Chapter 243: Extra Story 1
The morning after the end of the Contention Awards, a certain post on the film and television forum suddenly exploded.
[Why is it Lu Xu again? Can’t the Contention Awards have a little freshness and anticipation this year?]
[+1. Every time I hear Lu Xu’s name, I feel like… Did the Contention Awards run out of other candidates? Was he the only option?]
[I think two Best Actor awards for Lu Xu were enough, but he actually has four now. And he even said, ‘This won’t be the last time.’ If he wins another one, he might as well organize his own Contention Awards.]
[I feel like he just used the Contention Awards to make up for not winning the Golden Flame Awards.]
[…Wait, why is everyone blaming Lu Xu? What do you mean by ‘freshness and anticipation’? Was The Sovereign Descends the World not deserving? Or was Lu Xu’s performance unworthy?]
[I actually think the Contention Awards committee knew that Lu Xu already had three trophies and that giving him another one would invite a lot of criticism, yet they still did it. Doesn’t that prove how valuable his win was?]
[Maybe we should first look at how the other nominees reacted after Lu Xu won. Li Yan was very composed—truly a classy guy. Shi Tianhao was completely clueless the whole time. As for Xie Zejie and Ni Xiuzhu… those two could hardly hide their real emotions. Incredible. Ni Xiuzhu’s expression was as dark as the bottom of a pot!]
[No way! Ni Xiuzhu actually thought the award was unfair? The only time he’s ever satisfied is when he wins himself, right? But let’s be honest—given his acting skills, he’d only get the award if every other contender was eliminated first.]
[I’m dying of laughter. People are dragging Ni Xiuzhu into this just to criticize Lu Xu? Does Lu Xu need Ni Xiuzhu’s approval to win now? Honestly, this year’s Contention Award followed the same style as before—whoever acted the best won.]
[I couldn’t help but sigh—even the haters admit that Lu Xu deserves at least two Contention Awards. If it were someone else, who would get this kind of treatment? No matter how hard they try to drag him down, they still have to acknowledge his achievements. That unwillingness… I get it.]
[I suggest checking out the Weibo posts of ‘Movie Diary’ and ‘Talking Films.’ They’ve analyzed this year’s Contention Award results. Lu Xu’s chances of winning were already quite high. His biggest disadvantage was simply the fact that he had already won two awards before. But objectively speaking, does Lu Xu really not deserve his fourth Contention Award in his acting career?]
[Judging purely by the award criteria, no one can deny Lu Xu’s qualifications. If we’re talking about acting skills alone, in my opinion, Lu Xu’s performance ≥ Li Yan = Shi Tianhao > Xie Zejie > Ni Xiuzhu. Ni Xiuzhu can be ruled out entirely. As for Li Yan, Lu Xu was definitely not the reason he didn’t win—the only thing holding him back was his own performance.]
[The biggest controversy right now is simply that Lu Xu already had three Best Actor trophies, so why did he get another one? But isn’t the real question whether the performance matches the award? Shouldn’t that be the main concern, no matter who wins?]
[According to some people’s logic, since Lu Xu has won before, he should step aside this time. So what exactly is the selection criteria for the Contention Award? Might as well just exclude all past winners. Everyone knows this year’s awards were special—if previous winners were automatically disqualified, they wouldn’t even have enough nominees for next year.]
[The nominations for the Critics’ Choice Award are out too. Why not take a look first?]
[This is hilarious. Ni Xiuzhu looked so upset at the awards ceremony—anyone who didn’t know better would think Lu Xu had stolen his Best Actor trophy. But in the end, he didn’t even make the nominations for the Critics’ Choice Award. Can he not be like this?]
[He didn’t even get nominated?!!]
[The Contention Award was already giving him too much credit.]
[The only nominees overlapping between the Critics’ Choice Award and the Contention Award are Lu Xu and Li Yan. According to some people’s logic, we might as well say the entire world is biased toward Lu Xu. After all, his nomination-to-win ratio is pretty high.]
