to the increased popularity. However, you truly deserve the Most Popular Actress award. Why don't you accept it?"

Dilraba stood up, shook her hair, and looked at her agent, saying, "Yunzhou has a theory. In film and television dramas, tragic characters who suffer greatly will evoke sympathy and a desire to make amends for the actors in real life."

The attitude is projected onto the actor himself.

"Li Xin became an overnight sensation thanks to her role as Princess Yuan Chun in 'Princess Agents'."

"I gained popularity overnight thanks to my role as Feng Jiu in 'Eternal Love'."

"I was thinking—what if I was a strong contender for the two major awards, but overnight I lost everything?"

"Originally, many netizens believed that I was destined to win three Golden Eagle Awards this year—they were all ready to laugh at me for the rest of my life."

"Now, we're going to do the opposite—I'll only accept the Golden Eagle Goddess award; I won't accept any of the other awards."

"Can our promotional materials be used to reverse the damage?"

"For example, before the lottery draw, my opponents were frantically smearing me—but after the draw, I became a poor loser who didn't win anything and had to bear the consequences of being slandered."

"Am I getting even worse off?"

"Netizens are all kind-hearted people. Seeing how pitiful I am, can you please have some pity on me just this once?"

"Ideally, you could find a photographer you know to take a picture of me on the spot, with my head down, looking dejected, a bitter smile on my lips, silently turning to look at Yunzhou with eyes yearning for comfort."

After Dilraba finished speaking, she spread her hands towards her manager, her face showing the joy of someone about to reap a reward.

A joyful smile.

This promotion will definitely work.

She endured suffering, tragedy, and setbacks. In her most vulnerable moments, her eyes were filled with desolation, her lips bitter, as she turned to look at Lu Yunzhou.

It was as if Lu Yunzhou was her source of spiritual energy.

She remained silent, but all netizens imagined that Lu Yunzhou would give her a hug, living up to the "white moonlight" script.

Those who ship couples will go crazy!

Isn't this better than idol dramas?

"Dilraba, it seems like this isn't what Big Brother's plan is." Her manager, Aunt Xue, suddenly felt a headache coming on.

Dilraba knows exactly how to manipulate fans.

Some people have strange personalities; they enjoy being tortured more.

Especially female fans.

After all, there's a specific genre in female-oriented novels called "sadomasochism." Many female readers enjoy being tortured or abused.

The more torture, the more enjoyable.

"He just didn't want me to win the Best Actress award, so I wouldn't be criticized by netizens for the rest of my life—but Yang Xiaozhi suddenly jumped out and wanted to compete with me for the Most Popular Actress award, which wasn't in his plan."

"Besides, he wouldn't care about such a small award."

"To be honest, I don't care."

In the past, if Yang Xiaozhi had tried to take food from her, Dilraba would have definitely glared at her and hit her—but now, she doesn't care.

She even hoped that Yang Xiaozhi would hit her harder!

Let Lu Yunzhou see how pitiful she is.

Based on Dilraba's understanding of Lu Yunzhou—if she were as strong as a rock, Lu Yunzhou wouldn't pay any attention to her and would just let her fend for herself.

But what if she were bullied to death?

Lu Yunzhou would feel sorry for her in return—after all, she was now practically one of his own. In this respect, Lu Yunzhou was very protective of his own.

He wouldn't let anyone bully her.

"Dilraba, are you sure?"

Agent Aunt Xue sensed that Dilraba was acting somewhat erratically and hesitated to make a decision: "Perhaps I should consult with the eldest brother first?"

Dilraba replied nonchalantly, "Whatever."

The agent, Aunt Xue, didn't say anything, but turned to send a message to Lu Yunzhou.

Although Lu Yunzhou is not the boss of Jiahang.

However, Aunt Xue, the agent, still understands who the boss is and who calls the shots in the company.

After Lu Yunzhou visited Jiahang, the entire company, from top to bottom, defected—Zeng Jia and Zhao Ruoyao were even the first to defect.

As the two major shareholders, they wished they could sell the entire company to Lu Yunzhou.

In this environment, who in the entire Jiahang company doesn't know whose orders to follow in company matters?

"Big brother agreed."

