Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 514: Hundred-Chime Golden Flower — The Judges Break into a Brawl—

After spending one last leisurely day in Shanghai, Xiao He flew to Beijing with his team.

Due to the voting mechanism, the final shortlisted films for the Bai Ming Award would be screened for several days, allowing the jury to view them up close and vote again on the final award-winning films.

Once this period ended, the official Bai Ming Award ceremony would be held.

The official award ceremony for this yearʼs Bai Ming Award was scheduled for August 2nd, with the venue set in Qin City, right next to Beijing.

However, Xiao He and his team rushing to Beijing by the end of July wasnʼt solely for the final selection of the Bai Ming Award.

Because unbeknownst to many, the Golden Flower Award had also recently concluded its submission phase, quietly entering the preliminary review stage.

If the Bai Ming Award relied more on traffic, was limited by the audience voting mechanism, and its overall professionalism was influenced by the actorʼs popularity and topical traffic, lacking strong professional rigor, then the Golden Flower Award, another of the three major film awards, undoubtedly placed greater emphasis on professionalism.

Of course, in recent years, all awards have had aspects worthy of criticism to varying degrees, but overall, this does not affect their important status within the domestic entertainment industryʼs award system.

Therefore, the goal of their group this time was not simply the Bai Ming Award, but the rare achievement of winning both Best Actor awards in the same award season!

Winning one is winning, and winning two is even more of a given!
This was Liu Rulanʼs ambition, Xiao Heʼs ambition, and also the ambition of the entire ʼNo Baitʼ production team!

At this point, the domestic total box office for ʼNo Baitʼ had officially settled at 3.9 billion. Although it was somewhat regrettable that it ultimately failed to break the 4 billion mark, it was the overseas box office, comparable to the domestic one, that truly made everyoneʼs jaws drop. Its commercial success globally far exceeded other domestic films of the same genre, making it one of the critically acclaimed masterpieces both domestically and internationally. Such fame and attributes destined it to become a dark horse at the venues of these two awards.

But was this really that easy?

Winning both awards in the same season—no one has achieved it so far.

Due to various reasons, the Golden Flower and Bai Ming Awards are actually not held in the same year; their award cycles are both once every two years.

However, one is held in odd-numbered years, and the other in even-numbered years.

So, no matter what, they couldnʼt possibly meet in the same year. Other actors who won both awards basically had to win them in consecutive years for the same role, and this timeline could even stretch over three years or more.

But because of the market expansion and the flourishing film industry in recent years, the Golden Flower Award was later changed back to being held annually...

Thus, this year, the two awards were able to coincide again.

This was the year the ʼNo Baitʼ production team was most likely to win both awards in one go, and also the year Xiao He was closest to achieving the dual Best Actor titles. If they missed this chance, the next opportunity for winning both in the same season would be two years later.

By then, the domestic entertainment landscape would have changed dramatically with the rise of new talents and the fading of old ones. No one knew who the emerging competitors would be, nor if they would ever get another role like Shu Yuxiu, a character whose soul so naturally ”resonated” with Xiao He.

No one wanted to miss this opportunity.

Yet, the inherent limitations of the ʼNo Baitʼ script and character design made this opportunity shrouded in uncertainty...

...

Beijing, a conference room in a certain government agency.

”I disagree with this work being shortlisted. It simply doesnʼt align with the current mainstream values.”

An old man shook his head, his tone resolute, as he tossed the list onto the table and leisurely sipped his tea.

”How does it not align with values? I think this work is sufficiently innovative, profound, and sharply satirical.”

Another old man held a different opinion, slapping the table with loud ”thumps.”

This was a somewhat dated conference room. Several old men of similar age sat in their respective chairs, watching the two arguing in front with varied expressions.

”Did you even watch this work seriously? Isnʼt it exposing social phenomena? How does that not align with values? If you donʼt understand it, I recommend you go check out Bilibili. I think a few video analyses there are quite good,” said an elderly man with graying hair and glasses, his tone dripping with sarcasm. ”Itʼs normal for old age to hinder understanding of young peopleʼs works.”

”We all watched it in the same screening room. How could I not understand it? Who are you mocking?” Old Zhong glared directly. ”Besides, itʼs that old thing Ning Jiaqiʼs work. Is he still considered ʼyoung peopleʼ? What nonsense are you talking!”

”If you understood it and still wonʼt vote for ʼNo Bait,ʼ then youʼre just being deliberately difficult and prejudiced,” Old Xu also said leisurely, fiddling with the pen in his hand before launching a direct and caustic attack. ”Xiao Heʼs acting is also excellent. You canʼt criticize his acting skills just because of the character he portrayed, can you?”

”Our perspective on things should be diverse. When a character is good, we should explore more of its value, more social significance, rather than simply judging it because he played a villain convincingly.”

”So you admit Xiao Heʼs acting is good, but you insist on separating the performance from the characterʼs image?”

”Thatʼs not what I mean. Xiao Heʼs role and the characterʼs image have significant problems. I think it simply doesnʼt align with our awardʼs core theme.”

Old Zhongʼs expression was serious, completely unconvinced. ”Our award selections often set trends within the industry. If others misinterpret it, leading to more such character images that are detrimental to harmonious development, that would be our dereliction of duty!”

”Hmph! Itʼs precisely your timid, fearful nature that has skewed the industryʼs atmosphere and dampened everyoneʼs ambition!” Old Xu sneered coldly. ”Itʼs your choices over the years that have led to more stereotypical heroes and suffering minority groups! But look, whatʼs the market feedback now? Open your eyes wide and look at the global box office of ʼNo Baitʼ! Your very caution is itself a stifling of artistic creativity!”

”Things have opened up now. The fact that ʼNo Baitʼ passed censorship itself shows it has no problems, and Xiao He, who played the lead, certainly has no problems. Since there are no problems, and his acting is clearly superior to the other competitors this time, why on earth shouldnʼt he win the award?!”

”Giving him a shortlist spot for his situation is already generous enough. You still want him to win the award? Donʼt tell me youʼve taken a bribe?”

Old Zhong slammed the table and stood up.

”Hey, you have the nerve to accuse me of taking money? If acting like Xiao Heʼs isnʼt good enough, then who paid you over on your side? Tell me, go on, tell me!”

Old Xu also stood up, rolling up his sleeves. ”Oh, this temper of mine... You said the ʼNo Baitʼ script is bad, the character design is poor—I endured that. But you say the acting isnʼt good, not worthy of the award? Then today, even if I have to risk these old bones of mine, Iʼll have a proper argument with you—”

”Who said anything about acting skills?”

”Damn it, youʼre selecting a Best Actor and youʼre not talking about acting skills? Are you being a hooligan?!”

”Hey, hey, everyone, talk it out calmly. This is still just the preliminary selection. Letʼs discuss it further, discuss it further.”

Seeing the situation turning sour, the other old men quickly stepped forward to mediate.

Only, they all seemed to have forgotten that they were originally just discussing whether to shortlist ʼNo Bait.ʼ Somehow, the conversation had suddenly shifted to Xiao He, even directly starting to debate whether the Best Actor award should be given to him.

But seeing that the two most authoritative judges among them were about to come to blows over ʼNo Bait,ʼ no one dared to let their minds wander anymore. They each went to pull someone back, fearing the two old men might get so angry theyʼd collapse right there.

”How about we let them enter the shortlist first, and if there are other excellent and promising actors later, we can discuss this matter again?”

One of the judges cautiously suggested.

The two old men glanced at each other, each crossing their arms and snorting through their noses: ”Hmph!”

Theyʼre being sensible!