Huayu Entertainment: Starting with Exorcising Evil from a Film Queen

Chapter 100: Invitation to the Awards Ceremony (3K)

"Everyone has worked hard these past few days."

Zhang Ze raised his glass.

"No matter what the outcome is tomorrow, we've already made a great success this time."

"We've almost sold all the copyrights. Although a few are still pending, the ones we've sold so far have already covered our costs. Whether we win any awards or not, we've already made a profit!"

"Come on, let's have a drink."

Everyone raised their glasses.

The glasses clinked together, making a crisp sound.

Chen Zhixi took a big gulp of wine, her cheeks slightly flushed.

She's barely slept these past few days, feeling both excited and anxious.

"I wish I could win an award."

Chen Zhixi put down her wine glass, her eyes somewhat unfocused. "Even if it's just a small award, it will give us a lot more confidence when we go back and promote it."

"Don't think too much about it." Zhang Ze poured wine into her empty glass. "If I get it, I'm lucky; if I lose it, it's my fate."

Just then, the phone on the corner of the table vibrated.

It's Chen Zhixi's phone.

Everyone paused for a moment.

Chen Zhixi glanced at the caller ID; it was an unfamiliar French number.

Her drunkenness instantly subsided by half.

She picked up her phone, her fingertips trembling slightly.

She looked up at Zhang Ze, and only after seeing him nod slightly did she press the answer button.

"Hello?"

Chen Zhixi's voice was somewhat tense.

The table fell silent, save for the soft sound of Liu Hua chewing on an oyster.

A fluent French voice came from the other end of the phone, which then switched to English.

As Chen Zhixi listened, her eyes widened, her mouth opened slightly, and she froze in place.

After a dozen seconds, she stammered, "0kay— Okay, thank you very much!"

We will be there.

hang up the phone.

Chen Zhixi's hand, which was holding her phone, hung limply on the table. She seemed to have lost her soul, staring blankly into the void in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Hao Lei couldn't help but ask. "What happened?"

Li Xiaoran also nervously gripped the tablecloth.

Liu Hua stopped what she was doing, even forgetting to put down the oyster she hadn't finished eating.

Chen Zhixi slowly turned her head, her gaze sweeping across everyone's faces before finally settling on Zhang Ze.

Her throat bobbed.

"That was a call from the film festival organizing committee."

Her voice was somewhat hoarse, carrying an unreal, ethereal quality.

"They invited the cast and crew of 'Like Father, Like Son' to attend the closing ceremony and awards ceremony tomorrow night—and said that everyone must be there."

A brief silence.

As is customary at A-list international film festivals, not all nominated film crews are invited to the closing ceremony.

Usually, only the winning film crews receive a special notification from the organizing committee and are required to attend.

This means —

Holy crap!

Liu Hua slapped his thigh suddenly, and the oyster cleaver in his hand fell onto the plate with a clatter.

"Really?"

"real."

Chen Zhixi finally snapped out of her daze, her expression instantly transforming from blank to ecstatic, tears welling up in her eyes. "We won! We definitely won!"

"what!"

Li Xiao screamed again, jumped up from the chair, and hugged Hao Lei next to her.

Hao Lei laughed heartily, patting Li Xiaozai's back forcefully.

Zhang Ze sat there, a slight smile playing on his lips.

He picked up the bottle, filled his glass, then raised it and gently swirled it towards the setting sun.

Although I knew the quality of this film beforehand and was mentally prepared, when the moment actually arrived, the sense of relief and satisfaction was still intoxicating.

"waiter!"

Zhang Ze snapped his fingers, raising his voice slightly.

"Two more bottles of the finest champagne, please!"

That night, everyone drank too much.

Even the usually restrained Chen Zhixi got drunk, her face flushed, and she started talking nonsense while pulling Liu Hua along, insisting on giving him a raise.

Zhang Ze was both amused and exasperated.

Even if you want to increase the pay, that's Zhang Ze's job, what does it have to do with you as the producer?

However, her drunken ramblings also reminded Zhang Ze.

If everything goes well at this film festival, he will definitely give a big red envelope to each member of the entire creative team later.

Not only the actors in front of us, but also the other behind-the-scenes members of the crew.

Zhang Ze was not a stingy person to begin with. Moreover, no matter what their reasons were, these people chose to help him make the movie when he was penniless.

Zhang Ze should accept this favor.

It was already late at night when I got back to the hotel.

Zhang Ze escorted everyone back to their respective rooms.

In the end, only he and Li Xiaoran remained.

Li Xiao had drunk quite a bit more and was walking unsteadily, with most of her body hanging on Zhang Ze.

Her face was buried in Zhang Ze's neck, her breath hot and heavy with the smell of alcohol.

Zhang Ze swiped his card, opened her door, helped her inside, and placed her on the bed.

Just as he was about to get up and leave, Li Xiaoran suddenly hooked her arm around his neck.

"Don't go—"

Her voice was soft and sweet, tinged with a hint of intoxication and pleading.

Zhang Ze looked down at her.

Li Xiaoran's eyes were glazed over, her cheeks were flushed, and her long hair was scattered on the pillow.

She looked at Zhang Ze, her eyes filled with undisguised affection.

"Stay tonight, okay?"

She pulled hard.

