Famous! Ch.191

Chapter 191: The Golden Flame Award

When Lu Xu asked, “What award?” he had already sobered up. His previously dazed expression quickly turned into one of disbelief.

As he looked up, the award presenter on stage was smiling at him, while the director urged him again.

[I’m really curious—has Lu Xu prepared his acceptance speech?]

[Lmao, just how little confidence did he have in winning?]

[Hahaha, seriously! Sometimes, Puppy seems really sharp, but other times, I have to admit, he can be pretty clueless.]

[Clueless +1.]

On the forums, some netizens were mocking Lu Xu’s reaction to winning, while others were analyzing the significance of him securing another Contention Award.

[The pressure is now on the Golden Flame Award and the Critics’ Choice Award.]

[I looked it up—throughout the decades-long history of the Contention Award, only three actors have ever won two Best Actor trophies. Lu Xu is the third. Not only that, but he is the youngest Best Actor in the history of the Contention Award and the one with the shortest gap between wins. Lu Xu is only in his early 30s right now. If he keeps acting until he’s 60, he still has plenty of time to claim a third Best Actor trophy and make history for both himself and the Contention Award.]

[That’s incredible! But I still have to say—Puppy deserves this!]

[Deserved +1!]

[The Contention Award didn’t break its rules for Lu Xu—his portrayal of Bai Qianshan simply deserved a Contention Award trophy.]

The moment the award presenter announced Lu Xu’s name, just like during the Reverse City awards season, the trending searches instantly exploded.

Fearless Life was certainly worthy of a Best Actor trophy. The only thing that had kept Lu Xu from winning before was factors unrelated to his performance. But no one had expected that the Contention Award would completely disregard those external influences and decisively hand the trophy to him.

[Ahhh! Lu Xu looks so amazing on stage—I’m so excited!!]

On camera, Lu Xu remained as handsome as ever. The initial shock he had shown while sitting in the audience had now been replaced by composure. He held the trophy lightly and turned it in front of the camera for a full display.

His fans, however, were focused on his palm, curious to see if he had hidden a prepared speech there.

In the end… they saw nothing.

Lu Xu’s expression was gentle. “This is my second trophy.”

“When I took on the role of Bai Qianshan, I kept thinking—I have to portray him well. Because he was a sincere person, a good man, someone willing to make sacrifices. An actor may not be able to glorify a character, but they must never ruin one.”

“Standing on the desolate hills of the filming site, I tried to immerse myself in Bai Qianshan, to imagine—when he set foot on this same land, what was he thinking at that moment? But I was only there to play him for a few short months. He, on the other hand, had dedicated half his life to this place.”

“After Fearless Life was released, as Bai Qianshan’s actor, I received a lot of praise. But I feel that what I showed in the film was not even a tenth of what Bai Qianshan truly was. Even today, so many people still remember him.”

“It is the character who is great, not me—that is what this trophy tells me. Thank you, Director Miao Zhi. Thank you to the Contention Award committee. And finally—this will definitely not be the last time!”

The applause was thunderous. Perhaps because Lu Xu’s eyes reflected pure sincerity, both the audience in the theater and those watching the live broadcast could see—he truly loved his character.

[Lu Xu is literally a source of light!!]

[The strongest superstition has been born—every time he says, ‘This won’t be the last,’ another trophy is guaranteed to follow!]

[His acceptance speech got me so fired up, but everything he said was true. After winning Best Actor at the Contention Awards with Reverse City, he brought a completely different Bai Qianshan to the audience. I love Lu Xu so much—he never goes back on his word!]

Even though Lu Xu’s dedicated hater immediately declared, “Is the Contention Award really this desperate?”, his fans couldn’t care less. This was a moment worth celebrating. Whatever the haters said was just meaningless rage.

As for those in the industry who had been watching Lu Xu closely—those who secretly rejoiced that Liu Rennong was chairing the Golden Flame Awards jury, hoping it would block Lu Xu from winning—his back-to-back Contention Awards victories now presented a new problem: How were they supposed to deal with him next?

At this moment, the only ones who should be worried were definitely not Lu Xu or his fans.

[Puppy’s track record +1. So many awards~]

[For Contention Award nominations, a lot of actors have an empty record, yet Puppy already has two trophies. Born to be an actor.]

[One day, I might actually become numb to Lu Xu winning awards. When he won his first one, I was over the moon. By the second, I felt oddly calm. Guess I’ve been spoiled.]

Over on the film forums, the long-running post “The Landscape of the New Generation of Film Actors”, which had been updated for years, was quietly edited once again.

That post had originally been created when Lu Xu was filming Deception, back when people were still unsure about its potential, marking it with a question mark. Over the years, it had been repeatedly revised and corrected.

After Lu Xu won Best Actor at the Contention Awards with Reverse City, the original poster had already suggested that perhaps Lu Xu’s name no longer belonged in a discussion about “newcomers.”

Little did they know that Fearless Life was about to become a massive box office hit.

By today, Lu Xu’s name had finally been removed—whether in terms of box office performance or awards, within the realm of new-generation actors, his presence was nothing short of a dimensional suppression.

[…Winning awards = losing your status as a ‘newcomer,’ lmao.]

The most heated moment of this year’s Contention Awards was, of course, the instant Lu Xu secured his second Best Actor trophy. All the suspense leading up to the ceremony vanished in that moment. No one questioned whether he deserved it—everyone who had seen Fearless Life knew that this award was rightfully his.

