Abstract Art Award Winner

I returned to the Busan Paradise Hotel from that somewhat bizarre JYP dinner.

Zhou Le felt even more tired than if he had played a best-of-five series.

He slumped onto the sofa, took out his phone, and opened his WeChat chat with Zhou Ye.

Zhou Le: [collapsed.jpg] Back at the hotel.

Zhou Ye: So fast? Didn't you spend more time with President Park and the TWICE members? [Eating melon emoji]
Zhou Le: What are you playing around for? We don't know anyone here, I wouldn't dare mess around. I'm a law-abiding person, I'm a coward. [Picking nose emoji]
Zhou Ye: Tsk tsk, what a pity. I thought you'd have some kind of amazing encounter. What a waste of my expectations. [Smirking]
Zhou Le: Give me a break. If this were in China, you would probably have already come to check up on me. Here, you don't even dare to come over, so how could I dare to mess around outside?

Zhou Ye: You've got some serious awareness, Brother Le! Now that you mention it, I really want to go visit you, but unfortunately I don't dare.

Zhou Le: It's okay, we'll talk about it when we get back.

Zhou Le put down his phone and let out a long sigh of relief.

There are many temptations in a foreign land, but safety is more important.

He took a shower and fell into a deep sleep, feeling both tired and satisfied with his firm stance.

The next morning, Zhou Le was woken up by a phone ringing.

It was an unfamiliar Korean number. The person on the other end introduced himself in heavily accented English, saying he was a variety show PD from a Korean TV station and wanted to invite him to record an episode of the currently popular food variety show, "Street Food Fighter".

"Mr. Zhou Le, you are very popular in South Korea! We sincerely invite you to be a guest on our program, it will only take half a day!"

The other party spoke in a warm tone.

Zhou Le rubbed his sleepy eyes, his brain racing.

A food variety show?

His mind instantly flashed through the food he had encountered in South Korea over the past few days: kimchi, soybean paste stew, barbecue, and everything mixed with chili sauce.

It's not that the food is bad, but the variety is really limited, let alone compared to the vast and profound Chinese cuisine he has experienced.

If this were on a TV show and the host enthusiastically asked him to evaluate the essence of Korean cuisine, would he say, "Hmm, the kimchi is very crisp, and the soybean paste is very rich"?

It's too much to do against your conscience, and it's easy to get into trouble.

But thinking about it that way, it really doesn't taste good.

“Thank you very much for your invitation,” Zhou Le politely declined in fluent English. “However, I’m really sorry, my schedule is very tight today. I have to rush back to China soon, and my schedule for the next few months is already full. I’m afraid I won’t have time to participate this time. I hope there will be an opportunity to cooperate in the future.”

The other party tried again, but Zhou Le's attitude was firm yet polite, so the other party had no choice but to hang up the phone regretfully.

"That was close..." Zhou Le muttered. "If I had gone there and raved about those things, wouldn't the domestic audience have accused me of being hypocritical?"

Zhou Le has certain requirements for his "foodie" persona.

I had only had a few minutes of peace and quiet when the phone rang again.

This time, it was the organizers of the League of Legends Korean tournament who called, wanting to take advantage of Zhou Le's current popularity in Korea to urgently organize a small e-sports fan meeting for him.

"Mr. Zhou Le, your performance on the commentary stage has captivated countless Korean players! We hope to take this opportunity to allow you to interact more closely with local fans!"

After listening, Zhou Le declined again: "Thank you for your kindness, but I think my main identity is that of an actor and director. Narration is just an occasional guest appearance. It feels inappropriate to use this to create a persona and hold a fan meeting. It is also putting the cart before the horse."

Let's leave the opportunities to more professional esports players and commentators.

He has a clear mind; he doesn't want to over-exploit the popularity of esports, nor does he want to label himself with overly fixed tags.

Zhou Le didn't expect that these people in the Korean entertainment industry were so efficient, not letting any trending topic slip by.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Le felt a little hungry, so he went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.

Yu Hewei and Zhou Ye were already there. Looking at the buffet table, which was full of various dishes but still mainly consisted of kimchi, seaweed soup, rice, fried fish and various small pickled vegetables, Zhou Le couldn't help but sigh and sat down next to Yu Hewei with his plate.

"Teacher Yu, how are you feeling?" Zhou Le asked in a low voice, poking at a piece of kimchi on the plate with his chopsticks.

Yu Hewei slowly took a sip of seaweed soup, smacked his lips, and showed an indescribable expression: "Hmm... light and healthy, but if I eat this for a few days in a row, I'll start to miss the soy milk and fried dough sticks from Beijing, or a bowl of hot wontons."