A while later, Aunt Xue, the agent, received a message from Lu Yunzhou: "However, your brother wants you to delete the hype about the 'white moonlight' character."

"Delete it if you want."

Dilraba shrugged, but muttered to herself, "There's really no need for such deliberate hype. Netizens will just fill in the blanks themselves anyway."

"As long as I look at him during the darkest moment of my life—those CP fans will involuntarily imagine how happy we would be if we were really together—anyway, in the minds of CP fans, the truth doesn't matter. Everything in the world is a CP."

"But the truth is, we're not together."

We missed it.

"There is a huge gap between the beautiful imaginations in the minds of those fans and reality—when they put themselves in my shoes, they will start to sympathize with me and feel sorry for me."

"They'll frantically generate data for me."

Dilraba has completely grasped the mentality of her young fans.

Liking idols is useless.

Falling in love with an idol might be a better thing.

But if they feel sorry for their idol—then they're doomed, these people will definitely become their brainless fans.

"Dilraba, you're a genius!"

Dilraba is indeed very talented at being a popular celebrity.

This is a technique that most celebrities wouldn't think of.

Agent Aunt Xue clapped softly, "In that case—let Yang Xiaozhi rig the votes. We'll give her that 'Glass Award'! Let her be smug for a while!"

"As expected, she will definitely be ridiculed across the internet for winning the award through vote rigging and being undeserving of it!"

"And you, do nothing."

"Silent and still, I sit there quietly, silently watching your white moonlight."

"Netizens will conjure up a delicate, sentimental poem for you in their minds. They will cherish you for life and become your die-hard fans."

"This is your greatest award!"

Ha ha.

What is this?

Dilraba shook her head gently, feeling a pang of emotion.

Unfortunately, I don't have much artistic talent. If I were to create a piece of art at this time, it would be a sure win.

She's always just a little short.

The only thing lacking is the artwork itself!

This is why I can never catch up with Lu Yunzhou.

Before putting on the khaki hat of Borsalino, before showing that most charming smile in the world, I must first paint Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"—that would be a masterpiece.

"When will I have my swan song?"

Dilraba, dressed in loose pajamas, stood in front of the huge glass window of a five-star hotel.

The assistant had already drawn the curtains.

She could only stand in the corner, lift a curtain slightly, and glance outside.

She has been to Changsha several times, and she often comes to Changsha to record "Happy Camp," so she is quite familiar with the city.

But I'm not that familiar with it.

Because she always came and went in a hurry.

Outside, a beautiful city bustled with traffic and neon lights stretched out before her. Although she was in the very center of the city, she felt as if everything in it was irrelevant to her.

Thunder suddenly sounded.

The weather forecast says it will rain tonight.

The rain came quickly and heavily, and the pedestrians on the street seemed to hurry along with it. Some opened umbrellas, some went to the street corner to take shelter from the rain, and some began to pull down their roller shutters.

The red taillights of the passing cars lit up one by one.

The whole city was shrouded in rain, becoming misty and hazy.

All of this gave Dilraba the illusion that she was dreaming.

A very long dream.

When she wakes up from her dream, she may return to the campus of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

When I was in my early twenties, I hadn't thought about what I would do in the future. Maybe I would go back to my hometown and open a coffee shop?

After all, being a celebrity usually only exists in dreams.

"I think I remember it—that afternoon, it was raining like this too, and Yunzhou waved goodbye to me."

"I still remember that when we parted that day, the little bar on Wukang Road was playing Sun Yanzi's 'Encounter'."

"I was wondering to myself, when will we meet again?"

At that time, Sun Yanzi was very, very far away from them.

The closest they ever got to Sun Yanzi was when they listened to her singing.

However, in the drama "Queen of Tears", Sun Yanzi plays Lu Yunzhou's older sister, and the two of them bicker and joke around in the drama, which is very endearing.

It felt like a dream.

And now, Dilraba has reached the top.

She is even more popular than Sun Yanzi.

Lu Yunzhou was staying at the same hotel, just three rooms away, and she could go and knock on his door anytime.

But she won't.

She'd rather be alone in her room, drinking herself into a stupor.

"After the water?"

"Yang Xiaozhi, if you want it, I'll give it to you!"

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