Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 519 Who is the Winner?
Li Xiaoran doesn't have much interest in winning the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress, but she is somewhat concerned about who wins it.

If domestic actresses who have been deeply involved in art films, such as Yan Bingyan, were to win the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress, Li Xiaoran would only offer her sincere congratulations.

However, Li Xiaoran was still somewhat unhappy about losing to Zhou Xun in the Best Actress category at the Golden Rooster Awards.

Whether it's the "Four Great Qingyi" or the "Four Great Huadan," they are all actresses of similar age who are among the most popular in China, and they are all in competition with each other.

They are often compared to each other on a daily basis.

How could Li Xiaoran not mind losing to Zhou Xun, one of the Four Great Actresses, in direct competition?
Losing to Zhou Xun will not affect Li Xiaoran's business career, nor will it shake her film resources.

However, such things are always amplified by fans and become one of the excuses for being attacked.

That's why Li Xiaoran was unhappy.

However, what upset Li Xiaoran even more was that she found that although there were some debates in the media and online about why she didn't win the Best Actress award, there weren't many.

This hurt her deeply.

What's most infuriating is that Gao Yuanyuan actually called.

Li Xiaoran didn't want to answer the call. She knew very well that if the vixen called at this time, it was definitely not good news. She knew without even thinking that it must be about the Golden Rooster Award-winning actress.

However, Li Xiaoran glanced at Cao Yang, who was smiling and looking at the computer, and decided to give Gao Yuanyuan a chance to ridicule her.

So she sat down next to Cao Yang and turned on speakerphone.

"Xiaoran, your acting skills are already very good. Losing to Zhou Xun is not your fault. Don't listen to the media's nonsense, saying that her acting skills are slightly better than yours. That's pure nonsense. It's not just a little bit better, haha..."

No, I mean, not just a little bit, not even a tiny bit, umm, you know what I mean?

"I know!"

Li Xiaoran pursed her lips, looking extremely aggrieved.

"Are you trying to say that Zhou Xun's acting is much better than mine? I admit that Zhou Xun's acting is very good. Yuanyuan, I tried my best, I really tried my best. I'm already heartbroken enough for not winning the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress."

Yuanyuan, we're best friends, could you... could you please stop saying that about me? I really tried my best.

"Hmph, Li Ernai, what are you pretending to be pitiful for? Stop with your tricks. I'm not Cao Yang, and Cao Yang isn't here with me. Who are you trying to fool? Do you think Cao Yang will see this?"

Let me tell you, you'd better have some self-awareness and leave my Cao Yang right away. How could he possibly like your sour face? You look like you're a jinx to your husbands. Don't ruin my Cao Yang's life.

I've seen plenty of people like you. You're just using your big breasts to seduce people, aren't you? Ha, Cao Yang isn't that shallow..."

Cao Yang felt a headache coming on as he listened to what Li Xiaoran was saying on her phone.

How did the conversation turn into talking about yourself?
Whoops!
Now that the phone is on hands-free, he can't say anything or give any notifications, but not saying anything doesn't seem right either.

In a moment of quick thinking, he gestured to indicate that he needed to use the restroom, and then tiptoed out of the study.

Before leaving, he thoughtfully closed the study door to avoid me overhearing any topics that would give me a headache.

The thought of two women making lewd jokes at each other is exciting... no, it's embarrassing.

Seeing Cao Yang close the door and leave, the smiling expression on Li Xiaoran's face vanished instantly.

She interrupted Gao Yuanyuan directly, and said with a sneer, "Yuanyuan, do you know that the movie you starred in, 'Red Cliff,' is also very good? I used to only hear that Cao Cao was a hero who liked... married women, and I never believed it."

Until I saw you starred in "Red Cliff," where Cao Cao attacked Eastern Wu, actually for you! Haha, at that moment I could really empathize with King Zhou's feelings. The logic of this movie is quite reasonable, don't you think?

Hmph, so you say my acting skills are inferior to Zhou Xun's? Well then, it's not a big deal if I call you a vixen, is it?

Perhaps feeling that what she had said wasn't enough, Li Xiaoran continued in an unusually regretful tone:
"Yuanyuan, I actually feel quite sorry for you. Your portrayal of Xiao Qiao was so charming and beautiful, it was practically a natural performance. How come you couldn't get a Golden Rooster Award nomination for Best Actress?"

This is absolutely discrimination against commercial films by the Golden Rooster Awards, and discrimination against your acting skills. You played yourself perfectly, how could they do this?

