Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 390 I can’t explain why I am a charlatan

At 7:30, the lights go out and the spotlights come on
"Twenty-five years ago, the Hong Kong Film Awards came into this world with me. Twenty-five years later, the Awards have witnessed the glorious years of the Hong Kong film industry, and I have also been fortunate to perform in different types of films and personally experience the joys and sorrows of the world of light and shadow..."

Amid melodious music, Hong Kong Film Awards ambassador Gillian Chung walked through the long corridor to the podium and lit the Olympic flame herself.

Well, I have to say that the sense of ceremony of the Academy Awards is indeed stronger than that in China at that time.

Full of style~
There were ambassadors and a lighting ceremony, and all the guests attending the conference were dressed in suits and formal attire.

Unlike the Golden Rooster, who wears all kinds of clothes, he looks more down-to-earth, but lacks a sense of formality.

After the lighting ceremony, Zhang Chen thought it was about to begin, but he didn't expect the Academy Awards to come up with another trick and review the winning clips of previous Academy Awards. The various excited and surprised expressions of the winners directly boosted the atmosphere on the scene.

It does have a hand.

Zhang Chen is not from Hong Kong, so he doesn’t have any obsession with the Academy Awards, but his designs are indeed very thoughtful.

The host finally appeared after dozens of highlights were played.

Wu Dalang's signature hoarse voice came from the speakers, and the three hosts began to make jokes.

The two most popular awards are Best New Actor and Best New Director.
The Best New Actor award went to Jay Chou for "Initial D".

The Best New Director award went to Bi Guozhi for his film Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Jay Chou’s acting skills are actually not very talented, similar to Xie Tingfeng, both of them rely on their huge popularity to carry the box office.

However, Zhang Chen thinks that his identity is quite suitable for a movie - "Whiplash".

His identity as a musician naturally fits this movie, and his temperament is also suitable for the protagonist of "Whiplash".

There will be a performance after every two awards are presented at the Academy Awards.

It's really annoying to watch.

The main problem was that the chairs were a bit crowded and not very spacious. Fortunately, Zhang Chen sat near the aisle.

Next is the Best Costume Design, the shortlist:

Xi Zhongwen and Wu Lilu "If Love"
Pan Yingyin, Chen Gufang "Seven Swords" ~
Tim Yip and Gong Ye Zhengzi in "The Promise"
Zhang Shuping's "Song of Everlasting Regret"
William Chang, Yu Ka-on, and Li Bi-kwan "A Chinese Odyssey" ~
The winner was "If Love", which was also the first award won by "If Love". Chen Kexin went on stage to receive the award on behalf of the film.

Wu Junru in the audience clapped his hands vigorously.

Then the next award for Best Art Direction was also won by "If Love".

Chen Kexin took the stage again.

The old man's face was so smiling that his eyebrows were not visible, and Wu Junru's hands were sore from clapping.

Zhang Chen happened to sit next to Chen Kexin, and he would congratulate her every time and then give way.

Chen Kexin went to the podium and took the trophy from the guest. She thanked him again. Balabala~
"Wow, this award is awesome, Best Action Design~"

"Yes, yes. Action movies can be said to be a business card of Hong Kong. When it comes to action movies, people from any place and country have to stand aside~"

"Not necessarily. There is a very good mainland action movie on today's shortlist~"

"Really? Then let's wait and see. Please welcome the award presenter~"

Zeng Zhiwei and Chapman To were talking on the stage, and Zhang Chen felt like they were hinting at him.

This year, "Taken" was nominated for only two awards - Best Action Design and Best Asian Film.

I didn’t expect to get to one of them so soon.

Zhang Chen looked diagonally behind him and saw Ruyian's expression was a little uneasy.

This is the most fucked-up thing about the Academy Awards. The nominees have to sit together, and now even if he wants to comfort this big brother he can't do it.

The music started and the award presenters came in.

Zhang Chen originally had no expectations for this award, because the Academy Awards had long said that its purpose was to encourage Hong Kong filmmakers.

However, "Taken" is indeed groundbreaking in terms of action design and has led to a new action trend.