Zhou Le nodded in agreement: "Yes, I feel that their food system is quite focused. They can make dozens of kinds of kimchi, but it's always the same basic flavor. My Chinese stomach is starting to protest."

Zhou Ye, munching on a fried egg, chimed in with a smile, "Brother Le, Teacher Yu, you two have really high standards. I think it's alright, quite healthy."

Zhou Le glanced at her: "You're a young girl with a small appetite, so you can eat anything. But for us who need energy to work, we need to be more robust."

As they were talking, director Zhang Yimou came over with his tray and sat down: "What are you talking about?"

Yu Hewei laughed and said, "They're criticizing South Korea's breakfast culture, saying it's too bland."

Zhang Yi also laughed: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. But Xiao Zhou, we don't have any plans for today. Do you young people want to go out and have some fun? Buy some things? You've come all this way to Busan, so you should at least look around."

Zhou Le shook his head vigorously: "Director Zhang, no, no, I'm unfamiliar with this place and don't speak the language. I'd better stay in the hotel and get back home as soon as I'm done. There's a ton of stuff to do back home."

Zhang Yi nodded and didn't insist.

After breakfast, Zhang Yi and Zhou Ye left first.

Only Zhou Le and Yu Hewei remained at the dining table.

Yu Hewei leaned closer, lowered his voice, and asked in a teasing tone that only men understand: "Hey, Zhou Le, was last night's dinner party really that bland? The boss of JYP treated us, didn't he arrange any... special programs? I've heard that Korean entertainment companies are quite good at this kind of thing."

Zhou Le smiled helplessly: "Teacher Yu, please don't make wild guesses. There are members of TWICE there, but they're just here to meet and chat."

President Park also said he wouldn't interfere. Even if they wanted to, I didn't have the guts. How could I dare to do anything reckless abroad? Besides, frankly, it's really unnecessary. Compared to that, it's safer and I feel more at ease domestically.”

Yu Hewei put away his joking expression, nodded, and his tone became more serious: "You're a clear-headed kid. It's not that safe out there, especially for us Chinese. I've heard that some places specifically target Chinese people who travel alone and don't speak the language. Scamming and deception are the least of their problems; the more serious ones... you know bounty hunters, right? So, when you come out, you still have to go with a group, with an official or reliable team like ours. Safety first."

Zhou Le agreed wholeheartedly: "Yes, I've heard some things about it too, so I'd like to go back as soon as possible."

The group boarded a plane back to China that afternoon.

On the plane, Zhou Le and Zhang Yi sat together. Zhang Yi put down her magazine and said to Zhou Le, "Little Zhou, there's an event in a few days, the China-US International Film Festival in Los Angeles. Although it can't compare to the three major European film festivals, it's still pretty prestigious in North America." Zhou Le nodded, indicating that he knew about the film festival.

Zhang Yimou continued, "I have discussed this with the production team and the crew of 'The Age of Awakening'. The crew of 'The Age of Awakening' will nominate Yu Hewei for Best Actor of the Year, and the crew of 'Cliff Walkers' will nominate you for Best Actor of the Year."

Zhou Le was somewhat surprised and also a little confused, since the actors were obviously of higher caliber and encompassed more roles.

Zhang Yi saw through his thoughts and explained: "On the one hand, this is to lay the groundwork for the domestic Golden Rooster Awards, to diversify the nominations and increase the chances of winning, which is a strategy."

On the other hand, your performance in "Cliff Walkers" was truly outstanding, and your portrayal of the character was extremely well done. The judges will be very impressed. There are limited spots available for "Awakening Age," and Yu Hewei's Chen Duxiu is the main character, so this is how it will be arranged for now.

We've all seen your performance; both Li Dazhao and Zhang Xianchen were commendable.

Zhou Le immediately understood the considerations behind it and said sincerely, "Thank you, Director Zhang, and thank you to the crew for your guidance. I understand."

He knew in his heart that this was already a great affirmation and promotion for him.

The plane landed in Beijing, and Zhou Le returned to his long-missed home, collapsing into bed immediately.

Jet lag and days of travel left him exhausted.

I slept soundly until almost 11 a.m. the next day when I was awakened by the sunlight.

He groggily picked up his phone and saw several missed calls and WeChat messages.

Before he could fully wake up, another phone call came in; it was Dilraba.

"Hello? Le'er! You're back in China?" Reba's voice came through the receiver.

