Abstract Art Award Winner

"Hey, these things aren't that strict, especially when your own people are on the judging panel. The materials are all the same anyway, it's just a matter of adding a form later. But at a film festival like this, the awards will definitely prioritize outstanding works."

Guo Fan explained that as a director, he had a lot of contact with the judges when applying for awards, so he was more aware of these inside stories.

"That makes sense."

What Zhou Le didn't expect was that, besides dumplings, Li Qin also won the Best Supporting Actress award for this movie.

In terms of billing order, Li Qin was at most the fourth female lead in "The Captain," and even in the promotional materials, Zhang Tianai was listed before Li Qin in the order of names.

"It's always good to have a powerful backer. When everyone has acting skills, it comes down to background. After you finished filming 'Joy of Life,' Li Qin's resources at New Classics Media are much better now."

Sometimes it's said that leaders and top actors have the upper hand, but ultimately, whether it's a movie or anything else, it all comes down to monetization, and that depends on these platforms.

This principle is even simpler and easier to understand. Zhou Le thought about it for a moment and then figured it out.

But then Chen Feiyu's name was mentioned again in the Popular Actor award, which further confirmed Zhou Le's earlier thoughts.

That's why "Goodbye Mr. Loser" is still a classic, and the value of "My District Chief Father" is still going strong.

Although Li Qin also relies on his background, he at least has some real strength.

As for Zhang Tianai, who won the Popular Actress Award, it was most likely the result of a power struggle, because in terms of popularity alone, Yang Zi, who starred in "The Bravest," clearly had a higher audience.

Huang Xiaoming and Ou Hao, who were also in the cast of "The Bravest," were both more deserving of this award than Chen Feiyu.

"Don't pay attention to these awards, including the one about dumplings. They're all just about sharing the spoils. Just focus on the more prestigious awards later on."

Zhou Le didn't really care; he just wanted to vent.

He had already received a Best Actor nomination at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and that nomination alone was more prestigious than today's domestic nomination.

Besides, most of the slightly less prestigious awards have already been given out, and every award that follows is a major highlight.

With the Most Powerful Actor award going to Zhang Hanyu, Zhou Le knew that among the remaining Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Film awards, there was only one that truly suited him.

As expected, Yao Chen won Best Actress at the event, while Zhou Le won Best Actor.

The representative work behind the Best Actor award is "The Wandering Earth".

Actually, when filming, Zhou Le never imagined that he would win the Best Actor award for the lead role in "The Wandering Earth," especially at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

When Zhang Ziyi told him a few days ago that he could go on stage to receive an award, Zhou Le didn't think about winning Best Actor. He thought that winning popularity or Best Supporting Actor would be enough.

But I never expected him to actually be a movie star.

Although there were many local Japanese actors and directors in the audience, Zhou Le delivered his acceptance speech entirely in Chinese.

The two most talked-about topics at this film festival were "The Captain" winning four awards and Zhou Le winning both the Best Newcomer Award and the Best Actor Award.

Of course, we had to celebrate afterwards.

They went out for dinner that evening and then made plans to go to Disneyland the next day.

But early the next morning, just as they were preparing to leave, Saito Asuka suddenly called Zhou Le's cell phone.

The first thing they said was "Moshi Moshi".

Zhou Le can understand this sentence.

"Is there something you need, Asuka-chan?"

Then Zhou Le heard muttering sounds coming from the other end, and a few seconds later a strong translator's voice wafted over.

"Teacher Zhou, are you free today? I'd like to invite you out for a walk."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Le said, "A stroll around is definitely not a problem. I don't have any work today, but I've made plans with my friends to go to Disneyland together."

Just as Saito Asuka was continuing to speak into the translator on the other end of the phone, Zhou Le added, "But you can come with us, since we don't know much about that area."

As soon as I finished speaking, I heard a flurry of activity on the other end of the phone, as if something had fallen to the ground, accompanied by a gasp of surprise.

"Alright then, sorry to bother you. Welcome back to Tokyo, Professor Zhou."

