Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 137 Lu Kuan withdraws from the competition

November 2002, 11, Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

"Miss Mei!"

"Xiaolu, you're a big director now, very busy, and you don't even go to see your sister anymore."

Lu Kuan laughed guiltily a few times and quickly pulled Liu Yifei over to the side.

"Sister, Xiao Liu is my special envoy. I'm sending her to Hong Kong to record songs in the next two months, and to accompany you."

Concubine Liu Yi arrived last night.

It stands to reason that with the Golden Lion Award, things like the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards and the Golden Horse Awards are dispensable.

But the crew of "Shoplifters" is filming in Taiwan, and Hou Xiaoxian has invited them several times before, so he must come to the Golden Horse Awards to show his support.

The Hundred Flowers Awards will have to wait until next year, and this year's films will not be nominated.

In other words, it is the Golden Horse Awards that needs Whiplash, not Whiplash that needs the Golden Horse Awards.

"Yes, Sister Mei, my role in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils will be finished next month, so I'll be heading straight to Hong Kong."

Liu Yifei just attended a celebration banquet at the beginning of the month, and she was very excited to be able to reunite with the "Whiplash" crew members so soon.

She had been chattering with Lu Kuan about the "Tian Long" crew for a long time.

By the way, he conveyed Big Beard's strong invitation to him to play a guest role, but of course, as expected, Boss Lu declined.

I don't want to be part of your hype play.

Liu Xiaoli smiled as she watched her bright and charming daughter. From the red carpet of the Golden Lion Awards to the red carpet of the Golden Horse Awards, her star journey has been extraordinary.

This is thanks to the young people in front of us.

What a pity...

Unfortunately, what I wished for came true. Fan and Zhou Xun came together from not far away.

"Hello, Sister Mei!"

"Hello, Sister Mei!"

Liu Yifei also restrained her excited expression and silently observed this actress who had recently been involved in scandals with Lu Kuan.

Look at her curvy figure and sweet smile wrapped under her dress.

Humph, what’s so great about that? Just wait a few more years!

Lu Kuan asked Hou Xiaoxian to give her an invitation letter. Fan Bingbing came here today to walk the red carpet and get exposure.

But Zhou Xun is not just a freeloader on her boss's crew. She is the heroine of "There Is a Hollywood in Hong Kong" and both she and Anita Mui were nominated for the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress.

Mei Yanfang represents the crew of "Men at Forty". Her first course of treatment is basically over, and she will be able to make a comeback in another year.

This trip was also his first appearance after suffering from the serious illness, attracting many fans and supporters to come and chase his star.

Fan Bingbing and Mei Yanfang knew each other, and Lu Kuan introduced Zhou Xun to her.

With the addition of Jay Chou, who is currently very popular, a circle of friends centered around Lu Kuan began to chat lively.

Media from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macau heard the news and came.

"Everyone, crew from the north, I need to inform you of a piece of news."

A sentence with a strong local accent from Taiwan interrupted everyone.

When everyone looked over, they saw a serious-looking man with glasses holding a document in his hand.

He looked contemptuous and spoke in an unusually cold tone: "This is just a verbal notice. Please listen carefully and comply."

"During the film festival, members of the Whiplash crew are strictly prohibited from accepting interviews, participating in fan meetings and large-scale gatherings, and promoting any slogans."

“If you violate it, you will be deported.”

The man with glasses grumbled a lot, and Lu Kuan and the others looked gloomy.

Among the many domestic film awards, the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards have been weak for a long time, while the Hong Kong Film Awards are only open to Hong Kong films.

The Golden Horse Awards were originally quite inclusive and authoritative, but I don’t know when they started to go astray.

This year's film festival is given special significance.

After the man with glasses finished his routine "admonition", he glanced at the small flag in Liu Yifei's hand.

"Miss, this is not allowed in the venue or on the red carpet later. Please put it away."

This sentence seemed to light the fuse of gunpowder, making Lu Kuan so angry that he scolded him in a stern voice.

"Shameless! Do you know what you're talking about? I wonder who made this rule?"

"Hou Xiaoxian didn't mention this when he invited me."

