Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

Zhuang Huai'an saw through Liu Yifei's intentions perfectly.

After spending the last two years together, the only thing separating them was the red thread that hadn't been crossed... cough...

Since they had made their choice to each other, Zhuang Huai'an didn't keep anything secret and directly authorized the street photos to be featured in a new issue of "New Monday" magazine, thus fulfilling Liu Yifei's little wish.

A handsome man and a beautiful woman are an eye-catching pair anywhere, not to mention that these two are an internationally renowned director and a rising starlet and idol singer from mainland China.

There's no need to elaborate on Zhuang Huai'an. Liu Yifei became popular in Hong Kong once through "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," and this time, with the explosive success of her debut album "Little Little," she has completely opened the door to the Hong Kong market.

In no time, "New Monday" became a bestseller, selling 50 copies in Hong Kong alone, with almost every young person owning a copy.

Mr. Yang was very generous. He gave Zhuang Huai'an a large red envelope containing all the proceeds from this issue of the magazine. When Zhuang refused to accept it, Mr. Yang donated the money to a welfare home in both of their names, which could be considered a form of charity.

Many of Zhuang Huai'an's old friends called to tease him after seeing the magazine. Everyone knew about the relationship between the two, and it was just a matter of time before things naturally fell into place.

Amidst much discussion, the Hong Kong Film Awards arrived as scheduled.

He led his company members across the red carpet into the venue. The organizing committee gave him the respect due to an international director. He and Liu Yifei were seated in the middle of the third row, while Phoenix Legend and others also benefited from this arrangement, sitting in the fourth row behind them.

These past few years have seen the most frequent exchanges between the entertainment industries of Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, as evidenced by the guests who have come to visit.

Zhou Xun, Qin Hailu, Feng Xiaogang, Jiang Wen, and others from mainland China all came to join in the fun.

The funny thing is, Feng Kuzi was assigned to the fourth row on the right, while Jiang Wen ended up in the third row and even forcibly switched places with Wang Jing, who was next to Zhuang Huai'an, insisting on sitting close to his little brother.

Hmm? That's weird.

The entire awards ceremony was quite boring; Zhuang Huai'an and Jiang Wen kept whispering about other people.

Until the first tipping point appears.

When the Best Newcomer Award was presented, Wan Qian was unexpectedly not selected. The winner was Daichi Harashima, a Japanese-Chinese actor from the film "Unforgettable".

The only god in Hong Kong's entertainment circle, the founder of stand-up comedy, Wong Chi-wah spoke firmly into the microphone.

"Harashima Daichi is really a cute kid, but if you go back to your old ways, please tell those Japanese devils, the Diaoyu Islands belong to China!"

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the room immediately became lively, and Zixia Fairy, who was also an award presenter, clapped her hands with a big laugh.

Zhuang Huai'an curled his fingers, put them in his mouth, and whistled loudly. He stood up and cheered loudly, "Yay! Brother Zihua, you're my god! God Zihua!"

"That's really awesome!" Jiang Wen immediately echoed, standing up and clapping.

Seeing that their boss had started a group buy, everyone followed suit. Zeng Yi chimed in with a whistle, but with his buzz cut and sunglasses, he looked like a ruthless bandit.

Huang Zihua responded with a thumbs-up to Zhuang Huai'an and his group in a very courteous manner.

Even Harashima Daichi himself clapped along with the people around him, perhaps because he hadn't yet developed his intelligence and couldn't understand Huang Zihua's sarcasm.

The applause and cheers lasted for a full three minutes. Once everything quieted down, Liu Yifei smiled and gently tugged at the still excited Zhuang Huai'an, saying softly, "Okay, let's rest for a while."

"Okay," Zhuang Huai'an said, his voice a little hoarse.

After the excitement subsided, the awards ceremony continued.

"Detachment" won Best Screenplay, and Carina Lau won Best Supporting Actress for her role as a psychology teacher. Interestingly, she also had "Infernal Affairs 2" nominated for Best Actress at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards.

Leung Ka-fai also won Best Supporting Actor, but not for "Detachment", but for another movie called "Men Suddenly in Black".

To be honest, the Hong Kong Film Awards are actually quite boring. They are too self-indulgent. Every year, the nominees and winners are the same few people. Compared to the Golden Horse Awards, or even the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards, they seem rather petty.

If the decline of the Golden Horse Awards was self-inflicted, then the Hong Kong Film Awards was self-imposed limitations. The entire awards ceremony was conducted in Cantonese, and nominations required a certain number of Hong Kong artists to participate, with various restrictions and rules. It's no wonder that no one paid attention to it in the end.

But since we're already here, we might as well put together a puzzle.

Besides individual awards, the competition for Best Original Music is also fierce.

There are songs like "Long Sky" with lyrics and music by Ka-Keung and Sai-Wing, "Extramarital Affair" and "Two People's Luck" with lyrics by Lin Xi, and the highly popular "Next Stop, Superstar".

