Chapter 49: Speech at the Startup Event

The next day, Lin Qingxia, Xiao Ran, and a group of big names from New Art City boarded a plane for Taiwan to attend the 23rd Golden Horse Awards. Xiao Ran wasn’t just going there for fun; his own work had also made it to the shortlist. It wasn’t a directing project—“Eight Stars Bring Good News” hadn’t even been released yet—he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for “True Colors of a Hero.”

Xiao Ran remembered that “True Colors of a Hero” wasn’t originally nominated for the screenplay award. Perhaps his presence changed things this time, or maybe he made some slight adjustments while writing the script.

On the plane, Xiao Ran sat next to Lin Qingxia, and after chatting casually for a while, Lin Qingxia suddenly covered her mouth and started giggling. Despite Xiao Ran’s repeated questions, she still smiled as she explained, “There will definitely be many reporters and fans waiting when we get off the plane. I bet you don’t know how to handle such situations!”

Xiao Ran was stunned. He kept trying to recall which movies had won awards but hadn’t thought of this at all. Feeling guilty, he asked again, “Sis Lin, you must be very experienced. Could you teach me?”

Lin Qingxia agreed right away and shared her experience with him, then glanced at the handsome Fa Ge and said, “Go ask Fa Zai; his experience might be more useful to you!”

Fa Ge gladly shared his own tips with Xiao Ran. Handling such situations wasn’t difficult; the key was to have presence—to stay calm under pressure. Xiao Ran might not be able to do that, as he wasn’t a singer who often appeared in public.

It was rare for someone like Xiao Ran to enter this field later in life. For singers, record companies usually assigned someone to design their signatures and help them develop their walking style and appearance. For actors, film companies would also find specialists to help them develop their presence. As for Xiao Ran, it seemed unlikely he would become a big star. But both Fa Ge and Lin Qingxia told him that he was fine as he was—just needing to act naturally.

This wasn’t just flattery. After all, Xiao Ran came from the 21st century. It wasn’t just about broad knowledge but also different living habits, which gave him a unique style. For example, he could naturally make a gesture of disdain, which was quite novel for people of that era.

When they arrived in Taiwan, they saw countless fans gathered in a large area, shouting loudly as soon as they got off the plane. Xiao Ran had seen this many times before and wasn’t impressed. With the help of security, they made their way to the hotel arranged by the organizing committee, where they could finally relax.

At the hotel, Lin Qingxia, Fa Ge, and Wu Yusen all gave interviews to reporters, while Xiao Ran appeared utterly alone. However, he quickly put on a serious expression when a reporter approached him to interview this famous award-winning screenwriter. Of course, although the reporters asked about “The Phantom,” they were more interested in the relationship between Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia.

Xiao Ran wasn’t stupid—he insisted that he and Lin Qingxia were just friends. Yet he also found it strange why he had to insist so much, and why his tone sounded as if he were trying to hide something. But in front of the reporters, he didn’t have time to think too much about it.

At 7 p.m., they all went to the award ceremony venue. Lin Qingxia had a strange feeling this time and told herself not to enter with Xiao Ran, so she chose to go with Fa Ge. Xiao Ran followed behind with Wu Yusen. Seeing Lin Qingxia and Fa Ge together, looking so well-matched, he felt an indescribable emotion.

After walking across the red carpet into the venue, Xiao Ran found his seat and glanced around—unfortunately, it was Lin Qingxia sitting next to him. Lin Qingxia let the reporters take some photos of her for a while before sitting down. When she saw it was Xiao Ran, her first reaction was to look around to see if there were any reporters.

The Golden Horse Awards are the oldest Chinese-language film awards. Compared to the newly established Golden Butterfly Awards, the Golden Horse Awards carry much more weight today. Moreover, the Golden Horse Awards cover a wider range of regions than the Golden Butterfly Awards. The latter has many restrictions on eligibility, while the Golden Horse Awards allow any Chinese-language film to participate, with the only exception being mainland Chinese films.

However, Xiao Ran preferred the Golden Butterfly Awards over the Golden Horse Awards—not just because of his love for Hong Kong films, but also because the Golden Horse Awards were too artsy. Looking at past winners, the majority of award-winning films were overly artistic and dull. Additionally, by the time Xiao Ran became familiar with the Golden Horse Awards, it had already fallen into trouble due to the decline of Taiwanese cinema. It was even suspended for a year at one point and nearly stopped the following year due to funding issues.

Soon, the awards ceremony began. For Xiao Ran, there were few Taiwanese filmmakers worth paying attention to—not because there were no talented ones, but because they were too artsy. He didn’t want to end up like Deng Guangrong, who invested in Wang Jiawei’s artistic films and nearly went bankrupt.

Interestingly, for the 23rd Golden Horse Awards, aside from Best Drama and Best Documentary, all other categories had only three nominees. If that wasn’t bad enough, Xiao Ran could have told them it got worse—most of the nominated films and filmmakers were from Hong Kong, showing that the weakness of Taiwanese cinema wasn’t something that had developed overnight.

The first award presented was for Best Costuming, won by Zhang Shuping. Zhang Shuping seemed very excited, as if it was his first time winning an award—no wonder, Xiao Ran thought. But then he saw Zhang Shuping glance at him from the stage, so he quickly smiled and nodded.