[+1 +1. Personally, I feel like this year’s Contention Award was mainly a competition between Li Yan and Lu Xu. Either of them could have won. Lu Xu had disadvantages, but he also had strong advantages—The Sovereign Descends the World is one of the rare historical films in recent years, and young emperors aren’t common character types. Lu Xu’s portrayal of the emperor was incredibly intimidating. If you’ve seen The Sovereign Descends the World, you’d understand.]
[The award could have gone to either of them. Both Li Yan and Lu Xu were reasonable choices.]
[Some people don’t actually care who wins the Contention Award—they just think Lu Xu shouldn’t receive any more honors. The moment he wins something, they start panicking. Honestly, instead of being jealous of Lu Xu every day, maybe they should focus on helping their own idol improve his acting skills. You can get away with bad acting when you’re young, but later on, it won’t be so easy.]
[+1. This applies to both the TV and film industries. There’s a growing trend of promoting new actors with strong acting skills. If the older generation can’t keep up and the younger generation is coming in strong, they might end up being the only ones getting eliminated.]
[Aaaah, honestly, every time Lu Xu gets dissed, I just think: ‘Never mind the Stellar Award Best Actor / Contention Award Best Actor / Critics’ Choice Award Best Actor / Sunset Film Festival Best Actor / a total box office gross of 30 billion / top-tier visuals / massive popularity… None of this is Lu Xu’s business.’]
[Hahahaha, stop it, you’re coming on too strong!]
[If Lu Xu saw this, he’d block you instantly. This kind of energy is way too much for him to handle. I’m laughing so hard I could crow.]
[Imagining it from his perspective, I can totally feel his momentary speechlessness and frustration.]
[You’re even scarier than the gossip bloggers. If Lu Xu saw you, he’d definitely run for his life.]
[Weren’t we debating Lu Xu’s qualifications for the award? I actually found ‘Movie Diary’s’ review really interesting. On the surface, Lu Xu’s portrayal of Qi Yi seems purely cold and ruthless, but he embodies the essence of a ruler. Every detail related to Qi Yi in The Sovereign Descends the World reinforces this perception. Making a character so memorable is already an impressive feat.]
[Clay Man emphasized twists and reversals, while The Sovereign Descends the World was all about dominance. If you look at Lu Xu’s portrayal of Qi Yi, it’s exactly the image history books have left us with.]
[I don’t care—Lu Xu absolutely deserves this Contention Award in my heart. He’s insanely talented!!]
[His fourth trophy!! This year may be considered a weaker year for the Contention Award, but Lu Xu is still undeniably amazing!]
[I wasn’t entirely confident that Lu Xu would win, but I knew that if this had been a highly competitive year with a lineup full of top-tier acting powerhouses, missing out on the award would have been understandable. However, since the competition wasn’t that intense, it made sense for Lu Xu to go for it.]
[…Maybe we should check out Li Yan’s Weibo.]
[Li Yan is truly so gracious. To be precise, he genuinely admires Lu Xu. He wrote a long post about his experience working with Lu Xu on Observing the Stars at Night and shared his thoughts on Code A77, Clay Man, and The Sovereign Descends the World. What surprised me was that he had actually watched all of Lu Xu’s films and even reflected on them from an actor’s perspective.]
[That’s incredible. I feel like all top-tier actors are amazing—not just because of the mutual respect they have for each other, but because even after reaching the top, they still strive to go even higher.]
[‘Higher’… That word sounds so familiar. Wasn’t it a favorite term of someone Lu Xu once dissed? But the difference is, while both Lu Xu and Li Yan are pursuing greater heights, they do it by improving themselves rather than chasing superficial status. That’s truly impressive!]
[Li Yan must have known that since Lu Xu won the Contention Award, there would be people using him as an excuse to attack Lu Xu. Sigh, I’m actually kind of touched. He didn’t have to say anything—no one would have blamed him if he stayed silent.]
[He must have been really disappointed about not winning, yet he still chose to speak up for Lu Xu. Seriously, the lead actor of the highest-grossing film is amazing!]
[Aaaaaah! Lu Xu responded too!! Mutual appreciation!! A Observing the Stars at Night moment in real life!!]
[Just noticed that Ni Xiuzhu also posted on Weibo… Honestly, if you don’t know how to speak properly, maybe just don’t? Bro, can you take a second to reread what you even posted?]