But just as the translator's voice came through, the phone seemed to be picked up again, followed by a series of hurried explanations, none of which Zhou Le could understand.

The other party clearly noticed this as well, and quickly repeated it again using a translator.

"Really? I'm sure I can be a good guide. I know that area very well. I'll go to your hotel in a bit."

"No need, just send me your location. We're driving there later, and we can pick you up on the way."

In this way, the two understood each other's meaning even though they were communicating over the phone and through a translator.

They then got into the car and headed towards the location sent by Saito Asuka.

"Luckily we got a seven-seater minivan, otherwise we really wouldn't have had enough room."

Now, besides the translator, there are Zhou Le, Zhao Jinmai, Jiaozi, and Guo Fan. The translator drives, making a total of five people.

"Brother Le, it was one thing for Cilantro to bring Saito Asuka to eat with us the first time, but she came again the second time, and today she even asked you to go shopping. Do you think she might have a crush on you?"

Zhou Le waved his hand: "It's not that easy. She's a national idol, okay? What would it look like if she took a liking to me like that? At most, she just wants to learn about the Chinese market through me. Maybe she'll even develop her career in the Chinese market in the future. Kana Hanazawa is going to participate in Beijing TV's New Year's Eve party this year. It wouldn't be surprising if Asuka Saito went to Bilibili's New Year's Eve party in the future."

“Okay, but I still think she might actually have a thing for you,” Zhao Jinmai said.

"Don't overthink it, that's the obvious idea. We'll get to know each other over a meal, have a couple of meals together, and then go shopping together. Wouldn't that help us get to know each other better? But Zhou Le, you'd better be careful. Some fans of this kind of idol are really fanatical. Don't let them cause you trouble later," Guo Fan said.

"Hey, what does all this have to do with anything? I'm not planning on dating, and even if I were, I wouldn't date a Japanese person."

"Who can say for sure? If we really find someone, it would be a great honor for the country."

Zhou Le neither agreed nor disagreed with this statement.

And so, the group picked up Saito Asuka from her house and then drove to Disneyland.

Zhao Jinmai originally planned to go there for a visit, but later, during a private vote, Jiaozi also said she wanted to go and see it. After all, she was too tired from working in China. The first "Ne Zha" took several years to make, and she finally got a few months of rest in between. Now she is about to start preparing for "Ne Zha 2".

The group was wearing hats and masks on the street and wasn't recognized at first. However, they were spotted by fans when they were playing some games where hats weren't allowed, and they took a group photo and got autographs.

He's only been to the Shanghai Disneyland in China; he hasn't been to the Hong Kong Disneyland yet. But comparing the two, he feels that the domestic Disneyland is more relaxed, with fewer thrilling rides, while Tokyo Disneyland's rides are more exciting.

Fortunately, they all bought express passes, which have some restrictions, but since there weren't many people around recently, they didn't have to wait in a long line.

Until they arrived in front of a haunted house.

"How about we go inside and check out this haunted house?"

Zhao Jinmai was a little scared, but in the end, thinking that she had already come all this way, she followed the others inside.

Zhou Le was in the center, with Saito Asuka on his left and Zhao Jinmai on his right. Before long, they turned into ghosts in the picture, but as they watched, a sudden, intense feeling of weightlessness came over them, and screams rang out instantly.

"Fuck!"

Everyone was startled and started screaming, because they could all feel that the weightlessness was not a simulation, but a real fall.

Startled, Saito Asuka and Zhao Jinmai immediately grabbed Zhou Le's arms, one on each side.

"Wasn't this supposed to be a haunted house? How did it suddenly turn into a drop tower?!"

But Saito Asuka, the only one who knew this place well, was only focused on screaming and couldn't care less about anything else.

After the initial feeling of weightlessness, Zhou Le gradually got used to it. After all, that's how drop towers are. At first, you can't keep up, but once your body gets used to the feeling of weightlessness, you don't feel anything special when you fall anymore.