But when he saw the award presenter, he suddenly lost hope.

The award presenters for Best Action Choreography were actually Kent Cheng and Hong Jinbao.

Forget about Zheng Zeshi, but Hong Jinbao~
He was fired from the "Taken" crew by Zhang Chen and was later replaced by Ruy An.

What is the Academy Awards doing? Are they trying to stir up trouble?

If "Taken" wins an award, will the fired Hong Jinbao present the award to his successor Ruy An?

It would be strange if they didn't fight on the spot.

So Zhang Chen felt that it was unlikely that he would win the award.

Sure enough, the winner was Li Zhongzhi from "Sanchakou".

Ruian showed disappointment on his face, but Zhang Chen knew that he was being exploited by the Academy Awards.

He felt that the reason why "Taken" didn't win an award was because he knew the bad reputation of the Academy Awards.

A Hong Kong film with a score of 80 is better than a foreign film with a score of 100. This is the purpose of the Academy Awards.

The Academy Awards definitely did it on purpose to arrange Hong Jinbao, a person with whom they had a grudge, as the award presenter.

In fact, many award ceremonies like to do this.

Let a rival present an award to another rival.

Let the two people who broke up give an award to the other.

Enjoy it~
He had a hunch that even though Taken had two nominations, he would most likely shave his head.

Sure enough, later on, "Kekexili" defeated other competitors and won the Best Asian Film.

At this point, "Taken" was completely defeated.

"What a pity! I thought it would be Taken. After all, it was the box office champion last year."

"The best Asian film, regardless of box office~"

On the stage, Eric Tsang and Chapman To continued to ridicule Wen Jun, and Wen Jun's warnings were of no use. The two were not afraid of Wen Jun at all.

Zeng Zhiwei is awesome.

He has a very high status in the Hong Kong film industry.

In 2013, his 60th birthday conflicted with the date of the Academy Awards. The Academy Awards even changed the date specifically for him, which shows his status in the Hong Kong circle.

It is said that on his birthday, 700 celebrities came to celebrate his birthday.

Damn, there aren’t 700 celebrities in the whole of Hong Kong.

Compared to him, Wen Jun is definitely inferior, no wonder he didn't even listen to Wen Jun's warning.

At this year's Academy Awards, the presenters for some awards were one guest from the mainland and one from Hong Kong. It was very strange when they spoke, one spoke Mandarin and the other spoke Cantonese.

It makes people's brains hurt when they hear it.

Best Supporting Actor, the award presenters are Fan Xiaopang and Zhen Zidan.

Looking at this lineup, Zhang Chen once thought that Hu Jun had a chance to win the award, because having a famous mainland actress present an award to a mainland actor can be considered a gimmick.

But in the end it wasn't.

The winner is Huang Qiusheng~
Hey, this guy actually has pretty good acting skills, but his eyesight is bad. He always fails to see the situation clearly, and in the end he becomes a pariah.

Now it’s finally time for the highlight. The Best Actor and Best Actress awards have always been the most watched parts of any major award ceremony, and the competition for Best Actor and Best Actress is the most topical.

The first award was for Best Actress, presented by Stanley Kwan and Li Binbin.

There are really a lot of mainland stars coming this time, half of the four Dan and two Bing are here.

Stanley Kwan speaks Mandarin quite well, and you can’t hear his Hong Kong accent at all.

Best Actress race:
Zhou Xun "If Love" ~
Karena Lam "Monster" ~
Sammi Cheng "Song of Everlasting Regret" ~
Sylvia Chang "Hainan Chicken Rice" ~
Karen Mok "Childhood Dream" ~
As the shortlist was announced, the audience became excited, and many of them showed concerned looks on their faces.

Although the finalists all had smiles on their faces, they all stared at the stage intently.

Stanley Kwan on the stage looked at the audience with a smile, keeping the topic a little bit in suspense but not daring to delay for too long.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he opened the card, looked at it with Li Binbin, and then signaled Li Binbin to make the announcement.

Li Binbin smiled and looked down at the audience, as if looking for the winner, and then read out in standard Mandarin: "Best Actress winner - Zhou Xun."

