I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Will it?

Lu Ban was puzzled.

"Yes, if you clap your hands while you seem happy, it's schadenfreude; if you clap your hands while you seem unhappy, it's jealousy."

Zhang Yuefan explained.

"What if you have no expression?"

"Clapping without expression means you're not interested."

"So, if I clap, I'll be misunderstood. I won't clap."

"You can't not clap, if you don't clap, then you're a sore loser."

"..."

Lu Ban really doubted how much free time some people had.

He still applauded enthusiastically.

When it came time for the Best Special Effects award, Lu Ban put his hand down.

He felt it was time for him to receive the award.

"...Now, please welcome Director Lin Su to announce the winner of this year's Best Visual Effects Award."

The emcee invited a director who Lu Ban recognized. This director was one of the earliest people in China to work on special effects filming and had made several disaster movies, which Lu Ban quite enjoyed watching.

The director, who was over fifty years old, strode onto the stage, took the envelope, opened it, and glanced at it.

He was stunned as soon as he finished watching and asked the emcee next to him in a low voice.

This action caused a stir among the crowd, with many people whispering amongst themselves, seemingly discussing something.

After confirming the information, Director Lin Su stepped forward to the microphone.

"The winner of the Best Special Effects Award at this year's Yannan University Student Film Festival is... 'College Entrance Examination! College Entrance Examination! College Entrance Examination!'"

"?"

Lu Ban was stunned.

Zhang Yuefan, standing to the side, was also taken aback.

My movie won an award?

He was clearly out of sorts.

"congratulations!"

Lu Ban patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Yuefan suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, as if she had returned to the eerie hospital corridor in "The Cry".

"Go claim your prize!"

Lu Ban urged.

Zhang Yuefan had no choice but to slink up to receive the award; it felt more like a public execution than receiving an award.

After delivering a long acceptance speech that he himself didn't understand, Zhang Yuefan sat back down.

What special effects are used in your movies?

Lu Ban naturally took the time to go to the cinema and watch all the films in this film festival. Most of the entries were urban slice-of-life films, and it was hard to tell that special effects were used. Lu Ban originally thought that the award would definitely be his.

But unexpectedly, the prize went to someone else.

He was a little curious.

"Special effects? Uh... just a scene of students tearing up their books and scattering them everywhere after the college entrance exam. Since there wasn't time to tear up that many books, I made a simple special effect..."

Zhang Yuefan felt a little guilty, and immediately explained after he finished speaking.

"I really don't know about this. I guess the judges probably wanted to balance the awards, so they gave me this award. That means you must have a big prize."

Is there any balance left?

Lu Ban felt that there were really a lot of ins and outs in the industry.

"Yes, even with the Oscars, if the quality of the works is similar, or if the director himself is very famous, it will happen like this. If you can't win Best Picture, you can win Best Actor, and if you can't win Best Actress, you can win Best Screenplay. Everyone is friendly, but you still have to put on a show."

Zhang Yuefan added.

"We'll see later."

Lu Ban nodded.

The film and television industry is, in essence, a circle of acquaintances. People often collaborate and rely on relationships for their livelihood, so these award ceremonies may indeed be a way of dividing up the pie.

As an outsider, Lu Ban knew no one and was practically the only person in the film production team. He just barged into the industry in such a frenzy, which was indeed something to think about.

The awards for special effects are over, and soon it will be time for the Best Actress award.

The Best Actress award went to the lead actress in "Past Events Like Smoke." She had previously played supporting roles in other films, but this time she won the award for her daring performance. You could tell she was very moved; her eyes were red.

After Best Actress comes Best Actor.

"The winner of the Best Actor award at this year's Yannan University Student Film Festival is... Lu Ban for 'Crying'."

"?"

Lu Ban was surprised to hear his own name called.

He was somewhat suspicious, but he still stood up and went to the podium.