Zhang Ze leaned against her, supporting himself on his hands beside her ears.

"Did your relative leave?" Zhang Ze's voice was very soft.

Li Xiaoran did not answer, but instead raised her head and launched an attack.

The next afternoon.

The entire crew began making final preparations for the evening's red carpet event.

This is quite different from the opening ceremony.

Everyone's room was piled high with clothes.

This time, they're walking the red carpet at an awards ceremony, a true highlight of the event.

Zhang Ze chose a well-tailored, dark black custom-made suit, with his bow tie perfectly tied.

When he walked out of the room and into the lobby, everyone else had already arrived.

Li Xiaoran changed into a silver-white low-cut evening gown with a long, trailing skirt, and wore the diamond necklace she had carefully selected beforehand.

Seeing Zhang Ze approach, her face instantly flushed red. She turned around gently and asked, "How is it? Does it look good?"

"It looks good, and it suits you very well," Zhang Ze praised sincerely.

Hao Lei, on the other hand, wore a bright red backless dress, exuding a powerful aura and looking stunningly beautiful.

She glanced at Zhang Ze, then at Li Xiaoran, her gaze shifting between the two before she gave a meaningful smile.

"Is everyone here?"

Zhang Ze straightened his cuffs.

"It's all here!" Chen Zhixi's voice was still trembling. She had put on heavy makeup today to cover up the traces of her hangover from last night.

"Then let's go."

Zhang Ze waved his hand.

Several black official limousines were parked in front of the hotel.

The convoy slowly drove toward the cinema.

The atmosphere on the red carpet was even more enthusiastic than on the day of the opening ceremony.

Hundreds of media outlets were on high alert, and the world's attention was focused on this place.

When the car bearing the "Like Father, Like Son" crew's logo stopped at the end of the red carpet, the flashbulbs instantly turned the scene into daylight.

The car door opened.

Zhang Ze got off the bus first.

He stood at one end of the red carpet, not in a hurry to leave, but turned around and extended his hand in a gentlemanly manner.

Li Xiao then took his hand and got out of the car, standing beside him.

Next up were Hao Lei, Liu Hua, and Chen Zhixi.

Five people stood side by side.

The flashes of light from the cameras reached their peak at that moment, and the intense white light swept across the area, covering every inch of the space at the beginning of the red carpet.

Because of the bright light, Zhang Ze habitually squinted, leaving white afterimages on his retina.

Reporters in the domestic media area held microphones with red signs hanging from them, leaning over the railing and stretching their arms forward with all their might.

The Sina.com cameraman crouched down, his fingers rapidly pressing the shutter button, the lens locked tightly on Zhang Ze's face.

"Director Zhang! Look this way! This is Sohu Entertainment!"

"Ms. Li Xiaoran, please look a little to your left!"

The shouts that erupted from the crowd drowned out the background music, and the shouts in Chinese sounded particularly jarring at the entrance of a movie theater in a foreign land.

Because they missed the red carpet photoshoot during the opening ceremony.

These domestic reporters seized the opportunity and were practically shooting ten frames per second!

Zhang Ze raised his left hand, placing his palm above his brow bone to shield himself from the relentless filming.

He led Li Xiao forward, his pace extremely steady, stopping every three steps to coordinate with the camera from different angles.

Li Xiaozai's fingers gripped Zhang Ze's arm, the hem of her long dress brushing against the velvet of the red carpet, making an extremely subtle rustling sound.

With her other hand, she held up her skirt to prevent her high heels from stepping on the fabric, and occasionally a glimpse of silver light peeked out from her toes.

Hao Lei walked to Zhang Ze's right, her back straight, and with each step, the hem of her red skirt swayed like a pendulum.

She maintained a calm expression, and when called upon by reporters, she simply turned her head politely without stopping the conversation.

Liu Hua followed half a body length behind Zhang Ze, occasionally reaching out to tug at the hem of his suit jacket to make sure his shirt wasn't rolled up.

After passing through the media area, several staff members from the French organizing committee came to greet them and guided them up the iconic steps of the Lumière Theatre.

At the entrance of the Grand Theatre, a huge film festival poster swayed slightly in the sea breeze, and security personnel stood ramrod straight on both sides.

Upon entering the lobby, cool air blew down from the overhead vents, instantly taking away the outside heat, and a faint scent of perfume filled the air.

Zhang Ze walked through a corridor filled with photos of past Palme d'Or winners and saw Lou Ye talking to someone in the lobby's rest area.

Lou Ye was wearing an ill-fitting black suit today, with his shirt collar slightly open, and he was holding a glass of soda water.

Seeing Zhang Ze walk in, Lou Ye put down his cup and strode over.

Zhang Ze quickened his pace, took the initiative to extend his hand, and shook hands with Lou Ye.

"I heard you received an invitation, congratulations."

Lou Ye spoke in a low voice, his gaze sweeping over the team members behind Zhang Ze before finally settling on Zhang Ze's face.

"They just informed us to attend the awards ceremony; the final results haven't been decided yet."

Zhang Ze released his hand, casually adjusting the buttons on his suit jacket with a steady and methodical movement.

"In Cannes, no nominee who leaves empty-handed is ever invited back to the red carpet a second time; it's an unwritten rule."