[I almost feel like the Contention Awards aren’t the same awards I once knew.]

[Hehehe, rather than saying the Contention Awards made a bold choice, isn’t it more accurate to say Puppy has conquered the world? Absolutely terrifying—woof woof, dominance unleashed!]

[The Golden Flame Award? Pfft, who even cares anymore!]

Lu Xu trended for three consecutive days. Thanks to the impact of his second Contention Award win, Fearless Life’s online viewership also saw a surge. Several streaming platforms even launched a dedicated “Lu Xu Collection” section—though in terms of dramas, each platform only had one or two of his works, once his films were added in, the collection became substantial.

[Lu Xu should really take on more projects. This is the first time I’ve realized he doesn’t actually have that many works.]

…

Not long after the Contention Awards ceremony, the Golden Flame Awards also announced their nominations for the year.

The lineup was similar to the previous year—there was a 60% overlap between the Best Actor nominees for the Golden Flame Awards and the Contention Awards. Lu Xu and Yue Hui were both nominated, along with Zhu Qiong from Through Wind and Rain.

This outcome wasn’t much of a surprise. After all, no matter how biased Liu Rennong was, he wouldn’t dare leave Fearless Life out of the nominations entirely.

That being said, Fearless Life carried quite a few debuffs—both Lu Xu and Director Miao Zhi included.

Since Fearless Life had already won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor at the Contention Awards, if it failed to receive a single nomination at the Golden Flame Awards, the controversy wouldn’t be about the film itself—it would be about the awards committee.

“Now we just wait for the results.”

Lu Xu had initially assumed that Miao Zhi would skip the Golden Flame Awards altogether, given his long-standing stance of wanting nothing to do with Liu Rennong. Yet not only did Miao Zhi attend, but he also dressed exceptionally well, leading the entire Fearless Life team in a grand entrance at the ceremony.

“Why wouldn’t I go?” the director said. “He skipped filming for this—how could I not show up?”

Only then did Lu Xu remember that Liu Rennong’s new film was still in production.

For a director, occasionally pausing filming to attend an awards ceremony was normal—it was just a day or two. But serving as the jury president was a different matter entirely. Award committees usually chose directors without ongoing projects to ensure they could fully dedicate themselves to the task.

That said, Lu Xu didn’t want to dwell on any negative assumptions about Liu Rennong. If the man had agreed to chair the Golden Flame Awards jury, he must have already balanced all the necessary relationships. There was no need to worry about him.

This was Lu Xu’s third time attending the Golden Flame Awards. Just like at the Contention Awards, Fearless Life was given prime seating, and it had been nominated for nearly all the major categories. Even on the red carpet, the organizers deliberately slowed down the next group’s entry just to ensure the Fearless Life team had ample time in the spotlight.

The unintended consequence?

The last few teams were severely delayed. By the time they finally reached the entrance, the red carpet session had already ended.

And considering how chilly the season had become, the actresses—who had spent hours perfecting their looks—were left fuming, their carefully curated outfits only getting their moment of glory on Weibo. Naturally, both they and their fans were filled with resentment.

Fearless Life hadn’t won any awards yet, but it had already taken the blame for something.

Upon hearing the news from his seat in the guest section, Miao Zhi let out a silent, cold laugh and asked Lu Xu, “Amusing, isn’t it?”

“Very amusing,” Lu Xu replied. “That’s an angle most people wouldn’t have considered.”

A textbook case of shifting the conflict elsewhere.

Of course, offending the organizers wasn’t exactly beneficial—unless the team had no plans to attend next year’s Golden Flame Awards.

That was precisely Lu Xu’s mindset this year. Three strikes and I’m out. If he came up empty again, he simply wouldn’t bother coming next year.

“You don’t have a film releasing next year, do you?” His manager swiftly corrected his thinking.

Lu Xu: “…Your memory is impeccable.”

“Why, thank you.”

Even if Observing the Stars at Night released before the Lunar New Year, Lu Xu likely wouldn’t be in the awards conversation. And the sci-fi film coming after that? Even less of a chance.

Despite what he said, he wasn’t desperate for a win. He felt his mindset was similar to Miao Zhi’s—he was here purely to see how Liu Rennong would play his hand.

He had heard about the behind-the-scenes voting for Reverse City after winning the Contention Award.

At the post-ceremony celebration, Liu Rennong had even approached him for a brief chat, expressing his admiration. And yet, among the jury members, Liu Rennong had been one of the few who had voted against him.

So when the Best Actor award at this year’s Golden Flame Awards went to Zhu Qiong, Lu Xu wasn’t surprised in the slightest. Fearless Life did win Best Picture, but Miao Zhi was shut out of Best Director.

A phrase suddenly popped into Lu Xu’s mind—precision strike.

They hadn’t dared to deny Fearless Life Best Picture in the end.

However, when the presenter announced Fearless Life as the winner of Best Picture, the camera panned over to Miao Zhi—his blank, expressionless face appearing in crystal clarity on the big screen.

The presenter called his name three times, yet Miao Zhi remained completely unresponsive. The awkwardness of the moment was far worse than anyone had anticipated.

In the end, Miao Zhi never took the stage. Instead, the film’s cinematographer accepted the award on behalf of the team. He had also been nominated that night but, unfortunately, hadn’t won.

This entire scene was quickly labeled “The Silent 89 Seconds” by entertainment accounts and shot up the trending charts.

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