Superstars of Tomorrow

After the final pair completed the red-carpet walk, buzz from outside the venue gradually died down. Within the venue, though, the atmosphere was still rather tense.

When the last pair entered after strolling down the red carpet, they let out a long sigh of relief. One of them was also gracing the red carpet for the first time and had been so nervous that his entire back was drenched in sweat. He felt that this traversing this short path had been even more exhausting than completing filming for an entire series.

The majority of award nominees were from the cast and crew of "Founding Era." Most of them would at least recognize the others even if they weren’t familiar with one another. Upon entering the venue, most of them subconsciously glanced at Fang Zhao and realized that he still appeared rather unperturbed. Whether contrived or not, this was worth learning from.

Thus, those that were very nervous also started to put on an act and appear calm. They could hide their actions and gestures, but their palms were clammy and, in their hearts, they were worrying about whether they would win any awards.

The Golden Series Gala quickly started. Compared to the solemn and formal Galaxy Awards Ceremony, the Golden Series Gala was much more random and vivacious. At the start, the host created a relaxed atmosphere as he spoke, sang, and shared some anecdotes, obtaining plenty of laughter from the audience.

In front of the cameras, celebrities and all other film production workers were laughing gently. If they couldn’t actually laugh, they faked it. Otherwise, what would happen if the camera caught it? This was a live broadcast! No one knew what the online audiences were saying, and there would be entertainment reporters ready to take screen grabs and caption things. Thus, acting skills had to be ever present.

At the start was the awards presentation for the comedy category. The atmosphere was also much more relaxed, but after the first few categories were completed, the atmosphere was no longer as lively. The younger actors’ originally bright smiles had become awkward.

The Best Child Star Award was a turning point, because after it were the awards for the TV series categories.

In the beginning, the Corale Film Festival hadn’t had the Best Child Star Award. At some point, this award had been added to serve as an encouragement for outstanding child performers. This time, Lu Aotian had made it into the finalist pool and was the hot favorite.

Indeed, when the honored guest said "Lu Aotian," there was no surprise on the faces of those present.

Lu Aotian’s parents got up excitedly and gave a standing ovation when they heard his name being called.

Lu Aotian got up from his seat and made a small jog onto the stage before doing a somersault followed by a cartwheel and then a few successive flips, landing in front of the honored guest and drawing a chorus of laughter from the all the elder actors and actresses present.

"Haha! This kid!"

"This little fella is really excited."

"These somersaults are full of vigor. Not bad, he must have practiced many times in private."

"Yeah, he even learned to handle guns; his hands were full of calluses when filming ’Founding Era.’ That was why he appeared so natural with them in the series. He is indeed a very hardworking little fellow."

On stage, Lu Aotian didn’t even bother to wipe away the sweat from his forehead and was flashing a toothy grin. During the filming of Founding Era, he had been starting to lose his milk teeth. Back then, to increase the authenticity of the film, the director hadn’t let him put on fake teeth. Now, he had on a set of custom-made teeth for the awards ceremony. Otherwise, how shameful would it be if people saw the gaps between his teeth? He wouldn’t remove the fake teeth until the film festival had concluded, so he wasn’t afraid to flash his teeth. Not only did he have to smile, his smile needed to be especially dazzling! This was the first heavyweight award he had achieved relying on his own ability. His father hadn’t even been nominated this time around!

Lu Aotian held up the award and was about to give an acceptance speech when he suddenly realized that he had forgotten his lines.

He had clearly memorized them before coming, but now that he was overly excited, his brain seemed to be shooting off fireworks. He simply couldn’t think about anything else.

When the honored guest saw the situation, he understood immediately and didn’t hurry off the stage. He asked Lu Aotian, "What a surprise. Are you happy?"

Lu Aotian immediately replied, "No surprise! I’m very happy! After all, my performance in the series was so good!"

"This little friend really has a lot of self-confidence. Who was your favorite person in the cast and crew during filming?" inquired another honored guest.