Ultimately, the award was won by Phoenix Legend's adapted version of "Underwater," and the presenter was pop diva Zheng Xiuwen, who won the award the previous year.

The diva, who had just broken up with her scumbag boyfriend Xu, cried uncontrollably while sharing her feelings on stage. She praised the song "Underwater" for giving her a ray of light during her most desperate and frustrated time, and expressed her deep gratitude to Zhuang Huai'an for the lyrics and music, as well as to Phoenix Legend for their performance.

A long, tearful speech touched everyone's hearts. Linghua hugged Zheng Tianhou tightly to comfort her, while Zeng Yi remained expressionless, acting as her bodyguard.

Liu Yifei couldn't help but cry as she watched, muttering a few curses at the heartless man, leaving Zhuang Huai'an feeling utterly helpless.

He couldn't possibly comfort the girl by saying, "It's okay, in a few years that scumbag will get his comeuppance. He'll get a few forced kisses from Red, and all his sins will be wiped out."

In short, these two have been on and off for decades since they started dating in 91. It's purely a case of one willing to give and the other willing to receive; they are two oddballs.

(Huh, why is it 91 again?)

Liu Jialing did not get what she wanted; the Best Actress award went to Zhang Baizhi from "Unforgettable." Perhaps influenced by Zheng Tianhou, Liu Jialing also broke down in tears on stage.

I don't know if she was thinking about her entanglement with the chef Edison Chen, or if she felt that it would be a bit out of place if she didn't cry a little.

As expected, the Best Actor award went to Li Ming. The Hong Kong Film Awards still had some dignity, and didn't let the Berlin Film Festival Best Actor go home empty-handed.

Industry insiders are green with envy for Li Ming, and many predict that the movie "Detachment" is very likely to make him a grand slam Best Actor winner across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

That's to be expected, since Zhuang Huai'an had eaten sugar pills donated by Li Tianwang when he was a child.

On stage, Hong Jinbao burst into laughter as soon as he opened his cue card. Guo Zaiyong, the director of the thief country next to him, looked completely bewildered. He couldn't understand Chinese, so he quickly tugged at Hong Jinbao.

"Ahem, sorry, I lost my composure."

Hong Jinbao snapped out of his daze and, somewhat awkwardly, said in Mandarin, "The winner of the Best Director award at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards is Zhuang Huai'an for 'Detachment.' Congratulations, Director Zhuang!"

The crowd below was not surprised at all; they had already understood when Hong Jinbao switched to Mandarin.

Zhuang Huai'an took the opportunity to hug Liu Yifei, which caused a stir among the crowd. Jiang Wen's mouth was practically stretched to his ears.

Liu Yifei blushed, and after suppressing her shyness, she helped him straighten his clothes, then rolled her eyes at him.

Zhuang Huai'an laughed heartily, walked onto the stage, shook hands with the two guests, accepted the trophy handed to him by Hong Jinbao, thanked a large group of people according to the thank-you speech template, and then said seriously.

"I completely agree with Mr. Huang Zihua's remarks, but I would like to emphasize again that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China, as do the islands in the South China Sea! Thank you!"

Zhuang Huai'an silently added in his mind: Taiwan too.

As he stepped off the stage, he bumped into Jiang Wen, who was presenting the award for Best Film. The older brother looked at his younger brother with some concern, but didn't say much, only patted him on the shoulder.

Zhuang Huai'an didn't care. Even the two great gods, Crab and Crane, wouldn't dare to interrupt what he said. What is a tiny fly?

The Best Picture nominee, "Detachment" and "Infernal Affairs 23" were both rejected. Instead, it went to Johnnie To's "Running on Karma," which is known as "Big Man with Big Wisdom" in mainland China. The close-up of the severed head of Zhang Baizhi in the film is a childhood nightmare for many.

Many people are dissatisfied with this selection because the version shown in mainland China is the censored version. If judged by the original or director's cut, the only film in the Infernal Affairs series that can beat it is the first one.

While both films deal with the themes of reincarnation, destiny, and cause and effect, "Running on Karma" is indeed far superior in its message to the sequel to "Infernal Affairs."

The organizers added a "Best Asian Film" award as a last resort, which was considered the grand finale of the awards.

There are five in total: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress from mainland China, Blue Gate Crossing from Taiwan, Twilight Samurai from Little Days, The Classic from Little Thieves, and finally, Detachment.

This year's Hong Kong Film Awards was star-studded and filled with big names, but the real big names only appeared at the very end.

Mr. Jianhua, the top leader of Hong Kong.

After handing the trophy to Zhuang Huai'an, the gentleman extended his hand, and the two shook hands. Zhuang Huai'an heard a laugh.

"Young man, I know you, you've done a good job."

Well, it was worth it.