Hmph, you vixen, you even dared to call and mock me, saying I was taking advantage of...

I don't know if Cao Yang was eavesdropping outside, but it's quite possible, so for the sake of my image, I'll speak more politely and definitely can't be as direct as you.

However, back in the day, I was capable of suppressing that vixen Zhang Ziyi in verbal battles!
Or have you forgotten the fact that you've never won a single verbal battle with me?

Gao Yuanyuan seemed to sense something was wrong. She had made a personal attack without any attempt to hide it, but Li Ernai actually held back and did not retaliate directly, only offering indirect mockery.

This is not Li Ernai's style.

"Li Ernai, is Cao Yang with you?"

Gao Yuanyuan asked warily.

Li Xiaoran chuckled and drawled, "Yes, Cao Yang is right next to me. Do you believe me?"

She then glanced towards the door, covered the microphone with her hand, and lowered her voice, saying, "If I told you Cao Yang was right under me, holding onto what you call his 'weapon' with both hands, would you believe me? Hehe..."

"Pah! Shameless, Li Ernai, I'm warning you..."

Gao Yuanyuan was furious when she suddenly realized that Li Ernai was definitely playing a trick on her. She couldn't get angry, she couldn't get angry.

She racked her brains and actually came up with a good idea to get back at Li Ernai.

"Hehe, Li Ernai, do you know that the movie I starred in, 'Tangshan,' is not just a film that broke the domestic box office record for Chinese-language films."

They'll also nominate me for Best Actress at the next Golden Rooster Awards, as well as the Huabiao Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards, and the Golden Horse Awards. Just you wait and see how I win Best Actress, haha…”

Then, before Li Xiaoran could reply, Gao Yuanyuan hung up the phone.

Anyway, we've done all the satire we needed to do and said all the things we needed to say. Today we've finally won, right?
Therefore, we cannot give Li Xiaoran another chance to speak.

Gao Yuanyuan felt that she had finally gotten her revenge and was quite satisfied with her performance today.

Li Xiaoran looked at the phone that had been hung up and pursed her lips.

Vixen, you think you've won?
Ha, you probably wouldn't believe it, Cao Yang is really in my "hands," right? Cao Yang heard everything you said earlier without missing a single word.

Based on that alone, how could you possibly beat me today?
However, Li Xiaoran did not get carried away with her triumph. Instead, she put on a pitiful look and quickly thought through Gao Yuanyuan's sarcasm towards her, as well as the hypothetical scenario of the vixen winning the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress, the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress, and the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress.

So the more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

So, this whole thing is Cao Yang's fault, right?
So, is it okay to teach Cao Yang a lesson?

Of course, Li Xiaoran isn't a naive little girl, and she certainly wouldn't ignore Cao Yang just because she wanted to teach him a lesson.

Was that meant to teach Cao Yang a lesson?

That would be more like showing her what's what. Li Xiaoran took a deep breath, deliberately made a sound, and walked towards the study door.

Furthermore, as she walked to the door, she deliberately coughed and silently counted to three before opening the study door.

The reason for doing all this was to prevent Cao Yang from eavesdropping outside the door, and this gave Cao Yang enough time to leave.

When the door was opened, Cao Yang was indeed not at the door.

Li Xiaoran didn't care where Cao Yang was hiding; she didn't need to know.

She simply sat down on the sofa in the living room, picked up a cushion and hugged it to her chest, then lowered her head and spaced out.

“1、2、3、4、5……”

As Li Xiaoran silently counted to 11 in her mind, Cao Yang walked over and sat down beside her, asking gently, "What's wrong?"

Hmph, you know perfectly well what you're asking!

Li Xiaoran, true to her Berlin Film Festival Best Actress title, nestled against Cao Yang's shoulder, hugging a cushion, and whispered with her head down:
"Am I stupid? I tried so hard to play Meng Xiaodong well, but I still lost to Zhou Xun at the Golden Rooster Awards. Are the media and fans outside, like Yuanyuan, laughing at me everywhere?"

Cao Yang had a headache and felt a bit resentful towards Gao Yuanyuan. Why did you provoke her for no reason?

When I see Gao Yuanyuan in a couple of days, I'll definitely give her a good spanking.

"How could that be? You performed very well, but the judges have to consider everything. Having good acting skills alone isn't enough if you can't fully express yourself. The quality of a film is a crucial factor in allowing actors to give their best performance."

Cao Yang put his arm around Li Xiaoran's shoulder and gently comforted her.