Lu Aotian loudly exclaimed, "My favorite person was Fang Zhao!"

The live broadcast camera gave a special close-up of Lu Aotian’s father in the audience.

Father Lu smiled nervously. In his head, he was thinking about how to sort out this little rascal when they got home. When this rascal got excited, he even forgot about his own father. Aren’t you supposed to recite your father’s name at this sort of time!?

After the camera was cut, the person beside Father Lu joked, "Want to have a fight with Fang Zhao after this is over?"

"No way," Father Lu replied firmly.

"Why?"

"Do you know how many sandbags he disfigured during the filming of ’Founding Era’?"

At this point, Lu Aotian recalled the acceptance speech he had memorized. He thanked his parents for his upbringing—without his family environment and conditions, he would have had no way of reaching these heights at such a young age. He also thanked the director and the brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts from the cast and crew.

But many online audiences were no longer concerned with what Lu Aotian was saying. What they were more interested in was why the first person Lu Aotian had mentioned was Fang Zhao?

Thus, many netizens searched for the photograph of Lu Aotian riding on Fang Zhao’s shoulders as well as a historical photograph of Great General Wu Yan sitting on Fang Zhao’s shoulders, which triggered a wave of discussions.

Inside a residential building on Corale Main.

Blossoming special effects fireworks reminded everyone that yet another award had been issued.

"Which award was just handed out?" a youngster who had just finished a round of gaming asked the companion beside him watching the live broadcast.

"Best Child Star Award. The winner is that little kid Lu Aotian who played the Yanzhou chapter’s lead when he was young in ’Founding Era.’ Take a look at this trending photograph, then compare it with the historical photograph. Aren’t they very similar?"

"Seems like the acting wasn’t too bad. I have to go search for the Yanzhou chapter of ’Founding Era.’ I have yet to watch it."

"This kid is rather interesting. He even did flips on stage, and when the host asked him who his favorite person in the crew was, he answered Fang Zhao, hahaha! The live broadcast even gave his father a close-up."

"Fang Zhao? The Fang Zhao who was very popular a short while ago? I think I saw his name in the nominations."

"Yes! He was nominated for the Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Role awards, though I don’t know if he will be able to win... Hey, the next award is the Best Newcomer Award!"

After the Best Child Star Award was the Best Newcomer Award. The honored guest tore open the envelope, glanced at the name on it, and opened his mouth.

"Fang Zhao!"

Music and applause sounded as spotlights were pointed at Fang Zhao.

Through the camera lens, Fang Zhao got up and gave a bow to the showbiz seniors all around him. There was some excitement, nervousness, and delight in his expression, the sort of reaction someone his age ought to have.

Zuo Yu, Yan Biao, and Nanfeng, who were watching the live broadcast: "..." Our boss is acting again.

Although Fang Zhao had won this award and Silver Wing’s side was happy, they were also a little disappointed.

On this stage, at Corale Film Festival’s Golden Series Gala, the Best Supporting Actor award was rated slightly higher than the Best Newcomer Award. Just like the Best Child Star Award, the Golden Series Gala hadn’t always had the Best Newcomer Award. It had only been added later to encourage young performers to work hard in the acting circles. It could be said that the Best Newcomer Award was a comparison between new actors and actresses at this time, whereas the Best Supporting Actor Award was a more comprehensive competition among predecessors of the showbiz circles.

When "Founding Era" Head Director Nova Roman saw this result, his smile dimmed. In his heart, out of the Best Newcomer Award and Best Supporting Actor Award, he had hoped that Fang Zhao would win the Best Supporting Actor Award. That would be affirmation that Fang Zhao didn’t lose to any industry predecessors in terms of ability.

In Roman’s heart, out of the many chapters of "Founding Era" and the many important supporting roles, the one who had acted the best was Fang Zhao. Although Fang Zhao was young and his acting path might be more narrow, that couldn’t deny his perfect performance during Founding Era.

