Rebirth 02, the Celestial Being Told Me to Stop Pretending

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December 13, Tainan Municipal Arts Center.

The 40th Golden Horse Awards Ceremony.

At 5:30 p.m., a red carpet was laid out in the square in front of the art center, with iron barricades on both sides. Outside the barricades, fans and reporters crowded together.

Nearly 200 nominees, presenters, and guests walked the red carpet, receiving brief introductions and interviews amidst a flurry of camera flashes.

Lu Chen was wearing a black suit, without a tie, and with one button undone at the collar of his shirt, standing at the entrance of the red carpet.

Liu Yifei wore a light pink floor-length dress, her hair was styled in an updo, revealing her slender neck and collarbone, and her skin was as smooth as porcelain.

The sixteen-year-old girl already had the features of an adult woman, but her eyes still retained the innocence of a young girl.

"What are you looking at?" She walked up to him and lowered her voice.

"It's up to you."

"What's so interesting about it?"

"nice."

Her ears turned slightly red, and she reached out to gently take his arm, just like any other couple walking the red carpet, polite yet intimate.

Lu Chen patted her arm. "Don't be nervous, let's go."

The reporters' cameras were pointed at them.

"Director Lu! This way!" "Liu Yifei! Look this way!"

She smiled at the camera with poise and grace.

Lu Chen merely tilted his head slightly to look at her smiling face, his lips twitching slightly before quickly closing again.

Halfway down the red carpet, hosts Nie Yun and Jia Yongjie stopped them.

"Director Lu Chen, this is your first time being nominated for a Golden Horse Award. What are your thoughts?"

"Honored." Lu Chen only said two words.

The host turned to Liu Yifei: "Yifei, you look beautiful in this dress today. Was it specially prepared for the Golden Horse Awards?"

She smiled gently.

"Yes. Because I have to accompany Director Lu on the red carpet, and I can't embarrass him."

A burst of good-natured laughter came from both sides.

Lu Chen smiled and continued to look at him, her fingers gently squeezing the crook of his arm.

Neither of them spoke.

Ning Hao walked behind them, much more nervous than Lu Chen.

Lu Chen knew Jinma's true nature and had long since demystified it.

Despite being called the "highest honor for Chinese-language films," it's really nothing more than a self-indulgent game for a small group of judges.

Evaluation criteria? There are no criteria.

Today they love art films, tomorrow they promote local newcomers, and the day after tomorrow they suddenly want to "balance commercial interests."

They changed the judges, changed their aesthetic standards, and couldn't even come up with a decent scoring system.

The so-called voting is just a few people arguing behind closed doors, and whoever shouts the loudest wins.

Is this what you call professional? This is just a makeshift workshop.

A few judges get together at a table, have a drink, and then divide the prizes. How dare they call it the "highest honor"?

Some might ask, what about the Golden Rooster and the Hundred Flowers?

I don't know.

Lu Chen saw many people while walking the red carpet.

Simon Yam was wearing a black PTU uniform, looking like he had just come from a film set.

Tsai Ming-liang was barefoot, his soles leaving a trail of shallow marks on the red carpet.

When Andy Lau got out of the van, the screams almost knocked the fence off.

Cai Kangyong, on the other hand, wore an exaggerated horse head wig with long horsehair hanging down and fluttering in the wind.

Liu Yifei gently tugged at his sleeve.

What's that person's head?

"horse."

Why is this happening?

"Because he can't keep a secret, he wants to become famous," Lu Chen said.

Liu Yifei laughed out loud, glanced around, and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

The ceremony officially began at 7 p.m.

Wearing a peach-pink low-cut evening gown and jewelry worth NT$60 million, Carol Cheng stood radiantly in the center of the stage.

Cai Kangyong, wearing his horse-head wig, stood next to her. The two of them, one serious and one humorous, looked like a pair of crosstalk partners.

"The 40th Golden Horse Awards," Carol Cheng's clear voice said, "Forty years of glory and dreams for Chinese-language cinema."

Classic clips of past award winners began playing on the big screen.

Ang Lee, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, Wong Kar-wai—faces flashed across the screen like a train heading into the past.

Lu Chen sat in the third row of the audience, with Liu Yifei sitting to his left.

She sat upright with her hands gently placed on either side of her knees.