Liu Yifei was infected by him and raised her eyebrows. She took another small flag from Liu Xiaoli's hand, held it up in both hands, and looked at the man with glasses provocatively.

The tall man beside her gave her confidence.

The man with glasses sneered, "You should know where you are. I advise you to be careful."

Boss Lu took a quick step forward and grabbed the man with glasses by the collar. The height difference of more than ten centimeters between the two looked very funny.

"What are you careful about?"

He regretted not bringing Ah Fei into the backstage, otherwise he would definitely let Xiaomian Zhenghe beat up the man with glasses.

At worst, after the fight, I can assign Jia Jingwen a few roles and let Wu Dun rescue Ah Fei.

It was the first time that everyone saw Lu Kuan so angry that he was about to attack. Mei Yanfang was afraid that he would get into trouble out of impulse, so she quickly stepped forward and asked him to let go.

"Who do you represent? If you represent the organizers of the film festival, then we will turn around and leave and give up participating in this film festival."

"If you can't represent the official position, please leave now and stop making such irresponsible remarks!"

The man with glasses may not recognize Lu Kuan, but he definitely recognizes Mei Yanfang.

At this moment, intimidated by the furious Boss Lu, he muttered a threat: "Don't worry about who I represent! Just do your job!"

The surrounding media had been paying attention to Mei Yanfang and Jay Chou here, and now they rushed over after hearing the news, with cameras and long guns.

Boss Lu originally wanted to wake up the public and expose the ugly face of this year's Golden Horse Awards, but he was helpless because the media in front of him were hostile and had no regard for justice.

"Go back to the lounge."

Boss Lu took Feng Yuanzheng and Liu Yifei back and asked Jay Chou to find out what was going on here.

His identity was very embarrassing, but when something like this happened, he had to stick with the crew no matter what.

"Director Lu, what they did was wrong. Let's withdraw."

Jay Chou had originally had high hopes for this exhibition, having been nominated for Best New Performer and Best Supporting Actor. However, he didn't have time to think too much about it at this point.

Mei Yanfang didn't care. She was in a semi-retired state and had won the Golden Horse Award in 1988 for "Rouge". So she followed Lu Kuan back to the lounge.

Boss Lu saw that the atmosphere was a little tense and jokingly said, "It's a pity that Mr. Feng won the Best Actor award, and Jie Lun and Xiao Liu won the Best Newcomer award."

Jay Chou waved his hand: "This is a matter of principle, Director, we all support you."

Feng Yuanzheng doesn’t matter at all. Why would the Venice Film Festival Best Actor care about a dead horse?
"Why don't we go back now and continue filming Shoplifters."

Everyone laughed when they heard this, and Mei Yanfang praised Liu Yifei for her bravery in holding the national flag.

"Director! I'm late, I'm so sorry!"

Hou Xiaoxian pushed the door open in a hurry, his calm expression completely changed. He apologized and smiled apologetically, almost bowing to them.

"I have just been communicating with the conference. All the admonitions and warnings you have received are invalid. Please do not withdraw. Please do not withdraw!"

He is the chairman of this year's Golden Horse Awards jury. Although certain reasons have constrained his work, he still has to work hard to ensure the smooth running of the conference.

Everyone looked at Lu Kuan at the same time. He had just stepped forward and raised some thought-provoking questions, and now he seemed to have become the backbone of the group.

"Director Hou, I'm sorry to see this happen at the Golden Horse Awards. I think it's gone beyond the realm of art and has lost the meaning of promoting cultural exchange through film itself."

"How about this, let's both take a step back. I'm not asking the Whiplash crew to withdraw from this Golden Horse Awards, but I'm withdrawing on my own behalf."

"I'll quit too!"

"quit!"

Some spoke out in agreement, while others remained silent.

Hou Xiaoxian made concessions on behalf of the Golden Horse officials. Everyone took a step back and everyone was happy. It would be fine even if they continued to participate in the exhibition.

Besides, not everyone has the confidence of Lu Kuan, who already has the Golden Lion Award and does not need such regional awards to raise his own value.

Hou Xiaoxian looked at the scene awkwardly, tried to persuade them a few more times, and then left reluctantly.

Liu Yifei smiled and said, "Since we've all quit, why not let Brother Jielun take us around? This is my first time in Taipei!"