The subsequent award presentations seemed rather unremarkable, and Xiao Ran had only come to watch the excitement. Huang Yongheng unsurprisingly won Best Cinematography, while Zhang Shuping added another trophy by taking Best Art Direction. However, when the Best Sound award was announced, Xiao Ran almost burst out laughing. To be honest, he had never heard of this award before, nor had he come across any film award that included it. When the host read out the nominees, Xiao Ran was slightly surprised—because he heard a familiar name: Du Duzhi. He remembered this name appearing in many Hong Kong movies, but he couldn’t recall what this guy did. After thinking it over, he decided it wasn’t necessary to try to get everyone; leaving some awards for others wasn’t a bad thing either. That year, Zhang Aijia’s self-written and directed film *My Dearest* was nominated for several awards but only won Best Art Direction and Best Supporting Actress. The winner of Best Supporting Actor, however, lifted Xiao Ran’s spirits—a bit—since it was Qin Pei. Qin Pei was an outstanding actor from a famous acting family; Jiang Dawei and Er Dongsheng were his brothers. After that, things became extremely boring—the Best Actor award went to Di Long, who seemed very emotional when he went on stage to deliver his speech. This was understandable; Di Long had acted in many movies for years, and many said he didn’t know how to act. Winning the award naturally dispelled all those rumors. Best Director was undoubtedly won by Wu Yusen. As for Xiao Ran, he once again played the role of a spectator, winning nothing. Lin Qingxia comforted him for a while, but of course, Xiao Ran didn’t care about these Golden Horse Awards. What he wanted was the Golden Bauhinia Awards—and not just for himself, but hoping that one year they would all be dominated by his influence. After the awards ceremony, after congratulating Zhang Shuping and Huang Yongheng on their victories, there were interviews with reporters and celebration parties. At one of the celebration parties, Xiao Ran said to Wu Yusen, “Don’t be too happy too early. The Golden Bauhinia Awards are the real stage for everyone.” As for Stephen Chow, he was naturally a bit disappointed. When Xiao Ran clearly told him he hoped for success at the Golden Bauhinia Awards, Stephen Chow gradually came to terms with it. He was already a Golden Horse Award winner; what he needed now was the Golden Bauhinia Award. But aside from Xiao Ran, no one could have imagined that Stephen Chow would be the only actor to win the award consecutively. Back in Hong Kong, the first thing Xiao Ran did was find Wei Dongling and ask, “Is there any news about Duke Feng?” Duke Feng was an Australian foreigner and one of the most award-winning cinematographers in Hong Kong’s Golden Bauhinia Awards history; the other person with as many awards was Huang Letai. Duke Feng was Wang Jiawei’s favorite cinematographer and one of the best in Hong Kong. Naturally, Xiao Ran wasn’t willing to miss such a person. He remembered that Duke Feng had only recently moved from Taiwan to Hong Kong, with his first film being *My Lady Is Hot*. Unexpectedly, Wei Dongling hesitated for a moment with a strange expression before saying, “I don’t know how many people named Duke Feng there are in Hong Kong. If you’re referring to a foreigner, I think I know where he is!” Sensing Wei Dongling’s expression, Xiao Ran also had a strange feeling. He guessed, somewhat incredulously, “Do you mean he’s now working for a company?”

“If I’m not mistaken, that’s definitely the case!” No wonder Wei Dongling had such an expression—the person Xiao Ran had instructed to be found as soon as possible before leaving for Taiwan was actually in the company. After all this fuss, Xiao Ran finally realized that he had discussed with Wei Dongling before leaving and decided to recruit talents through a hiring process. So, less than a day after Mirage Company posted its recruitment ad, Duke Feng, who had nothing to do, showed up. What a treasure! Xiao Ran almost wanted to laugh loudly to express his joy. In this way, since Duke Feng transferred on his own initiative, less money would be needed. Suddenly, he felt like a shrewd businessman. A few days later, one evening, Xiao Ran reserved a banquet hall in a hotel to host a feast for all the company employees. In the spacious hall, Xiao Ran stood up with a glass of drink in his hand, gathered his energy, and said to the employees seated around the tables, “The fact that we can work together in the same company today is our fate. I have no other demands. I only hope that everyone’s abilities can be fully utilized at Mirage. Here, you’ll not only enjoy generous benefits but also ample opportunities to showcase yourselves. My expectation is that everyone does their best, and at the same time, I will give my best to you all!” This opening speech clearly won everyone’s approval. For talented filmmakers, money is important, but the ability to express themselves is even more crucial. No one wants their talents to be overlooked, just as no one wants to be treated like a fool! Cheers erupted in the hall. Duke Qifeng, one of the more senior employees, stood up and declared with enthusiasm Xiao Ran had never seen before, “Boss, just with those words, we’re already eager to start working!” Xiao Ran smiled slightly. He hadn’t expected Duke Qifeng to have such a bold side. Rubbing his nose gently, he laughed heartily and said, “Work will start, but before that, I’d like to say a few more things!” “We’re all in the film industry; it’s our profession. Therefore, we must have the most basic professional ethics and make every movie as good as possible.” Unconsciously, Xiao Ran imitated Liu Hua’s way of speaking from “Jianghu,” tapping his fingers lightly on the table to emphasize his point: “We need to make money. But first and foremost, we’re filmmakers. What we need to do is not just rush through work to make money, but truly make films!”
(This book’s VIP chapters will be officially released on July 4th. Please keep your VIP monthly subscriptions for this book. Thank you!)
(Additionally, future character introductions will not be included in the VIP chapters but will be posted in the public chapters. If you’re interested, you can look them up separately. Below are the character introductions.)
*****
Novel name — Mecca
Real name — Mai Jia
Occupation: Film company owner, actor

Mike Hui was also one of the three giants at the beginning of New Art City Studios, returning from studying in the United States. Like the other two giants at New Art City Studios, he wrote, directed, and starred in most of the films he produced in the early days to cut costs. He was a versatile filmmaker, with his leading role as the bald detective in “Best Partners” being particularly famous. He retired from the film industry in the mid-1990s and made a comeback at the end of the decade to star in “The Big Winner” with Tony Leung Chiu-wai, but the film was a failure. No news of him has been heard since.
Works: “Best Partners” series