The award presenter was an actor in his fifties who starred in many well-known TV dramas when he was young. Now he is a professor at the Communication University of China and occasionally makes cameo appearances in other movies.

After receiving the trophy, Lu Ban went to the microphone, and the emcee gestured for him to give his acceptance speech.

Lu Ban looked at the people below the stage and spoke in a slightly hesitant tone.

"To receive this award, well, I'm actually a little curious whether the organizers gave the wrong award. I think I should have received the Best Special Effects award, but since the judges have given it to me, I'll accept it."

His words sparked even more discussion, as no one had ever said anything like that at an awards ceremony before.

Normally, even if someone feels there's something wrong with the awards ceremony, they'll at least thank the judges outwardly as a formality, since some things are unspoken rules—it's better to see through them than to say anything.

But there are very few people like Lu Ban who directly question things.

"...I think my acting skills still need improvement. Thank you to all the judges for your recognition."

Lu Ban said a few words. He really didn't have much experience with acting. The movies were all realistic reflections. If someone asked him how to act out fear, he might suggest that they find a monster to face and experience it firsthand.

As Lu Ban walked off the stage with the trophy in hand, he heard a lot of doubts along the way.

Some people think he's getting a good deal and then acting innocent, some think he's arrogant because of his talent, and others think he's unworthy of his position.

Lu Ban didn't care.

As soon as Lu Ban sat down, he heard the emcee on stage begin announcing the nominees for Best Picture.

He saw his own movie.

Chapter 172 I'm just telling the truth

The entries in this film festival were mostly shortlisted films, and there weren't many feature films in total, just a few. They had already won most of the awards they were supposed to win.

According to Zhang Yuefan's balance theory, anyone could win the award.

Lu Ban wasn't in a hurry.

His goal was to win an award, but what award he won was not important. He was genuinely just expressing his confusion about not winning the Best Special Effects award, not being sarcastic.

Now that Lu Ban has won Best Actor, and the film's box office has already exceeded ten million, completing the mission is more than enough. Winning a few more awards might just improve the evaluation of the mission.

"...These are the shortlisted works for this year's Yannan University Student Film Festival. Now, please welcome our jury member, director Tao Ming, to announce the winner of the Best Film award."

Director Tao Ming is also an elderly man with gray hair. He has directed several classic films. Although he no longer directs, he is often active as a producer in various works.

He went up on the stage, opened the envelope, and his expression turned somewhat grim when he saw the words on it.

"...The film that won the Best Film award at this year's Yannan University Student Film Festival is 'The Cry'."

As soon as he spoke, the background changed to a scene from the movie "Lu Ban," but it didn't quite fit the festive stage. The scenes were somewhat eerie and terrifying, especially since most of the people present had seen the movie. As soon as the images appeared, those terrifying memories flooded back, giving them PTSD.

Lu Ban was slow to realize what was happening, but Zhang Yuefan reminded him before he stepped onto the stage and accepted the trophy from director Tao Ming.

"Uh, thank you, judges. It seems that you weren't quite satisfied with my acceptance speech, so I won't say much more. That's all."

Lu Ban said a few words, accepted the award, and stepped down from the stage.

"..."

The scene was a bit embarrassing.

Director Tao Ming was the first to applaud, and it took him a while to smooth things over with the emcee.

"You're really something."

Zhang Yuefan said to Lu Ban as he came down.

"I feel like I need to stay away from you. I've never seen anyone like you. You offended all the judges on your first time on stage."

"I'm just telling the truth."

Lu Ban replied.

"You can't tell the whole truth..."

Zhang Yuefan felt ashamed.

"But hey, it seems that having talent really does allow you to do whatever you want. The judges don't seem too angry."

"As long as a movie is entertaining and interesting, awards are irrelevant."

Lu Ban casually placed the two trophies aside.

"Hehe, you know what? If it weren't for your previous performance, I would definitely think you were in Versailles right now."

Zhang Yuefan said awkwardly.

……

The broadcast of the awards ceremony was quickly shared online.