During the last roadshow, she had already joined the crew of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" and did not come to Taiwan to promote the show with the crew.

Jay Chou also made up his mind to withdraw, but he didn't expect that Lu Kuan, who had just made a solemn promise, would persuade them to stop.

"I can withdraw on my own, you guys don't have to withdraw."

Concubine Liu Yi was puzzled: "Why?"

She was also very indignant just now.

"The media that just surrounded us are all wrong. Everything we say will be distorted."

"They just withdrew like that. No one knew we were treated unfairly during this Golden Horse Awards, and no one knew their ugly faces."

"You're all different. Forget about Jie Lun. If either Teacher Feng or Xiao Liu gets the chance to go on stage to accept an award and give a speech, just say this..."

Boss Lu came up with a plan and explained it to several people in person.

The slight disturbance at the Golden Horse Awards quickly subsided, and except for Lu Kuan who withdrew, the rest of the crew of "Whiplash" attended as planned.

Liu Yifei was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award and Feng Yuanzheng was nominated for the Best Actor Award.

There are also Lu Kuan's Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Screenplay, etc., but if he doesn't win these awards, the Golden Horse Awards will most likely change the winners.

This is not uncommon in later generations, especially since Lu Kuan just announced his withdrawal in a high-profile manner, which made these people hold a grudge against him.

Liu Xiaoli sat next to her daughter, thinking of Lu Kuan's parting words to her.

"Xixi, what did Director Lu tell you and Teacher Feng just now?"

Liu Yifei turned her head and glanced at her mother: "Don't tell me! You'll know later!"

"This kid!"

Liu Xiaoli was a little worried, but she thought that Lu Kuan was a very smart and intelligent young man and had no motive to harm her daughter.

Besides, there is Feng Yuanzheng. He won’t cheat both of them together, will he?
The award ceremony proceeded in an orderly manner, but the atmosphere was a bit solemn. Everyone was inevitably affected by the off-site factors that had just occurred.

As expected, due to Lu Kuan's absence, the best screenplay and editing awards were given to several unknown Hong Kong films.

Next up were Best Supporting Actor Anthony Wong and Best Supporting Actress Karena Lam.

"That's weird. Why put the Best Newcomer award last?"

The filmmakers present were very puzzled. The awards should undoubtedly be presented from low to high. Now that the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actor have been presented, the Best Newcomer is temporarily absent.

Those who are interested have guessed it.

The Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Newcomer awards, which "Whiplash" has a great chance of winning, have not yet been announced.

This is the game going on behind the scenes!

It can only be said that the intervention of certain forces has turned this art event into a complete laughing stock.

As everyone guessed, the Best Director award went to Hong Kong film director Fruit Chan, who couldn't even catch the taillights of Boss Lu in Venice.

There was a sudden booing from the audience!
Basically, they are fans of Whiplash and Jay Chou.

They don’t care whether you are from the mainland or Taiwan. Such a blatant and biased award ceremony should be subject to any form of criticism and booing!

Chen Guo accepted the award somewhat awkwardly and left the stage without saying a few words.

Who doesn't know who? This Best Director award is just a lucky win, and it will definitely be dug up and laughed at by people in the future.

Next was the Best Actor award won by Feng Yuan, which was won by Leon Lai.

There was another round of boos.

The audience didn't mean to boo Leon Lai on purpose, they just wanted to express their dissatisfaction with the ugly faces of the organizing committee, which was too blatant!

There is no need to think about the Best New Artist award. Jay Chou and Liu Yifei from "Whiplash" will definitely not be able to win it.

At this time, a ridiculous scene appeared. The host calmly opened the envelope and read out the name of the best newcomer.

"39th Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, Best New Performer, American, Liu Yifei!"

The audience was stunned at first, as if they couldn't believe their ears, and then saw hilarious subtitles appear on the screen.

Whiplash, Liu Yifei (USA)

The overwhelming amount of discussion was more crazy and manic than ever before, almost blowing the roof off!
Outside the venue, Boss Lu and A Fei were sitting together watching the live broadcast. Their faces became very gloomy when they saw this scene.

No one expected them to be so cruel.

(End of this chapter)