At this moment, applause broke out.

Zhou Xun stood up with great grace, accepted blessings from the people around her, and then walked towards the stage.

But among the guests, more people looked at Zhang Chen. He really hit the mark~
The scene on the red carpet had already spread throughout the venue, and I'm afraid that every guest on the scene knew about it.

Although Zhang Chen had long been known for his accurate judgment, this was Venice after all, and it was very far away from their lives.

But this time it's different.

This time it is the Academy Awards, which is closely related to them.

Is it just a guess or is it really that effective?

A question mark popped up in many people's minds.

Some people believe it, some don’t, and some want to wait and see more.

Hong Kong people are very superstitious, otherwise White Dragon King’s business wouldn’t be so good.

People looked at Zhang Chen with a hint of inquiry in their eyes.
Miss Zhou walked onto the stage. She was obviously dressed up carefully today. Her makeup, clothes and hairstyle were all very delicate. She didn't look like those Hong Kong stars at all.

Especially her short Sassoon hair style, which makes her very unique and eye-catching among all the female stars.

Arriving at the rostrum, Mr. Zhou shook hands, then looked at the audience and raised the trophy, drawing applause.

"Thank you for the Academy Awards, thank you for director Chen Kexin. Every time I see the three words "If Love", I will think of every little detail of filming in Beijing and Shanghai..."

Mr. Zhou choked up several times while giving his speech, and it seemed that he was really excited.

She takes the Academy Awards very seriously. After all, it is one of the most prestigious film awards in Asia.
Mr. Zhou also took the first step towards winning the triple gold grand slam.

The audience applauded politely, but some people didn't really care.

Anyone who knows a little about politics can guess that this year's Best Actress will definitely be a mainland actress.

If you want to embrace the mainland, you have to show your loyalty.

“Before I came here, I asked Director Zhang Chen if I could win the Best Actress award.

Director Zhang said yes, you will definitely win the best actress award.

He has more confidence in himself than I do in myself.”

At this point, Master Zhou raised the trophy in the direction of Zhang Chen and smiled: "Director Zhang, I really got it. Thank you for your accurate prediction~"

After Zhou Xun finished speaking, the atmosphere became quiet for a moment, and then enthusiastic applause broke out again.

Zhou Xun left the stage, but the scene was a bit strange.

It is normal that Zhou Xun won the Best Actress award and mainly thanked the film's director Chen Kexin, but she also thanked the always-predictable Zhang Chen. Is Zhang Chen the White Dragon King of the mainland?
Zhang Chen was also a little embarrassed, but he knew that there must be a camera pointing at him at the moment, so he could only smile and nod.

"Wow, is he really that amazing? He can make such an accurate prediction~"

"Maybe it's really God, or maybe it's just a guess~"

Zeng Zhiwei and Chapman To started to joke around again. Teresa Mo was afraid that they would say something excessive again, so she immediately said, "Next is the Best Director. Let's see who the guest is~"

Mao Shunyun directly blocked the conversation, and the other two had no choice but to cooperate.

At this time, Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Zhang Ziyi appeared as guests, and the two actors presented the trophy to the best director. This arrangement itself was a bit...

So from beginning to end, the two actors' jokes were full of a desire to survive.

Announcement of the shortlist:

Johnnie To's "Election"
Tsui Hark's "Seven Swords"
Chen Kexin "If Love" ~
Er Dongsheng "Precocious"
Andrew Lau, Alan Mak "Initial D"
Okay, this award is another one that Zhang Chen predicted.

The venue fell silent for a moment, and everyone was waiting for the answer.

They all wanted to know whether Zhang Chen’s prediction was still accurate this time.

Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi on the stage wanted to continue joking, but they found the atmosphere a bit awkward and everything they said seemed awkward.

"Then let's announce the results~"

Tony Leung Chiu Wai opened the piece of paper and signaled Zhang Ziyi to announce it.

Zhang Ziyi glanced at the list, raised her eyebrows, and announced, "The winner of this year's Academy Award for Best Director is Johnnie To!"

At this moment, no one looked at the podium, everyone looked at Zhang Chen.