"Yeah, I just woke up. What's wrong?" Zhou Le asked, yawning.

"I have great news for you! I've been nominated for an award at the Chinese American Film Festival for 'You Are My Glory'! Although the series hasn't aired yet, the trailers and the final cut have received a very positive response after being submitted for review!" Dilraba's voice was filled with excitement.

Zhou Le was taken aback. He knew nothing about this; he had been too busy lately to pay attention to such things.

"Really? Congratulations! When are you going?"

“It’s only a few days! I remember you were nominated too, right? We can travel together then, so we can look out for each other on the way and help each other out when we get to America,” Dilraba warmly invited.

Zhou Le was about to answer "Okay".

Another call came in, and he glanced at it, his heart skipped a beat—it was Naza.

"Uh... Dilraba, wait a moment, I have a call, I'll call you back right away." Zhou Le quickly switched to the other end.

"Hello? Zhou Le! You finally answered the phone!" Naza's voice was gentle with a hint of reproach. "I've been nominated for the Chinese American Film Festival! It's for 'The Long Ballad'! You're definitely going too, right? Let's go together, so we can keep each other company on the journey, and we can even go out and have some fun together when we get there!"

Zhou Le felt his head suddenly grow two sizes larger.

What a coincidence?
Both of them made it to the finals?
And all of them are dramas in which he starred?
That's going to kill me, isn't it?
He had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Ah, yes, yes, my films 'Cliff Walkers' and 'Age of Awakening' have also been shortlisted, so I'm going to go."

"That's great!" Naza said happily. "Then it's settled, let's go together! I'll have my agent arrange the tickets!"

After hanging up with Nazha, Zhou Le switched back to Dilraba's line. Dilraba was still waiting on the other end: "Brother Le, who was that? Is it settled? Let's go together?"

Zhou Le took a deep breath and tried to make his tone natural: "Um... I just got a work call. Okay... we can go together then. I'll have Xiao Su coordinate the itinerary."

After finally managing to deal with both sides, Zhou Le put down his phone, feeling even more exhausted than if he had commentated on five final games. What kind of situation was this?! Two women together, and they even had to fly to the US on the same plane?
This is practically a battleground in the making!

He scratched his hair irritably.

No, we need to call for reinforcements!
He immediately dialed his agent, Su Yingxia's, number.

"Xiao Su! Help!" Zhou Le cried out as soon as the call connected.

"What's wrong, my young master? You've already run into trouble as soon as you got back to the country?" Su Yingxia's voice was tinged with laughter.

Zhou Le quickly recounted how Dilraba and Gulnazar were both going to the film festival and had invited him to go with them.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then Su Yingxia's gloating voice came through: "Oh dear, this is a real mess! If it's not handled well, it'll be trending on social media. A certain celebrity is caught in a dilemma at the airport, and their former on-screen couple is having an awkward time on the same flight..."

"Xiao Su, you're starting to tease the boss now, aren't you? Think of something!" Zhou Le was on the verge of tears.

Su Yingxia thought for a moment and said, "This is indeed a difficult matter. It's not good to leave anyone behind. Here's what we'll do: you tell them that I've already booked their plane tickets and itinerary for them. It's a group trip."

This way, even if everyone is on the same flight, they may not be able to sit together, at least there is a buffer.

Once we arrived in Los Angeles and exited the airport, we all took the same car to the hotel, which seemed reasonable enough.

Once you're settled in the hotel, everyone can go about their own business. What happens next is up to you.

Zhou Le sighed: "Well, that's all we can do. I feel like my life is going through a melodramatic soap opera. We even managed to clash with such a niche film festival, and the coincidences were so perfect."

Who even submitted this award? How did they manage to put those two together?!

Su Yingxia laughed and said, "Don't worry about that, it's all handled by the company and the platform."

For them, they'll definitely sign up for every available spot. Winning an award makes investors happy, and the platform gets publicity too—it's good for everyone.

"I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you a bit, my dear boss, Brother Le."

Zhou Le pouted helplessly: "It is quite unfair. You guys are sitting on the sidelines, leaving me to face this ordeal alone."

Su Yingxia laughed even harder on the other end of the phone: "It's okay. Think about the salary and box office revenue you've earned. It's a win-win situation no matter how you look at it."

"You'll have to go through this sooner or later anyway, don't even think about avoiding it. Okay, I'll help you coordinate your flight and itinerary. You talk to them, and good luck!"

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Le lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Each one of them is a good thing, and I am more familiar with Europe and America, so I will be more at ease when I go there.

But putting them all together is really difficult. (End of Chapter)