But when the lights dimmed, she quietly moved closer to Lu Chen.

The first awards presented were technical awards such as Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, which had nothing to do with "Crazy Stone." Lu Chen sat quietly and watched.

The Best Supporting Actor award went to Huang Gou for "Infernal Affairs".

The Best Supporting Actress award went to Lin Meixiu for "Black Dog is Coming". When she went on stage, she cried her eyes out and was urged twice by the music. She spoke for three minutes and still hadn't finished, which made Lu Chen in the audience feel nauseous. He cursed her in his heart as a lunatic.

This was followed by the awards for Best Documentary and Best Original Screenplay.

The award presenters were two legendary directors, Tsai Ming-liang and Stanley Kwan.

Other films nominated include Infernal Affairs (written by Alan Mak and Felix Chong), which was later considered a classic; Men in Black (written by Pang Ho-cheung, Patrick Kong, and Lee Man), a dark comedy (written by Pang Ho-cheung, Patrick Kong, and Lee Man); and Crazy Stone (written by Xing Aina, Lu Chen, and Ning Hao).

Lu Chen specifically instructed Wang Yan to put Xing Aina first when applying for the award, just to keep the promise he made to the couple.

The two directors walked onto the stage, and Tsai Ming-liang opened the envelope.

He glanced at it, his expression blank.

"Best Original Screenplay," Stanley Kwan read aloud as he took the card.

"Xing Aina, Lu Chen, Ning Hao, *Crazy Stone*."

Ning Hao jumped up from his seat.

He was so excited; he never expected to actually win an award. His mouth was agape, and he almost tripped on stage.

Ning Hao walked onto the stage and accepted the trophy from Tsai Ming-liang.

Tsai Ming-liang and Stanley Kwan smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Golden Horse Awards." Ning Hao stood in front of the microphone, his voice trembling slightly.

"Thank you, audience." He glanced at Lu Chen's seat in the audience.

"I also want to thank Director Lu Chen for giving my husband and me this opportunity. I am very happy to stand here and accept this trophy on behalf of my loved one. Thank you."

After finishing his speech, he bowed and stepped down from the stage. His remarks were very short, which was in line with his personality.

Ning Hao stepped off the stage and handed the trophy to Lu Chen. "What do you think of our Golden Horse Award?"

The trophy is heavy, with a golden horse raising its front hooves, and the base is engraved with "40th Golden Horse Award for Best Original Screenplay".

Lu Chen weighed the trophy in his hand.

"Put it away carefully," he said. "I'll show it to my sister-in-law when I get back."

Liu Yifei watched from the side, her eyes shining.

She didn't say anything, but quietly placed her hand on the back of his hand, patted it, and then withdrew it.

The Best Director award is the third to last award presented.

The award presenters were Tony Leung Ka-fai and Sandra Ng.

Tony Leung Ka-fai wore a well-tailored dark gray suit, while Sandra Ng wore a black dress. The two were greeted with applause as soon as they stepped onto the stage.

Sandra Ng opened the event with her signature humor: "Wow, I'm presenting the Best Director award. Does the fact that I, a Golden Rooster Award-winning actress, am presenting the Best Director award mean that directors have to listen to the actors?"

Tony Leung Ka-fai laughed and replied, "That's not necessarily true. I've acted in films directed by so many directors. Some directors listened to me, and some didn't. Those who didn't listen to me all won awards."

The audience erupted in laughter.

The big screen lights up, and the list of nominees scrolls through the screen:

"Never Apart" by Tsai Ming-liang.

Infernal Affairs, starring Andrew Lau and Alan Mak.

PTU, starring Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai.

"The Real Man", Peng Haoxiang.

Crazy Stone, by Lu Chen.

With each frame that flashed by, applause erupted from the audience.

It would be a lie to say that Lu Chen wasn't nervous. He glanced at Liu Yifei, who was sitting upright next to him.

She was staring at the stage, her lips slightly pursed, her hands on her lap, clutching the hem of her skirt.

He suddenly felt that regardless of whether he won an award or not, tonight was worth it.

Because someone was even more nervous than him, and even more eager for him to win.

Liu Yifei noticed his gaze and quietly reached out a hand to place on the back of Lu Chen's hand.

It feels cool to the touch.