Xiao Zhao on the side looked like a little girl, but Saito Asuka on the other side was already a big girl. The soft touch of her hugging his arm made Zhou Le feel that the scene in front of him was not so scary.

It wasn't until after the event that everyone gradually came to their senses. Zhao Jinmai calmly released Zhou Le's arm. In her heart, she only regarded Zhou Le as her brother, so she never had any other thoughts.

In contrast, Saito Asuka's face was flushed, and her eyes were brimming with tears from fright.

"Smith-Masai."

Saito Asuka apologized repeatedly.

"It's okay, it's normal to be scared."

Zhou Le comforted them, saying that they had played at Disneyland from morning till night, and although they were tired, they were very happy. There were also fireworks to watch at night.

The translator took some photos of them while the fireworks were being set off.

There are group photos, solo photos, and photos of two or three people.

However, afterward, while they were watching the fireworks, Saito Asuka returned, took out her phone, typed some words into it, translated them, and showed them to Zhou Le.

"Zhou Le, is the TikTok you use in China different from the one we use?"

Zhou Le then nodded.

But then Saito Asuka put her phone away, and when she showed it to Zhou Le a while later, it was the interface of Douyin (TikTok) in China.

"Zhou Le, can I follow you?"

"of course can."

This time, Saito Asuka switched to English.

Zhou Le understood as well.

The two followed each other on Douyin.

Do you want to develop your business on TikTok in China?

Saito Asuka nodded: "Yes, I heard that TikTok is very interesting over there, so I just registered an account yesterday. But my manager said that when registering an account over there, it's best to find a professional team to manage it."

Zhou Le laughed when he heard this: "If you're looking for a team, I do. My brother and I happen to work with a company that does this kind of business."

"Really? Can I join?"

"Why not? But you should still talk to your agent and your agency about this."

"Then I'll talk to them tomorrow."

However, Saito Asuka quickly opened WeChat again.

You even downloaded this?

"Yes, I heard you guys use this a lot, so I downloaded it."

After adding each other as friends, Zhou Le casually pushed Guo Qiling to the other party.

Then I sent Guo Qiling a WeChat message: "Qiling, I recommended you to a friend, please accept the request."

Guo Qiling quickly sent an OK emoji.

Less than a minute later, Guo Qiling posted a big question mark.

"Brother Le, who is this? Why is it a Japanese name? And the location is set to Japan. Did you find me another girlfriend in Japan?"

"What sister-in-law? This is an idol I met here. She's planning to work on Douyin and might sign with our company later. I'll have her ask her about it. If it works out, you can contact them."

"Oh, okay, but Brother Le, I just copied her name and searched it up. It's Saito Asuka."

"Yes."

"Wow, you even managed to get your hands on Saito Asuka's WeChat. But is yours a pirated copy? Do they even use WeChat there?"

"We definitely don't need to use it, but can't people just download one specifically?"

"That's fine."

After the fireworks ended, everyone learned that Saito Asuka had registered a TikTok account.

Many people went to pay attention.

But just as the other party was about to follow up, they all waved their hands and said it wasn't necessary, that just keeping an eye on Zhou Le was enough.

Then they all started telling Saito Asuka that she could send a video first.

"But what should I post? Can I post my previous photos?"

"Let's forget about the photo shoot. We can post that later. Since it's on Douyin, we can say hello to everyone first."

So the task of teaching Saito Asuka how to greet people in Chinese fell to Zhou Le.

While the others were taking photos in the distance, Zhou Le squatted down to teach Saito Asuka Chinese.

After about five or six minutes, Saito Asuka also felt that it was about time.

"We can add a filter, or take the photos first and edit them later before posting," Zhou Le asked.

"No need, just send it directly."

Saito Asuka was very confident in her looks, so she simply touched up her makeup and let Zhou Le start recording.

"Hello everyone, I'm Daitou Feiniao. It's nice to meet you all, my fans from China. I love you all, I love China." (End of Chapter)