This mainland boy~
Did I guess right again? It's really that amazing~
Du Dapao never attends the Academy Awards. He sent an assistant to receive the award. He simply said a few words and then left the stage.

It seemed as if Zhang Chen won the Best Director award.

Zhang Chen felt his face burning. If he had known the situation would turn out like this, he should not have been so eager to please himself on the red carpet just now.

Now, everyone is even more eager to know whether the Best Actor award is also so accurate.

Many people remembered Zhang Chen’s prediction and turned their eyes to Liang Jiahui.

Did that mainland guy predict that the Best Actor award would go to Leung Ka Fai?

Is it really that lucky, that it is him?

By now, some people have believed it, but there are still a few people who are still in doubt.

"Wow, is it really so magical? I really got one if I said so?"

By now, even Chapman To is a little nervous.

It doesn't matter if he offends an ordinary person, even if the other party is powerful in the mainland, because he doesn't make a living in the mainland anyway.

But it’s a different story if you offend a charlatan.

Hong Kong people still believe in this.

When the audience heard his words, they unconsciously looked towards Zhang Chen's position, but suddenly found that he was gone.

The three hosts were still talking, so Zeng Zhiwei changed the topic, trying to divert everyone's attention away from it, but it didn't seem to work.

Sensing that everyone seemed a little impatient, Zeng Zhiwei immediately stopped making jokes and said, "Please welcome the award presenters for the Best Actor award - Zhang Chen and Wu Junru."

During the music, Zhang Chen helped Wu Junru walk onto the stage. There was nothing they could do because the woman was pregnant.

It's fine if she attends the award ceremony with a big belly, but why does she have to be a guest?

Wu Junru seemed to not care about this at all and was just joking around with a laugh.

"I thought my husband would be the best director, and you predicted it would be Johnnie To, and then Johnnie To actually won it, and now you predicted that the best actor would be Leung Ka Fai, I really want to know if he will win again this time~"

This woman is the host. She was not at all stage-shy when she came on stage and kept talking non-stop.

Zhang Chen had no choice but to agree with her: "Definitely~"

Wu Junru looked curious: "So effective?"

Zhang Chen followed suit: "Yes, do you want me to calculate whether the baby is a boy or a girl?"

"Hey," Wu Junru said cleverly, "Never mind. Xin and I like different things. No matter which one you guess, one of us will be unhappy."

"Then I say twins."

Zhang Chen didn't want to continue chatting, so he got back to the point: "Let's take a look at the shortlist first, everyone can't wait~"

The big screen behind played clips of the shortlisted films at the right time.

Tony Leung Ka Fai "Election"
Aaron Kwok's "Three Crossroads"
Tony Leung Ka Fai's "Song of Everlasting Regret"
Andy Lau "Childhood Dream" ~
Simon Yam "Underworld"
Wu Junru took the card, took a look at it impatiently, and then exclaimed.

She has always been so exaggerated that no one can tell whether she is pretending or being serious.

Wu Junru handed the card to Zhang Chen: "You should announce it first."

Zhang Chen took it and took a look at it, then also made a surprised expression, which made the whole audience laugh.

Now, everyone was a little unsure whether it was Liang Jiahui or not.

In the audience, Liang Jiahui clenched his fists tightly, and Zhang Chen suddenly looked at him and announced: "The winner of the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor is - Liang Jiahui, "Election"~"

Liang Jiahui stood up excitedly and walked quickly onto the stage.

The podium had already been vacated.

Liang Jiahui searched his pockets and took out the speech manuscript, then was stunned: "Sorry, I got the wrong one, this is for "Song of Everlasting Regret"

Then he pulled out another speech from his other pocket, making everyone laugh.

"I want to thank director Johnnie To, and also thank..."

After a lot of thanks, Liang Jiahui finally finished his speech. He suddenly hugged Zhang Chen and said, "I also want to thank Director Zhang Chen for his accurate prediction. Whether you believe it or not, I believe it anyway~"

There was another round of laughter from the audience, but Zhang Chen knew from their expressions that he probably couldn't take off the label of being a charlatan.

(End of this chapter)