Caught in Affairs with Superstar

Chapter 487: Chapter 380: Acting Skills Debate

There are three major film awards in China, and these are recognized as the top three awards.

Among them, the Qingmu Award is the most inclined towards artistic value among the three.

Zhou Yun, as a twenty-four-year-old young actress, would normally find it difficult to get nominated based on past nomination trends.

However, ”Life” stood out both in word-of-mouth and box office performance, and Zhou Yun had also won an international award, so it’s quite normal for her to come into the view of the Qingmu Award jury.

Not just Zhou Yun, this time for the Qingmu Award, ”Life” was also nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

It can be said to be a great harvest.

With this call from Zhou Lan, Zhou Yun received a batch of congratulatory calls and messages.

Yao Yuanfeng’s booming voice made it seem like he was going to burst out of the phone.

”Movie Queen, you’re about to take down your second trophy!” Yao Yuanfeng laughed heartily, ”This time it should be your turn to treat us to a meal, right?”

Zhou Yun said with a smile: ”President Yao’s business is so big, yet he’s asking me, a worker, to treat him to a meal. That’s a bit too much.”

Yao Yuanfeng: ”You’re still calling yourself a worker? You are a Movie Queen and still call yourself a worker? Let me tell you, this time at the Qingmu Award, you’re the hot favorite to win the award. Those nominated with you stand no chance at all. If you don’t treat us this time, it won’t make any sense.”

”Aiya, I can’t escape, alright,” Zhou Yun feigned helplessness, ”Then I have no choice but to treat you.”

Yao Yuanfeng: ”Then it’s settled, yeah?”

”Settled, settled, I absolutely can’t dodge this meal.” Zhou Yun laughed, ”Thank you, President Yao, for always congratulating me first.”

Yao Yuanfeng sighed and said: ”I’m regretting now, why didn’t I steal you away from that broken place at Chengqian in the first place? I should have found a way to snatch you away. If you were at New Shield, you would’ve been the top actress at New Shield, with first pick of all the movies.”

Zhou Yun hummed lightly and said: ”What President Yao says, does it mean that if I’m not signed with New Shield, our friendship isn’t genuine? And the camaraderie we had during ’Life’ doesn’t exist?”

”Oh no, I didn’t mean that...” Yao Yuanfeng hurriedly scrambled to explain.

”Hmph, now I understand, President Yao never really considered me a friend.” Zhou Yun said, ”If I had known President Yao meant this, I should not have agreed to act in ’Two tigers’ and ’Four Killers.’”

”Ah, my dear young lady, I misspoke, alright? Really, how come your tongue has gotten so sharp now?” Yao Yuanfeng said half-laughing, half-apologizing.

Both knew it was just a joke.

With its screening over, ”Life” returned to the public eye.

The news of Zhou Yun’s Qingmu Award nomination unsurprisingly hit the trending searches and sparked a lot of discussion.

The happiest were Zhou Yun’s fans.

The film ”Life” brought Zhou Yun a large number of new fans, all attracted by the movie. Now that the movie has earned Zhou Yun another award nomination, everyone felt excited and honored.

However, while some were happy, naturally, there were others gossiping.

The harshest gossips were saying: Has the Qingmu Award become so low? I really don’t see what’s so good about Zhou Yun’s acting in ”Life.” Why does she deserve a nomination?

Regarding such comments, many people directly lashed back. The fiercest retorts were: Are people so irresponsible when they speak now? I really don’t understand how some people, who are neither jury members of the Venice International Film nor the Qingmu Award, can just question ’why?’ They speak as if they are some deeply experienced elders.

A debate over Zhou Yun’s acting skills flared up again.

Towards the end, someone asked: Isn’t Zhou Yun just lucky to have stumbled upon a good script and a powerful director, hence the movie made her look good, and now she’s winning awards for a film that uses her close-ups ninety percent of the time? If her acting is truly amazing, why didn’t we see ”Eighth Heartbeat” get a Best Actress nomination?

”Eighth Heartbeat” was also brought up.

Zhou Yun’s fans were used to it; every time they were argued into silence, they’d bring up ”Eighth Heartbeat.”

A bad movie is an original sin.

Even Zhou Yun’s fans couldn’t shamelessly claim that ”Eighth Heartbeat” was well-made.

Despite it being really popular.

The debate continued into the afternoon, when suddenly a wave of public opinion emerged: If you want to know whether Zhou Yun’s acting is good or not, just watch tonight’s ”Heart Inquiry.”

This wave of public opinion was orchestrated by Zhou Lan.

Originally, Zhou Lan didn’t want to deal with online disputes, thinking they would naturally die down. But to her surprise, they were getting more intense.

Zhou Lan definitely didn’t want these debates to turn into a wild celebration that the entire internet would join, which wouldn’t benefit Zhou Yun’s career as an actor.

Right now, Zhou Yun still had plenty of room for growth; growing steadily and keeping a low profile was the ideal path.

Zhou Lan had no choice but to personally enter the fray to guide public opinion, and it was a good chance to promote ”Heart Inquiry.”

At the same time, Zhou Lan also pushed for a trending search on Weibo called ”Watch Zhou Yun Tonight.”

When Zhou Yun found out about all this, the trending search had already entered the top ten. Knowing the cause and effect, she couldn’t help but laugh and cry, not knowing what to say.

Online discussions were indeed something every artist had a love-hate relationship with.

They could be the wind that lifted an artist to the clouds overnight, or they could be the sword that slashed through the clouds under the artist’s feet, sending them plummeting back to earth.

Zhou Yun shared the same attitude as Zhou Lan in this regard.

Better to stay low-key, and not to be like the self-praising gourd seller—touting one’s own acting skills.

Other people saying it was one thing, but didn’t she have a clear understanding of her own skills in her heart?

A bunch of people were gearing up for a battle, with the airs of having a duel at Mount Hua on ”Heart Inquiry” that night. After the episode aired, it would probably be like a debate competition.

Zhou Yun felt a headache coming on.

Song Chi gloated, asking her when she would return and if she wanted to watch together the seventh episode where she officially debuted.

Zhou Yun said, ”Wei Heyun asked me out for dinner, and I have a flight at ten tonight. By the time I reach Shanghai, it’ll be past midnight.”

Song Chi said, ”Okay, then I’ll stew some soup for you and order some supper. When you get back, we can watch the rerun together.”

”That’s too late for a rerun, just go to bed early if you’ve got nothing to do,” Zhou Yun said. ”Haven’t you been pulling late nights in a row recently? Aren’t you worried about losing hair?”

Song Chi chuckled, ”I took a nap this afternoon, slept all the way till six, I don’t think I’ll fall asleep too quickly tonight.”

”Don’t force yourself to stay up for me,” Zhou Yun said. ”If it’s too late, I might just sleep at a hotel near the airport and come back in the morning.”

”Okay.”

After finishing work, Zhou Yun went to meet Wei Heyun as arranged.

The place was picked by Wei Heyun, a private club that looked high-end even from the outside, with not even a sign hanging around; it appeared to be an ordinary workshop.

Once inside, it revealed a whole different world.

Upon seeing Wei Heyun, Zhou Yun directly complained, ”Where did you find this place? Bringing me here, if someone sees us, won’t they think I’m being kept by you?”