The evaluation committee had ultimately decided to place Fang Zhao on the Best Newcomer Award. Roman had cast his vote on Fang Zhao for Best Supporting Actor, but the others might not have had the same opinion. This was no longer the "Founding Era" program; Roman’s say was limited.

An actor’s acting skills were important, but there were also other factors involved. After all, the members of the evaluation committee were only human, and they had their own selfish desires or partiality and would also consider an actor’s experience. Compared to Fang Zhao, the evaluation committee might be more satisfied with others,

Although there weren’t any written rules, everyone understood that after winning the Best Newcomer Award, Fang Zhao should forget about receiving the Best Supporting Actor Award. This made the other few nominees in the Best Supporting Actor category heave sighs of relief. Fang Zhao was indeed a very strong competitor, and his performance in the series was obvious to all.

A few people seated beside Roman noticed the expression on his face. They understood that Roman was not pleased. But the result was what it was. Even if he had objected, it was of no use.

When the Best Newcomer Award was handed out, another wave of light fireworks was set off on Corale Main, telling those watching the live broadcast that yet another award had been handed out.

"Indeed, it is Fang Zhao, just as I expected."

"Getting such an achievement on his acting debut really isn’t bad. How many people have spent over 10 years in the newcomer category without things picking up? Wasn’t there some continent’s movie award where the recipient of the newcomer award was an actor that had been somewhat invisible for five to six years since his debut?"

"Fang Zhao has really gotten a lot of limelight at this Golden Series Gala. This should be enough. Previously on the red carpet and now winning an award, he has really struck gold. How many people struggle to even show their faces? This is a global live broadcast in any case!"

In the venue, Fang Zhao accepted the award, gave his acceptance speech, and returned to his seat when he received a message. Before entering the venue, Fang Zhao had set his notifications to silent unless it was someone especially important.

Fang Zhao opened the message and saw that the sender was Mo Lang. His message wasn’t the same congratulatory messages that others had sent.

Fang Zhao’s eyebrows raised slightly when he saw the contents. A camera swept toward him, and Fang Zhao fixed his appearance and continued to watch the following awards.

The next award category was the Best Screenplay Award, and as expected, the production team of "Founding Era" picked up the award. Two scriptwriters represented the team and went on stage to receive it.

After thanking a few important figures, the two scriptwriters praised the other members of the "Founding Era" cast and crew.

"...The cast and crew of ’Founding Era’ was a superteam. During the process of filming, everyone shared our unimaginable suffering. Also, it wasn’t easy for the actors to shed their characters... Also, we have to especially thank the consultant team. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to perfect the script. For example, Prof. Man Te, Prof. Redmayne, Prof. Besse, Prof. Jason, and Yanzhou’s Fang Zhao, as well as the others. All of them provided extremely pertinent suggestions. This is the result of everyone’s collective hard work! Thank you!"

The ears of people watching the live broadcast pricked up.

"What? I didn’t hear wrong, right? I think I heard Fang Zhao’s name again!"

"They just said Fang Zhao’s name, right?"

"After rewinding and rewatching that part, I can confirm that they mentioned Fang Zhao!"

"How many Fang Zhaos are there in the consultant team?"

"According to a public figure’s reveal, Fang Zhao was indeed invited to the consultant team for ’Founding Era.’ And he was the only Fang Zhao in the consultant team. He was indeed the one mentioned by the scriptwriters."

"Fang Zhao’s name was in the end credits of the Yanzhou chapter, but many people didn’t pay attention to it."

Some audience members wouldn’t understand, but the frequency with which Fang Zhao’s name was appearing was really high. The audience was also very sensitive to this name. In the past, only a small portion of Yanzhou people had known that Fang Zhao had been in the consultant team, but now many viewers across the world knew.

"The f*ck! Fang Zhao was actually a member of the ’Founding Era’ consultant team! Isn’t he a composer? How is he mixing around with those historians? Does he also specialize in history?"

"Shouldn’t you ask why a composer is here snatching awards from people from the film circles!?"