"I know, I know all of this, I've thought it through and accepted it, but after receiving Yuanyuan's call, I... I don't know why, but I suddenly felt extremely lost."

Li Xiaoran nuzzled Cao Yang's shoulder with her head, then looked up at him with her big, watery eyes, pursed her lips, and said:
"Cao Yang, I... could I stay with you for the few days you're in China? Sigh... never mind, I can't hold you back. You must be very busy these days in China, you probably won't even have time at night..."

Li Xiaoran couldn't remember where she saw it, but it said that women should change their mindset: when they should use "I," they shouldn't use "you"; and when they should use "you," they shouldn't use "I."

For example, the sentence I just said, "Cao Yang, could you stay with me for the next few days in China?"

Saying it this way will have a "command" tone, which will make the other person feel uncomfortable.

Replacing "you" with "I" gives a feeling of weakness and pitifulness, making it easier to gain a man's favor.

Cao Yang's return to China this time was mainly for the Golden Rooster Awards. Now that the Golden Rooster Awards are over, he will only stay for two more days before heading to the United States to start filming "New Pirates of the Caribbean".

According to his original plan, he would spend the Golden Rooster Awards ceremony and the next day with Li Xiaoran, then spend the next two days with Gao Yuanyuan, and then go to Los Angeles.

Currently, only Li Xiaoran and Gao Yuanyuan are available.

but……

Cao Yang could only apologize to Gao Yuanyuan in his heart. Why did you provoke her?
"I'll be with you for the next couple of days while I'm in China."

Cao Yang said softly.

Li Xiaoran mentally gave herself a "thumbs up".

"Hmph, vixen, you're too green to fight me. Don't you even know when you've ever beaten me?"

Then, Li Xiaoran suddenly remembered what she had whispered to Gao Yuanyuan. If she didn't do it, wouldn't it make her seem like she was making things up?

"Cao Yang, you're so kind."

Even at this moment, Li Xiaoran did not forget to provide emotional support to Cao Yang. She then knelt down on the sofa, making herself appear taller than Cao Yang, who was sitting down.

Looking down at Cao Yang, she said in a soft voice, "I don't know what's wrong with me these past two days, my chest feels tight, could you massage it for me?"

Where there is no flow, there is pain.

If massaging doesn't help, then cupping is the only option.

However, the necessary tools for cupping could not be found at the moment.

But don't worry, the mouth can sometimes also have the effect of cupping, the principle is the same.

This is about healing the sick and saving lives; doctors have the heart of parents.

……

Gao Yuanyuan was unaware that Cao Yang had originally planned to spend two days with her.

She's still happy these past two days because she finally beat Li Xiaoran once.

Cao Yang called her and said that he was only staying in China for two days before going to the United States. His schedule was very tight, and he had a lot of things to take care of in Beijing. He could only accompany her next time.

Gao Yuanyuan didn't pay much attention to it; she knew Cao Yang was very busy.

You can see Cao Yang anytime. Sometimes she has to go to Europe and America for endorsement work, so you can balance work and personal life.

After the Golden Rooster Awards, Cao Yang stayed in Beijing for two more days.

I'm still very busy during the day. I have to attend meetings of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Film Association. These meetings are to summarize the gains and losses of this year's Golden Rooster Awards, and I can't miss them.

Furthermore, during his lunch break from the meeting, he went to Yu Feihong's place in a hurry, in a rush... well, he wasn't exactly in a rush when he went there.

There is a three-hour gap between the noon and afternoon meetings.

You can do a lot in three hours.

Two days later, Cao Yang boarded a plane to Los Angeles.

Upon arriving in Los Angeles, the first thing to do was to gather the crew and readjust the filming schedule. With Cao Yang back, the filming progress would accelerate accordingly, a capability that others did not possess.

That's just how strange this is.

In the absence of Cao Yang, even when Ning Hao or Gu Changwei were directing, the actors' acting skills were not a problem, but filming a single shot could not be done in one go. Even Depp sometimes had to adjust for a long time before he could perform at his best.

But if Cao Yang were there, it would be clearly different.

Most shots can be completed in one take, with the most that require a second take, even those seemingly ridiculous green screen shots.

Ning Hao and Gu Changwei discussed this privately for a long time, but they still couldn't find a convincing answer.

Ultimately, it can only be attributed to Cao Yang's exceptional directing ability and his unique capacity to convince actors, which is an extension of his skill in training actors.

(End of this chapter)