[…What does ‘due to certain uncontrollable factors’ and ‘the award I lost’ even mean? This is… hard to comment on.]
[Hard to comment on +1.]
[Meanwhile, Lu Xu and Li Yan completely ignored him. Isn’t that awkward? The real competition was between Lu Xu and Li Yan, and yet Ni Xiuzhu has been making a fuss all by himself. Did anyone even acknowledge him?]
[Knew it. The moment Lu Xu accepted the award, I just knew there’d be some drama to follow.]
[If Ni Xiuzhu has the nerve to post ‘the award I lost,’ then I have the nerve to post ‘the 1 million dollars the bank should have given me.’]
[Hahahaha, I lost my 500-square-meter luxury mansion. (Said with the confidence of someone who actually had it.)]
[If I had this level of shamelessness, is there anything in this world I couldn’t have?]
[Truly astonishing. Simply astonishing.]
[Li Yan’s analysis was so detailed. This kind of mutual respect between actors… I honestly think he must’ve watched The Sovereign Descends the World more than once. I’ve seen it twice myself, but there’s no way I could write something as insightful as Li Yan did.]
[I can’t take it—Ni Xiuzhu actually said in an interview that he’ll ‘take back what he lost’ this time. Aaaaah, I’m about to lose it. The controversy over Lu Xu winning was at least about him winning too many awards. If Ni Xiuzhu had won, I feel like the entire internet would have erupted in outrage. It might’ve even seriously damaged the credibility of the Contention Award. These so-called ‘celestial beings’ only care about their own satisfaction and don’t give a damn about the integrity of the awards—or the audience, for that matter.]
[As a fan of the original The Writer novel, I absolutely detest Ni Xiuzhu. I refuse to acknowledge him winning any high-caliber awards, and I refuse to watch any film he stars in!!!]
[LOL, just realized this whole thread has completely derailed.]
[At the end of the day, people failed to drag Lu Xu down. His performance in The Sovereign Descends the World was undeniably top-tier. If you check certain video platforms, you’ll see that he’s already been added to the ranks of iconic historical drama emperors. Plus, some fan edits swapped his face with others, and the second they did, the character’s presence dropped significantly.]
[Lu Xu truly deserved this!! There’s no way I can say he didn’t earn the Contention Award. He will always be my number one.]
[There’s no need to care about what Ni Xiuzhu says. He’s just putting on a one-man show. No one cares, and no one is agreeing with him. Even Zhang Zhizhen, who constantly acts high and mighty and nitpicks Lu Xu, wouldn’t dare say Ni Xiuzhu deserved the award. Everyone has eyes. No matter how low his emotional intelligence is, even he wouldn’t risk making an enemy of the entire world.]
[LOL, he’s already acting like ‘the whole world has wronged me.’ Is the next step holding a press conference to denounce the injustice of fate?]
[Too bad Lu Xu has gone completely silent. I really wanted to hear what he had to say about this.]
[Puppy doesn’t care at all—he already has four trophies in hand. Honestly, I don’t get it. The entire world knows that Ni Xiuzhu’s nomination wasn’t exactly honorable. The fact that he even made it onto the nominee list was already the result of his agency pulling every string possible. Does he seriously think his agency could take down Lu Xu and Li Yan for him? Who does he think he is?]
[…Speechless.]
[His performance in delusion and self-pity is truly top-tier.]
[If I were Lu Xu, I’d personally DM him a picture of all my trophies—just to make him furious while being completely powerless to do anything about it.]
[Puppy wouldn’t do that.]
[…Lu Xu just gave an interview.]
[LMAO, he straight-up said he’s ‘not very familiar’ with Ni Xiuzhu and that if the guy has any constructive feedback next time, he’d be happy to listen. That’s basically the verbal equivalent of “I don’t know him.” Absolute savagery!]
[‘Lu Xu claims he doesn’t recognize Ni Xiuzhu’… Don’t do him like that! He just said they weren’t familiar with each other! Come on! Puppy’s reputation tarnished +1.]
[Reputation destruction: ongoing.]
